A Tragedy for Shore

Dear Students, Parents and Carers

Last evening, Leon Li of Year 11 passed away after what appears to have been an anaphylactic reaction. I have the sad responsibility of conveying to you the basic details.  Senior Staff have assisted his parents this morning to try and support them in their terrible loss. Staff were briefed early this morning, followed by a special assembly of all Senior School students.  We have made special arrangements for students deeply affected to be able to go to the Chapel to sit quietly, to reflect, to discuss in small groups and to receive pastoral support from one of our School Counsellors (Psychologists and Social Workers) and our Chaplain.  Staff deeply affected by the loss of Leon have had a similar opportunity with our Counselling staff and our Community Chaplain.  Other local schools with which we regularly partner have kindly offered additional Counsellors today to assist our community. 

The loss of Leon affects a great many of our students and staff as Leon was very active in so many aspects of Shore.  He was a fine musician, featuring in a number of our bands, an enthusiastic member of drama ensembles, an active Shore sportsman, a member of our Shore Cadet Unit and a diligent student.  The tragedy is of such a promising and fine young man losing his life at such an early age.  Death at such a young age is always incomprehensible.  Often, teenagers have no prior experience of losing someone to whom they were close.  Today we have seen the quality of our Shore boys as they have mourned Leon and comforted one another. 

Leon was confirmed in his faith last year by the Anglican Bishop of North Sydney, the Right Rev Chris Edwards.  In this respect, Jesus’ words are a great comfort:  ‘I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die;…’ (John 11:25).

Members of Gillespie House, Year 11 as a whole and members of one of our sporting teams in which Leon featured are being carefully monitored and encouraged, particularly, to draw on the Pastoral Care the School is providing.  We are very conscious that our boys will bear the effects of this terrible news as they go into a four-day break over Easter.  Should parents feel their sons need some additional help over these four days or the April holiday period, it may be found from community resources – see details below. 

• The Mental Health Access Line is available on 1800 011 511 for advice and support and can help you triage a situation to determine whether hospital or another support is necessary.
• Kids Helpline is a free counselling service available to young people 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. They can be contacted via 1800 55 1800 or on their website: kidshelpline.com.au. They also have a web chat function so young people can chat to a counsellor through online messaging.
• Your GP is a great first port of call and can provide some initial mental health screening if a concern arises. Your GP can also make a referral to a private Psychologist if needed.
• Headspace, located in Chatswood and Brookvale, provide bulk-billed counselling and support to young people aged 12-25 years. You can find out more on their website: headspace.org.au.
• KYDS, located in Lindfield and Kirribilli, provide a counselling service for young people which is free. You can find out more here: www.kyds.org.au
• Parentline is a free phone or email counselling service available to parents if you need some help or support, or just want to talk through a parenting issue. You can reach them on 1300 1300 52 or www.parentline.org.au

Some youth-focused services also provide some helpful information online about dealing with grief and loss:

• ReachOut
• Headspace

When School resumes next Tuesday, our Pastoral Care will continue as we help our boys come to terms with their bereavement. 

Dr John Collier
Headmaster

CRU Update

I wonder what comes to your mind when you hear the word substitution. Maybe you’re considering your maths class where you have to substitute values to find an answer. Maybe you’re thinking about sport and substituting players on and off. Last week at CRU, we saw what substitution looks like in a gospel context. 

Nathanael Joukhador provided a helpful introduction, reminding us of the context in which Isaiah is set, and how the book is structured in two halves, the first being about judgement and the second being about hope. After this, we heard the Bible reading from Joel Gilmour and Mr Ng spoke on Isaiah 53. We were introduced to the idea of substitution through the lines “He was pierced for our transgressions” and “He was crushed for our iniquities”. Mr Ng used an analogy to demonstrate this. It involved a bridge which opened to let boats through, and closed to let trains across, operated by a father. One day, when the bridge was open for a boat, a train was approaching while the operator’s son was playing among the cogs. He chose to save the people, and his son died as a result. 

This somewhat reflects the way God punishes His Son instead of us. It is similar because there was a sacrifice of the son in both that saves people, but it was different for a few reasons as well. Firstly, in the analogy the people on the train didn’t really do anything wrong, whereas in reality, we are deserving of God’s judgement because of our sin against the holy God. Secondly, God the Father was not forced based on a dangerous situation to decide between the people or His Son, because He planned for Jesus to save people from their sins all along, which can be seen as Isaiah wrote this over 700 years before Jesus was born. Thirdly, unlike in the analogy where the son had no say, Jesus was willing to submit to God’s will and die on the cross for us, rather than do what would cause Him less suffering. The fact that God always chose to send His Son to save us by dying on a cross so we can be forgiven is very humbling, and we should be thankful because it shows us that God loves us. Even though we have all gone astray, the Lord has laid our shortcomings on Jesus, so by believing, we have eternal life.

Daniel Becker
Year 11

Mothers’ Day Stall – Coordinator Needed

We need your help to build the Mothers’ Day Stall Team for 2024. This stall has become so popular and loved by our boys, and we are looking for a team of volunteers to run it.

How to get involved

1. Stall Coordinator
   • Purchase products (gifts and wrapping).
   • Coordinate Sign-Up Genius for volunteers for both wrapping and selling.
   • Organise wrapping day.
   • Liaise with Year Rep Coordinator for Year Group communication to boys.
   • Set-up and run stall on Tuesday 7 May (Prep) Friday 10 May (Senior).
2. Volunteer to help wrap products – look out for Sign Up Genius coming out soon!
3. Volunteer to sell products on Friday 10 May – look out for Sign Up Genius coming out soon!

To get involved, please contact Mr David Cambridge at: spachair@shore.nsw.edu.au

Thank you,
Shore Parents Association

Referee Rugby!

Have the Best Seat in the House – No prior experience is required.

If you love rugby and want to be closer to the action on a Saturday, why not give rugby refereeing a go? At Shore, we are looking for both schoolboy and community referees to step in and help us out on a Saturday! We can assist you with getting all the necessary qualifications and will help you at every step of your refereeing journey! If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact Mr T Brandon-Cooper at tbrandoncooper@shore.nsw.edu.au.

School Canteen Manager

Shore is looking for an energetic and enthusiastic School Canteen Manager, to take over Mrs Gaby Hunter in the operation and management of Northbridge and North Sydney Canteens.

To apply for this position, please click here.

American Tea 2024 – Friday 13 September

The American Tea is Shore’s annual Spring Fair and Fundraiser and will be held on Friday 13 September.

It is a much-loved School event that the boys look forward to each year and includes amusement park rides, food stalls, games and market stalls.

The first American Tea was held in 1936 and began with the concept of ‘bring a gift or a plate and then buy one’, to raise funds for the School. This tradition continues to this day! Over time, it has evolved to become an annual fundraising event for Shore, with the focus being to support the education of students at Shore with equipment and improved facilities.

This event involves the whole School community, including the boys, parents and carers, grandparents and Old Boys and is a must for your diary.

How to get involved

We are currently looking for volunteers to join our planning committee in the following roles. Each role will be supported by Katie Kelly, the American Tea Coordinator for 2024.

American Tea Second Convenor

• Support and assist the American Tea Coordinator.
• Coordinate Sign-Up Genius for volunteers.
• Prepare American Tea communications for Lampada, Shore Weekly Record and Prep Peek.
• Liaise with Year Rep Coordinator for year group communication.
• Support SPA with Trybooking pre-sales.
• Become American Tea Coordinator 2025.

American Tea Third Convenor

• Support and assist the American Tea Second Convenor.
• Liaise with Shore staff to coordinate Year 11 Student Helpers.
• Manage Stallholder Equipment containers.
• Liaise with Food Vendors.
• Become American Tea Second Convenor 2025.
• Become American Tea Coordinator 2026.

Silent Auction Team Leader

• Main point of contact for Silent Auction at American Tea.
• Coordinate and oversee a team of volunteers to manage the following:
  • School Donations.
  • External Donations.
  • Gala Bid Set-up.
• Liaise with School IT department for event set-up.
• Liaise with Northbridge American Tea organisers.

We look forward to seeing you at the biggest Shore community event of the year!

For enquiries and expressions of interest, please contact:

Mr D Cambridge
Chair, Shore Parents’ Association spachair@shore.nsw.edu.au

Mrs K Kelly
American Tea Coordinator 2024 spaamericantea@shore.nsw.edu.au

Learning about Education: A Guide to the NSW Education System

Join educational thought leaders at Shore for two tailored sessions focused on ‘Learning About Education’. Both unique and independent events are dedicated to explaining to parents and carers the key pillars of learning throughout the NSW schooling journey (from Early Learning to Year 12).

We highly encourage you to attend this session to gain an insight into the NSW Education system. 

Date: Tuesday 9 April 2024  
Venue: Shore, Smith Auditorium, North Sydney Campus 
Time: 6.00pm – 7.30pm
Light refreshments will be provided. 

The seminar aims to provide families with comprehensive insights into the NSW Education system for older students, including its structure, success metrics and examination processes.  

Our speaker panel will include:  

• Dr John Collier, Headmaster.
• Mr Matt Leeds, Deputy Head of Academic.
• Mr Michael Massey, Master in Charge, High Potential Learners Programme.

To book, please click here.  

Date: Wednesday 10 April 2024   
Venue: Shore, K,1,2 Assembly Hall, Northbridge Campus  
Time: 6.00pm – 7.30pm 
Light refreshments will be provided.

The seminar aims to provide families with comprehensive insights into the NSW Education system for the first years of School, including its structure and success metrics.  

Our speaker panel will include:   

• Dr John Collier, Headmaster.
• Ms Natasha Mitchell, Head of Preparatory School.
• Mrs Wendy Abernethy, Head of Northbridge Campus.

To book, please click here.  

Rugby Key Dates 2024

As the Winter Season approaches, please note the following key dates for boys in preparation for the season’s commencement.

Once registrations are open, please ensure your son completes the Sport survey for Winter Sport registration. We cannot communicate with you unless he does that.

Mr D Mason-Jones
MIC Rugby

Study Centre

Welcome to Shore’s popular Study Centre. There are subject specific sessions before and after School to allow the boys to seek individual help and guidance with their work. Teachers, sometimes assisted by high achieving Old Boys, are available according to the published timetable. Most sessions are held in and around the Library, but check the timetable for locations. Study Centre operates on a drop-in basis, and there is no charge involved. All boys are strongly encouraged to attend.

Focus On is part of Study Centre. It is run by staff in the Educational Services department who offer support to boys in all subjects in Years 7 to 10. They will assist the boys with their executive functioning skills as well as help with homework and other schoolwork.

Please note that the Study Centre timetable changes from time-to-time as teachers’ co-curricular commitments change. It is always best to check for the most up-to-date version of the timetable on Lampada.

Mrs E White
Head of Library & Information Services

Please view the study timetable below:

Term Dates 2024

Career News

Last week, we had the privilege of learning all the latest developments at The University of Sydney:

1. Advanced Maths prerequisite

As previously noted, the University of Sydney have removed the Advanced Maths prerequisite for a number of the courses; however, it still remains for the following courses in 2025:

• Engineering
• Advanced computing
• Pharmacy
• Pharmacy and Management

Many of the following new programs were previously studied through the B.Advanced Studies and have now had a name change. These include:

2. New double degrees in 2025, all four years in duration:

• B.Economics/B.Arts – ATAR 91
• B.Commerce/B.Science – ATAR 95
• B.Commerce/B.Arts – ATAR 95
• B.Science/B.Arts – ATAR 80
• B.Engineering (Environmental) – ATAR 90

3. New degrees in 2025

Three years:

• B.Philosophy, Politics and Economics (PPE) – ATAR 91
• B.Media and Communications – ATAR – 95
• B.Languages – ATAR 90
• B.International Studies – ATAR 90

Four years:

• B.Taronga Wildlife – ATAR 85
• B.Animal and Vet Bioscience – ATAR 80

Upcoming events:

The University of Sydney Year 10 Subject Selection Night

11 April 2024 Online at 6.00pm

Year 10 families are encouraged to learn about HSC subject selection, university applications and admissions with The University of Sydney.

Register here.

Year 11 Experience University of Sydney

23 April 2024

Year 11 students are invited to attend this free event in the holidays to discover what life is like at the University of Sydney. Students will get the chance to participate in faculty activities, meet current Sydney students, discover our clubs and societies and explore our campus with a tour. 

Register here.

The University of Sydney | Pathways to Law

3 April 2024 at 4.00pm

There are many pathways to studying law at the University of Sydney. Hear from a panel of current students who have joined the law community at Sydney through alternate pathways, transferring or studying graduate entry law.

Register here.

The University of Sydney | Environmental Engineering On Campus event

3 April 2024 at 4.00pm-6.00pm

The Bachelor of Engineering Honours (Environmental Engineering) will provide Year 12 students exclusive access to cutting-edge laboratories, where they can observe the transformative effects of environmental engineering through real-world demonstrations. Attendees can delve deeper into our pioneering degree program, which will commence in 2025. Light refreshments will be served.

Due to laboratory space* considerations, numbers are strictly limited, and registration is essential.
Register here.

General and faculty specific webinars each Wednesday

Term 2 events are available on University of Sydney’s website.

The latest Careers News, which has been emailed out to all Year 10 to 12 parents and posted on the Careers Hub on Teams for students, is also available on the Careers Lampada page.

Ms V Shirriff
Head of Careers Education

Progress Meetings

Term 2: Notice To Parents – Years 7, 9 and 11

• Information will be emailed home with all the details.
• Boys are expected to attend.
• No co-curricular activities for students who have Progress Meetings.

Mr S Werakso
Staff Professional Co-ordinator

Shore’s Senior Musical – Chitty Chitty Bang Bang

What a spectacular few nights showcasing Shore’s Senior School Musical! The Chitty Chitty Bang Bang cast and crew delivered performances that surpassed all expectations. It has been nothing short of magical!

We are immensely proud of the talent displayed by our students and the dedication of our staff, who have worked tirelessly to bring this production to life.

Inspired by Ian Fleming’s enchanting tale, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang promises to be an unforgettable experience for audiences of all ages, with its captivating songs and dazzling performances.

A heartfelt thank you to the 50+ students in the cast, orchestra, and crew, including those from Roseville, Queenwood, SCEGGS Darlinghurst, and Wenona. Your hard work and passion have truly paid off!

If you still need to secure your tickets, there’s still time to catch this incredible show. But act fast – seats are filling up quickly! Book now to avoid missing out on the magic.

Remaining dates: Wednesday 3 April, Thursday 4 April, Friday 5 April and Saturday 6 April

LINK FOR TICKETS HERE

Senior School Musical – Last Chance for Tickets!

From the Music Department

Concert Group

This past week, Shore concert group was privileged to watch the Sydney Symphony Orchestra play alongside concert pianist Víkingur Ólafsson performing Ravel’s Piano Concerto in G major. The concert gave us key insights into performance and allowed us to immerse ourselves within music that we are currently studying. The work is full of Jazz influences and yet it is typical to that of Ravel. Sweeping glissandos and strong fanfares, melancholic melodies and rich tones are all staples of this concerto. Olafsson played with technical brilliance and composure. His tone was unparalleled throughout the second movement, adagio assai, and it is always enlightening to watch world class musicians perform. For his encore, Olafsson played Bach as a homage to his previous performances of the Goldberg variations, where he sold out the Opera House Concert Hall. This was one of the performances of the season.

In addition to the Ravel Piano Concerto, the SSO played Beethoven’s Third Symphony. The symphony is unlike traditional Beethoven. It was a hugely ambitious work that refused to stay within boundaries, stunning in its epic scope and emotional impact. Under the masterful leadership of guest conductor Donald Runnicles, the performance was nothing short of captivating.

The Shore concert group is now looking forward to more performances in the coming months!

JJ Black
Year 11

Congratulations to…

…Chapel Choir who sang in Assembly last Thursday for Harmony Week. The Choir performed Tha Din Tha by Australian Composer Lisa Young. The piece integrates the South Indian vocal percussion art form of Konnakkol. Konnakkol is the performance art form of solkattu – the vocalised rhythmic syllables of South Indian classical music and dance.

Mrs K Barber
Head of Music

Upcoming Dates: 

Holiday Hoops Camp

The Shore Basketball Programme will be hosting a Camp during the upcoming Autumn Holidays. The Camp will be available to all school age students and not just limited to Shore students.

Siblings, friends and all keen hoopers, regardless of school, year group, gender or playing experience are welcome to attend the Shore Holiday Hoops Camp.

This is an opportunity to improve skills, learn from an enthusiastic coaching staff and have lots of fun in an enjoyable and competitive environment.

*As a one-time promotional opportunity – for any Shore Student Camper that refers a friend outside of Shore, both Campers will receive a 40% discount to a future Shore Hoops Camp!

To register for the Holiday Hoops Camp please click on the Trybooking link here.

Cover and Contents

The Herd Mentality

Its Origin And The Part It Plays In The Modern Age

B. N. Dent

Imagine you are just a random civilian who knows nothing about Shore and unfortunately possesses some eyesight issues, so you consequently require glasses in your day-to-day life. Suddenly, you are teleported to level five of Benefactors at approximately 9.12am when boys are moving from period 1 to period 2. For some reason, your glasses, quintessential to your ability to see, weren’t teleported with you. You look down onto Benefactor’s quad, and in witnessing a harmonious sea of white forms moving in various directions, you instinctively recognise the collective movement as a herd of sheep. But you can’t hear any “baaing.” Strange.

The idea of the herd mentality relates to “the tendency for people’s behaviour to conform to those of the group to which they belong.” It is a notion that was first put forward in the 1800s by French social psychologists Gabriel Tarde and Gustave Lebron, and the concept plays out more in today’s world than ever. I’ll expand more on this later, but let’s first look into the evolutionary origins of the herd mentality in order to understand its unavoidable presence in all forms of animal life.

Although the idea may have only been recognised in the 19th century, its residence within the natural world is likely timeless. Within the wild, herd behaviour is a biological tool that allows multiple organisms to act in unity. Evolutionarily, this is greatly beneficial as it allows individuals to act efficiently to potentially evade dangerous scenarios. In essence, the adoption of the herd mentality allows for individuals within a species to maximise their chances of survival based upon the premise that the instinct or intuition of the herd is superior to that of the individual. However, just as the monkeys can blindly follow towards a utopian forest of banana trees, they can also be steered to the edge of a cliff, facing their own demise.

In today’s day and age, as we are engulfed by the advent of mass media, with content being force-fed to us, I believe that popular culture is becoming increasingly homogenised, and the permeance of the herd mentality within humanity is ringing louder than ever. I feel as though, no matter who you are, the broad framework for the rest of your life is already set out somewhere, and deviation from the course seems improbable. Whilst we may not be following the herd, most of us are certainly following an inevitable predetermined course that has almost become engrained within us to a point where we no longer question it. Through evolution and our adoption of herd behaviour, we’ve been hardwired to resist this questioning and simply follow the course that seems most natural as it is often the safest. But we are no longer in the wild, and with all the pollutants that seek to corrupt our society, blindly following the herd is a more perilous task than ever.

Of course, I still acknowledge the inherent benefits of adopting the herd mentality in today’s world. If you are dealing with some monotonous tasks, such as not knowing whether to go to tutor group or Chapel, then by all means, follow the herd. However, when faced with more important or perplexing issues, including the guiding principles you would like to live your life by or what you want to do in the future, do not put on your woollen coat and look to the others. Exercise your agency and embrace your own decisions.

“If everybody is thinking alike, then somebody isn’t thinking.” – George S. Patton.

The Sand-Worm Saga

Page to Picture Part 1 – Dune: Part Two

J. K. Tang & C. N. Vujanovic

BURROWING THEIR HEADS INTO THE GRAINED DARKNESS, Cal and Tangers snuck into their seats amidst a series of preliminary advertisements. Shoulder to shoulder. Seat to Seat. They latched onto Denis Villeneuve’s spice, ready for his long-awaited follow-up to Herbert’s canon, Dune: Part Two.

After two hours and 46 minutes of pure cinematic bliss, two moviegoers emerge from the grained darkness to unravel the seamless translation from Herbert’s pages to Villeneuve’s picture.

“As it was written” by Cal.

Dune: Part Two has been heralded as a cinematic masterpiece. Drawing on the success of Frank Herbert’s magnum opus, it is not difficult to see why. Sitting in the cinema next to Tangers – an infamous E2 English lad – I could feel his happiness exude from him as intertextual references, extended metaphors, and rich thematic exploration characterised the film. It is safe to say those were the happiest three hours he ever lived, all due to the power of literature (a personal favourite for English essays)!

Yet, to me, the film touched on something deeper. The exploration of philosophical themes and the references to the Classical Greek and Roman world led me to a similar state as Tangers. There were many ideas that were explored, but one stood out to me.

However, Herbert’s critique is not specifically of religion; rather, he used messianic themes to show the dangers of charismatic and despotic leaders. In the wake of WW2, he critiques the blind devotion to leaders and the erosion of individual freedom under authoritarian regimes. A key feature of the second film is Paul’s internal struggle to wield power to achieve his goals. On one hand, he should use his power to control the Fremen to take back Arrakis. However, there are immense moral implications that could lead to the further oppression of the Fremen and the rise of tyranny.

One point I found interesting was that Herbert doesn’t say that tyranny is an inherently bad idea. Tyranny is simply the rule of a state by one individual. Yet this one individual did not magically get into power, but rather, a large portion of the state supported him, if not only oligarchs. I think what Herbert is more likely trying to say is that we should not romanticise democracy and crush authoritarianism. Rather, he suggests that there are merits to both. The film’s conclusion demonstrates tyranny can yield positive results, potentially suggesting the power of a benevolent dictator or what Plato would classify as a ‘Philosopher King.’

“As it was written” by Tangers.

Beyond the novelised philosophical backbone, Villeneuve’s Dune sequel premiers new, mind-blowing cinematic technologies to enhance our immersion into the rise of the “Lisan Al-Gaib.” Is there a better immersive technology than IMAX? Through Fraser’s cinematographic vision, the ARRI Alexa LF large-format cameras shot the film on IMAX at a 6K resolution, switching between anamorphic and spherical lenses.

To emphasise the immense depth and expanse of Herbert’s landscapes, the anamorphic lens held us into a 2.39:1 aspect ratio, allowing Cal to pivot his eyes across the endless beauty behind the foreground. These ocular pivots rekindled former SOR students’ insights into the historical conflicts between different worldviews, awakening thoughts on morality and other philosophical things. You can experience these thoughts at Agora every Thursday Lunch in room 8-G-6.

Shot on Anamorphic Lens + CGI (2.39:1)

Whilst in the Persian-inspired catacombs of the Fremen or the Harkonnen’s brutalist atriums, Fraser condenses us into the cropped, 1.48.1 aspect ratio of the spherical lens, somewhat sheltering those brief stints of exposition from the war. After each heart-racing duel between the subaltern Fremen and Occidental Harkonnens, tranquil scenes, via spherical lens, domesticated Cal’s spiced reflections on SOR, where his philosophising bottled up into a single unit of his HSC.

Shot on Spherical lens (Cropped and 1.48:1)

Between these cinematographic mediums, Cal and Tangers witnessed our literary and philosophical intrigues weave into Herbert’s exploration of the messianic anti-hero, burrowing us deeper into another spectacular chapter of Villeneuve’s sand-worm saga. The sand-worm saga it is. But Tangers’ insistence that he will watch it again is like the emergence of a sand-worm. It only comes when the people call for it.

Want another article about Dune Part Two? Part 2? Thump. Thump. Thump

ISDA Debating Report Round 6 vs St Catherine’s

M. D. Kwak

LAST FRIDAY, SHORE WAS HOME against St Catherine’s tackling debates on International Relations and dominated in five out of six debates (the scandalous, maybe even, bamboozling loss of the Senior Bs will be expounded upon in due course…). This now puts EVERY SINGLE SHORE TEAM in good standing for outrounds as teams seek to maximise the number of wins to secure a top seeding.

Our Primary teams affirmed ‘That parents should be responsible for their children’s crimes’, winning in the As and losing in the Bs. Congrats to Zac for his thematic rebuttal which successfully framed Shore for victory.

Our Year 7 L.N.D teams both won on the negative side of ‘That we should allow tourism in Antarctica.’ Shoutout to Lucas for his excellent analysis and rebuttal at third.

Our Year 8 L.N.D team negated ‘That the government should pay ransoms for citizens taken hostage overseas’, and with only two speakers in a somewhat curly motion, the team robustly proved the harm to the country and swept up their opponents.

S.D.C this week also saw three wins and three losses as teams continue to develop their skills and have fun over Zoom debating.

Year 7 S.D.C hard at work. Great job on the dub

Will their streak ever end!??!! Year 7 ISDA claimed their sixth straight victory, affirming ‘That developed countries should pay developing countries to preserve their rainforests’. The team, comprising Aaron, Ryan, Nicholas, and Patrick, presented a strong case with a clear model and ensuing impacts, while capitalising on their opponent’s lack of clarity and weighing. I’m extremely proud of these boys for their monster of a performance to launch their high school debating careers. The future of Shore debating looks bright indeed…

Year 7 ISDA nail the lighting for their picturesque shot yet again. More importantly, is Ryan flexing his calisthenics on us??

Year 8 ISDA affirmed the same debate and came away with an excellent win, claiming both major clashes and continuing their run to the out-rounds. Shoutout to Ed for displaying true Shore spirit and staying back after his debate to chair the Senior As – your support was greatly appreciated by our team.

Bro, the finger guns again – cringe… but at least it’s synchronised.

Year 9 ISDA also won, affirming ‘That Australia should prioritise relationships with countries from the Asia-Pacific region.’ In what was a tricky topic, the team presented diverse arguments that were well-executed but would benefit from more clarity and use of examples. Congrats to Lucas Zhou for being debater of the week!

Our Year 10s and Senior teams all affirmed the somewhat peculiar topic ‘That the international community should take control of essential shipping channels and sea lanes, like the Suez and Panama Canals.’ 🙄🥴 Wow…ISDA could have asked us to debate the fascinating workings of the C.C.P or explore complex policies to mitigate Mexican drug cartels. But no, shipping channels it is, yippeeee. Shoutout to ISDA for ruining my week of I.R. with a topic they’ve seemingly dug up from the archives (a paraphrase from Mr Lee).

Will Nicholas is starting to become a regular feature in my debating reports, no doubt a reflection of his stellar writing ability that his younger brother tried and failed to replicate last year in his tyrannous reign as captain. My sources tell me that Jimmy still reads these weekly reports as he reminisces about Shore – a pastime he has been condemned to as a result of living in Canberra (and peaking in high school).

“Coming out of the prep room, Year 10 had their fingers crossed for a weak opposition – never a good sign – affirming “that the international community should control essential shipping lanes and canals.” They got their wish, but the debate that ensued felt rather empty. The theatre of war was a barren, foggy landscape populated by blurred figures of pirates, terrorists and the ever-present “low S.E.S.” The stakeholders were dull, causal forces rather than complex things with souls and desires. Each speaker spoke well but short of their best, with Kevin ‘Let Me Cook’ Ma giving the speech of the night. St Catherine’s inexperience left 2nd and 3rd with little more to do than reinforce our main pushes. Although a better team might have hooked onto the several holes in Shore’s case, the adjudicator made quick work of the decision and awarded the debate to us. A win’s a win, but it did feel as though we had plundered rather than earned the booty.

Thanks Will, for an excellent write-up of the debate – this war motif is really becoming something that ought to be by future generations. Shore English Department, take notes.

This selfie angle is unnecessarily tough. Yukai is peak mogger 🔥🔥

Affirming the same motion as Year 10, the Senior Bs suffered the same tragic fate as the As last week and walked with a crushing loss. The team was sorely missing Gus Leslie, who was too rizzy for his own good and had shockingly forsaken debating to attend a formal.

However, the team was greatly rejuvenated by the expertise of self-professed ‘Houthis’ expert Rrrrramon Zhang who commanded the prep room with an iron fist and, according to Ms Wolsely, “was the only speaker who had any idea what he was talking about but was unfortunately too late to change the debate at third.” Following the debate, Ma’am also pulled out the classic “no-one should have won the debate” and in her report stated: “It became pretty clear that neither team, nor the adjudicator really understood how the U.N. functioned.” Unlucky for the Senior Bs, but I’m confident they’ll clutch up in Round 7.

But onto some better news: your Senior As are back – and they absolutely crushed it in their debate last Friday, with their W securing their place as one of the top seeds going into octos. The team began their case with debater of the week, D-Liu, who gave a cracking first-speaker speech and struck fear into the opposition’s hearts before they even got a chance to speak. Max, my pookie, followed up Shore’s ruthless campaign with a composed string of rebuttal that dismantled St Catherine’s weak attempts to analogise our proposed organisation to the “useless U.N.” At third, there wasn’t much left for me to do besides some rebuttal on state sovereignty and bringing back our arguments on common state interests.

Next week, Shore is away against Kincoppal. Good luck to all boys but more importantly – gain a deeper insight into our world, sharpen your skills, and have fun with your mates as you debate.

Senior As hard at work (while the adjudicator is deliberating)

A.I. – The Phonograph of New Ages?

Where Will Music Composition and A.I. Ultimately Entwine?

D. H. Kang

IT SEEMS THAT ORWELL’S HAUNTING PREDICTIONS OF A DYSTOPIAN FUTURE MAY ONCE AGAIN BE TRUE. In his novel “1984”, Big Brother quells the masses with illusory lyrics made from a machine named the “versificator”, designed to automatically generate lyrics to popular tunes. And now, in our age, we have A.I., creating the very music itself.

The career of a musician was something considered future-proof; it has been long thought that creative endeavours require the ingenuity of something uniquely human, something that comes from our soul. But the rising trend in our society is an increasing dependence on A.I. algorithms to make the tunes and beats to our songs. The question is: will human inspiration slowly die out, replaced by machines that continuously press the right buttons in our minds to make hit songs, just as foretold by Orwell?

In August of 2023, Meta released the source code for “AudioCraft”, a collection of “generative” models built using the learning capacity of A.I. The power of A.I., generally speaking, lies in its superhuman ability to process information, and for music, this is no exception. One of the “AudioCraft” models analysed patterns in around 400,000 recordings, ultimately coming up with around 3.3 billion “parameters” for which soundtracks could be formed given the input or request of the user.

These music “generators” are also becoming increasingly user-friendly, just like the development of the internet and computer interfaces over the last couple of decades. A model named “Stable Audio,” developed in London at a firm named Stability A.I., allowed users to take an audio clip that they might have played on the piano, and morph the music to be played by a whole orchestra or jazz band.

As with anything related to A.I., there is still considerable scepticism related to its potential. Naturally, even with its seemingly endless database of riffs and sounds, who’s to say that it will be able to convey true emotions of human love and sadness, and pull at the heartstrings of all those who hear? Perhaps this will happen someday far, or maybe not so far into the future, when A.I. first awakens its consciousness, and begins to feel human emotions. For this, only time will tell.

There are also several practical concerns. Many have brought up the issue of copyright and the royalty fees that may drive prices upwards for consumers. Just as we sometimes see strange replies as we use ChatGPT, there is no doubt that A.I. also currently produces many “discordant” sounds that sound unpleasant to hear. However, the development of these “generative” models is still in its early phases.

Over time A.I.’s influence on music will only continue to grow. It will be interesting to see how this human industry will coexist with machines in the future. Will art be next?

Elon Musk

Brilliant; Crazy; or Both?

H. A. G. Longstaff

“The problems of the world cannot possibly be solved by sceptics or cynics, whose horizons are limited by the obvious realities. We need men who can dream of things that never were”.

– President John F. Kennedy

Address to the Irish Parliament

28 June 1963

THE WORLD IS EMBRACING ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE (A.I.) and Large Language Models (L.L.M.s), schooled as they are seemingly on the entire contents of the internet (or interweb as my father insists on calling it). A.I. will be brilliant at synthesising the current extraordinary body of knowledge, but I wonder if we will lose the role of innovators, the people who can “dream of things that never were” and make them happen.

In this, it is hard to look past Elon Musk. Many genii have changed the world in one way … think Bill Gates with Microsoft, Alexander Graham Bell with the telephone, or Dr Alexander Fleming with penicillin. But Musk is remarkable for having changed the world in multiple ways. Sadly, this extraordinary method is tinged with a touch of madness. Can one exist without the other? Let’s examine this.

The Brilliant

1. Co-founded PayPal: Musk co-founded PayPal, an app that allows purchases on the internet by storing your credit card details in one secure place. It was sold to eBay in 2002 for $1.5 billion.

2. Transformed Tesla: Electric cars (think the SMART car) were previously wholly underwhelming. Musk took over a struggling Tesla and transformed it. With the first principles of engineering, he created cars and unique production processes that mesmerised the industry with speed (2.3 seconds to 100km/h for the Model S Plaid, faster than any Ferrari) and popularity (the Model Y was the world’s best-selling car in 2023). Legacy carmakers have been left flat-footed.

3. Founded SpaceX: Post the Space Shuttle’s 2011 retirement, the U.S. space industry was in a funk. Legacy producers were cripplingly risk-averse and over-priced. Musk re-imagined space flight, again from first principles engineering. He drove down costs and created a reusable rocket. Prepared to fail at first to learn and teetering on the edge of bankruptcy, he created the Falcon rocket and Dragon spacecraft that are now mainstays of the U.S. space industry.

4. Next horizons: Musk has other projects, including ‘The Boring Project’ (tunnelling under major cities with autonomous vehicles travelling over 200km/h); Neuralink (a device embedded in the brain to integrate with artificial intelligence and control machines with thought); and others.

The Crazy

1. Mars: Musk has a stated ambition to enable the colonisation of Mars, which he sees as essential to the survival of the human species.

2. Twitter: in a fit of pique, Musk said he would take over Twitter to protect free speech, then changed his mind, and then found out that the law required him to buy it. Since renaming “X” (he is obsessed with X as “the everything app”), it has been a rocky journey.

3. Style: Musk is reported to be a manic micro-manager with an abrasive and confrontational style who sets goals that are unreasonable in scope and time.

Ultimately, it’s hard to conclude that there could not be the brilliant without the crazy. Musk certainly has “ignored the obvious realities” and “dreamed of things that never were”. No ordinary person would take the risks or work as hard as needed to achieve what Musk has done. The breadth of Musk’s mind is extraordinary. Still only 52 years old, Musk has the time to achieve some of his crazier dreams, and it would be unwise to bet against him.

In Another Life

My Unbiased Review of ‘Everything Everywhere All At Once’

K. Ma

“IN ANOTHER LIFE, I WOULD HAVE REALLY LIKED JUST DOING LAUNDRY AND TAXES WITH YOU.” In a mesmerising swirl of cosmic chaos, the A24 film Everything Everywhere All At Once, catapults audiences into a kaleidoscopic journey through the multiverse, where every possibility collides in a dazzling display of cinematic virtuosity with paradoxical allusions throughout the film.

From the very outset, the film shatters conventional narrative boundaries, plunging viewers into a whirlwind of parallel universes, each brimming with its own unique tapestry of existence. Director duo Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert orchestrate this symphony of realities with an audacious flair, deftly weaving together threads of comedy, drama, and existential ponderings into a narrative tapestry that defies modern-day categorisation (which I would say greatly limits the potential of films, for the best films are not limited to one genre.)

It is the best movie I have ever watched. It’s quite a bold claim, but Everything Everywhere All At Once is a cinematic behemoth. The story volleys between comedy and melodrama and makes references to everything from Ratatouille to wuxia to Wong Kar-wai’s In The Mood For Love. Above all, it juggles with modern nihilism, and rolls philosophy’s hardest question around on its tongue:

Why should we believe in anything when nothing really matters?

OKAY NOW WHY IS THE MOVIE SO GOOD?

When the film was first released, I watched it and walked out of the cinema questioning what I had just spent two hours of my life watching. Perhaps this is quite similar to most people’s reaction after watching a Nolan film. Quite frankly, I could not understand what the hell was going on in the film.

Marking its release just a bit over two years ago now, rewatching Everything Everywhere All at Once really does do it justice. The film’s layers of complexity and thematic richness have only become more apparent, solidifying its status as a true cinematic masterpiece. For context, the movie begins with a failing marriage between Evelyn and Waymond Wang (waymond lol) – two humble laundromat owners that evade tax. The characters traverse the labyrinthine corridors of the multiverse; they confront their mortality and the fleeting nature of existence. Each encounter with alternate versions of themselves serves as a poignant reminder of the fragility of life and the preciousness of every moment (what Evelyn had taken for granted at the start of the film). Through their journey, we as the viewers, are taught to not view experiences as trivial and futile but rather to experience life at its fullest to highlight the ephemerality of life.

At its core, the film explores the notion of choice and consequence, inviting audiences to ponder the ramifications of our decisions across parallel universes and grapple with the idea of ‘what could have been’. What truly sets the film apart in my eyes is its ability to transcend genre conventions and defy audience expectations. By seamlessly blending elements of science fiction, comedy, and drama, the film creates a singular cinematic experience that defies categorisation. As viewers immerse themselves in its labyrinthine plot and richly imagined universe, they are drawn into a world where anything is possible, and everything is everywhere all at once.

Joy’s narrative is a familiar one, as far as diasporic metaphors go. Her hurt and rage devolve into total disillusionment, and in an initial twist, position her as the multiverse’s villain, hunting down her mother’s various alternate selves across realities under the alias Jobu Tobaki. She straddles the schism between her wants and her mother’s expectations, the East, and the West; it’s a tale Hollywood has recently become comfortable exploring with Crazy Rich Asians, The Farewell and Pixar’s Turning Red, which have paved the way for Asian-led projects like this one. 

From the start, it’s evident that Evelyn and her daughter Joy grapple with a strained relationship, largely due to Evelyn’s inability to accept Joy’s sexuality. Joy’s efforts to seek acceptance and warmth from her mother are met with dismissal. The Daniels challenge the deeply ingrained beliefs that govern a fair amount of immigrant parents’ worldviews (being brought up in a completely different society can obviously account for different beliefs). To zoom in so closely on the film’s mother-daughter relationship, then, might seem too narrow but the tension between her sweet husband and daughter is the driving emotional force. As the film progresses and seeing every fabric of the multiverse unfold, Evelyn finds refuge within herself and comes to accept her daughter. I find it hard, especially in Hollywood films, not to cringe whenever directors try to touch on the ‘problems in society’ due to the crap execution of these themes, but yeah, I’ll admit – this film made me shed a tear or two with the perfect balance of cinematography and story-telling.

Quite a touching scene tbh

By the end of the movie, I like how the I.R.S. agent calls her “Evelyn” instead of “Mrs Wang”. In the course of the movie, they hated, fought, and finally understood each other as people. That “Evelyn” is a sign of approval and friendship. The last scene is fitting and wraps up the entire movie really well – all family members together, reunited by none other than love.

Ending scene

Advance Australia Fair

An Identity Beyond Vegemite, Sausages, Cricket And Beaches

B. D. Sarmiento

“FROM THIS TIME FORWARD, under God.[1] I pledge my loyalty to Australia and its people…”

From my view, it seems that somewhere in the late 2010s there was a marked turning point when Australia’s national identity came out of focus. I could attempt to prove this by anecdotally noting the decrease in how often I sing the national anthem, or see the Australian flag flying proudly, but these factors would only signify a dogmatic and baseless unity that we can observe is leading nations like the U.S. to ruin. Rather, the contemporary public consciousness silently admits that all that binds Australians together is a subscription to a vague set of democratic and liberal values. The current situation isn’t sufficient. If this is to be the case, what separates our grey horde of urbanites and disregarded rural population from any other in the Western world?

It isn’t necessarily the problem that Australia isn’t a nation-state (in an ethnic sense, at least); it’s that our authentic passion for diversity and multiculturalism, along with a burgeoning acknowledgement of our tainted history and drive for reconciliation and harmony, has been lost. In its stead, the two general viewpoints of an increasingly polarised Australia either yearn for a return to the stable, old, unreflective order or replace true appreciation of diversity with a celebration of un-whiteness. This polarisation can be (if slightly reductively) chalked up to a pattern in western liberal democracies driven by attention hungry media, as can be seen in rising right wing figures/parties such as the Netherlands’ Geert Wilders, Trump, or Germany’s AfD. Anglo-Christian domination and its common belief system in Australia is long gone, as an influx of migrants brings other religions, and Christianity only erodes with increasing atheism and spiritualism. A subset of white Australians thus feel disillusioned with the new Australia, often perverting this into anti-immigration stances.

In these countries and our own, I feel, ‘progress’ has been perverted from a term signifying a rallying point of Australians to one associated with controversial pushes by one side of a rigid political dichotomy. The 2017 Marriage Equality Ballot and last year’s Voice to Parliament display this perfectly; both advocated for progressive change, enfranchising historically marginalised communities. But only the Voice to Parliament unveiled a stark urban/rural split, with the rhetoric on either side being that the other was merely less educated and stuck in the past or enforcing needless and threatening change from a position of privilege and naivety (guess which one is which).

Whose democratic beliefs I share, Whose rights and liberties I respect, and unique lineages and cultures have been clumped together for the sake of ease of labelling (E.g., “The Asian community”). This is manifested in foreign restaurants having degenerated into ubiquitous and generic clones, appropriated to be palatable to the pitiful adventurousness of the urban dweller. You have the choice of either going to the Italian place or some Japanese place (Shuffle around the nationalities for other circumstances, I’m sure they won’t mind).

Furthermore, if reasonable, recalibrating of national symbols (“We are ‘‘‘‘‘‘‘one’’’’’’’_­ and free.”) merely drive division rather than addressing the root cause of the enigmatic Australian identity. Alongside rights, liberties and democratic beliefs having been reduced to a democracy sausage, the right to go to the pokies and liberty to get tattoos as the actualisation of these has already largely been achieved compared to when they were first sought out before the 20th century.

But what do I want? Every Australian to get around a table and decide, “This is our national identity.”? “Let’s all go be nice and accepting again.”? I don’t know. Without faith in equality of opportunity and lack of social unity in a late-stage capitalist nation, what is preventing individuals from catching the nearest way? What’s the way forward for re-establishing our culture beyond the past British paternalism or the surgent, hollowly ‘diverse’ contrarianism? Am I simply harkening back to an idyllic past that never existed, constructed on the basis of vapid affirmations of friends? Or am I truly articulating the melancholic longing for a return to the inclusive Australian spirit and identity that lays dormant in the heart of every Australian? I am not to decide.

[1] *A person may choose whether or not to use the words ‘under God’. Pledge of commitment, Australian Citizenship Ceremonies Code

Difficulty To Go Pro

Ranking The Top Five Hardest Sports To Become A Professional In

T. G. George

THE ROAD TO THE TOP of any sport is obviously a strenuous grind. Everyone’s journey is different, with some facing more challenges than others, irrespective of sport. Yet, in this article I will attempt to categorise these paths to decipher the most difficult. I will look at three primary distinctions: the difficulty of the sport, the popularity of the sport, and the number of active professionals. 

5. Golf

Golf is a game of patience and precision. While lacking physical difficulty, the hand-eye coordination and intricacy of technique is something unmatched by any other sport. In terms of competition, it is rife, with over 80 million golfers worldwide, an estimated 50,000 professionals, and yet only 175 making the P.G.A tour. The use of objective scoring further emphasises the superiority of professional golfers compared to amateurs. They’re shooting 10 under on the hardest courses in the world, while the average golfer can’t even break 100 at their local. Finally, the mental strength required of a golfer is an underestimated and differentiating quality, where every stroke is imperative to the success of the round, and “bad days” cannot be covered by teammates.

4. Swimming / Sprinting

Despite the different modes of movement, both sports involve similar arguments for difficulty. Both sports entail hours of repetition, as well as flawless technique and quick reaction times. Why I rank them both so highly is the level of competition – being just about everyone in the world. While some sports are incredibly niche, both sprinting and swimming are so broad. Additionally, they are heavily reliant on genetics and natural ability, providing further restrictions on one’s ability to become professional. Once this talent is identified, the intensity of training and specialisation is immense, as even the world’s fastest athletes such as Kylian Mbappe, Tyreek Hill, or Josh Addo-Carr, can’t compete with professional sprinters. Likewise, in golf, the scoring is objective, also emphasising the incredible distinction between professionals and amateurs. 

3. Tennis

Tennis is the final individual sport on this list. With over eighty-seven million tennis players globally, only 3,873 are ranked professionals – evidently one of the most competitive sports. Furthermore, tennis combines both the patience and precision of sports such as golf, with intense explosiveness and unprecedented endurance. Matches often range from a minimum of 90 minutes, occasionally extending to multiple hours. The Universal Tennis Rating (UTR) system is also highly competitive and challenging to navigate, forcing players with professional aspirations to travel internationally to increase their rating.

2. Soccer

Football is easily the most popular sport in the world, with over 250 million players playing on a regular, organised basis, across two hundred countries. Over 3.5 billion people tuned in to watch the 2018 World Cup, epitomising the level of importance and prestige placed upon the sport, which translates to an intense level of global competition. However, with these high participation numbers, they do have the most professionals, with 123,694 worldwide. This rank at number two is still highly deserved, especially considering the difficulty. Players must run an average of ten kilometres per match, while maintaining a high level of skill and precision. Truly incredible. 

1. Basketball

Basketball is a sport that tops every metric I have covered. The standard of skill is very high, and yet even if you have flawless handles and an accurate jump shot, you still might not make the cut. Usually, the most restrictive factor is height, as the average N.B.A. player is 6’6”. Additionally, there are arguably more worldwide players than football, with FIBA estimating 450 million people play the sport, and yet only 70,000 are professional players. Amongst these professionals, there are only 450 roster spots in the N.B.A., making basketball one of the most competitive sports, while also being very difficult to master.

Swim Team – GPS 5 Carnival

Friday 22 March 2024 – SOPAC, Homebush

The Shore Swim team headed out to SOPAC for the final carnival of the GPS season, the big dance, GPS 5.

The year groups in attendance were strong in numbers and loud in support – and we thank you for your enthusiasm over the course of the evening. It lifted the swimmers in the pool.

It has been eight years since Shore has won a category. We headed into the final carnival ranked 1st in the Juniors and 1st in the Intermediates, so the task ahead was to ward off any challenge from the other schools that came our way… and that we did!

Juniors – GPS Champions!

The Juniors stood up on the night with some sensational swimming, led by Harrison Ayer (13s) and Archie Lawry (14s) – all coming away with wins, PBs and selection into the GPS team.

1st – Shore (631 pts).
2nd – Newington (604 pts).
3rd – Sydney Grammar (580 pts).

Intermediate – GPS Champions!

The Intermediates held a tiny lead over Newington – just 6 points – heading into GPS 5. As the night went along, we were locked in a ding-dong battle with the black and whites, and the regular updates kept coming through, with some updates swaying in our favour and others favouring Newington.

Led by Ethan Ng, Noah McLaren and Will Bestic, the Intermediates continued to show up time and time again, taking it to Newington at every opportunity, with the final result coming right down to the wire and a suspenseful wait after the carnival to see if we’d been able to take out the title…

1st – Shore (537 pts).
2nd – Newington (511 pts).
3rd – Sydney Boys (431 pts).

Notable Performances:

On the evening, we also had some notable performances from the team, including:

• 15s 4 x 50 metre Medley Relay – (Will Bestic, Sam Chan, Noah McLaren and Ollie Kelly) – broke the GPS Record, clocking a time of 1:56.71.
• 15s 4 x 50 metre Freestyle Relay – (Will Bestic, Jonty Jagger, Ollie Kelly and Noah McLaren) – another GPS record tumbled. This was a record that was broken by Shore at GPS 1 this year (team of Will Bestic, Hugo Stewart, Jonty Jagger and Noah McLaren) – in a time of 1:41.52.
• GPS team selections for the following swimmers who will represent the AAGPS at CIS Championships being held in early May:
  • 13s – Harrison Ayer
  • 14s – Archie Lawry, Alex Freischmidt, Josh Svensson
  • 15s – Noah McLaren, Will Bestic, Oliver Kelly
  • 16s – Ethan Ng, Harry Pollitt
  • 17s – James Bestic, Ethan Cook, Paul Russell, Daniel Becker

This Shore Swim team has won two categories out of a possible four. It is an incredible achievement, and it has taken a team-first mentality in order to achieve. All involved should be proud of their efforts.

Top image: GPS 5 Team

Mr T O’Keeffe
Head of Swimming