Principal’s Report

Principal’s Report

Dear Fortians, Parents and Carers,

We have made it half way through term 3 and unfortunately it is not looking likely that we will be back on school site for the remainder of this term. I would like to thank our students for diligently persevering with online learning and all our parents for the support that we know you are providing at home for your children.

The school has a maximum of 5 staff members on site on any given day. I would also like to acknowledge our teaching staff for the hard work being put into the delivery of quality teaching and learning experiences from their own homes, with many staff also juggling their own children learning from home. All staff have well and truly transitioned to meeting and planning via zoom and other online methods.

Debating Program

We understand that Fortians have been missing their many and varied extracurricular programs. The popular debating program will transition to an online platform for the remainder of term 3 and, in all likelihood, throughout term 4. Online classes will be conducted via zoom and resume on Monday August 16. Each class will be held from 3:30pm to 5:00pm on Monday afternoons. Students will remain in the same classes as in term 2, pending enrolments. Rolls will be marked according to zoom attendance. No one-to-one zoom meetings will be possible and zoom tutorials will not be recorded. All students will need to have their microphone and camera on, with a suitable zoom background to maintain privacy.

Duke of Edinburgh

The Duke of Ed team have also been meeting regularly trying to plan what is possible for each level – bronze, silver and gold for the remainder of the year given the current COVID-19 restrictions. Further information will be emailed directly to students participating in this program.

Wellbeing Day

In order to help Fortians remain engaged with online learning and to stay positive, the Wellbeing team is implementing a “Wellbeing day” which will take place on Monday 23 August. If this day is successful it will be repeated again in week 9 of this term. On this day, we will be asking students and staff to focus on their wellbeing by taking time to stop and recharge. There will be no timetabled classes on these days. This will allow students and staff to catch up on work, but more importantly to have time to focus on doing something for their own mental and physical health.

The wellbeing day will be structured into four areas – connect, create, self-care and move. There will be at least 36 different challenges students can participate in from a talent quest, a photography scavenger hunt to mediation and other physical challenges. Whilst students may need a phone to take a photo or video as evidence of their participation they will certainly not be sitting in front of a computer for the day. The P&C have very generously offered to donate prizes for this day. Detailed information regarding how to participate in these challenges will be sent to students and parents soon. Through this initiative it is hoped that students will take the opportunity to reduce their screen time and reconnect with their family and friends.

SRC Leadership Week

The Executive SRC have been organising a leadership event all year. This was supposed to involve an invitation to student leaders from around 10 – 15 other schools to come to Fort Street to listen to guest speakers and to participate in interschool leadership activities. I am so proud of the way that the SRC have been able to maintain their momentum and adapt this event so that it can still take place next week. All of the speakers have been contacted and interviewed directly by members of the Executive SRC.

The event has become a virtual event and the invitation has now been extended to all student leaders of every public High School in NSW. I am pleased to say that the event has gained registrations from students all over NSW. Each day from Monday 23 August until Friday 27 August, the SRC will release a new interview with one of their guest speakers which include the Hon Michael Kirby AC CMG, the Hon Tanya Plibersek MP, Chris Gambian (CEO Nature Conservation Council NSW), Natalie Lang (Branch Secretary of the Australian Services Union NSW and ACT) and Erin O’Leary (young activist and co-founder of Youth against Sexual Violence).

If you would like more information about the event please see the attached flyer:

Fort Street Future Leaders week

Year 12 and HSC Students

After many changes of plans, all Year 12 and students from other years who are sitting HSC exams in 2021 will be participating in an online assessment period commencing Monday 16 August. A lot of thought and planning has gone into the style of assessment and procedures to be followed to allow for maximum efficacy during this online assessment period. I would like to wish our HSC students the best of luck during this time.

Approximately half of our Year 12 students were eligible to participate in the priority vaccination program held at the Qudos Bank Arena, Sydney Olympic Park. The Department of Education is continuing to work with NSW Health to assess whether they can widen the eligible cohort for vaccination. On the evening of Sunday 15 August, it was also announced that teachers from the 8 LGAs will also be eligible for a priority vaccination program which is pleasing news.