Kennedy Cup Winners

Assembly Address Friday 18 November

Joel Morrison, Deputy Principal

Thank you to Year 7 and Mr Carritt for this morning’s wonderful assembly. Thank you too to Dani Villefana from the class of 2021 for speaking to us, and to our guests from the class of 1991. As we spend a little time this morning reflecting on some of the school’s long and rich history, and as we begin a new tradition, a new part of that history, it’s wonderful to have visitors from the school’s recent history.

But of course, however long and rich that history is, it pales into insignificance compared to that of the Gadigal and Wangal peoples who for tens of thousands of years lived on and cared for this land. It’s right for us to acknowledge today that we meet on their land, land which was taken from them and for which sovereignty was never ceded.

Today as I said, we will announce the winning house of the inaugural Kennedy Cup, but before I do, two things

First, thanks to House Captains of 2022. They have led their houses with enthusiasm and a highly competitive spirit, but also worked together co-operatively to put on highly successful whole school events. They have been a great example of the qualities embodied in the Exit Profile and by the Fortians past whose namesake Houses they have led – those “predecessors” who “wrought great deeds that will not perish”.

Current Year 9&10 students will have the chance to nominate themselves as House Captains early next year, and I hope that you will take the opportunity in the same spirit and with the same dedication and enthusiasm as the 2022 House Captains have done. Can the 2022 House Captains please stand, and Fortians can you please give them a round of applause.

·         Joshi House Captains: Taj Conelly, Kosta Giitsidis, Jun Hui Quan, Celina Trang

·         Kirby House Captains: Brianna Dann, Anne-Sophie Hegi, Mary Koutalianos, Adam Maher

·         Mawson House Captains: Georgia Bailey, Owen Chin, Ella Murphy, Haris Saud

·         Preston House Captains: Lucie Atkin Bolton, Oliver Ekers, Brendan Posener, Kalanie Prabhakar

·         Sheikh House Captains: Oscar Buck, Jasmine Loh, Soraya Newlyn, Abbie Sen

Thanks too to Mr Simon Vaughan who has worked closely with the House Captains, keeping them on track when needed and helping them to achieve their visions.

Secondly, I’d like to say a few words about Clarice Kennedy, after whom the Kennedy Cup is named. When we renamed the houses earlier this year, we wanted to choose Fortians who were not only outstanding in their field, but who represented something of what we hope for our students, again the qualities that are expressed in the Exit Profile.

Nalini Joshi, mathematician, represents outstanding academic achievement, Margaret Preston, artist, represents outstanding creativity, Douglas Mawson, polar explorer, independence and resilience, Michael Kirby, High Court Judge and Simon Sheikh, CEO and activist, both in different ways represent a sense of justice and responsibility to the wider community.

Those of you not in Year 7 will remember that one of our previous houses was named after Clarice Kennedy, certainly the least well known of the Fortians who I’ve just mentioned. However, the more we thought about her, the more we thought she embodied much of what we think is important as a school, and what we hope for from you, our students.

She was an outstanding athlete, holding Australian records across a range of sprinting distances. As a female athlete she faced discrimination with resilience and a sense of social justice. She was committed to academic education as a teacher of French and Latin, and remained a dedicated learner herself throughout her life, completing a PhD in Science towards the end of her life.

Just like Clarice Kennedy, the winning house has had to demonstrate outstanding achievement across a range of areas, not just through sporting success such as at Swimming or athletics carnivals. The Profile Points that all students have earned across all five areas of the Exit Profile have contributed to the overall House Points. In fact, the winning House – which I will get to soon – didn’t finish in the top three at any of our major carnivals, but have earned their points consistently throughout the year, through excellence in all areas of school life, both in and outside the classroom.

Without further ado, let me announce the winning house of the Kennedy Cup for 2022:

·         5th place: Preston (2,355 points)

·         4th place: Kirby (2,533 points)

·         3rd place: Mawson (3,196 points)

·         2nd place: Sheikh (2,636 points)

And in first place, congratulations to Joshi House with 3,498 points. Would the House Captains and House Patrons (Ms Mandy Kaur and Ms Adele Walker) please come up on stage to receive the inaugural Kennedy Cup!