How high can a tower be built before it falls over? What are the most efficient transport routes to connect multiple cities? And what is the minimum support a balsa and paper bridge needs to support an electric car? Thirty two Year 10 students from The Armidale School took out the regional division of the annual Science and Engineering Challenge held at the University of New England yesterday (7 March), where they joined others from eight schools across the region in a series of critical thinking challenges. The budding scientists were put in groups of four, each group tackling two of eight different challenges that tested skills in maths, science and logic. Points from each individual activity are accumulated to... View Article
News
Rowers point bows to business end of the season
Posted 1st March 2018
The Armidale School’s rowing crews are pointing their bows to the business end of the season, with upcoming regattas in Sydney in coming weeks. This year 26 TAS rowers are taking to the water in three boys’ Fours, a boys’ and girls’ quad scull and single sculls. Building their racing experience at regattas at Grafton and Taree during their summer holidays, the crews have been refining technique to compete at the Sydney International Regatta Centre at Penrith, built for the 2000 Olympic Games. The boys’ coxed quad scull had their finale at the NSW Rowing Schoolboy Head of the River on Sunday (25 February), recording a personal best time of the season. The girls’ quad is hoping for a similar... View Article
Day focuses on the other parts of HSC journey
Posted 1st March 2018
Goal setting, memorisation techniques, study skills, managing major works, balancing priorities, avoiding procrastination, relaxation and stress management and improving writing: for Year 12 students The Armidale School’s first Activities Day for the year (28 February) involved practical workshops which gave specialist assistance in helping their journey to the HSC. While those in younger years were involved in the cadet program, starting their surf bronze medallion accreditation at Sawtell Surf Life Saving Club or learning about fire fighting pumps with Dumaresq RFS Brigade, the school’s most senior students were given tools to assist them manage the pressure of the coming months. Addressing the cohort at the start of the day, Headmaster Murray Guest said five such days would be devoted to... View Article
Records fall at TAS Swimming Championships
Posted 22nd February 2018
A RECORD dating from the last century was among 19 broken at The Armidale School’s swimming championships over three days last week, culminating in a full day of competition on Friday 16 February. Swimming in his first TAS championships, Jesse Streeting (Armidale) touched the wall in the 17 years freestyle in a time of 25:03, shaving 0.37 seconds off the previous record of 25.4 set by Adam Hall in 1999. The Year 11 student who was named senior boy champion, also set new benchmarks in the 17 years 50m butterfly, backstroke and 100m freestyle, bettering the previous best times for the events all set in 2013 by Jay Kennedy. Another new TAS student, Toby Michell-Smith from Narrabri, broke a record... View Article
Records fall at TAS Swimming Championships
Posted 19th February 2018
A record dating from the last century was among 19 broken at The Armidale School’s swimming championships over three days last week, culminating in a full day of competition on Friday 16 February. Swimming in his first TAS championships, Jesse Streeting (Armidale) touched the wall in the 17 years freestyle in a time of 25:03, shaving 0.37 seconds off the previous record of 25.4 set by Adam Hall in 1999. The Year 11 student who was named senior boy champion, also set new benchmarks in the 17 years 50m butterfly, backstroke and 100m freestyle, bettering the previous best times for the events all set in 2013 by Jay Kennedy. Another new TAS student, Toby Michell-Smith from Narrabri, broke a record... View Article
Hair-losing fundraising assists children with cancer
Posted 16th February 2018
When young children lose have their hair as part of cancer treatment, they have no choice. For the prefects at The Armidale School, voluntarily sacrificing their own locks to raise funds for Childhood Cancer Support, was the least they felt they could do. “It’s a charity that’s close to home particularly for one little girl at our school and it’s a good way of bringing the school community together in support,” said Senior Prefect Bonnie Bremner. For more than a decade the school’s prefects have shaved their heads for a good cause. Traditionally starting their campaign on War Cries Night, the first session of the school’s swimming championships – which this year on 15 February, in a stunning coincidence, just... View Article
Students inspired at summer science camps
Posted 2nd February 2018
MEETING Nobel Prize winner Dr Brian Schmidt, dissecting a human eye, building a robot that responds to human movement – just part of the holiday mix for six Year 12 students from The Armidale School. Attending separate Rotary National Youth Science Forums in Canberra and Brisbane, Nicholas Bohlsen, Ashini Ekanayake, Sambavan Jeyakumar and Nicholas Jackson said it was more like a conference that opened up opportunities, than a summer science school for nerds. Both choosing the Medicine stream at the forum, Ashini and Sambavan had scalpels in hand in an anatomy workshop, visited a pathology museum and visited the new John Curtin School of Medical Research where they learnt about medical imaging. “It was really hands on and designed to... View Article
Boarding house heralds the future of residential life
Posted 1st February 2018
Delivered on time and under budget, a dynamic new boarding house at The Armidale School has welcomed its first residents. The first new student residence constructed at an Armidale school since the late 1980s, the three-storey development will cater for 64 boarders and three residential staff and is Stage One of a facility that will ultimately accommodate 130 female students. Just 13 months after the first trenches were dug, the construction team from Rice Constructions, TAS maintenance staff, Business Manager Pat Bradley and Project Manager Stewart McRae worked right up until the day before term started to complete landscaping work in time to welcome boarders. Girls’ boarding captain Ellen Coote from Moree said the new house was “just fantastic”. “More... View Article
Festival success for TAS cricketers
Posted 24th January 2018
CENTURIES for the team captain and vice captain and three wins from five were among the highlights for The Armidale School’s First XI at the annual Independent Schools’ Cricket Festival last week (15-19 January), this year held at Downlands College, Toowoomba. The round robin competition brought together fine young cricketers from TAS, Downlands, Sydney schools Shore and St Ignatius College Riverview; Ambrose Treacy College from Brisbane and Rockhampton Grammar School. On day one, TAS skipper Nicholas Farrar scored an outstanding 161 not out against Shore in a thrilling encounter. TAS notched up a credible 286 off 50 overs against Shore’s 347, with Cotter Litchfield (4/38 off 10) the pick of the bowlers for TAS. There was more team success the... View Article
Medal success for rowers at Taree regatta
Posted 22nd January 2018
ROWERS from The Armidale School have returned from the Taree Summer Regatta with great success, bringing home medals in several events. The 25 rowers competed in both sweep (one oar per rower) and scull (two oars) events over different distances at the three day regatta on 12-14 January, following a four day camp at nearby Oxley Island. The school’s girls’ crew were the first to compete, coming third in the Women’s C Grade quad scull over 1000m on the first day of competition. Other top three finishes included a second placing in the D Grade quad scull over 1000m, third in the Women’s U23 quad scull and thirdin the B Grade quad scull (both over 2000m). The TAS First IV... View Article
