Head of Junior School
Confidence
We define confidence as "believing in my ability to succeed in various situations, whether it is learning new skills or gaining experience."
This year we have talked a great deal about the benefits of working hard as opposed to trying to get high marks. I have asked our boys to put in the effort to learn and improve in the many areas they work in at our school, whether it is in academics, the arts or sport. Over the course of the year, I have been very impressed with how they have embraced this challenge.
We have seen boys make significant progress in a range of areas. Their dedication to their learning and their willingness to try what is difficult, to fail and to try again, has been inspiring. Our boys have demonstrated that with hard work comes confidence, and confidence assists when the work is hard.
Roger Staubach (Super Bowl winning quarterback of the Dallas Cowboys) said, "Confidence doesn't come out of nowhere. It's a result of something... hours and days and weeks and years of constant work and dedication." Throughout this year our boys have demonstrated this over and over again.
We have witnessed boys who have been recognised for skills in the arts with Billy Mahaffy, James Mahaffy and Alexander Fine making the finals of the Shaun Tan awards with Billy winning his age group in the Doodle4Google awards. We had many boys set personal bests in cross-country, athletics and swimming, and our cross-country and athletics teams won the JPSSA Interschool competitions.
We have also seen boys apply themselves and make outstanding progress in their academic studies. In the Autumn and Winter Terms, boys in Year 2 to 5 entered Writing and Mathematics competitions and pitted their skills against students across Australia achieving excellent results. This confidence to have a go and to take the risk has been the strength of our boys this year.
For many, they have impressed with the their dedication to their learning and their engagement in all the opportunities presented to them. I congratulate all the boys who participated in these competitions. They should be very proud of their efforts and their risk-taking attitude.
We must acknowledge the boys who have achieved outstanding results in the following competitions:
Australian Mathematics Trust
Prize for top 1% nationally in Upper Primary Division
Hugh Fellows-Smith Year 5
High Distinction for top 1% of students nationally in Middle Primary Division:
Winston Kwan Year 3
Thomas Gray Year 4
Distinction for top 3% of students nationally in Middle Primary Division:
David Walton Year 3
James Winch Year 3
Isaak Ventouras Year 3
Ari Coulson Year 3
Charlie Bowles Year 3
Noah Lisle Year 3
Ryo Hiraiwa Year 4
Liam Jermy Year 4
Distinctions for top 3% of students nationally in Upper Primary Division:
Sean Palmer Year 5
International Competitions and Assessments for Schools (ICAS) Mathematics:
Lachlan Cairns Year 2 Distinction
Jetlen Egerton-Warburton Year 2 Distinction
Samuel Holmes Year 2 Distinction
Jarrod Hutchinson Year 2 Distinction
Nicholas Lovegrove Year 2 Distinction
Ari Coulson Year 3 Distinction
Winston Kwan Year 3 High Distinction
Ryan Wang Year 3 Distinction
James Winch Year 3 High Distinction
Liam Jermy Year 4 Distinction
Ryo Hiraiwa Year 4 Distinction
Hugh Fellows-Smith Year 5 Distinction
Mitchell Hyde Year 5 Distinction
Australian Problem Solving Mathematical Olympiad
Top individual score:
Hugh Fellows-Smith Year 5
International Competitions and Assessments for Schools (ICAS) Writing:
James Winch Year 3 Distinction
Nicolas Langsford Year 4 Distinction
Noah Lewis Year 4 Distinction
Henry Cooper Year 5 Distinction
Alexander Russell-Weisz Year 5 Distinction
Mr John Stewart
Head of Junior School
