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binghi Issue 163 Term 4, 2013 IN THIS ISSUE From the From the Headmaster 2 2013 Speech Day 3 Headmaster's Academic Focus Lions Youth of the Year 4 Speech Day Philosothon 4 National Youth Science 4 Address DesignTech 5 Science Olympiad 5 2013 HSC Results 6 Leadership Sevice Adventure Comment on Funding 2013/14 Prefects 7 & Government Priorities Service in Thailand 7 Service in Fiji 8 Art/French to Paris 8 As we look ahead to 2014, it seems likely that the political environment we will be operating in will Round Square 9 be as turbulent as it has been this year and it is important that we avoid the temptation to stall our Remembrance Day 9 planning as we await developments. Yalari Dinner 10 Activities Week 11 Through this year, and especially in recent weeks, government, Catholic and independent schools Hawkesbury Classic 12 across Australia have been closely following the latest developments in a range of school education issues. The spectrum of debate has been wide, from the freewheeling argument over funding Beyond the Classroom that has left us unsure of exactly what funding will be available even next year, to the most recent Huw Knox Wins Bronze 13 announcements of shifts in focus toward new policy for curriculum, teacher quality and classroom Triple Crown Event 13 discipline to be developed in 2014. Cash and Clemson Cups 13 It seems to me that new education policies, including those surrounding school funding, are always Junior School 14 developed under the assumption that somehow today’s students and schools are quite different to TAS P&F Association 15 their predecessors and require new policies to meet their needs in a changing world. New generations TAS Foundation 16 are given new labels and new characteristics that enable us to identify them and understand the Old Boys Notes 17-20 different rules they operate under. I see this as unhelpful, as I don’t believe that the generation of students here today is fundamentally any different, for better or worse, than those that have gone before. Nor do I believe that the foundational elements of good school education have changed much over time. Today’s students are still inspired and perform best when taught by great teachers and great teachers are still those who have a love for their discipline, an abiding belief that their purpose is to develop a love of learning and genuinely care about those in their charge and the development of their character. Binghi is a production of The This has always been true. Plato recognised it in his belief in holistic education, covering facts, skills, Armidale School published at the end physical development and creativity. Aristotle offered similar thoughts, focusing on education’s role of each school term. in producing good and virtuous citizens and specifically stating that the fate of empires depends on Anne White - Editor/Typesetting the education of youth. Tim Hughes, Anne White - Editorial In that tradition, schools like TAS carry a mission and purpose that extends well beyond the ambit James White - School Photographer of government curriculum and funding schemes and ours has remained largely intact over many Additional Photos courtesy of - generations. In the uncertain times that lie ahead, the steadying influence of that mission will be all Tim Hughes, Tim Scott the more important. May I wish you all a happy and holy Christmas and safe travels. Contributions for inclusion, enquiries or letters to the editor are welcome. Binghi Editor The Armidale School, Signing Off Locked Bag 3003, Armidale NSW 2350 After 20 years and some 65 editions of Binghi it is with a tinge of sadness that James and I sign Tel (02) 6776 5800 off on our last edition. [email protected] Binghi has been a publication I have enjoyed www.as.edu.au working on immensely. I suspect that it is because of the interaction it has given me with Cover: Green House and its mascot prepare you all and especially TAS Old Boys. for the Clemson Cup - see page 13 There is a wonderful sense of community out there and you are the glue that keeps TAS together. It has been a privilege to know you all. Above: James and Anne White and Murray Guest with his Binghi Bear, which Anne gave him as a farewell gift 2 Binghi 163 Term 4, 2013 SPEECH DAY PETER FITZSIMONS "Boys, you must suck the juice from the marrow of life until it runs down your chin." A large crowd of parents, students and members of the school And the challenge for you as you get out, it’s very difficult to quantify community enjoyed a speech day address from writer, journalist and sports people and the way they live their lives, but I love the line of my brother, commentator, Peter FitzSimons. He spoke directly to the boys with great ‘it’s not about wealth, it’s not about prestige, but if you look to people to passion and enthusiasm. admire, they are community builders, people who build up the community "Boys, 15 years from now when you’re embarked on your careers, or your around them’ - and that too will be a challenge for you. lives or whatever it is, you will be able to tell whether you are in a good job or a bad job or a good place or a bad place, by the clock on the wall. So to you young men who will be leaving here in one year, two years five years or whatever it is, I wish you for the remainder of your time at school If you look to the clock on the wall on a Monday morning and it says and forever after, resist the impulse for inertia. Resist the idea of ”doin’ 13 past 9, and you immediately dot three, carry one, subtract two, and nuthin’’ or getting away with as little as possible, and I know you are in work out that in three hours and 17 minutes you will be at lunch, and a culture which is not that culture but have a go at everything you can, at 2.30 in the afternoon you want it to be five o’clock so you can go find the skills, find the thing you are passionate for, DO NOT expect it to home and when in August you want it to be December so you can go be plain sailing all the time either here at school or ever after. on Christmas break, you’re in the wrong job, the wrong career, you’re living the wrong life. I mentioned that phrase that I love, ‘suck the marrow from the juice of life until it runs down your chin’ it came from a movie Mum and I were You’ve got to find yourself in something so that when you look at the watching in 1968, I was seven years old, it was our first television set, it clock on the wall it says 13 past nine and the next time you look up it was black and white and late at night, and I’ve been trying to find that says 10 to six, and you don’t know where the day’s gone because you’re movie and I can’t, but the essence of it was there was a beautiful woman so into it and you so love what you’re doing that you’ve found the thing who was 22 or 23 years old, and she was down and she was depressed that you’re passionate for. and she was crying, and this fabulous old man put his arm around her and said, ‘my dear my dear, you must understand that the force of life that And for me a large part of the school experience is to find that thing you makes the birds sing, that makes the trees grow, that makes the oceans are passionate for and even if, early on you have no passion for it and roar is the same force of life that is within you, and you must suck the even if during your school years it doesn’t quite work, still persist. Again, juice from the marrow of life until it runs down your chin’. my school years, I remember in Year 10 and Madame Edwards said to me in 25 years of teaching French I was the worst student she had ever had. The idea being, embrace this fabulous life you’ve got, by attending this Sadly she said it to me in French, and I had no idea what she meant. And fabulous school you are off to a fantastic start, not through the sweat I left school thinking I had no aptitude for languages at all. I discovered of the brow but to the sweat of your parents and the staff. It’s for you to oddly enough through living in Europe that I absolutely love it. take this fabulous opportunity you have been given, and go hard with it. What will not be easy to replace when you leave The Armidale School is the Cherish these times,they will not come again. Give it everything you have. fabulous sense of community that there is in this room. You’re in the same Thank you and goodbye. blazers, you’re wearing the same ties, and it is a fabulous environment, a This is an abridged version of Peter's speech. It will be published in its entirety in the safe environment and there is a strong feeling of community. 2013 Armidalian or contact the BInghi editor for a copy.