Principal’s Report

Principals Report 24/10/24

Dear Fortians, Parents and Carers,

I hope all our students are feeling refreshed and ready to embrace another exciting term of learning. A special warm welcome to our newly appointed Deputy Principal Ms Kate Dunn who joins us from her previous position as Deputy Principal at Penshurst Girls High School. For the remainder of this year, we will have the support of three Deputy Principals – Ms Dunn, Ms Mattick and Mr Sherwin.

NSW Teachers Federation Meeting

On Monday 28 October, the NSW Teachers Federation will hold a special meeting where members will vote on a recommendation regarding the new Teachers Award. Please note there will be a disruption to the start of the school day. Minimal supervision will be available from 8:45am until 10am in both the playground and the library. Students are expected to attend school as usual for period 2 classes which will have a late start of 10am. HSC exams scheduled for Monday morning will not be affected and will proceed as planned.

Year 12 HSC Exams

The 2024 HSC exams are well underway. So far students have completed exams in English, Music 2, Earth and Environmental Science, Mathematics Advanced and Mathematics Extension 2, Chinese in Context and Chinese Continuers, Software Design and Development, Hospitality, French and Japanese Continuers. With two weeks remaining, exams will conclude on Friday 8 November (Week 4). Both students and teachers have expressed confidence in the exams so far. Next week NESA will feature our school in the Daily Telegraph with a media article on the Legal Studies exam, including interviews with our students and teachers.

Year 11 Updates

Term 4 kicked off for Year 11 with presentations and workshops on consent, healthy relationships, recognising and responding to sexual harassment. Feedback from students and staff indicated that sessions were impactful and well-received. A big thank you to all students and parents who attended the 2025 HSC information evening last week. A makeup session was held on Thursday 24 October, for those students who couldn’t attend. Year 11 students will begin their new timetable for Year 12 next week, which will be available on Sentral this Friday evening. Year 11 reports will be distributed late next week and published on the Sentral Portal on Friday 1 November.

Duke of Edinburgh Gold Qualifying Expedition

At 5:30 am Thursday 24 October, 26 students gathered with Mr Latimer, Ms Lawson and Ms Nolan to embark on their four-day Gold Qualifying hike at Kosciuszko National Park. The students are sure to have an unforgettable experience, hiking, camping and preparing their own meals, while building strong bonds. We look forward to hearing their stories upon their return.

Schools Spectacular 2024

This year’s Schools Spectacular ‘All4One’ is the flagship performing arts event for the NSW Department of Education. Featuring over 5,500 students from more than 400 schools across the state, it promises to be a truly spectacular showcase of talent. Highlights include 40 solo performances, a 2800-strong choir; 2,300 dancers; an 80-piece symphony orchestra; a world-class stage band and various special ensembles. If you would like to attend, tickets are available via Ticketek. Additionally, Spec-Fest, the free outdoor family festival will once again feature pre-show entertainment.

Congratulations to Alex Pringle, Fort Street’s choral conductor, who is conducting the entire show this year, and to all our students who have been selected to perform:

· Core Choir: Andy B. (Year 12), Isobel J. (Year 9), Melody R. (Year 11)

· NSW Singers: Ivy S. (Year 10)

· Orchestra: Noam Z. (Year 9), Kai H. (Year 10), Lucinda M. (Year 9), Rhys M. (Year 12), Hugo N. (Year 9), Henry S. (Year 8)

· Stage Band: Jasper K. (Year 11)

· Combined Choir: Yan Jun C. (Year 10), Jingwen C. (Year 9), Rita C. (Year 9), Owen D. (Year 11), Ozomi G. (Year 8), Chloe G. (Year 7), Steph H. (Year 8), Mieke H. (Year 7), Siena J. (Year 10), Audrey K. (Year 8), Nirvani K. (Year 7), Audrey L. (Year 8), Miranda L. (Year 10), Madeleine L. (Year 10), Aryadeep R. (Year 7), Maya T. (Year 10), Emma W. (Year 8), Nancy Z. (Year 8)

World Teachers’ Day

On Friday, 25 October, Australia will celebrate World Teachers’ Day – a special opportunity to recognise the hard work and dedication of our educators. Please join me in extending heartfelt thanks to all the amazing staff at Fort Street for their incredible efforts throughout the year.

School Canteen

I am pleased to announce that following a recent tender process, our current canteen provider, Bon Appetit has been a three-year licence to continue operating our school canteen. The canteen is open from 7:45am daily for breakfast, recess and lunch. Menus are available on the school website and later this term, we aim to introduce the online ordering platform FlexiSchools for added convenience.

Upcoming Events

Monday October 28 – Lunchtime Guest Speaker – Sharath Mahendran – ‘Building Beautifully’ in the Lecture Theatre,

Wednesday October 30 – Year 8 VALID Science test

Thursday October 31 – Halloween Celebrations: fancy dress, decorations and music at lunch

Friday November 1 – Year 11 Meeting Period 2, Second Hand Uniform Stall, Year 7 Music Incursion Periods 1 and 2

Wednesday November 6 – Year 7 Gala Day

Friday November 8 – Year 8 Meeting Period 2

Monday November 11 – Remembrance Day Assembly and SRC Induction

Juliette McMurray

Restoration Work Update

Dear Fort Street High School community,

Thank you for your patience and support during our heritage stonework project.
The restoration of our historic buildings has been a significant endeavour, and I’m delighted to share that it’s now complete. Our school now stands even more beautiful, a testament to our shared history and a source of pride for us all.
I truly appreciate your patience and flexibility. Your support was crucial to the project’s success.
Thank you for being an essential part of this achievement. We can now enjoy a revitalised environment that honours our past while inspiring our future.

Regards
Juliette McMurray
Principal

For further information and images visit the school website here.

Revolution Exhibitions with Year 11

Earlier this year, Year 11 Modern History students completed museum exhibitions in small groups to be displayed and presented for parents, carers, fellow students and teachers. Students were required to research a revolution or revolutionary leader, carefully crafting the exhibitions based on a criteria of engagement and information.

Our group chose to create an exhibition on the life and revolutionary activities and impacts of Cuban revolutionary leader, Che Guevara. Within our exhibition we had a detailed timeline of his life, his legacy and impacts, ideology, detailed sources from his closest family and friends as well as a variety of letters and photos.

On our display table we included a looping video of testimonies, some Cuban snacks and military gear which Che Guevara could have used during his time in the Cuban Revolution. We worked throughout the entire term, gathering relevant artefacts and creating an engaging exhibition for teachers and students. We drew from our knowledge of museum curation which we had learned from a visit to the Sydney Jewish Museum (SJM) in Term 1.

The excursion was a valuable experience for all modern history students as it provided rare opportunities to learn about the deeply personal and complex nature of museum curation. Visiting the SJM greatly affected how we created our exhibit as we learned the best techniques to keep audiences engaged and interested while visiting museums. The task was unlike other assessments and an experience which engaged students to create exhibits for peers, which culminated in impressive exhibits from all students.

Sophie Kilburn, Nina Rochfort, Caitlyn Lu

PS A message from Ms Wark

The girls very modestly failed to mention they won the prestigious People’s Choice Award which was voted on by junior students, parents and non-history teachers. Congratulations Sophie, Nina and Caitlyn!

SRC Halloween

Hey Fort Street!

🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃

On Thursday 31st October, the SRC is hosting our annual halloween events! 

🦇🦇🦇

Come to the Kilgour quads to participate in our… 

 💵🥇 COSTUME COMPETITION – $30 gift cards to be won, Group (2+) and Individual winners!

Instant Polaroid Photobooth – $1 per photo! Come capture your halloween memories OR donate your polaroid camera skills for one lunch and be our photographer: https://forms.gle/8WzGGZpQiWfWh9dXA 

 🍬🍭 FREE LOLLIES – for anyone who dresses up, go up to one of your SRC members and trick or treat them!

And check out our decorations all throughout the kilgour quads to get into a spooky scary skeleton mood! 🩻🩻🩻

IMP News

Fort Street High School Jazz Orchestra performance

The Fort Street High School Jazz Orchestra (along with the Inner West Jazz Orchestra and Burns Bay Big Band) will be playing at Lazybones Lounge on Tuesday 29 October, supporting the Tuesday Night Jazz Orchestra. TNJO are a professional jazz group, who will be presenting a program featuring the great female jazz composers, including Toshiko Akiyoshi, Christine Jense, Miho Hazama, Maria Schneider, Vanessa Perica (Australian composer).

This will be a fantastic gig, in one of Sydney’s premier jazz venues.

Come along to support the Jazz Orchestra, as they play this great pro gig!

Buy your tickets early as this event usually sells out!

Scan the QR code for tickets or get them online here: https://moshtix.com.au/v2/event/tn/171411 For more information: https://www.facebook.com/events/1188593942409567

SRC Camp 2024

At the end of last term, SRC members of 2024/25 arrived at school on a cold and rainy Thursday morning, and drove an hour north to the Collaroy Center to have our annual SRC camp! 

The day started off with icebreaker activities run by the Year 10s, including mafia games, two truths and a lie and a just-dance off! Each year group really showed off their passion (and dancing skills) with the overall winners being Year 9 with ‘What Makes You Beautiful’. Special commemorations to Mr Galvin and Mr Shakibaei joining in with the Year 11s – to any of their family reading this; you’re harbouring dancing talents! After a delicious lunch of fish and chips, the Year 11s held a strategic review of all SRC-run events over the past year with junior members splitting into groups and sharing personal reviews. After a long session of thinking, everyone enjoyed a refreshing afternoon tea of brownies followed by free time, including prepping for the annual SRC Camp costume competition tradition! This year’s theme was ‘Decades’, which had promising competitors including 2 time winners Year 10 and up and coming juniors. 

To end free time, everyone enjoyed some karaoke – or rather experienced the wonderful screaming abilities of Year 10 during “Let it Go” and the empowered singing of the Year 9s before dinner. We were stared at strangely in our costumes by the primary school also camping at Collaroy, some of them going as far as approaching characters they recognised and striking conversation, such as Marge from the Simpsons (courtesy of Angus Badham). As dinner concluded, members put finishing touches on costumes before the performances of each year and the inaugural crowning. To our extreme disappointment as two time winners, Year 8 took the ultimate prize with their Scooby-Doo costume and episode performance! 

For the final activity on Day 1, the SRC engaged in Exec Trivia! We were tested on random general knowledge followed by everybody’s favourite section – trivia about the execs ranging from identifying each exec’s spotify playlist to which exec accidentally insulted Mr Vaughan when he was right behind them. We retreated back to our cabins to finish writing ‘Warm n Fuzzies’ notes (another tradition) before heading to bed, or in other cases rub yellow zinc off faces and pick up stray purple hairs from the floors. 

Everyone was up bright and early for Day 2, with the day beginning with a lovely breakfast where members got the inside scoop on everyone’s morning faces. We packed our bags and gathered in the main meeting room to begin incoming exec brainstorming for 2025! We discussed initiatives and events we wanted to run, including a Candy Cane Drive debate and a few rounds of confusing Simon Says. We also began talking about our combined goal for the 2025 SRC which was Engagement and Transparency, which led us to appointing two publicity officers in our executive team to kickstart our goals. The junior members brainstormed and planned with incredible dedication, inspiring us execs for the year ahead. To conclude this session had an informative presentation from Mr Shakibaei about voting systems and why they were used before we held the final presidential speeches. After this we had our last lunch before leaving camp, handed in Warm n Fuzzies (notes written by members addressed to other members to send positive sentiment and make them feel ‘Warm and Fuzzy’) before the outgoing executives announced the new SRC President and Vice President! With such a talented group of candidates, there’s no doubt that the incoming executive team is going to do a terrific job. Without further ado, the 2025 executive team is: 

President – Miranda Leighton

Vice President – Grace Zarb

Secretaries – Daniel Rees and Angus Badham

Treasurer – Vennela Bojjireddy

Publicity Officers – William Ly and Wang Chen

Student Officer – Isabel Wang

Camp ended on a high note with two groups ‘Just Dance’s before hopping on the bus back to school. We are beyond excited to begin the crazy but incredible year ahead and make 2025 a year to remember! 

Miranda Leighton and Grace Zarb

P&C News

FORT FEST Results

The online auction finished on September 27th and winning bidders have been notified. If you have physical vouchers or prizes to collect, they are at the school office.

Fort Fest (event, auction and merchandise) raised a grand total of $17,000. It was also very successful as a community event, allowing alumni, current students and incoming Year 7s to celebrate the history and 175th birthday of the school together.

The P&C will consult the SRC to choose the most deserving projects to receive the funds. Several improvements to facilities and requests for additional resources are already on the table, but it will be important to choose some projects that can be completed quickly, so the Year 10 SRC team who led the event can enjoy the benefits!

If you volunteered at the event, or if you have feedback for the team anyway, please complete this survey – https://forms.gle/XB5Ko3YeJiQHAdiL6

This will help us make Fort Fest in 2026 even better.

If you enjoyed Fort Fest and would like to be involved in planning future fundraising events or hearing more about where the money will go, join the P&C! 

P&C Meetings

The P&C holds meetings at 7:30 pm 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. 

The P&C’s Annual General Meeting will be held in the school library on Wednesday 13th November. 

The P&C thanks our current Treasurer, Hung Ngo, who will be stepping down after 3 years of dedication in that role.

We are looking for a new Treasurer if anyone in the community is interested. 

The Treasurer is responsible for the P&C accounts, financial records, and monthly reports. The commitment is attending the monthly meetings (often online) and about 1 hour a week. Please contact the P&C if you feel this is a way for you to contribute to your child’s school!

Opal Card

NCC 2024 Rhythmic Gymnatics

Chloe Xia competed at the NCC 2024 for Rhythmic Gymnastics on Monday 23rd of September in the Gold Coast. She placed third overall individually in the level 5 senior division, with a bronze in clubs, 4th in freehand and 5th with hoop and her team became the national champion team.

Congratulations to Chloe!

Student Support Officer – Wellbeing resources and events

NAS Art Club Intensive 2025