Principals Report

Dear Fortians, Parents and Carers,

As we enter the last week of term one, I would like to thank all Fortians, Parents and Staff for their support and great sense of community demonstrated this term. I would also like to take this opportunity to wish everyone a safe and relaxing break over the Easter holidays.

The mental health and wellbeing of our students is always central to how we at FSHS plan and support our students. As formal assessments continue for Year 12, and students in other years continue to juggle the pressures of due dates and a variety of assigned tasks, I would like to remind and encourage our parents and carers to ensure that you are checking in with your children. Just offering a cup of tea, and asking ‘how are you?’, can make a huge difference.

Further ideas for students are available at:

https://headspace.org.au/explore-topics/for-young-people/prepare-for-exams

School Cross Country

Providing the weather is fine, all students will participate in the school cross country at Petersham oval on Thursday 7 April. Students are encouraged to wear house colours on this day and to participate in House Activities. If it rains on thy students will continue to follow their usual timetable and competitors only will go to Petersham Park.

Induction Assembly for SRC and House Captains

A special assembly will be held on Friday 8 April to induct and badge our 2021-2022 SRC representatives and 2022 House Captains. Congratulations to all those students elected who have already been working very hard and doing a fantastic job:

SRC executive:

President: Alyssa Khaw

Vice-President: Chantelle Hoang

Secretaries: Natalie Duong and Tom Alexander-Prideaux

Treasurer: Sanjana Krishnan-Iyer

Public Relations: Dennis Yeo

Committee Liaison: Lucas Liu

Data Analyst: You Wei Chung

Junior Roles:

Publicity Officers: Johnathan Bonnice and Savannah Pradhan

P&C Representatives: Kalanie Prabhaker and Claire Bentley

Data Analyst: Gordan Yuan and William Ly

Canteen Officer: Grace Han

Year 12 SRC members:

Ray Chen, Daniel Holland, Veronica Kwong. Frankie Murphy, Barisha Tashnin, Peter Tran, Audrey Truong and Zhanhao Xu

Year 11 SRC members:

Tom Alexander-Prideaux, You Wei Chunh, Natalie Duong, Chantelle Hoanh, Alyssa Khaw, Sanjana Krishnan-Iyer, Lucas Liu and Dennis Yeo

Year 10 SRC members:

Lucie Atkin Bolton, Johnathan Bonnice, Grace Han, Oliver Gongora, Grace Han, Kalanie Prabhakar, Savannah Pradhan and Gordon Yuan

Year 9 SRC members:

Eleanor Alonso Love, Claire Bentley, Charlie Dey, Emma Howes, Keith Huang, Emil Hurley-Stone, Joseph McGee and Anika Sinha

Year 8 SRC members:

Chiunmay Dixit, Bhavnish Jain, Miranda Leighton, William Ly, Neil Razdan, Aaditya Venkatraman, Elisa Wong and Grace Zarb

Year 7 SRC members:

Divyan Gnanasivam, Vera Liang, Jason Lim, Lucinda Man, Beatrice Shimada, Oliver Williams, Penny Zhu and Robin Zimdahl

Joshi House Captains:

Taj Connelly, Kosta Giitsidis, Jun Hui Quan and Celina Trang

Kirby House Captains:

Mary Koutalianos, Brianna Dann and Anne-Sophie Hegi

Mawson House Captains:

Georgia Bailey, Owen Chin, Haris Saud and Ella Murphy

Preston House Captains:

Oliver Ekers, Brendan Posener, Kalanie Prabhakar and Lucie Atkin-Bolton

Sheikh House Captains:

Oscar Buck, Jasmine Loh, Soraya Newlyn and Abbie Sen

NAPLAN

All Years 7 and 9 students will participate in NAPLAN next term between Monday 9 May and Friday 13 May.

Tempestuous thunder and lightning: The return of debating at the Fort for 2022

These are our players: SRC Clubs and Committee Day

Debating in 2022 has been off to a strong start at Fort Street. Term 1 began with the SRC Clubs and Committee Day on Wednesday 16th of February where, with the help of volunteer debating students from 2021 who manned the Debating and Public Speaking stall from periods 1-4, we managed to recruit 30 new year 7 debaters from the class of 2022 into our Monday afternoon Debate Workshops.

A big thank you to Aiden Sen, Aiden Lee, Henry Huang (pictured), Aaditya Venkatraman (pictured), Ethan Lin, Dennis Yeo, Eleanor Alonso Love, Akshaya Rameshbabu, Atul Kolla, Rose Kenyon, Sebastian Lenehan Choo and Hugo Ceran-Jerusalemy for volunteering their time to run this stall.

A growth in the Monday afternoon Debate Workshop

This year we welcomed a new Head Debate Coach Gemma Taraneh Hedayati who along with Ms.Truong, oversaw the entire Monday after school debate workshop from 4.30pm-6.00pm.

Unfortunately, due to COVID restrictions, the workshops in term 1 were delivered online. Nonetheless, there was a large uptake of students in these workshops. As a result, we needed more debate coaches and thus welcomed back four Fortian alumni from the Year 12 class of 2021: Luca Butterworth, Alejo Pintos-Lopez, Meg Raven and Daniella Villafana. We hope to get Debating Workshops running again face-to-face from week 1, term 2.

Year 11 Premier’s Debating Challenge Round 1: Fort Street vs. Smith Hills High School (and the competition against the stubbornness of modern technology)

On Tuesday 22nd of February 2022, the Premier’s Debating Challenge started off with the Year 11 Debate Team debating against Smith Hills High School on the topic of online learning. To prepare for this debate, all Year 11 debaters participated in a workshop with Ms. Truong from 3.30pm-5.00pm where they engaged in a ‘Parliamentary’ style debate activity to improve their listening and rebuttal skills.

Even though we were well prepared for the debate the next day, we did not predict the heavy storms that plagued us for the entire day and caused major disruptions to our online zoom debate. We put up a good fight, with Matilda Gibian as our first speaker, Rose Kenyon as our second speaker and Sebastian Lenehan Choo as our third speaker. They were also morally supported by the team advisor, Hugo Ceran-Jerusalemy and the debate chairperson, Charlotte Dillon (pictured). Sadly, we were defeated but not all hope was lost when the Year 11 Debate Team was given a second chance in the repechage round.

Riding out the storm – Year 11 Premier’s Debating Challenge Round 2: Fort Street vs. Ryde Secondary College

On Tuesday 22nd of March 2022, the Year 11 Debate Team engaged in a heated repechage debate against Ryde Secondary College on the topic of tutoring. We were represented by Charlotte Dillon as our first speaker, followed by Dennis Yeo our second speaker and Ethan Lin as our third speaker and Yexuan Yang as team advisor (pictured). Learning from the mistakes of the previous debate, we were victorious against Ryde Secondary College which allowed us to return to the main round of the Premier’s Debating Challenge. Our next opponent is Newtown Performing Arts which will take place on Monday the 4th of April 2022 so stay tuned folks!

Ms. Truong
Debating and Public Speaking Coordinator for Fort Street High School

Harmony Day

Harmony day was celebrated at Fort Street on Monday 21 March. Students and staff showed their support for cultural diversity by wearing orange (the official colour of Harmony Day) or cultural dress to school. Through cultural food stalls and gold coin donations, $2 000 was raised and will be donated to the The Rivers Secondary College, Lismore, where the Richmond River Campus was completely covered by flood waters. Many students and staff have lost everything, and money raised will be distributed in the form of vouchers by the school to families in need.

IMP Camp

The 2022 IMP Camp was held on Friday 18-Sunday 20 March. Students began rehearsals at school in the morning, before packing the truck, piling into buses, and heading to gorgeous Galston in the afternoon. Friday night saw our first evening student concert and recreation session, led by our wonderful Year 11 cohort.

Year 11 took a very active role in camp, running evening recreation, camp concerts, helping with meals, and most importantly, being musical and social role models for the next generation of IMP members. They proved to be a group of exceptional leaders, mentors, and truck-packers and we are going to miss them next year. Year 10, the bar has been set high for you!

On Saturday and Sunday, we were joined by an incredible team of 19 instrumental tutors, who worked in ensembles and sectionals, and led Ensemble B sessions. Each year at camp students take part in a large ensemble, a smaller elective ensemble, and Camp Item. All ensembles are formed specially for the camp, and rather than treating the time like extra rehearsal for the regular IMP ensembles the focus is on broader skill-based learning and extension activities beyond what the IMP is normally able to offer. The Camp Item this year was Handel’s Hallelujah Chorus; a fitting celebration to our return to live camp concerts. To learn and perform this masterwork in under 3 days is no mean feat, and the IMP Camp did itself proud!

Sunday afternoon saw our first camp concert in front of a live audience since 2019. Ensemble B groups provided the entertainment for the parents’ Afternoon Tea, and the Ensemble A groups performed in the concert itself. It was a fittingly joyous end to a wonderful camp.

This year in particular, the vibe of the camp was extremely positive. All of the students were there to work hard and learn, and they clearly had a great time doing so. After the past two years everyone appreciates these opportunities more, and no music-making is taken for granted. It was a joy to hear music coming from every building on the site, and watching the smiles on students’ faces as they worked.

This student comment best sums up the learning that took place: “You can increase your skill in 3 days, I thought they were just saying that to promote it, but you really can!” The IMP is enormously proud of the hard work put in by the students, and the giant musical steps they took at camp!

Matthew Manchester

Fort Street High School

IMP Coordinator

Director of Bands

The Duke of Edinburgh at Fort Street in 2022

Bronze Duke of Edinburgh award plans for 2022 are due this week. The Award gives students the opportunity to develop and demonstrate the skills valued by universities and employers, such as leadership, team work, organisational skills and initiative. The basic structure for each level of the award involves students completing several hours developing a selected skill, a voluntary service and a physical recreation through a regular commitment. Students also participate in an adventurous journey at each level of the award.

All Fortians are invited to complete their Bronze award. This first part of this journey is submitting an award plan to Ms Page at the Front office. Furthermore, the Year 9 Camp will also satisfy the requirements for a Bronze level Adventurous Journey. However, students are urged to continue to complete their Silver and then Gold level awards in Year 10, 11 and 12.

If parents are interested or would like advice for supporting their child in completing in the Duke of Edinburgh award in 2022, feel free to contact Mr Latimer. Information about the Bronze award has been presented to Year students during their Week 5 Fortunae lessons.

Francophones of Fort St – Year 9 French Interview Project

This term, students in Year 9 French have been learning to interact with French-speakers to exchange information about personal identity. They have also been building their understanding of French as a global language with influences around the world, including in our own community at Fort St. 

Putting their skills into practice, students interviewed adults in the school community who have learnt French and continue to value the role of language-learning in their lives. In preparation, students collaborated in pairs to write questions in French, applying the appropriate register. After meeting the participants, they worked together to listen and re-listen (and re-listen!) to the recorded interviews, which they summarised in written form and transformed into a personal profile.

A huge thank you to Messieurs Morrison, Gillespie, Wright, O’Neill, de Jong & Scudds and Mesdames Reynolds, Choy, Maddox & Salisbury, who were generously prepared to give their time and share their valuable language skills with the Year 9 French students.

Fort Street CHS Softball

On Thursday 24 March Fort Street’s courageous and eager softball team ventured to the fields of Epping to partake in the CHS knockout competition against Galston High School. Despite COVID scares knocking out Coach Wilkinson from attending, and torrential rains threatening to keep most of Sydney’s playing fields looking like swamps, somehow the heavens parted sufficiently for both teams to get to arrive and begin their warmup.

In their special baseball uniforms, the Galston team seemed like the real deal. It was as if I had stumbled onto a scene from A League of Their Own, with feisty young women keen to demonstrate their batting and throwing prowess. Their pitcher began practising, and with a solid and intimidating “sooock” sound, her pitches began thudding into their catcher’s glove. Then their coach walked over to arrange the start and casually mentioned that half their team played at representative for NSW…

So with some trepidation did our batters step up to the plate in the first innings. Unfortunately, none were able to score a run, although some showed that getting to first base was a possibility. Fort St’s innings closed with the score 0-0.

Relaying my concerns to Coach Wilkinson, he sent me some reassuring words of “Wait to you see Anika pitch”. Buoyed by his confidence, Despite Anika’s best efforts the first toss was met with a commanding “thwack” of a Galston bat, and I watched the ball sail over Fortian heads, into the outfield, scoring a home run. This didn’t look good I thought. The score moved to 0-3 by the end of the innings.

BUT, two things happened. Firstly, the Fort Street team did not give up and stayed positive. In the second innings, they kept their composure to catch a Galston fly ball, and then tag out 2 runners to make an elusive triple play. The score had moved to 0-4. Secondly, the heavens closed over and it began to rain. And with the rain came a very slippery ball to pitch. Indeed the Galston pitcher was no longer throwing guided missiles but tossing wildly, giving walks by either pitching 4 balls or hitting the Fort St batter. Whilst Ashley Kim can tell you getting repeatedly hit in the ankles by an errant and fast paced leather ball is not fun, I was impressed at the courage of the Fort Street team to stand their ground and take the hits. Despite multiple pitchers being used to stem the flood of walks being given, Fort St’s score raced up level to 4-4.

Suddenly, the Galston team looked rattled, and tried to use their knowledge of the rules to try and reassert their dominance. But Chloe O’Keefe was having none of it, arguing like a QC, defending Fort St’s position. Eventually order was restored and it was Galston’s turn to bat. Perhaps as a result of having a more practised squad, the Galston team were able to hit a winning run, claiming victory.

However, I was supremely impressed with the fortitude Fort St was able to show and the way in which they kept playing positively until the last pitch. I’d like to particularly note Nicole Orchard’s skill as catcher in slippery conditions, Stephanie Banh’s energy in the infield, and Joanne Zhou’s mum for driving the enormous kit bag to school. A final shout out to Coach Wilkinson for organising the game and encouraging the team.

Mr O’Neill 

CHS Girls Open Volleyball

Well sports fans- what a wild and furious match unfolded last week – When FSHS hosted the 2021 Champions Ryde Secondary College in the CHS Girls open Volleyball competition.

In a thrilling 5 set match,  FSHS girls were sadly undefeated 4 sets to 1, but did not go down without a fight.

The first set our girls came out firing – landing serve after serve to take the first set 25- 18. Witnesses of this unseen event of watching the raining champs Ryde Secondary College go down in the first were amazed – FSHS students jaws dropped on the side-lines – cheers and tears were in abundance with a hope that this remarkable feat could be sustained for the remaining four sets.

The second set however was not the same as the first- Ryde came back with point after point being scored to win 25 -8 and in turn left our crowd stunned.

Our girls, determined to repeat their performance of their first sets’ win and regain the initiative fought valiantly, however it was not meant to be. The remaining three sets RSC maintained their dominance and ended up winning the match, but only just with our girls holding on only to lose each remaining set by a 2-point margin.

Special mentions must go out to Caitlyn Lu – with her cannon of a right arm delivering blistering serves and the all-round skilled performances of Joan Jung and Ashly Huang- holding the team’s morale firm on court during the onslaught of Ryde in the second set.

The volleyball God’s favour did not shine down on FSHS this year… but mark my words Fortians, next year our CHS Volleyball Girls team will be fired up and looking sweet victory once again. Maybe even a little payback if they are lucky enough to meet Ryde Secondary College in the opening rounds of next year’s competition.

Watch this space in 23’… till next year sports fans-this is Mr Fischer signing off.

Coach 😎

SRC News

SRC and House Captain Easter Events

The SRC will be hosting an Easter Event in collaboration with the House Captains. The SRC will be running an Easter Egg hunt around the school where students will be able to trade in hidden paddle pop sticks with chocolate Easter Eggs from the staff common room during break times. In addition, a friendly Easter-themed competition will be held in the Gym during Monday lunchtime (4^th of April), where the House Captains will be competing for house points. Students are encouraged to watch and cheer on their house captains!

Second-Hand Uniform Stall

The P&C and SRC volunteers will be hosting the second-hand uniform stall in front of the uniform shop on Friday the 1^st of April, between 12:45pm and 1:30pm. Everything is $5, except winter jackets and blazers, and payment will be CARD ONLY. Feel free to donate clean second-hand uniforms to the front office to reduce landfill and promote clothing recycling! All proceeds go to the SRC.

IWD BBQ and Mufti

On Thursday the 3^rd of March, the SRC hosted a BBQ and Mufti fundraiser. There was also a “Wonderwall”, where students could write the names of women who inspired them, along with petitions to sign. A total of $ 1,365.80 was raised and donated to UN Women, for their Women’s Day fundraising lunch which the SRC Executives, Mr Galvin and Ms McMurray attended.

Harmony Day

The SRC assisted with the food stalls and gold coin collection during Harmony Day. Students were allowed to come to school in cultural or orange mufti dress and all proceeds were donated to the Vouch for Lismore flood relief program.

Year 7 SRC Members

After a long wait, the Year 7 SRC members were elected during their Year 7 camp. The SRC team are very excited to work with them over the coming terms! Congratulations to the following students:

1. Penny Zhu
2. Beatrice Shimada
3. Lucinda Man
4. Oliver Williams
5. Robin Zimdahl
6. Jason Lim
7. Vera Liang
8. Divyan Gnanasivam
   

    

Changes to the SRC election process

In light of the Year 7 SRC elections, there have been a few changes made to the SRC Constitution. Previously 4 boys and 4 girls were elected from each year group. This has been amended and now the top 3 girls, top 3 boys and next top 2 nominees, regardless of gender, will be elected. This aims to be more inclusive with the SRC election process and include non-binary students. The SRC hopes to develop a safe space and inclusive school environment for everyone.

If you have any feedback or ideas on school related business, we’re keen to hear from you! Feel free to contact your SRC via email (srcfshs@gmail.com), Instagram (@fshssrc) or one of our friendly SRC members.

Alyssa Khaw

SRC President

Year 11

Environment Committee News

School Strike

The School Strike 4 Climate on 25^th March was well supported by Fort St students, with more than 30 Fortians attending the protest at Kirribilli House to call for a more secure future through Net Zero carbon emissions by 2030, 100% renewable energy generations and exports by 2030, and a just transition and job creation for fossil fuel workers and their families.

Earth Hour

This month the Environment Committee has participated in online actions by the Australian Marine Conservation Society and the Australian Conservation Foundation, and organised for the school to turn off power and devices on Thursday afternoon 31^st March in celebration of Earth Hour, raising awareness of the role of energy consumption in producing carbon emissions. The event will also be a fundraiser for the Koori Mail’s appeal in support of the flooded and isolated Bundjalung communities of the Northern Rivers.

Official Opening of the Ron Horan Museum on Friday 29 April

Yes, it is finally here! Please join us for the Official Opening of the Ron Horan Museum on Friday 29 April. See booking details via the Eventbrite website link. Looking forward to see you there! LIMITED TICKETS AVAILABLE!

https://ronhoranmuseum.eventbrite.com

Kind Regards,

Iain Wallace

School Archivist (Thu-Fri @ Fort Street High School)

Secondhand Uniform Stall – CRAZY APRIL FOOLS DAY LUNCHTIME SALE!

P&C cashless, card only Second Hand Uniform Stall – Friday 1 April 12.45-1.30 pm in front of the Uniform Shop – everything second hand is $5 (except winter  jackets and blazers a still insane $30) this April Fool sale only!

The P&C and SRC year 10 volunteer crew will be running this term’s second hand uniform stall in front of the Uniform Shop. Student and parent shoppers are welcome. Parent shoppers must sign in at front office. The sale will open at lunchtime (12.45 pm).

How to buy:  Select your clothes, then your  friendly SRC volunteers will bag and label the purchased items with the total purchase price. Shoppers may then pay by card (no cash) at the Uniform Shop.

No exchanges or returns on second hand uniforms. Condition as found, no changerooms available. Second hand uniforms cannot be ordered online and may only be purchased on stall day once per term.

The Uniform Shop is not open for purchasing or exchanging new items on stall day.

DONATIONS: Please drop your clean second hand uniform donations to the front office. The second hand uniform stall promotes clothing recycling and saves landfill. All proceeds go to the SRC.Thank you.

Fort Street High School P&C

New look online payments on our school website

Why work experience matters and what are the benefits?

Here are some useful articles about work experience.

Work Experience and Why it Matters

https://myfuture.edu.au/career-articles/details/work-experience-and-why-it-matters?utm_source=CP-and-Teachers-Aust-wide-Mar-2022-myfuture&utm_medium=newsletter&utm_campaign=NSW-2161-CPandTeach-Mar-2022

What are the benefits of Work Experience

https://myfuture.edu.au/career-articles/details/what-are-the-benefits-of-work-experience?utm_source=CP-and-Teachers-Aust-wide-Mar-2022-myfuture&utm_medium=newsletter&utm_campaign=NSW-2161-CPandTeach-Mar-2022

National Day of Action against Bullying and Violence

Year 11 students, led by Eryk Francis, William Leung, Angelique Nguy and Jun Hai Quan

worked to raise awareness for the National Day of Action Against Bullying and Violence.

From Tuesday the 22nd to Thursday the 24th, Year 11 students set up a kindness wall in the fountain quad for the National Day of Action Against Bullying and Violence. These leaders hosted a small booth during recess on these days, inviting students and staff to contribute ideas and messages about spreading kindness. This campaign aimed to increase awareness about bullying and promote inclusivity in our school community.

Information about the National Day of Action Against Bullying and Violence was also posted on the SRC Instagram page.

At the assembly held on the 25 March 2022, Year 11 leaders spoke about some of the ideas students and staff contributed to the Kindness Wall.

Here are some of the suggestions from the Kindness Wall

Help someone with their homework or classwork

Put yourself in their shoes

Help teachers clean up the classroom

Ask about their day

Don’t play games in class

Help people when they are down

Smile at people

Compliment a friend

Compliment a stranger

Let some people win in clash royal

Don’t block the hallways

Ask a teacher how their day is going

Think before you text

One of our key strategies this year to date has been to invite various Year groups to take on a campaign that promotes health relationships and inclusivity. Our Year 11 student team are to be commended for leading a meaningful campaign to raise awareness and encourage a kindness culture at Fort Street.

In our school’s Anti Bullying Plan 2022, we highlight our commitment to the following goals:

All members of the school community are active participants in building a welcoming school culture that values diversity and fosters positive relationships. A key component of a supportive school culture is building respectful relationships and an ethos that bullying is not accepted, in both online and offline environments. School staff will actively respond to student bullying behaviour.

This year our school engages in the following practices to promote a positive school culture.

At the beginning of this year, we promoted our Behaviour Code and Anti Bullying Policy to the school community.

During Term 1 Year 10 Peer Support leaders have led Year 7 students through a program designed by Peer Support Australia focussed on Healthy Relationships.

We also planned the following Police talks for specific year groups; however, our Police Liaison Officer was called to alternative duty helping people in Northern NSW deal with the flood. He will be visiting Fort Street in Term 2 this year to talk with these student groups.

• Healthy Relationships Police Talk years 11 and 12
• Bullying and Harassment Police Talk Years 7 and 8 Follow up in Fortunae and Fortitude Lessons
• Social Media (cybersafety and cyberbullying) Police Talks for Years 9 and 10 students.

This year we are looking forward to hosting some workshops for Year 10 students.  Year 10 students will participate in a Lovebites workshop on 26 May 2022 that is focussed on relationships and consent. Year 10 students will also participate in a workshop early Term 3, led by TWENTY10 on Diversity and Inclusion.

We hope these workshops and the learning activities in our Year 10 Fortunae program encourage each student’s understanding of these issues and further develop their skills for empathy and equip our Year 10 students to lead the Wear it Purple Day school celebration and assembly on 26 August, 2022.

Year 7 and 8 students continue to engage in learning about healthy relationships face to face and online in their Fortunae program and will view a theatrical performance on the 16 June 2022, titled The Hurting Game to be presented by Brainstorm Productions. Students will also participate in a Q&A about the impacts of bullying after the performance.

In Term 3 Year 8 students will be engaged in developing ideas and leading the whole school in our RUOK day on the 8 September 2022.

Our whole school wellbeing approach aims to foster a supportive and connecting environment that encourages students to learn from their experiences and the experiences of others. Students will develop important inter and intra-personal skills through the whole school focus areas of community engagement and Leadership.

If you would like to know more about the National Day or Action against Bullying and Violence or access information and resources about Bullying please follow the links below.

National Day of Action against Bullying and Violence (bullyingnoway.gov.au)

What is bullying (nsw.gov.au)

Penelope Starr

Head Teacher

Wellbeing