Bob Meakin, Deputy Headmaster & Head of Senior School

Dear Parents and Carers

On Monday morning, we commenced the week welcoming our American exchange students from the Lovett School.  These five students are kindly being hosted by students and families from Year 10, a special thanks to James Malcolm, Oliver Vasudeva, Max Scales, Luca Alexander and Harry Sewell and their families.  Our guests have immersed themselves immediately into their academic work as well as contributing to the co-curricular programme.   Our American friends are with us for four weeks and we wish them every success.  Our hosts will be visiting the USA and Lovett School in Term 4. 

A special thanks to all the Year 10 parents who attended the IBDP information evening last night, which was hosted by Mr Hanrahan and Mr Jolly, as well as some key subject staff.  Judging by the number in attendance it appears that the IB Diploma will be very popular next year. 

I am also grateful to the many students who made the trip over the mountains to Kinross Wolaroi School in Orange last weekend for sport.  This was a very long day with a 6.00am departure from School and many buses did not return until after 9.00pm that evening.  Whilst this was a long day, it was an extremely enjoyable day and we were hosted superbly by Kinross with clement weather to boot.

Next week a reminder that Friday 7 June is our Year 7-11 Parent Teacher Interview Day.  Any student who wishes to be on campus can do so and Senior staff will supervise their studies.  I hope you find these meetings productive and informative.

Wishing everyone the very best for the week ahead.

Best Wishes

Bob Meakin
Deputy Headmaster & Head of Senior School

Nick Jolly, Director of Academics / Deputy Head of Senior School

Dear Parents.

Last Thursday, Year 7 engaged in an MYP Interdisciplinary Unit (IDU) entitled “People and Food” . This immersive experience was designed by the TAS and PE Departments to enhance our students’ understanding of food, nutrition, and the cultural significance of various cuisines. It provided a valuable opportunity for students to develop essential life skills, appreciate diverse food traditions, and foster a holistic approach to well-being. Activities included: Cooking Crepes with Chef Luca, Nutritional Scavenger Hunt, Bush Tucker and Indigenous Ingredients and Mindfulness Activities in the old gym. A huge thanks to Joel Budd (Head of TAS), and Tom Pyle (Head of PE), the TAS and PE departments for your work leading this initiative with our Year 7s. The students greatly enjoyed the learning experiences.

This week as a part of their subject selection process, Year 10 enjoyed a Curriculum Q+A with a panel of current and past IB Diploma and HSC students. Some excellent questions relating to our two main senior pathways were asked of the panel, and were insightfully answered.  My sincere thanks to our expert panel!:

Hugo Walsh      (Class of 2022) IB Diploma

Toby Rogers      (Class of 2023) IB Diploma

Huon Groves    (Year 11) HSC

Julian Baggett  (Year 12) HSC

Joel Droga         (Year 12) HSC

Matt Radvin      (Year 12) HSC

Alex Hong          (Year 12) IB Diploma

Charlie Xin        (Year 12) IB Diploma

Robbie Wyer     (Year 12) IB Diploma

Piers Alcott       (Year 12) IB Diploma

Louis Mak          (Year 11) IB Diploma

Zac Crowe         (Year 11) IB Diploma

Louis Gordon   (Year 11) IB Diploma

Elevate Education are offering the next webinar in their series on Wednesday the 5^th June from 6.30pm called: How You Can Support Your Child During Exams. Click here if you wish to register for this free event.

Have a great week.

Nick Jolly
Director of Academics / Deputy Head of Senior School

Adrian Harrison, Director of Curriculum and Academic Operations

As part of our broader suite of opportunities for academic enrichment we would like to inform students and parents of the following programs.

Academic enrichment Years 10-12 – HEX High Accelerator Program – USYD

Over 6 weeks, Year 10-12 students complete HEX’s online innovation course taught by leading Australian innovators. The course covers ideation, market analysis, branding, prototyping, and pitching. Students join weekly online workshops and mentoring sessions to help them complete weekly checkpoints. Upon submitting all 6 checkpoints and passing the program, students receive a graded Academic Record from the University of Sydney, which can be used to apply for credit at universities worldwide, typically as an elective in most undergraduate degrees. Upcoming dates – Term 3, 2024: July 22 – August 30 – Term 1, 2025: 10 Feb – 21 March. The cost per student of the program is $990 per student, with enrolments closing 2 weeks prior.

VIEW THE PROGRAM GUIDE

Academic enrichment Years 7-10 – ICAS

This year students in the Senior School will have the opportunity to again participate in a range of subject specific competitions run by ICAS. ICAS is a school competition that inspires, celebrates and challenges millions of school students across Australia, New Zealand and the world. The competition questions are set in modern, real-world scenarios where school students are assessed on their ability to apply classroom learning to new contexts, using higher-order thinking and problem-solving skills. The tests are in the following subject areas, Mathematics, Science, English and Digital Technologies. Each test runs for approximately 1 period and will take place in Term 3 during class time. Students can choose if they would like to sit any or all of these.

This is an optional assessment that has a fee associated. Registration and payment are made directly through the ICAS website’s Parent Portal
https://shop.icasassessments.com/pages/pps with the CODE: ZMP800. The closing date for registration and payment is 29 of July.

Should you have any questions please contact me aharrison@cranbrook.nsw.edu.au or our High potential coordinator Mr Adams jadams@cranbrook.nsw.edu.au.

Many thanks,

Adrian Harrison
Director of Curriculum and Academic Operations

Angelique Sanders, Director of Student Wellbeing

Dear parents and carers,

The SWP program this week ranged from academic to wellbeing, engaging students in years 7 – 12

Year 7 spent time thinking about the impact (positive or negative) their interactions within the school environment can be with a focus on by reducing derogatory language and practicing uplifting behaviours.

Year 8 and 10 are in the process of subject selections. Year 8 had a session with Mr Harrison and Year 10 had the opportunity to explore further both IBDP and HSC streams.

Our Year 9 students participated in workshops focused on memory and mnemonics facilitated by Elevate Education.  We often hear that many of our students didn’t know how to study effectively, so this session was designed to explicitly teach them memory skills that they can use during their revision time. Year 8 will take part in the workshops in Week 9. 

Our Year 11 cohort took part in a pilot program with Dr. Victoria Rawlings from USYD and Consent Labs. The session focused on gender and sexuality stereotypes and was being trialled for the first time. Our students provided valuable feedback to the researchers, contributing to the development of the program.

Some of our Year 12 students, who have been part of the Future Proofing Study, a longitudinal study with the Black Dog Institute, were surveyed for the last time. The voice of young people is crucial in shaping government policy, and it’s fantastic to see our students actively participating in this important research.

There has been a lot of research into the impacts of sleep on mental health of young people and the evidence is quite clear how important sleep is for physical and mental health. If you are interested in reading further about this , there is an interesting article on Repetitive Negative Thinking Mediates the Relationship Between Sleep Disturbance and Symptoms of Generalized Anxiety, Social Anxiety, Depression, and Eating Disorders in Adolescence: Findings From a 5-Year Longitudinal Study.

The sleep habits of our students are surveyed on a term basis and this has allowed us to gather data over time.  When we compare hours of sleep to how the students rate how they feel, you can see the correlation. In good news most of our students are getting between 8 and 9 hours.

Angelique Sanders
Director of Student Wellbeing

Matt Grice, Director of Sport

Dear Parents and Guardians,

Our Year 7 teams have exhibited significant growth and development throughout this winter season. Whether it be on the tennis courts, rugby, AFL and football fields, their determination has been unwavering. It has been a tough start to the winter season for some of the teams, with some big losses.

Saturday was a different story, with plenty of fantastic wins. A huge congratulations to the 13As Rugby for their first win of the season, and in a remarkable feat, our 13s Football teams won all of their matches against Barker. Big shout out to the 7As who had an 8-0 win! Well one to Ty Owusu for scoring 5 goals in that match, certainly a fantastic achievement. Our Junior B AFL team also had a big 104-33 win over Riverview. Well done Year 7!

Football overall had a fantastic day against Barker recording only 7 losses out of the 31 matches played. A big congratulations to everyone in the program for this terrific result. Our 1sts football team had a frustrating 3-3 draw. I know they are chomping at the bit for next Saturday’s games against St Aloysius.

Additionally, congratulations are in order for the Cranbrook footballers who have been selected for the 16’s and Opens CAS representative teams. In the Opens category, Will Poulos, Cillian Gibney, and Shannon Selby earned places, with goalkeeper Zac Crowe making the shadow squad. For the 16’s Oscar Wilkins, and Giuliano Alafaci were selected, with Zaya Askaro also making the shadow squad.

A big thank you to all the staff and students who took part in the trip to Orange on Saturday. It’s a big ask and we are eternally grateful for the extra time put in. A big thanks to Mark DeBrincat for all the logistics leading up the event. It was great to see the Rugby community come together and enjoy the country air.

Finally, we wish our 8 Cranbrook swimmers all the best in the pool this week for the All Schools Swimming Championships.

The Lewis Report. 10A Tennis

My match of the round this week goes to the Cranbrook 10A Tennis team, who faced off against the notoriously strong Barker squad. Despite the challenge, Cranbrook delivered an outstanding performance, securing a 4-2 victory with a total of 28 games to Barker’s 18.

In a display of dominance, both our doubles teams gained convincing wins, with Will Holland & Soham Keswani winning 6-2, and on court 2 Finn Hill & Will Hambly won 6-1.

The singles matches were equally impressive, with Will Holland hitting the ball brilliantly on his way to win 6-1. Soham demonstrated his strong forehand, putting his Barker opponent on the back foot and coming away with a solid 6-2 win.

The win against Barker is a testament to the strength of our tennis program. The 10As are very much looking forward to continuing this winning form against St Aloysius this Saturday.

Eddie Lewis, Sport operational Coordinator P-12

Please download this weekend’s fixtures here. 

We wish to provide a gentle reminder to all families regarding our attendance policy for School Sport:

• please contact your son’s Team Manager and Head of Sport to notify them of the absence – so that they can fulfil team positions and numbers
• please provide a Medical Certificate upon return to school, if your son is sick and absent from compulsory Saturday sport.
• please do not submit the Saturday Sport absence through the attendance digital form on the Cranbrook School app.

The full Term 2 Co-Curricular and Sport Training schedule can be found here.

We look forward to seeing everyone around the grounds this weekend!

Matt Grice
Director of Sport

Running Lines: Volume 4 2024

Running Lines: Volume 4 2024

Most of our teams headed over the Blue Mountains to Orange to take on Kinross Wolaroi last Saturday.

It was a highly successful day which culminated in all boys proudly supporting the 1^st XV in the final game of the day. We are sincerely grateful to the staff who accompanied the boys. We can’t do it without you.

Our results were;

• Player of the Day: Junior Teams (13s, 14s & 15s)- James Horton (15B)
• Player of the Day: Senior Teams (16s & Opens)-  Charlie Harris (16A)
• Rugby All Rounder of the Day (for effort/attitude on and off the field): Harry Mizzi (1^st XV/2^nd XV)
• Team of the Day- 13Bs

Under the enthusiastic guidance of Mr Dave Oliver the mighty 13Bs recorded a rousing 39-10 win over Kinross to kick start proceedings in Orange.

Flying winger, Ethan Sweeney bagged a stunning four tries (and later crossed for two more in the 13A fixture!) while Ceilim O’Kelly ran roughshod through the defence with his powerful ball running. Gus Pulsford was tyrant around the breakdown and Jasper Lee very effective in the tight exchanges.

Special mention to the 15As and the 4^th XV.

The 15As put in an outstanding performance and held on for a rousing victory. Lock Ferdinand Johnston was superb at the set piece and enjoyed several barnstorming runs. So too, Grayson Cayzer’s footwork in contact was outstanding. Halfback, Christopher Harris marshalled his troops effectively while Jack Best’s astute kicking from hand and off the tee proved decisive.

The 4^th XV fixture saw somewhat of a homecoming for coach Dr Hirst. Indeed, it was he who took the spoils as his charges played some superb running rugby to take the win. Front rower, Julian Baggett was in the thick of the action in the forwards, lock Jack Stone was a handful every time he ran with the ball and Christian Collier enjoyed lots of space on the edge.

We host St Stanislaus this Saturday for a full round of fixtures.

Mark DeBrincat
Master in Charge of Rugby

Cranbrook Corner 2024

Read the Cranbrook Corner 2024 Round 4 here.

Gala Concert- 24 June 2024

Join us for another unforgettable Gala Concert showcasing the extraordinary talents of our Junior School and Senior School musicians. Get ready for a night filled with awe-inspiring performances and a vibrant celebration of music at Cranbrook.

Tickets can be booked here.

Junior Play Festival

The Cranbrook Short Play Festival features Year 7 and 8 students performing Apostrophes by Bradley Hayward and 40 Plays in 40 Minutes by Kamron Klitgaard. The plays, performed back-to-back in the John Gaden Studio and Drama Performance Room, offer a unique experience as the audience moves between spaces to watch both performances. Our Year 10 students are assisting Cranbrook Drama staff in directing, designing, rehearsing, and editing, helping their peers create and perform the productions.

Andrew Benson
Head of Drama (Acting)

Oratory Article

Last Friday’s Competition Debates

Last Friday’s ISDA and Eastside debating competitions saw some outstanding performances by Cranbrook teams:

• Our Year 8, 9, and Senior A ISDA teams won their Quarter Final debates last Friday
  • They all progress to the Semi Finals this Friday – half our squad making it to this level for the first time
  • Unfortunately, the Senior Bs were knocked out on the negative side of a government job guarantee policy debate against Riverview

• Our Years 7 and 11 Eastside teams won their Semi Finals last Friday
  • They progress to the GRAND FINAL this Friday!
  • Years 9 and 10 were knocked out.

Competition Debating this week

This Friday 31^st May sees the following debates take place:

For non-finals internal debates this week:

• ISDA 7s and ISDA Senior Bs supporting at Rose Bay Secondary College
  • Arrive by 6.00pm and finish by 7.30pm
• Eastside 8s and 9s at Cranbrook
  • Training 3.45pm, Prep 5pm, Debate 5.45pm
• Eastside 10s, 12s and ISDA 10s at Cranbrook
  • Training 3.45pm, Prep 5pm, Debate 5.45pm

A reminder that all Years 7-9 debaters must be collected by a parent or guardian at the end of the night.

Friends of Public Speaking: save the date

Family and friends of students involved with our Monday afternoon Public Speaking Club are asked to save the date of 6-8pm on Tuesday 18^th June for a special evening. Students will be showcasing speeches they have been working on. More details will be published next week.

Upcoming oratory events

• Model UN on lunchtimes Wednesday 29^th, Thursday 30^th, and Friday 31^st May
• Mooting, Mock Trial and Social Debating 3.30-5.30pm Thursday 30^th May
• AMEB Voice and Communication 3.30-5.00pm on Friday 31^st May
• ISDA Semi Finals and Eastside Grand Final debates on Friday 31^st May
• Bond University Schools Mooting Competition (Nationals) at Bond University, Gold Coast Qld, on Saturday 1^st June
• Public Speaking Club on Monday 3^rd June

Annual House Debating Competition commences

The first round of the senior division of the 2024 house debating competition happened on Monday and Tuesday this week. Houses involved sparred over the topic ‘That senior students should be given the option of attending classes in person or logging into online lessons and tutorials.’ There were some terrific arguments made around responsibility and ownership vs trusting young people to make sensible choices, as well as some insight into how a hybrid education system would impact different kinds of students and teachers.

Congratulations to Strickland, Thomas, Harvey, Hone, and Northcott for their wins. The first round of the junior division is this Friday, and the second round of the senior division takes place next Monday. We wish all houses the best of luck.

Oratory programmes above are fully subscribed for Semester 1

There has been a lot of recent interest in participating in one or more of our oratory programmes listed above. However, close date for sign-ups have long passed and we are presently fully subscribed across all debating, public speaking, and Model UN. We are therefore unable to accept new enrolments. However, students keen to gain access to our resources and prepare themselves for Semester 2 sign-up are welcome to reach out to me (note, we only accept expressions of interest from students directly). Sign-up for Semester 2 offerings will circulate via student email in mid-June.

Contact

Should you or your son have any further questions about any of Cranbrook’s oratory programmes, you are welcome to reach out to the Head of Oratory and Student Journalism, Mr Benjamin Smith, at bsmith@cranbrook.nsw.edu.au. In the first instance, students should be making contact about getting involved.

Essential information and highlights for parents will be posted here on Cranbrook Connect as part of the Thursday Link. Students involved in oratory programmes will receive updates via their respective Canvas or TEAMS channels.

Benjamin Smith
Head of Oratory & Student Journalism

Daisy Turnbull, Director of Coeducation and Academy

One of the most important aspects of a school’s culture and community is the student voice. At Cranbrook, we have SRC representatives from Years 7 – 11, and our Prefect body, with a Student Head of House for each House, and House Prefects that work in their House community, and as a whole school Prefect body. We also have our Head and Second Head Prefect of the whole school. 

These groups work with students across the community, staff and parents to be leaders and role models that live out our School values. 

When the first female students start in Year 11 2026, they will go through the same student leadership training that our current students do and will be able to apply for House Prefects and Head/Second Head Prefect roles. 

In each of the Day Houses where there are girls in Year 11, there will be at least one female Prefect in Year 12. Being appointed as a Prefect if you have joined Cranbrook in Year 11 is not anything new in the House system, where we have regularly had students commence at Cranbrook in that year and have become Prefects in Year 12. The Heads of Houses will look at student leadership in Years 7 – 11 regardless of which school they attended, and the voting structure will ensure all students vote for at least one boy and one girl. 

The arguments for ensuring we have female Prefects from the first 2027 Year 12 cohort may seem obvious to everyone, but I wanted to share the evidence-based reasons for ensuring female Prefect representation in every coeducational House from 2027. Firstly, as we move to coeducation, we need to, as WGEA states, “challenge traditional views of merit in recruitment and evaluation.” (https://www.wgea.gov.au/women-in-leadership). This means we must ensure our Prefect selection process offers equity of access and opportunity to all students. 

This means we will ensure our application process recognises leadership activities from previous schools, as we always have, with numerous students commencing at Cranbrook in Year 11 and becoming Prefects in Year 12. 

For the SRC, each House chooses one Year 7 to Year 9 and one Year 10 to Year 12 student to sit on the council each year. We will be either be adding a female SRC representative from each coeducational House, or ensuring there is a representative amount across Houses in the first few years. 

This process is fundamental to ensuring Cranbrook is a truly coeducational school, encouraging young men and women to work together throughout their journey at our school. The story of coeducation is not one that will remove opportunities from any current students, but instead broaden the experience all students have of working together. 

Daisy Turnbull
Director of Coeducation and Academy

Articles of Interest

Please find below this week’s articles of interest from the boarding staff:

Decoding the Lingo: A Parent’s and Educator’s Guide to Teen Slang

How Social Media Affects Your Teen’s Mental Health: A Parent’s Guide

The 3 R’s: Regulate, Relate & Reason & Brain States

How Does Your Relationship Change When Your Child Turns 18?

What’s ok for children?  

All best,

Matt Banes

Online Safety

As our students’ online presence continues to grow, we are faced with new challenges and potential online risks that could impact your child’s safety and well-being. We want to assure you that we take these matters very seriously and are constantly seeking ways to ensure our students’ online safety. We are thrilled to announce our collaboration with Qoria and their Linewize portfolio of products, which will enhance our commitment to digital safety and well-being.

In the upcoming weeks, we will extend an invitation for you to join us in this initiative. We will provide you with resources and tools to help you better comprehend and participate in your child’s digital journey. This includes access to the Qustodio parent app, which will allow you to:

• Temporarily disable internet access on your child’s school device (outside of school hours) via your app.

• Receive summary reports of your child’s online activities outside of school hours.

• Access detailed Timeline reports of your child’s online activities, including search terms and videos.

• Obtain expert advice on online safety directly through the app.

This service also enables you to safeguard one personal device (such as phones or iPads) per child attending our school.

Please note that for any BYO devices or school learning devices that do not leave the school premises, parents will not have oversight or control of these outside of school. However, we strongly encourage parents to link to their child’s school account to avail the offer of protecting one personal device for each child enrolled in our school.

Furthermore, all school-managed student learning devices will be equipped with a basic level of content filtering. This should prevent access to harmful or inappropriate websites, ensuring that your child’s learning device is safe and ready for learning.

We are enthusiastic about this new initiative and your involvement in fostering a culture of online safety and well-being for all students. This will empower each child to navigate their digital journey successfully. You will shortly receive information on how to set up your Qustodio parent account.

If you have any queries, please do not hesitate to contact the ICT service desk.

Becoming a Member of Cranbrook School

Cranbrook School is a public company limited by guarantee which was established to provide students with a well-rounded, liberal education based on Christian beliefs.

It is governed by the School Council in accordance with its Constitution and has a membership comprised of eligible persons who have made significant contributions to Cranbrook or who are key stakeholders in its mission.

Parent of students in Kindergarten to Year 12 attending Cranbrook are eligible to become a Member of Cranbrook School for so long as they have a child attending the School.

The Members of Cranbrook School play an important role in the governance of Cranbrook. Being a Member entitles you to attend and vote at general meetings of Cranbrook School. This includes attending and voting at the Annual General Meeting, where the matters considered include receiving the statutory financial reports and electing members of the School Council.

If you are not already a Member of Cranbrook School, and wish to become one, please indicate your willingness to do so by completing and returning the application form which can be found on Cranbrook Connect here.

Applications are subject to approval by the School Council, and will be considered at the next possible School Council meeting after receipt of your completed application.

We encourage you to apply to become a Member of Cranbrook School and to take up the opportunity to contribute to the governance of the School.

If you have any questions regarding membership of Cranbrook School, please contact Sarah Deveson, Company Secretary, by email on councilsecretary@cranbrook.nsw.edu.au.

Geoff Lovell                                                                                          
President of School Council