Principal’s Report

Dear Fortians, Parents and Carers,

Reminder regarding sick students
If your child is sick please do not allow them to come to school. If your child is unwell and has an exam he/she cannot attend school until they are well. The school will make alternative arrangements for students if they are unwell on the day of the exam or assessment. If your child has a COVID test please send or forward the negative results via email the school.

Fond Farewell
Ms Penniment has been the teacher librarian at the Fort for the past 14 years. In the last two years Ms Penniment has overseen the refurbishment of the school library, this involved a complete pack up and temporary relocation of the library to the top level of the Wilkins Building and an unpack and move back into the new space at the beginning of this year. We appreciate the enormous amount of effort and work this project required. Ms Penniment has accepted a transfer to St George Girls High School and will be commencing at her new school in Term 4. We would like to wish her all the best for the remainder of her career, St George Girls are very lucky to be gaining such an experienced and dedicated teacher librarian.

Year 12
The current Year 12 cohort have continued to impress parents and staff with the resilience they have demonstrated throughout this difficult year. With only 3 weeks left of term, Year 12 students are working hard and making the most of their face to face lessons before the school holidays and the commencement of HSC exams. Year 12 celebrations will be taking place on the last day of this term with a formal graduation ceremony live streamed and recorded for parents in the morning followed by individual brunch boxes in the Fountain Quad. The school farewell assembly will take place on the same day during Periods 3 and 4 and will be livestreamed to all students and teachers in their classrooms.

The letter below was emailed to all Year 12 students last week from the NSW Governor:

Governor of NSW – Message to Year 12 Students

Wear It Purple Day

The FSHS SRC organised a variety of events and presentations for the day. This included Jonathan and Galileo’s speech to Year 9 and Year 10 students introducing Wear It Purple Day:

Speech from SRC Representatives

‘Wear it Purple Day’ was started in 2010 by Katherine Hudson and Scott Williams after several LGBTQIA+ teenagers took their lives. This was a result of them being bullied and harassed for their gender identity or sexuality. The aim of WIPD was to show LGBTQ+ people around the world that they are not alone and that there are people who support them and that they should be proud of who they are. The four focuses of WIPD are: advocating for and empowering LGBTQ+ people, celebrating and promoting the value of inclusion in all communities, raising awareness about sexuality and gender identity and challenging harmful societal expectations and championing LGBTQ+ role models to help young people establish confidence in who they are.

Wear it Purple Day’s theme this year is We Are The Change. It makes a point about how if we want to see change in the world, we must begin by changing ourselves. It encourages us to actively include LGBTQ+ people in our groups and communities so we can work towards their generalised acceptance in society. LGBTQ+ people exist in all spaces. They are part of your religious group, your online communities, your school, your club, your friend group, your family. LGBTQ+ people don’t have to be visible to hear homophobia or transphobia and they don’t have to be visible in order to be hurt by what you say about them. 16% of LBGTQ+ teenagers in Australia have reported attempting suicide, 27% of bisexual teenagers have reported having attempted suicide. 48% of transgender and gender non-conforming teenagers have reported attempting suicide and 8% of gay and lesbian teenagers have reported having attempted suicide. This makes LGBTQ+ teenagers five times more likely to take their own life than non-LGBTQ+ people and makes transgender teenagers eleven times more likely to die by suicide than non-transgender teenagers. The effects of bigotry can have deadly consequences, making it vital that you support the LGBTQ+ people around you. LGBTQ+ people deserve your love, your respect and your support as such as anybody else. So please, I implore you to make an effort to be more inclusive of them in your daily life and try to support your LGBTQ+ friends, family and classmates as much as possible, thank you.

By Jonathan Bonnice and Galileo Lima

More information about Wear It Purple Day can be found here.

Fort Street High School was amongst the first public high schools to support Wear It Purple Day and Fortians have been members of the NGO since its inception.

Environment Committee

Students in the Environment Committee wanted to celebrate diversity and show that school is a safe place by beautifying the Fort Street School environment for the day. This included a chalk rainbow cross walk to welcome students to the school as well as posters and signs. Meg Raven and Jordan Mai led the chalking efforts. While Mary Koutalianos led a group of her friends to make over 500 origami cranes and butterflies as decoration for the fountain quad. The origami shapes were chosen  as symbolising hope and well wishes for the future.

Meg Raven (third right) and Jordan (second left) led year 10 and 9 students of Environment Committee to create the rainbow crossing. Some of Environment Committee members are also completing their Duke of Edinburgh awards providing services to the school environment and promoting sustainability issues.

Amnesty International FSHS

The Amnesty Committee led by Elysia Castillo and Anja Clausius (facilitated by Ms Maddox) presented a variety of petitions to raise awareness of international LGBTQI humanitarian issues. Hundreds of signatures were collected in support of issues promoted by Amnesty International.

Social Justice Committee 

The Social Justice Committee was responsible for collecting funds for Wear It Purple Day. The Social Justice Committee would also like to invite online donations to Twenty10 which is a counselling service for at risk LGBTI people and provides assistance with wellbeing and housing. Our school Wear It Purple Day organiser Mr Semaan identified the organisation as an important cause. Our Deputy Principals Mr Morrison and Ms Cameron encouraged students to wear purple and consider making a gold coin donation to support this NGO. The school raised $823 from student and staff donations on Wear It Purple Day. The funds have been donated to Wear It Purple Day in support of their critical work. The Social Justice Committee is a newly formed organisation founded by Barisha Tashnin of Year 10. Committee members have helped raise funds for a range of causes promoting multiculturalism and diversity. The committee is passionate about promoting a positive school culture that is counters the semantics of division, exclusion, racism and homophobia.

Library

Ms Penniment (Teacher Librarian) and our wonderful library staff set up a special display of Wear It Purple Day books to celebrate the occasion. The Australian Government Department of Education, Skills and Employment Australian Student Wellbeing Hub recommends displays of LGBTQI literature in school libraries to help make diverse students feel safe and welcome in schools. The Library, with the assistance of our tech wizard Mr McGeachie, also hosted the year 10 Wear It Purple Day guest speaker Zoom.

Staff, Teachers, School Executives & Wellbeing Team

Fort Street High School has a long history of celebrating Wear It Purple Day, having held the event since 2011. In 2020 the event was organised by Head Teacher Technology Mr Semaan and overseen by Deputy Principal Mr Morrison. Our Deputy Principal Ms Cameron provided student prizes in support of the event and our Principal Ms McMurray stirred the competitive staff spirit with her outstanding purple outfit. Year 9 Adviser Mr Guy and Year 10 Adviser Ms Xu facilitated Zoom video conferencing with guest speakers from Wear It Purple Day. We would like to thank the P&C and Inner West Council putting us in touch with guest speaker Jody Toomey. Jody answered student questions on how to be a goody ally, the value of diversity in society and how industry views diversity in the workplace.

Year 11 ‘Teacher’s Pet’ Fundraiser

(Photo L-R: Aiden Leong, Clinton Trang, Karen Luo and Nathan Nguyen)

Thanks to the continuing generosity of Fort Street students we were able to raise over $400 for the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.
Year 11 decided that the RSPCA would be a suitable charity considering many people these days where being comforted by and able to spend more time with their pets.

Students entered the Teacher’s Pet Competition matching teachers with their trusty and loving pets (including cats, dogs, rabbits and pet plants). The photo booth also brought some enjoyable moments capturing some happy shots!

The event was a lot of fun for students and it was good to see our students enjoying themselves together again in the school hall (even if at the same time trying to be distanced and safe).

See attachment rspca-teachers-pets for special photos!!!

The greatest number of correct matches were the winners of the plushies:
First place 8/15, second 7 and third and fourth got 6 correct.
The chocolate winners got 5-4 correct.

Prizes went to:
1. Jimmy Murphy yr 9 (duck plushie)
2. Mary Koutalianos yr 9 (banana plushie)
3. Ava Corey yr 11 (bear plushie)
4. Tom Alexander-Prideau yr 9 (dog plushie)

Chocolates:
Chantelle Hoang (yr 9)
Genevieve Bivell (yr 11)
Ella Murphy (yr 9)
Emma Howes (yr 7)
Sophie Xu (yr 9)
Lucie Atkin-Bolton (yr 8)
Daniela Guzina (yr 8)

Congratulations! And THANK YOU

Year 11 Charity Committee

English Extension 1 story

What, Charles, am I going to do with you?

I smirk mischievously. I know the answer already – the question was merely asked for some theatrical suspense. The answer is: whatever I want.

Yes, Charles, your floppy ginger hair, round face and unostentatious business casual outfit will prove easily malleable. Charles, my friend, I hate to say it. You will be the vehicle through which I viciously satirise every problem with our limp, cowardly society. Charles, you bumbling, shy fool. Charles, the decision is made. You will be placed into middling suburbia, some inconsequential Croydon or Earlwood, although you commute for an hour to your job as a software designer. Charles, you–

Maybe, it’s a facade. Hiding in the plain sight of averageness so he’ll be the last person they suspect when they are investigating the leak of the document that exposes the corruption of that LNP minister – a smoking gun $10,000 transaction from a coal mogul which initiates an incisive inquiry into the party’s climate policy as a whole. Yes, Charles, by day, you perform above average, not arousing suspicion or esteem so that by night you can become hacker extraordinaire Charles. Or should I say Chuck?

Or is it Charlie? Who quits his software design job, unsatisfied with devoting his days in service of a company. Who takes a job teaching technology at a public school, shyly navigating each day, making limited impression on the revolving door of mandatory Year 7 and 8 tech students, but some small intangible influence on those Year 12s who frantically send an email at 3 in the morning, and are shocked and touched to receive a thoughtful reply minutes later. Or perhaps, Charlie and Chuck, depressing as it is, are mere fantasies of Charles, Chuck the protagonist of the novel Charles works on, sitting alone a night, mediocre, but it’s not like he’ll ever have the confidence to show anyone. That’s sad. Too sad, I think. Maybe, if not Chuck, maybe Charlie is within reach for Charles. Yes, that will be the optimistic final act of the story.

The bearded writer ruminates delightedly like this. Then, the train suddenly, joltingly stops. It’s an aggressive, uncomfortable stop, feels like the universe exerting its malice.

Charles jumps, but remains asleep, although his wallet slips out of his back and the bearded writer sees the driver’s license on the ground.

First name: James.

In a moment, the world of Charles shatters in its entirety.

By Ben Harmer
Year 12

Astronomy Club

In a last-ditch effort before the sun set too late, we, the Astronomy Club, setup our telescopes on the school oval during the evenings of Week 5, with hope that Zeus would spare us the clouds. This was so we could observe and enjoy the beauty of the galaxy we call home: the Milky Way. Thankfully, he did spare us, granting us clear skies so we could get the most out of our scopes.

A snapshot of the nights would show the excitement of the budding Year 7’s after finding and looking at the clouds and moons of Jupiter, the rings of Saturn and the crisp, glowing stars of star clusters like Ptolemy’s Cluster. It would also show our older members patiently navigating the sky in an attempt to find dim objects not visible to the naked-eye. Another special moment was when the entire group stopped to watch the ISS silently cross the sky. All this was supplemented by our table of snacks, generously brought by our members, providing sustenance for the demanding task of using the scopes and fuel for the Year 7’s who randomly ran across the oval.

The nights were also an opportunity for the supervising teachers to experience the night sky, showing the same excitement as the students. It is also to these teachers, Mr Prasad, Ms Fluitsma, Ms Jenkyn and Mr Chapman we give our thanks for giving us their evenings.
We plan to hold more astronomy nights next winter, giving more people the opportunity to enjoy our night sky. We may also have an overnight trip away from Sydney’s lights where hundreds of stars previously hidden will be visible. We hope to see you there.

Carlo Famularo (Year 11), President of Astronomy Club

Debating

Debating has resumed in Term 3 with Monday afternoon coaching back to its regular time slot. Mr. Leonard our 2017-2020 Coordinator unfortunately is no longer with the Fort and as such has been replaced by Mr. Longfield, also of English. The first Debating competition we have engaged with is the Premier’s Debating Challenge, a statewide competition that some of you may be aware we have had success in before.

As of Friday September 4th, 2020, we have engaged in three debates, with our 7 (B) team emerging victorious over our 8 (A) team in the first round of the 7/8 Competition, a rare feat. The topic was ‘That private tutoring should be banned‘.

In the 9/10 Competition, the Fort St (B) team was victorious against the St. George Girls’ (B) team on Thursday 20th August, taking the Negative position on the topic ‘That classes at school should be organised by ability instead of age.‘ Unfortunately, the Fort St. (A) Team was narrowly defeated by the Sydney Boys High School (A) team on Monday 24th August, with Fort. St. being assigned the Affirmative case on the topic ‘That schools should have a mandatory weekly Politics lesson.”  The 9/10(A) was able to make up for this defeating St. George(B) in the repêchage.  Their topic was ‘That we should ban all sports that involve animals’.

The 11 Competition was held a bit later on Thurday Sept 3, also vs Sydney Boys’ HS. Despite some issues with Zoom, (including Mr. Longfield having to hotspot his phone to keep the Zoom call’s heart beating), this was an extremely close debate on the topic ‘That HSC assessments should consist solely of examinations’. SBHS was the narrow victor in this debate, though the Year 11 team are still alive with a repêchage round to come.

The Year 11 team that competed in the round 1 of the PDC:

PDC RESULTS AT A GLANCE (bolded teams win)

Round 1

Rd. 1 repêchage
FSHS 9/10 (A) v St. George Girls’ (B)
*note Y11 repêchage opponent to be announced next week

William Longfield
English and Drama Teacher

Second Hand Uniform Stall

Thanks to the P&C who organised a successful, covid safe, student only second hand uniform stall last week.  The stall was run with the assistance of SRC volunteers and payment was by card only.

Vale Fortian: Vera Millicent Howard (Pausey)

Born 27th August 1915
Died 1st September 2020
Aged 105 and 5 days

Vera lived until early August this year in her own home, still enjoying making her own meals and sitting in her garden. She was in hospital after a fall and sadly, was unable to return to her home. Vera’s wish was not to have any funeral or service – she did not want anyone to mourn her passing, but just to have a glass of “plonk” to celebrate her very long life.  But Vera’s life was definitely worth a mention. She was an outstanding student under the guidance of Miss Fanny Cohen, headmistress of the Girls’ school at the time.

Vera was Dux of the school in 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th form. She was awarded 6 A grade passes and 1 B grade pass in the Intermediate Certificate. In that year she won prizes for her English and Greek results.

In 1932, the year Vera graduated, she was dux of the school. She gained 1st place in her French exam, she was awarded 2nd class honours in her Latin exam, and 1st place in Greek with 1st class Honours. Her name is mentioned on the school Honour Boards for the ‘Girls Special Prize’ and gaining ‘Honours in the Leaving Certificate Examination’ for 1st place in her Greek exam. She was awarded a 2nd grade diploma for the Alliance Française Examination.
1932 was the year the Sydney Harbour Bridge opened and Fortians were the first people to march across the bridge before it was opened for traffic.

Vera went on to study Classics at Sydney University (Latin, Greek and two years of Psychology), she then completed a Diploma of Education, and went on to teach languages at High School.
She was required to resign when she got married, but was called back to teaching during the Second World War.
She had 25 years of teaching both at primary and at secondary levels and was a Primary School Deputy at the time of her retirement.

Chris Egan
Fort Street Archives