Bob Meakin, Deputy Headmaster & Head of Senior School

Dear Parents and Carers

Please read the important message about whooping cough from our Health Centre below. Can I ask for parents, particularly Year 8 parents, to look out for these symptoms as we would not want this to spoil the start of the holidays. Whilst we think this is an isolated case, this is courtesy information for you, just in case.

There has been a case of whooping cough (pertussis) diagnosed in a Year 8 student and due to the current outbreak of whooping cough in NSW schools, the following information from NSW Public Health should be noted –

• Coughing spreads the infection to others nearby and can be especially dangerous to babies.
• Whooping cough starts as a cold and progresses to bouts of coughing that may last for many weeks.
• The infection can occur in fully vaccinated children as immunity fades over time.  
• If you are unsure of the vaccination status of your child, please speak to your GP or access the Australian Immunisation Register through your MyGov account.
• Children with symptoms should see a GP and if diagnosed with whooping cough, please let the School know and keep your child home until they have taken 5 days of antibiotics.
• Keep coughing children away from babies.

On Tuesday evening, we enjoyed our Carol Service at St Andrew’s Cathedral. Sincere thanks to all parents who attended and made the occasion special for our students and in particular our musicians, our readers, and our choir.

Our Year 11 IB Diploma students presented their Group 4 projects on Sustainability within the Household on Tuesday. The standard of their work was extremely impressive as was their pitch to students and staff on their innovations and solutions to household sustainability.

Our innovation presentation continued with our Year 7 Visual Arts display in the Dining Commons, where stadiums with an Australian theme were presented by our Year 7 students. The display generated a lot of interest among the students and our artists gave some outstanding presentations on their ideas and creativity. So many senior students were incredibly impressed with this Year 7 cohort of artists. Some of these may end up as Christmas present for you if you have a son in Year 7!

In assembly yesterday, we welcomed Angus Pitt OC’90 and son of Martin Pitt, our former Deputy Headmaster. It was wonderful to welcome Angus back to the community and he presented the Pitt Cup for the 2023 Inter-House competition to Hone House. Congratulations Hone!

A reminder that Prize Giving is on Tuesday 12 December at the Hordern Pavilion with a 6.30pm sharp start. We look forward to seeing you all there.

As this is the final Link message of the year, I would like to wish all families a safe and joyous Christmas and warmest wishes for a Happy New Year.

Have a good week.

Bob Meakin
Deputy Headmaster & Head of Senior School