TAS Talks Term 4 Week 5

Doctor Who (the third for those who are interested) once said “Courage isn’t just a matter of not being frightened, you know….It’s being afraid and doing what you have to do anyway.”

I imagine this was exactly the type of courage that the soldiers who fought in the First World War possessed, a conflict filled with extraordinary acts of bravery and heroism from ordinary people. As a school, we will all pause this Friday to remember those who have fought and died, or returned, but still sacrificed for others; demonstrating courage in conflict over the years. Indeed, I was asked last week about traditions we keep at TAS, and one of the most poignant of these takes place when we pause each week in assembly to remember people whose names are read from the Book of Memory. The Book of Memory dates back to 1950 when it was commissioned and dedicated. It contains a page for each student of TAS who lost their life in or as a result of conflict; such an important way for students to remember and connect to those who have gone before them.

Courage can be shown in many ways, and this week we also formally inducted our new senior student leaders. These young men and women have shown courage in putting themselves forward to be selected for leadership positions and will need to call on it from time to time to ensure they make the right decision in leading their peers and younger students, something that is not always easy to do.

Courage is an attribute that we hope to encourage and develop in TAS students throughout their journey here through creating an environment where students are challenged, yet have the ability to make mistakes, perhaps fall short of their goals, yet be encouraged to learn and try again.

The upcoming Bivouac, followed by Activities Week later this term present a real challenge for many of our students, but one that very few regret when they have returned. It is what is know as Type 2 fun, sometimes miserable when it is occurring, but fun in retrospect; courage is required, but the rewards are great!

Dr Rachel Horton
Principal

The below poem was first published in the Armidalian in 1918 and written by ‘R.B.’ an OA of the School. 

‘Requiescant Armidaliensis (after R.B. Armidalian Dec 1918)

In far-off France, ‘mid Syrian sands,

In many a nameless grave on Turkish soil,

They rest in peace, who, after months of toil

And perils great, have from the lands

Of freedom scoured those foreign bands

That dared to ravage and to spoil;

Their part it was at length to foil

The accurs’d invader with his grasping hands.

Those men who from this school of ours have gone

Are not they all the very living fount

Where those of us whose lives have just begun

May learn the sacrifice of love? We count

Them sleeping – Nay! Not sleeping e’en,

While memory shows the present what hath been.

On Friday, all students and staff will come together on Adamsfield as we observe Remembrance Day. One hundred and three TAS Students and Staff of The Armidale School made the ultimate sacrifice for Australia across all major theatres of war. There is no doubt the association TAS has with the armed services is special and this broader connection with service remains strong to this day.   

Along with the rest of the Nation, we will pause for a minute’s silence at 11.00 am to remember those who have passed and reflect on the freedoms we enjoy as a country. Throughout the year our students are reminded of ‘time and place’ and show an understanding for how to conduct oneself in different contexts. Remembrance Day is one such example where our students are able demonstrate their understanding of this poignant occasion, from my experience the students do this better than any other School I have seen. To support the occasion, all students are required to wear their Formal Uniform this Friday.

Our Student Representative Council and Prefects are continuing to sell red poppies this week for students and staff to wear during the week and for our Remembrance Day Service. 

Australians wear a Red Poppy on Remembrance Day for three reasons. Firstly, in memory of the sacred dead who rest in Flanders’ Fields. Secondly, to keep alive the memories of the sacred cause for which they laid down their lives; and thirdly, as a bond of esteem and affection between the soldiers of all Allied nations and in respect for France, our common battleground. 

(The Australian Army, 2022) 

 

Mr Ray Pearson
Deputy Principal

Golf Day

Thank you to all who attended the TAS P&F Golf Day last Friday. With a larger turn-out than last year and the sun shining after so much rain, it was a spectacular event for players of all skill levels – for many of us however, golf was a good walk ruined.

Prizes were awarded across 5 categories with various TAS merchandise going to the champions. The coveted ‘green jacket’ – an original circa 1960 TAS Sports Blazer – was won by David McDowell for closest to the pin from the tee.

Look forward to an even bigger Golf Day in 2023.

Christmas Puddings

The TAS Christmas Puddings have been cooked and are already being collected. Don’t miss out on your 2022 pudding.   Place orders and pay for your pudding purchase through this link TAS P&F Christmas Pudding

Contact the P&F Executive

If you have anything you would like to raise with the P&F Executive, please send us an email at [email protected]

Mr Paul Gaddes
P&F President

Congratulations to our graduating class of 2022; with the completion of the final HSC examinations last week we are beginning to hear about some wonderful early entry offers for some of these students. This is an exciting time for them with great prospects on the horizon. HSC results will be published on 15 December this year.

In the broader academic world here at TAS, ICAS results have started coming in and there are some pleasing achievements in English, Spelling and Writing. More results will arrive in the coming weeks from other areas of learning. Notably, Peter Thompson and Bella Fernance received Distinctions in English; Peter received a Distinction in Spelling; and Bella achieved a Credit in Writing. Additionally, Andi Li achieved a Credit in Spelling; Ali Nivison, Marshall Kellett, Ava Watts and Scarlett Buntine were recognised with a Credit in English. Congratulations to these students for these fine performances. Certificates for Participation and Merit will be presented to students during their English lessons later this week.

Year 6, 7 and 8 completed their final examinations at the end of last week and Mr Polson, Ms Taber, Mrs Piddington and Ms Kreuzen all spoke of the maturity and hard work they saw on display from our Middle Schoolers during this formal assessment period. Well done to all involved and best wishes to the teachers who are now working on marking and providing feedback for these examinations and assessments.

We look ahead to a busy few weeks for our academic community as our new Year 12 students work on their HSC courses, and Stage 4 and 5 students continue to complete assessable work during the final stages of their academic program for 2022.

Mrs Gill Downes
Director of Teaching and Learning

Spotlight Series - Social skills and friendships

This is the second article in my spotlight series and reflects another common issue that presents in my office. Friendships and social skills…

Making friends and learning how to read social cues is a very complex process and one that often needs to be supported by adults. It is difficult to write for the whole school on these topics, I will do my best.

I often see most issues emerging in the Middle School years and over the years of working with this age group I have come to view this time as an important developmental stage where our young people are moving from a developmental period of playing alongside and beginning to play cooperatively. Generally, the ages of 6-12 is a fairly settled experience of kids being cooperative with friends, and you as parents are the most important people in their life. As adults we can model and problem solve most situations easily, indeed Primary School Teachers are adept at this.

Middle School is the early adolescent period, and this is much more interesting (read complex and tricky) developmentally. As parents you are still incredibly important, but so are friends! During early adolescence, friendships are likely to assume greater importance and these relationships, and the way young people engage in them, are much more sophisticated and complex than children in their social dealings with, understanding of, and demands on, their friends. But this is a time of friendships on training wheels, where adolescents are learning about the boundaries, rules and HOW to engage in deeper relationships with others.

This tempestuous, intense and changeable way of relating to friends during the 12-15 years age groups can be contrasted with older adolescent friendships. From the age of 15 years into adulthood, friendships are much more settled and mutual and best described as ‘autonomous interdependency’.

How to tell if a young person may need help with their social and emotional literacy…

• Frequent, ongoing conflict with other children that does not occur in phases but dominates most of their friendships
• Difficulty seeing other people’s perspectives, often feeling they are hard done by and misunderstood by their peers
• Excessive moodiness that cannot be explained by what is going on in their environment
• Difficulty handling feelings – often overreacting or having meltdowns when things do not go their way. While this can be developmentally appropriate for toddlers and preschoolers, by school age most young children can cope with difficult feelings with their peers most of the time
• Expressions of loneliness or feeling disconnected from others
• Social anxiety – spending too much time warming up to interactions so that they miss the chance to play and interact
• Poor empathy – unable to notice, understand and accept other people’s differing emotions and perspectives
• Frequently avoiding parties and play dates
• Struggling to use friendly ways to get another person’s attention
• Choosing to spend more time alone during play breaks than with peers
• Getting along better with adults than with children their own age
• Ongoing difficulty with winning and losing well into the primary school years

Source: Generation Next “Nurturing Young Minds” Dr Ramesh Manocha

Take home messages

Learning social and emotional literacy skills is a process that takes time and practice. A child will not be able to use those skills immediately or all the time without plenty of encouragement and gentle reminders.

Some children and adolescence not only like to be in places such as the library instead of the playground but need that time away from others to recharge their batteries.

Siblings can provide a helpful backdrop for developing and practising these important skills. Through fun as well as conflict, they can problem solve together.

Children without siblings can develop these skills when school friends join family outings and through extended family and other interest based or sporting groups.

In time, most will find their way and develop friendships.

If you have any questions, concerns or would like to talk further about your child’s social and emotional development, please contact Alix Goudge [email protected] or your GP who is a wonderful resource of information about child and adolescent development.

Ms Alix Goudge
TAS Counsellor

Summer Sport is well under way and it has been wonderful to see parents back at TAS and other venues supporting as we compete in competitions across the New England. The TAS First XI won their opening match of the season on Wakefield last Saturday, a fantastic start to the season. Unfortunately, they fell just 15 runs shorts against St Columba Anglican School on Tuesday in the Douglas Shield, in a rain delayed match. A commendable effort given the average age of the team.

Rowing has gone from strength to strength this season with increased numbers across the whole program. The Indoor Rowing Competition that took place the weekend before last in the TAS Gym was well attended by students, staff and parents. This event provided an opportunity to showcase the sport and it was pleasing to see the incredible support for rowing in our community. The Rowing season launch will take place this Saturday morning at Malpas Dam, another chance for parents to be a part of TAS Sport.

I commend students on their engagement in the summer sport program. TAS Sport provides opportunities for students to challenge themselves, connect with their peers and in many cases try something new. Invariably there will be success and disappointment as students participate but the key is to seek improvement and enjoy the comradery that comes with playing sport at school.

Mr Huon Barrett
Director of Co-curricular

Mountain Biking

On Saturday 5 November 19 students from Year 8 and up in the TAS Mountain Biking Team headed to Taree. We arrived at the trail on Saturday afternoon to check out the 11km race track before heading to Old Bar for a quick swim and then out to dinner and to ‘sign-on’ and collect our race plates.

We camped overnight in Kiwarrak State Forest near the event centre before getting ready for a 9am race start on Sunday. The event was a six hour race, completed solo as pairs or in teams. Most of our students and staff competed in teams, except for Dr Horton and Mr Coulson who competed as mixed pairs and our team captain, Toby Inglis who entered solo!

We had two podium finishes in the student teams. Well done to Will Brett, Thomas Dundon and Abbott White for claiming victory in the junior division, with Oscar MacFarlane, Luca Williams and Lachlan Hunter claiming third. While the other teams might not have received a ‘podium’ recognition in this broad category (13 – 19yo, male and female riders) they all performed outstandingly in the race and should be proud of themselves. The year 8 team of James Palfreyman, Baxter Williams and Angus Benham came a close fourth place, with our all girls team of Bethan Palfreyman, Emily Benham and Lucy Traill placing 6th. Special mention should go to Toby Inglis who recorded one of the fastest lap times of the day in the solo open men’s division, before having to withdraw due to illness. Not to be outdone by the students, the two staff teams also claimed podium positions.

Full results of all competitors can be found here https://my.raceresult.com/217279/resultstrails with skillful riding and perseverance.

Overall, the event was well organised and the coastal trails were an enjoyable change from our local tracks. It is an event we hope to get along to again next year!

Mrs Jo Benham
MIC Mountain Biking

Over the weekend our Big Band found time in the busy weekend schedule to add some musical colour to the St Peters Gardens tour, filling the cathedral’s lawns with beautiful music. Then on Sunday the Chapel Choir headed out to Gostwyck to make the most of the great weather and sing. TAS Music is once again an important community player, giving of time and creative talents, and we look forward to 2023 and seeing even more opportunities for our students and staff to share their gifts across Armidale and the region.

This  Saturday 12 November from 9.30am – 12.30pm will be a Working Bee for Shrek The Musical Jr. With a focus on the construction and painting, there’s bound to be a job for every hand keen to ensure it is a big, bright, beautiful production. Toss some old paint clothes on and complete the Google form sent out by Junior School so we can make it a productive TAS community event.

And for those parents and Senior students, this is a final plug for ADMS’ Company performing its final three shows at The Armidale Playhouse this Friday, Saturday and Sunday. With an exceptional cast, incredibly tight band, and some unexpected technical effects, it has proven itself as one of the tightest community productions we’ve seen in some time. Company is a thoughtful musical reflecting on life, love, and relationships and has provoked some powerful responses from audiences. A special mention of Music Vice-Captain Chelsea Bourke who organised a bus-load of keen students to be there at Opening Night cheering on Mr Lane and the rest of the cast.

Mr Andrew O’Connell
Head of Creative Arts>

Middle School Lunch and Final Assembly

Dear Parents,

I would like to take this opportunity to personally invite you to join myself and the Middle School staff for Lunch in the Middle School grounds on Thursday 8 December at 12.45pm. This will be followed by Middle School Final Assembly taking place in the Gymnasium at 2.00pm.

Please use the link provided below to RSVP for catering purposes.

Mr Luke Polson
Head of Middle School

Shrek Working Bee – Saturday 12 November from 9.30 am -  12.30 pm

Thank you to all those who have been able to give of their time this Saturday to assist with the SHREK working Bee. There will be plenty to do so we hope you will be able to come along and assist. Morning tea will be provided and there is much to be done. Please contact the school for further information if required.

TAS Junior School Triathlon – Friday, 25 November

As previously advertised, we are hoping that all the bikes are being prepped for the very exciting Bike Safety Day and Triathlon on Friday 25 November.  Bike Day will commence at 9.00 am with activities involving an obstacle courses, long-distance rides and bike safety sessions. Our Triathlon will commence at 2pm after walking the course at 1:30. Lunch will be as normal on the day.

Kindergarten and Year 1 children will all be involved in a team event, whilst students in Years 2 and above will have a choice of either entering as an individual or as part of a team.

Following are the distances each year group will have to complete as part of the Triathlon.

Please ensure your child has their bike in good working order ready for the day, along with their bike helmet, drink bottle and hat. Unfortunately, those without a road worthy or appropriately safe bike will not be able to participate and time constraints do not allow for repairs and maintenance on the day. Children are to wear sports uniform for the day with their house-coloured t-shirts.

ICAS results

The ICAS results are beginning to be returned to school and we are very excited and proud to announce the following results, noting that High Distinction = top 1% of participants; Distinction = the next 10% of participants; Credit = the next 25% of participants and Merit = the next 10 % of participants.

Science

• Credit – Patrick Kim, Xavier Nozad Kahriz, Edward Draney
• Merit – Carla Price, Roman Sue
• Distinction – Rory Secker

Digital Technologies

• Credit – Evie McDonald Bronte Polson, Matilda Polson
• Distinction – Carla Price

English

• Merit – Bronte Polson, Edward Draney, Cecilia Price
• Credit – Patrick Kim, Daniel Mo, Rory Secker, Ava Watts, Scarlett Buntine
• Distinction – Carla Price, Matilda Polson
• High Distinction – Xavier Nozad Kahriz

Spelling Bee

• Distinction – Xavier Nozad Kahriz, Matilda Polson

School Spirits

Congratulations to the following students that received School Spirit Awards last week:

Morrie Rylands, Edward Minter, Felix Boyce, Byron Ahern, George Quast, Harvey O’Brien, Edward Benham, Hassan Almokhtar, Mason Grace-Booth, Bronte Polson, Emi Fawcett, Toby Whysall, Ruby Rice, Lara Thavapalasundaram, Sophie Colyvas, Ellen Adams, Xander Dell, Lachie Wood, Katie Flynn, Mila Nexo, Tom Loxley and Mohammed Alrdadi.

Happy Birthday 

Many happy returns to Macey Rodgers and Riley Sykes for your special days this week.

Sport

Indoor Hockey

Last Friday afternoon’s hockey match was a great reflection of teamwork and persistence against a strong Armidale City outfit. Even with one player short, TAS stuck to the task of defending their own goal while scoring 1 of their own, finally losing 4 -. Emi Fawcett displayed great skills in attack, really well supported by Duncan Klabe and Lexie Kay, with Ed Murray and Violet Glover in defence. Both Lexie and Violet were also strong in goal and prevented a possible blow out in the score. It is great to see this team shaping up and enjoying themselves so far this season.

Mr Ian Lloyd
Head of Junior School

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