Message from the Headmaster

Dear Parents and Carers

As mentioned last week, the intersection of International Women’s Day and Harmony Week has been powerful in terms of the opportunity this has provided for messaging to our boys. The address to our Senior School Assembly by Zara Yee, Head Prefect of one of our partner schools Wenona, is printed in full below with her permission, and the kind assistance of the Principal of Wenona, Ms Linda Douglas.

International Women’s Day Speech for Shore School Assembly, Thursday 6 March 2025

Good morning Dr Collier, Ms Douglas, Dr Mansfield, Dr Gilmour, Mr Ticehurst, Staff and Boys.

My name is Zara Yee, and I am the Head Prefect at Wenona.

It is truly a privilege and honour for me to speak here today and so I thank you Dr Collier and Angus for inviting me.

But let’s call it what it is. I think this is a very unique opportunity for me, a girl from a school five minutes up the road, to come here and stand in front of a different school and speak to you regarding International Women’s Day. I truly hope I do give this opportunity the justice it deserves.

Before I move on, there is a critical factor I need to outline. What I say here today is my attempt to describe what International Women’s Day is for me. I will never claim to speak for my peers or teachers and never will I have the capability to speak for all women.

What is International Woman’s Day to me?

For me to define something of such calibre and to synthesise it to one or two sentences wouldn’t be accurate. So let me start with what it isn’t.

What is International Women’s Day not to me?

International Women’s Day isn’t the only day of the year where we praise the women in our lives, thank them and appreciate them, celebrate them and vouch for them.

International Women’s Day isn’t a day where we forget men, berate men, and bring them down in order to bring women up.

International Women’s Day isn’t a day where we assume that because we experience something one way, others have that same experience.

I say this because as a girl, this is my reality, and not just my reality. This is the reality of every female you know in your life — your sister, your mother, your cousin, your grandmother, your current or future wife and daughters.

We know by the age of 12 what it’s like to feel scared to walk alone, to feel scared that someone may spike our drink, to feel physically dominated, to feel objectified, to be forced into something we don’t want to do. But these experiences aren’t your fault as young men nor are they the fault of those girls. But it is my responsibility and your responsibility as humans to do something.

To be honest, this all sounds quite scary to me because although this is just the tip of the reality of women here in Australia, it is not elsewhere. Here, I am a 17 year old girl, I have the privilege of going to school, I have the privilege to play sport, I have the privilege to lead in a Cadet Unit alongside males.

But if I were born in another country, at 17 years old I would have numerous children, I would be in a marriage not of my choosing, I could be killed for reading, I wouldn’t be allowed to do a certain job because a man would do it better. It is scary because I will never understand the experience of countless women when sometimes we are made to feel like we should, like we are begged to fix things but never explained as to how we can accomplish them.

But I’m not expected to understand and nor are you. I am not perfect and that’s okay. I am not immune to making assumptions or making comments that I shouldn’t. It goes both ways, so I am sorry to you as a group of young men for my mistakes and contribution to sexism.

So, my solution? Firstly, as citizens of the globe we must educate ourselves. Secondly, as individuals we do the small things. Thirdly, as collectives we create change.

My first point is education.

Education is not the same as understanding.

The age-old saying ‘walk a mile in someone else’s shoes’, now you can go walk in six-inch heels but you won’t know what it’s like to be a woman, and I will never know what it’s like to be a man. I will never know the societal pressure to be strong and harsh and show no emotion, I will never know the societal pressure to have to be six feet. To be honest I think I’ll forever be quite off that height, but never say never, touch wood, let’s hope.

What I am trying to articulate is that I will never understand what it is to be a man. You will never understand what it is to be a woman. And that is okay, these aren’t barriers rather outlets, so education is what we should focus on.

Being observant and learning and trying to understand is all that it takes. It may be a first step but it’s the most important one. The rest will come, fundamentally we are all human and that’s what matters.

My second point is the small things, the little actions that you as young men can take. To you they may seem small, but to us girls they can mean the world.

I want you to take a breath for a moment because I want you to make some promises. I don’t want you to make these promises to me, make them to yourselves, or make them to the women in your life or a role model.

Promise that you will always be respectful and act like proper gentlemen.

Promise that you will make the women in your life proud.

Promise that you will be curious and ask questions and learn.

Promise that when the time comes (because it will) you protect and care for women when they need it the most.

Promise yourself that you will keep other individuals, not just men, in line.

Promise to turn into beautiful capable men of empathy.

My third point is that as collectives we create change.

Something I’ve always envied about Shore is your brotherhood, especially regarding sport. I admire your passion for sport so much. You get around each other, you support each other, you step on the pitch, court or get into the boat and you are brothers because of the crest you wear on your chest. So, make change using your brotherhood. The way you would respond to a situation regarding your sister, mother or daughter is the way you respond to a mate’s loved ones. From there, it should be how you respond to and for a stranger. This culture you have surrounding sport is more powerful than you may realise — us girls especially at Wenona could take a few leaves from your book.

To conclude, something I often to say to the girls at Wenona is that if anything ever happens to them, as long as I’m here, I will be there to support them and have their back. Now that I have spoken here today, that extends to you.

If any woman, man or individual ever categorises you as something, blames you, or assumes something of you based on your gender or who you are as a person — that is not okay. It is not okay for people to preach about the rights and justice of a group when they too perpetuate stereotypes and hate. We are all perfectly imperfect.

And just when you thought I was out of promises I’ve got one more for you, and this one I want you to make to me. If you are lucky enough to have a mum or a sister or a grandmother or any central female figure in your life, when you go home tonight or when you next see them just give them a hug. You don’t need to say anything just give them a hug. And in return I promise that I will do my best to support the men in my life.

I thank you all for having me, stay safe and healthy, learn lots, be curious, be respectful, and keep your promises.

Have a nice rest of your week, thank you.

Zara Yee
Head Prefect, Wenona School

These words were powerful, and received with tremendous acclamation from our boys. They are a very helpful perspective indeed, which embraces a well-considered female view which is complemented by the multiculturalism of Zara’s ethnicity, hence also highly appropriate for our celebration at Shore of Harmony Week. Good manhood (to which we aspire for all of our Shore boys) does not engage in sexual harassment of women or in racist behaviour. It was Jesus who demonstrated inclusion of women and those of other ethnicities in a way which was so radical for the time, and to the astonishment of the woman he was addressing.

‘The Samaritan woman said to him, “You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?”… Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.” ’ John 4:9-10

Dr John Collier
Headmaster

Chaplains’ Chat

Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” – Matthew 19:26

If we knew someone who had won an international gold medal, we would undoubtedly be impressed. If we knew someone who had won thirty-three gold medals, that would be completely unbelievable! However, for our special guest in Chapel — Mr Tom Treseder — these victories were all part of his story of faith that he shared with the staff and students this week.

Tom Treseder is perhaps most well-known for winning thirty-three gold medals in the International Master’s for rowing and sculling. He shared how he began rowing at the age of 12 and continued to see success during his junior years but felt that there was a void in his life. Even after winning his first championship, the joy of victory was fleeting and still left him unsatisfied. When he witnessed some of his friends turning to the Lord Jesus, he observed something different about them and he wanted what they had. This began the first steps in Tom’s journey to saving faith.

However, as a new Christian Tom felt convicted to honour the Lord on Sundays and made the difficult decision to stop rowing on Sundays — a decision that would prevent him from participating in the Olympics. At the time, Tom shared how he believed this was the end of his rowing career because he could no longer train with the team. But in an act of providence, after a chance encounter with an Old Boy from his school, Tom was gifted a scully boat and continued his training.

What followed was a series of astounding victories, with Tom showing the students some of the gold medals he had won.

Alongside his illustrious rowing career, Tom also shared how his Christian faith had led to him inventing, designing and manufacturing the world’s first solar-powered talking audio book in 1988. Since then, Tom has been running MegaVoice International, creating devices that can even be used by people in the poorest parts of the world where they do not have electricity and cannot read. With this device people can listen to the Bible in their own language, something we might take for granted. Over 3.6 million units have been distributed around the world in over 7,900 languages.

Tom emphasised his faith in action as he entrusted and followed God throughout his life, even when the challenges seemed too great. “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”

We were very blessed to have Tom Treseder visit us throughout this week, and he had many good conversations with students after Chapel about his achievements, life and faith.

Rev John Sheldon
Chaplain (Acting)

CRU Update

At CRU this week, we continued studying the book of Exodus as we have throughout the Term. We focused on the story of the Passover — a tradition representing God’s love and power towards his people that many Christians continue to celebrate today. We began with a fun miming game led by Will Lo Russo, with students splitting into groups and finding creative ways to imitate the steps of the Passover. Sam Holt then gave this week’s Bible Reading from Chapter 12 of Exodus.

Mr Gallant (or Josh as most older students would call him) presented this week’s talk. We were treated to no less than 35 slides in about six minutes, including a beautiful visual depiction of our separation from God through sin, showcasing Mr Gallant’s immense artistic talent. Josh began with an intriguing example of the masterminds behind Alcatraz — a trio who miraculously escaped from one of the most notoriously inescapable prisons in the world. The situation for the Israelites would be looking equally as bleak — they were under the harsh regime of Pharaoh who had withstood nine plagues yet would not yield and free the Israelites out of slavery.

However, this chapter of the story of Exodus tells us God had an ‘escape plan’. Through the ceremony of the Passover, God tells each family to take a lamb and paint its blood on their household and they will be saved. On that night, God would begin His final plague upon Egypt. In verse 12 He says, “I will pass through Egypt and strike down every first-born of both people and animals, and I will bring judgment on all the Gods of Egypt”, but those who had blood painted over their household would be saved. This highlights God’s dedication and immense power to His people which eventually proves successful, for in verse 31 Pharaoh yields and tells Moses “Leave my people, you and the Israelites!”

Yet the Israelites’ escape from Egypt does not even come close to the greatest escape story of all — that of Jesus helping us ‘escape’ from death. The lamb in the previous passage is symbolic of Jesus’s sacrifice — a perfect man dying for his people. Through God’s fulfilment of His promises to His people, God points towards a far bigger promise. If you trust in Jesus, you will have eternal life. Note how big of a promise this is — that God has complete power over our lives and He can save us from death. If you don’t call yourself Christian now, knowing that Christ died so that we can have eternal life, it ought to be something worth investigating, especially given that God fulfills all His promises as we can see from the previous passage.

Moving forward, we will have CRU on Thursday lunchtimes for Years 7 to 8 and Friday lunchtimes for Years 9 to 12. In addition, there is a weekly Bible study run every lunch for each Year Group. This is a great opportunity to learn about the Bible, especially for new Year 7 boys. You do not need to be a Christian to come to CRU. All you need is yourself and an interest in looking further into Christianity while enjoying a soft drink and sausage.

Jayden Pan
Year 11

AAGPS Sporting Events

Year Group Compulsory Event Dates

Each year, the major AAGPS Sporting events provide an opportunity for the boys of the School to come together to show support for their School and our athletes.

In 2025, the following year groups will be attending the AAGPS Events:

Head of the River, Saturday 22 March

• Compulsory for all Year 7, 8 and 9. Year 11 and 12 are welcome to attend.
• Summer School uniform (no coats or boaters) with yard hat or a blue Shore sports cap.
• Bus transfers will be arranged.

AAGPS Swimming Carnival, Friday 28 March

• Compulsory for all Year 10 and 11 (except those participating in the Musical).
• Summer School uniform (no coats or boaters) with yard hat or a blue Shore sports cap.
• Bus transfers will be arranged.

AAGPS Athletics Carnival, Saturday 20 September

• Compulsory for all Year 7, 8 and 10. Year 12 are welcome to attend.
• Winter School uniform (no boaters) with yard hat or a blue Shore sports cap.
• Transport will be arranged.

Communications will be sent home to parents with relevant details closer to each event.

Dr Andrew Mansfield
Deputy Head Operations

Lampada Tips and Tricks

Following last week’s tip on How to Access Sport Information, this week, we’re focusing on how you can filter the homepage news feed by topic in Lampada.

News Filtering by Topic

Every news item on Lampada is categorised by topic to keep things organised. On the homepage, you’ll find a topics bar just below the ‘Latest News’ heading, featuring tabs like ‘Academic,’ ‘Co-Curricular,’ and ‘Operations.’

Clicking on any of these tabs will refresh the news feed to show articles related to that specific topic. If you want to see all news again, simply click the ‘All News’ tab at the beginning of the list. By default, ‘All News’ is selected when you visit the Lampada homepage.

Additionally, you can scroll across the topics bar to reveal more topics. This way, you can easily navigate and find the news that interests you the most.

Click here for more Lampada help information.

School Photos Now Available

Having strengthened privacy measures around accessing student photos, Melba Studios now has the following 2025 photos available:

• Individual Portrait, available for instant download
• House Photo and Composite Year Photo, digital copies can be requested and will be sent via file transfer service WeTransfer within 48 hours. Group photos will no longer be available for preview before digital distribution and/or purchase.
• Printed packages are available to order at various price points.
  
  Please find all instructions on Lampada here.

Southern Highlands Invitation

Dear Old Boys and Shore parent community,

You and your partner are warmly invited to a morning tea.

Date: Wednesday 26 March

Time: 10:00am – 11.30am

Venue: The Pavilion at ‘Hopewood House’
201 Centennial Road, Bowral

We are delighted to announce that our special guest is the Chair of Council, Mr Rob Clarke (’81). We are very fortunate that Mr Clarke will be sharing with us and it is a wonderful opportunity to meet him.

Our Community Chaplain Rev Dr Nick Foord will also be in attendance. Please spread the word and we look forward to seeing you at this event. Our sincere thanks once again to Mr and Mrs Tim and Janet Storrier for graciously hosting us at their beautiful home.

RSVP: Please email oldboys@shore.nsw.edu.au by Thursday 20 March

Maria Black
Alumni Community Manager
Phone: 02 9956 1123 or Email: oldboys@shore.nsw.edu.au

Sydney FC’s Autumn Clinics Are Back

Sydney FC’s Autumn Holiday Clinics, in partnership with Shore, are back and better than ever, giving your child the chance to level up their skills, make new friends, and have a blast these holidays! ⚽️  

Date: Tuesday 22 April to Thursday 24 April 2025

Time: 9.00am – 3.00pm each day

Location: Shore Playing Fields, Northbridge Campus

🔥 Three Days of Football Fun, Games, and Challenges! 
Give your child the ultimate football experience these school holidays with three action-packed days of games, skill-building and friendly competition. 

⚽ Level up your skills with coaching from the pros! 
Our expert Sydney FC coaches will guide your child through fun drills and techniques, helping them develop their football skills and boost their confidence. 

🎯 Perfect for soccer fans in Year 7! (Ages 5-12) 
Whether your child is a beginner or already has some experience, our clinics are designed to meet all skill levels, ensuring they have a blast while improving their game. Kick off the holidays in style and secure your little footballer’s spot today!

Year 7 and 8 Easter Family Service

Families and students from Years 7 and 8 are warmly invited to a ‘family-friendly’ Chapel service, followed by refreshments and mingling on the Chapel Lawn. There will also be a fun Minties Hunt for students and siblings.

We look forward to seeing you.

Date – Tuesday 8 April 2025.

Shore Chapel – 5.45pm for 30 minutes.

Parking – Bishopsgate, please enter via Hunter Crescent.

Dress – Casual for boys and parents.

Supper – Kindly provided by the Shore Parents’ Association. To assist with catering please RSVP here.

Enquiries: chaplainspa@shore.nsw.edu.au

2025 Athletics Carnival

The following races will occur in Week 10 of Term 1. All students are invited to turn up and race at either or both events, and no sign up is necessary. Students who compete will be given a House Point towards the Athletics Carnival House Points tally. Students who place in their race will accumulate points towards Age Group Champion.

• U13 – OPENS 1500m
  Monday 31 March
  7am
  School Oval

• OPENS 3000m
  Thursday 3 April
  7am
  School Oval

Mr Sparks
MIC Athletics

Shore Athletics Carnival 2025

Top 10 in Your Age Group?

Expressions of Interest (EOI) to be involved in a Championship Race at the Athletics Carnival (Tuesday 1 April).

Races

• 100m
• 200m
• 400m
• 800m
• Hurdles (hurdles experience required)

Submit your EOI through Clipboard Activity here.

Mr Jono Sparks
MIC Athletics

Music Calendar

All dates and events are subject to change, please confirm with the Music Department.

Shore’s Production of Newsies – Tickets Selling Fast!

Step into the bustling streets of turn-of-the-century New York City as our students bring to the stage the Tony Award-winning Broadway musical, Newsies! Inspired by the true story of the Newsboy’s Strike of 1899, the largest child-led strike in history, this high-energy production follows Jack Kelly and his fellow newsies as they stand up against injustice and fight for what’s right. With thrilling choreography, powerful storytelling, and iconic songs like Seize the Day and King of New York, Newsies is a must-see event for the whole family.

Proudly joined by students from Wenona, Queenwood, Roseville College and SCEGGS Darlinghurst.

Don’t miss this must-see production!

Dates: 

• Thursday 27 March
• Friday 28 March
• Saturday 29 March – TICKETS SELLING FAST
• Wednesday 2 April
• Thursday 3 April
• Friday 4 April
• Saturday 5 April – TICKETS SELLING FAST

Time: 7.30pm

Location: Smith Auditorium

Book Tickets

Shore Surfing Competition

Attention all Surfers. This year’s Shore surfing competition will be held on Saturday 29 March at Long Reef Beach. The competition will commence at 7.15am. Heat times and draw available before the event. There will be two divisions – Junior (Year 7 to 9) and Senior (Year 10 to 12).

Entry forms are now available from Mr McClelland and should be signed and returned ASAP.

Term Dates 2025

Year 12 Progress Meetings

Year 12 Progress Meetings are being held on Tuesday 25 March between 4pm and 7pm.

• Booking information and meeting details will be emailed to parents two weeks prior to the meeting
• Meetings are conducted online via Teams
• Boys are expected to attend in school uniform
• There are no co-curricular activities for students who have Progress Meetings

Ms Emma Campbell
Academic Data Manager

Parent Seminar Series 2025

From the Music Department

Congratulations

Thank you and congratulations to students JJ B, Ben H, Ollie P and Jonnie P who played music at the pre-dinner event for the Cadet Dinner.

Concert Group – Candide Opera Australia

Few works in musical theatre blend satire, adventure and philosophy as masterfully as Leonard Bernstein’s Candide. Based on Voltaire’s 1759 novella, this operetta is a dazzling exploration of optimism and human folly, brought to life through Bernstein’s spirited score and a sharp-witted libretto. Concert Group travelled to the Sydney Opera House last week and witnessed Dean Bryant’s (director) genius on display: from the exuberant Overture to the soprano showpiece Glitter and Be Gay and the moving finale Make Our Garden Grow. Eddie Perfect’s leading performance delivers both a comedic and symphonic magic of Bernstein’s score that was perceived by the full house as a climactic operatic show. This dramatic spectre had everyone who attended laughing throughout and we loved watching the journey of these characters.

Tom Hurt
Year 12

Shore Musical: Newsies Tickets Now on Sale

Tickets have gone on sale for Shore’s 2025 Musical Newsies. In collaboration with students from Roseville College, SCEGGS Darlinghurst, Queenwood and Wenona, Shore students have been working hard on stage, backstage and in the orchestra pit to ensure an entertaining evening. The music includes Jazz, Ragtime and Rock elements.

Book Tickets Here

Upcoming Dates:

Mrs Kim Barber
Head of Music

Student Articles Available in Lampada

In keeping with tradition, printed copies of student articles are handed out at the Senior School gates every Friday. This allows us to honour the Shore Weekly Record’s mission, ‘by the boys, for the boys,’ while making the digital version more concise for parents. A PDF of the student articles is also available each week on Lampada in the publications page.

Cricket Report

Saturday 15 March 2025

It is a Wrap on the 2024-25 Cricket Season!

Shore’s 2024-25 Cricket Season drew to a scorching finish on the weekend giving us some time to reflect and celebrate. Every week, 16 Shore teams took to the field and with over 200 boys playing—we are in strong hands for the future.

We welcomed a huge number of Year 7 boys this Term and it was great to see how much fun they had both on and off the pitch. A season highlight was an afternoon spent on A-Ground with the First XI followed by a BBQ!

While some results were one-sided it was wonderful to witness the way our boys played. They demonstrated the genuine spirit of cricket, were always gracious even in one-sided victories, and showed they understand cricket is about more than just winning and losing. We look forward to seeing this group of young men progress over the next few years.

It has been heartening to see so many boys already asking about next season and when it starts. We love the enthusiastic interest and are happy to advise the season kicks off Saturday 18 October 2025!

While some boys are already looking forward to next season, it also means our Year 12 boys have played their last game of cricket for Shore. Like all co-curricular activities, playing cricket is a huge commitment, especially in the First XI and Second XI GPS teams. These teams play over 50 fixtures covering entire Saturdays, often upwards of nine hours (without travel). There is no bigger time commitment from a sports perspective. Of the players that have played in the First XI and Second XI this year, Shore will be losing over 80 seasons of cricket service. A tremendous number of fine young men were recognised and celebrated at the end-of-season function on Saturday night. Their experience, sportsmanship and commitment will be sorely missed and we look forward to seeing them back in the future as Old Boy coaches to help develop the next batch of young cricketers.

Thank you to all the parents for their continued support and efforts in transporting and supporting their son across the GPS grounds. It is greatly appreciated.

There is no cricket without the coaches and Shore is lucky to have many talented staff put up their hand to take a team. There are passionate cricket fans among the teaching fraternity and this translates into amazing coaches giving so much to the boys throughout the season. Our coaches are ably assisted by a crew of Old Boys who bring recent Shore Cricket experience and a genuine love of the game to help develop the next generation of players. A huge thank you to our cricket coaches and Old Boys who have helped make this season such a success.

We look forward to welcoming you all back next season for another year of fun in the sun, being around teammates in the beautiful outdoors, getting your steps in, spending afternoons at Northbridge, staying off your screens, hitting sixes or taking hattricks, scoring runs, taking wickets, enjoying your Saturdays, making three not out or 53 not out, making friends for life, training afternoon fun, sausage sizzles, and creating great memories of your time here at Shore.

Thank you also to Dr Collier, Dr Gilmore, Mr Ticehurst and Mr Inches for their continued support of the cricket programme. Their Saturday visits to the teams are always most welcome and help to lift the students each week.

Mr Brett Hunter
Head of Cricket

Rowing Report

Saturday 15 March 2025

All Schools Final Brings an Exciting Finish to the Junior Pennant for 2025

The scene was set for an amazing day of racing for our Junior Quads in the final All Schools Regatta. The field in both the Year 8 and Year 9 Quads was split into an A and B Final, pitting the season’s best against each other. It was very pleasing to see that all our crews were ranked into the A Final, where we were up against season rivals St Ignatius’ College Riverview (Riverview), St Joseph’s College (Joeys) and a mix between The King’s School (King’s) and Newington College (Newington). The Shore Boat Club entered this regatta ranked second overall in the Junior Pennant, trailing Riverview by just five points.

Our Year 8 Quads went about their business as they have done all season, racing with great determination paired with some improved discipline. Right from the first race, Shore led the way with great racing across all our crews. It was really pleasing to see one of the most improved combinations — our Third combination of Sam Fisher, Josh Waite, Henry Plowman, Charlie Koch and Sam Chick — scramble after an early lost seat in their race to show great composure and calm to peg back the field and claim the win, a race that they may have let go early in the season. At the conclusion of the Year 8 Quads, Shore was in the lead by just one point.

Our Year 9 Quads went into battle next and performed well. There were some nervous moments as we dropped points in the Third and Fourth Quads with a few little mishaps, highlighting the increased pressure on our boys to defend the trophy with crews that have had flawless performance throughout the season now making small errors in execution. With just two races to go, Shore trailed Riverview by the narrowest of margins (1 point) and it was going to be down to our First and Second Quads. Our Second Quad went about their work well, carving out an impressive margin over the field to record a win over King’s (2nd) and Riverview (3rd). These results put Shore 1 point up with one race to go. The Year 9 First Quad launched off the line to open a margin early and, as they had done all season, Joeys and Riverview took off in fast pursuit. The day belonged to the school from North Sydney putting in a strong second half to claim the win for Shore with Riverview 3rd, and securing the Junior Pennant again for 2025 by a nail-biting two point margin. 

Winning this pennant is the reward for great and consistent effort. All our Junior crews have improved so much throughout the season. Witnessing such great performances under pressure shows these boys have a great future in this sport!

A special thank you to our Junior Quads coaching staff for their hard work all season.

Year 8 Quads: Mr Walker, Mr Jennings, Ms Phillips, Mr Scobie, Mr Binch

Year 9 Quads: Mr Payne, Ms Hunter, Ms Dunlop, Ms Watson, Mr Scambler

Mr Glenn Bates
MIC Rowing

Surfing Report

Saturday 15 March 2025

The surf was small and weak on Saturday morning as the Shore surfers set up just south of the lagoon. There were plenty of waves ridden with Will Hoy narrowly holding out Henry Peters and Charlie Coppin for surfer of the day.

Over the weekend the Surfing NSW Northern Beaches Junior regional series competition was held at Curl Curl Beach. Shore had four surfers in the event – Charlie and Henry in the Under 18s and Jacques Callebaut and Oscar Hanson in the Under 14s.

Some great surfing saw Henry make the quarter-finals and Charlie make the semi-final in the Under 18s.

Congratulations to Jacques who won the Under 14 final. An outstanding achievement!

Mr J McClelland
MIC Surfing

Swimming Report

Friday 14 March 2025

GPS 4 – Shore Swim Team

On Friday 14 March, the Swim Team headed to Sydney Olympic Park Aquatic Centre (SOPAC) for GPS 4 — the final point-scoring event before the GPS 5 grand final is held on 28 March.

With Coach Toby introducing the new team mascot — the Shore Shark — spirits and team morale were high and everyone was ready for a good evening of swimming.

Open Relays – Four From Four With One More to Go!

The team was brimming with confidence leading into this event, and the evening started with a bang with the team of Jonty Jagger (Backstroke), Ethan Cook (Breaststroke), William Bestic (Butterfly) and James Bestic (Freestyle) taking out 1st place in the Opens 4 x 50m Medley Relay. This means that in the Open Relay category Shore has achieved four wins from four starts! No school has ever completed a clean sweep in the Open Relay category, but with the All Ages 6 x 50m Freestyle Relay at GPS 5 the final event, can Shore do a GPS first and win all five events across the season? We believe we can!

Regardless, with an unassailable lead in the Open Relays Shore takes out first place in this category which is a fantastic achievement.

Top Three Performances

The first point-scoring events on the programme were the 200m Individual Medleys. Shore placed top three in all divisions, with Harrison Ayer (Juniors – 3rd), William (Intermediate – 3rd) and Ethan taking out 1st in the Seniors.

In the 50m Breaststroke we had some great swims including:

• Daniel Jin – 2nd 12 years age group
• Archie Lawry – 2nd by 0.01 in the 15 years age group
• William – 1st in the 16 years age group
• Harry Pollitt – 1st in the 17 years age group
• Ethan Cook – 1st in the 18 years age group

In the 100m Butterfly Harrison came 2nd in the Juniors, and Ethan Ng finished 2nd in the Seniors.

It was then over to the 50m Backstroke where we achieved more top three results including:

• Daniel – 1st
• Brody Semmens – 2nd
• William – 2nd
• Ethan Ng – 2nd

Intermediate 4 x 50m Freestyle Relay – Another GPS Record!

As the evening progressed the entire team continued to put their best foot forward with awesome displays of swimming and sportsmanship.

Just last week our Open 4 x 50m Freestyle Relay team set a new GPS record. This week, the highlight of the evening came from our Intermediate 4 x 50m Freestyle Relay team of Hugo Stewart, Jonty Jagger, Archie and William, setting a new GPS record with a time of 1:40.76!

Well done gents! An amazing achievement setting us up for a blistering performance in next week’s final Open Relay.

Point Score Updates

GPS 5

After building a strong foundation across the first four GPS carnivals, we now head into GPS 5 where every event is point-scoring and the stage is set. Our championship swimmers will be put to the test but we will also have our depth and relay teams tested.

We look forward to a huge carnival for the season finale on 28 March and hope the Shore Community gets behind our incredible team of swimmers. Go Shore!

Mr Tom O’Keeffe
Head of Swimming