Fortunately, it is now becoming clear that the view held by many that intelligence is inherited, is quite wrong.  Many scientists now believe that, far from having their IQs determined at the moment of conception, people’s potential intelligence is almost infinitely flexible.

For parents this means that children are not limited by the gene pool, and alternatively, automatically blessed by the gene pool.  For schools it means that the right learning environment will do more than teach knowledge but also boost intelligence.  Teaching thinking is one way of enhancing intelligence.  Providing stimulating activities and recreation also stimulates and challenges the brain. 

We are delighted to be hosting Grandparents of our Junior School students next Wednesday 1 September.  We look forward to welcoming many special visitors to our School for a glimpse of school life and morning tea.  Please make sure that you contact those special people in your life and let them know of this event.  We will be unofficially opening our brand new K-2 open area learning space and gardens.

This day is for grandparents, it is not parents day.  I respectfully ask that unless a grandparent requires direct supervision or assistance that parents spare this day for grandparents.  It is their day and secondly, grandparents and children will have a much more comfortable day if the grounds and rooms are not congested unnecessarily.  With thanks.

I was very impressed when Mrs O’Grady (Head of Science) gave me this report in the UNSW Science Competition.  A very impressive set of results reflecting the excellent work that has been happening in Science teaching at the School. Hunter Valley Grammar students from Years 5 to 10 competed in the University of NSW ICAS competition gaining 58 Credits and 15 Distinctions.

HVGS has been afforded the opportunity to host an international schools rugby match. This match is scheduled for Saturday 28 August with a 2:00PM kick-off. The match will be played between NSW Country Schools and the touring Samoan Schools. Grammar players Matt Davis, Joe Andrews, Danny Kitcher and Nathan Oliver will feature in this match. The match is to be played on the School’s Rugby oval, with the after match function in the Senior Centre. Preparations are now under way to host this match. Any spectators on the day would be most welcome.

Congratulations to the Open and Middle Division debating teams who last week competed in the final rounds of the HICES debating Chapman Cup against Hills Grammar. Despite both teams losing narrowly, very strong team and individual arguments were raised and for some students, including Conrad Bond, Ashleigh Resch and Tom Levick, it was probably their best performance of the season. Well done to all debaters involved in 2010 and we look forward to competing for the cup again next year.

Being the celebration of Book Week this week, it is appropriate that I make mention of the very generous donation to the Weeks Library and the new K-2 Library by the Hunter Valley Grammar School Parents and Friends Association. The P&F have kindly donated $1500 for each sub-school to replenish and renew books within the Library structure. This is an enormous boost for the Library stock and a practical way for the P&F to join the celebrations for Book Week. Sincere thanks go to all of the P&F Committee for the support and for having such a great idea that will have a very practical impact on many of our students. If any parents feel they would like to be involved in the P&F (we are always looking for new members) please feel free to contact Graham O’Rourke at "graham.orourke@bigpond.com"

The countdown for the Year 11 final examinations has truly started and it is important that all Year 11 students should be engaged in the revision process for any subject that has an examination. This means that revision and review of the course must be added to the normal homework expectations and the working of past papers will be essential as the examinations get closer. Now is the time for some concentrated effort and hard work and quality feedback from Year 11 teachers.

The system will operate differently for Years K-6 and Years 7-12, however in both cases parents will be able to upload funds to their child’s My Student account via the My Student link on the school website.

If you are intending withdrawing children from continuing in 2011 at HVGS, we would be very pleased to hear from you as soon as possible.  This assists the School with planning for courses and particularly setting the Budget. 

Parents are reminded of the School’s Enrolment Conditions whereby the Enrolment/Family Bond is refundable given that the Terms and Conditions of Enrolment are met and this requires a Full Term’s Notice in writing.

Please contact the Registrar, Mrs Jenny Fisher, direct on 4931 0771or email fisherj@hvgs.nsw.edu.au as soon as possible.

All of the children in the preschool have enjoyed the celebrations of book week. It was fun to have the opportunity to dress up as our Favourite Book Characters. Make sure that you also check out our artwork, based on the book, Kip. Thanks to Ms Powell for coordinating this project for the preschool. Thanks also to Sue Pinnock and Terena Anderson for our special book week story times. It was enjoyed by all and greatly appreciated.

Just a reminder to families about our policy regarding toys from home. It is best to discourage your child from bringing toys from home if possible. Toys can often become lost, broken or cause sharing issues amongst the children. Any children who bring toys to preschool will be asked to leave them in their bags or lockers. Security toys are welcome for children who might experience separation anxiety, however we also encourage these to be left in bags until needed. We would appreciate your cooperation with this.

Please inform your class teacher if you have any changes in address or phone numbers for yourself or your emergency contacts.

• Monday 30 August- Friday 3rd September- Grandparents and Friends Week. Visit from 2-3pm.
• Tuesday 31st August and Wednesday 1st September- Smiles for Life Dental Visit from 9.30am
• Saturday 11th September- Picnic in the Park, 10am-12pm
• Friday 24th September- Last day of Term 3.

Only the first of many activities of Children’s Book Week had taken place when this report was written but it set a good standard for those to come:  Stage 3 students met Australian author Deb Abela when she visited the area as part of Maitland City Library’s activities for Children’s Book Week.

Thank you to all parents who joined us for our second Lower Primary commendation ceremony.  We are now looking forward to the 3-6 Ceremony to be held in Week 7. At this assembly Mr Burgess will also present the HRIS ribbons to students who were successful in representing us at the recent gathering.  Our Third round of Commendations will take place early in Term 4.

A reminder that Mrs Kephart tracks lost property and ensures its return to the rightful owner.  Students may contact Mrs Kephart who has a book whereby she records all labelled equipment sent to the office for safe keeping.  We would once again ask all parents to ensure uniforms are labeled and to monitor the return of uniforms from school and remind all students of their responsibility for care of their personal property.

We have noticed that many students are not ensuring that notes are taken home and returned responsibly to teachers.  We have an increasing number of students who are requesting 2 and 3 duplicates of notes, or asking for a phone call to parents on the day to verbally seek permission to participate.  We would ask parents to support us in our quest to make students responsible for their organisation and follow through.

We have an active group of Year Six parents who are organising a number of fund raisers in order to allow the grade to make a presentation to the school, enjoy a wonderful final day lunch and other end of year things.  They will be publishing details about these events shortly.

Thank you to those parents who availed themselves of the opportunity to discuss student progress at interviews this week.  We appreciate your time at this point and look forward to working closely with you throughout the remainder of the year.

Parent Teacher Interviews were held on Monday, 23 August and Wednesday, 25 August. These afternoons were strategically positioned before the end of Term 3 and before the Yearly Assessment period, so parents and students together can monitor their progress thus far.  If any adjustments need to be made for students to reach their potential as we approach Term 4, then time is available to do so. If you were unable to attend, Interim Reports will be posted home for your perusal. Follow up with specific teachers can be made via Mrs Long, or a notation in the diary.

Our Year 9 2011 Information Evening regarding subject selection was well attended and we thank parents, staff and students for attending.  All Year 8 students have completed their subject selection choices for 2011 and handed them in to Mrs Keith.  If you have any further queries, please ask your child to talk to Mrs Keith, Director of Staff Development and Resources or Mrs Margaret Finucane, Director of Teaching and Learning.

• Thursday, 9 September                              Middle School Pastoral Care Day
• Saturday, 11 September                            Relay For Life
• Sunday, 12 September                               Relay For Life
• Tuesday, 21 September                             Middle School Commendation Assembly.

Our Semester 2 Pastoral Care Day is coming up soon.  This semester our boys will be doing physical challenges such as Canoeing, Abseiling, Sea Kayaking, Rock Climbing, Cycling (40km) and Walks.  They have selected their choices and are eagerly awaiting to see what activity they will be doing. 

Our girls will be participating in an innovative and exciting program from Enlightened Education; ‘The Butterfly Effect’. The credo of Enlightened Education is to “empower and inspire our teenage girls.  The idea of "The Butterfly Effect" comes from the science of chaos theory. It suggests that everything is connected, to the extent that the beating of a butterfly’s wings in one part of the world may ultimately contribute to a tornado happening in another part of the world. We recognise that when it comes to the impact we as individuals have on our environment, small changes can make a huge difference. Enlighten is about celebrating, challenging and changing ourselves and our world.  Year 7 girls who participated in this program two years ago were so excited by the program and we received such positive feedback that we have decided to invite Enlighted Education to return to HVGS again this year.

As you read this, over one billion people are suffering from chronic hunger.  This is nearly one in six people worldwide.  The people who live in these conditions don’t make newspaper headlines.  They’re in the back streets of cities, in far reaches of deserts and high in mountain villages.  But this doesn’t mean their crisis isn’t our crisis.

A large number of students have joined the Middle School Relay for Life teams.  This year we are aiming to raise more money for the Cancer Council.  You may donate by visiting the following website and clicking on the appropriate Middle School team – HVGS Middle School Year 7, HVGS Middle School Year 8, HVGS Middle School Year 9 girls or HVGS Middle School Year 9 Boys.  For further enquiries please contact Mrs Otway.

Each fortnight, at Middle School Assembly, we endeavour to showcase some of the highlights of the past fortnight in terms of students’ successes across all aspects of School life, to allow students the opportunity to perform to a ‘live’ audience, as well as deliver a message to their peers about something a student, or students, feel passionate.  We try to balance sporting and academic successes with cultural presentations. The rotation of House Captains each term allows many students to lead the assembly for their peers.

Next Tuesday, week 7, Middle School SRC will be holding a BBQ during lunch time to raise money for the Maitland Cancer Council Paliative Care group.  Sausages and Drinks will be for sale at $1.80 each.    Please help us support this local charity.

You might remember a few years ago now that we collected gifts in shoe boxes for the Samaritans as part of their Operation Christmas Child. These gifts were then sent abroad to far-flung places to make Christmas something special for the children there. As part of our community involvement, I would like to involve the Senior School again in this exercise, and spoke about it on the assembly recently with Years 10 and 11. Year 12 are also invited to participate.

It was my great pleasure to be in the audience for the Drama Performance evening held recently. The talent and the variety of the performances were wonderful and I congratulate every student on their efforts. With the actual HSC not far away, much “fine tuning” is being done so that the performance that counts will be the best it can be. I wish each student well as the date approaches! The musicians have their performance evening coming up on the 2nd September.

Now is the time Year 12 students need to be working on the identification of any areas of weakness, and then entering in to discussion with their teachers so that issues with the Trial HSC exams can be dealt with in a timely fashion. Students will be engaged in lots of work over the coming weeks to complete course work, engage in meaningful review, and completing past papers of segments thereof. Gaining feedback is critical now as this helps fine tune answers for the exams in October/November. Mr Teys is spending a number of lunchtimes now with Year 12 students to guide them on the best ways to approach their work from now on.

Dr Bernard Curran from the University of Newcastle spoke with Year 12 during Pastoral Care this week about matters related to university life in general – and I  thank him for making the time to talk here with our students and share some information

Information was provided via Year meetings this week to students in Years 10 and 11 about their upcoming exams – the trial School Certificate and the end of Preliminary Course exams respectively. Preparation for these should be in full swing both at school and at home. If you would like some advice on how best to assist students to prepare for exams, please contact their class teacher or their Head of House.

• 2 September  – HSC Music Performance Evening – Latter Hall
• 9 September  – Senior School Pastoral Day – letter have been sent out detailing the events on the day for each Year Group
• 14 September – Senior School Commendation Assembly
• 16 September – Year 11 Preliminary Course Exams commence
• 20, 21, 22 September– Year 10 Trial School Certificate Exams
• 23 September – Year 12 Graduation assembly – 9am in the Cameron Centre
• 24 September – Presentation Ball

• 18 November – Year 12 Formal
• 25 November – Year 10 Dinner Dance

Dear Students, Classmates, Teachers, Ladies and Gentlemen!

Of course I was excited when I was informed I'm going to Australia and still I am and I think my classmates feel the same. The reason for coming here was the fact that we heard so many fabulous things about the country and the people living on this fantastic continent. We heard about the kindness, politeness and open-mindedness of the Australian people. I read some books about Australia. One of them was Bill Bryson's "In a sunburned country". It is a humorous but informative book which made me very curious. I learned that Australia is a country of superlatives. Mr Bryson explains: It is the home of the largest living things on earth, the Great Barrier Reef and the largest monolith, Ayers Rock. Australia has more things that will kill you than anywhere else. Of the world's ten most poisonous snakes, all are Australian. When I arrived my first impressions were so overwhelming, I cannot put them into words yet, and I think our staying here will show us lots more interesting things, intensive and new insights and also enjoyment about our new friends. I do thank the Hunter Valley Grammar School, the Principal Mr Teys, Mr Schlaeger, and the host families. I also thank the Erasmus Gymnasium, Mrs Westerhoff and especially Mr Cwik. My classmates and I are absolutely grateful for everything here!

by Maximilian von Tschirnhaus

Literacy and Numeracy Week in Australia is fast approaching (August 29th – September 4th) and the Communication Faculty will be providing some opportunity in class and via external competitions to recognise the importance and celebrate the enjoyment of literacy skills, including digital stories, book review presentations and word game narratives.

Sunsmart ‘bust a myth’ competition

The competition calls for short films, images and creative writing to win a variety of great electronic prizes. See Mr Jolliffe for details or go to www.cancer.org.au/sunsmartcompetition

Climate Change Advertisement Competition

To enter the competition as a secondary student, you are required to produce a 60 second advertisement encouraging people to take action to combat climate change. The advertisement must be punchy, clear and relevant.

The Shout Out for Climate Change competition gives secondary students the chance to inspire change and win some amazing prizes.

Last week Mrs Kinkade had the pleasure of packing up this years HSC Textiles major works and sending them off to the Board of Studies.  The range and quality of the products was fantastic to see and the girls should be congratulated on their efforts.  Depending upon their return date a display of their work will be organised towards the end of the year.

The new long sleeve rugny jersery for sports day is now available from the Uniform Shop. The jerseys range in sizes from

6 – 14 for $79, adult sizes XS – XL for $84 and adult sizes 2XL for $88.

The uniform change from Winter to Summer is scheduled for Monday 6 September.

Many thanks to those parents who have been wrapping the presents for the Father's Day Stall on 3 September, 2010.  If your child wishes to purchase a gift for Dad the cost is $8.00 and the money must be with their class teacher by 1 September, 2010.  Great gifts on offer.  Assistance of Parents at the Stall would be appreciated . The Stall usually commences at 10.30 am and runs for just over an hour. Exact time can be confirmed by contacting Anne or Graham O'Rourke nearer the day.