BoS Annual Report - Cranbrook School

the hard work and dedication they
have demonstrated throughout the
year. It would also like to thank Mr
Berridge, Mr Parker, Mrs McCallum
and Mrs Carter whose guidance and
determination played a vital role in the
success of this year’s SRC.
1.3 Report from the
Headmaster
It has been a privilege and pleasure
to take up the Headmastership of
Cranbrook: the School’s distinctive
and balanced educational philosophy
is, today, ever more resonant, relevant
and important. Any review of a year
in the life of a great school will miss a
great deal: the following observations
offer some evidence of a vital, vibrant
educational community which is
dedicated to the elevation of humane
possibility and which it is a great honour
to serve.
Cranbrook’s HSC candidates achieved
very pleasing results in 2012. Many
surpassed their, and our, expectations.
Particular congratulations must go to
Giordi Borzuola, James King, Stephen
Liu, Nicholas Parker, George Polonski,
Matthew Thompson and Sam Tidswell,
who won places on the Premier’s HSC
All-Rounders’ List by gaining 90% or
above in ten or more HSC units. Josh
Deane was placed 8th in the State in
Extension 2 English, achieving a perfect
score; Jonathan Li was placed 9th in
Mathematics, and Sam Tidswell won
9th place in Legal Studies. Cranbrook
boys gained 140 merit listings in the
Distinguished Achievers List by scoring
90 per cent or more in a subject.
Sam Tidswell was Dux with an ATAR
score of 99.75 whilst George Polonski
was Proxime Accessit by virtue of his
score of 99.2.
During Science week, Bishop
Court resonated with the sounds of
explosions of hydrogen-filled balloons,
demonstrating the power of hydrogen
as a fuel; during the transit of Venus
the library roof was transformed as
observatory. There have been individual
achievements in Science too with Year
11 pupil, Jordan Epstein, participating
in a programme sponsored by the
Powerhouse Museum using data from
NASA. Cranbrook Science pupils shone
in Science Olympiads and Jonathon Li,
Year 12, participated in the National
Youth Science Forum in Perth over
the Christmas holiday period. I would
like to thank Mr Louis Mallia who has
steered the department so ably over the
last two terms of 2012 as we awaited the
new Head of Science, Dr Marta Cassidy,
who took up the position this year.
Last year marked curriculum expansion
in Languages, with the introduction of
Chinese. We have both beginner and
background speaker classes now engaged
in learning the language from Year 9 to
HSC. Tours figured prominently in the
Languages department’s programmes
on a bi-annual basis and last year saw
language and cultural tours to Japan, and
to Italy for the Latin students.
The History department has always
valued the experiential as well as the
theoretical. Last year, for the first
time, our Legal Studies students took
part in a mooting competition at the
Administrative Appeals Tribunal where
the boys gained a practical appreciation
of how to apply the law, and of legal
etiquette. Our budding ancient
historians enjoyed an annual pilgrimage
to the Nicholson Museum for hands on
study of ancient artifacts.
A highlight of the calendar for the
English enrichment students is the
Write a Book in a Day competition
where pupils are required, within
pre-determined constraints, to literally
write a book over the course of day. It is
amazing to visit the library on this day
and watch the collaborative efforts of
small groups of boys creating, imagining
and refining: fully engaged in the craft
of writing. The collaboration between
the library and the English Department
allows such wonderful events to occur.
Creativity at Cranbrook is alive and well
in the arts. Our Technology department
hosted the largest group of Design and
Technology and Industrial Technology
HSC candidates last year and their work
on display at the Design Expo showcased
an amazing variety and quality of works.
Our musicians under the directorship of
Mrs Charlotte Lush excelled themselves
last year with their performances
providing the foundations of a
momentous year of celebration – of
the opening of the new Junior School
buildings at Dangar, of farewells to
Jeremy Madin as well as for my own
induction. Anyone who attended one
of the host of musical evenings would
have been, as I was, most impressed by
the excellence of composition, and the
quality of craftsmanship, of our fine
young musicians.
On stage too, our dramatists have
shone. With exceptional results in the
2011 HSC, we were delighted with the
nominations of a number of 2012 HSC
drama students for both individual and
group performances – Nicholas Hart
being nominated in both categories, a
first for Cranbrook. Co-curricular drama
produced memorable pieces throughout
last year with a moving production
of “Our Country’s Good” in May, a
delightful rendition of “Ernie’s Incredible
Illucinations” as well as the studentdirected
production “A Property of the
Clan” in October and November.
Cranbrook hosted Visual Arts teachers
from across the State last term with our
own teachers showcasing innovative
practices in the visual arts at Cranbrook.
For the boys, artists’ workshops with
visiting practitioners featured in our
programmes last year with exceptional
opportunities to work with highly
specialised methods and designers;
and our art pupils had numerous
opportunities to attend galleries and
sites. These practices were indeed
evident in the Year 12 Body of Work
exhibition in Term 3, the works last year
demonstrating both conceptual breadth
and technical facility. Anyone who visits
the school on a senior art students’ site
specific day would wonder at the boys’
ability to use our exceptional site as a
foot print for their inspiration.
A challenge for all of us in the
academic arena is to ensure a balance of
experiential activities with the theory
and practice in the classroom. Whilst
experiences away can provide breadth of
skills development and understanding,
it also risks interrupting study in other
subjects. We must constantly seek to
develop practices that allow true depth
of understanding without putting at risk
the needs of the broader curriculum.
The roll out of laptops to some year
groups has added to our interrogation
of how we teach. Cranbrook is not
a “laptop school” but one that uses
the laptop as one of the tools in the
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