Principal’s Report

Dear Fortians, Parents and Carers,

Congratulations

On Monday 31 May the Public Education Foundation hosted its annual Proudly Public Awards ceremony at the Sydney Town Hall. The event recognises the achievements of scholarship recipients and celebrates the many wonderful things that happen in public schools across Australia. Students, parents, educators, Members of Parliament, the NSW Minister and Secretary of Education and public supporters attend the event. This year Jack Coleman (Year 12) received a Ministers Award and Jean Hinchcliffe (Year 12) delivered the keynote address at this event. Past keynote speakers have included High Court Justice Michael Kirby, Paralympic Champion Kurt Fearnley, Professor Behrendt, Socceroos Captain Craig Foster and Nobel Prize winning physicist Brian Schmidt. Jean’s keynote was outstanding and we are very proud of her.

On Monday 31 May, 18 students participated in the boys secondary schools Table Tennis Championships. Two groups, Justin Zhao and Alex Li (Year 7) and Eddie Chen and Austin Du (Year 10) made it to the second round. Louis Chu (Year 7) made it all the way to the semi-final in the competitive repertoire. More importantly, all the students had a fun day enjoying what they love to do.

Fort Street High School – Open Evening – 29 July

On the evening of Thursday 29 July to coincide with NSW Education Week, Fort Street will be open from 6pm until 8pm for student led tours around the school and presentations in the School Hall from myself, the current SRC President, current Year 7 students and the P&C President. There will also be performances from various IMP ensemble groups and finger food prepared and served in the Fountain Quad by our senior Hospitality students. The school will be open to any current or prospective parents and members of the general community to visit and to celebrate public education. All visitors will be requested to register on the night using the schools QR Code on the evening and to stay away if they have the mildest flu-like symptoms.

The school’s Ron Horan Museum will also be officially open for visitors for the first time during this event and will be included on the student led tours of the school.

School Musical – Matilda – 25 and 26 August

Fort Street High School will be producing a musical as our annual school production. After the horrible year that was 2020, we think that we all need something fun and light to share as a school community. So firstly – it is my pleasure to invite you all to please save the date on either the 25 or 26 August (evening) to come along and see Matilda in our school hall. There will be more specific details sent out closer to the date, as well as information about how to buy tickets.

Producing a musical is always a huge endeavour, as they usually have more complicated set, costume and technical requirements than a standard play. The P&C have already been fantastic in showing huge support for the production; however, we are reaching out to the broader parent body for further assistance. We are seeking help in costume making, set construction, help on the night, and also donations. If you feel you could assist, please complete the following google form.

https://forms.gle/Kq1fesieg6c82kCj6

We are also looking for donations of grey uniform items that will be used as costumes for the cast. If you have any grey school shorts (not trousers), grey button up shirts (short or long sleeved), grey jumpers or vests or grey school blazers, please pop them in a bag and leave them at the front office. Please note that there may be alterations made to these pieces so they are donations rather than loans. Please also put your names on the donations so I can acknowledge your very helpful assistance!

We look forward to sharing this exciting event with the school community and thank you in advance for your support.

Remote Learning Information Update

We are currently in the process of reviewing our plans to support the ongoing delivery of education should there need to be a period of time where students and staff are unable to attend school. Fort Street High School moved swiftly to remote learning in 2020 and is more than prepared to do so again should it become necessary.

To assist us with ensuring continuity of education should this occur we would ask parents and carers to complete the following brief survey (click on the link below) only if:

1. Your child does not have a device or internet access at home.

2. Your home address or phone contact details have changed or need updating

https://forms.office.com/r/FJdy9Kp8zr

You can rest assured that our teachers are already using online platforms for lesson and content delivery, often in conjunction with pushing out content through the Sentral Portal and/or to student emails. This will enable us to move swiftly to a remote environment should it be necessary. We will communicate with you immediately if our staff and students are unable to attend school and in the first instance, all classes will be based on the existing timetable for all students. Any change to this would then be communicated to you.

We encourage all our families to also become familiar and check out the parent resources from the e-safety commissioner to assist your child to be safe online. Use this link to access these resources.