Principal’s Report

Principal’s Report

Dear Fortians, Parents and Carers,

Tuesday 12 November was the school’s annual Remembrance Day Assembly, unfortunately a day late due to the hall being in use the day before for the final HSC exam, but perhaps appropriate as it coincided with the height of the enormous fire tragedy confronting the State at the time and served as time for the school to reflect upon this also.

Friday 22 November, was the school’s special assembly to induct the newly elected SRC and House Captains for 2020. It is a great honour for each of the students inducted into the Fort Street SRC and it was particularly special to be able to recognise this achievement at our formal assembly with family members and friends who joined us to support them on this proud occasion.

The Student Representative Council is elected by their fellow students and staff to represent all students in the school. I have great faith in our new student leadership team and have enjoyed working closely in particular with the SRC executive already. I am looking forward to achieving great things together with this outstanding group of young people and know that this student body led by Eleanor and Meg will represent our school with pride and integrity and that each of them will be fine leaders in our community.

Congratulations to the newly elected 2020 SRC:

President – Eleanor McLeod, Vice President – Meg Raven

Secretary – Tom Cannane and Ava Corey

Treasurer – Oscar Iwas, Data Analyst – Martin Vu,

Public Relations – Jennifer Dang,

Committee Liaison – Jordan Mai

Year 8 Representatives – Lucie Atkin Bolton, Jonathon Bonnice, Oliver Gongorra, Grace Han, Brian Jiao, Abraham Joseph, Galileo Lima and Kalanie Prabhakar.

Year 9 Representatives – Sebastian Lenehan Choo, You Wei Chung, Natalie Duong, Billie-Rose Gill, Alyssa Khaw, Cherry Lu, Arlo Thwaites and Dennis Yeo.

Year 10 Representatives – Ray Chen, Minh-Quang Chung, Daniel Holland, Veronica Kwong, Francesca Murphy, Peter Tran, Audrey Truong and Kerine Yu.

​Year 12 Representatives – Rong Chen, Bridget Gard, Anson Lee, Sasha Mendes, Crystal Pham, Jason Phillips, Ameira Sant and Calvin Xu

2020 House Captains and Vice Captains

House Captains – Carmen Wen and Gavin Xu (Barton House), Riki Leamon and Nikita Ukladchikov (Kennedy House), Angel Senthilnathan and Victor Tang (Mawson House) and Michael Smith and Sabine Chin-Lowe (Preston House).

Vice Captains – Chelsea Hoang and Vino Jeevakan (Barton House), Alyssa Koit and Hunter Edson (Kennedy House), Allegra Caleo and Bowen Cheng (Mawson House), Marley Donald and Felix Atkin Bolton (Preston House).

Fort Street Distinguished Service Medals

Each year the school recognises members of the wider school community who have contributed a great deal to the school with the awarding of a special medal. At this assembly it was my great pleasure to award this years recipients.

Ian Daniel – one of the most dynamic and inspirational IMP parents in recent years. His two sons Sebastian and Julian were active members of the IMP, playing cello and horn respectively, and they were both members of the Chamber Choir. Ian served as an IMP Committee member, the IMP Parent Convenor, IMP Camp Coordinator, and even came out of IMP retirement at short notice to coordinate an IMP camp. He oversaw enormous growth and innovation in the IMP, including re-ordering of the roles and responsibilities within the IMP committee to give more parents the opportunity to participate in the program through volunteering. Ian did all of this with unflappable calm and good humour. Ian embodies all of the qualities of an IMP member; professionalism, teamwork, diligence, and most importantly a deep love of music. The IMP cannot thank Ian enough for his service to the school and the program.

Elizabeth Campbell – also an active part of the IMP throughout the schooling of both of her children, who were wind and percussion players, and also sang in the Chamber Choir. Ruari and Ailish between them still hold the record for being members of the greatest number of IMP ensembles at the one time, and this is indicative of the level of commitment the whole family has for the IMP and youth music making. Elizabeth has been a passionate advocate for the IMP in all aspects of her service: the IMP is a subcommittee of the P&C and Elizabeth was for many years, the Liaison between the IMP and P&C. She was responsible for creating stronger ties between the P&C and IMP that continue today.

Elizabeth was also an active member of the P&C throughout her children’s time at the school, including serving as President and Vice President. She was the driving force behind numerous successful Fort Fests, and her knowledge of Department of Education policies and procedures, contributed to an effective P&C with a strong, productive relationship with the school. The school thanks Elizabeth for her years of dedicated service to the IMP and to the school.

Dr Kathy Esson – a member of the FSHS community for over a decade and has dedicated countless hours and her considerable educational expertise to supporting the school as part of the P&C, the IMP and as the longest serving Chair of the School Council. Under Kathy’s leadership the Council offered advice to the principal with the planning and direction of the school in terms of its educational aims and resources, and Kathy fulfilled her role as Chair with commitment, enthusiasm and good humour. Amongst other things, Kathy undertook a lengthy and detailed project to revise the School Council Constitution to better reflect its true aims and actions for the future.  She also provided a mechanism to make Independent selection committees aware of the history and culture of Fort Street when interviewing applicants for senior positions at the School, including that of the principal.

Debating – Regional Finalists

Congratulations to our Year 8 Debaters who won the regional finals against Heathcote last week. These students will now attend the State debating camp:  Matilda Gibian, Archie Handler, Leonard Kelly and Rose Kenyon.

Also best of luck to Danielle Villafana who has been invited to represent the school on the Sydney team for the Arts Unit Junior State Debating Championship to be held at the Women’s College at the University of Sydney in early December.

Schools Spectacular 2020

This year’s theme, STARS highlighted the talents of 5,500 young performers from NSW public schools. Congratulations to Max Tosello a featured dancer in the Contemporary and Jazz Ensembles. Fort Street students in the Orchestra included Cadence Ing and Jamie Kwon playing Cello, Luca Ittimani on Bass Clarinet, Emily Miers and Jasmin Young on the French Horn, Alexandra Kilham on Trombone and Jaden White on Percussion. Caleb Mayo performed tenor in the Core Choir and an enormous congratulations to all the Fort Street students who performed in the Combined Choir.

Hundreds of teachers also work tirelessly behind the scenes of this world-class event. Their work starts early in the year and continues until after the weekend’s performances are over. Our enormous thanks and gratitude go to Liz Propsting, Matt Manchester and Tim Crow from the Fort for nurturing and inspiring not only our students but others also during their Schools Spectacular journey.