Principal’s Report
Dear Fortians, Parents and Carers,
Welcome to our Year 7 Fortians who appear to have settled in quickly indeed. The start to High School has been busy with an SRC Sports Day, Year 7 Camp, swimming carnival, school photos and Speech Day all within the first four weeks.
Speech Day was not only a great success but also a very special day and I thank all those parents who made the effort to join us at Town Hall for this occasion. I would like to congratulate again all of the award recipients, our talented musicians and singers, Ashley Challinor and Sunil Jassal for chairing the event and our guest speakers Elizabeth Nabben (Fortian 2007) and Julian van Gerwen (Fortian 2018) for his valedictorian speech. The event is a wonderful celebration of achievements throughout the year at ‘The Fort’ and I would like to especially thank Ms Mattick, Mr O’Neill, Mr Scudd, Ms Baker and Matt Manchester for all their work behind the scenes to make this day run smoothly.
School Improvement Projects
In the last few weeks of the 2018 school year many small projects were undertaken around the school to improve the environment, functionality and educational outcomes for students. Some of these projects included the installation of bag hooks outside the Technology classrooms, printed roller blinds in the Science laboratory classrooms displaying scientific diagrams, ongoing planting outside the hall, canteen area and Kilgour quads and the installation of an electronic scoreboard in the gym (funded by the P&C).
Some larger projects were undertaken in and around the school over the summer holidays and the first 4 weeks of the school year. In the Hall the toilets have been completely refurbished and we now have two modern toilet cubicles, the stairs to the stage have also been made safer with a handrail and gripped edges on the steps. Underneath the hall the bathrooms have also been renovated. In R1 – the Drama classroom, the carpet has been replaced with tarkett flooring and the curtains have been professionally dry cleaned. The biggest project was the refurbishment of the boys and girls change rooms, toilets and showers which now have hot water and lockable doors. Considerable work was also undertaken in the playground area above the gym to prevent any further leaking during wet weather into the gym change room and storage areas. In the next few weeks the remaining areas under the gym that had been water damaged from this leaking will be repaired and repainted.
The Department of Education has almost finalised plans for the new robotics classroom and the upgrade to a commercial kitchen classroom as well as the refurbishment of the library. Each of these projects will soon go out to tender and I will have an update later this term on possible start dates for these major works.
Student Daily Notices
Daily notices are emailed to students at their DoE email address. It is the responsibility of Fortians to read the daily notices each day.
Absence from school or early leave from school
If your child is absent from school please send a written note explaining the absence to school with your child when they return. This note should be given to the administration office. Parents can also respond to the SMS message sent to acknowledge the absence.
If your child needs to leave school earlier than the usual finishing time on any particular day, please send a written note dated and signed explaining exactly what time your child should be dismissed and the details of the arrangements – for example, are they being picked up from school or making their own way to their appointment.
Extended Leave from School
I remind you that leave from school during term time for family holidays and visiting family overseas is not an acceptable reason for taking leave from school. Such trips should be undertaken during school holidays. All requests should be made in writing to me with detailed supporting documentation before purchasing tickets. Leave which is not approved is noted on student records and reports as unjustified leave.
National Day of Action against Bullying and Violence
Fort Street will be participating in the National Day of Action against Bullying and Violence on Friday March 15th. On this day all students will participate in activities to raise awareness about bullying and how to combat this. If your child is experiencing bullying at school please encourage them to speak with their Year Adviser, School Counsellor, Deputy Principal or any trusted teacher, alternatively feel free to make contact with the school on behalf of your child.
