Principals Report

Congratulations

2022 Ministers and Secretaries Awards

It was my great pleasure to attend the annual Minister’s and Secretary’s Awards for Excellence at Town Hall on Tuesday 6 September. These prestigious Awards showcase the wonderful people and extraordinary talent across NSW public education.

I was very proud to be there in support of Emma Richard and Peter Tran who were both presented a Minister’s Award for Excellence in Student Achievement by the Hon Sarah Mitchell Minister for Education and Early Learning. The entire school community is so proud of both Emma and Peter.

To make this occasion even more special, Fort Street was invited to provide student representatives to act as ushers for the event. The following students did a fantastic job looking after official guests and welcoming the prize winners and their guests, congratulations and thank you to; Georgia Bailey, Taj Connelly, Andy Bestel, Brandon Do, Ling Xu, Chloe Zheng, Eleanor Alonso Love and Sophie Kilburn.

UBS Young Women’s Leadership Academy

Year 11 student Rose Kenyon has been selected to participate in the UBS Young Women’s Leadership Academy in Sydney this year, recognising her leadership potential and individual achievements. The objective of the academy is to introduce participants to a diverse group of women leaders, demonstrate the possibilities and satisfaction of a career in business and to encourage and develop leadership skills. Rose was selected from a highly competitive field of candidates to participate in this program. Congratulations Rose.

UBS Finance Academy

Year 11 student Owen Lin has been selected to participate in the UBS Finance Academy, recognising his leadership potential and individual achievements to date. The objective of this course is to provide an understanding of financial services and banking for senior secondary school students by giving them examples of success and an understanding of potential future opportunities. The applications for the academy are highly competitive, congratulations Owen.

Robocup NSW State Competition

Congratulations to the Fort Street Robocup team for achieving 3^rd place in the recent Robocup Junior competition; Joseph Bell-Leemen, Andy Bestel, Christian Burger, You Wei Chung, Eryk Francis, Riley Hendra, Alexander Hess, Gordan Huang, Max Hutchinson, Minton Huynh, Tymon Lee, Steven Limnios, Caitlyn Lu, Hugh Phan, Benjamin Skrbinsek and Dexter Stewart.

The team has now been invited to attend the national competition to be held in Adelaide. I would also like to extend my gratitude to Mr Patane for organising this event and attending with the student.

Year 7 Zone Gala Day

All year 7 students participated in the zone gala day on Wednesday 31 August. Our year 7 teams performed exceptionally well, and it was wonderful to receive feedback from other schools about what fantastic representatives of our school the Year 10 students were on the day who had volunteered to coach and referee the teams. Enormous thanks must go to Tali Ezekiel HT PDHPE/Sport for organising this day and to the Year 10 student referees; Lucie Atkin Bolton, Jacob Butler, Oskare Deuschle, Amanda Heng, Benedict Ho, Carissa Lam, Kevin Lee, Suri Liu, Henry Martin, Calan O’Dwyer, Chloe O’Keefe, Kevin Pham, Tahlia Proctor, Michael Rodriguez, Keenan Saville Scott, Tsavo Tiro, Christopher Truong .

HSC Visual Art Exhibition and English Extension 2 Showcase

It was a delight to attend both the HSC Visual Arts exhibition and the English extension 2 showcase last week held in the school library. Both of these events were wonderful examples of the enormous talent that exists in our school. Congratulations to all of our Visual Arts and English Extension 2 students for completing these major works to such a high standard. Congratulations and thanks must also go to their teachers Ms Blake and Ms Maddox.

Upcoming events in Term 3:

• Year 11 final exams: week 8 and 9
• Year 9 Camp: week 9 Monday 12 – Wednesday 14 September
• P&C and SRC Fort Fair: Friday 16 September
• Year 12 Picnic: Monday 19 September
• Year 12 Breakfast, FLOP assembly and evening graduation: Wednesday 21 September

Congratulations – Early Offers to Macquarie University

Congratulations to the 19 students who received an early offer to study at Macquarie University in the August round of offers. Some of the students and their courses are listed below:

Fort Fair Friday September 16

Get ready for Fort Fair!

Friday 16th September
4pm – 8pm

The P&C are very excited to announce the return of Fort Fair, which will be on Friday September 16 in the Fountain Quad, Kilgour Quads and the Hall. 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. This will be a cashless event and tokens can be purchased online or students can buy these at lunch times from the SRC. I hope to see you there.

International food stalls, music, art exhibition, games, craft and more. Have a tour of the school and visit the Ron Horan museum!

If you are running a stall, please make sure you complete the Stall Holders Form as soon as possible.

If you can give an hour of your time to help on a stall, please Sign Up here. Qualified First Aiders, please use the Sign Up form to help at the First Aid tent.

We need donations!
Bottles for the Tombola  – Wine, beer, oils, condiments, lollies, sauces

Prizes – Gift cards, Chocolates, Cosmetics

2nd hand games, puzzles and books

Baked goods – cakes, cookies, slices and sweet treats

(Bring donations to the school office starting from Monday August 29 to the school office., except for baked goods which can be brought on the day)

Everyone Welcome!

Please share the event with friends and bring all the family!

Volunteers needed for Fort Fair

Parents, carers and students we need your help!

Fort Fair is on in less than 2 weeks and we have lots of places that still need filling on our volunteer roster.

This is a great opportunity to not only contribute to our wonderful Fort St Community but also to get to know other parents,carers and students.Students can also work on stalls as long as they have permission from their parents or carers.

So what are you waiting for? Sign up now https://signup.com/go/VLYiaKw

Year 9 Duke of Edinburgh Bronze Camp training

The Duke of Ed training day went splendidly yesterday, with student feedback indicating they enjoyed the day, and all felt they had learnt a great deal to help them successfully complete their bronze camp. The students are starting to show a great sense of excitement about their camp. 

Students received classroom lessons of leadership and teamwork, minimising environmental impacts and map reading and navigation. There were also practical lessons in basic first aid, camp craft and meal preparation. Students really enjoyed the trangia stove Master Chef challenge which involved having to create a given meal within a 45 minute period. The opportunities to safely pitch tents, cook on fuel stoves and adjust back packs to fit properly all provided a sound foundation for students’ camp experience.

Students reviewed their packing lists and equipment. They also had time to communally plan their dinners with the advice of the Duke of Edinburgh teaching team. Much of the purpose of the Duke of Edinburgh Adventurous Journey is focused on developing skills in leadership, organisation and initiative and these aspects were all scaffolded for students throughout the day.

This training day could not have happened without a great team, and I really wanted to thank everyone who helped and offered to help. Especially the teachers who volunteered to deliver the lessons:

Josh Wilkinson

Helen Thompson

Hugh O’Neill

Simon Vaughn

Louise Nolan

and Liz Propsting

These people all gave up a day, and much of their free time, to deliver 6 lessons. And all did so without a moment’s hesitation, and in great style. I think their willingness to help create a great day for Year 9 is really what makes a school like Fort Street an awesome place to work.

For more photos visit the school website here

David Latimer

Bronze Duke of Edinburgh Coordinator

Year 7/8 Boys Netball

On Tuesday 30^th August, our Year 7/8 Boys Netball team attended the NSW Netball Regional Finals after placing 2^nd at the Northern Suburbs district carnival back in June.

The team played extremely well and won 3 out of 6 games they played and got 4^th place overall in this division.

I’d like to recognise the dedication of the team members- Henry Joyce, Kawin Chen, Shine Yang, Abhijay Beer, Lewis Johnson, Thelo Harris, Lucas Nguyen, Isaac Chan and Aidan Sen as they attended weekly training sessions with myself and Ms Wark- congratulations on an amazing effort!

Tournament of the Minds Comp 2022!

On Sunday the 28th of August the Year 7 Language Literature Tournament of the Minds team got Honours at the 2022 competition! The competition was held at Randwick Boys High School and facilitated by Mimi Trifunovic.

The team was composed of Kainan Wang, Anne Liu, Zachariah Conyngham, Jamal Frouin, Divyan Gnanasivam and Lucinda Man.

The Language Literature topic was Twisted Reality , where the team had to get 3 varying villains from different stories and show how they were misunderstood.

“We chose the characters of Calypso, Snow White’s Evil Stepmother and Lady Macbeth, which were quite fun to portray. We had lots of fun debating the storyline over constant lunchtimes, making the props and finally getting to perform the play in front of the audience.

While we did face a few obstacles – like getting everyone to daily meetings – we finished the script and costumes in the end. We definitely needed perseverance and dedication to get through the term, but the end product was worth it! Working as a group was an enjoyable experience, and one we’ll definitely go for next year. It was inspiring to work with each other in new ways, and hopefully next year more than 6 people will come and do TOM with us.

While we did a lot of the work, Ms. Trifunovic is the real person to be thanked. She was facilitator for the entire Sydney East competition, and spent many hours on Tournament of the Minds. Thank you, Ms. Trifunovic, for all your hard work, dedication, and celebration party we had afterwards!”

– the TOM team.

The Lanuage Literature team is to be congratulated for their hard work this term and for winning Honours. Good luck to all future people who wish to enter Tournament of the Minds, and who will persevere on to the end. Thanks also to Ella Murphy, Esther Alex and Matei Stoenescu who generously gave their time to be judges on the day.

Miss Mimi Trifunovic

TOM Regional Director Sydney-East

Mathematics Teacher -Fort St

That’s a wrap for the Premier’s Debating Competition for 2022

On Friday the 26th of August 2022, our Year 7 Debate Team went up against Newtown Performing Arts High School for their third round of debates in the Premier’s Debating Challenge. The topic was Sports and we had to disagree with the statement that Australia should ban gambling on sports.

Our first speaker was Gabriel Cutcher Skellern, followed by Oliver Williams and then Jason Lim. Joanna Park was our team advisor. We also had the help of Oliver Wilson and Tom Mitchell as chair and timekeeper.

Even though they were defeated, I would like to commend them for making it this far in the competition. As I say to all debaters and students I teach, it is important to be proud of your successes but also own your setbacks and learn from them. More importantly, I applaud you for always bringing passion and enthusiasm to every PDC Debate we had this year!

I would like to thank all Year 7 students for having the most consistent attendance in Debating Workshops every Monday afternoon. It’s great to see that across all classes, from Luca Butterworth to Alejo Pintos Lopez, and to Daniella Villafana and Mehnaaz Hossain’s group, you are always consistently engaged and attentive for your coaches.

It has been an absolute honour and dream come true to coordinate Debating and Public Speaking at Fort Street for the last two years. For Year 7s, I have also had a lot of fun being your Assistant Year 7 Year Advisor this year and helping you settle into high school! Suffice to say you have settled in very well and I know you will achieve great things for Fort Street in the future!

Good Luck to all debaters and public speakers from Year 7-12 in your future competitions. I hope you can take the skills you learn from this amazing extracurricular club that we have been involved in this year, to achieve even greater things for yourself!

Ms. Truong

Debating and Public Speaking Coordinator

In Concert Performance

On Monday 29 August, 70 Fortians performed in the newly-renovated Sydney Opera House as part of ‘In Concert’. This is a Secondary Choral Festival run by The Arts Unit of the NSW Department of Education.

Fortians appeared with the Combined Choir, the NSW Public Schools Symphony Orchestra, the NSW State Wind Band, the NSW Public Schools Singers, and the NSW Public Schools Symphonic Wind Ensemble. Over 1000 public schools students were involved. The guest artist was singer-songwriter Lior.

It was a joyous event, and a real privilege to try out the new Concert Hall after so many years away. Congratulations to all students and staff involved.

Photos: the Combined Choir rehearsing, and members of the Fort Street Vocal Ensemble on the Opera House Steps before rehearsal. 

Year 11 Ancient History Excursion to the Chau Chak Wing Museum

On Wednesday 31^st August, on Emperor Caligula’s (and Hugo’s) birthday and against a backdrop of public transport chaos, Mr de Bres and his Year 11 Ancient History class visited the University of Sydney’s Chau Chak Wing Museum to participate in an archaeological workshop and to be introduced to some of the museum’s 30,000 artefacts.

Conor Greenwood reflects on his visit to the Museum:

1. What did you think about the Chau Chak Wing Museum?

I thought the museum was really interesting, modern and ‘architectural’ and exciting. I was surprised by the collection and the depth in which topics and periods could be accounted for and supported by evidence from around the world. I was really impressed by the Classical collection especially, and the way in which many of the exhibits could specifically help students gather information about historical topics. It is a very cool museum.

2. What did you think about our guided tour of the Museum?

Phoebe, our guide was great. She was very knowledgeable and helpful in aiding to gain an understanding of the items in the museum. She explained artefacts intricately, but also so they were digestible for us to follow. She helped in making links between the artefacts as well.

3. Write down the most interesting thing(s) you learned at the Museum

The background of the bust of Augustus in the museum was very fascinating to me. The armour showed his achievements, and even though he was 70 when the statue was commissioned, he is presented as young and handsome, trying to forward his claims that he was the ‘son of Caesar’ or the ‘son of a God’. I also found it fascinating that the marble bust obtained by Sir Charles Nicholson in the nineteenth century is an exact replica of a part of a first century AD statue known as the ‘Prima Porta’ Statue, currently located in the Vatican Museum.

4. What was your favourite part of visiting the Museum and why?

My favourite part of the museum was looking at the Classical artefacts. It is amazing to look at real, physical, tangible objects that are thousands of years old that are directly related to interesting periods in history. I find this my favourite part of visiting most History museums.

What a performance! Senior Drama Production – An Ideal Husband

Congratulations to all of the staff, cast and crew of this awesome production. It is so great to be able to hold these live events at school once again. The costumes and set were amazing and the performances outstanding. Thank you and well done to:

Staff: Ms Mattick, Ms Finsterer, Ms Propsting, Mr Ockwell

Director: Tom Alexander Prideaux

Producer: Michelle Tran

CAST:

Daisy Millpark

Victoria Papathanasiou

Rose Kenyon

Arlo Coleman

Katelyn Labrakis

Emma Howes

Callum White

Keith Huang

Andy Bestel

Gina Hong

Edain Davies Barnier

Daniela Guzina

Owen Druery

Dexter Stewart

Crew:

Harrison Ando

Niamh Hannan-Spinks

Salome Reti-Molineux

Jadyn Chen

Alex Hess

Taj Connolly
Chantelle Hoang

Helen Nguyen

Kathy Bui

Grace Xu

Violet Park

Music:

Mr Ockwell’s Year 10 Music Class

For more photos, visit the school website here

HSC Visual Art Exhibition and English Extension 2 Showcase

It was a delight to attend both the HSC Visual Arts exhibition and the English extension 2 showcase last week held in the school library. Both of these events were wonderful examples of the enormous talent that exists in our school. Congratulations to all of our Visual Arts and English Extension 2 students for completing these major works to such a high standard. Congratulations and thanks must also go to their teachers Ms Blake and Ms Maddox.

For more photos visit the school website here

Meet Ms Thompson

What subject do you teach?  I’m currently a Learning and Support teacher (LaST) but I also teach Visual Arts and have taught Technology subjects and Drama here at the Fort.

Why do you love the subject?  As a LaST, I love supporting students who lack self-confidence in their abilities or who need some organisational support to complete tasks, and as VA teacher I love teaching students to draw, especially when they don’t think they can!

What was your favourite subject at school?  My favourite subject at school was art – no surprises there.

An interesting fact about yourself that you’d be willing to share I have a Diploma of Horticulture qualification in Landscape Design.

Do you have any pets? Yes, I have two cats that my family adopted during each COVID lockdown.  Their names are Crumpet and Eddie (or Edward when he’s in trouble)

Why did you become a teacher?  I was bored working on a quarterly garden magazine, and I was looking at different high schools for my eldest daughter to attend and I realised I could resurrect my Bachelor of Visual Art and retrain as a teacher.

What do you love about being at Fort Street? I love that the students are so clever and capable, and I love working with my fellow staff members.  Great colleagues make going to work very enjoyable.

Do you think pineapple goes on a pizza?  Definitely not !!

SASS Appreciation Week

Every year schools celebrate the vital role played by School Administrative and Support Staff (SASS) right across NSW.

Recognition Week is an opportunity for each school community to acknowledge their efforts and say thank you.

At Fort Street we held a morning tea in the Ron Horan Museum to show our appreciation for all they do for our students, staff, families and school.

Powerlifting Success

Student Loic Chiang recently took part in the AAC Open run by the Australian Powerlifting Union, at Adonis Athletics in Campbelltown.

Loic trains 10 hours per week and is currently ranked number 1 for bench, lifting 92.5kg. Loic is hoping to take out the number 1 place for Squats and Deadlift before the end of the year.

Rankings are unofficial and monitored by a manual organisation called Open Powerlifting.

The conditions that apply to Loic:

Tested Australian lifters

Raw category which is no supportive equipment

Male 74kg class

13-15 years old

Congratulations Loic and good luck with the next rankings!