GIB GATE • FRENSHAM • STURT
TERM 2 NO 3 - 28 MAY 2009

Birthday Presence / Presents...
As we prepare for Frensham’s 96th birthday celebrations this weekend, we also pause to celebrate the foundation of Winifred West Schools that comprises Gib Gate (55th Birthday), Frensham and Sturt (68th Birthday).  This Friday’s Service brings together staff and students of all three Schools to reflect on our unique purposes and responsibilities and our shared commitment to a set of guiding values with the ideals of love and service at the core.  Ms Robson, Head of Gib Gate, will offer the Address on Friday and will speak of the Birthday Book tradition that connects generations to their experience at Gib Gate.  Over the weekend we will be visited by the Frensham Year 12 of 2004, returning to the Highlands for their 5-year Reunion and plans are in place for picnics on the Games Field, a Hockey and Netball Round Robin for all current students and matches for Year 12 parents against their daughters.  The Birthday Play on Saturday night and the Sunday morning Birthday Service and Concert will be attended by all Frensham students and we hope to be joined also by as many parents as are able to make the trip to Mittagong for all or most of these events.

Year 12 this year have decided to take a new direction in their ‘giving of a gift’ to Frensham on our birthday but I leave them to advise the School of a decision that speaks well of their sense of need and of responsibility to make a difference for others. 

Mail and messages this week are adding to the excitement of the celebrations that we all enjoy around ‘Birthday’ time and we have also shared messages from speeches and stories of past Birthday highlights, to capture both the differences and similarities at various times in our history. 

The Chronicle
It is timely that the 2008 Chronicle is about to be distributed to Frensham students in the week of the Birthday – a precious gift to all by a dedicated team of writers and an outstanding staff team that comprises the designer, Ms Indra Deigan, photographer, Ms Sabine Madden and editor, Ms Liz Stephenson.

This year I am also honoured to accept on behalf of the School a most special gift – a complete set of bound Chronicles, given ‘to the Head of Frensham in Perpetuity’ by Miss Diana Jenkins.  The bookplate reads:

My collection of Chronicles began in 1930 at the end of my first year at Frensham.  Over a long period of time I’ve collected back numbers, with the help of many friends.  These bound copies and CD of numbers 1-17 are for your instant access when required:

‘It is the business of giving that matters. If we love, if we serve, if we work to foster that spirit which is looking, not for gain, but for opportunities of serving, this school will be worthwhile’ (Winifred West 1938)

Diana Jenkins
At Frensham 1930-1934
Staff Member 1961-1963
Company Member 1961 - 1967 & 1998 -

The row of green volumes is now within easy reach and I am pleased to share an excerpt from a record of 1 June 1920:

From: June 1 1920: Birthday Speech, Winifred West:
Young children love bright colours – stories which appeal to them must generally have to do with princes and princesses who must be rich, beautiful and young.  Some people never outgrow this stage and their heroes and heroines must be, if not princes and princesses, at least dukes and duchesses!  But when we do get beyond it we begin to see that the greys and browns may be beautiful, ordinary human beings heroic and that beauty of mind need not necessarily be accompanied by physical beauty.  After all, the commonest things are the most wonderful – trees and flowers, clouds and rain, shadows and reflections, the freshness of mornings and the beauty of evenings are more marvellous than any caves of Aladdin. There is more romance in our lives than in any fairytale. The difficulty is that we cannot always see it.....We must develop the understanding and insight which will enable us to believe in the infinity of time, space and opportunity, to see beneath the surface and to get at the inner meaning of things...
.....
You children growing up at this time have extraordinary opportunities – the past, good or bad is unalterable but the future is yours.  Here is your world waiting to be made: Are you going to help make it a place of beauty and happiness or are you going to throw away your chances and live selfishly and narrowly, taking pleasure in only superficial things, hugging to yourself any happiness you can get, unmoved and untouched by the great, quiet things of life?

Acknowledgements to:

• Grace Musgrove (Year 11) for her win in the recent IGSSA Cross Country Event, 17 years age group;
• Jill Allsop who spoke recently about Breast Cancer Awareness as part of the Evening With… discussions for Years 11 and 12;
• Recent Girdle recipients: Jessica Nagel (Equestrian) and Lucinda Reynolds (Drama);
• Mrs Tregenza and Mrs Venish who presented the recent Gib Gate Parent Workshop: ‘Parenting in a Digitally Connected World’ to more than 60 parents.  This is the sixth in a series of parent information seminars or workshops offered by the School in support of parent understanding of School goals and practices;
• The ‘Our Town’ Stage Crew:  Year 11 - Tess Hanna, Nicola Forrest and Charlotte Lymbery; Year 10 - Matilda Street and Rosetta Freelander (Year 10) and to Jordan Ashby, Year 11 who will take major responsibility for lighting and sound during the Birthday Service and Concert, to allow Year 12 to be fully involved with their cohort.  It is important to note also Mrs Muir-Smith’s ability to inspire and support a new technical crew to work  independently on major productions and events, every year;
• Year 10, who supported all aspects of the IGSSA Cross Country that was hosted by Frensham on the Friday prior to the Year 8 weekend; IGSSA organisers were most appreciative of the generous, energetic student and staff effort on the day;
• Year 8 and their parents and teachers for their contributions to the success of the recent Year 8 Parent/Teacher weekend;
• Isis Oliver and Molly MacDiarmid, Year 11, who are leading the Pen and Ink Club ‘revival’ and who invited interested students to attend an evening workshop this week, to learn more about plans for inspiring and supporting those interested in writing;
• Mrs Robyn Perry, who volunteered to work courtside in the Parker Gymnasium to sew down the pockets of shorts of our senior Basketballers, so that their uniform meets the current IGSSA ruling on uniform safety  - all were astonished at the speed of her generous service!;
• All who contributed to a gift of $800 for the purchase of resources for the Esther Tuckey Library following the 2009 40 Year Reunion – we are greatly appreciative of this gift;
• Mr Jason Smith, Head of the Science Faculty who has stepped into major areas of the Director of Studies’ role over the past three weeks whilst Mrs Flaxman has been on Leave.

Staffing
We acknowledge this week the expanded role at Frensham for Mrs Belinda Hill, B Sc (UNSW) Grad Dip Ed (Charles Sturt) Horticulture Studies Cert (TAFE) who has been teaching Science part-time at Frensham since the start of this year and working in the Library two evenings per week till 9.00pm.  Mrs Hill has also worked at Gib Gate this year as a Science consultant to Years 5 and 6 in support of their implementation of the JASON project.  Mrs Hill has already established herself as a highly professional teacher of Science with a passion for her subject and for her work with students.

Year 10 Career Assessments - On Thursday 25 June, Year 10 students will be undertaking a series of assessments designed to set them on a path of deciding the types of careers they might wish to pursue.  A letter with full details has been emailed to Year 10 parents.

96th Birthday Events
Details of the 96th Birthday Events were emailed to parents at the beginning of Term 2.  Highlights for the parent community include:

• The Winfred West Schools’ Birthday Service, involving Frensham, Gib Gate and Sturt staff and students commencing in Clubbe Hall at 10.00am on Friday 29 May.  Parents are welcome to attend and are asked to be seated by 9.50am.
• WWS Foundation Annual Golf Day at Mount Broughton Golf & Country Club - Friday 29 May
• Saturday 30 May – full programme of events for students and parents from 12noon, culminating in The Birthday Play Our Town.
• Frensham’s 96th Birthday Service on Sunday 31 May in Clubbe Hall, commencing at 10.00am [Doors open at 9am]

Ahead:
Important Community Dates:
Fellowship AGM and Birthday Lunch – Wednesday 10 June
Frensham Father-Daughter Ball – Saturday 15 August
Service for The Blessing of Pets – 10.00am Sunday 27 September
Foundation / Fellowship, “Generations’ Lunch” – Sunday 1 November

Parent Information Evenings:
• Wagga Wagga ~ Wednesday 5 August
• Nowra ~ Wednesday 19 August
• Camden ~ Wednesday 26 August
• Goulburn ~ Thursday 3 September
• Mittagong ~ Thursday 10 September

Ms J A Gillick
Head of Frensham
Head of Winifred West Schools

AHEAD:

Parent / Community News

GIB GATE

As part of studies in Science and Technology, Year 1 and Year 2 students visited Questacon in Canberra on Monday 18 May.  Year 1 attended a Science show investigating Sound, Year 2 watched a show exploring Forces and Air and all enjoyed the interactive exhibits.  We all appreciate the support of parents and staff with this excursion.

Since 2005 Gib Gate has run a series of workshops for parents focusing on a variety of topics including: ‘Mathematics in Action’; ‘Hands-On Mathematics’; ‘Assisting Students with Internet Research Skills’; ‘Positive Parenting’; ‘Learning to Read’ and most recently ‘Parenting in a Digitally Connected World’.  The latest workshop, initiated by discussion and parent interest generated from the Gib Gate Parent Advisory Committee, was both well attended and received. 

On Thursday 18 June, Gib Gate will host another workshop in this series focusing on the Year 5 and 6 JASON project which provides a highly engaging and integrated approach to Science and Technology, HSIE and English.  The purpose of the JASON Project is to engage the students in Science by connecting them with the world’s leading researchers and experts involved in real scientific exploration.  From this collaboration, a multimedia curriculum has been developed based on real world missions of exploration and discovery.  This project is supported by NASA and the National Geographic Society.  

The JASON project is an integral part of the Stage 3 curriculum at Gib Gate and assists students to develop skills in time management, personal organisation and responsibility, thinking skills and justifying opinions with supporting reasons.  Parents who are interested in learning more about the project and how they can support their children as they approach Stage 3 are welcome to attend.  Forms with details of the workshop and an RSVP slip will be sent home shortly.

Gib Gate students from Transition to Year 6 will be joining Frensham and Sturt, staff and parents at the Winifred West Schools’ Birthday Service this Friday 29 May at Clubbe Hall.  The opportunity for the three schools to come together to celebrate their respective birthdays is always a special event and an excellent opportunity for the students to take part in a formal and important occasion.

Ms Sally Robson, Head of Gib Gate

Curriculum Insights - The Value of the Literature Programme at Gib Gate for the ‘Digital Native’.

Gib Gate teachers recognise and value children’s developing expertise as readers and users of digital technology and continue to be innovative and responsive to the world in which they live now and the future world in which they will work.  Children have sometimes been referred to as ‘digital natives’ and teachers as ‘digital immigrants’.  Hand-in-hand with the use of digital resources in classrooms and the explicit teaching of ICT skills in all learning programmes, the ‘immigrants’ have been mindful that the unique and multifaceted Literature programme remains one of the most important elements of each child’s education at Gib Gate.

Literature exposes the children to new worlds, both real and imagined; it provides insights into other people’s thoughts and feelings, cultures and worlds both contemporary and past.  In addition, children learn more about how language works to create meaning through experiencing written language at its finest.  When literature is read and discussed in the classroom, children’s thinking is extended and challenged imaginatively and critically and this teaches them to consider a variety of different perspectives

Gib Gate teachers have a collective literary experience spanning four and a half centuries and are, perhaps, the ‘Literary Natives’ who will continue on a quest to ensure that all Gib Gate children have the opportunity to enjoy, understand and appreciate books and to enhance their lives with greater wisdom. The Literature programme in every classroom exposes children to carefully selected picture books, novels, poetry collections, traditional stories including Dreamtime, fables, myths and legends and information books.  Furthermore, children and parents have a library full of books from which to choose to supplement these class programme choices.

Mrs Kate Chauncy, Curriculum Coordinator K-6
Coordinator Gifted & Talented Programmes

STURT

FRIENDS OF STURT Christine Hurditch (President), Joan Dinning (Secretary), Julie Musgrove, Henrietta and Ralph Ierace, Ruth Wright, Bill Dinning (Ex-officio members: Megan Patey, Melanie Olde).

Sturt Winter School, Monday 13-Friday 17 July, courses include making a tea cosy, weaving a floor rug, exploring different types of weaving with shibori or making an image in wool and other materials with tapestry.  Visit the Gallery to see the gorgeous tea cosies which can be made during Loani Prior’s course Wild Knitting.  Design and weave a small rug with Melanie Olde in her course A Mark on the Floor, returning by popular demand from last summer.  

Dimity Kidston will again teach students to blend colours and textures to form images in her course Fusion Tapestry Weaving.  Alternatively, join the current Artist-in-Residence, Kay Faulkner on an Exploration of Woven Shibori. 

Other courses available include Basketry with a Maori weaver, Botanical Illustration, techniques for Printing on Clay, Experimental Drawing, Jewellery – making a metal box form, Painting with Gouache, Mosaics, Watercolour Painting, Photoshop, Wood Carving and a two-week Making and Firing Pottery course.

For all enquiries phone 02 4860 2083 or see Sturt website: www.sturt.nsw.edu.au

Megan Patey, Head of Sturt

FRENSHAM

Deputy Head

A reminder to Day Boarder parents – please assist:

• Safety - Girls should be picked up and dropped off from their Boarding House and not from Range Road or Waverley Parade;
• All School Services are formal occasions and therefore girls should wear stockings, blazers and hats;
• School shoes should be cleaned each day.

The last four weeks of Term 2 include the June Long Weekend and the final Closed Weekend.  

• Year 12 students will receive their Trial HSC Examination Timetables within the next two weeks and they will then begin to plan their study schedules;
• Students in Year 11 have slightly more than one Term left before they finish their Preliminary HSC Courses, complete their Preliminary Examinations and commence their HSC lessons;
• Girls in Year 10 will spend the last week of Term 2 on Work Experience;  
• Year 9 students will begin preparations for their Parent Weekend on 15-16 August in Term 3 and this is also the weekend of the Father-Daughter Ball.  Most of Year 9 will be involved in a Bronze Duke of Edinburgh expedition on the final Closed Weekend of Term 2;  
• Years 7 and 8 have their Examination Week in Week 8 of Term 3.

All girls are looking forward to the start of the Hockey and Netball Seasons.  Team Selections will begin after the final round of Soccer and Basketball.

Mr Geoff Marsh, Deputy Head

Director of Studies

At Frensham, teachers are committed to meet the individual learning needs of their students so that they feel supported and appropriately challenged.  It is important that students never feel embarrassed either for being highly competent or for being unable to complete work independently.
Teachers accommodate the diverse learning needs of their students in various ways.  For example, by:

• Providing a range of reading material to accommodate the reading levels of students;
• Pre-testing before a unit of work commences to assist with lesson planning;
• Providing suitable reference material to students who need this to be successful and expecting students of higher ability to locate additional sources;
• Providing sufficient opportunities for repetition or revisiting of skills or knowledge at different levels;
• Being available for individual assistance outside of class.

The School’s aim is to support all students to achieve at their optimum level and to be confident, life-long learners who are not afraid of a challenge.

Mrs Sue Flaxman, Director of Studies

Director of Boarding

The Birthday Week is one of excitement and reflection, looking back and looking forward.  It brings many visitors to the Boarding Houses to see the changes which have occurred and to ask questions about whether or not the girls have changed over the years.  Though the physical may have changed the ethos and the spirit of the girls remain the same.

The groupings of the Boarding Houses are important and vital to the harmony and care of the students.  The idea in the Junior Houses is to have older and younger students to support each other and learn from one another, as senior students have a powerful impact on younger students.  The idea of the ‘crack’ and shadow system is integral to this care and support, providing worthy role models. 

One valuable lesson the School tries to instil in the Boarding community is that respect needs to be earned and it is not a right of passage.  Increased privileges are balanced by increased responsibilities. 

House Staff monitor the growth and development of individual students over time, they become aware of and have a closer understanding of an individual’s needs and therefore can assist students through each phase of their development.

The Boarding staff look forward to meeting parents over the Birthday Weekend.

Mrs Ros Buick, Director of Boarding

Teaching and Learning

On Thursday 21 May, Mrs Lynn Venish and Mrs Bronwyn Tregenza presented to Gib Gate parents the new interactive internet technologies and the implications for children’s safety.  The presentation included advice for parents on setup of computing technologies at home, reasonable rules and boundaries to adopt at home and where to obtain further information.  While the presentation was designed to meet the needs of parents of primary aged children, the messages are consistent throughout the school years.  

Mrs Venish pointed out the rigorous process parents go through when preparing their children to drive a car and suggested that the approach to children’s computer use requires the same careful planning, guidance and appraisal.  

Mrs Tregenza encouraged parents to read and view work by futurist Mark Pesce and Professor Karen Brooks and take time to learn about the latest websites for information exchange using the Common Craft website.

Feedback to the workshop was positive and the School would be most happy to answer further questions.

Mrs Bronwyn Tregenza, Director of Teaching and Learning

Career News

Year 10 Work Experience organisation is progressing well with Employers returning the necessary paperwork.  In Week 8, Year 10 will be briefed and provided with information supplied by employers regarding working-hours, dress code, meal provision and tasks likely to be performed.

Year 10 students will undergo Career Testing on Thursday 25 June with the results available in portfolio format early in Term 3.  A specialised Psychologist will carry out all aspects of the testing.

Year 12 students recently received a copy of the Directory Undergraduate 2010 which is a preliminary universities’ guide listing courses and entry scores for universities across Australia and New Zealand.  It is a useful booklet to which to refer prior to the UAC Guide being available in late August.  Year 12 also receive a monthly newsletter outlining the latest career news from universities, TAFE and private providers. 

The Manager of Student Recruitment at the University of Melbourne, John Paul Collins, met with Year 11 and 12 students last week, to provide them with information about studying in Melbourne.  It was an opportunity for the girls to ask questions about this university.

Parents are advised to check the latest changes to the Youth Allowance Scheme as these will have an impact on current Year 12 students and those who follow.  Students choosing to take a GAP year in order to earn an income prior to starting university will have to meet strict criteria before being eligible for Youth Allowance.

Mrs Cherylynne Williams, Careers Adviser

English and Drama

On Thursday 21 May, members of the Frensham debating Team travelled to Nowra Anglican College for a day of debating which focused on skills development rather than competition.  Twelve girls were able to speak in mixed school and age group teams and another ten watched to develop their understanding.  This team was prepared by Mrs Vink and accompanied by Ms Poppitt.  Preparation for debating will continue through Terms 2 and 3 in readiness for the AHIGS Festival of Speech in September.

Preparation is also underway for the Religious and Ethical Questions section of this competition with Mrs Tregenza facilitating mentoring with an ethicist at Macquarie University.

Students in Years 7-10 will complete their Speaking Assessments over the coming two weeks.  These tasks are closely linked to the curriculum areas studied and are designed to develop students’ confidence in speaking before an audience, to help them identify the requirements of a specific audience as well as to test their understanding of the texts being studied.

In support of their study of Romeo and Juliet and Macbeth by William Shakespeare, girls in Years 9 and 10 were involved in a Shakespeare on Trial workshop presented by Actors at Work, on Tuesday 26 May in the Drama Studio.

Mrs Trish Symons, Director Language Arts

Drama – Birthday Play

Students from Years 10, 11 and 12 have been working hard since last term preparing for this year’s Birthday Play, Our Town by Thornton Wilder.

He wrote the play in 1938 and with it won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama.  Our Town is one of the most frequently staged American plays, an unconventional work in that it has no scenery or props except for tables, chairs, ladders and a few other objects.  When actors dine, they hold imaginary utensils and eat imaginary food; when looking out an upper-story window, they stand on ladders and when the milkman makes deliveries from his horse-drawn cart, there is no horse or cart and so goes the entire play.  Wilder presented the play in this way to force the audience to concentrate on the characters and the themes, the main one of which is that people should cherish every moment of every day, as life is so transient.

Wilder also wrote a narrator into the play, called “the Stage Manager”.  He introduces the play and its setting, looking back from his 1930's vantage point to the year when the drama begins, 1901.  From time to time, he interrupts the play to comment on the action or to inform the audience about a character’s background.  Early on, he even speaks with members of the audience.

This play is not hysterically funny nor is it overly dramatic.  However, it has extended the students’ performance skills as the playwright wished the actors to shine rather than the trappings of props and set.

Mrs Rosalind Muir-Smith, Drama Coordinator

HSIE

Round 4 of the NSW Mock Trial competition will be completed by Friday 5 June.  Frensham will meet the Edmund Rice College team, Wollongong as the prosecution.  The trial will be held locally.

The Year 11 Young Achievement Australia group has commenced meetings with Ms Williams and their mentors and is in the process of deciding on a product.

Mrs Jacqualine McCarroll, HSIE Coordinator

Music

The Year 8 Concert featured polished performances from the Concert Band and the Junior Choir, soloists Rachel Jin and Phoebe Yates and a guitar trio comprising India Doyle, Alexandra Goodman and Emma McCrabb.  The final item involved all Year 8 performing a Swahili song with an accompaniment on xylophones and congas.  All the performers are commended for the quality of their musicianship and presentation.

Senior Music students saw a ‘performance of a lifetime’ at a recent Sydney Symphony Orchestra concert at the Opera House.  The famous Vladimir Ashkenazy was conducting a programme which included Peter Sculthorpe’s Kakadu and Walton’s Belshazzar’s Feast.  The latter work featured glorious singing from the Philharmonia Choir with organ and additional brass playing from the boxes.  Some Year 11 students had the extra thrill of spotting Peter Sculthorpe in the foyer before the concert and getting his autograph.

Mr Michael Spencer, Music Coordinator

Sport

Wet Weather arrangements for Saturday Sport
Owing to the short season for all IGSSA Sports, every attempt is made to play the inter-school matches and cancellations of Saturday Sport are rarely made before Saturday morning, unless a venue notifies IGSSA that the facilities will not be playable prior to this.

Means of gaining information concerning play:
IGSSA Wet Weather Line 1900 922 834
IGSSA WEBSITE  http://igssa.ahigs.nsw.edu.au
Boarding Houses
All the above are updated throughout the morning.

Mrs Amanda Wansey, Coordinator of Sport

Snowsports
Interschool Snowsports - Perisher Blue 15-19 July; Thredbo, Scots Cup 20 July; Thredbo, Redlands Cup 21 July.

Reminder to parents: Interschool Snowsports waiver forms need to be returned to the School to enable the teams to be arranged and entered into the competition.

For those interested in entering a ‘warm-up’ event, the Knox Pymble Snow Sports Race is being held on Tuesday 14 July.  For information on either event, contact Mrs Allison: jallison@frensham.nsw.edu.au

Ms Joanne Allison, Coordinator of Snowsports

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