Jigsaw Semester 2 2011 - International Grammar School

To Otis, I amgrateful for youbecause you areone of my bestfriends. You arefunny and you areawesome ateverything. FadiA true interpretationof International DayExchange students from Rovereto, Italyjoined IGS on International Day, delvinginto the many activities on offer.They tested the local pastries andgelato… Giovanni (pictured at thefood stalls, above) declared all to be“well and great” as he rushed to seethe South American dancing in thedrama space.Earlier, his fellow Rovereto exchangestudents combined with IGS’s Year 11boys on stage (pictured below)to deliver a rousing rendition ofBella Ciao!All is well in the world…This year’s theme for International Dayheld in late July was Global Well-being.Students from Preschool to Year 12and teachers, staff, parents andvisitors all got into the spirit withactivities from musical and dramaperformance to cooking, mathematicalballoon structures and yoga.Guest speaker for the day wasMelbourne-based Mr Stefan RomaniwOAM who is the Executive Director ofCommunity Languages Australia andamong many other roles he is also theChairman of the Multicultural ArtsVictoria and President of the AustralianFederation of Ukrainian Organisations.Mr Romaniw spoke to students aboutthe importance of maintaining one’smother tongue or heritage languageand how we can all benefit fromdiversity in languages and community.He particularly congratulated IGS andthe students for the balance of naturaldiversity they lived in their daily lives atthe school.When touring the activities after theofficial opening assembly Mr Romaniwcommented that the school really‘walks the talk’ when it comes tolanguages, intercultural appreciationand understanding.Bravo!… on International DayYear 4’s ‘wall ofwellbeing’Happiness can be achieved throughthe systematic training of our heartsand minds, through reshaping ourattitudes and outlook. Dalai LamaIGS parent Angela Mary Thomas andYear 4 Green’s class teacher JodieWilliams worked together to implement‘positive psychology’ strategies in theclassroom as part of their celebrationof IGS’s International Day and themeof Well Being.The lessons were based on MartinSeligman’s research and are designedto help the class to deepen positiverelationships and develop tools foroptimistic thinking. The activities allowthe children to authentically expressthemselves and relate to each otherwith kindness and compassion. Oneactivity asked the students to write theirpersonal messages to others on agiant wall poster, the Gratitude Wall.“We've been delighted with 4 Green’sdepth of understanding about thevirtues of well-being, and their amazingability to focus, share and relishgratitude,” Ms Thomas said.Clockwise from top: Fifi Levy-Bell, Year 4 writes onthe wallof well-being; maths therapy, Zorba, Specialguest Stefan Romaniw (left) with part of IGSLeadership team; and many other snaps fromthe day.Scenes from International Day.6

Club sceneThis term, new clubs cropped up andcurrent ones continued to flourish.When Jigsaw visited a few lunchtimeclubs, it was hard to resist the aromasof the pasta and pesto cooked bystudents in Mr Leicester’s Italian Cluband the beef noodle soup in MrNguyen’s Vietnamese Language andCulture club. And even though theboys in the latter club were foundwolfing down their noodles wediscovered they had already learnedsome language and helped preparethe meal. The origami and knittingclubs meet in the Learning Centreand attract students from a range ofage groups.Georga Hilliard, a Year 9 member ofthe 2011 Film Studies class won thejunior section of V-Fest 2011, a shortfilm competition hosted by Rose BaySecondary College. Her film RedRibbon tells the story of a womanremembering her youth and the filmused music composed by anotherIGS student, Year 10’s Giorgia Pillari.Year 10’s Sam Brewer also screenedas V-Fest finalist. His beautifuldocumentary-style film calledEveryday Quirks tackled the themeof homelessness in a mostinventive manner.All students in the film studies courserecently collaborated with the MusicWorkshop Stage 5 Elective class tocreate films incorporating originalmusic with 18 films completed. YoungClockwise from left: Origami; Knitting; CommercialAviation; Vietnamese Language and Culture Club;Italian CookingV-Fest film judges hadGeorgias on their mindlocal filmmaker Maya Newell joinedthe class for much of the productionphase and lent her expertise to thestudent filmmaking. This collaborationwas a big success —eight filmsentered the inaugural Oasis StudentMovie competition and the organiserswere very excited to receive such alarge body of work from one school.And a wonderful postscript: Year 10’sCallum Hawkins made the top tenfinalists in the junior section of theATOM Awards (a national filmcompetition run by the AustralianTeachers of Media) with his film,James, a Vision.Melissa SilkHead of Design and TechnologyLeft: Georga Hilliard with her trophyIGS is OnSTAGE…Congratulations to this year’sHSC Drama students ThusoLekwape (for performance) andAnouk Berney and RhiannonHeggie (for Costume design)for their selection to the HSCshowcase OnSTAGE at theSeymour Centre in February 2012.Thuso was selected for hisspectacular solo performancepiece, He Left Quietly by YaelFarber; Anouk for her beautifulCostume Design for the playCyrano De Bergerac andRhiannon Heggie’s innovativedepiction of costumes for herIndividual Design Project,The Venetian Twins.Thuso’s brightfuture—by luckand by designYear 12’s Thuso Lekwape wassurprised to find upon his arrival inAustralia four years ago to be asked to‘imagine you come from a poorcountry’ as part of a standardgeography lesson exercise on thetopic of global well being. “But I docome from a poor country!” Thusoexclaimed. He had just leftJohannesburg and his family to accepta privately-sponsored opportunity tostudy at International Grammar Schoolin Ultimo.Since that day when he describedhimself as ‘shy 14-year-old in theschool cap with his ears flappingoutside’, Thuso has embraced not justthe academic but all that IGS hasoffered —and especially drama anddesign. It is in the area of drama thathe has excelled and he has just beenchosen along with a handful of other2011 HSC students state-wide toperform his solo at OnSTAGE 2012 atthe Seymour Centre.Thuso discovered he loved to act afterinitially 'going to his drama classkicking and screaming' in his GuardianSharon’s words. Fluent in four Africanlanguages but needing work on hiswritten English, he embraced hisstudies and learned quickly.“Drama to me is the freedom I don’texperience in anything else I do,”Thuso told Jigsaw.His solo performance piece, He LeftQuietly by Yael Farber is based on thelife of Duma Joshua Khumalo, a SouthAfrican who survived death row.14 15“Being based on a true South Africanlife, the role allowed me to connect towhere I came from and express mythoughts about the Apartheid regimethrough the performance,” Thuso said.“Drama to me isthe freedom I don’texperience inanything else I do”.He injected song and physical theatreto develop a performance whichawarded him full marks for his DramaHSC Individual Performance Project.Thuso also studied Design andTechnology this year and for his majorHSC work he designed a low cost,sustainable house suitable for theclimate, materials and culture of poorcommunities in South Africa.In the meantime, he is keen to pursuea career in theatre or television and atthe time of writing, he was finishingwork experience with the Channel 7’sPacked to the Rafters.“I owe so much to my Australian‘parents’ Geoff and Sharon and thefriends I’ve made at InternationalGrammar —the teachers, the thingsI’ve learned here have changed mylife, literally,” Thuso said.At the recent Year 12 FarewellAssembly he offered this piece of Zuluwisdom: “go well, family and friends,the time has come for us to shine in abigger world”.At press time, Thuso was acceptedinto the National Institute of DramaticArts (NIDA) for 2012—an amazingachievement. He also successfullyauditioned for the other top dramacolleges, VCA and WAPA.

Goodcauses…This semester, IGS students pitched inonce again to support good causes.The Senior School raised animpressive $12,140 from theForty-Hour Famine, a BBQ was held toraise funds for the Pink Day for BreastCancer and the whole school raised$750 towards the One-Dollar Day forthose in hardship. In Term 4, Housesgathered and presented thecontributions made by each of theirONE projects: Salvation Army’s OASIS,RSPCA, the World Wildlife Fund andThe Wall of Hands (Literacy andNumeracy Foundation). ONE wasdevised by Year 12’s Jessica Guida toallow each House to concentrate onone charity of their choice for the year.Farewell to theClass of 2011Year 12 celebrated the last week of theirIGS school life with a mixture of glee andemotion.As in previous years, the week wastraditionally packed with activities rangingfrom the Zoo Trip with Kindergarten, whitewater rafting, the Farewell assembly andthe evening cocktail party.Continued next pageGoodsports…There were some standoutachievements in the sporting arena thissemester. Laura Whitehead becameState NSW All Schools snowboardingchampion and Gabriel Wahl is now theNSW Schools champion for 13 yearspole vaulting. The senior boys 100mrelay team also competed at State leveland finished third.And, of course there was the bestachievement of all —keen participation.IGS students participated in an array ofsports from cricket and athletics to AFLand horse riding.Clockwise from top: Almost there; One DollarDay—happy coin collectors; still running; sportheavy-handed; Snowboard champ LauraWhitehead; Primary swim; Year 6 Gala cricket;strange athletics; One Dollar counters; gatheringthe Houses' ONE initiative's Salvation Army andRSPCA collections18 19

Louis WilliamsFarewell to theClass of 2011continuedAt the Year 12 farewell assembly,Principal Michael Maniska wished the2011 cohort well, noting theimportance of this milestone: “I feelproud that the school has producedsuch a fine group of young peoplewho are so clearly the expression ofall that our school values”…and he quoted from Thoreau:Go confidently in the direction of yourdreams; live the lives you’ve imagined.“We believe that your years atIGS have equipped you to doprecisely that”.The departing Year 12 traditionallyexchange a letter of wisdom withKindergarten and this year, StudentLeader Louis Williams delivered arousing speech in his letter to Kindy,as follows.Dear Kindergarten, Class of 2023.(Excerpts)As today is the last day of ourschooling life, the memory of my firstday in Kindergarten springs to mind. Idistinctly remember my mother wishingme well and goodbye, only to watchher turn and walk away from theclassroom. I have the same poignantfeeling given that today, as we walkaway from the classroom, IGS issaying its farewells.2011 has been a year of challengesfor everyone, including us year 12s.Just as the world confronts a complexfuture, you Kindy, have your very ownmountain to climb. Though the worldmay seem a scary and frighteningplace, I urge you only one thing, seizeyour opportunities with both hands.By taking the opportunities that are sogenerously given here at IGS, I canassure you, as I have found, that ourworld is an amazingly interesting andinspiring place. Quoting BobbyKennedy, a hero of mine, “You arehappiest when you are contributingthe greatest”. Some of the happiestmoments of my short life, Kindy,have come from my involvement andcontribution to this school. Beinginvolved and leading a House thatstands to applaud a rival’s victory issomething that has filled me with prideand will remain with me for a very longtime to come.As we have now moved through theend of our beginning, you little guyshave taken your first steps on yourjourney. Yes, it is a long and dauntingone, filled with walking up and downmany flights of stairs, Mr Galea’sshouts to ‘get to class’ and MrDennehy’s long and winding stories.Though, the most important thing toremember is that you’re experiencing ittogether, developing together, withlessons learnt, and memories that willlast a lifetime.20 21Louis Williams, Year 12AThis year’s HSC visual arts and design andtechnology students created a vibrant body ofwork. This is just a snapshot of their works inprogress or when on display at the annualShowcase. Axel Chemke-Dreyfus's (A) andAnouk Berney's (B & C) works were nominatedfor ArtEXPRESS and Axel's work wassubsequently selected for the HSC exhibition.BC