Principal’s Message

As term 2 draws to a close, we are half way through 2018. Over the past month The Fort has seen many and varied activities in addition to the high quality education that is delivered daily. We have spent a wonderful Sunday at school celebrating our biannual Fort Fest. This was once again an amazing day made possible by the support and hard work of many parents, staff and students. We must especially thank the Fort Fest parent committee for their organisation and dedication in providing an opportunity for our community to spend a day together listening to great music, eating fantastic food and having fun across many activities.

Last Friday evening I spent a wonderful evening listening to extraordinary music and farewelling Y12 musicians at the mid year IMP concert. Congratulations to these students who have spent the last six years involved in the music program at Fort Street which I know has enriched their time here.

Once again Fort Street High School are the Zone Athletics champions. Congratulations to everyone involved and we wish all students good luck for their races at the regional level.
Throughout this term, Mr Prasad has been running Astronomy viewing on Monday and Thursday evenings (when weather permits). We thank Mr Prasad for giving about 50 students the exciting opportunity of viewing the night skies.

The WAFTUS Science challenge was completed last Tuesday. This is a great community program between Wilkins, Ashfield, Fort Street, Tempe, Ultimo and Summer Hill where Y10 students mentor their primary counterparts who complete a scientific investigation of their choosing. It was fascinating to see the variety of scientific research completed and I congratulate everyone involved. A special thank you to Eva Jamble for her leadership of this program. (see details in the article later in this newsletter)

The Visual Arts excursion to Melbourne was again a huge success with Penny Starr and Helen Thompson taking 20 students to the MOMA exhibition from New York. The opportunity to be exposed to these international works of art enriches students’ education and broadens their life perspectives.

We have spent much time and effort discussing the infrastructure improvements needed around our wonderful school. After consulting with our P&C, School Council, Foundation, staff and the student body we are moving forward with the refurbishment of our school library, the school’s kitchen (for teaching Food Technology and Hospitality), the gym and hall change rooms and toilet facilities and conversion of one of our woodwork rooms to a robotics/electronics laboratory. This work will be completed over the next 12 months. We will also be renovating some classrooms in consultation with the teaching staff who are keen to teach in spaces that encourage collaboratively learning. I would like to thank Rebecca Cameron for organising the street art that is now gracing some outdoor spaces. Everyone is unanimous that they look amazing and have given a much needed lift to our playgrounds.

Finally, this will be my last Mercurius, as I am retiring at the end of this term. I would like to thank the staff, students and parents for making my time here at The Fort so memorable. This is an extraordinary place of learning and I feel very blessed to have been able to work here as both a deputy principal and relieving principal. Thank you all.
Remember my two rules 1. Stay safe   2. Have fun

Karen Di Stefano

Student Achievements

A selection of recent student achievements…

Young Creatives Competition

Congratulations to Moss Johnston (Year 12) who won the Young Writers Award for ages 16-18, and to Isabella Evangelista (Year 9) who was selected as runner up for ages 12-15.  The competition was run by the Inner West Council.  Winners and runners up took home $500 and $250 respectively.

Australian Schools Open Aquathon and CHS Diving

Riki Leamon (Year 10) competed in the Australian Schools Open Aquathlon at Penrith Lakes earlier this year, which was part of the 2018 Australian Schools Triathlon Festival.  An aquathlon is a swim and run.  Riki competed in the intermediate girls (ages 15 and 16), with a 300m swim followed by a 2km run.  Riki achieved a credible 7^th against a field full of national level runners and triathletes.

Riki also recently competed in the CHS diving competition, 15 years girls springboard, at SOPAC.  and placed 4th.  Although she missed out on NSW All Schools by one place, her score could qualify her for Diving Australia’s national age competition as an elite diver.

Schools Spectacular Featured Dancer

Congratulations to Year 10 student Max Tosello who has been chosen as a featured dancer at this year’s Schools Spectacular.  Over the years Max has placed at many eisteddfods both as solo performer and performance troupe member and was selected after audition for The Movement Experience III by Jason Winters in 2016.  He has been a member of NSW Public Schools Dance Ensembles and has performed in State and Regional Dance Festivals and Schools Spectacular.

This is the first time he has auditioned for Featured Dancer at Schools Spectacular.

Plain English Speaking Awards

John Bivell (Year 12) recently represented the school at The Regional Finals of The Plain English Speaking Awards at the NSW DEC Arts Unit in Lewisham. The competition was incredibly tight and he was narrowly beaten. I would like to take the opportunity to congratulate and thank John for representing the school so well over many years, and for his generous support and encouragement of fellow public speakers. He has spoken with panache and finesse and made a fine contribution to public speaking in the public education system.

Ms Penny Schlam
Public Speaking Co-Ordinator

Dealing with Anxiety

For information on anxiety and how to get help please see the attached factsheet from headspace:

WEB-headspace-Anxiety-Fact-Sheet-28062017

Death in the Senate

On June 22nd, Mr deBres’ Year seven history class, 7R, performed a play called Death in the Senate near Meleager’s statue in the Fountain Quad.
The play focuses on the time immediately before and after Julius Caesar’s death. The tragic protagonist, Julius Caesar, was played by Ibrahim Mohamed, who died valiantly at the end of the play (with a lot of noise). Other main characters included the Soothsayer (You Wei); Brutus (Arlo); Cassius (Emilian); Trebonius (Akira) and the three narrators – Joey, Jaydn and Mary. The rest of the class formed the Chorus of chanters.

Before the play we dressed up in our togas (some were more expert at this task than others) and made a sacrifice to the Roman gods. Then we went out to perform the play in the Fountain quad, enchanting passers-by with our perfectly presented togas and fabulous dramatic abilities. After the spirited performance we celebrated with some ‘Roman food’, which ironically did not include a Caesar salad.

Alexander Howdin and Emma Zhao (Year 7)

WAFTUS (Science Challenge) Report

In term two this year, selected Year 10 students from Fort Street High School and Tempe High School participated in WAFTUS, a program involving Inner West Community of Schools and UTS.

In collaboration with the students from Tempe High School, the students from Fort Street High mentored students from grades 3 – 6 at Wilkins Public, Ashfield Public and Summer Hill Public in designing and carrying out a scientific investigation.

Mentors spent eight sessions in total with their primary school mentees, taking them from creating their scientific method to conducting the experiment and analysing their results. During these sessions, mentors facilitated the learning of the students, giving them assistance with scientific concepts, particularly the principles of fair testing.  During the last few weeks, mentees finalised their experiment in order to get it ready for the presentation day.

On Tuesday, June 26, students from both high schools and the primary schools congregated at Fort Street High School hall for the student’s presentation of their projects. After a mad rush to finalise posters and displays in the morning, the mentees displayed their results, explaining their findings to judges from University of Technology Sydney (UTS). Following a short awards ceremony, the presentation day concluded and the mentors bade their mentees farewell.

Mentoring these enthusiastic primary school students allowed us, the high school students to explore our own interest in Science and gave us the opportunity to bring this interest to our mentees. The WAFTUS (Science challenge) program was a great experience for all involved and helped the students in their study of Science.

Cheylon Devine and Isaac Broadhead
(Year 10)

Choose Maths Day at Sydney University

On Friday 25^thJune a group of Year 9 & 10 girls attended a special day at Sydney University organised by AMSI (The Australian Mathematical Sciences Institute). This five-year national project aims to empower students, particularly girls, to pursue careers in mathematics.

The day started in the Great Hall with keynote speakers including:

Dr. Marianne Menictas (Data Scientist),   Solai Valliapan (CERA, Institute of Actuaries of Aus.) talking about their career paths, and Dr. Zsuzsanna Dancso (Pure Mathematics Senior Lecturer, Syd. Uni.) assisting the girls to understand and solve problems involving Ramsay’s Theorem.  See below:

CHOOSEMATHS Puzzle by Zsuzsanna Oancso

What is the smallest number N such that if you colour the edges of a complete graph on N dots red and blue, there’s guaranteed to be a red triangle or a blue triangle?

Can you colour the edges of this complete graph on 5 dots red and blue, so that there are no red triangles, nor blue triangles?

Is it possible to colour the edges of the complete graph on 6 dots red and blue, so that there are no red triangles,nor any blue triangles?

This was followed by activities in different areas of the university (lecture theatres and outdoor lawns):

1. Investigating the maths inside Stargazing with the SKA – seeking and sketching spirals
2. Into the Fourth Dimension – constructing representations of 4-D solids
3. Discovering properties of Pascal’s Triangle

‘This excursion was inspirational in that we had the opportunity to interact with intelligent women such as Sonia Valliapan who use maths in their professions. It was interesting to learn about the possible career paths involving maths that I could consider taking in the future ( like a business analyst or a data scientists).’  Sasha (Year 11)

Caroline Fentoullis
Maths Faculty

Hospitality work experience

The students who chose Hospitality as an elective for 2018 have had an enjoyable and successful year so far. As year 11 Hospitality students they have continued to make advances towards developing and refining skills for the HSC. This course allows students a high degree of practical food preparation experience, culminating in a nationally accredited qualification at the end of Year 12 as well as a Higher School Certificate. In other words a dual accreditation.

Many culinary skills were developed during the preparation of dishes such as chargrilled banana and cinnamon sandwiches, sticky date pudding with butterscotch sauce, Thai beef salad, chicken pad thai and handmade crumbed Snapper fillets with gourmet salad.

Each student will be completing a work placement as part of their studies in year 11 and 12. The work placement program allows all Hospitality students to join Sydney’s workforce for a week. Although this experience is restricted to the Commercial Cookery area within the Hospitality industry, it without doubt provides insight on day-to-day life in any work environment.

Work experience locations include Burwood RSL Club, Rockpool Bar and Grill, Novotel Sydney Olympic Park, Pullman Hotel Sydney Olympic Park, The Westin Sydney and Sir Stamford Circular Quay.

Allison Woodley
Hospitality, TAS and Food Technology

Year 9 Butter Making Project

Year 9 Food Technology are currently focusing on Healthy food through the area of nutrition and consumption. Many of the recipes we are preparing this term, use ingredients made by the students themselves.

Previously Year 9 created preserved foods which were tasted and used in class for a variety of recipes. Such preserves as Kimchi, pickled cucumbers, preserved honey cumquats, a multitude of jams, dried fruits and vegetables were produced. Recently the class made yoghurt which they used in a peach and yoghurt slice in class.

The class made butter and buttermilk. Both of these ingredients will be used in the buttermilk carrot muffins with orange butter icing during the next practical lesson.

Allison Woodley
Hospitality, TAS and Food Technology

Mandatory Technology

In Mandatory Technology, students across Year 7 and 8 have been exploring the concept of innovation and emerging technologies and sustainability through the use of a laser cutter.

The theme of sustainability was explored through many different avenues across the course; we engaged in discussions based on design factors and how these factors influence us as individuals and designers and reflected on our personal impact on the environment. Students designed and developed highly effective school posters and policies that promoted the use of three R’s (reduce, reuse and recycle) at FSHS using Adobe Illustrator.

Students were also able to see how emerging technologies such as the laser cutter (which was lovingly donated by your P&C) are used today to create more accurate products and prototypes. The skills developed using Adobe Illustrator were employed to create their laser cutting files which were then sent to the new laser cutting machine for printing. In the end students designed some very innovative and creative laser cut clock faces inspired by the environment around them!

Adam Semaan (TAS)

Year 11 Biology Fieldtrip to Long Reef

On the June 25, the three Year 11 biology classes went to Long Reef to investigate the complex ecosystems found in rock pools and shoreline environments.

I’ll have to admit, when I was told we had to show up at Wynyard Station at 7:30 in the morning to catch an hour and a half bus ride to spend a day at the beach during the middle of winter, I couldn’t contain my excitement. We spent the day counting how many shells/plants were on the rock platform as well as testing the pH and salinity of the water.

The excursion was very fun and useful in our ongoing field study. We learnt various sampling techniques and procedures used to collect data about the different plants and animals found on the rocky shore as well as the environmental factors they endure. We encountered many interesting animals, including an octopus who was minding its own business but surprisingly got a bit anxious after 60+ kids (some from another high school) began to crowd around it, but most importantly, we gained an overall enjoyable experience, which we can remember fondly when we look back on our high school days.

Before we came, we had prepared our own inquiry questions and conducted background research. On this excursion, we had the chance to collect our own data, to identify trends and patterns in order to answer questions. The guides, Don and Laurie showed us how to use equipment like the refractometer, quadrats and pH meters to collect our data. After that, we set off to the rocky shores of Long Reef to begin our own research.

When we finished, we waded back to land (the high tide came in and our shoes got soaked). We changed our socks (to no avail as our shoes were still soaked) and squelched our way back to the bus stop. For one and a half hours, the teachers finally had a moment of peace after most of us fell asleep as a result of such an eventful day. When we finally arrived at Wynyard, the bus driver became the target of many “thank you”s, and we made our way to our nice warm, dry homes.

Before I finish, I’d like to thank a few people on behalf of the Year 11 Biology group. First, the octopus, for ‘letting’ us trap him in a big plastic box, pick him up, drop him, poke him and take photos of him. Next, our teachers, Ms Jamble, Mr Guy and Mr Hasenbein, because I can’t imagine it’d be fun watching 58 kids walk around sharp rocks, and cliffs while giant waves came crashing in every second.

Finally, we’d like to thank the AUSECO staff, Don and Laurie, for making all of this happen, making sure we collected data properly and sharing with us their knowledge. What seemed like a wasted day at the beach in the middle of winter turned out to be a great experience, full of bonding, learning and excitement.

Ethan Koit and Betty Chen

Year 11 Biology

Year 11 Business Studies Tour of Coles

During the Business Studies Preliminary and HSC course, students learn about the management of a business in which there are four key components: operations, finance, marketing and human resources. For that purpose, we went on a very interesting excursion to Coles on Norton Street, Leichhardt.

We were taken on a private tour of Coles by one of the managers who was in charge of the deli and fresh foods: Frans. He stopped at multiple sections throughout the store, specifically the fresh food section, dairy section, and the delicatessen. He explained to us the importance of colour and placement of specific fruits in order to visually attract customers. This is just one of the many things that we had discovered and gathered valuable information about. Frans also provided us with a lot of useful information about the importance of human resources and good management.

Students appreciated the opportunity to situate ourselves within a business environment and also get taught at the same time as an alternative to learning from a textbook.  At the end of the excursion students also had the opportunity to purchase whatever we wanted.

Students are expected to refer to as many case studies as possible and the information that our class collected will assist with the Preliminary course we are currently studying.   It will also soon be able to help us during the HSC in 2019.

On behalf of the entire class, we would like to personally thank Coles and Frans for providing the students of Fort Street with a great learning opportunity that was both incredibly informative and fun.

Chelsea Hoang and Manit Anand (Year 11)

Careers News

Year 10 Work Experience

The Careers Adviser, Kylie Salisbury, has been delighted with Year 10 students’ commitment to the Work Experience opportunity so far this year. During Work Experience students get to spend a week observing or shadowing professionals working in areas of interest to the student. Workplaces who have hosted Fortians so far this year include Opera Australia, Sky News, the NSW Treasury, as well as dental and orthodontic practices, solicitors firms, physiotherapy practices, the Academy of Interactive Entertainment, Sydney South West Area Health Service and automotive businesses.

Parents of Year 10 students who have not yet completed Work Experience should discuss possible host workplaces, and encourage their child to chat to Ms Salisbury to make arrangements for a Work Experience placement some time this year.

All Fort Street parents are asked to consider whether their workplace would consider hosting a work experience student, even if only for a day or two, and if so, to leave contact details with Ms Salisbury to follow up.

NYU Information Night

On Wednesday 8 August Ascham Careers office is pleased to welcome Mr Liam Dean-Johnson from the Office of Undergraduate Admissions of New York University to speak about NYU, the USA Common Application process, recommendations and how to write a great personal essay.

Years 10 to 12 FSHS students and parents are welcome. The event will be held at Ascham School in the Barnet Lecture Theatre in the Centre for the Sciences at 6pm for a 6.30pm start. The evening will conclude by 8.00pm. Please register to attend at www.trybooking.com/394568

Fort Fest 2018

CONGRATULATIONS to the whole Fortian community for a wonderful Fest this year!

This year’s Fest was blessed by a beautiful sunny winter’s day. We estimate a crowd of over 4,000 people came and enjoyed the great music performed by our IMP. The food was, as always, an absolute hit and all the usual parent run stalls provided plenty of opportunities to snap up bargains. Altogether the Fest raised around $20,000 on the day.

This will go towards re-modelling the Library, the plans for which are already well underway.

The many and varied SRC stalls were brilliant again this year, filling the Fountain Quad, not to mention the Talent Quest that was also a great success. We look forward to hearing a report back from the students on how it all went… I hear the Amnesty Stall made over $600 for Amnesty International on the Day!

And now to thank …

To make the Fest happen, I am happy to say that it was not a small group, but a very, very large one. The work of over 200 volunteers… guided by 25 volunteer Stall Captains, who took a leadership role, made the whole thing work.

Great great work by many and there are a few special thank yous that need to be mentioned …

• Karen DiStefano, Joel Morrison, Rebecca Cameron, Catriona Arcamone and Michael Galvin for all their support.
• Kevin the GA, without whose help the Festival team would have been seriously challenged
• The support of the office staff, especially Denise, Kellorin and Christine
• All 25 Stall Captains that did an awesome job – organising their teams, creating and running the various stalls successfully.
• A special Call-out to those year 7/8 parents who bravely volunteered to be Stall Captains without having been to a Festival before! This includes Pippa, Suzanne, Suzanne, Alison, Michael and Jackie – apologies if I missed anyone
• Elizabeth Kenyon – who organised the borrowing of trestle tables and Gazebos from Australia St Infants School
• Australia St Infants School for the loan of trestle tables and Gazebos
• Suzanne & Chris Trimmer – for stepping in and helping to get the BBQ sorted amongst many other things
• Liz Barr – for buying all the BBQ meat and eggs at the last minute – what a lifesaver.
• The SetUp team that worked tirelessly to get it all ready: Dime, Jan, Jess, Louie, Suzanne, Eric and Nam. Legend!
• Our Comms team that put up flyers, advertised to over 20 local primary schools, promoted via social media, contacted the local paper and letterboxed locally. Great work all. Shruti, Lucia, Cecile and Suzanne(again)
• Huge thanks to Craig Symonds and Feng. The two electricians that stepped up to keep us safe on the day.
• Tamara and Talia for coming to the rescue as baristas when the going got tough at the Coffee Cart.
• Lan and Shruti, for being there twice a week, week in – week out, in the cold, selling our merchandise before school
• The Money Handling team for having it all so well run on the day. Natasha, Dime, Elizabeth and Kadir.

Lastly, this week we received congratulations on the event from an ex Fortian (year of 1956) whose grandchild is in Year 7. He generously donated $300 directly to the P&C Library fund. If you too would like to help pull our Fortian Library into the 21st Century please donate to: Fort St P&C * BSB: 032267 * a/c: 247674 * ref: FF18 Library

Jenny Curtis

P&C news

At our last meeting Adam Semaan presented to the parents about the great programs and works being produced through the TAS (Technological and Applied Studies) department at the school. The parents were then taken on a tour of the facilities and given a demonstration of the laser cutter and 3D printer (both purchased by the P&C). Thank you to Adam for the great presentation.

Next Focus Item:

Mark Backhouse, Languages Faculty Head Teacher, will present about the language programs at FSHS and also inform parents about the Japanese sister school visit. Families at the school are invited to support this visit. If interested, please do attend the next meeting for more information.

All parents are welcome to attend the Focus Item and/or the General meeting. We hope to see you there.

If you are interested in further information on any of the work of the P&C at FSHS but can’t make it to P&C meetings please subscribe to our Member/Supporter Update here: http://eepurl.com/cXWaEX.or email us at fortstreethighschool@pandcaffiliate.org.au

To aid our volunteers please include the following in the subject heading: ‘Please subscribe me to the FSHS P&C Updates’.

The Fort Street Festival was held on the 17th June on a cold but beautifully sunny winter day. It was a very busy day with fantastic performances from all the IMP ensembles (taking some of us back to Eastern Europe where these pieces were performed in extraordinary spaces during the recent IMP Tour). There were many visitors attending and enjoying the bands, the Talent Quest, the international food stalls, bubble soccer and the Fest stalls, all staffed and catered for by parents and students.

The organising team of Fort Fest – Jenny Curtis, Shruti Pednekar, Elizabeth Campbell and Sarah Harrison, did an outstanding job to ensure that the day ran like clockwork, was fun and a great community day for the school. There were many, many parents, teachers and students who volunteered to assist before, during and after the day and we thank everyone for their generosity of time, skill and effort.

Second hand uniform stall – dates for your diary

The second hand uniform stall runs before school (7.45-8.45 am) on the second Wednesday of each term in the canteen area (downstairs from the library – follow the signs to the library and turn left down the stairs in front of the library doors). Parents and students are welcome to attend and pick up some bargain spare items. The stall is cash only, sizes and condition as found, no change rooms, no refunds or exchanges. Price guide: shirts/shorts/IMP items/ties/sports uniform tops/shorts $5, trousers/skirts $10, jumpers $20, some uniform shop seconds at half price as marked.

Dates: Term 3: Wednesday 1 August, Term 4: Wednesday 24 October

Donations and volunteers: We rely on donations to recycle uniforms for the benefit of students and the environment. Your clean washed uniform items, including IMP and Arts Unit uniforms, are appreciated and may be donated at the library. Thank you to our library and front office staff for supporting the SHUS. All proceeds go to your P&C. Thank you to the stall volunteers – if you would like to volunteer please contact Sally M, stall coordinator on mceastonland@gmail.com

P&C Uniform Shop Volunteers Needed

Day: Wednesday
(during school term)

Time: from 10:00am – 2:00pm
(as much or little as you can)

Email: fshs2013@gmail.com
All offers of help warmly welcomed.

Amanda Eliott-Brennan

P&C President

The Entertainment Book

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Help us raise funds for our fundraising by buying an Entertainment Membership from us. You’ll receive hundreds of valuable offers for everything you love to do and help our fundraising the same time. Hurry, Entertainment Memberships sell out quickly. Buy a digital membership now and start using the fabulous offers right away. Buy a hard copy book and your child can pick it up from the office, remember to include your child’s name and class when ordering hard copy books.

Order your Entertainment Book here

From the Archives

The school is looking at making a meaningful leap into sharing the significance of the Fort Street Archives collection by establishing a new Ron Horan Museum. So far the sharing of school history has been successfully done by regular individual enquiries, reunion support and more recently with the initial steps of the digitisation program where many have enjoyed searching the Fortian magazine digital collection on the school’s website. This can be found at http://www.fortstreet.nsw.edu.au/about/school-history/the-fortian-digitised/

However, there is something about seeing and engaging that no digital program can fulfil. It’s that moment when you see the old sundial from the girl’s school again or that estranged staircase that no one was allowed to use. Being in that childhood space or seeing that historical item, sometimes of national significance, is the next important stage for the Fort Street Archives community engagement plan. The new dedicated area is in the historical Wilkins Building with a larger space than the current Ron Horan room. It includes the central old foyer and stairwell as well as the old principal’s office. The new museum will be a multi-functional space, which includes toilets and a kitchen, to cater for reunion functions and meetings. The creation of a school museum offers an opportunity for our school and the broader community to celebrate Fort Street’s unique heritage, and to offer an ‘open book to the world’ of its history, contribution to society and its character.

We thank the FSBHS Class of 1958 who, at their recent reunion, donated funds towards the new Ron Horan Museum. If you would like to make a donation towards this important project you can either contact The Foundation or make a tax deductible donation to the Archives please follow the link to ONLINE PAYMENTS. (You will need to enter your name and today’s date in the student name and DOB and tick the box marked ‘other’ under payment options.)

http://www.fortstreet.nsw.edu.au/about/online-payments/

Iain Wallace

Archivist – Fort Street High School