Remembrance Day – 100 Years On

Dear Students, Parents and Carers

As most Australians know, at 11.00am on 11/11/1918, the guns fell silent across the Western Front. This was the Armistice, which in effect was the end of the ‘war to end all wars’, known at the time as The Great War. Sadly, as we know, this was not the cessation forever of armed conflict, and so we understand this conflagration now as World War I, followed just 25 years later by World War II. 

The First World War was one conflict in a long line of wars in which Australians have paid the ultimate sacrifice: the Sudan War in 1885, the Boer War of 1889-1902, WWI 1914-1918, WWII 1939-1945, the Korean War 1950-1953, the Vietnam War, the dates of which were somewhat elastic, but through to 1975. Since that time, the nature of war has changed and sometimes it is undeclared but no less brutal. Australian military personnel and police have been involved in many places around the world, most noticeably Afghanistan, Borneo, East Timor, the Middle East and areas of the South Pacific.

How Australians have regarded Remembrance Day and its companion, Anzac Day, has varied over the decades in the last century. At times, these formalities have nearly died out, to be revived periodically by politicians for, frankly, electoral purposes. Some have seen the coupling of Anzac Day and Remembrance Day as a reductionist form of civic religion. Some have challenged the motives of Australians who have served overseas, pointing to the naïve notions of some WWI volunteers that they were going on a lark, a paid holiday to see the world.  Against that needs to be balanced the fledgling nation’s powerful loyalty to the British Empire, such that defending the Empire was a duty and a moral imperative. Indeed, even by the time of my primary school education in the 1950s in Australia, history lessons were essentially an expression of British nationalism, if not actually jingoism. It is no wonder that young men and women felt a powerful call to serve, even at the cost of their lives. By WWII, with Japanese advances through the Pacific, Australia was facing the real and very near prospect of invasion, particularly as the Japanese Army proceeded down the Kokoda Trail, and so defending Australia was a very real imperative. My own parents joined the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) after the rapid sequence of the fall of Singapore, the sinking of two British capital ships off Singapore and the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbour.

Controversies have raged over the relativities between appearing to celebrate war as against paying respect to those who have served so sacrificially. The former view, that remembrance was now passe, was perhaps nourished by the end of the Cold War in 1989-1991, with the collapse of the Berlin War and the break-up of the Soviet Union. At this historical moment, the United States was left alone as the world’s sole ‘superpower’ and historian Samuel Huntington famously proclaimed it was “the end of history”. By this he meant that democracy and liberalism had won and the ‘Pax Americana’ (American Peace) had settled permanently on the world. We now know that his confidence was premature! We now have a second superpower, China, flexing its muscles in a new Cold War, as well as rogue nuclear armed states, such as North Korea, providing a level of unpredictability. The conflict in Ukraine is very much a hot war, as a result of Russian imperial ambitions. The notion that wars would cease in this terrestrial existence is far too optimistic a view of human nature, which includes the posturing of dictators and the exigencies of realpolitik. Sadly, it seems, wars will only cease at the end of the age, when God puts all things right. “God shall judge between the nations, and shall decide for many peoples; and they shall beat their swords into ploughshares, and spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation; neither shall they learn war anymore.” (Isaiah 2:4). 

What does all this have to do with Shore? I hope our boys honour the memory of Australian men and women who have served nobly for our country, both those long gone and those who have been involved in recent military and police activity. We particularly should remember the mostly young Shore men who have given their lives in these conflicts.   

I would also hope that our boys will have a broad perspective, understanding that war is horrific, but an aspect of the human condition, and from which we cannot necessarily protect them in the future, as their lives unfold through adulthood. I want their realism about this to be tempered by their gratitude and respect. Australians in the past, including many Shore men, have made the ultimate sacrifice so we can live in the comfort we enjoy.  Lest We Forget.

Dr John Collier
Interim Headmaster

End of Term 4 Arrangements

Dr A Mansfield
Deputy Head Operations

Boarding Trial for 2023

Current Shore families who are interested in learning more about full-time or weekly School Boarding are invited to a Boarding Trial in Week 7 of Term 4: Monday 21 November until Friday 25 November inclusive.

Boys will have the opportunity to stay on site for the School week and experience life as a Shore Boarder.

Requests for further information and/or applications to participate should be directed (only) to Mr David Anderson, Director of Boarding: danderson@shore.nsw.edu.au

Key Upcoming Dates

Chaplains Chat

This term in Chapel we are looking at Christian people – how they have contributed to the world around them and influenced the people that they have encountered. One such lady was the remarkable Corrie ten Boom. Corrie and her family grew up in the Netherlands and they were Christians. In 1942 when the Germans invaded the Netherlands, the family decided to use their dad’s watchmaking business to help rescue Jewish people from arrest, imprisonment and concentration camps. After making a hiding place in their dad’s shop, they helped upwards of 800 Jewish people as they fled the Netherlands. After the family was betrayed, Corrie and her sister Betsie were sent to a number of concentration camps. Betsie would die in one of these before a clerical error saw Corrie released. After the war, she met one of the German guards who had become a Christian and he asked her for forgiveness. Remarkably she forgave him, despite his previous actions.

Corrie ten Boom forgave this man because she realised the extent to which God had forgiven her. She understood Jesus’ words, that forgiveness that comes from God should result in forgiveness of others around us. As Jesus himself says in Matthew 18:35: “forgive your brother or sister from your heart.” Forgiveness is a wonderful thing that brings relationships together and doesn’t hold things against someone else even when they wrong us. It is truly wonderful that Jesus doesn’t hold things against us when we trust in his death on the Cross for our forgiveness.

Rev. A Benn
Chaplain

CRU Update

Do you have a friend who is perfect? Do you think they would ever die for you?

Continuing with our big questions topic in CRU group, Rev. Benn spoke on Jesus’ death. He importantly started with the fact that God is holy, perfect and just, which means that He cannot look upon sin. This means that when we’ve disobeyed God, we cannot be in a relationship with Him. We looked at the sacrificial system in the Old Testament and how innocent blood had to be shed for forgiveness. This was all pointing to Jesus’ sacrifice. God loved the world so much that He had a plan to send His only Son to Earth to die on the cross as a sacrifice for our sins so that we can be forgiven, have a relationship with God and have eternal life because He was raised from the dead. This is only possible because Jesus is perfect, so He could take our place so that we are made perfect in God’s eyes. He is the only name under heaven by which we can be saved since no one else obeys God without failing. By believing in Jesus, we have eternal life waiting! If you want to find out more about this, come along next week to hear about Christian identity!

Shore and Roseville College CRU
For the first time ever, we had a Shore and Roseville College CRU meeting on Friday afternoon at the Roseville campus. After starting with some fun games such as human bingo and a version of numbered one-on-one hockey, we looked at some things that people find happiness from in life. Reading 1 Peter 1:3-9, we heard from Ruby that Christ should be where we find joy, and even though we haven’t seen Him in the flesh, we can know and love Jesus just as He knows and loves us. Since He died for us, we have a living hope for the inheritance to come that cannot fade, and this is certainly a reason to rejoice. We look forward to more of these events in the future. Next week, we will be catching the train into St Andrew’s for a ‘Mega CRU’ where we will be gathering with CRU groups from all around our area, hearing another great talk, praying for each other and of course, eating food and having lots of fun. It would be great to see many Shore boys there.

Daniel Becker
9 TY4

Sunday 13 November – Boarders Chapel Service

Careers News

It was wonderful to attend an information session at the Canadian Consulate last week and to learn of the many opportunities to study in Canada.

When investigating overseas options, the UK and USA immediately come to mind, however, there are many excellent institutions in Canada offering students amazing experiences.

Each institution has its own application process and can be researched at https://www.universitystudy.ca/.

There are also gap year opportunities which may appeal to students interested in working in the Ski fields or in the hospitality industry.

Students have the opportunity to live in a bilingual country, learn French and enjoy many of the similarities Canada shares with Australia.

The latest Shore Careers News is available on the Careers Lampada page and has lots of opportunities to explore as listed below:

Upcoming Events

• University Admission Centre (UAC)
• Oxbridge Summer Program
• NYU Information Session
• Engineers Australian Quantum Computing Virtual Summer Camp
• Engineers Australia Autumn School of Engineering
• University of Sydney
• UNSW | Health Data Science Information Session
• US College Pathways for Australian Student Athletes
• AIM | Masterclasses
• Live Q&A Webinar with Dr Karl
• SCCE | Exchange Webinar
• University of Newcastle | Callaghan Campus Tour
• University of Newcastle | NUSpace Campus Tour
• University of Newcastle | Central Coast Clinical School Campus Tour
• RBA | Introduction to Economics
• Basair | Open Day
• University of Notre Dame | Bachelor of Health Promotion
• AFTRS | Intro to Directing
• UNSW Portfolio Entry Closes 12 December NIE | Simulated UCAT Day Workshop Online
• NAS | 2023 Summer School Short Courses
• Campion College | Summer Program 2023

Course Updates

• New: University of Sydney High Performance in Sport Major

Resources

• Surprising Pathways to Working at Google
• MedEntry UCAT Prep
• Open P-TECH Free Online Learning Resource
• 40 Free Career Pathway Brochures
• How Can I Turn My Passion Into a Career?

Feedback from any of these sessions is greatly appreciated. Please don’t hesitate to reach out.

Ms V Shirriff
Head of Careers Education

Camps Week

This year sees the return of our Camps Week at the end of Term 4 after a year affected by COVID-19 in 2021. As we approach this time, it is important to remember the educational thrust of adventure education.

The opening quote comes from Kurt Hahn, a key figure in the development of experiential education. He founded the Duke of Edinburgh Award, the United World Colleges network, Gordonstoun, Outward Bound and helped frame the philosophy of the International Baccalaureate.

A number of other organisations such as Round Square were also heavily influenced by his philosophy of character education.

Camps form a vital part of a Shore education as we seek to educate the boys in the Senior School. Indeed, moments of adversity combined with tenacity, courage, curiosity, compassion and ‘esprit de corps’ help us find out more about ourselves. Another wonderful aspect of Camps Week is that it reminds our boys of what it is to be young. In a hyper-connected world, the opportunity to spend time embracing challenges through adventure and the outdoors is a key part of the character development of our young men. 

Thank you for your support of our Camps programme at Shore and our wonderful staff look forward to sharing the final week with your son.

Dr L Gilmour
Deputy Head Co-Curricular

Surfing Report

Top Image Credit: John Rajaratnam

A long period south swell hit Long Reef Beach on Saturday morning, producing some large powerful surf. The winds were good, but the banks made finding good sections tricky. The Shore surfers ran technique drills with all boys having a go and challenging themselves in the powerful waves.

Nathan Stanmore and John Rajaratnam were the stand-out chargers taking on the big bombs and searching for the barrel. Unfortunately, Morgan Elvy’s board didn’t survive the powerful waves and his morning was over early.

The ‘groms’ – Hamish Warden, Ben Jones, Reef Nagle and Harry Murdoch-Tilmouth sat on the inside re-form for a bit, getting some good waves close to the beach. Will Hoy, Sam Pockley and Duncan Cowan were all over the break catching both lefts and rights. 

The turn of the morning went to Noah Kordek with a big snap on his backhand. It was great to see the boys have a real go in the big waves.

Mr J McClelland
MIC, Surfing

Swimming

Lower North Shore Duel Meet

On Friday afternoon, 22 members of the Shore Swim Team made the short walk to Monte Sant’ Angelo Mercy College to compete in the Lower North Shore Duel Meet. The format of these meets is to promote fun and fast racing in a relaxed environment, where boys and girls from the local schools can mix and race each other to gain valuable race preparation. Monte hosted Shore and St Aloysius in this first carnival and Shore hopes to host a similar meet after the GPS Swimming Season.

The Shore team led the way in the seeded racing, which had swimmers of all ages racing amongst boys and girls dependent upon their seeded times. Zac Izzard led the team off in the 100m Freestyle with a blistering short course time of 54.58 seconds and a comfortable win. Shore rounded out the podium with Charlie Ashton (56.94) and Paul Russell (57.43) placing second and third, getting the team off to a flying start.

Izzard had a dominant afternoon with wins in the 100m Individual Medley, 50m Freestyle and 50m Butterfly. Other strong wins included Tom Hawkins (100m Butterfly), Will Bestic (100m Backstroke), Ethan Cook (100m and 50m Breaststroke) and Jack Pollitt (50m Backstroke). Shore placed 2nd in the 4x50m relay after a nine-second handicap.

Thanks to Monte for hosting a great meet and to the Shore swimmers for their sportsmanship and efforts on Friday. The team look forward to the Convenors Invitational Carnival on 18 November at Sydney Olympic Park Aquatic Centre.

Mr J Somerville
MIC, Swimming

Tennis

On Saturday, the Shore Firsts competed against The Scots College. The boys struggled on the notoriously challenging and sloped Scots courts. Nonetheless, all doubles matches were incredibly tight, with tiebreakers forced in each match.

In singles, Connor Fung made an exceptional debut, displaying incredible consistency to win 7-5 in the third set after nearly three hours of play. Zac Little also impressed with his power, winning dominantly 6-2, 6-0. However, a couple of critical injuries swayed the tie in favour of Scots, and they won 6-3.

With a number of changes due to sickness, the Seconds were down a couple of players. We were fortunate enough to have Matt George and George Gatenby play up and give their best.

It was a difficult day for not only the new additions but the Seconds regular team, with Scots showing an excellent display of tennis. Nonetheless, our team had some great games and Joshua Powell and Harper Cunningham pulled through, giving us some rubbers.

In the Opens, we saw a great match by Isaac Lanham, winning his singles 6-1. Jimmy Nicholas had a great return to Shore Tennis with a 6-2 win after a short break from the sport.

The Under 16s had a terrific Saturday winning overall with Joshua Chu and Nathan Lu the highlights and who both showed great sportsmanship.

In the Under 15s, Oliver De Kock and Christopher Hunter never dropped a game in their doubles match-up against Scots, nor did Ralphie Fowler. Loki Lam and Noah Gee won their doubles and Isaac Metcalfe was the sole singles winner in the Under 14s for Shore. It was a challenging but fun day for all players.  

Mr J Straney
MIC, Tennis

Water Polo

Top Image Credit: Thirds win against Kings

Third VII Match Report

The Thirds started exactly as we wanted, with pressure defence from Hudson Brooks causing a turnover and Byron Banks showing speed on the drive to score the opening goal.

Louis Cathles’ strong work in centre forward created lots of opportunities for the team, with Josh Gallant’s speed down the wing resulting in open shots, which gave the team a strong 5-0 start.

The second quarter was similar as we continued to show great speed up and down the pool. Excellent defence from Will Abrahams and Harrison Twyman gave us good turnover ball.

Charlie Hawkins would then give fast, accurate passes to a sharp shooting Ollie Danks, resulting in an 8-1 half-time score line.

The third quarter began with Lucas Gillespie at centre back, who would then move the ball to Darcy Finlay in the driver, then receive the ball back to take strong shots on goal.

The final quarter showed great swimming and communication, with Chris Tomsic stopping opposition raids with great cover defence, whilst still being fast down the pool in attack.

Phil Greenwood played his first game and positioned himself to score a well set up goal. Harry Brigden was consistently open, out-swimming his opponent up and down the wing.

The final result was an excellent 15-2 win.

Mr Jones
Thirds Water Polo Coach

Water Polo Results – Saturday 5 November 2022

Miss Z H Dowdell
MIC, Water Polo

Holtermann Columns

To Exclude

Inextricable Links Between Society and Exclusivity

J. Y. Gao

On a larger scale, a society consists of groups of various sizes, overlaps, and concentric layers, and nothing else. Therefore, society is determined by each of these groups to varying degrees, and the value system in place that has grouped these separate, individual social groups is derived from the most common values shared in all groups. One could almost say the definition of ‘society’ is: the collection of values and ideas shared amongst all of it’s constituent groups. And herein lies the inherent danger of postmodernism. 

Last week’s article came to the conclusion that humans are unequal due to the very nature of value and the very act of evaluation – which, in turn, is a most fundamental and inextricable nature of our consciousness – then, by the very existence of the human conscious, and by definition of inequality and judgement, the individuals of society will find commonalities and differences with those they are surrounded by and form groups. Social groups are the direct repercussion of evaluation (of others and self in relation to others), which is the direct consequence of consciousness. So long as humans are conscious beings, there will be social groups. And, by definition of the word ‘group’, there exists an interwoven implication of two distinct and inseparable concepts: ‘us’ and ‘them’. Individuals categorised as ‘us’ are INCLUDED, whereas those categorised as ‘them’, by the very nature of the dichotomy inferred from ‘included’, are EXCLUDED. Activities that work to include are INCLUSIVE, whilst activities that primarily exclude are EXCLUSIVE. Further, the content of the INCLUDED group is simultaneously defined by knowing what is INCLUDED and what is EXCLUDED; to know one is to know the other. To recognise one is to infer the recognition of the other. 

It must be admitted that ‘postmodernism’ has become a loosely defined term used in a variety of circumstances that may or may not necessitate the ideas that ‘postmodernism’ acts as a placeholder to be evoked. Though amongst the forest of wondrous exaggerations and/or acute underestimations lies some fundamental components that define postmodernism as a movement, and differentiate it from movements prior, following, or coexisting with it. These components are (not limited to) a belief in: the inherent and EQUAL value of individual expression due to the subjectivity of value and expression, the inherent danger and oppressive nature of grand-narratives, the importance of the individual voice to not conform in keeping past grand-narratives at bay and deconstructing still existing ones. Active participants within this postmodernist narrative are found by the billions within the contemporary Western society, and is a notion that has embedded itself within education, politics and literature. In the end, who doesn’t want to be AFFIRMED? 

The mechanism with which postmodernism is able to do this is, to say the least, quite ingenious. It skilfully circumvents the inequality in the value of an individual that is inherent to existence by making value and inequality subjective to the individual. Although, the value of the subjectivity of an individual’s value system (and their subjective evaluation of other value systems) is, ironically, objective. In essence, postmodernism believes that, as any individual’s right to value their subjective value system and their subjective view of other value systems is equal to any other individual, the views themselves are inherently and equally good as a result of their subjectivity. By flattening the value scale to a single value – a single dimension – how do you expect a governing body to make AN action if it must consider every opinion? And is expected to give every individual time in the sun as they attempt to express an unique value system? If a governing body is unable to judge and evaluate each voice, how can it filter through the voices and hold on to it’s purpose – to govern? Similarly, if a society is unable to judge and evaluate each voice, how can it filter through the voices and hold on to the individual groups that it consists of? For a society to maintain it’s integrity, it must identify commonality between these separate and unique voices. For that to happen, the individual must see value in another’s value system, not just the value of the SUBJECTIVITY of their value system. When a society is formed around these shared values, it will define itself with what values are ‘INCLUDED’ and what values are ‘EXCLUDED’. 

This will alienate individuals with separate and uncommon value systems, yet it is the uncompromisable price to pay for the existence of a society.

The Hubris of Man   

Expounding Thoughts of Centrality 

J. A. McCreery

“Man in his arrogance thinks of himself a great work, worthy the interposition of a deity. [Yet it is] more humble and, I believe, true to consider him created from animals.”

Charles Darwin, The Descent of Man

In the field of social psychology, illusory superiority is a condition of cognitive bias whereby a person overestimates their own worth and ability in relation to the shared qualities between them and others. Apply this to man and his competitors; smarter, more adaptable, more resourceful, more imaginative, more cooperative, more calculated. Under this guise of superiority it is difficult to imagine humanity not having a higher calling, a higher imposition which gives the power and right to attain the global dominance enjoyed. Yet was the lion in the jungle a descendant of God until the day man took his Kingdom? 

Humanity has a long history of assuming centrality, for thousands of years Earth was thought of as the centrepiece of the universe, all else literally and metaphorically revolving around it – the control of said centrepiece thus lending importance, ascendancy. Geocentricity is a natural conclusion, it plays heavily on our inevitably individualised experience; a newborn infant must learn through experimentation, sensation and ultimately thought, that he is a part of the world, not the entirety. It was not until 1543 when the ‘radical’ work of Nicolaus Copernicus detailed Earth’s subsidiary role, one of many, often much larger planets, revolving around the Sun. This theory, regardless of the sound scientific backing, took more than a century to become widely accepted – it’s hard to let go of one’s importance. 

Cosmologically speaking again, the Homo sapiens civilisations are smaller than a pin dropped amongst the Pacific Ocean, this perspective we have received as a result of our intelligence is startling. When we gaze up at skyscrapers and the Giza pyramids, their height is humbling yet they themselves are dwarfed by the Earth which, in turn, is nothing more than a molecule in the incomprehensibly vast (ever expanding) cosmic sphere. It is much safer, warmer, to simply believe one’s self and their planet is the centre of the Universe, God (or another) building a world, a brilliant creation, to simply serve and please the self. 

This thought is often coined the anthropic principle and it holds that if the phenomena of the Universe differed at all – the gravitational constant, the exact electric charge of a proton, the mass of electrons or neutrons – life would cease to exist, and as such it all must have been fine tuned for humanities continuance, nothing so inconceivable could occur by chance. Who is to say whether such conditions weren’t simply engineered, or otherwise, to give rise to the mice in our floorboards or another Alien species entirely? It is just as conceivable to think that the universe exists for another, and the appearance and proliferation of Homo sapiens was an unanticipated side effect, a ‘collateral benefit’ (D. Barash – Ph. D.).

But what is our fate if this is the case? Are we meaningless? Just strange hyper-immense, neuroplastic arrogant blobs stuck in a web of chemical reactions and chance events which drive us onwards, onwards to nothing. The speculation of arrogance is difficult to pin down, the ambiguity of philosophy overwhelming, it is a task in and of itself to simply define the morality from which we judge – however those who hold dearly to their divine right, a so-called superiority, must be ready to face the calming hand of science, the science which “is a willingness to accept facts even if they are opposed to wishes” – Emanuel Maldenberg.

Dominance Downunder

Australia Advance

F. A. Loxton

After three dominant performances in the group stage, Australia faced one of their toughest challenges yet in a quarter-final against Lebanon. With the likes of Mitchell Moses, Adam Doueihi and Josh Mansour fired up for the Cedars, it would be no walk in the park for the stacked Kangaroos side.

The fixture’s first controversy came with Mal Meninga naming both Daly Cherry-Evans and Nathan Cleary, in an alphabetical order 19-man extended squad just two days out. This resulted in Cleary being named halfback, ending a long run as the staple halfback after losing the captaincy earlier this year. Whilst Cherry-Evan’s is the far more experienced half, the back-to-back premiership-winning Cleary is the form choice; with an unmatched kicking game.

Now that the team was named, the stage was set, and with Australia still strong favourites, rumours of an upset were looming.

The Kangaroos, however, brought intensity from the opening tackle and outclassed the Cedars. In just the fourth minute Josh Addo-Carr went over in the corner, with the presence of Latrell Mitchell too great on a simple left-edge draw and pass, and the dominance of the Kangaroos continued throughout the opening half. Just ten minutes later, Tedesco’s footwork broke the Lebanon line off the ruck and with Addo-Carr backing up on the inside he secured a second meat pie for the night. Then, off the back of a Nathan Cleary kick, Cameron Munster stripped an isolated Jacob Kiraz and a simple flick pass let ‘the fox’ score a third try before the 20th minute.

This slow start from the Cedars left them down 14-0 with the fastest man on the field scoring a hat-trick and it only getting worse from there. Australia’s next try came from the same left edge with Latrell steamrolling Lebanon’s outside backs making it appear like they had fewer men on the field. This only continued with a 29th-minute-Cameron Murray try after a line break from Angus Crichton. The Cedars looked all but finished and needed someone to step up if there was a chance for a comeback.

After several more Kangaroos tries from Murray and Josh Addo-Carr, Lebanon was facing a 34-point deficit, but hope struck as the Australian skipper went off with a corked knee. 

Mitchell Moses took full advantage of this, putting a grubber behind the line for Josh Mansour to score, although this was the only glimpse of their pool stage form. Australia smothered them.

The final quarter of the game was once again an Australian highlight reel, with Harry Grant combining with Josh Addo-Carr for his fifth try of the match. Bringing him back to first place on tournament tries. 

Overall, Australia was beyond impressive in the quarter final. Their chemistry, power and speed seem to be unmatched, and with one of the most star-studded teams in history, it’s no wonder they are favourites to win it all. Saturday night’s win will see them face New Zealand for a spot in the grand finale, and with a long rivalry, critics are saying it will be the match of the tournament.

In Balance

Reform to the International Baccalaureate

P. P. Zhang

WHAT DO QUEENWOOD, CRANBROOK AND NEWINGTON COLLEGE ALL HAVE IN COMMON? This may sound like the start of a joke but the punchline is no laughing matter. Apart from being some of the most elite private schools across the country, they all offer the International Baccalaureate. If you don’t know what the IB is, it’s essentially an alternative diploma program to the HSC (Higher School Certificate), which consists of a two-year course in the final years of high school. According to a spokesperson, the IB is recognised globally for its “academic rigour and holistic education”. For some students, it’s a preferred alternative to the HSC due to its broader curriculum, which allows greater flexibility based on career interests. Additionally, the IB has often been labelled as “a different approach to learning”, which better prepares students for university and the workforce. 

Now, the reason for the recent controversy surrounding the IB is due to its apparent unfairness: last year, potential grade inflation and overly generous marking led to a spike in the number of students awarded a perfect score of 45. But the worst part is, the broad nature of the scoring meant that all these students received the maximum ATAR of 99.95 upon conversion. This effectively means that out of the 600 students who took the IB last year, one in twelve received a perfect score. For some context, less than 0.1% of the students who take the HSC receive an ATAR of 99.95. The IB is blatantly painting a picture of elitism – it’s not offered at public schools, and students who take it instead of the HSC have to pay an extra fee. 

The IB is often promoted as a pathway to international study, but in recent years, it’s become a way for students to gain an unfair advantage over their peers, with more than 90% of IB students last year going on to study at a major Australian university, despite the name “International Baccalaureate”. 

St Ursula’s College will become the first Catholic school to offer the IB starting from next year, and the King’s School will make it available to Year 11 students from 2025. But there’s some good news for HSC students and their parents. As more schools look to offer alternatives to their students, universities have vowed to ‘level the playing field’ for course entry. They plan to do this by determining a selection rank among IB students using their raw marks rather than the final score out of 45. 

Furthermore, schools such as St Ursula’s are creating their own reform, with a pledge to remove the extra fee attached to the course when offered to their students next year. This ultimately will make the IB more accessible to a wider range of socioeconomic backgrounds; a major step that all schools should aim to follow, in an effort to increase fairness. Around the world, the IB is offered in over 150 nations, and, in many of these countries, it is state funded using public money. As the IB becomes a real option for many students around Australia, perhaps it is time for us to consider some changes.

Why are the Apple Earpods still trending?

A fashion trend for the ages

E. O. Milne

In modern-day fashion, there are always common trends on the run, for example, hoodies over the past few years have taken the world by storm and when you go for a walk it is almost impossible to not see one. But then, on the other hand, there are trends in fashion that have been around forever and even when you think they are gone for good (because there is something way trendier around) they’re still always there. 

The Apple EarPods have been around since 2012 and their design has more or less stayed the same. But in 2016 when the AirPods came out you ought to think that people would switch to AirPods entirely. Well obviously, the AirPods have also become their own fashion trend, but still, somehow the Earbuds have stayed around to the degree that they are competing with AirPods in sales. 

Due to their cost being so low (for an apple product) and the fact that they are just like the AirPods generation 2, only with a wire, does make them quite intriguing, but still, they are not that great. They are just a pair of earbuds that were made to connect to Apple’s main devices. So, why is this trend still around?

In 2022 social media is at an all-new level of hype and it seems everyone has either Facebook, Instagram or Tiktok. So, at this point, TikTok and Instagram have started many trends in the fashion industry. When you look up ‘Earbuds’ on these platforms’ search bars all you see are Apple Earbuds. They are everywhere and, in the stylish photos people take with them, they almost make you feel that if you don’t have them then you are not ‘cool’.  

The media does have a lot of influential power, but it is still surprising that it is influencing the value of such a dated piece of technology. But this does make you ponder the question, will the Apple EarPods ever have an update? Well, frankly it seems quite possible, with so many people begging for it. Apple almost has to answer to fan’s pleas and release a nicer version. Yet, in my opinion, I don’t think there is much you can do to make wired earbuds better than they are. Maybe add a silicone Ear tip so they stay in your ear better? Or have touch controls on the side like the Airpods? Who knows? But one thing I know is that this gadget is not going away and this is a great example of how the media controls our everyday lives.

Has Elon Musk Made a 44 billion Dollar Mistake?

A Look into Twitter’s Acquisition

A. T. Gilchrist

Recently, tech mogul Elon Musk finally purchased one of the top ten biggest social media platforms; Twitter. However the acquisition took months to finalise and was riddled with twists and turns. He began investing in the company during late January according to the Securities and Exchange Commission, and by March 14th he became the company’s largest shareholder with a 9.2% stake. On April 4th, Musk disclosed his stake in Twitter, revealing it to be $2.89 billion, causing shares to rise over 27% with the announcement. The following day, the company announced the magnate would join the company’s board of directors. Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal said on the platform:

“He’s both a passionate believer and intense critic of the service which is exactly what we need on @Twitter, and in the boardroom, to make us stronger in the long-term, welcome Elon!”

However several days later Musk himself announced that he would in fact not be joining the board at all. On April 14th, he offered to buy the company at $54.20 per share, valuing the company at about $43 billion. Musk reportedly gathered $46.5 billion dollars in financing for a potential acquisition, which was delivered on the following day as Twitter accepted Musk’s deal, now valuing the company at $44 billion. Musk secured further financing by selling off $8.5 billion worth of Tesla stock as well as from Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison, venture capital firm Sequoia Capital and cryptocurrency exchange Binance, an estimated $7 billion, pitching that he would quintuple Twitter’s revenue by 2028, increasing annual earnings to $26.4 billion.

However, on May 13th, the Tesla CEO tweeted that the Twitter deal was “temporarily on hold” due to concerns of the prevalence of spam and bot accounts, citing a Reuters report that estimated their prevalence to be around 5% of all accounts. In June, he subsequently threatened to pull out of the deal if Twitter didn’t provide him with more information about the prevalence of bots, though the company argued that they had been sharing all information with the billionaire “in accordance with the terms of the merger agreement.” In response, Musk moved to terminate the deal so called due to the issue of the fake accounts. As a result, Twitter sued him in Chancery Court, Delaware, to force him to complete the deal:

“Musk refuses to honour his obligations to Twitter and its stockholders because the deal he signed no longer serves his personal interests … Musk apparently believes that he — unlike every other party subject to Delaware contract law — is free to change his mind, trash the company, disrupt its operations, destroy stockholder value, and walk away.”

However the court ruled that the trial should take place in October, allowing Musk several months leeway. But before the Court could continue, on October the 4th he proposed the completion of the deal to acquire Twitter, finalising the arrangements on the 28th at the original offer of $54.20 a share, at a total of $44 billion.

But what does this mean for the company and its users? Well to start with, as I’m sure you have heard, Musk has introduced a monthly $7.99 dollar fee for the coveted blue check, which many celebrities such as author Stepehn King have slammed, stating “They should be paying me”, but for a company 13 billion dollars in debt and losing 4 million dollars a day, these fees will be a drop in the ocean, for if all 424,000 verified users agreed to pay $8 to keep their blue tick, Twitter would generate only about $3.4 million a month. Secondly, Musk has now reportedly laid off half of Twitter’s 8000 workers, with entire departments such as their ethical AI team and human rights section being sacked. This has resulted in many human rights groups and activists calling for advertisers to desert Twitter, with big names such as General Motors, Coca-Cola, Nintendo and Spotify halting advertising on the platform. Finally, with further cuts coming to workers as well as infrastructure, questions have been raised about the site’s user safety and content moderation, and it will be interesting to see whether Musk will be able to reign the massive social platform or if it will become an investment he soon regrets.

Exam Week

The importance of sleep to perform well in Yearly Exams 

J.A. Collier 

As years 7 to 10 are in the middle of their exams, it is important to investigate how sleep actually affects your brain before an exam and why cramming and staying up past midnight the night before an exam may not benefit you as much as you think. 

Sleep is extremely important for teenagers to help muscles grow and reduce the chance of sickness. However, regarding brain function, sleep must be more important than you think. Most boys are guilty of pulling “all-nighters” before exams and rock up to the exams feeling like they are in the best shape for the exam as they have studied all night and know all the content now. Well, I hate to be the one to say this, but this approach for exams is not a great way to prepare. 

Firstly, sleep is important as there is nothing worse than trying to keep your eyes open in an important exam. If you go into an exam extremely tired, you are going to be much less likely to go well and all you will be thinking about is sleeping after the exam and not the content and how to formulate the best answers possible for each question. Sleep is very important so boys enter the exam feeling fresh and upbeat so they can give it their best effort and attempt to earn the best mark possible.

Secondly, sleep and your brain work together; if you don’t get enough sleep, you are severely damaging your chances of using your brain to its full potential. As you sleep, your brain forms pathways in your memory to learn and over time these pathways will be maintained, and you will remember what you have been studying. However, without sleep, this process cannot occur and essentially all your hard study will be somewhat wasted, as you aren’t forming those essential pathways to help you remember all the content in your exams.

Thirdly, without sleep, your brain will be left exhausted meaning that it cannot perform its duties as well as it should. Just like your body, your brain needs rest and if you are constantly overloading your brain and not letting it rest, it won’t be able to function as well as it should and it will be increasingly harder to concentrate and focus in exams. In the lead-up to exams, if you are constantly not getting enough sleep, then your brain will find it much harder to learn new content and you will be much more inclined to not work effectively or even not work at all. This means that your brain will not be performing as well as it should, and you will not be benefitting from the number of hours you are putting into studying. You consolidate your learning as you sleep, so it is important to get adequate sleep. 

Now the recommended amount of sleep for teenage boys is 9-9.5 hours of sleep per night and I know that this can sometimes seem unachievable. However, it is essential to try and strive for as much sleep as possible. If you can get over 8 hours of sleep per night that is perfect, and this will help you drastically with your study and your ability to retain knowledge. 

So as everyone is heading into exams, I strongly urge everyone to get the sleep they need so they can perform at the highest level possible and achieve their best. Best wishes in exams and remember to get your well-deserved sleep.