Principals Report

Term 4 continues to be a busy term for both staff and students. From next week we welcome Mr David Sherwin into the relieving Deputy Principal role. Mr Sherwin will remain in this position until Ms McMurray’s return and will be the deputy responsible for Years 7, 9 & 11. Mr Sherwin is an experienced educator and leader who has extensive experience as a substantive Head Teacher HSIE and relieving deputy principal. Mr Sherwin is also known to staff and students at Fort Street, and I am confident he will transition into the relieving deputy role with great success.

I would like to congratulate the Fortians who have been selected to represent their peers on the SRC for the remainder of 2023 and into 2024. In particular, I would like to acknowledge our new SRC President Eleanor Alonso Love and Vice President, Dante Diaz. I had my first weekly meeting with the new SRC executive last week and was impressed by their enthusiasm, their  forward planning and the many great ideas they have for delivering impactful projects for the student body next year. This week the new SRC executive joined forces with the House Captains to run a highly successful Halloween event. It was great to see so many students and staff embracing the event by dressing up in costume. Special thanks to the SRC executive and House Captains led by Mr Vaughan for making this event such a success.

World Teachers’ Day

Our teachers at Fort Street are a wonderful team who make a difference educating and inspiring Fortians every day. On Friday 27 October we celebrated World Teachers’ Day, providing the school community an opportunity to acknowledge our teachers and say thanks for the significant contributions they make. The theme for World Teachers’ Day 2023 was “The Teachers We Need for the Education We Want: The Global Imperative to Reverse the Teacher Shortage”. UNESCO released a statement stating the need to reduce the shortage in number of teachers and increase their strength globally. They have committed to examining how education systems, societies, communities, and families recognise, appreciate, and actively support teachers. In order to recognise the hard work and dedication of the teachers of Fort Street, our newly elected SRC provided teachers with a lovely morning tea which was appreciated by the staff. On behalf of our school community, thank you to all our wonderful teachers for everything you do inside and outside the classroom.

Raise Mentoring

Last week 16 Fortians graduated from the Raise Mentoring Program. Our students did an amazing job presenting to the group about what they valued most about their mentoring sessions and each communicated their appreciation for the time they spent with their mentors. Thanks to Ms Dooley for her support and organisation of the program throughout the year, and a special thanks to the Raise Mentoring volunteers who make this program a success each year.

Gold Duke of Ed Practice Hike

Over the weekend of the 20 -22 October, Mrs. Helen Thompson and Ms. Rose Dooley led ten students from year 11 on the Gold Duke of Edinburgh hike to Port Stephens. It was a challenging 30 kilometre hike where the students worked together to camp and navigate their way along the new Tomaree Coastal Walk. The students and staff showed great determination in enduring the heat and at times, difficult terrain and are all to be commended on their endurance. I would particularly like to thank Mrs. Thompson and Ms. Dooley for giving up their time to accompany the students. These programs survive on the goodwill of teachers and these teachers have gone above and beyond in supporting this extremely worthwhile program. I would also like to thank Mr. Mike Thompson who accompanied the hikers as the emergency support driver. The feedback from both the staff and students involved in this hike reminds me once again about how valuable the Duke of Edinburgh program is in pushing our students out of their comfort zones which gives them the opportunity to attain a great sense of personal accomplishment. I would encourage all students to explore the opportunities provided by the school in regards to this programme in developing personal strength and resilience.

HSC Ends

We have come to the end of the HSC Exam period and I would like to congratulate all of our Year 12 Fortians for the manner in which they have conducted themselves during this stressful time. We wish them all a well-deserved break and look forward to celebrating their achievements with them when the results are released at the end of term. Year 12 students will all need to come into school between 8-10 November to return any outstanding textbooks and complete the formal signout process. All year 12 students are invited to come and celebrate the release of the HSC results for morning tea with the school staff on Friday 15 December at 10a.m. We would love to see all the class of 2023 back together to celebrate their achievements.

Schools Spectacular

Schools Spectacular 2023 ‘Fabulous’ will be happening on 24 and 25 November. This year marks the 40th anniversary of this incredible ensemble performance, celebrating the exceptional talent of students from Public Schools. As always, Fort Street is well represented with students from years 8 – 12 involved as singers and in the orchestra and stage bands. Performances are Friday 24 November 11 am and 7 pm, Saturday 25 November 1 pm and 7 pm at Qudos Bank Arena, Sydney Olympic Park. Tickets for the show are available through Ticketek.

Kennedy Cup

Things are heating up in the race to see who will take out this year’s Kennedy Cup. Friday November 3 sees the final event of the year take place; the House Musical Chairs competition. Once the results from this competition have been tallied, the final result will be announced and plans will begin for celebrations for the winning house, including a presentation ceremony for the coveted trophy and the Kennedy Cup Picnic for the winning house in week 10.

Year 11 Begin Year 12 Courses

Year 11 have officially started their HSC courses which has seen some changes to individuals’ timetables to make room for new extension courses. With the start of their final year of school, students are also given flexible attendance. We would ask all students to remember the importance of following the processes of signing in and out of school if they are using this flexible attendance provision. I would also strongly encourage students to be developing effective study habits, using their study periods wisely, as this time, if used effectively, can help reduce the stress around mounting work in this very busy final year.

Uniforms

I would like to take this opportunity to thank the school community for the vast improvements we have seen in the quality of student’s uniforms. We are a year on from when we made the request to the school community to improve how the uniform is worn and I have been very impressed by the change we have made. I appreciate the support parents give to the school in assisting their children to adhere to the school uniform policy. While there have been great improvements, I would ask for a renewed focus on ensuring that all aspects of the uniform are worn, including the wearing of correct, appropriate black school shoes. I would also stress that it is the expectation that all students are in full school uniform both at school and as they travel to and from school. We have made such a great headway in the consistency of students in correct uniform, I would like to continue this as we come towards the end of the school year.

Robotics

I would like to extend my best wishes to Hugh Phan, Issey Ley, Jayden Nguyen and Jack Sumner in Year 10 who will be travelling to South Korea to attend the Asia-Pacific 2023 Robocup Competition in early December. This is an incredible opportunity to compete against teams from all over the Asia-Pacific region. I am sure the school community will join me in cheering the students on as they face this exciting challenge.

Teacher(s) of the Week 

And finally a huge congratulations to Ms Propsting and Ms Dooley (Weeks 2 and 3) for being recognised by their colleagues for their immense contributions to the students of the school.

Halloween Costume Competition

Halloween has traditionally been a time for dress-ups and festivities at Fort Street, but this year saw the implementation of a House Costume Competition and a big increase in the number of students and staff getting involved! The SRC did a great job decorating the school and running a polaroid-camera photobooth, the House Captains gave away some lollies to those who dressed up and they ran a House Costume Competition at recess. The competition had three categories: Best Individual Costume, Best Group Costume and Best Staff Costume. With so many fantastic costumes to choose from, a group of discerning judges (Ms Wark, Ms Cho and Mr Leondios) had to argue it out to get a consensus. Thanks to all those who participated and thank you to Ms Druery and Hayden Li for documenting all the action!

All involved had a great day and the following students/staff walked away with some valuable House points for their efforts!

BEST INDIVIDUAL COSTUME

1^st – Melody Rivard-Hyde (Yr 10 Kirby)

2^nd – Gabriel Cutcher Skellern (Yr 8 Sheikh)

3^rd – Poppy Hooper (Yr 10 Joshi)

4^th – Kit White (Yr 10 Preston)

5^th – Lauren Groves (Yr 8 Kirby)

BEST GROUP COSTUME

1^st – Rock, Paper, Scissors: Sienna, Avni, Chloe

2^nd – My Little Pony: Nea, Asha, Persephone, Gracie, Audrey Leslie, Rita, Lucie and Mischka

3^rd – Scooby Doo: Etienne, Daniela, Charlotte, Elora and Oliver

4^th – Care Bears: Mrunmayi, Chloe, Ollie, Angela, Miya, Polly and Beatrice

5^th – Teletubbies: Miranda, Nicholette, Grace, Aimee and Yan Jun

BEST STAFF COSTUME

1^st – Mr De Jong (Preston)

2^nd – Social Science Teachers (Kirby, Mawson, Joshi, Joshi, Preston, Sheikh and Sheikh)

3^rd – Mr Vaughan (Kirby)

4^th – Ms Catalan (Joshi)

5^th – Science teachers (Preston, Joshi, Kirby and Mawson)

Duke of Edinburgh Gold Hike

Two weeks ago, ten Gold Duke of Edinburgh students headed to the Port Stephens area for a three-day, two night practice hike along the new Tomaree Coastal Walk. We were accompanied by Mrs Thompson, SSO Rose Dooley and Mrs Thompson’s husband, Michael, who acted as the standby emergency driver.

Friday (Day 1) saw us travel by train from Central Station to Broadmeadow Station in Newcastle, then by bus to Nelson Bay.  From the Nelson Bay marina we set out on foot towards Tomaree Headland via Shoal Bay.  The views from the top of the headland were magnificent and the WWII gun emplacements were interesting from a historical perspective, but the steep climb to and from the summit was challenging for all.  After a quick bite for lunch at the base of the headland, we then entered first section of the recently opened Tomaree Coastal Walk. This track took us through the hinterland at the back of Zenith, Wreck and Box beaches and into Fingal Bay Holiday Park where everyone was able to set up camp, shower and relax over some tasty, dehydrated meals and a few games of Mafia in the early evening.

Day 2 saw each group head out of camp over staggered times from 8am, winding our way through detours and road closures to find the entrance to the stunning second section of the walk.  An abundance of flannel flowers, angophora forests, and Gymea lilies along with incredible vistas across heathlands and beaches were the standouts from this part of the walk which wrapped up around lunch time on Saturday at the Middle Rock Ingenia Caravan Park.  Once camp was set, we headed next door to the Port Stephens Koala Sanctuary where we were learnt that koalas only exist on Australia’s eastern seaboard, and that baby koalas eat poop! We were also able to view the work done at the Koala hospital and visit the long-term koala residents on the treetop walk. That evening more tasty, dehydrated meals were enjoyed, as were more games of Mafia, and we were also visited by a number of possums eager to share our dehydrated meals with us.

On Day 3 we set off from camp along One Mile Beach to rejoin the Tomaree Coastal Walk.  This was the shortest section of the walk, but challenging nonetheless due to lots of stairs, and feet that were already significantly sore and tired.  The terrain here was diverse and changed rapidly between beaches, rocky areas, forested paths, and urban areas.  There were some stunning natural features such as the Slot Canyon close to Boat Harbour, and small, remote beaches that emerged along the way, not to mention the stunning sand dunes of our end point at the Worimi Conservation Lands, that stretch all the way back down to Stockton in Newcastle. Once we had all arrived at the Birubi Point Surf Club, we rested and ate some great café food before travelling back to Sydney by bus and train. All in all, this was a really successful hike and a great practice for our upcoming Qualifying hike which we’re hoping to participate in early next a little further up along the NSW Mid North Coast year between Seal Rocks and Hawkes Nest.

German Exchange Trip

Fifteen students from the German classes of years 10 and 11 gathered at the Sydney Airport International Departures Terminal with the accompaniment of Ms. Reynolds, Mr. Morrison, and Mr. De Jong. It was the last day of Term 3, a time when both teachers and students were celebrating the end of the term and heading into the school holidays to catch up on lost sleep and to be reminded of the joys of not having to do homework, but not for them. They were ready, but simultaneously not so prepared, for the treacherous twenty-three-hour flight to Berlin.

Prior to this, we spent months corresponding with our German exchange students from our sister school—Georg-Büchner Gymnasium in Berlin— via email and social media platforms, discussing the differences of Australia to Berlin as well as some commonalities and shared interests we had. As we arrived in Berlin Südkreuz, they and their families were just as eager to meet us as we were to meet them and after a brief introduction, we headed home for the day. After the tiresome journey and our excitement mellowing to reveal the sluggish jetlag that was about to strike, I’m sure I can speak on behalf of all the students when I say we were very grateful for the much-needed sleep that night.

As the jetlag (thankfully) began to wear off, we spent our first week in Berlin visiting the school and attending some of the lessons while attempting to utilise the German vocabulary we had prepared in class, even though we had all realised by then that the German we had learned in class was nothing compared to the German we were encountering. In the first week, our schedule was jam-packed with tours of attractions like the Brandenburg Gate, Bundestag Parliament, TV Tower, Berlin Wall Memorial and so many museums. A particular thank you to Mr De Jong, who fueled our energy with kilograms of Haribo gummy bears and other candies.

As the first week drew to a close, we enjoyed the German Unity day long weekend with our host families, who spoiled us with trips to Potsdam, the Baltic Sea and events such as European Handball games, flea markets and especially with a broad range of German cuisine (I can’t even begin to count how many different kinds of cheeses and Wurst I sampled during the long weekend).

The next week was spent visiting Potsdam and the stunning Sans Souci Palace, although the trip was not without its mishaps: during our visit, the fire alarm went off prompting an evacuation and leaving 15 very confused Australian kids standing outside the palace not knowing what to do. We travelled to more museums, visiting the Pergamon Museum and its renowned Ishtar Gate, the East Side Gallery and its famous graffiti-style artworks, and the KaDeWe Department store and its opulent stores.

Before we knew it, we were saying our heartfelt farewells and tearful Auf Wiedersehens to our host families while boarding the train to our next destination—Garmisch Partenkirchen. The town itself was picturesque and looked as if it had been torn out of a postcard and pasted right in front of us, with mountains guarding the town and rocky streams flowing from the peak. We unpacked in our hostel and prepared for our next perilous (and extremely cold) journey up the Zugspitze. In the morning, we put on our layers and backpacks, ready to climb the Zugspitze. We took the cogwheel train and gondola to the Zugspitzplatt and arrived soon after at the Zugspitze, where the cold wind attacked us with all its might. About half of us (including Mr Morrison and Mr De Jong) were brave enough to climb to the peak itself, scaling the structurally questionable ladder and following the rope to the peak.

The soccer enthusiasts in our group were extremely happy when we embarked on a guided tour of the FC Bayern Museum and Allianz Arena in München during our final leg of the trip, which also included a visit to Neuschwanstein Castle. In order to round off the trip, we took part in an engaging and educational tour of the Deutsches Museum, where we were astounded by the historical and cutting-edge innovations in the fields of science, aviation, technology, and mathematics.

On the flight back to Sydney, there was a mix of emotions ranging from joyful to woeful, but I think we were all unified by our exhaustion and exhilaration to return to Sydney to our friends and family and our increased appreciation and understanding of the German language, culture and people.

To end off, we would like to recognise and show appreciation to the teachers that accompanied us during the trip—Ms Reynolds, Mr Morrison and Mr De Jong, the trip would be impossible without your expertise on German public transport and organisational skills. A special thank you to Ms Reynolds who was instrumental to organising the trip and making sure we were making the most of our time in Germany while also being safe (thus bungee jumping and breakdancing were sadly prohibited). Furthermore, we are forever thankful to our German Exchange students and their families for tolerating our not-so-fluent German and being such great hosts to all of us and we look forward to being able to repay the hospitality of our host siblings when they visit us for their exchange trip at the end of February 2024.

Gina Hong, Year 10

Year 9 History Excursion

In Week 1 Year 9 History went on an excursion to the ANZAC Memorial and Martin Place to learn about Australia’s participation in and remembrance of WW1. The excursion involved a guided tour of the memorial in Hyde Park and a dramatic presentation on the lives of nurses during the war. The students were also given the opportunity to do a scavenger hunt in Martin Place to find evidence of Australia’s participation in the war. Here are some of the reflections of the students about the excursion.

I especially liked going to the ANZAC memorial. The play about the nurses in the war was very interesting as I learned about perspectives of people in the war that I knew very little about prior to the excursion. It was interesting how the script of the play was from diary entries, meaning it was the words of the people of that time.

The play taught me a lot about the role of women in the war and I learnt the purposes of the construction of the Anzac memorial in the tour.

We wrote letters from the perspective of nurses to the families of injured soldiers, which aided in us gaining a better understanding of what nurses had to do.

One of the highlights of the excursion was the room with soil from every place the soldiers had come from, and where they had gone. Seeing the huge scale of where the war had been and come from truly helped me grasp how big this war was. 

The terrarium-like model of the trenches was cool. The soil samples were interesting and I spotted soil from both Petersham and my own suburb.

It was great to have an opportunity to wander around with your mates and look for symbols around Martin Place, learning about the war independently. It was a nice change of pace from regular schooling and was truly a highlight of the trip.

Legacy Junior Public Speaking Award

Congratulations to Year 8 public speaker extraordinaire, Divyan Gnanasivam, who represented Fort Street High School in the NSW finals of the prestigious Legacy Junior Public Speaking Award on Tuesday 17^th October at the Art Gallery of New South Wales.

The Legacy Junior Public Speaking Award aims to encourage the use of clear and effective spoken English. Since its inception in 1995, the competition has provided an opportunity for NSW junior secondary students to improve their confidence and to develop their speech-writing and public speaking skills. This annual competition is open to students from both public and independent schools. Only two students are selected to enter from each school.

Diyan reached the state finals after winning his local and regional heats against very tough competition. He was singled out by the judges for his poise under pressure and his fluent articulation of complex ideas. Divyan’s impromptu speech in response to the prompt ‘a vicious cycle’ was a poignant and incisive reflection on the epidemic of post-traumatic disorders in among returned servicepeople. His highly topical prepared speech, focusing on the scourge of misinformation, is reproduced below.

Divyan deserves every accolade for representing Fort Street High School so ably. We are sure that this achievement will be remembered as an early step in a brilliant career.

To believe or not to believe.

“Expelliarmus! Wingardium Leviosa”. With a flick of my small 8-year-old fingers holding a random stick found lying in the garden I could make anything happen – well at least in my imagination. I could shush my 3-year-old brother, I could even make my teddy hidden in a dark, dingy closet, talk. It brought me so much joy to pretend that I could wish away anything that went wrong. Make-believe was my life.

3 years later, on January 6, 2021, my idealized world crashed into reality as I watched the news in horror as thousands stormed the U.S Capitol. This wasn’t an unruly protest – it was a full-on attack on democracy by people who thought they knew the truth. Who could have thought a simple lie blared out by an election loser, Donald Trump, and amplified by the media could change the way people thought?

Worryingly, we are now facing a global march against the truth that is endangering not only the foundations of democratic systems but, our health and way of life. The independent press, so critical to countering this torrent of disinformation, unfortunately is failing.

On one side, autocratic leaders in countries from Hungary to India are muzzling their free press to control what their citizens can see and hear. In Hungary, for example, Government-aligned entities now control 80% of the country’s media – more akin to North Korea than a democratic EU country. On the other, malevolent actors are using social media to manipulate the public with conspiracy theories. Much of this disinformation is succeeding by playing on people’s deep-seated prejudices such as racism, homophobia and distrust of Government.

Sitting here in the Domain Theatre in a successful multicultural democracy, we are not immune from these dangers. With over 60% of Australian media controlled by Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp. and the rest by a few major players, we have one of the most concentrated media markets in the World. In this environment, the ideological biases and financial interests of our media moguls often takes precedence over fair reporting.

Just as bad, our mainstream media – fearful of appearing biased – has fallen into the lazy trap of “bothsidesism”. That is report both sides of every issue, as if they are equally valid.

The reporting in the run-up to the recent referendum on the Voice to Parliament is a perfect example of this bothsidesism. The Voice is intended to be purely an advisory body to government on issues affecting indigenous peoples. Unfortunately, the No Campaign flooded us with so much disinformation that, just as intended, it confused so many. 

We were told, for example, that by voting Yes you could lose your land under indigenous land claims or that the date of Australia Day would change. No mention of how an Advisory Body could achieve such outcomes when Parliament would have ultimate say. Much of this could have been critically analysed and dispatched by our media but instead, in trying to appear “Neutral”, they just amplified it. 

The steep drop in the support for YES in polls from over 67% to just below 43% in the last 12 months, was in no small part driven by this disinformation propagated through our media.

Sadly, this will only encourage such tactics in the future.

Although none of you are likely to be attending a Trump Rally anytime soon, you may be wondering how you can avoid being hoodwinked by misinformation.

It would be easy for me to stand here and tell you to be a more discerning consumer of news – know your sources, understand their motivations, beware of sensational stories. But the fight against misinformation needs to start in our schools.

Let’s take a page from Finland and Estonia, which have embedded media literacy in their K-12 school curriculum where students are taught to spot disinformation and propaganda. As a result, Finland has now been rated the European country most resistant to fake news.

Similarly, our curriculum needs to evolve to teach skills in critical thinking and to provide the tools to differentiate between truth and falsities.

For example, in maths – teach explicitly how statistics can be used to mislead; in art – how an image’s meaning can be manipulated, particularly in this age of deepfakes; in history – how the Nazis used propaganda to brainwash their population.

There is learning to be had across almost every subject.

Further, our Civics & Citizenship syllabus should be broadened to all year levels with special focus on how misinformation could be used to undermine societal harmony and our democracy.

Although it’s every child’s dream to cast a spell that would make their math textbooks disappear, I have learnt to appreciate reality for what it is and not what others make it out to be. Hope you’ll do the same.

SRC News

Teachers Appreciation Day

On Friday Week 3, Fort Street celebrated Teachers Appreciation Day! Our amazing SRC members baked some tasty treats, so that our even more amazing teachers and school staff could be celebrated at recess. We ended up delivering 6 trays of baked goodies to the 2 staff rooms, Learning Centre and our fabulous office staff. Unsurprisingly, the Tim Tams were the star of the show, but were accompanied by brownies, cupcakes, lemon tarts and croissants to name a few of the yummy treats on offer. Once again, the SRC and the whole school community is eternally grateful to all the work teachers and staff put in, whether it is before school, during class, or after hours. 

Halloween Celebrations

Halloween + Tuesday Sport? A spooky combination if you ask me 👻 On the 31st of October, we celebrated Halloween. Any student (or staff!) who came in through the gates before school was met with a complimentary lolly or chocolate. During an extended recess, we held a new event that was a first for the SRC: a polaroid photo booth. We had two polaroid cameras and two backdrops set up, with each photo costing $1. We had lots of photos taken and it was a great event all around, not to mention the great decorations around the school. Thank you to all who dressed up! See the Halloween article for some great photos from the day.

Dante Diaz (He/Him)

Choir for Life supporting Reach Out Australia

On November 16 the FSHS IMP is excited to present a night of beautiful vocal music in aid of Reach Out Australia. All proceeds from this concert will go to raising awareness of mental health issues in young people and supporting those in need. We will be joined by Singers Re-Choired, a local community choir which is comprised of many past parents and teachers of Fort Street. Please come along to support this very worthy cause!

SPECIAL REPORT: Discussing War & Conflict

Children are frequently exposed to distressing news through the 24-hour news cycle and social media. These experiences can provoke anxiety, especially in young minds still forming their worldviews. Parents and caregivers should be mindful of overexposure to such content as it can lead to symptoms similar to post-traumatic stress disorder. Children’s responses to trauma can vary, from being strong emotional reactions to being indifferent. It can leave an emotional imprint that can affect a child’s behaviour and perception of danger.

Children need reassurance about their safety as they navigate uncertain times. Tailor conversations to your child’s age and emotional maturity. Younger children benefit from simplified explanations focusing on peace, empathy, and cooperation, while older children can delve into historical events, root causes of conflict, and the complexities of international relations.

Before discussing these topics with your child, it is also important to assess your own emotions and comfort level. By staying calm and providing physical comfort will help your child regulate their own emotions. In challenging times, compassionate adults play a crucial role in helping children cope with anxiety and providing hope and understanding in our complex world.

This Special Report provides guidance on how to tackle this difficult topic and helping children understand there is still hope in our complex world. Please take a moment to reflect on the information offered, and as always, we welcome your feedback. If this raises any concerns for you, a loved one or the wellbeing of your child, please consider seeking medical or professional help.

Here is the link to your special report https://fortstreet.nsw.schooltv.me/wellbeing_news/special-report-discussing-war-conflict

P&C News

Annual General Meeting

Our next meeting on Wednesday November 8 will be our Annual General Meeting where all positions on the P&C will become vacant and parents and carers are welcome to nominate themselves to become a part of the executive. Michael our current President will be stepping down as he no longer has any children at Fort Street so we are looking for someone to take on the role. The executive team are a welcoming and supportive group and would love to welcome a new parent to the role. No experience is necessary. If you are interested or would like any further information email us at fortstreethighschool@pandcaffiliate.org.au

The minutes from all of our previous meetings can be found on the school website https://fortstreet-h.schools.nsw.gov.au/community/pandc.html