You would likely recall the blog entry last week which included a video of many of the boys with their art works. Well, here is the second installment – a chance for some other Year 7 artists to show off their talent!
A reminder that this Friday (24th August 2012) we have the opening of the Student Art Exhibition … don’t miss it as it is a fantastic opportunity to see the amazing work of so many talented Joeys boys!
Enjoy the video!
The last few years has seen our Resources Centre become an incredible “hub” of learning at the College. Not only are the staff in the Resources Centre able to contribute significantly to the curriculum based learning of the boys, but are also able to extend the boys’ experiences further than any other school.
Wednesday morning was a wonderful example of this as we welcomed Richard Glover to the College for our termly “Books and Blokes” breakfast. The attendance (approximately 150) at this event in itself is an indication of the value that the boys, as well as the fathers, see in spending time with prominent men who create superb works of literature. It is truly one of the special opportunities that our boys have and in visiting the Resources Centre towards the end of the morning, it was obvious how much the boys of all year groups got out of listening to a man who has had great success in both the written and spoken word.
There is an element of boys that appears to remain constant … their love of food … as one boy told me this morning that he had been to “Blokes and Brunch”!
The “Books and Blokes” sessions are an amazing opportunity for the boys to not only listen to renowned personalities but to also spend some quality time with their fathers or other important men in their lives.
Justin Brown was one of the lucky Year 7 boys to go to the session with Richard and recounts the experience below:
After a long, slow car trip my dad and I finally arrived at Joeys and made our way to the Resources Centre. After enjoying lots of free Croissants and some orange juice, everyone made their way upstairs, ready for what was going to be a very interesting talk by Richard Glover.
After being introduced, Richard talked about the library and the books contained therein as a way to escape. He also told a very personal story which we all felt privileged to hear from him personally … When he was about fourteen, Richard’s mother ran off with his English teacher, leaving his father gutted. His dad got extremely depressed and moved back to England, leaving Richard alone in his Melbourne home to fend for himself. After a few weeks, Richard’s dad organized one of his friends to look after him, but without his mum and dad he became very sad and lonely.
While Richard was going through a very tough time he found the local library, immersing himself in many great books such as “The Far Away Tree” series and “The Biggles” series, which became his refuge from his isolated childhood. He said “Every book is a trap door, introducing you to a new world and new characters”. He said that when you walk into a library there are thousands of people all wanting to talk to you and be your friends.
Richard told us that his most vivid memories were not from first hand experiences, but from reading books set in locations he had never been to. He said a great example of this was Shakespeare. William Shakespeare had written many books set in France, yet people say that he had never been to France, so someone else must have given Shakespeare his experiences. Richard said that the visual experience that can be created by reading a book would have been more than enough for Shakespeare to write his own account.
Richard encouraged us all to discover and immerse ourselves in books early in life and not be like his own son, who did not discover all the joys of reading until he was twenty years old.
What an insightful recount from Justin! A big thank you to the Resources Centre for providing the boys with yet another amazing opportunity experience the joys of literature.
Photo 1: Nicholas Jansen (Roseville) and his father Michael chat with Richard Glover.
Photo 2: Richard Glover addresses the large group of boys, fathers and friends of the College.
Photo 3: Finbar Watson (North Bondi) and Alec Mackinnon (North Bondi) line up to meet Richard Glover and have him sign one of his books.
Working together is something that we talk about a lot at Joeys. The obvious example of team work is through our sport and this is certainly a huge part of our culture and tradition at the College. Having said that, there are many other facets of College life that really have a focus on team work. One of these in particular is our music ensemble program.
In sport, boys have to learn to work together by every boy contributing to the overall success of the team. In music, the reliance on other members of an ensemble is particularly important. An ensemble may have the greatest trumpeter … but if the woodwind section of the ensemble doesn’t pull their weight then the whole thing falls apart. In fact the reliance on the “team” aspect of ensembles is paramount to success.
On Monday I headed down to the Music Centre to see what this ensemble thing was all about and I spent some time with the Concert Band, led by Mr Ian Cox. In watching what the boys were doing, there were a few things that were very noticeable. The first was how important each individual was within the ensemble. Every boy had a role to play and these roles combined to make a fantastic sound. In many ways we become very used to hearing an excellent quality of music. We listen to radio, we watch talent shows and I suspect that it is possible that we think that creating great music may “just happen”. The reality, however, is that it doesn’t. To think that the each boy in the ensemble has different music in front of them, sometimes in a totally different style of notation … only to join forces to create the final sound is really quite incredible … and certainly doesn’t just happen without lots of work.
I also noticed when sections were singled out and had to do a section of the score on their own … I struggled to feel the music. But when we put it all together the result was great! Each boy in the ensemble had a role and could not hide. In fact the ensemble experience very much epitomises what team work is all about – the individual can sound ok but everyone together sounds awesome. If one team member doesn’t pull his weight then the overall sound is not nearly as good as it could be.
A big thank you to our Music Department who manage to deliver the ensemble experience to each of our boys in Year 7 – an experience which I am sure that they can duplicate in many varied facets of life in the future.
Photo 1: James Hill (Abbotsford), Lewis Williams (Russell Lea) and Xander Nies (Annandale) head up the saxophone section of the Concert Band.
Photo 2: Justin Brown (Freshwater) and Stephen Matheson (Longueville) contribute to the brass component of the Concert Band.
Photo 3: Harrison Powell (Roseville) with his euphonium.
Tonight was a very special night for many of the Year 7 boys as they received the sacrament of Confirmation. In total, fourteen boys in the form, along with another ten from other year groups took part in this very special evening. In addition to the sacrement of Confirmation, Tyrone Janson Ho (Greenwich) and Adrian Ang (Artarmon) also made their First Communion.
Over the last few weeks, each of the boys have met with Fr Andrew in order to prepare them for this sacrament and tonight, they were joined by family and friends in celebration. As the Auxiliary Bishop of Sydney, Most Reverend Julian Porteous quizzed the boys during his homily, it was obvious that the boys were well prepared.
One of the things that I found noticeable this evening was the number of boys who had their older siblings as their sponsors. What a wonderful example of family coming together and seeing one young man or woman sponsor their younger brother at his Confirmation is superb illustration of the strength of faith in our community at Joeys.
Joining the boys in this sacred event were many of their friends as the boarders contributed strongly with their singing and responses. It was wonderful to have several local boys request to stay for the mass as well. This evening was a wonderful example of the boys supporting their mates in all facets of College life.
A big congratulations to all the boys (listed below) on this significant moment in their lives as we know with great confidence that the Holy Spirit has found each of these young men.
Photo 1: Antonio Puglisi (Lane Cove) is Confirmed by Bishop Portous
Photo 2: Harry Tate (Year 9) was the sponsor for his younger brother Max Tate (Bronte) – one of five boys to have an older sibling as his sponsor.
I remember talking to the boys way back in 2011 in the pre-commencement nights about our expectations and their parents expectations when they come to Joeys. I recall telling them that not everyone can be the best. Not everyone can be in the A team or be in the top classes. What everyone can do, however, is give their best effort. I remember saying “if you come to Joeys and give your best effort then your parents will be very proud of you and so will the College”.
A couple of weeks ago I was fortunate to see quite a few U13 rugby games over at Newington – something I don’t often get to do due to my own team playing. I saw a couple of wins and a couple of losses. What I was so impressed by was the way that the boys played the games. They gave one hundred percent effort and were able to display great sportsmanship in defeat and humility in victory. It was just awesome to see boys giving their best, no matter their team.
I asked Lachlan Markey (Coonamble) to write a short summary of his own team and when he sent it through to me I couldn’t help but notice the positive approach that he is showing towards the opportunities here at Joeys – exactly the approach that I remember speaking about late last year. His report is below.
The 13Ds played well as a team today. We played Scots but they were just too good for us as they had players running hard through our defensive line. During training all week we had been working on our tackling and rucking after our game against Newington. We try to play a game against the C’s each day to improve our rucking and tackling.
I thought that the 13Ds played well as a team. Our tackling and rucking has definitely gotten better because last time we versed Scots we went down to them by about 20 points. Our try scorer for today was Mitchell Tanzer who scored two great tries (one off a penalty and one just running straight through the opposition and under the posts). Scots got the better of us, as the score was 12-29, but I believe that if the we train hard at training then we will definitely beat them next time.
Thanks to Lachlan for a very positive approach to his sport and it certainly appears that the boys are moving forward step by step. This is all we can ask and indeed they are doing us very proud.
Photo 1: Darcy Lyne (East Roseville) gets in front of his Newington opponent in the line-out.
Photo 2: Adrian Ang (Artarmon) gives the blunt “don’t argue” to the Scots defence.
Football is a growing sport at the College and one in which many of our Year 7 boys are contributing very positively to. I have to be honest, my own abilities in football were always very limited and while I don’t have the greatest understanding of the game, the skill that football players display continue to amaze me!
These skills were on full display as the whole school gathered at Lower Park last Saturday to witness our First XI Football claim victory over Sydney Grammar School to put them on top of the GPS ladder.
Our Year 7 boys have sharpened their own skills throughout the season and are working hard to continue to build the fine traditions that football have established since winning the inaugural GPS soccer competition back in the 1980s. We have a diverse group of sportsman – many who have played rep football and others who have never played before. Keeping this in mind, their successes and effort throughout the first half of the season has been impressive.
Below is a short report from one of our football players, Joseph Lawman (Seaforth).
Football at Joeys is a rapidly growing sport where the coaches are fantastic and help us improve all our skills and achieve the very best we can. In the under 13s there are three teams, and this year Joeys has the biggest number of football players in the last four years. The coaches are all fun but they also know when to be serious.
We do a variety of things that involve fitness (sprints, stamina, with soccer balls), skills (passing, dribbling and advanced tactics), games (against higher and lower teams as well as games we have invented) and tactics for days when it is raining. We train three or four times a week and this keeps us strong against our opponents giving them a decent challenge each week.
All of the players in my team get along being led by Fred Maher (Cherrybrook) captain of the 13A team and I’m sure that each of the other teams are being led by their captains very well too. Currently this season we are doing well, having achieved both wins and losses. Our coaches work extremely hard to make sure we can be competitive against all the other GPS teams and we thank them very much for their effort.
Thanks to Joseph for a nice wrap up of what the football players are up to each week and we wish them all the best of luck as they take on Sydney Boys High School this coming weekend – one of the toughest of the GPS schools.
Photo 1: Michael Beynon (Marsfield) taking on his Sydney Grammar School opponent at Tarban Creek.
Photo 2: Charlie Gibson (Lane Cove) protects his team’s goal.
Photo 3: Matthew Snaidero (North Ryde), Ben Wilson (East Ryde), James Wall (Lane Cove North), James Der (Hunters Hill) and Michael Beynon (Marsfield) enjoy each other’s company at the conclusion of their game.
During the winter months, Rugby and Football are certainly the two sports which our boys participate in with the greatest numbers. In fact, there may be some in our community who don’t know a great deal about our third winter GPS sport that runs during this time of the year. In Year 7 we have two boys who represent us in the official GPS Cross Country competition. Each week they head off to different venues around Sydney to compete in a gruelling race with up to 200 other competitors – just in their age group.
Jack Ridal (Mosman) and Rory McHugh (Pennant Hills) represent us in the Junior Division of Cross Country and always do so giving their best effort. Below is a short report written by Jack after his race on Saturday.
In Cross Country we have two days of training a week. Training consists of either hopping on the bus and driving to a track or just running to a random location about 5 kilometers away then running back again.
We’re ranked in age rather than ability in Cross Country and Rory and I run with the Year 8 boys. This makes it a little annoying this season because when we run, the top 50 is usually filled with older boys. But this also means there’s no chance of getting dropped! I guess next season we’ll be at a bit of an advantage.
On Saturday, the bus leaves around 8:30am so we have enough time to walk the course and warm up. The course that we run is usually around two and a half kilometres so by the time we walk it and then run it we do about five kilometres.
I can’t really describe what I feel when I’m running, you don’t really feel the burning muscles or how hot or cold it is. You just run, every thing else just disappears, its sorta weird. Any way theres always mars bars, choc chip muffins and water bottles at the end so I guess its all worth it.
Thanks to Jack for giving us a little insight into how the Cross Country sport works and we certainly wish them luck in the coming few weeks of competition ahead.
Photo 1: Jack Ridal (Mosman)
Photo 2: Rory McHugh (Pennant Hills)
Each Friday evening since mid-Term 1, several of the Year 7 boys have dedicated a huge amount of their time to debating. They meet each week during their lunch time and then debate against other schools on Friday evenings. Earlier in the year it was in the Fed Cup and ISDA competitions while this term has seen the start of the official GPS competition.
Mr Mark Halsted and Ms Donna Curtis have been working hard with the boys and this evening, when asked about how the boys went, Ms Curtis replied “we came second place in both debates but the boys did us proud, tried their best and really are lovely boys”.
One of our debaters is Finn Waugh (Balmain) and below is a short report that he wrote after tonight’s debate.
The debate against Sydney Grammar was never going to be an easy one. Our team, consisting of Matthew Sally (West Pennant Hills), Fred Maher (Cherrybrook), myself and Felix Habib (Balmain) lost the coin toss and it was decided that we would negate the topic “That We Should Ban Video Games That Glorify Crime”. We felt that this topic may have favoured the affirmative but we were certainly going to give it a good shake.
After a constructive 45 minute preparation time the debate began. After an intimidating speech by the opposition Matthew rose and spoke very well. The Grammar second speaker rebutted our case expertly and we knew that things would be tough. Fred Maher tried his best to give us the advantage and again, did a wonderful job. Their third speaker again refuted our case exceptionally well. At the end of my own speech, with all speakers having had their say our team thought that we were in with a shot at victory. Unfortunately the adjudicator disagreed and gave the debate to the affirmative.
It was a good experience for everyone involved and although we lost to Grammar, we know that they are one of the best debating schools in NSW and if we can defeat the rest of the schools starting with Sydney High next week we are still in with a chance to win the GPS competition.
Photo: Back row – Fred Maher, Rory McHugh (Pennant Hills), Matthew Sally, Finn Waugh. Front row – Felix Habib, Nick Jessup (Lane Cove) and Nathan Calingao (Lane Cove). Absent – Alec Mackinnon (North Bondi)
Visual Arts provides unique experiences for students to explore personal insights into their world and the world of others. We are incredibly lucky to have an amazing Visual Art department led by Ms Michelle Tinta.
Our Year 7 artists have spent their time in the studio examining various culinary delights of the world through the traditional practices of drawing and painting. Delights from the patisserie sparked the imagination of our young artists and inspired some daring and colourful compositions. Numerous studies of still life were created to develop skills and confidence in drawing before the boys launched into some imaginative compositions and painterly representations from recipes. Below is a video which depicts many of our Year 7 boys.
Not only have the boys worked in 2D forms, but developed magnificent sculptural pieces. They have shown enormous enthusiasm in the studio and throughout the remainder of the year we hope to foster discipline, courage and experimentation in their studio practice, but most importantly an enjoyment of making artworks.
You can view the artwork your son has created on display at our annual student art exhibition in late August. For parents new to the College, this exhibition surveys the artwork from students in Years 7-12, and features the HSC Bodies of Works. All parents would have received an invitation to the opening of the exhibition on Friday 24th August at 6.30pm. Your son will be able to attend the opening if accompanied by an adult. I will be asking the boys if they will be attending the opening mid next week.
Thanks to Michelle Tinta for providing an explanation of what the boys have been up to!
As we hit the halfway mark of the winter season we have already seen some wonderful successes in our sport. These range across all sports and grades. One of the great things about GPS sport is that each week every boy has the opportunity to play at a level suited to him.
A few weeks ago our 13A Football players had a fantastic game against the favourites Riverview. It would be fair to say that pretty much the whole match was played in our own half with Riverview having almost all the ball and territory. Our boys defended and defended with goal keeper Jack Hill (Wahroonga) protecting the net in awesome style. Despite shot after shot, Riverview were not able to penetrate the defence. With only a minute to go Joeys finally got the ball in the Riverview half, had a shot and scored. Full time … Joeys victory 1-0.
On the rugby field, a highlight of the season has definately been our 13G team. Last week against our 13G s, ably coached by Mr Ross Tarlinton, played Newington 13Fs. It would not be a stretch to suggest that our boys dominated the game. A final score of 121-0 was an amazing effort. Special congratulations was given today at the Headmaster’s Assembly to Joey Saab (Gladesville) who scored 5 tries in the game. It was wonderful to see Joey on stage next to our two Australian Schoolboy Rugby Representatives … seeing them side by side is a real indication of what Joeys sport is about – everyone’s team is important.
Well done to all the boys who have made a superb start to the competition matches this term.
Picture 1: A dedicated Joeys supporter during our first competition matches against Riverview.
Picture 2: Joey Saab (Gladesville) with his team mate Patrick O’Farrell and their coach Mr Tarlinton.