Principals Report

Thank you to our Fort Street community for your support and understanding after the tragic accident that occurred on Friday. Wellbeing support for students and staff has been made available. As previously communicated, if your child has expressed concerns regarding the events of Friday please contact their Year Advisor who will arrange for your child to receive in person or virtual support from our counselling team.

Well done to all of our students for completing their trial HSC exams. Thank you to all the teachers and staff who helped ensure the exams ran smoothly.

Our students taking part in the Duke of Edinburgh program have some exciting adventures coming up, with the Duke of Ed Gold Walk happening next week. All Year 9 students will be attending the Duke of Ed camp in week 9. The Duke of Edinburgh Award can play a vital role in providing opportunities for young people to develop essential life skills, increase their employability and foster their creativity and innovation.

The P&C are very excited to announce the return of Fort Fair, which will be on Friday September 16 on the school grounds. This will be a wonderful event for our community to come together again. There will be food stalls, music and lots of fun games for the whole family to enjoy. I hope to see you there.

Upcoming events in Term 3:

• City to Surf – Sunday 14 August (if you are interested in joining the FSHS team please contact Ms Ezekiel)
• Gold Duke of Ed walk 19 August – 22 August
• Year 7 Gala Day – August 31
• Year 11 final exams – week 8 and 9
• Year 9 Camp – week 9
• P&C and SRC Fort Fair – Friday 16 September
• Year 12 Breakfast, FLOP assembly and evening graduation – Wednesday 21 September

FORT FAIR! Friday 16th September

FORT FAIR!

Friday 16th September
4pm – 8pm
Fort Street High School

Join us for a celebration of the Fort Street Community! Come along and enjoy international food stalls, music, an art exhibition and lots of fun games. All the family are welcome.

If you are interested in running a stall or helping plan the event, we would love to have your help.

We also need a parent volunteer to take charge of the BBQ – Ashfield Wests Club is lending us their mobile food truck. If you could run this, get in touch!

To volunteer, contact Elizabeth Kenyon at ejkhome@gmail.com with your name and phone number.

All stalls will be raising money for the SRC/P&C, to be spent on school projects and resources.

World’s Greatest Shave 2022

This year, the Year 12 Charity Committee held the World’s Greatest Shave to raise funds for the Leukaemia Foundation. This organisation supports blood cancer patients and their families across Australia, as well as funds research towards an eventual cure. This is especially important as over 135,000 people in Australia are currently living with blood cancer, with the disease carrying a mortality rate of 30.3%. Over several weeks, we held a sausage sizzle, raffle and eventually the shave itself, with the school community providing invaluable support in our fundraising efforts.

In the lead up to our World’s Greatest Shave event, we held a sausage sizzle, a bake sale, and a beanie store which offered a wide selection of colourful headwear, skillfully hand-crocheted by student Carla Miers. We also revealed Mr Morrison as our ‘Mystery Teacher’ to be shaved on the same day. We would like to thank Mr Morrison for this, sacrificing his luscious golden locks.

Our official shave event was held on the 3rd of June, 2022. The event had a great turnout, with many students and teachers leaving the hall with coloured or much-reduced hair. Special mentions must go to Carla Miers and Maya Allfrey of Year 12, who were our top fundraising shavers and raised $4,010 and $3,490 respectively.

We also held our ‘World’s Greatest Raffle’ at the end of Term 2. The winners have been contacted, and we are in the process of delivering their prizes. Congratulations to the prize winners listed below:

To these ends, we would like to thank our sponsors for their generosity and support. Without them, the raffle would not have been possible.

We would also like to thank Campbell Ferguson from the Leukaemia Foundation for supporting us throughout our campaign and providing us with insight into the work of Leukaemia Foundation, as well as fundraising resources and tips.

Last but not least, we would like to thank and congratulate all teachers and students who participated in our World’s Greatest Shave event, and extend our gratitude to the Fort Street and wider community for your ongoing and strong support.

Overall, we have raised $22,773.55 for the Leukaemia Foundation.
We would greatly appreciate any further donations to the Leukaemia Foundation: http://my.leukaemiafoundation.org.au/fortstreet22

Year 12 Charity Committee,
Class of ‘22

Recent French events at the Fort

French students at Fort St have been busy recently, with several activities taking place both on and off campus to enrich their language learning and cultural understanding.

On Saturday 18 June, Year 12 French students ventured to the NSW School of Languages. There they undertook two mock HSC speaking exams with teachers from other schools. Year 12 student Tijana reports: The experience was valuable because I was able to meet other French Continuers students and I was able to speak to them in French, which was really cool. The speaking day helped me because I was able to get an idea of the exam environment and find out that it is not as scary as it seems!

Year 8 French students were delighted by a French afternoon tea on Wednesday 29 June, as part of their ‘Bon appétit!’ unit investigating French foods and the role cuisine plays French daily life, culture and identity. We are lucky to have a master pâtissier, Yen, who not only has his business just around the corner at 536 Parramatta Rd, but who also provided a feast of patisseries for our students at cost price. Yen attributed his generosity to his pleasure at seeing students back at school after periods of remote learning.

A number of Year 9 French students stayed back after school on Wednesday 3 August to participate in a Sydney University webinar entitled Studying Languages and Cultures at Sydney: How, why and where it can take you. Students learnt about possibilities for studying languages at university level, including exchange programmes and in-country experiences. It was fantastic to see students begin thinking about post-school options and the role that languages can play in enriching their lives beyond the school walls.

Ms Walker

Languages

Year 7 PDC Debate Team Twinkle and Shine their way through their first out-of-school debate against Sydney Boys (and the Year 8 PDC Debate Team put up a good fight!)

On Thursday the 29th of July 2022, Fort Street’s Year 7 PDC Team won their first debate against Sydney Boys. The topic was on social media and the team learnt from their first debate to work better as a team and this yield them great rewards.

Excellent work to Divyan Gnanasivam, Joanna Park, Oliver Williams, Jason Lim, Gabriel Cutcher Skellern and Tom Mitchell.

Even though the Year 8 PDC Team had a very strong streak of victorious debates, they found the debate challenging. This was not due to their strong opponent in the form of Sydney Boys with their renowned reputation for debating, but that the question they received was very difficult to argue.

A fine effort from Aiden Sen, Henry Huang, Aaditya Venkatraman, Bhavnish Jain and Chinmay Dixit.

Nonetheless, both teams will proceed to the third round of the PDC debate against Sydney Secondary College Balmain.

Ms. Truong

Debating and Public Speaking Coordinator

Book review by Kalanie Prabhakar, year 10

Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

Anyone who has watched the TED talk “We should all be feminists” will already have an understanding of Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s humour and wit, iconic analysis of today’s society and her varied perspectives on the Western world. Americanah (2014) is a story which describes Ifemelu, a young Nigerian woman, and her immigration to America. The novel talks about her life in America and Nigeria, as well as her love for her high school classmate, Obinze.

Adichie weaves a tale which immediately enraptures you; in barely a few pages, I couldn’t put it down. I found it really interesting to read about different societies; often it is difficult to find non-American or British books. Learning about cultural aspects in Nigeria was something I loved (e.g. all the conversations about hair and Ifemelu’s opinions regarding it – I can’t relate, but found it funny and interesting nonetheless). Adichie also highlights the importance of family, by Ifemelu’s quirky interations with her mother and aunt.

Ifemelu is sweet and funny and has a deep urge to learn more about the world. She develops as a character, and is very likeable, yet still intriguing. Obinze’s character also develops and has a contrasting perspective of life initially as an illegal immigrant in England, and his return to Nigeria. I enjoyed following her and Obinze’s love story throughout different times in their life.

Americanah centres around women in Nigeria, whose rights and attitudes are different than in Australia. The role of women and differences between America and Nigeria are shown by Ifemelu’s awe of America, yet other issues show a differing perspective of America as well, highlighting Adichie’s deep understanding of both countries. I particularly found her comments on race in America vs Nigeria fascinating.

A highlight was definitely Ifemelu’s blog: Various Observations About American Blacks by a Non-American Black. It was simply hilarious, especially the ones about Barack Obama and women (read the book to understand!). I laughed out loud every time!

I completely recommend this book for advanced readers, who enjoy high quality writing and are interested in observations about America and Nigeria. There are mature themes and scenes, so older high school students will understand it and enjoy it more.

Adichie wrote such a fantastic book. Her commentary on America, English, and Nigerian culture was just amazing. I find her writing some of the best I’ve ever read. Her themes and witty ideas were innovative and fascinating. Read it!

Meet Ms Blake

What subject do you teach?

I teach Visual Arts and Photographic and Digital Media.

Why do you love the subject?

I am passionate about Visual Arts and creating and teaching art is my oxygen. I love seeing the wonder and amazement students gain from making something with their own hands, developing creative ideas and learning new skills that can be taken with them in into the HSC and their lives beyond school.

What was your favourite subject at school?

Visual Arts, Textiles and Design and Design and Technology. It’s hard to choose just one!

An interesting fact about yourself:

Before I was a teacher, I was a hairdressing educator for a large international company.

Do you have any pets?

Yes! I have a fat little pug named Amigo. He is 11 years old and is deaf and partially blind. He is deeply loved.

Why did you become a teacher?

There is a wonderful joy in seeing people learn and especially when they realise they have creative ability which they never thought they had. I love that my role is to bring this creative ability out in my students and show them that art is multifaceted, and their ideas and skills can fit just about anywhere in the spectrum of visual art.

What do you love about being at Fort Street?

The students and staff of course! I do appreciate that as a selective school, Fort Street places high value on all the Arts subjects.

Do you think pineapple goes on a pizza?

Only if it’s a Hawaiian!

Compulsory school attendance

Education for your child is important and regular attendance at school is essential for your child to achieve their educational best and increase their career and life options. NSW public schools work in partnership with parents to encourage and support regular attendance of children and young people. When your child attends school every day, learning becomes easier and your child will build and maintain friendships with other children.

What are my Legal responsibilities?
Education in New South Wales is compulsory for all children between the ages of six years and below the minimum school leaving age of 17 years. The Education Act 1990 requires that parents ensure their children of compulsory school age are enrolled at, and regularly attend school, or are registered with the NSW Education and Standards Authority for home schooling.

Once enrolled, children are required to attend school each day it is open for students.

The Importance of arriving on time Arriving at school and class on time:

•        Ensures that students do not miss out on important learning activities scheduled early in the day

•        Helps students learn the importance of punctuality and routine

•        Give students time to greet their friends before class

•        Reduces classroom disruption

Lateness is recorded as a partial absence and must be explained by parents.

What if my child has to be away from school?
On occasion, your child may need to be absent from school. Justified reasons for student absences may include:

•        being sick, or having an infectious disease

•        having an unavoidable medical appointment

•        being required to attend a recognised religious holiday

•        exceptional or urgent family circumstance (e.g., attending a funeral)

Following an absence from school you must ensure that within 7 days you provide your child’s school with a verbal or written explanation for the absence. However, if the school has not received an explanation from you within 2 days, the school may contact you to discuss the absence.

Principals may decline to accept an explanation that you have provided if they do not believe the absence is in the best interest of your child. In these circumstances your child’s absence would be recorded as unjustified. When this happens the principal will discuss their decision with you and the reasons why.

Principals may request medical certificates or other documentation when frequent or long term absences are explained as being due to illness. Principals may also seek parental permission to speak with medical specialists to obtain information to collaboratively develop a health care plan to support your child. If the request is denied, the principal can record the absences as unjustified.

Travel
Families are encouraged to travel during school holidays. If travel during school term is necessary, discuss this with your child’s school principal. An Application for Extended Leave may need to be completed. Absences relating to travel will be marked as leave on the roll and therefore contribute to your child’s total absences for the year.

In some circumstances students may be eligible to enrol in distance education for travel periods over 50 school days. This should be discussed with your child’s school principal.

My child won’t go to school what should I do?
You should contact the principal as soon as possible to discuss the issue and ask for help. Strategies to help improve attendance may include a referral to the

school’s learning and support team or linking your child with appropriate support networks. The principal may seek further support from the Home School Liaison Program to develop an Attendance Improvement Plan.

What might happen if my child continues to have unacceptable absences?
It is important to understand that the Department of Education may be required to take further action where children of compulsory school age have recurring numbers of unexplained or unjustified absences from school.

Some of the following actions may be undertaken:

•        Compulsory Schooling Conferences

You may be asked, along with your child, to attend a Compulsory Schooling Conference. The conference will help to identify the supports your child may need to have in place so they attend school regularly. The school, parents and agencies will work together to develop an agreed plan (known as Undertakings) to support your child’s attendance at school.

•        Application to the Children’s Court – Compulsory Schooling Order

If your child’s attendance at school remains unsatisfactory the Department may apply to the Children’s Court for a Compulsory Schooling Order. The Children’s Court magistrate may order a Compulsory Schooling Conference to be convened.

•        Prosecution in the Local Court

School and Department staff remain committed to working in partnership with you to address the issues which are preventing your child’s full participation at school. In circumstances where a breach of compulsory schooling orders occurs further action may be taken against a parent in the Local Court. The result of court action can be the imposition of a community service order or a fine.

What age can my child leave school?
All New South Wales students must complete Year 10 or its equivalent. After Year 10, and up until they reach 17 years of age, there are a range of flexible options for students to complete their schooling.

Working in Partnership
The NSW Department of Education recognises that working collaboratively with students and their families is the best way to support the regular attendance of students at school.

We look forward to working in partnership with you to support your child to fulfil their life opportunities.

Quick! Premier’s Reading Challenge closing soon!

If you are participating in the Premier’s Reading Challenge, you have until August 19^th to enter all twenty of the books you read this year. Please see me if you have any questions or issues completing your reading log.

Donna Page

Teacher Librarian

Reminder – BYOD devices at school

As a BYOD (bring your own device) school it is important that students come to school with a fully charged laptop each day. Please remind your children to recharge their laptops overnight so they are ready to learn every day. We understand that older laptops may not keep their charge and for this reason the library has many power points that students can access at break times to recharge their devices.

Indigenous Science Experience at Redfern

Saturday 20 August 2022, 10:00 am – 3:00 pm 

Redfern Community Centre 

What can Aboriginal astronomy tell us about the night sky? How is our native flora used in bush medicine? How do Indigenous Australians make axes from stone? What can we learn about sustainable living from 60,000+ years of Indigenous culture? Find out the answers to these questions and more at the Indigenous Science Experience.

This free, community open event is a celebration of Indigenous and Western science and highlights the relevance of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) to our everyday lives.

Come along to get hands-on with a diverse range of interactive science activities accessible to all ages. Activities will include: yarning with Elders on bush foods and medicines, Indigenous astronomy, maths puzzles, making Aboriginal tools, physics and chemistry activities, and much more. You will also meet Indigenous Elders and student leaders from the National Indigenous Science Education Program who will be assisting in demonstrating the activities.

Find out more: https://www.scienceweek.net.au/event/indigenous-science-experience-at-redfern-2/redfern/