Principals Report

Dear Fortians, Parents and Guardians,

The 25^th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee

It is with immense pride an joy that I reflect upon the experience of attending of attending our school’s musical performance ‘The 25^th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee’ just a few weeks ago. Under the exceptional direction of Ms Carolyn Mattick and the musical guidance of Liz Propsting, this production truly showcased the remarkable talents of our students. I must extend my appreciation to Eleanor AL, who served as the assistant director, and to Edmund H, whose skilled piano playing enriched the musical numbers. The choreography by Lila B and Edain DB brought an additional layer of dynamism to the performance. My gratitude extends to the entire cast, band and tech crew for their dedication and hard work, which was evident in the seamless execution of the show. The production not only entertained but also filled our hearts with laughter, making it a memorable and delightful evening for all.

House Competitions

Throughout this week, our house captains have orchestrated a range of inter house competitions. I extend my gratitude to Mr Simon Vaughan for his invaluable assistance in guiding the students to organise these events.

Careers Expo

Last week, our Year 12 students were presented with a valuable chance to engage with a range of esteemed universities and organisations, including UAC, the Academy of Interactive Entertainment and the Camphin Boston Accounting cadetship program. This enlightening experience took place right within our school hall during regular school hours. I extend my sincere appreciation to our careers adviser, Ms Salisbury, for her meticulous coordination of the University and Scholarships expo. Her efforts ensured that our Year 12 students had the essential resources in time for their UAC applications. Additionally, a special thank you goes to Mr Leondios for putting on a great barbeque event for our Year 12 students on that afternoon, making it an all-around memorable occasion.

Wear it Purple Day

This Friday, 25 August Fort Street will be observing Wear It Purple Day. This day was founded at Burwood Girls High School in 2010 and has since evolved into a global movement. Taking place annually on the last Friday of August, the event strives to promote nurturing, safe, empowering, and inclusive environments for LGBTQIA+ young people. At Fort Street, we will be joining this celebration by permitting students to wear mufti attire, provided it prominently features the colour purple. Moreover, during lunchtime, there will be a bake and badge sale, adding to the festive atmosphere. We will collectively affirm our commitment to a diverse and inclusive community at a whole school assembly on Friday morning.

School Improvements

The school common room kitchen has undergone a substantial upgrade, now boasting ample space and improved facilities. This transformation ensures that teachers, parents and students can effectively utilise the kitchen during school events. With increased storage, expanded sink areas and enhanced cooking facilities, the kitchen has already proven its utility during the regular breakfast program, school musical and staff morning teas.

I am delighted to share that the extensive external restorations of the Wilkins Building are drawing to a close. Scaffolding in the Fountain Quad has been erected, marking the final phase of the restoration process: addressing the chimney stacks. Anticipated for completion by March 2024, these efforts stand as testament to our commitment to maintaining our school’s historic charm while ensuring a conducive learning environment for all.

Congratulations:

Debating – in recent debating contests, year 10 have gone through undefeated, year 9 sadly lost their debate ending the season 2-1 and year 7 won convincingly against a year 8 team. Hopefully this means that both our year 10 and year 7 teams will go through to the next rounds.

Year 10 Volleyball team – the Year 10 Volleyball Schools Cup was held last week and our team did pretty well overall with some wins, lots of draws and few losses. They are a talented team and should be proud of their efforts.

Upcoming Events:

Friday 25 August

• Wear it Purple Day
• Whole School Assembly
• Year 11 Geography Excursion to the Blue Mountains

Sunday 27 August

• School Working Bee 9.00am -1.00pm
• Tournament of the Minds, Randwick Boys HS 9.00am – 5.00pm

Monday 28 August

• Senior School State Frisbee Championships at Meadowbank 9.30am – 2.30pm
• Year 12 Visual Arts & design and Technology Exhibition in the Library from 5.00pm
• Year 12 Drama & Music Showcase in the Hall from 6.30pm
• Upcoming German and Japan Tour Meetings in the Lecture Theatre and Flexible Learning Space 6.00pm – 7.00pm

Tuesday 29 August

• State Robotics Championships, Holy Cross College Ryde
• Parent Information evening on Zoom: Year 9 Duke of Edinburgh
• CHS U15 Knock Out Girls Basketball: all day Northen Beaches SC

Wednesday 30 August

• Year 9 Duke of Edinburgh Training Day
• Year 7 geography Excursion to Botany Bay

Friday 1 September

• Whole School Assembly

UAC Update for Year 12 students and parents

Please remember that to be considered for many high-demand courses, and to avoid a higher fee, students should lodge a UAC application before 29 September. If they wish to be considered for an SRS offer, both applications must be lodged by 18 September.

Many people ask about the benefits of applying through UAC compared to applying directly to an institution for an early offer, so here are a few key points:

• Not all courses are available for early offers.
• An early offer is not guaranteed.
• A UAC application provides more options for preferences.
• Students who have experienced difficulties/disadvantages in Year 11 or 12 can have their circumstances taken into account through an EAS application.

Students should make the most of their options and list different course preferences in their UAC application and their direct application. However, if they miss out on an early offer from a direct application they can add that course preference to their UAC application and compete for an offer based on their ATAR. The majority of students will be made an offer based on their ATAR and the hard work they have put into their Year 12 studies.

Preferences

While attending uni open days this year, the UAC Community Engagement team has answered many questions from students about how to list their preferences. In some cases a university has told them they need to list a course as their number one preference in order to receive an offer, but the course is not their first choice.

Students should always:

• place their dream course as their first preference
• include a back-up course as a lower preference.

And they should find out:

• the previous lowest selection ranks for the course – is it a realistic choice?
• if they are eligible for any adjustment factors.

Ms Salisbury

7HISM mummification of King Tutankhamun

Coming to more historical matters, students from 7HISM created a reenactment of the mummification of King Tutankhamun and the 11 steps of the mummification process.

King Tutankhamun was an Egyptian pharaoh from 1332 to 1323 B.C., and became pharaoh at the age of 8 or 9, before any student can enter high school. During his reign, he restored ancient Egyptian style art, but unfortunately, this was cut short when Tutankhamun died at the age of 19 of malaria. He is most well known however, for the discovery of his tomb and mummy in 1922 by English archaeologist Howard Carter in the Valley of the Kings. This was significant because the tomb was left mostly untouched by grave robbers, so scientists, archaeologists, and historians alike could inspect the tomb and sarcophagus which has allowed us to gain a much deeper understanding of ancient Egyptian beliefs and lifestyle.

For this reason, our class of 7HISM decided to recreate the mummification of King Tutankhamun using toilet paper, red paper, cardboard, paint and some more toilet paper. First we had to remove king Tutankhamun’s brain through his nose. This is because at the time it was believed that the heart controlled the body and the brain was of no importance. Then all other organs were removed except for the heart which were then placed in canopic jars, the organs were recreated from scrunched up pieces of red paper. The body was then covered with salt and left to dry for 40 days to take out the moisture. After it was dried all the salt was removed, wine and spices were applied to the skin of king Tutankhamun and the body was then stuffed with linen to give the body a more lifelike appearance. Then king Tutankhamun’s body was fully wrapped from head to toe with bandages. Finally we placed king Tutankhamun’s body in his solid gold sarcophagus to finish preparing him for eternity. The sarcophagus was made with cardboard hot glued together which was then painted with the sarcophagus’s design.

Tilen & Chip

On Tuesday, August 8, my class (7 Mawson) replicated the death and mummification process of Tutankhamun. My pair aimed to portray the section of the process in which the organs (removed from the body and previously dried) were placed inside canopic jars. The lungs, intestines, stomach and liver are kept in these jars in an effort to preserve them, allowing the deceased to seamlessly move into the afterlife. To recreate this, we used homemade clay organs and brought in jars to store them. 

The highlight of this experience was watching and participating in this mummification process. It provided me with knowledge of how important figures were mummified in ancient Egypt and gave me a substantially clearer understanding of the steps themselves. It was astounding to see how much labour was required during the process, emphasising how significant mummification was as a part of ancient Egyptian culture. The overall activity was thoroughly enjoyable and entertaining, with an element of comedy as our class aimed to represent mummification with our makeshift organs and home-brought toilet paper. 

Evie

During the mummification, I really enjoyed crafting props and then later being able to showcase them and take silly (but historically accurate) photos with them. It was a really creative way to be educational while teaching and informing us about the process of mummification! I really enjoy hands-on activities that require crafting which is why I really enjoyed mummifying our classmates! Also it was funny to see Hayden attempting to walk (it failed) while wrapped in 12 rolls of toilet paper.

Rita

Wear It Purple Day 2023

This Friday is ‘Wear It Purple Day 2023’. The aim of ‘Wear It Purple Day’ is to foster supportive, safe, empowering and inclusive environments for rainbow young people. The theme for this year’s event is ‘Write Your Story’.

Fort Street has a long tradition of celebrating Wear It Purple Day and the Year 10 Charity Committee and the Diversity Committee are teaming up to promote the event this year. If you would like to show your support for the rainbow young people at Fort Street, please consider doing the following:

• Wearing purple mufti dress to school
• Making a donation at recess or lunch
• Purchasing some food from the bake sale at lunch in the Fountain Quad
• Baking some food to sell at the bake sale (food items to sell can be placed in the staff common room on Friday morning, ideally with an ingredient list)
• Watching the student curated playlist of short films in the Hall at lunchtime
• Wearing a pronoun badge (available at recess or lunchtime in Fountain Quad)
• Writing your story or a supportive message on the wall in the Fountain Quad

All money raised on the day goes directly to the Wear It Purple Day not-for-profit organisation. See the website below for more information.

https://www.wearitpurple.org/

Volunteers still needed for this weekends Working Bee

Working Bee for staff, parents and students

Sunday 27 August 9am to 1pm – bacon and egg rolls provided

Thank you to all of the families who have put their name down for our Working Bee so far. We would love to see some more volunteers signing up to help at our upcoming working bee. The more people that can come along the more we can achieve!

There are 2 main areas that we require assistance with and they are listed as the different groups below. We would appreciate if parents could contribute 2 hours of their time. We would require volunteers to provide their own gardening gloves if working on one of the outdoor groups.

We are also looking for a volunteer to manage the building of a new compost. If this is something you have the skills for please tick yes to the Compost Bin question in the sign up form.

To assist on the day we also require the use of a trailer, wheelbarrows and shovels. If you are able to bring those along on the day, please also tick the appropriate boxes in the sign up form. Otherwise just bring yourselves!

We are also looking for a few volunteers to man the BBQ and cook up some bacon and eggs for the worker bees!

Children are welcome to come along but must be under the supervision of an adult at all times.

If you would like to come along please complete the sign up form https://forms.gle/EWftiZ8598SrcTVU8

Lachlan McIntyre – Goethe Institut German language camp in Austria

At the beginning of the year, I was lucky enough to receive a full scholarship to attend a two week Goethe Institut German language camp in Austria over the July school holidays. Prior to leaving I felt an eager mixture of nervousness and anticipation as I prepared for my first trip to Europe and my first International trip without my family. Thankfully, the camp would prove to be some of the best weeks of my life. Not only did I get the chance to improve my German and explore Austria, but I also got to meet many wonderful people from all around Australia, Europe, and the World.

In what seemed like a blink of an eye after winning the scholarship, my bags were packed and I was ready to go. Meeting fellow camp-goer and Sydneysider Zoe for the first time at the airport did a bit to calm my nerves prior to takeoff, knowing that I wouldn’t have to navigate the upcoming 30 hours of international travel alone. And after two incredibly long and cramped flights, plus a fatigued layover in Doha, we managed to touch down in Munich – tired and sore, but at least we hadn’t lost our passports yet.

Greeted by Goethe employees at the airport and shown to a conference room filled with other students, we began to get comfortable in our unfamiliar environment. After a few hours getting to know our peers, we boarded the scenic (and, like the other legs of our journey, long) bus ride to our final destination – Obertauern, Austria. It was 11pm upon arrival, so we were immediately shown to our rooms, and I immediately crashed to sleep with little to no thought to my new and currently sleeping roommates.

The next morning was incredible. Waking up to mountain views and green pastures straight out of The Sound of Music, we were shown around the youth hotel, and I got to know my roommates – Marc from France and Pushpit from India. After the ice-breakers and first meal were out of the way, we got straight into German lessons. I felt immediately out of my depth in class, but luckily had made a few friends already who were able to help me out.

The days started going by very quickly – classes would take up our mornings, before the supervisors attempted to unite us in various sporty/German-themed activities throughout the afternoons and evenings. The best parts of these days were always when we had ‘Happy Time’, a very enthusiastically named free time where we could continue getting to know everyone, whether on the rock-climbing wall, playing air hockey, or around a deck of trusty Aussie UNO cards.

Throughout the two weeks we embarked on a number of day trips, including to the nearby city of Salzburg, and the tourist town of Radstadt. There we got to put our German into practice, which was an amazing feeling. Learning German in Australia has very little practical use – here, I was able to stumble through conversations in cafes and museums, getting to know the cities and towns as best I could in our limited time there.

Our classes culminated in a German movie project, which we shot and edited in the final days of camp before screening them on the second last night. We also spent time towards the end of the camp going hiking and swimming in picturesque lakes, as well as participating in various creative workshops run by supervisors. Very quickly, we only had one day left.

Whilst I was looking forward to seeing family and friends back home, it was very tough to say goodbye to the people that we’d just spent two weeks living together with. Because our bus to Munich left at 1am, we stayed up all night, enjoying our final hours by being rather boisterous youths and general nuisances to the supervisors, who were already resigned to a night filled with chaos. As we were the first bus load to leave, we pulled away to a chorus of goodbyes from our new friends, who would likely also not be getting any sleep anytime soon.

All six of us Australians flew from Munich to Doha together, before our final round of tearful goodbyes saw us go our separate ways – whether to Melbourne, Adelaide, or Sydney. Zoe and I boarded our final flight with much sadness, but also with plenty of stories and memories to share, not just over the 14 remaining hours on board, but also with everybody back home. Landing to a beautiful Sydney sunset and navigating one final bout of airport security, back to our normal lives we went.

I would like to say a massive thank you to Fort Street’s Frau Reynolds, who brought this opportunity to the attention of the class and assisted with my application. Also to Year 10 students, Emil, Luka, Archie, and Oliver, who all helped with my application, as well as my parents. The biggest thank you goes to Goethe Institut and the Betreuer*innen for this experience, and to everybody at the camp who I got to share it with, especially the group of Australians who were always there to support each other.”

Lachlan McIntyre

Year 10

Meet Ms Nolan

What is your role at Fort Street?

I am part of the Social Science faculty and am currently teaching Society and Culture and Geography. I am also the Assistant Year Advisor to Year 7. 

Why do you love the subject?

I love my subject areas (along with Aboriginal Studies) as they are a perfect combination of my interests, passions and things that I value. I find contemporary social and environmental issues particularly engaging and the best thing about the Social Sciences is that the content and case studies are always changing. 

What was your favourite subject at school?

When I was at school my favourite subjects were Visual Arts, Design Tech (Silversmithing) and Earth and Environmental Science. Funnily enough, all of the subjects I am qualified to teach I did not study in years 11 and 12. 

What do you love about being at Fort Street?

I love learning from students, fellow teachers and other members of the school community – there are a variety of niche interests floating around. I especially enjoy the random facts and good humour as I have a solid laugh every day!

An interesting fact about yourself that you’d be willing to share

After studying Earth and Environmental Science at school I’d decided that the Faroe Islands was at the top of my list of places to visit. I visited the Faroe Islands for just over a week and hiked every day, sometimes till 3am as the sun didn’t set at that time of year! I met some photographers who were there taking photographs for National Geographic and spent a day traveling around the Islands with them. It’s safe to say that their photos turned out significantly better than my own. I also got to sail around the islands to attend a saxophone performance in a grotto which was one of the most amazing things I have ever experienced – even better that they waived the cost so I got the experience for free! 

Do you have any pets?

I currently don’t, although my older brother adopted a cat which I adore. Her name is Rogue. 

Do you think pineapple goes on a pizza?

I will happily eat pineapple on Pizza, although it is never on the pizzas I choose to order. 

Please collect your lost property

Once again our lost property is overflowing and we would like to ask students and parents and carers to please come and look for your lost items and collect them. All items we find that are clearly labelled we will return to students, but what we have leftover have no names on them.

All items are kept in the office on the lost property trolley and also in the lost clothing wheelie bin. These are both located in the office in front of the visitor toilets and sick bay.

Any items not collected will either be passed onto the secondhand uniform shop or thrown away at the end of this term.

There are lots of valuable items including many jumpers and jackets, a bike helmet, shoes, drink bottles, umbrellas and non-school jackets. Please check in with your child(ren) and if they are missing something please ask them to come to the office to look through the lost property. Photos of some of the items are below.

We also ask that all students have all of their items clearly labelled.

House Dodgeball Competition 2023

Last week there was a three-day House Dodgeball Competition in the Gym. There were junior and senior competitions, pitting House versus House. The junior competition was first, with huge participation numbers. The junior Preston students were simply too good for everyone else and they ended up winning the competition.

Next was the senior competition, with some strong players capable of lightning fast throws. The heat was too much for some Houses to handle, but when the dust cleared, Joshi came out on top! Congratulations to all the students who participated and thanks to the House Captains who organised and refereed the competition – Henry Martin, Henry Daniels, Calan, Oscar and George.

House Art Competition 2023

Since the introduction of the updated House System in 2022, an emphasis has been placed on providing students with opportunities to showcase their talents on both sporting and non- sporting fronts. Previous and successful events have ranged from Dodgeball to MarioKart and even Trivia. However, this term’s events saw the new addition of a House Art Competition.

The contest was open to all students, and required competitors to produce an artwork in 25 minutes, using only A4 paper and lead pencil. They were then judged based upon artistic skill, creativity, originality and the extent to which they suited the stimulus of ‘Barbenheimer’.

Overall, the event turned out to be a huge success, with engagement from over 40 students, across all Houses. A massive thank you to Ms Cho and Ms Starr, for volunteering their time to facilitate and judge the competition.

Finally, a big congratulations to all participants for demonstrating House spirit and in particular, those who managed to place in the top five!

1st – Jennie Zhu, Yr9 (Joshi)

2nd – Emily Jin, Yr10 (Mawson)

3rd – Nancy Zhang, Yr7 (Sheikh)

4th – Evelyn Pham, Yr9 (Kirby)

5th – Matthew Yong, Yr9 (Sheikh)

By Brianna Dann

House Chess Competition 2023

House Chess Competition 2023

Beginning on the 14th of August, Fort Street High School students competed in a House Chess Competition. This event spanned over four days, with fast-paced, five-minute rounds being played during breaks in the school library. The games following a knockout format, allowing competitors to put their skills to the test against opponents of all ages.

As the games went on, more and more people were being knocked out, eventually leaving only two finalists. The two finalists competed in a ten-minute game, with five-second increments. Congratulations to the overall winner Oliver Williams from Sheikh House, who played consistently well across the four days. Each participant earnt a point for their House, whilst the top five overall students earned additional House points. The top five finishers were as follows:

1. Oliver Williams (Yr8 Sheikh)
2. Parthiv Prithvi (Yr7 Preston)
3. Auslee Pamintuan (Yr11 Kirby)
4. Raymond Lie (Yr11 Kirby)
5. Kai Chen (Yr8 Joshi)

The competition brought many people together who shared an interest in Chess and many non-competitors attended the event not only to watch, but also to play on the side as well. These students were able to make time in their busy schedules to be present at every round of Chess and play every game with enthusiasm and integrity. Moreover, they also helped with setting up and packing all the boards and pieces, as well as being incredibly respectful and hospitable to all the people around them.

Thank you to Ms Page for helping supervise and to the House Captains – Jehanzeb, Erick and Benedict – for running such a successful competition!

By Erick Zhang

House MarioKart Competition 2023

A House event that drew significant student interest this year was the MarioKart Competition. With three different competitions running and excellent student participation across year levels, genders and Houses, the MarioKart Competition was a success.

Each heat consisted of four players competing at the same time on split screens and a large crowd in attendance. There was a buzz of enthusiasm in the room each time a competitor got hit or passed their opposition. As the competition went on, the competition got tougher and tougher and only one player was left standing, Alexander Jacquot from Year 9 Sheikh! Alexander also won the MarioKart Competition last year, making it back-to-back victories. Here are the top five finishers:

1st – Alex Jacquot – Sheikh

2nd – Denzel Lie – Sheikh

3rd – Tim Wang – Preston

4th – Jay-Jay Wasley – Mawson

5th – Rory Howe – Sheikh

Thank you to all the students who brought in their own consoles and controllers to help the games run smoothly. Thank you to Mr Morrison for supervising the games and thank you to the House Captains for running the competition – Nicholas Caus – Poppy, Nina, Darcy and Koharu.

Instrumental Music Program

Calling advanced string players

The Celebration Sing Out concert is a wonderful opportunity for any interested Fortians who are advanced string players to participate in a community orchestra, as well as help to raise money for a very worthwhile cause.  Participants would join with TOPS (The Occasional Performing Sinfonia) for this event at the Sydney Town Hall raising money for the Music Therapy program at Westmead Children’s Hospital.

Concert details:

Celebration Sing Out

Sunday 22 October

Call time 9am, Concert 4pm – 6pm

Venue: Sydney Town Hall

Rehearsal: Sunday 15 October 10am – 3pm at Knox Grammar School

If interested, please contact Phil Silver at the following email:

ps504@hotmail.com

P&C News – new social groups

Working Bee August 27

The P&C will be catering brunch at the Working Bee on Sunday August 27th. If you can spare some time to help with BBQing or with the gardening, cleaning and tidying, please complete the sign up form https://forms.gle/EWftiZ8598SrcTVU8

Groups for families starting Year 7 in 2024

If you know of any families joining Year 7 at Fort Street in 2024 please let them know we have set up a Facebook group and WhatsApp group for them to connect with other families.They can join the Facebook group here and the WhatsApp community here

P&C Meetings

Next meeting: Wednesday 13th September at 7.00pm, in person in the school library.

(No meeting on Wednesday 9th August due to the Open Evening).

The P&C holds meetings at 7:30pm on the second Wednesday of each month during school terms. The first meeting of the term is in the school library and the following meetings each term are held via Zoom. These meetings provide an opportunity to learn more about what is happening in the school, how it operates, to ask questions and to meet other parents. The Principal usually gives an informative report on the recent happenings within the school.

Before each P&C meeting is a presentation on a focus item, for example on Wellbeing, eSafety, or how a particular subject is taught.

Schoolbytes – new feature

How to support your teen through the HSC – Macquarie University

Macquarie University are hosting a webinar on how to support your teen through the HSC. Information and how register is below.

Is your teen gearing up for their final Year 12 examinations?

The HSC or final year 12 exams can be an incredibly stressful period for students, and we want to equip you with the insights to support your teen through this high-stakes period.

In this exclusive parent webinar, you’ll gain insights from Dr Jessica Belcher, an expert from Macquarie’s Centre for Emotional Health, on how to effectively support your teenager during this time. We’ll cover identifying healthy levels of stress, promoting stress-reducing behaviours, managing parental expectations, and encouraging helpful thinking.

Webinar: How to support your teen through the HSC

When: Wednesday, 13 September 2023

Time: 6pm – 7pm (AEST)

Online via Zoom

Register here.

Spring RSPCA School Holiday Program

Spring RSPCA School Holiday Program

Overview:

📅 Monday 25^th September – Friday 6^th October.

Age groups: 5 to 7 years, 8 to 11 years, and 12 to 15 years.

🕒 Half and full day sessions

📍 Sydney Shelter, Yagoona

School Holiday Programs Descriptions

Pet Friends

Spend the day with us learning about animals, positive pet care, and the ways RSPCA NSW helps animals at our shelters and in the community. The day includes a guided tour to meet our shelter animals as well as visiting behind-the-scenes to see the inner workings of our shelter. You will also get crafty and make enrichment goodies for your own pet or one of the lucky shelter animals.

This program is a great way to instil a sense of compassion and responsibility in children towards animals while also having a fun and educational experience.

Junior Animal Attendants

Junior Animal Attendants is a unique hands-on program for children aged 8-15 years who want to develop their skills in caring for companion animals or have an interest to work with animals in the future. Participants will learn the daily routine and responsibilities of a RSPCA NSW Animal Attendant and learn how to care for cats, dogs, and pocket pets through a range of interactive activities and behind the scenes encounters.

For more information about the programs and to register, visit https://events.humanitix.com/host/rspca-nsw.