TAS Talks Term 3 Week 3

Reunion Weekend

As anticipated, last weekend at TAS was bustling, vibrant and full of activity as hundreds of past students joined us for the 2019 Reunion Weekend and our major celebration of our 125^th anniversary in Armidale. From the official welcome to the weekend on Friday afternoon to the good hearted competition with current students in swimming, chess, shooting, tennis and tug-o-war, support for the School on the sidelines of rugby and football matches and the official dinners and opening of the new OAU Chapel Street Gates, it was a weekend full of an eclectic range of activities. Beyond being a chance to reconnect for those former students, some of whom had not been back to Armidale and TAS for decades, it offered our current students the chance to see something of those who have gone before them and to feel connection to the living history of this place.

The organisation and operation of a weekend such as the one just passed takes a team effort and I offer congratulations as well as thanks to the team from the Old Armidalians’ Union, the Development and Business Offices, our housekeeping, grounds and catering staff and the many who contributed to the sporting and other events over the weekend.

Mountain Bike Championships

While activities were happening at pace around TAS, the TAS Mountain Bike Team was moving even faster on the Gold Coast as 13 of our best riders competed at the Schools National Mountain Bike Championships. Our Mountain Biking Coordinator, Jo Benham, has reported on some fine results in TAS Talks this week and I commend that to you and offer my congratulations to the team for their performances both on and off the track and my thanks to Jo for her leadership of this growing and very successful sport.

Drought Summit

TAS students, along with other young people from across drought impacted NSW, are invited to apply to join the first ‘NSW Youth Summit on Living with Drought’ later this year. The summit, presented by UNICEF Australia with support from the NSW Government, will be run over three days and give participants the opportunity to come together to discuss the challenges and action needed for young people to better cope with the realities of drought and be better prepared for future droughts. It will include presentations from inspiring speakers and be interactive as delegates connect, engage and reflect together.

The Summit will be held at Lake Macquarie from 9 to 11 October (school holidays) and return travel, meals and accommodation will be fully covered. Applications are now open for any young person (aged 14-24) who is impacted by drought and the deadline is 30 August 2019. To apply, follow the link to:  www.unicef.org.au/droughtsummit

For enquiries and further information, go to the website  (www.unicef.org.au/droughtsummit)

HSC Trial Exams

For our Year 12 students the coming two weeks are the beginning of the ‘business end’ of school as they take their HSC Trial Exams. With course work largely completed, these exams mirror the HSC exams to come in October and they will contribute significantly to final assessment grades and, ultimately, ATARs. This is a time of both pressure and opportunity and I wish every student well as they attempt to make the most of their studies over recent months.

HSC Drama and Textiles

Last night the first of our HSC major works showcases were presented in Hoskins as the final products of our very first Textiles HSC class were put on show and our Drama students staged their individual and group performances. ‘Stitch-in-Time’ and ‘Curtain-Up’ both entertained and impressed and there was a big audience on hand for them. Beyond the entertainment, these events are the live HSC Trials for these creative students and I congratulate each of them for the work they put on show.

City 2 Surf

This weekend TAS will again field a very big team in the iconic and world famous City 2 Surf fun run. Well over 200 students have signed up to take part this year, with large numbers of staff and parents joining them too. That TAS will again take the biggest school team into the race, despite having to travel 500km to the event, reflects the place that the City 2 Surf holds in school lore here. This is a fundamentally good thing that flies in the face of social commentary on young people today and the participation of so many is something for us to be proud of. I again congratulate Jim Pennington on his leadership of the TAS contingent this year and wish all our runners well for what will no doubt be a memorable morning.

Murray Guest

On this day...Ephesians 2:12-18

On 6 August 1945, Hiroshima became the first city in the world to be struck by an atomic bomb.

The city had not been attacked before the atomic bomb was dropped by the US Army Air Forces at about 8:15 that morning, but it was always a potential target. Most of the city was destroyed and estimates of the number of people killed ranged upward from 70,000. Deaths and illnesses from radiation injury rose over the coming years.

Hiroshima has become a spiritual centre of the peace movement for the banning of nuclear weapons.

Peace Memorial Park, located at the epicentre of the atomic blast, contains a museum and monuments dedicated to those killed by the explosion. The cenotaph for victims of the bombing is shaped like an enormous saddle, resembling the small clay saddles placed in ancient Japanese tombs; it contains a stone chest with a scroll listing the names of those killed. A commemorative service is held at the park every 6 August – yesterday.

There was another place, a place of murder and horror. A place that became known as the place of the skull. The place where the innocent, Jesus of Nazareth, was hung on a Roman cross. The most recognisable symbol of death, torment, the humiliation the world once knew. Now has become a monumental symbol for peace.

According to Jewish scriptures, before this time, there were two types of people in the world – Jews and non-Jews, or Gentiles. But through the death of Jesus, they have become one – peace abounds. Because through the death of Jesus Christ on the cross all people everywhere have the opportunity to be restored to God, in fact, find peace with him, as they turn to him in faith. Where we were enemies, where conflict would arise, peace has found a way. Peace between us and God, because we can be forgiven and made new through the cross of Christ. As a consequence, as we find ourselves together in this need, a need for restoration, with a unifying solution, a solution does not rely on our ability, goodness, nationality, gender, wealth, age or any other division – we can find peace not just with God, but each other.

The cross, the place that once was the place of death and destruction has become the symbol of peace and hope.

Mr Richard Newton
Chaplain

Cadets - Activities Day 5 (16 August)

Activities Day 5 will be held on Friday 16 August. All cadets will attend an activities briefing on Tuesday 13 August and will be informed about the required equipment. All cadets will be dismissed following final parade at 5.00pm on Friday afternoon.

Parents of students or student leaders in B Company should have received a permission form for school firearms safety training. It is important that these forms (or a current Minor’s Permit) are returned to the school either by mail/fax or by email to Miss Emma Channon in order for your child to participate in these School activities.

The activities will be conducted as follows:

A Company

1 & 2 Platoon – Kayak touring on Clarence River near Copmanhurst; 1 & 2 Platoons will meet for roll call at 3.30pm, departing at 4pm on Thursday 15 August. A night kayak paddle and overnight bivouac will be conducted, and students will require overnight gear as specified in the list below.

3 Platoon – Advanced First Aid training at TAS.

B Company

4, 5, 6 & 7 Platoons – Firearms safety training (Non-Australian Army Cadets, TAS Rifle Club conducted activity), navigation, first aid and bush cooking to be conducted at ‘Loch Abba’ property. No overnight activities.

C Company

8, 9, 10 & 11 Platoons – Navigation, fieldcraft, bush cooking and abseiling to be conducted at ‘Newholme’ property and Baker’s Creek Gorge. No overnight activities.

Cadet equipment for kayak tour: 1 & 2 Platoon only

Dress during the kayak tour exercise is appropriate wet & cold weather clothing & water shoes suitable for kayaking. Note that all equipment must be able to be carried in pack only – no webbing will be carried on the kayak trek. Sleeping bag may be carried externally to pack. Required equipment includes: 

Back Pack (issued)

• Hootchie (issued)
• Spray jacket* / raincoat*
• Kidney Cup*
• KFS set*
• Water bottles x 2 (issued)
• Towel (small)
• Jumper Camo (issued)
• Torch + spare batteries*
• Plastic bag for wet gear
• Sun screen & insect repellent (tube or roll-on only)
• Change of dry clothes, underwear & socks
• 3m hootchie cord/rope/’occy strap’*
• Pegs x 4*
• Ground sheet (issued)
• Sleeping bag* & Mat*
• Olive Green thermal undershirt*
• Toiletries bag (soap, toothbrush + paste etc)
• Wet gear (swimmers, shirt & shorts)
• Cadet bush hat*

*Available for purchase from TAS Clothing Shop

MAJ (AAC) Angus Murray
Commanding Officer Cadets       

NCIS Netball

On Wednesday 31 July 21 TAS students made their way to Tweed Heads for the NCIS Netball tournament. We entered two teams, Open Girls (TAS 1) and U15 Girls (TAS 4).

With many schools participating, both competitions were split into two pools. Our TAS 1 team made it through the morning undefeated and top of their pool, having come across some strong competition and making it through to the finals. TAS 4 had a mixed morning, finishing in the middle of their pool, and unfortunately missing out on a place in the finals.

After lunch, TAS 1 had a tough game in their semi-final, but with some strong defence, and some fantastic shooting, they took their competition down (Bishop Druitt College – who were last years winners) to score a place in the final. The final saw TAS 1 come face to face with Lindisfarne Anglican Grammar School, who they had earlier beat by three goals in the morning round. After taking a strong lead in the first quarter, and holding that lead throughout, unfortunately, the game slipped away in the last five minutes, with TAS 1 being defeated by three goals in the final.

However, that didn’t finish the day. All of TAS 1 were presented with medals, with six of the girls being selected to represent NCIS Opens at the CIS competition. TAS 4 also had two of their players to represent NCIS U15s at the CIS competition. The strong presence of TAS students being selected to represent NCIS shows how fast netball has grown at the school, and the sheer effort, attitude and determination of all students and staff involved in TAS Netball, so well done all.

Special thanks must also go to Mr Mark Taylor and Ms Rachel Holford for travelling with the girls to Tweed Heads.

Girls selected to represent NCIS:

• Isabella Gooch
• April Johnson
• Macey Michell
• Isabel Newton
• Hattie Oates
• Eliza Ward
• Harriet Wickman

Mrs Rachel Piddington
MIC Netball

Mountain Biking

On Thursday 1 August 14 students from the TAS mountain bike team travelled to the Gold Coast for the Schools National Mountain Bike Championships. This event consisted of three days of competition – Friday’s race was a short fast criterium, Saturday’s, an enduro gravity race (the fasted to get downhill over jumps and through burns wins), and Sunday’s race was a longer cross country event held on the Commonwealth Games track. Our team consisted of Year 7 students Abbott White, Thomas Dundon, Bethan Palfreyman, and Emily Benham, Year 8 students Brody Michell, Will Swain, Angus Goudge and Toby Inglis, Year 10 students Hamish Chalmers, Archi Lawrence, Fletcher Jackson and Jack Armstrong and Year 11 students Riley Simmons and Toby McMaster.

While our students showed that they were very capable at all three disciplines, it was in the enduro gravity race that most of our students performed the best. It demonstrated that they are able to combine their exceptional bike handling skills with the right mix of fearlessness and good judgement. Our best results in this event were from Hamish Chalmers who placed 12th out of 63 Year 10 boys, Riley Simmons who placed 9th out of 39 Year 11 boys and Brody Michell who placed 11th out of 61 Year 8 boys. In the other events Bethan Palfreyman placed an impressive 4th in the Year 7 girls cross country criterium while Toby Inglis was our best placed student over the event. Out of 63 Year 8 boys, Toby (who is young for his year) placed 5th on Friday, 16th on Saturday and 5th on Sunday to earn 7th place overall in the Year 8 boys.

The final schools point score saw TAS place 8th out of 91 schools from around Australia. A hearty congratulations to the whole team on this result and on their outstanding work both on and off the track the entire weekend, making the trip a memorable and enjoyable one for students and staff alike. A huge thank you to  the TAS MTB support crew, which consisted of Old Boys – coaches and bike mechanics Mr Michael Harris and Mr Angus Apps; TAS dads – bike mechanics, coaches and bus drivers Mr Matt Benham and Mr Tom Palfreyman; and the amazing TAS mums, Mrs Anna Simmons and Mrs Kerrie McMaster who catered, cooked for and photographed the team over the weekend.

We continue - busily

The days are certainly longer now, beginning to become warmer especially in the early afternoons and the daffodils, jonquils and wattle trees are flowering: in their combination these facts suggest that winter is thinking about waning and that, in a week or two, the term will have reached its half way mark. However, it is Armidale and the forecast for the rest of the week is cool again. It’s never boring here, is it.

All is well with us. On the whole, the students are settled, very busy with sporting commitments and working sensibly on assignments and formal assessment tasks. Our Old Armidalians Reunion Weekend was very successful. Sports were well managed, especially in terms of sportsmanship, with comments actually being publicly broadcast at this morning’s full school assembly. Mr Jones congratulated our 13s players, in particular for having conducted themselves in a dignified manner. The School Concert immediately following the Opens rugby was brilliant: so many Middle School people were performing and they ‘did us proud’.

Remember, Passing Out Parade is approaching and this means that our Year 8 cohort will represent the school in one of its most public events. Practice for the event begins soon and it’s important that everyone knows why we do what we do here – essentially the Parade constitutes a formal farewell to our Year 12 Cadets. It therefore is very important to these students and their families who will be present. Please encourage your children to think about the sense of occasion that attaches to Passing Out Parade. We’ll be doing this at School as we all want the day to be memorable one that presents our students ‘at their best’.

Student Leaders’ Update

In our recent Monitors’ meetings, we have discussed the idea of having future leaders with specific roles to be used in future years. We believe this would be a great improvement of real advantage to Middle School students in the School’s twentieth year of operation, and especially in view of the combined facts that we are a Round Square School and, for the first time next year, also one that will boast a full International Baccalaureate Middle Years Programme. Each elected person could focus on developing a certain aspect of the Middle School in its wider curriculum form. The leaders would work with the staff of that particular area to look at how the Middle School interacts and operates. For example, there could be a Monitor in charge of music and another responsible for sport, while another could focus on Round Square and community service.

In their own words…

Student Leadership

Next year is 2020 and TAS Middle School will be 20 years old, one of the oldest of its kind in the country. This year’s Monitors have decided that the leadership structure should change to meet its future.

The leaders could be voted for different roles that could include:

• Round Square, and community service
• Performing and Creative Arts
• Academics
• SRC
• Cultural
• Co-curricular
• Sport

We know Mr Harrison has taken this to staff meetings are we are keen to see the results in future years. You should also know the Middle School staff have invited us to begin making possible job descriptions for future Leaders.

Emily Buntine for and on behalf of The Middle School Leaders

Reflection Space 

We, as the Monitors of the Middle School, have paused to consider the importance of a new garden place in the school. This newly-created garden area on our grounds is known as the Reflection Space. This is a quiet space where people can come to heal, think, resolve and reflect on their past and to consider their future. There are two parts of this garden. On entering the space you are encouraged to reflect on your past, then one can walk over a bridge to continue on to contemplate the future and start anew. Around the garden there are colourful poles with words on them such as nurture, triumph, security, growth, activity, positivity and optimism. We would encourage you to visit and reflect on your own personal journey.

Essie (Esther) Lindeman for and on behalf of all Middle School students – now and always

I so enjoy working with these young people: they keep me honest and they make me ‘real’. Thanks for sending them all to us. On the whole, as indicated over the past several weeks, all is well with us.

Mr Mark Harrison
Head of Middle School

Term 3 Week 3 - powering ahead!

There are many things to be celebrating in Junior School at the moment and this is a great opportunity to highlight a good number of them. In the near future, we will be:

i) holding auditions for Madagascar Jr

ii) participating in Activities Day No 4 – Book Week Parade and performance of Roald Dahl’s The Twits

iii) hosting Tezukayama from Japan

iv) Jump Rope for Heart Jump Off…but more of that later.

On Monday, as staff discussed our IB programme and the 2020 Evaluation we are working towards, I was reminded of the fantastic staff we have who continually give up so much to ensure the Junior School is running well. Evidence suggests that, with six new enrolments this term and recent solid inquiries, much of the hard work and planning is paying off. Our students are happy; being on duty recently was a pleasure – there was a cheerful and positive attitude in the playground. Jump Rope for Heart has many of our students jumping; the rest are racing around happily playing as well.

The PSSA Athletics was held in brilliant sunshine on Friday and to see students from all school splaying handball in between races was fantastic. We entered a large team and had some strong results and Mr Wright has included them below in her report. I congratulate them on the way they represented the School.  On Friday night, despite lacking a full team, our U11 Hockey players played with enthusiasm (a couple backing up after PSSA Athletics!) and had a tough 2-1 win. Their tenacity was impressive as was their teamwork and sportsmanship. And you will read some impressive reports of a couple of individuals who have been flying the flag. I congratulate them all and encourage everyone to stay busy and grab the opportunities as they arise.

Trinity College London – belated results

Congratulations to the following for very creditable results in the Trinity College London Singing Exams held late last year. Their certificates have just arrived!

• Initial Singing Entry Level Award – Sophia White
• Entry level With Distinction – Mila Downes
• Grade 1 Singing – with Merit – Thomas Rowe

Riding Success

We have some very talented riders who have been competing in their own time in a number of events recently and you will see report in our sports section this week. I congratulate Charlie Ward, Josh Bourke and Angus Tydd for their successful participation and look forward to more of their exploits in the future as they obviously are a very talented bunch…..

Jump Rope for Heart

All Junior School students should have brought home a welcome letter this week to remind them of our important and valuable fundraiser for this term.  I encourage all families to have a look at the following link with the idea of encouraging our students to get involved in Jump Rope for Heart (https://www.jumprope.org.au/parents). We have a brief window for fundraising this year with so many commitments so it would be great to have as many fundraisers as possible. Thanks to you all for taking action to help your child be physically active, healthy and learn some skipping skills! At the same time, they’ll be giving back to the community by raising money to help fight heart disease. Our kids have really enjoyed the skipping at school since the JRFH Launch, so please ask us if you would like a hand to register. Congratulations to Jacqui Dubois who is our first online, fundraiser in our Jump Rope for Heart Program.

Tezukayama  – TAS Junior School BBQ on Wednesday 21 August

Next weekend, on Saturday we welcome our guests from Tezukayama Gakuin School for their visit to Armidale. Without the billeting support from our parents, this exchange would not be possible and we thank them all for their generosity. Our students have a unique experience when they visit TEZ (again at the end of 2020), so it is great that we have the chance to reciprocate. For your records, we will be holding a BBQ on Wednesday 21 August  in Junior School, with music, games, jumping castle and you are all warmly invited. There is also a final assembly on Tuesday 20 August in the Hoskins Theatre which will be a special moment when our schools join together.

School Spirit

Congratulations to the following students for receiving School Spirit Awards at last week’s assembly:

Raseel Alazizi, James Taylor, Toby Whysall, Ethan Downes, Sam Lewis, Mohammed Alrdadi, Rhidima Das, Cameron Carruthers, Arabella Blanchard, Peter Thompson, Ani Anderson, Lachlan Hunter and Charlie Ward.

Mr Ian Lloyd
Head of Junior School 

Football

TAS Tigers

TAS Tigers played a wonderful game of soccer on Saturday, especially in the first half. It was pleasing to see greater focus on passing and on spreading out on the field, especially from Pip Ogilvie. Many players are growing in confidence and their level of tacking has certainly developed. Duncan Klabe scored a wonderful goal from half way and was well supported by Thomas McKern. Neave Drain was able to make some solid kicks in from the side line and Eloise Leary was able to defend the ball with strength. James Taylor was incredibly speedy on the field and defended with gusto. At training we focussed on passing and scoring goals!

Mrs Veronica Waters

U7s Tornados

The Under 7’s TAS Tornados team played a great game on Saturday against the very good DK opposition! They all participated well and were great team players, passing the ball to each other, and assisting each other when scoring goals. It was great to see such amazing teamwork on the field!

Miss Belinda Macri

Under 12s White

It was a beautiful sunny day for our game against the Walcha Wolves on Saturday. Although Walcha won the game 4-0 we all played really well. There were some great kicks from Tom and Austin and some great clearing from our backs. We had an excellent half time chat over oranges and offered support and suggestions to each other. In the second half, we fought for the ball more. We will continue to work on passing the ball and spreading out. Thank you to our supporters who travelled to Walcha to watch us play. Thank you also to Mr Thompson for being our coach and to Ms Hardin for putting together the draw.

By Samuel Vrkic (Year 5)

Under 12s Blue

From all reports another fabulous game was played on Saturday. The Mighty Blues were down a number of players (and a coach) but the children who were able to play arrived at the game as keen and eager as always. The final score was a very close 2-1 to the South Strikers. Oli Goudge scored the single goal for the blues and the team worked tirelessly with only 10 players and no subs. A special thank you, once again, to our tremendous Year 4 players who stepped up to fill in the gaps. We honestly could not have survived this season of illness without your and your parent’s support. We welcome Josiah Baumgartner to our sub list – thank you for playing Jossie! We loved having you with us. Also, thank you to Jon Goudge who stepped up and managed the players for this week’s game.

Mrs Tania Hardin