Little Shop of Horrors

Michele Marquet, Acting Head of School

Dear Parents and Carers,

Last Friday evening, the Cranbrook 1sts Debating Team won their final debate against Waverley. The Packer Theatre had a very healthy audience of passionate supporters, a mix of parents and staff, but mainly students who had come to support the team as they strived to top the CAS table. It created a great atmosphere – School spirit abounded – and our team did us proud, winning the debate unanimously.

What struck me most was the way our students supported the debaters: by attending in such good numbers, by rousing applause and enthusiastic foot stamping at appropriate moments. I saw evidence of the same support offered to Junior School students at the Book Week Dress Up day last Friday. Genuinely encouraging comments and appreciation of others and their creativity could be heard from their peers as the students arrived in their outfits.

This support is something I see in abundance: Cranbrook students celebrating the broad range of interests and passions of their peers. As someone who has been at this School for more than a quarter of a century, it is also something that I know has been a hallmark of our School, and as a community, we must actively continue to encourage.

The outside world gives increasingly mixed messages about celebrating individuality. On the one hand, our society tells us to be ourselves, but throughout society, and often exposed online or through the media, there are copious examples highlighting the inabilityof people to disagree with someone who holds a differing view with any civility. We see examples of people who deride entire nations, religions, genders or ideas different to their own. It can be hard for those messages not to infiltrate the thinking of young people and, unchallenged, they can shape their mindsets so unhelpfully in the long term. You can start to see it in the way young people may speak to and about others. Our language can be such a powerful tool for good, but also a means of hurt and cruelty. In Chapel, we’ve heard it described like this: ‘With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse human beings, who have been made in God’s likeness. Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers and sisters, this should not be.’ (James 3:10-11). This is an important message to reflect on.

Young teenagers often struggle with using their words respectfully and well. Teenage years can be the time students say things that their parents and teachers could never imagine coming out of their mouths when they were younger. These are years where our teenagers are working out who they are as people, ‘trying on’ different ways of being, and until they have worked that out it can be hard for them to accept others for who they are. Developmentally, this is the age range they are least intuitively empathetic. It is also when peer acceptance is at a premium. Often, it is only a certain group of peers from whom they seek to gain acceptance and so, in turn, they may make poor choices to try and impress someone else, thinking little about the impact of what they say on the person to whom the comment is directed. Other students who hear this type of put down and know it is wrong to speak that way, can be unsure how to respond and support others. Helping to reshape this pattern of interacting and to build the skills needed to change the behaviour can be a long and arduous process, but our School continues to be committed to working on this through our Student Wellbeing Programme. A group of our Senior School students spoke powerfully at last week’s Assembly about the language of hate and its impact – but also, how simply it can be turned around by what we say to others and how we support them. As we head towards coeducation, there is continued momentum building amongst our students to help us to consistently welcome others, no matter who they might be or their perspectives.

Parents can work with us in a number of ways; one is by having conversations with their children about the language they use, particularly around the difference between banter and putdowns directed to others for the benefit of an audience. Another is to actively support the approach being taken by the School to help shift that behaviour. We are truly grateful to so many families who work with us in these difficult areas of trying to change unhelpful behaviours and habits and reinforce positive ways of engaging with others.

At Assembly, I reminded the Senior School students that to truly celebrate individuality we need to wholeheartedly listen; to genuinely acknowledge others; to celebrate others’ successes; to allow everyoneto be themselves; and to think about the words we use and choose kindness. It is an ongoing challenge for every human being, and one where we will stumble along the way, but it is also one our School must continue to pursue as we seek to live out the School motto: Esse Quam Videri.

Kind wishes,

Michele Marquet
Acting Head of School

Bob Meakin, Deputy Headmaster & Head of Senior School

Dear Parents and Carers,

It is wonderful to have our Year 12s back in class and enjoying their final few weeks of school. Many of them are under enormous pressure, especially time pressure as Major Works are completed for marking. Our Visual Arts, TAS, and Drama students have been especially hard at work, attending assessments or submitting their work. I commend them on their efforts, some of whom have spent hours well into the night preparing and completing their submissions.

Our Year 11s commenced their exams this week, which for HSC students will assist in making up their preliminary HSC mark and for our IB students these are preliminary mock exams.

Our HSC and DP Body of Works exhibition opens this evening for Visual Arts, and we look forward to the TAS exhibition evening in the final week of Term 3.

Year 7 CITF: the news from our Year 7s at Tharwa has been extremely positive with a modified camp due to it occurring in Winter (even though it has been the warmest week on record for many years). They are certainly enjoying the challenge of hiking, cooking, navigation, and teamwork.

Yesterday, we received the exciting news that Marcus Da Silva (Year 12) brought home the 4 x 100m Freestyle Relay in the Pan Pacific Games in tremendous style. For the swimming enthusiasts, his split time was 48.29 seconds and to put this into perspective, he was faster than the members of the men’s team who won Silver at the Paris Olympics.

We look forward next week to:

Monday 2 September – HSC/IB Performance Showcase at 6:30pm in the Orchestra Room.

Tuesday 3 September – Year 11 & 12 Networking Event from 5pm in the Packer Theatre & Vicars Centenary Hall.

Have a great week!

Best wishes,

Bob Meakin
Deputy Headmaster & Head of Senior School

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

One of my favourite initiatives here in the Senior School is BASFAD (Be A Student For A Day). Willing teachers shadow a student of their choice for the day attending all lessons and undertaking all learning activities – the idea being that teachers see learning through the eyes of a learner. Below is one of our awesome science teachers, Mr Morehen, who did BASFAD this week looking splendid in full school uniform! So what do our teachers say about their experience? That sitting in class for long periods is exhausting! So is the general busyness of learning, bouncing from one activity to the next. This serves as a good reminder for us teachers to enable occasional movement in lessons to stimulate learners, and to free up time for deep and authentic thinking and reflection.

Parents of students in Years 7-10 please note the following date for our upcoming live webinar on Canvas and the Continuous Report.

What: Parent Webinar: Accessing Canvas and the Continuous Report

When: Tuesday, 10 September at 6pm.

Where: Live online webinar. I will share the link for this in next week’s newsletter.

Have a great week.

Nicholas Jolly
Director of Academics / Deputy Head of Senior School

Adrian Harrison, Director of Curriculum and Academic Operations

Dear Parents and Carers,

Year 11 Preliminary HSC exam block.

Our Year 11 students will begin their formal examination block next week, running from Monday 2 September to Wednesday 11 September. The exams will start with Business Studies on Monday. HSC students are only required to be at school if they have an exam. Regular classes will resume on Thursday 12 September. Good luck to all students!

Absence Procedure

If a student is absent on the day of an exam, they must contact Ms. Fletcher and the relevant Head of Department. They will need to complete an Illness & Misadventure form, including a medical certificate. Missed assessments must be rescheduled and completed to fulfill the Year 11 course requirements.

Note: Year 11 IB Diploma students will continue with regular lessons during this period.

Many thanks,

Adrian Harrison,
Director of Curriculum and Academic Operations

Peter Young, Director of Students

Dear Parents and Guardians

Paul Dillon will be visiting the School on 16 September to hold separate presentations for our senior students. Paul has been working in the area of drug education for 30 years and through his business, Drug and Alcohol Research and Training (DARTA) he is asked by agencies and organisations across Australia to provide updates on current drug trends. His 90-minute presentations will focus on the following:

Year 10: Young people, alcohol and risk taking: Looking after your mates

Year 11: Alcohol and cannabis: What do you and your friends need to know?

Year 12: Last year at school: What do I need to know about alcohol and other drugs

Paul attends the School each year and his presentations are always well received.

The School has also been fortunate to secure a booking with the YLead team who will be on campus on 18 October to engage the Year 9 cohort in a full day leadership programme. Titled Leadershift the students will be guided through pillars of wellbeing including Engagement, Positive Emotions, Relationships, Meaning and Accomplishment.

Year 7, 9 and 11 students will be expected to attend the CAS Athletics Carnival to be held at Homebush on Thursday 19 September. This is an afternoon/evening event with the boys transported to the venue during period 6 and the carnival concluding around 8pm. Parents will shortly receive an Operoo form regarding this event.

Peter Young
Director of Students

Matt Grice, Director of Sport

Dear Parents and Guardians,

Last Saturday saw Cranbrook’s Athletic Squad head to SOPAC for the season’s first invitational. A big congratulations to all students who competed, it was a good first hit out to blow away the cobwebs and we are looking forward to continued improvement in the next coming weeks.

This Saturday sees the Athletic Squad take part in the 2nd invitational at ES Marks.

Next week (Week 7) see’s the start of Summer Sport for students not involved in the athletics team. These Summer Sport sessions are offered in timetable sport and optional drop-ins. Summer Heads of Sport will be sending information packs this week.

Please note there will be no Saturday sport – unless students are part of the athletics team during this period. However, I encourage all students to try out for the athletics team.

Being part of the Cranbrook Athletics Team provides students with an opportunity to develop and enhance their athletics skills, as well as skills related to their specific summer and winter sports. Through regular training and guidance from experienced coaches, they will improve technique, agility, and speed – ultimately becoming a better athlete. It’s also a great opportunity to train and be part of a group outside their regular summer and winter sports.

If students have any questions regarding athletics, please email Miss Williams AWilliams@cranbrook.nsw.edu.au

A reminder for the CAS Athletics Championships on Thursday 19^th September. All boys in Years 7, 9 and 11 will be in attendance and will depart School at the end of lunch. An Operoo form will be sent this week for this event.

A huge congratulations to the Cranbrook Snow Sport team at the State Schools Championships last week – some exceptional performances and results!

Please see below a report from our Snow Sports Co-Captains, Jude Middleditch and Chester Mobbs.

Last week, Cranbrook’s Snowsports legends headed back to Perisher with 45 Cranbrook athletes on snow in the State Interschools competition. In a spectacular result across the divisions, the Junior School team nabbed a 1^st place position in the Primary Male Cross Country result and 2^nd place overall in Primary point scores. Our Senior School team achieved a 3^rd place position in the Secondary Male Cross Country overall result and 5^th place in the Secondary overall point score. From Day 1 on the mountain, facing challenging weather, very little snow and fierce competition, every division gave it their all, making Cranbrook proud. Please join us in congratulating all of our Snowsports athletes on a spectacular State Competition. Overall, Cranbrook achieved an impressive 12 Team qualifications and 34 Individual invitations to the Australian Championship event to be held at Perisher in early September.

On the international stage – Well done to Marcus Da Silva in YR 12 and Head Coach, Rebecca Wheatley, who were selected to be part of the Australian Junior Team. This team consisted of 40 of the best 18 years and under swimmers in Australia. This 40 -strong team of swimmers and 10 coaches competed at the Junior Pan Pacific Championships at the AIS last week takin on the Swimming power nations of USA, Japan, Canada, NZ and Pacific Islands. Marcus finished 2^nd in the 200m and won Gold, anchoring the Australian 4 x 100 relay team.

We also had Henry Myers continue on from Grae Morris’s Olympic feats, earning himself a 2^nd place spot in the Wing foil World Cup for under 19s. A truly remarkable effort! Congratulations to you Henry.

You can view the Co-Curricular Sport Timetable here.

Kind regards,

Matt Grice
Director of Sport

State Snowsports Interschools Report

Senior teams and individual qualifications were achieved across disciplines, with the top podium positions falling to:

Division 1A Cross Country Classic – Team SILVER (Dash Bouvier 4^th, Charlie Mann 6^th, Jai Rastogi 9^th)

Division 1A Cross Country Relay – Team SILVER (Charlie Mann, Jai Rastogi, Dash Bouvier)

Senior teams and individuals also achieved qualifying finishes in:

Division 1B Cross Country Classic – Team 4^th (Thomas Southwell-Keely 10^th, Sam O’Neil 17^th, Chester Mobbs 18^th)

Division 1B Cross Country Relay – Team 5^th (Sam O’Neil, Chester Mobbs, Thomas Southwell-Keely)

Division 1 Moguls – Individual 20^th (Jude Middleditch)

Division 1 Ski Cross – Individual 9^th (John-Maxwell Fuller)

Division 2 Cross Country Classic – Individual 7^th (Sach Edwards)

Division 2 Moguls – Individual 9^th (Oscar Parsons)

Division 2 Snowboard GS – Individual 14^th (Ziggy Edwards)

Division 2 Snowboard Cross – Individual 18^th (Ziggy Edwards)

Division 3 Cross Country Classic – Individual 6^th (Oliver Southwell-Keely)

Division 3 Alpine – Individual 14^th (Oli Klaas)

In our lower divisions, special congratulations go out to the podium finishes:

Division 4 Cross Country Classic – Individual SILVER (Charlie Roberts)

Division 4 XC Classic– Team SILVER (Charlie Roberts 2^nd, Hugo Croft 9^th, Sam Spry 14^th)

Division 4 XC Relay – Team SILVER (Charlie Roberts, Sam Spry, Hugo Croft)

Division 5 XC Classic – Team GOLD (Xavier Fern 5^th, Imanol Plante 6^th, Sebastian Salter 8^th)

Division 5 XC Relay – Team BRONZE (Xavier Fern, Imanol Plante, Sebastian Salter)

Division 5 Ski Cross – Team GOLD (Hunter Whittle 3^rd, Sebastian Salter 5^th, Xavier Fern 11^th)

Junior teams also achieved qualifying finishes in:

Division 5 XC Classic – Individual 11^th (Hunter Whittle)

Division 4 Alpine – Team 6^th (Charlie Roberts 16^th, James Cowan, Rhys Au, Hugo Croft)

Division 5 Alpine – Team 5^th (Imanol Plante, Sebastian Salter 18^th, Xavier Fern, Hunter Whittle 10^th)

Division 6 Alpine – Team 6^th (Wynn Au 12^th, Sam Cowan, Hugo Fern, William Britten-Jones)

Division 4 Moguls – Team 6^th (James Cowan 19^th, Hugo Croft 23^rd, Rhys Au)

Division 5 Moguls – Team 5^th (Sebastian Salter 20^th, Xavier Fern 19^th, Hunter Whittle 12^th)

Division 4 Ski Cross – Individual 9^th (Charlie Roberts)

Division 6 Ski Cross – Individual 17^th (Wynn Au)

Throughout the week, we also had representatives take part in the NSW Laser Biathlon.

Division 1 – Dash Bouvier 3^rd, Thomas Southwell-Keely 5^th, Sam O’Neil 6^th

Division 3 – Oliver Southwell-Keely 4^th, Ethan Rushton 9^th

Division 4 – Hugo Croft 1^st

Division 5 – Xavier Fern 2^nd, Orlando Fern 5^th

Please join us in congratulating all of our Snowsports athletes on a spectacular State Competition. Overall, Cranbrook achieved an impressive 12 Team qualifications and 34 Individual invitations to the Australian Championship event to be held at Perisher in early September.

Snowsports Captains: Jude Middleditch, Chester Mobbs

Aquatics Report

Junior Pacific Championships
Marcus Da Silva Yr 12 and Head Coach Bec Wheatley were selected to be part of the Australian Junior Team which consisted of the 40 best 18 years and under swimmers in Australian. The team of 40 swimmers and 10 coaches competed at the Junior Pan Pacific Championships at the AIS last week which took on the Swimming power nations of USA, Japan, Canada, NZ and pacific islands.

At the start of the competition, Marcus received the honour to be selected as one of the flag bearers at the opening ceremony for the event.
Day 1 began with the 200m Freestyle for Marcus where he took the heat out hard and qualified for the final in 4^th place. He swam a much smarter race in the final with his second fastest time ever and finished with a silver medal. He then backed up to anchor the mixed 4 x 100 medley relay swimming under his pb and the team coming into 4^th place, narrowly missing the bronze medal. Onto day 2 and Marcus placed 4^th in the heat of the 100m Freestyle, he equalled his pb in the final and finished =2^nd. Marcus then anchored the 4 x 200m Freestyle relay, swimming fastest than his best and Australia achieved the silver medal. Day 3 saw Marcus pull out of the 400m freestyle heats to rest for the 4 x 100m Freestyle relay that night in what was the most exciting race of the meet. Marcus again swam the last leg in a time faster than his pb and took the team from 3^rd and over a second behind to win the Gold medal with his team mates chanting his name. The final day Marcus swam the 50m Freestyle and placed 15^th, missing the B final as only 2 swimmers from each nation could qualify in each final. He anchored the 4 x 100m medley relay in a 48.29, a time what was fast enough for the Australian 4 x 100m freestyle relay in Paris.

The Australian team achieved 4 Gold, 7 Silver and 9 Bronze medals and finished in 3^rd place on the point score behind the USA in 1^st and Japan one point in front of us. There were over 300 swimmers who competed in the 4 day championship from 13 countries.

NSW Winter State Championships
Back in Sydney, 13 Cranbrook Students and 36 Cranbrook Aquatic Swim Club swimmers competed at theNSW Winter Senior State Short Competition, which marked another successful weekend of swimming for the club, Overall across the weekend the team won 10 Gold, 6 Silver and 8 Bronze along with another 33 Top 10 performances, this placed the team 7^th on the medal tally and 10^th on the point score, a marked improvement from our 2023 performance of 42^nd and 17^th respectively.

Big congratulations to Noah Kemp Yr 8 who won 4 Gold, 3 Silver & 1 Bronze, Aidan Park Yr 8 – 1 gold, 1 silver, 1 Bronze and Jack Wilkinson Yr 9 – 1 gold, 1 Bronze. Top 10 finishes – Axel Robinson Yr 12, Max Moylan Yr 12, Tate Sirianni Yr 11, Jack Charles Yr 9, Hugo Mertens Yr 8, Carter McGee Yr 7.

Cranbrook Aquatic Swim Club medalist included Georgia Baker-Wood in the 16s 200 Breaststroke, Ollie Moclair in the 16s 50 and 100 Freestyle, Frankie Somerville in the 16s 50 Freestyle.
A big congratulations to all of the swimmers on their performances and parents for making it through what as quite a long weekend packed full of racing.

Highlights – NSW Winter Senior State Short Course Competition:

Cranbrook Participants:
- 13 Cranbrook students
- 36 Cranbrook Aquatic Swim Club swimmers
Team Achievements:
- 10 Gold medals
- 6 Silver medals
- 8 Bronze medals
- 33 Top 10 performances
- 7th place on the medal tally
- 10th place on the point score (improved from 42nd and 17th in 2023)

Individual Achievements:

Noah Kemp (Year 8):
- 4 Gold, 3 Silver, 1 Bronze
Aidan Park (Year 8):
- 1 Gold, 1 Silver, 1 Bronze
Jack Wilkinson (Year 9):
- 1 Gold, 1 Bronze
Top 10 Finishes:
- Axel Robinson (Year 12)
- Max Moylan (Year 12)
- Tate Sirianni (Year 11)
- Jack Charles (Year 9)
- Hugo Mertens (Year 8)
- Carter McGee (Year 7)

Cranbrook Aquatic Swim Club Medallists:

Georgia Baker-Wood (Gold 200 Breaststroke)
Ollie Moclair (Gold 50 and 100 Freestyle)
Frankie Somerville (Gold 50 Freestyle)

Highlights – Junior Pacific Championship – Marcus Da Silva:

Opening Ceremony:
- Marcus was selected as one of the flag bearers.
Day 1:
- 200m Freestyle: 2^nd place
- Mixed 4 x 100 Medley Relay: Marcus anchored the team, swimming under his personal best, and the team finished 4th, narrowly missing a bronze medal.
Day 2:
- 100m Freestyle: 2^nd place – Equalled his personal best in the final, finishing tied for 2nd.
- 4 x 200m Freestyle Relay: 2^nd Place – Marcus anchored the team, swimming faster than his best, and secured a silver medal for Australia.
Day 3:
- 400m Freestyle: Marcus withdrew from the heats to rest for the 4 x 100m Freestyle Relay.
- 4 x 100m Freestyle Relay: 1^st Place – Marcus swam the last leg faster than his personal best, leading the team from 3rd to 1st, winning the gold medal in a thrilling race.
Day 4:
- 50m Freestyle: Marcus placed 15th, missing the B final as only two swimmers per nation could qualify.
- 4 x 100m Medley Relay: 1^st Place – Marcus anchored the team with a 48.29 time, fast enough to qualify for the Australian 4 x 100m freestyle relay in Paris which won Silver.

Daniel Arnamnart
Head of Aquatics

Study Centre

A reminder that the study centre is available to all students in Years 7 – 10 Mondays to Thursdays from 3.30 – 6.30pm. Each afternoon teachers supervise and support students with their homework and assessment preparation, and students are provided with afternoon tea. Study centre costs $50 each afternoon.

Please register here.

Articles of Interest

A round up of articles to read curated by the boarding staff;

Managing senior year stress

We’re told to limit kids’ screen time. But how does it actually affect their health?

What can you do if you think your teen already has unhealthy social media habits?

‘Will this degree lead to a job?’

Podcast: The Imperfects – Professor Felice Jacka – Food For Thought

Program: SBS on Bromance (interesting viewing from last night on the need for powerful male friendships)

All best,

Matt Banes

Volunteers for Examinations Needed

Are you sometimes available during the school day? Do you feel competent reading and writing English? Are you a legible writer? Please note you don’t have to be neat, just readable.

If so, we would love to hear from you as we are always keen to have more people to support our students as exam volunteers who act as a reader and/or writer for students doing exams.

Readers can read exam material and a student’s answers at the direction of the student.

Writers must write exactly what the student dictates, but they can punctuate without direction by the student.

All volunteers will require a valid WWC; this can be a volunteer or a paid WWC.

If you would like more information about acting as a reader or writer, please contact Fiona Bain on 9327 9435 or email fbain@cranbrook.nsw.edu.au.

If you are keen to begin, you can start the process by emailing compliance@cranbrook.nsw.edu.au with your name, email address, date of birth, and your WWC reference number.

Compliance will then send out an information pack and a number of documents for which you must sign and return along with a photo page of your passport and proof of COVID-19 vaccinations.

Thank you!