A Message from our Senior Boarding Housemaster

Dear Shore Boarding Community,

We hope you had a wonderful Christmas and New Year, and that you enjoyed some relaxing and fun times with your family and friends.  It was a challenging but in many ways rewarding year, and as I have said before, one that I am confident will shape our young generation into fine citizens who will learn how to make the most out of situations of adversity.  I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate Charles Dight (Robson) on his recent appointment as Senior Boarding Prefect.  Charles will work closely with the Senior Boarding Housemaster and the boarders to ensure that we have the best systems in place as possible, and this will also involve sitting in on Boarder Rep meetings as well.  We all look forward to working closely with Charles in the months ahead.

Happy times started to return for the boarding and whole school communities towards the end of 2020.  On the back of our very enjoyable Year 12 boarders’ harbour cruise, other glimpses of normality started to appear.  Some of these will be included in these pages, and the Year 12 Valedictory Dinner was certainly an opportunity for many to say a fond farewell to their years at this great school.  A highlight, apart from catching up one last time with our Year 12s and their parents, was witnessing Tom Merriman’s outstanding speech on the night.

The Senior Play took centre stage in November and featured 11 actors, six of them boarders. The 39 Steps was a brilliant production and an outstanding showcase of our talented boarders who, year after year, represent disproportionately across so many areas of the School. Congratulations to Alex Manchee, Archer Nugan, Ewan Jackman, Charles Dight, Lachlan Greig and Angus Malcolm for a thoroughly enjoyable evening.

Speaking of disproportionate representation, the 2nd Cricket XI currently has seven boarders out of 11 players.  Again, it says much about what boarding contributes to the school, punching above its weight time and again.  Congratulations to Archer Nugan, Angus Malcolm, Banjo Cole, Alex Robinson, Tom Pearce, Ewan Jackman and Angus Maltman.  Later newsletter issues this term will also chronicle other GPS teams featuring many other boarders doing well as they move towards the end of a, thus-far, outstanding season of sport.

Food continues to evolve in boarding as we try to find as close to universal approval as possible.  This is difficult; not tasty, not to my taste, not nutritious, bland, not consistent, too consistent… I think the caterers are doing a really good job in adapting to the requests of the boys and parents as we go.  Chef Franz has introduced, among other hits, his American-style ribs with baked potato and sour cream, coleslaw and vegetables, and this has been very popular.  Other welcome additions include chicken burgers with salad choices, our Asian Nights including gyoza’s and our popular breakfasts, especially on Fridays, with special scrambled and fried eggs, bacon, grilled tomatoes with herbs, mushrooms and hash browns.  Our newly appointed Senior Boarding Prefect, Charles Dight will have, as one of his briefs, the job of ensuring we come as close as possible to keeping this aligned as correctly as possible.

Please don’t forget our voucher offer.  We have some vouchers left to help provide our boarding families with some accommodation support, to help when visiting their sons while in Sydney.  In conjunction with View Sydney we will provide $100 vouchers to help with accommodation costs for Shore boarding families.  Please contact Heather for your voucher in the week leading up to your Sydney visit.  First in-first served. Safe travels, and have a happy stay!

Lastly, it is with great pleasure that I can announce that the wonderful Heather Foord will now be working in Boarding full-time.  She is such a huge asset to our community and will now be able to devote her whole time to keeping Shore Boarding thriving into the future.  Heather is currently located in Graythwaite while her new office is being prepared for her in Term 2 in the main school.  We will keep you updated with any changes as they occur.  Please note her temporary number is: (02) 9956 1118.

Thank you again for all your wonderful support throughout 2020.  We look forward to catching up more regularly in 2021, and hope that you can make it to the Boarders’ Cocktail Party on Friday 19 February, so please save the date.

Best wishes,
Brendan

Seeking City Host Families

We have two year 11 boarders and a Year 10 boarder who are without City Host Famillies.  We thought we would reach out to our Weekly Boarding Community first and see if anyone would like to become a City Host Family this year.

The role may sometimes include taking the boarder out for the day or helping transport him to sport or appointments.

If you would like to be involved, please send a brief email to Boarding@shore.nsw.edu.au letting us know so that we can match your with our New Boarders.

Thanking you in advance.

Year 7 Harbour Cruise

We departed the campus at roughly quarter past three in the afternoon after everyone had accepted that we had to wear masks after the resounding refusal to wear them.  The journey on the train was smooth without any hiccups.  Despite the continuous rain and lack of any view, the short while across the Harbour Bridge seamed to excite everyone aboard.     Fortunately, nobody was lost on either of the legs through the train station, making it pretty easy to get to our final destination.  Once we arrived and making sure everyone was still around, we headed out of the station and in the direction of the docks. 

We met Terry and Gumaroy just off the small barge where they keep their boat.  We all introduced ourselves and told them both where were from / where we live.  The boat came into view below the bridge some fifteen minutes later.  We took a few photos outside the boat as it came in to park before climbing on. 

Once we were on the boat Terry told us a bit about what we would be doing and some of the safety rules on the boat.  He also introduced us to the crew who worked on the boat.  We all ran to the top deck and checked out the view of the Opera House which we went right around, taking pictures all the while.  Terry taught us a bit about the history of the Harbour and the islands that run right through the middle.  We learnt a few of the aboriginal names for different areas and island as well as some of their teachings and rituals. 

Further towards the second half of our journey Terry showed us an Aboriginal dance whilst Gumaroy did the Digeridoo in the background.  In doing this they taught us more about the Aboriginal culture through the artwork on their body and the dances that they danced.  The songs that Gumaroy sang also showed us how the Ancient Aboriginals thought meaning that they made words for thing by observing the way they moved or sounded.

Overall it was a fantastic cruise which gave all of us an idea of our own history and the traditions of those who lived before us.

Austin Hamilton (Yr 7)

Yetman Station During Christmas

Term 4 was not an easy one and I found myself reaching the holidays sighing with relief.  Following speech day, I spent the weekend at the beach and relaxing in Sydney then pretty quickly made my home, back to Yetman.  Fortunately, I was greeted with two weeks of sunny 30° weather compared to the usual blistering heat of the Northern NSW summer.  This made for hours spent in the river and working on the farm – a refreshing break from the previous few months.  The second week of the holidays we were lucky enough to have Mr Walker with his brother Bill and friends Jason and Lachlan join us for a few days where they camped on the river and spent their days fishing and golfing.  One of the highlights for Mr Walker was his visit to the famous Codfish Hotel, the pub in Yetman, where he was able to meet some of the locals.  All in all, it was a great, relaxing break (with a bit of schoolwork mixed in) allowing me to prepare for the big year to come.

Charles Dight
Senior Boarding Prefect

Barry House Christmas Dinner

It was such a wonderful experience to have our families back together on-site again at the end of the year in 2020!  Even 2020 skipper Charlie Murray was there!  After putting up the tree in our foyer, the Barry House Christmas dinner followed, and we enjoyed a beautiful setting, overlooking the best city in the world, with prawns and oysters, glazed ham, turkey, beef and all the trimmings with Santa Separovich delivering Kris Kringle to all points of the lawn using his 3-point skills.  Thank you to everyone who joined us (some travelled 100’s of kilometres); parents, families, boys and Sophie Morris for your wonderful catering.

Hodges Christmas Dinner

On Friday 20th November 2020, Hodges House held its annual Christmas dinner. It was a fantastic evening, made more special by the fact that parents had not been on school grounds to spend time with their boys in many months. The dinner was held on the new Boarders Terrace in front of Hodges House and the view of Sydney harbour and surrounds was spectacular. It was the perfect place to enjoy the lovely company and watch the thunder and lightning show (thankfully!) skirt around us. Notable highlights included the delicious food provided by the dining hall catering staff, led by Antony Hastie, as well as some Hodges House parents, speeches by Campbell Duff and Johnny Joseph, Hodges House Captain and Vice-Captain, a short movie compilation of the boys’ highlights and key learnings for the year and a solo guitar performance by Ben Stockwell. The evening was topped off with a surprise visit from Santa Claus who held a ‘Secret Santa’ gift presentation, followed by a quick photoshoot, where Santa displayed many talented, if not slightly questionable moves. Rumour has it that it might have been Guy Hebblewhite under the beard, however, Guy assured everyone that his twerking moves were way better than Santa’s, so it couldn’t possibly have been him.

A special thanks must go to Genene Hebblewhite and Peta Nicholl who worked with the Hodges House Housemasters Mr Rod Fitch, Mr Anthony Philips and Mr Phillip Henniker – all of whom did an amazing job of organising the evening and looking after everyone on the night. Thanks also to the parents who provided food and the boys and parents who helped with set up/pack up. Finally, a big shout out to Shore parent Trudie Hurt who kindly donated her time to take photos of the evening.

Moy McConnell
(Oliver Ferguson Year 9)

Holiday Lockdown in Avalon

Coming back home at the end of Term Four and straight into lockdown at Avalon was a familiar feeling, however something felt different.  This time it was just my older sister Zoe and I.  My younger sister, Piper and my mum, Christy, decided to stay at our cousins house in Artarmon before the lockdown was set in place.  This decision was made to ensure that Piper would be able to perform in her play, that she spent months preparing for.

So,  Zoe and I were stuck in the same house for three weeks.  These three weeks included Christmas, Boxing Day and New Year, all of which our family would usually celebrate together.  During the first week Zoe and I found it tough to stay at home and frequently found ourselves spending most hours of the day in the surf.  Surfing became an escape for us, a way to reconnect with what life was like before the virus. 

Christmas was probably the toughest day for Zoe and I.  However our family friends who live up the road from us offered to have us for lunch, this made a big difference and we are both very grateful for their generosity.  Throughout the three weeks of lockdown I learned that even the smallest of gestures can go a long way.  Without the families and friends that helped my sister and I out, I believe my experience of lockdown would have been rather miserable.

Will Kemp (Year 12)

Barry House Helping Out Anglicare

At the end of Term 4, 2020, Barry House, led by Captain Cole and V-C Moses, worked hard raising funds to help put together Christmas hampers for the annual Anglicare Appeal.   Our final activity saw Year 11 manning the BBQs on the front drive one early morning, raising enough money to purchase over $700 worth of food for those less fortunate at Christmas.   Awesome job again boys, with staff and boys, and even the Deputy enjoying the welcome breakfast fare.   Thank you for your support of this great cause.    

Henry and Archie Douglas-Menzies – Horse Riding Competition

Archie Douglas-Menzies (8HS) and Henry Douglas-Menzies (11HS) competed in their regional pony club Jamboree held in November.

Archie had 22 riders in his age group and had a great morning with strong results.  Henry came runner up for his age group and the biggest highlight was winning C grade jumping.  Well done boys…

NAIDOC Week 2020

What an amazing celebration we had at SHORE.   ‘Always Was, Always Will Be’ is this year’s NAIDOC theme and our Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander students joined with the SHORE Staff and Students to highlight it’s significance to us all.

The week began with the SHORE NAIDOC lapel pin (designed by School House Braydon Mundy) being handed out by our boys to the students upon entering the school gates.  Prep School and the ELC at Northbridge were included in this also.

Braydon, Jye Peters and Cay Camden headed to the Prep Campus to start their morning Assembly with the Acknowledgment to Country by Braydon and a show and tell about the Didgeridoo by Jye. 

Later that day Braydon and Cay visited the ELC and K-1-2 where Braydon read a Dreamtime story about how the Kangaroo got his tail.  Braydon was asked some very ‘honest’ questions by the young folk, and handled himself brilliantly.  He tried to play the very large Digeridoo, however there was a problem with the instrument, not Braydon!

Throughout the Week Students were challenged in their Tutor Groups to discuss Care for the land and Connection to Country and each other.  This was reported to be very active conversation and a growing awareness for Staff and Students.

The absolute highlight for the week was the Thursday Headmaster’s Assembly where the boys took hold and educated all, with a personal Acknowledgment to Country again by Braydon (our Senior Student); presentation of the boys Artwork by Rishad Cook-Sabatino (Hodges House) & Ramiyah Tamu (Robson House); the Didgeridoo Facts by Carter Johnston (Mathers House); concluding with a brilliant display of musical sound by all of the SHORE Aboriginal Students, including Jack & Luke Horwood (School House) and DJ Nagle (School House).

Many hearts beat as one and as Elders say, “if the earth had a voice it would be the sound of the Didgeridoo”.

CAY CAMDEN (Senior School Counsellor-Aboriginal & Torres Strait Is Student Support)

Year 7 2020 – Thank You City Hosts

Heading off too boarding school in Old Sydney Town can be a fairly daunting experience for a young boy from the bush.  One way that we can help these boys settle into boarding life more easily is with the help of their ‘City Host’ families.

This program is spearheaded by the Mother of Boarding (MOB) Mrs Heather Foord.  With the Wisdom of Solomon, Mrs Foord is able to allocate each Boarder to a City Host family who help support and care for the Boarders in a way that compliments the Boarding program.

The City Host Parents become such an important part of the boarder’s experience by the way that they welcome the Boarder into their lives.  This is demonstrated in so many ways: transport to sport on Saturdays, taking boys out for the weekends, getting ‘Stuff’ that a broader has forgotten, Dinner Leave, a shoulder to cry on and so much more.

You truly see the success of the program when you hear of City folk heading bush and the family friendship endures beyond its used by date.

Robson Christmas Party

The very first Christmas function for the families of Robson House was a really lovely way to finish what was a rather extraordinary year.  Heather Foord providing the Christmas Tree and decorations along with lovely food provided by Ant Hastie and his remarkable team with their service.  The families of Robson House were blessed with the music of the Year 11 boys along with one of the best views in the world.  It is without hesitation that this was a lovely experience leading into the holidays and the boarding staff thoroughly enjoyed this evening as did all the mums and dads and of course the boys.

Barry House’s Next Music Talent – Josh Lai

On November 19, 2020, I performed a cello piece on the Year 9 Elective Music Performance Night.  The piece performed was the 1st movement of the Cello Concerto by Edward Elgar, which I have been practising for a few months prior to the performance.  The night was a great success and offered me a great opportunity to perform in front of a live audience in this day and age.

• Josh Lai

At the end of November, Adrian and Josh performed together at the very entertaining and highly successful outdoor Twilight Concert.  Well done, boys!

NAIDOC Week Hodges House

NAIDOC week was particularly special for Rishad Cook-Sabatino of Hodges House.  On Thursday at assembly Rishad presented a special Indigenous art work to the HM.  Created by his fellow Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander brothers at Shore, it is a beautiful artistic representation of school, family and culture coming to life.  He was also announced as 2nds Basketball Captain and later in the day he proudly presented Shore Indigenous designed warm up jerseys to the rest of his team mates.

“NAIDOC Week means a lot to me and my family and all my other Indigenous brothers and sisters all around Australia and the Torres Strait Islands.  It’s a time for all people to come together and celebrate the rich culture that our grandfather and grandmother have passed on to us” ​

I’m A Proud Kamilaroi Man

My name is Braydon Mundy and I am a proud Kamilaroi man.  My Mob are from the beautiful North West of NSW.  The Kamilaroi tribe are the second largest group in the Eora nation.  I am now living on Gumbaynggirr land in Coffs Harbour

For NAIDOC week I was asked to draw a design for the lapel ribbons.  I wanted the ribbon to symbolise a part of the land in which SHORE is located which is the Cammeraygal people, who are water and sea peoples.  I used the circles and the lines connecting them to symbolise this water.  I also wanted the ribbons to portray NAIDOC week and this is done through replacing the O in SHORE with the NAIDOC symbol which is displayed in the final design.

Harmony week is in Week 8 of this term from the 15th-19th of March.  This week celebrates Australia’s cultural diversity.  It’s about inclusiveness, respect and a sense of belonging for everyone.  I hope everybody can get behind this.

Holidays In The Bush

After a rigorous two weeks at the end of the year, spent at cadet camp, followed almost immediately by rowing camp, to say that I was looking forward to arriving home is an understatement.  It was fantastic to see the countryside so looking so lush and green after the recent rains but this also meant I was on the lawnmower within twenty minutes of turning in the front gate.  My younger brother Thomas had arrived home earlier and was there to help with the harvesting of the winter crops that included oats and barley.  With early morning trips to the gym, our days were filled with putting out silage, checking the stud cattle and more mowing.  Thomas helped feed, clip and wash the show cattle just in case the Sydney Royal Show goes ahead this year. 

The opportunity to drive, having passed my learners test at the beginning of October, was too hard to pass up and involved a road trip to both Orange and Wagga Wagga.  Throw in some driving lessons, time spent catching up with family and friends and there was not a lot of downtime.  The 10^th January came around to quickly and saw a return to Sydney for rowing camp until the 23^rd January.  During this time Thomas spent time working cutting horses at Dungowan before we both arrived back to school on the 27^th January ready to start the following day. 

School House Christmas Celebration

After jumping through hoops, dotting ‘I’s and crossing ‘T’s and carrying out Covid-19 risk assessments, we were able to welcome back the boarding parents to School House.

With the noticeably absence of parents on campus throughout the year and the uncertainty surrounding rules and regulations of what you can and can’t do this week to that, it was a relief to final welcome back the parents.  So, on a barmy November night, with the School House boys providing the music against the sandstone of Greythwaite, a relaxed, laidback evening was enjoyed.  Spotless catering deliver a sensational main meal while a vast majority of parents provided salads and desert……..It made for a great night. 

Too top the night off, I used my immense influence that I poses at Shore, and arranged a private tour for the parents, of the newly finish Shore gym (RAI Grant Centre)…… OK the Headmaster was at our dinner and it was his idea but if he wasn’t at the dinner, I would of flexed my muscle and spoken to people who knew people.

A massive thank you must go to all those parents who helped, especially Hadley Black and Nicola Jackman for their massive effort in bring this very special night, altogether. 

Darren Junee

Barry House Enjoys State of Origin and Other Food Delights

Barry House enjoyed three State of Origin games mid-term this year, even given the result, which helped lighten things a little in what has been a pretty stressful year.  It is always a very cohesive, if boisterous time, although pizzas and blue & maroon donuts helped again this year in creating a fun atmosphere.

Barry House also enjoyed several other food opportunities, such as home-made pizzas and trips to Mac ‘n’ G’s and C9 in Crow’s Nest and Gelatissimo in Kirribilli for gelato and other treats. 

Holiday Cricket

On the second last week of the holidays the 1^st and 2^nd X1 played trial games at Northbridge.  The first day the 2^nd XI comprised of six boarders, versed St Aloysius in which Shore batted first and set a commanding total of 200 with Ewan Jackman and Angus Maltman both scoring 40 runs each.  Shore continued their dominant display in the field restricting the opposition 4-22 at the first drink breaks.  Shore continued to bowl well and dismiss St Aloysius for 95 runs.  The second day the 1st and 2^nd X1 played an internal match with mixed teams which saw a tightly contested game which was made up of difficult batting conditions.  This proved a challenge for the batsmen and provided the bowlers with some excitement.  The third day both the firsts and seconds competed against Cranbook.  In the 2nds Cranbook dominated with the bat achieving a total of 249 runs due to some poor fielding which consisted of 12 dropped catches.  However, Shore got off to a strong start thanks to Ewan Jackman in School House and Archer Nugan (58) in Robson.  Shore continued a solid pace through the middle session with a strong partnership between Will Pearce and Angus Malcolm (56).  The game went down to the wire with Shore requiring 12 runs of the last over and a gusty effort by Angus Maltman saw Shore get 11 runs to tie the game.  In the 1^st X1 game Shore bowled tight areas and restricted Cranbook to 141 runs at the end of the 50 overs.  From the beginning of their innings Shore struggled to form partnerships and Cranbook bowled consistent lines and lengths dismissing Shore for 70 runs.  Overall, the holidays provided a chance for both teams to shake of the holiday rust and go into the GPS competition with confidence and things that they know they need to work on.   

Barry House Escapes To The Beach

One beautiful 26 degree November day and with not a cloud in the sky, Barry House headed out to Balmoral Beach for a swim.  Joined by a couple of boys in other Houses, the Barry House boys spent a couple of hours enjoying some sun, salt water and footy.  Everyone then headed back for a swim in the Shore pool before dinner and prep to wind down the week.  Perfect Sunday…

Welcoming New Boys Into Robson House

It was with great excitement that the Robson boys welcomed all the Year 7 2020 into Robson House.  The boys had a really great introduction into Robson House attending the routines on Sunday November 22 during the day and then staying the night.  Also, Jim Richardson Year 9 (2021) from Narromine also was a great inclusion to the evening.  The boys had a really good evening enjoying the time together in preparation for the new year.

Cadets AFX

There has been a buzz around the house as year 9 and 10 boys prepare for the upcoming cadet camp. After a semester of training in orienteering, drills, parade and survival skills, these young men finally have the opportunity to put their skills into practice. The camp will involve a range of activities, with the target of developing skills such as orienteering, teamwork, problem solving and logical thinking. Cadets will be motivated to work together to achieve goals, and encouraged to listen to each other’s suggestions as they solve problems as a group.

The cadet camp will be conducted within Singleton’s army base, taking place between Sunday and Thursday this coming week.  All year 9 boarders will be attending, along with a selection of year 10 boys, who have taken up positions of leadership within the unit.  Among the staff attending the camp will be Major Henniker, a Hodges housemaster 2020.

Oscar Kanaley (9HS)

School House Goes Ginger

At the end of last year School House built “Gingerbread Houses”.  It was a very enjoyable and entertaining experience.  The Minett Room table became our work bench.  10 bakers put on gloves, 1000’s of sweets where laid out waiting for a new home and then we were off. 

The point of the gingerbread houses was to present to the year sixes, and to the parents for the Christmas party, (although they all were half-eaten by Monday).

The battle for the praise of gingerbread house was a hard battle with many houses being a close winner.  Mine was commended by Mr.  Lovell, along with Gideon’s, Dominic’s, and Hamish & Bede.  The other two houses were something of their own type of house genre.  Luke’s and Sam’s were a tackle to make, with their roof not being supported, although they thought of a unique way to fix this.  Then the year 8’s houses were somewhat the same, Luke & Sam ended up making a lolly-packed house, delicious!

This experience was fun and really entertaining.  We made delicious gingerbread houses and it was an entertaining experience.  The best of both worlds.  We thank Mr Junee and Mr.  Lovell for putting this together.

By: Archie Douglas-Menzies (Yr7, 2020)

Barry House Cricket

When Daylight Saving hits, and prep starts a little later – the annual and traditional Barry House Cricket game returns out the front of the House!  Even with the game in full swing, there’s still time for some work, seen with Will Harding and Hugo Pearce sharing study notes at 2nd slip.

Goodbye But Not Farewell

School House is a wonderful place!

Joining Shore in 2017, I asked from the outset as a staff member that I be assigned a tutor group within a boarding house.  Ask and you shall receive!

SL4 became a home and the journey that these men have provided is a perfect reflection of the character, passion and mateship that is evident within School House.  I will sorely miss these young men, in every way I see them as my school family and value the energy, smiles, laughs and challenges that they provide myself as a tutor and each other on a daily basis. 

School House is unique within the boarding environment in that we have the valuable opportunity to welcome the new men of Shore each year in the Year 7 cohort. 

The experiences that these new young men bring are always rewarding.  Their journey through Year 7 is a reminder of why we attend school, to learn, grow and form lasting friendships. 

The older members of School House at times struggle to realise the eye-opening experiences that a new year 7 cohort bring each year, however, what greater proof than the speeches delivered by Year 12 at the farewell evening! All speeches have a consistent theme:

• thank you, mum and dad,
• boys please make the most of your opportunities here at school
• the boys currently sitting beside your friends for life!

As Year 7 enter School House the initial bewilderment of prep, timetables, roll calls and homework is a fast-paced journey.  Of course, it has occasional moments of homesickness and tears!

I must admit that these moments have tugged on the heartstrings a little further each year, maybe I’m getting nostalgic in my old age or maybe it’s that I am a father of three!

However, these moments of struggle are always overcome by the very glue and fabric that is School House; mateship and a genuine interest in the wellbeing of one’s peers!

The support these boys provide one another is always evident at the beginning of each School Term.  As the boys stand on the iconic School House steps like so many men before them and wave goodbye to their family there is always that moment of trepidation a teacher can see! The fleeting moment is always interrupted, as no sooner have the silhouette of the boys’ family disappeared down the drive a call can be heard from the hallways of School House…..  “welcome home!”

Thank you for the journey School House.  Saol Fada Chugat!

Dream Believe Achieve!

Dominic J Hogan SL4 2020

Barry House Hits The Court and House Welcomes Our 2021 Year 8

The Inter-House Basketball tournament was a tight affair again in Term 4, with School House worthy winners in 2020.  Our 2021 Year 8s joined us around the table for our special end of year BBQ before the big Inter-House basketball tournament started a little later.  It was great catching up with our new friends for 2021, getting to know them and showing them around their new digs.