Celebrating Shore
“… knowledge and discretion to the young”
(Proverbs 1:4)
Dear Students, Parents and Carers
It is lovely to have our fabulous students back in the School for a new year and looking refreshed and eager! Schools are lonely places without them (I find). The ambient buzz of boys in possession of their school is delightful and reassuring. Our boys have much to be grateful for in terms of the opportunity Shore provides and we relish as a staff co-working with them and with parents.
HSC Results
The HSC Results on all indicators were the best Shore has seen for some time. For those who follow such matters, Year 12 2022 Shore students achieved 347 Band 6 results, i.e. scores above 90%, and 100% of students in Extension 1 and 2 English and Extension 2 Mathematics achieved in the top two Bands, i.e. above 80%. In the media league tables, Shore was in a very advantageous position as a comprehensive school where these tables are dominated by government and independent selective schools. What does all this mean in practice? As I have been arguing consistently for some time, not as much as people think! It is nice to be able to take up this argument again, from a position of strength where Shore has done well, rather than it appearing to be excuse-making from a position of weakness. Yes, it is excellent that 347 boys achieved subject scores above 90%, but it is also worth noting that 560 boys achieved Band 5 results, i.e. between 80-89%, with an extraordinary number, far more than one would expect, scoring 89% and so not featuring in the media league tables. If these 89’s had been 90’s, Shore would have soared further up the league table. What difference does one mark make? Not a lot to student results, but a lot to marketing. Band 6 results have the “feel good” factor, but they don’t actually count for anything in terms of University entry simply by being a Band 6.
What then are better indicators? What we are most excited about is our students’ ATARs, i.e. their Australian Tertiary Admission Ranks, which are used to determine who gets into which course at which university. These are scaled from their HSC results and, although they look like a mark because they are out of 100, they are actually a place in the state and, ultimately, the nation. The median ATAR of our students from last year was 90.35, i.e. 53% of our boys were in the top 10% of available ATARs in New South Wales. Ten of our boys achieved an ATAR above 99, i.e. the top 1% of possible ATARs and twenty boys received an ATAR of 98 or above. This is a fabulous result and a credit to staff, students and parents and the cooperative educational relationship between all parties. It also reflects Shore’s strong emphasis on academic excellence, the quality and expertise of our staff and our ongoing professional development programme.
In terms of actual HSC results, five of our students achieved six results that were in the top ten places in the State across various subjects and in nine of our subjects the HSC results were more than ten marks on average above the State average.
The unique attributes of our boys do not place all at the top of the range. It is very important to recognise that some of our boys overcame significant life issues and learning issues to achieve personal bests in the HSC. We are equally delighted with and proud of them, as we are with our top achievers. All we can ask of any boy is to work diligently and do his best. With few exceptions, that is what our outgoing Year 12 have done. There was very little tail to our results.
In our society, results can be overhyped. I am fond of saying to Year 12 that they don’t all need an ATAR of 99.95. What they need is sufficient to access their chosen course. If a boy needs an ATAR of 85 and achieves an ATAR of 87, that can be regarded as a real success. An ATAR is an entry ticket. Once it has been “spent” and fulfilled its purpose, it will rarely be mentioned again (except perhaps by proud parents). There are, in any case, other legacies of schooling, principally, the shaping experiences the boy has had and the quality of man he has become. As the writer of Proverbs puts it, there is a major calling for us here, as working with young people “for gaining wisdom and instruction; for understanding words of insight; for receiving instruction in prudent behaviour…..knowledge and discretion to the young” (Proverbs 1:2-4). From what I am seeing, I respect our Shore young men.
There is much to celebrate!
Teaching Staff
We have welcomed some new staff to the School who by now would have introduced themselves to their classes. We have an uncommonly large number of staff currently on long service leave. This is the result of COVID over several years rendering travel impossible, so there is a backlog of staff who through those years have reached a stage of entitlement to long service leave and are eager to travel. In common with most schools, Shore encourages staff to take this period of professional and personal refreshment and recharge as it becomes due. Accordingly, at various stages of the year, depending on how many terms of leave staff have taken, we will welcome back: Messrs Stobo, Wales, Separovich, Hennessey, Walker, Werakso and Mses Doran, Mrs Papworth and Jacobs (the latter from maternity leave).
Five staff have taken up senior positions in our structure. Three were already on staff at Shore: Ms Domingo is our new Head of Christian Studies following Mr Gibson’s decision to become a full time Theology student; Ms Hunter is our new Head of Science following Dr Kennett’s return to the world of scientific research; Mr Blood comes into the newly created role of Head of Service Learning, indicating a focus by Shore on this important aspect of our culture. Two very senior staff are new to Shore: Mr Roland has commenced as Director of Boarding following the retirement of Mr Anderson. Mr Roland spent some years as a Housemaster at Geelong Grammar School and then was Head of their Timbertop campus, then was Head of Boarding at the Hale School in Perth and, subsequently, was the Senior School Principal of an international school in South Korea. In addition to his important role as Director of Boarding, Mr Roland joins our Geography staff. Mr Champion has joined Shore as Acting Deputy Head, Pastoral Care, replacing Mrs Dudgeon. Mr Champion has spent 15 years as a Housemaster at St Andrew’s Cathedral School and, for the last five years has been Head of Student Wellbeing at St Andrew’s. He has an undergraduate major in psychology and post graduate qualifications at Masters degree level in student wellbeing and educational research. He is a Shore Old Boy who has played competitively, including as an adult, in his favourite sports of basketball and rugby and is active in a local surf club. Mr Champion has also joined our Geography department.
Holidays
No, not yet! I am reflecting on the last holidays. The cast for our forthcoming musical, Singin’ in the Rain, have been in rehearsal, with further auditions, for instance for Orchestra, underway. Approximately 50 or our Year 11 boys very generously gave a week of their holidays to staff the Sony Camp, conducted jointly with PLC Pymble as a camp for students with disabilities. Their willingness to serve is a splendid attribute.
Well done to our 1st XI Cricket team on winning the Trans-Tasman Cricket Festival in Auckland. Well done to our GPS 1st VIII on winning the U18 Coxed Eight Boys Final at Lake Karapiro in New Zealand and congratulations to our Year 10 VIIIs on doing so well in the Geelong regatta. Our Basketballers have been very busy playing in various independent school Sydney-based competitions, our 1st and 2nd Tennis squads have been in a training camp, the GPS Swimming team has been conducting 5-7 training sessions per week in our pool and a number of our Water Polo boys have starred in the U18 and U16 Nationals. On campus during the holidays I have noticed Rugby squads in training and boys in the gym undertaking strength and conditioning activities.
Our boys have done very well to commit in these ways during their holidays. All of these activities have been splendid opportunities for our students. Of course, this could not happen without the generosity of staff giving their holiday time to lead these activities.
As we survey the year stretching before us, I wish all members of our Shore community a wonderful year. I am looking forward to it.
Dr J Collier
Headmaster