Principal’s Report
Dear Fortians, Parents and Carers,
Year 12 Graduation
There was excitement in the air on the last Wednesday of term as the school farewelled our wonderful graduating class of 2019. The day commenced with a farewell breakfast, organised and prepared for Year 12 by their teachers with the help of Year 11, Mr Leondios and Mr O’Neill. The breakfast atmosphere reflected the warmth that is shared between Fortians and the teaching staff and also the fondness that our students hold for their school.
The breakfast was followed by a whole school assembly in which student representatives (Isabella Walker – Year 8, Austen Koit – Year 9, Ameira Sant and Benjamin Harmer – Year 11) shared stories and expressed thanks to our Year 12 cohort for their leadership and camaraderie. Ethan Koit and Hazel Duwenbeck gave the year 12 reply and spoke with gratitude when reflecting on their time at the Fort. The school was entertained by videos put together by the Year 12 students, a K-Pop dance and a beautiful music performance “Waltz from Swan Lake” by Tchaikovsky performed by Luca Tropea and Patrick Wu.
That evening a formal graduation ceremony with parents and friends was held in the school hall. The evening consisted of a drama performance “Shhh”’ (written and performed by Lucy Bailey, Rosemary Hearne, Tara Luckock, Julian Parry and Oliver Reucassel), a music performance “Tarantella” performed by Michelle Yang and, Hugo Giles and Patrick Wu, a Year 12 Extension II English presentation by Betty Chen and a vocal performance “Starry Starry Night” performed by the Year 12 members of the Chamber Choir. I would also like to thank Ms Bridget Haire (Year 12 parent) for her inspiring address and Niamh Elliott-Brennan for her insightful and touching Year 12 speech.
Our staff have enjoyed being part of the educational passage of our Year 12 students over the past six years and have delighted in watching them develop into the incredible young adults that they are. Special thanks must be given to Tim Hasenbein and Liz Propsting for the nurturing and support they have provided to Year 12 and their families as Year Adviser and Year Assistant during their time at the Fort. Thank you also to Mr Morrison the much loved Deputy Principal for his exceptional guidance of Year 12 throughout their school journey.
I would like to extend my congratulations and a special thank you to our Year 12 students who are individually and collectively remarkable young people. We hope that, during their years at the Fort, they will have had many positive experiences. The fun of learning with like-minded people, the joy of being successful and learning from their mistakes, the opportunity to understand and value what makes each of them unique and the freedom to express themselves in a caring and respectful environment.
Remember to study hard, sleep well and eat healthy food over the next few weeks so that you are well prepared and can be at peak performance for each of your HSC exams. We wish you all the very best.
Encore Nominations
Congratulations to Luca Tropea, Patrick Vastani, Patrick Wu and Michelle Yang who have been nominated for possible inclusion in the HSC Music showcase even, Encore. Mr Ockwell is both a very proud and thrilled teacher.
Year 11 Exams
Year 11 students are no doubt excited that their examinations are completed and they have the holidays now to relax before beginning the HSC in Week 3 next term. Students are reminded to go to their Year 11 classes during the first two weeks back and that new extension courses will begin in week 3.
Year 9 Bronze Duke of Ed Expedition
Year 9 survived their Bronze Duke of Ed expedition! It would be drawing a long bow to say that every single student had fun, but they all coped well with very challenging weather. It was warm the first day but then it started raining Monday night and didn’t stop. The rain was absolutely relentless. While the students were shown how to waterproof their bags, for most students, everything was wet by the second night – their tents, their sleeping bags and all their clothes were wet. The teachers on the expedition and the Somerset staff made the decision to come home a day early, such extreme weather conditions have not been experienced by the Somerset staff previously. It was cold, the rain was forecast to continue, the wind chill was building and the students weren’t dry. The originally planned expedition for Wednesday had no exit points for sick kids to be evacuated and we didn’t think it was safe, instead a revised walk was completed. The students were very happy when it was announced that they were coming home early.
The school will be arranging a one day expedition in Term 4 so that every student can still qualify for their Duke of Ed award. Further information regarding this will be communicated in term 4. Adventurous journeys get changed up all the time because of changing conditions, but as mentioned, the students coped really well. There was a lot of leadership shown by students, they all helped their peers and they became more mature. They navigated well and made good choices about route planning. I’m sure that many of them were surprised at how much they achieved, and became more resilient and more connected, so they all achieved the objectives of the Duke of Ed program.
An enormous thanks to all the staff who made this expedition a success in challenging circumstances.
Congratulations to:
Emily Miers, Jamie Kwon, Alana Hodzic and Jasmin Young (Year 11) for their recent performance at the Sydney Opera House. These students were invited by the starlight foundation to help realise the wish of a young girl from Adelaide by accompanying her during a performance in front of her family, friends and carers.
Fond Farewells
It was with great sadness that the students and staff farewelled two members of our teaching staff on the last day of term. Ms Zoe Tian our Chinese Language teaching assistant received a very sudden recall to return to China at the completion of Term 3. Zoe has provided fantastic support for nearly three years to our Chinese language students and her commitment and contribution to the school has been greatly appreciated. Sadly we have also said farewell to Mr Jonathon Glover who has been teaching English and coordinating the debating program for the past two years. Mr Glover was successful at merit selection in achieving a permanent teaching position at Rose bay Secondary College commencing in term 4 and we wish him all the best.
Happy Holidays
I have no doubt that all of the students and staff attending either the German Trip, Japan Trip or Gold Duke of Edinburgh Tasmania Trip these holidays will be having an awesome time together and accumulating many life memories along the way. I would like to wish everyone a safe and enjoyable break and look forward to seeing everyone back at school on Monday 14 October.