infocus
Term 3, No 9 • 17 September 2010
Coming Events
WEEK 10
Monday 20 September
Gold Duke of Edinburgh expedition
Transition visit to Kindergarten
Tuesday 21 September
Gold Duke of Edinburgh expedition
Years 7, 8, 9, 10 exams conclude
Year 12 and Kindergarten Excursion,
Taronga Park Zoo
CIS Primary School Athletics
Wednesday 22 September
Year 12 Cake Stall for World Vision
Primary End of Term Assembly
New Leaders’ Induction Assembly
Thursday 23 September
Transition visit to Kindergarten
Noumea Exchange Family meeting, 6.00pm
Friday 24 September
Spanish Exchange departs
Year 12 Farewell Activities
Year 12 Farewell Cocktail Party, 6.00pm
Antipodeans Tour departs (25 September)
Conclusion of Term 3
WEEK 1, TERM 4
Monday 11 October
Classes resume for Term 4
Thursday 14 October
HSC Examinations Commence
Meet the Principal Information Morning
Friday 15 October
Spanish Exchange tour returns
Editor: Gai Brown
4-8 Kelly Street, Ultimo NSW 2007
Locked Bag 1022, Broadway
NSW 2007
Ph: 9219 6700 Fax: 9211 2474
Email: gaib@igssyd.nsw.edu.au
Term 3, No 9 - 17 September 2010
from the Assistant Principal Senior School
At the end of this term I leave IGS to take up a new role as Head of History at Sydney
Grammar. Although I am excited about focusing on my love of history, it is bitter sweet to
be leaving a school community that has brought me so much joy, challenge and fulfilment.
I feel honoured to have worked closely with exceptionally caring and talented teachers,
and particularly to have been part of the leadership team of this exceptional school.
It will soon be time to begin the task of clearing my office, packing up my books, folders
and radio-controlled Dalek. Contemplating the task has made me reflect on what else I
will be taking with me from my time at IGS.
My most corporeal souvenir of IGS is a bruised tendon on my left index finger, caused by a
vicious sabre cut from a Year 11 girl at Smite Club earlier in the year. The pain has now
subsided, although the swelling shows no signs of doing so. I take this with me as a
reminder of the girls at IGS who take it for granted that they can do anything they put
their minds to and who embrace challenges with courage and commitment. Seeing the
outmoded gender roles still enacted at some other schools is a reminder that IGS is doing
something right.
I take with me a reusable coffee cup, the gift of a Year 12 student, as a reminder of the
growing impetus for social justice and world causes driven by our students. The cup will be
well used, and will remind me of the numerous conversations I have had with students
wanting to do something to make the world a better place. IGS students organised behind
a good cause are a formidable force. I will also pack a card in the form of a model
TARDIS, made for me last year when I was ill with pneumonia. This will be a constant
reminder of the kindness and thoughtfulness of which teenagers are capable, and that I
think is nurtured at IGS.
My musical horizons have expanded. I am deeply impressed that there are Year 10
students with whom I can discuss The Jam and The Clash, but I have also been introduced
to music as diverse as Sigur Rós and 1930s jug bands. I have been soundly beaten at the
Magic card game, flogged at chess and run ragged at indoor soccer. I have taught
students who humble me with their intellectual acuity and creativity.
The most precious aspect of IGS I will miss is also its most nebulous. I refer to the culture
of the school which is accurately encapsulated by the school motto Concordia per
Diversitatem. Unity and a sense of common identity are achieved at IGS through the
celebration and nurturing of diversity, a culture described by a current Year 12 student as
‘the IGSy sorta thingy’. This is a wonderful environment for enthusiasts, and will I treasure
the memory of charming, idiosyncratic young people who have been encouraged to find
their own path at this school, whether through the embrace of doctrinaire Stalinism,
sporting prowess or the indeterminate nerdiness that we do so well.
I look forward to the continual reminders of IGS that I will encounter in the faces of former
students as our paths cross in the years and decades to come. It has been a privilege to be
part of the IGS community, and I wish all parents, students and staff very well.
Alan Dearn
Assistant Principal - Senior School
IGS Newsletter, Issued Weekly on Friday
 NSW CIS ATHLETICS 2010

The annual NSW CIS Athletics Championships took place on Tuesday 14 September at Sydney Olympic Park Athletics Centre.

Despite the grey and wet weather Ringo Taylor, Hugh Millar and Evan Jennis participated with great enthusiasm and are to be con-
gratulated on their determination and outstanding achievements. IGS did exceptionally well on the day.

Hugh Millar set two new CIS records in the 200m and 400m event and placed 2nd in the 100m event.

Ringo Taylor placed 6th in the 1500m event.

Evan Jennis placed 1st in discus and shot put and placed 3rd in javelin.

Both Hugh and Evan will be represent CIS and compete at the NSW ALL Schools Championships which is taking place from 7-10
October. We wish them the best of luck and congratulate them on their wonderful achievements.

Hannah Snooks
Coordinator of High School Sport

TUESDAY SPORT

Seido Karate

This week I was invited to the beautiful and serene Seido Karate Dojo in Abercrombie St, Darlington to see 12 IGS students doing
their test towards being promoted. What a great experience!

Ino and Lee, the instructors, ran the students through their moves with quiet dignity and it was wonderful to see how the kids re-
sponded.

There are physical and mental discipline components to Seido Karate and it was great to see how the boys and girls showed great
respect to their teacher, Dojo and founders as well as how they moved with grace, discipline and power. Particularly impressive was
when, as a group, they yelled in unison as they performed their moves. The hairs stood up on the back of my neck.

I am pleased to report that all students passed their test and will now able to move onto the next level.

Seido Karate will be offered for Tuesday sport again next term. There is scope for beginners as well as for continuers. We also have
a Primary Seido Karate class. We hope that some of our Primary students continue their Seido journey when they move into the
High School.

Paul Galea
Director of Student Activities

INTERSCHOOLS SNOWSPORTS - AUSTRALIAN CHAMPIONSHIP 2010

Last week, the Interschools Snowsports AUSTRALIAN Championship took place in Perisher.
Congratulation to our snowboarder Laura Whitehead in Year 7, who gained

3rd PLACE in Snowboard GS Division 3 Female

6th PLACE in Boardercross Division 3 Female

This is an outstanding achievement and we wish Laura the best of luck competing in the Junior Ski and Snowboard Nationals in
New Zealand in the coming weeks. This brings us to the end of the winter season in Australia.

The dates and venues for the 2011 Interschool events will be available in October on the Interschools website
www.interschools.org.au

I would like to thank all the parents for their help and support throughout the season.

Britta Galfetti Neve

IGS Snowsport Coordinator

Term 3, No 9 - 17 September 2010 2

HSIE NEWS
Economics Excursion
On 7 September Year 12 Economics students attended the Wesley Conference Centre on Pitt St to hear a range of papers presented
on the state of the domestic and global economies. The students explored our recovery from the GFC and looked at the potential
future scenarios of a ‘double-dip’ global recession or the re-emergence of inflationary pressures that would accompany a strong re-
bound. As James Covic noted: ‘I now appreciate the RBA’s current neutral stance on monetary policy’.

Special mention also goes to Michael Lo who was in the right place at the right time to collect one of the lucky door prizes. He was
last seen amid a scrum of IGS students telling him what a great person he is!

Jonathan White
Economics

History Week Event

History staff from IGS recently attended a History Week event initiated by Tranby Aboriginal College, the History Council of NSW ,
UTS and Wygana Aged Care services. The theme of the event was “Through Their Eyes - Learning About the Past “ and involved
Aboriginal elders sharing their life stories. These remarkable stories offered a unique opportunity to reflect on the relationship be-
tween indigenous and non-indigenous Australians and demonstrated the importance of oral history as a means of discovering the
past.
David Miller
Head of HSIE

DRAMA NEWS
Congratulations to our Year 12 HSC Drama students who have been nominated for OnSTAGE at the Seymour Centre in 2011.

OnSTAGE showcases a selection of exemplary performances from the 2010 Higher School Certificate. Mikaela Atallah, Samantha
Roberts, Matthew Laga’aia and Tamika Hodgson have been nominated for their Group Performance project entitled “What a Won-
derful World”. This group collaborated exceptionally well, facing a range of challenges throughout the devising process. Their
nomination is testament to the support these students showed to one another and their ability to work as a true ensemble. This
group was able to manipulate the dramatic elements of mood, atmosphere and tension through soundscape and Expressionist
theatre devices.

The Group and Individual Performances this year at IGS were polished theatrical journeys which were very well received by the audi-
ence who came to view the showcase night and the students who were part of the examination audience. Mention also goes
to ‘Quiet Desperadoes’, ‘Multi’, ‘Changes’ and ‘Brian’ , the remaining Group Performances, which each gave their audiences highly
sophisticated ideas to ponder.

The Group Performance is the only area in the HSC where students must work as a team. They assume the various roles of re-
searcher, manager, communicator, director, scribe, planner, actor and leader. Students confront their own personality types and
may encounter some negative aspects within themselves and others. They may meet the saboteur, the sloth, the protector of ideas
and the child who needs to be led. They are forced to exercise the skills of negotiation, analysis, creativity and positivity while pur-
suing a passion in the devising of an 8-12 minute piece of original theatre. The skills the students are expected to utilise are highly
valued in any workplace environment and it is a credit to these Year 12 Drama students who work incredibly hard together. Stu-
dents often say that the Group Performance can be the most challenging but the most rewarding aspect of their HSC.

Through itinerant marking of the Drama HSC performance examination, I was able to see the powerful work that young adults can
engage with as they create theatre and explore storytelling devices to examine issues and ideas which are important to them. What
a positive way for our youth to make a statement and what a wonderful challenge to successfully tackle collaboratively!

Rita Morabito
Head of Drama

VISUAL ARTS NEWS

Congratulations to Chester Buchanan, Year 12 who has had his major film work for art selected to be screened in V Festival. This is
a fantastic achievement for Chester.

Please try to attend the screening of his film on Tuesday 21 September at the Chauvel Cinema in Paddington at 6.00pm.

Melinda Hodges
Visual Arts Department

Term 3, No 9 - 17 September 2010 3

MATHS SPOT

This week all of our Year 7 to 10 students are sitting their Yearly Examinations – good luck!
Below one of our maths teachers, Mr Campbell, writes about an activity he conducted with his Year 7 class, to investigate perimeter
and area.

“More news from our spectacular Year 7s, this time in the form of an activity involving the area and perimeter of a basketball court.
On Friday 3 September, 25 students from my Year 7 Mathematics class took part in an activity where the students had to measure
the dimensions of a basketball court and draw conclusions about the area of the court and what it meant. At the start of the activ-
ity the class was asked ‘How many people could fit into 1 square metre?’ As some of them found out, it can be quite challenging to
fit more than 10 people into 1 square metre, as seen in the photo below.
The class then worked in pairs to calculate the area of the court and draw a conclusion as to how many people could fit on the
court. A staggering 5000, as calculated by all the students.
The task then turned to research, as they were then asked to find the area of NSW on the Australian Bureau of Statistics website
(www.abs.gov.au). Let’s just say the estimate for the number of people in NSW was larger than they predicted. At the end, the
students were asked to compare their answer with the actual population of NSW and explain why there is such a large difference.
Some of the answers included ‘because every person is a different size’ and ‘because we didn’t count house and living space and
factories and riverland’.
At the end of the lesson, much fun was had by all.”

How many Year 7s can fit into a

Measuring the basketball court with
square metre?
trundle wheels

Next week is the last week of Term 4 and the last week of school for our Year 12 students. I taught this year group in Years 9 and
10 – they are a wonderful, frustrating and funny group of young people with a strong sense of justice and caring. From all of us in
the maths faculty – good luck with your HSC and all that lies beyond!
Noone took up the challenge of last week’s maths problem – I would like to think it is because all students were busily engaged in
their study! However, as it is the type of question that could appear in the extended question section of a Year 8 or 9 paper, I will
take the time and space to provide a full solution.

The question was: Three ‘quarter circles’ and one ‘three quarter circle’ – all of radius 10 cm – make this ‘jug’ shape. What is its
area?

Constructing the diagram on the right makes the solution more

obvious. The area of the jug is made up of the area of the circle
on the bottom plus the area of the square (side length 20 cms as
each of the circles have radius 10 cm) less 4 times the area of each
quarter circle (don't double count the top quarter of the bottom
circle).

1
A    10 2  (20 2  4     10 2 )
4

Jane Martin
Head of Mathematics
janem@igssyd.nsw.edu.au

Term 3, No 9 - 17 September 2010 4

LAST WEEK TO ORDER CLASS PORTRAIT TEA TOWELS!
 

Class Portrait Tea Towels Orders

MUST be placed in PTF Box by
the end of Term3.

Thank you to the Primary and

Preschool/Transition teachers for assisting
the students to create their self portraits.

These drawings will be printed onto quality screen 
printed linen/cotton Tea Towels, featuring student 
drawn portraits of all students and teachers in each 
IGS Year Group ‐ 
(Preschool/Transition, Primary K‐6 and Year 12). 

* * *   Place your order now   * * * 

COST:    $15 per Tea Towel (payment in cash or cheque addressed to ‘IGS PTF’) 

COMPLETE:  Order form on last page of this inFocus and return with payment to the PTF Box at Reception. 

DUE:    Final date to place orders‐Friday 24 September (delivery to students will occur mid‐Term 4) 

The Class/Year portrait tea towels are an IGS PTF fundraising activity. Your purchase of these tea towels also 
provides a great contribution to 2010 IGS PTF fundraising and thus to the School. 

Enquiries welcome, contact: ptf@igssyd.nsw.edu.au 

COLES “Sports for Schools” PROMOTION

From now until Sunday 31 October 2010 for every $10 spent at Coles Supermarkets, Coles Online, Bi-Lo and Pick’n
Pay, you can earn a Coles Sports for Schools voucher worth 1 point (given at check out). Students can collect these
vouchers from family, friends and neighbours and give them to Home Class Teachers, Tutors or drop into Reception on
Level 2. At the end of the promotion, our efforts will be tallied, and we get to go shopping for new sports equip-
ment!

 Footballs, soccer balls, cricket balls, netballs, basketballs, even juggling balls are all up for grabs

 Ask for your vouchers Collect the Sports for Schools when you shop at Coles Supermarkets, Coles Online, Bi-Lo or
Pick’n Pay between now and 31 October and give them to your Home Class teacher, Tutor or Reception

 We will then redeem these vouchers for brand new sporting equipment for our School!

You’ll find more details on the Coles website: www.coles.com.au/sportsforschoools.

Emma Richards
Head of PDHPE

Term 3, No 9 - 17 September 2010 5

Term 3, No 9 - 17 September 2010 6