Jottings

2023 Tanner Drawing Prize

We were delighted to resuscitate the Tanner Drawing Prize following its lengthy hiatus due to the pandemic.

Boys contending for the prize have to meet the criterion of achieving marks within the top 10% of the Form IV cohort in their Annual Drawing Examination.

To a roving and continuous audience of both pupils and masters, the boys committed themselves to the lengthy task of producing an A3-size still-life using only graphite.

The results were remarkable, making the judging process incredibly difficult. There had to be but one winner, however, and that was Jonathan Lee. Hearty congratulations to Jonathan, and all the visual artists who participated – Isaac Trinh, Felix Moyes, Rohan Saha, Will Byrne and Yul Shin (all IV).

And sincere gratitude to Mr Howard Tanner who continues to sponsor this important annual prize.

Vale Mrs Li Gin

Mrs Li Gin, beloved Teacher Librarian at Edgecliff Preparatory School from 1998 – 2018, sadly passed away on 11 January 2024 after a relatively short illness.

Mrs Gin transformed the Library at Edgecliff into the heart of the School over her twenty years there.

Headmaster Mr Ian Stephens, who worked with Li for her first eleven years at Edgecliff, says “Mrs Gin understood that to develop a love of reading, you first have to develop a relationship. She was kind and interested and welcoming, but also a source of deep knowledge. She understood the boys’ quirks and differences and would tap into their interest to find the right book. She was also adept at encouraging their curiosity and extending their thinking. As a colleague, she was so kind, patient and funny. She was inspiring and worked tirelessly to support teachers in their classes”.

Li was also the Debating Coordinator at Edgecliff, and in her last year in 2018, both the Senior A and B teams won the ISDA competition grand final against two very strong debating schools – a fitting way to end her successful tenure. Furthermore, Li edited the annual school magazine Gateway for many years, where her attention to detail and thoroughness was second to none.

Her warmth, expertise and encouragement of all she worked with will not be forgotten.

Cornell International Real Estate Case Competition

Michael Levas and Dean Kalas (both OS 2018) studied commerce (finance)/law and graduated from UNSW in 2023.

In November 2023, they led a team of six to compete in the 15th annual Cornell International Real Estate Case Competition. The competition was hosted at the 7 World Trade Centre building in New York with 16 university teams from around the world participating. The team was awarded first place – the first Australian team to achieve this.

To reach this level, Michael and Dean progressed through three separate domestic rounds, each with a different real estate private-equity-style case to become Australian champions. This entitled their team to receive an all-expenses paid trip and invitation to compete in New York.

The Cornell International Real Estate Case Competition, developed by the Cornell Peter and Stephanie Nolan School of Hotel Administration at Cornell University, tasks teams with analysing a commercial real estate private equity transaction over a five-day preparation period and presenting their analysis and proposal. The teams are judged on their investment recommendations and presentation skills. Judges in this competition are senior real estate executives. Sponsors of the competition’s international finals included Blackstone, KKR, BGO, CBRE, QuadReal, and other top real estate investment firms.

Michael is now beginning his career at McKinsey & Company and Dean is working at Macquarie Capital.

Pictured: L-R: Michael Levas and Dean Kalas

Australian Geography Competition

Earlier this year, Geography pupils participated in the 2023 Australian Geography Competition. The competition involved over 71,500 pupils from 772 schools across Australia. Pupils completed multiple-choice questions based on global geography. Samuel Lesnie-James (I) achieved an outstanding result and was placed first in the Year 7 level.

Music Scholar attains prestigious role

Former Grammar Music Scholar Waynne Kwon (OS 2013) has been appointed as the Sub-Principal Cello with the London Philharmonic Orchestra. Waynne studied at the prestigious Royal Northern College of Music in the UK, and he has been making quite a name for himself across Europe as a soloist, chamber musician and orchestral player.

Old Sydneians’ Union Scholarship

Congratulations to Hugo Sharkey (VI) who is the recipient of the 2024 OSU Scholarship. The OSU has had a long history of supporting boys at the School through the OSU Scholarship. This scholarship is currently awarded annually to a candidate nominated by the School and as selected by the OSU Committee. The current scholarship is an award of $6,000 to the recipient to assist in post-school initiatives.

Pictured: L-R: OSU President Mr Nicholas Manettas (OS 2009), Hugo Sharkey (VI) and Dr Richard Malpass

Stimulating creativity

Form II started their musical year with a lesson in the Keyboard Laboratory where they collaborated on a composition task using the GarageBand software.

Stretching the imagination

Form IV visual artists flexed their creative muscle by ‘making photographs’ with analogue cameras.

Mathematical star-power

Our boys were very excited when Eddie Woo, Professor of Practice in Mathematics Education at the University of Sydney, popped into their lessons. Better known as “Misterwootube” and Australia’s Local Hero Award recipient in 2018, Eddie spent the time between lessons signing diaries, mathematics textbooks, calculators, and even indulging in the odd ‘selfie’.

Sharing ideas

The learning environment extends to masters too. They have been participating in “Learning Walks” to observe a rich variety of colleagues and discuss elements of good practice.

Artist-In-Residence – Ms Sally Mayman

Edgecliff welcomed Ms Sally Mayman as a returning Artist-In-Residence. Once again, Sally ignited the boys’ passion for visual arts, bringing her unique style and talent to the School. Sally spent a fortnight working with all classes K–6, teaching the art of photography and the technique of cyanotype printing. Her residency succeeded in producing self-portraits for all Edgecliff boys, which brought to life each boy’s individual personality, to be uniquely captured on slate tablets.

Charity futsal game

On Friday 9 February, a friendly masters vs Prefects charity futsal game was held at lunchtime. Organised by the Prefects, the competition aimed to raise funds for Gotcha4Life, a non-profit dedicated to building a mentally fit future. The gripping match resulted in a 5-5 tiebreak, leading to a nerve-wracking penalty shootout where the masters secured a narrow 3-2 victory over the boys. Thank you to the Prefects and Mr Gill for their efforts in organising this event, and everyone who donated for this worthy cause.

Australian Boat Race

On 14 October 2023, three Old Sydneians represented the University of Sydney in the Australian Boat Race. Ryan Gibson (OS 2020), Henry Blackwell (OS 2020) and Wyatt Batt (OS 2017), were members of the victorious Men’s Crew, who won the Edmund Barton Cup. It was a tightly contested race, and the men from Sydney triumphed over other crews from Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide, and Queensland. Congratulations to our old boys who continue to add to our nation’s sporting history.

National Athletics Success

Jeremy Lenthen (then Year 6) became the 12 Years 800m National Champion at the National Athletics Championships held in Launceston, Tasmania on 26 November 2023. He won in a time of 2.09.65 minutes. It was the culmination of a long representative pathway for Jeremy. He was also fortunate to represent NSW at the National Basketball Championships in Perth in 2023. As a result of his achievements, he was nominated for a Combined Independent Schools sports award.

Pictured: L-R: Milo Abrahams (OS 2023), Mr Paul Gaske and Harvey Abrahams (OS 2023)

Pictured: Harvey Abrahams (OS 2023), Ivan Zhang (VI) and Milo Abrahams (OS 2023) performing at the ENCORE concert at the Sydney Opera House

Prized scholarships

Matthew Wahby and Thomas Thornthwaite (both OS 2022) have earned the prestigious University of Technology, Sydney Bachelor of Accounting Co-op Scholarship. The scholarship is for undergraduate study from 2023 – 2025. During this time, each pupil gains industry experience as interns in leading companies, as well as first-hand exposure to the global market through an intensive exchange programme. Matthew and Thomas are looking forward to using the accumulated skills and experiences from this programme to make significant and positive contributions to Australia in the future.

Pictured: Matthew Wahby (OS 2022) Dr Stephen Tong and Thomas Thornthwaite (OS 2022) at the awards night

Teresa Kuhles retires

Teresa Kuhles joined College Street as the School Nurse in September 2007. We were sad to see her retire in February 2024. While she may have come to know her regular visitors quite well, we all appreciate her friendly, sympathetic approach to her work and her knowledge around the many and varied ailments she dealt with each day. Her assistance and discretion with preparing medical information and medical kits for an increasing range of activities is much appreciated. We wish her all the best in her retirement.

National History Challenge

On November 14 2023, Ryan (Pei Fu) Zhao (I) humbly accepted the first place award for the Year 7 National History Challenge at the Australian War Memorial Hyde Park. Ryan entered the competition on his own volition and his essay on the Petrov Affair was a thoughtful insight into how fear of the unknown, in this case communism of the post-World War II era, was propagated by the Australian government. His acceptance speech included a contemporary analogous discussion on the fear of Communist China, which was a thought-provoking call for cooperation instead of fear mongering for political opportunism.

Boys are privileged to be taught by practising and exhibiting artists in the Visual Arts department, engaging them with the broader professional field of artmaking. Recently, Australian Galleries in Rushcutters Bay held a solo exhibition of the sculptures of Mr Dale Miles. Mr Miles is an integral part of the Art department, assisting both boys and masters with their sculpture skills and his exhibition was met with critical acclaim.

Pictured: From Mr Dale Miles’ exhibition at the Australian Galleries

Likewise, Mr David Horton, who oversees our HSC pupils specialising in welded-metal sculptures, held a prominent position at Sculpture by the Sea. Members of the Grammar community have enjoyed visiting Mr Horton’s work, which has enjoyed many column inches of positive press reviews.
Congratulations to both David and Dale on their recent success.

Pictured: One of Mr David Horton’s works at Sculpture by the Sea

Fencing championships

The 2024 Under 20 Oceania and National Individual Men’s Foil Competition was held on 3 February in Melbourne. This is the most significant competition in youth fencing in the Oceania region. A number of Grammar fencers, old and current, qualified to compete and distinguished themselves in this elite competition.

In the individual event, four Grammar fencers placed in the top 20 – Daniel Mautner (OS 2023, Captain of Swords 2023) won bronze, Ryan Lo (VI) placed 7th, Ryan Zhu (III) placed 17th and Alex Taylor (V) placed 18th. Even more impressively, the representative team for NSW consisted entirely of the same four boys Grammar boys. The team defeated squads from New Zealand, Victoria and Queensland to ultimately win gold in a nail-biting 45-44 victory.

Pictured: Alex Taylor (V), Ryan Zhe (III), Daniel Mautner (OS 2023) and Ryan Lo (VI)

From Bambini Strings to the Gewandhaus Orchestra

Vincent Lo (OS 2012), former pupil at St Ives and College Street, is now a member of the Gewandhaus Orchestra in Leipzig. Vincent initially started in the orchestra’s fellowship programme in 2019 and in 2021 he received a permanent position. His advancement as a cellist in the orchestra will take another step this year, as he becomes an associate principal of the cello section.

Former St Ives Music master, Mrs Ros Murray was fortunate to see Vincent perform with the orchestra on a recent visit to Leipzig and was impressed by “the most beautiful lush sound” made by the cello section. The orchestra is touring Korea, Japan and Taiwan this year.

Pictured: Above: Mrs Ros Murray with Vincent Lo (OS 2012)

The inaugural Khusid Ensemble

The Khusid Ensemble made its first performance appearance in the Term IV Jazz Concert.

Dr Malpass formed this group in honour of our beloved Vlad Khusid who passed away at the very start of 2023. As Dr Malpass can regularly recall (as a pupil of Vlad’s since the late 1980s), Vlad always strived to ensure that jazz would be strong at Grammar and loved by the boys, and his legend grew generation upon generation. The Khusid Ensemble is intended to be an ongoing nod to Vlad’s enormous capacity to inspire and his incomparable achievements.

The inaugural Khusid Ensemble features Harry Awad (IV) on piano, Jonty Snyman (IV) on bass and Brock Soedirdja (III) on drums playing Clifford Brown’s masterpiece Joy Spring.

A video from the performance can be viewed below.

Kung fu workshop

The Chinese Lunar New Year took place on 10 February 2024 and ushered in the Year of the Dragon. To celebrate the event, the Modern Languages department organised a kung fu workshop for boys in Forms II to IV.

During the event, Ms May Wang, a Kung Fu Master, provided a brief introduction to Chinese kung fu, demonstrating some basic movements. The boys showed great interest in the exercises and participated with enthusiasm.

Joshua Ellis (III) commented, “The kung fu demonstration was presented in a professional and engaging manner, and the ability to not only see the history behind kung fu in China but also actively learn and participate in the lesson was very enjoyable. We spent time learning the different poses and discovered that it is more than just kicking and punching. It is about the belief in connecting to your qi, or life force. Overall, I would recommend it to all people interested in traditional Chinese culture”.

In Gallant Company

The Sydney Grammar School WWI Honour Board that dominates the northern end of the Big Schoolroom is recognised as one of the great school memorials to those who enlisted and gave their lives in the First World War. The Memorial was unveiled in 1921 by Sir Harry Chauvel, himself an Old Sydneian and Lieutenant General, preceding Sir John Monash. It records the names on the centre panel of 302 boys who lost their lives between August 1914 and April 1919 and on the left and right panels, 1,452 boys and staff who voluntarily enlisted to participate and survived. As a result of Mr Philip Creagh’s (OS 1965-66) extensive research on this subject, numbers have since been revised from what appears on the Honour Board. Boys that enlisted in total totals 2,172. Old Sydneians who died (represented on the centre panel) total 337 since 2014.

No other school in Australia made more of a contribution or suffered more casualties in World War I than Grammar. In Gallant Company by Philip Creagh is a tangible tribute to the memory of these Grammar boys whose futures were cut short just as they were entering the prime of their lives, and a spotlight on a significant era of the School’s history. It serves as a lasting reference for the Sydney Grammar School community, and hopefully will stimulate the desire to learn more about this influential historical period for Grammar and Australia, and inspire people to visit and honour those who lost their lives so far from home, so long ago.

Creagh’s extensive research uses resources from the School Archives, the National Archives of Australia and the Imperial War Museum records, and his hard-cover book includes short biographies of each Old Sydneian, including details of their school career, the circumstances in which they found themselves and their eventual fate during the War.

In Gallant Company is available to purchase via the Community office for $65 (plus optional postage).

Co-Education Programme

On Tuesday 7 November, Edgecliff Preparatory School welcomed the Year 6 girls from St Catherine’s School for a co-educational day. The boys and girls were mixed into small groups for a team-building activity organised by Be Challenged where they had to create a ‘Chain Reaction’, which spanned across 28 groups and 164 pupils! Following a short break for recess, the pupils then went into rotations which covered several of the specialist subjects offered at Edgecliff. The activities included:

Art – Newspaper Fashion Show – a fun teambuilding activity led by guest artist Jane Gillings, participants worked in groups to design, create and model their runway fashion on a red carpet.

Drama – Pupils worked within small groups to learn theatre sports games. They then worked together to create a simple, yet effective piece of theatre.

Spanish – Boys and girls created a ‘Wall of Culture’ through posts on Padlet. The groups researched, created and shared information about Spanish culture.

Sport – Pupils were split up into teams and they participated in a variety of games which were designed to be fun whilst promoting team-building skills.

The girls and boys had a barbecue lunch together at Weigall, and by all reports had a terrific day.