Mercurius – Issue 9 July 2019 - 8 Jul 2019
Principal’s Report

Principal’s Report

Dear Fortians, Parents, Carers,

Every school term has its particular challenges and delights, but I often think that Term 2 is the busiest, with six lots of reports to be written, proofed and distributed, two lots of parent teacher nights, the Senior Drama Production, music eisteddfods, and a host of other subject-based, co-curricular and sporting excursions taking place. To give a brief overview of this term, over the past ten weeks we have had 16 different sporting excursions, 18 debating or public speaking excursions and 21 excursions in the creative and performing arts, not to mention curriculum based excursions designed to supplement learning in the classroom. Staff have accompanied students as far afield as the Great Barrier Reef (Year 12 Geography), Melbourne (Year 11&12 Visual Arts) and the Gold Coast (Year 12 Mooting), giving up early mornings, late nights, weekends and holidays. I am extremely grateful for time and hard work staff have put in to providing these experiences for our students, which engage, enrich and extend their learning.

The past fortnight in particular has illustrated the richness of the learning environment at Fort Street. Last Friday, we had a visit from Hattie Hua, Harvey Ling and Angela Zheng (Fortians 2017), currently studying at UNSW. They were representing the UNSW solar racing team ‘Sunswift’, competing in the World Solar Challenge race from Darwin to Adelaide this year. They brought the actual Sunswift solar car with them for show and tell, and spoke to Years 8 and 11 about their experience of university and the opportunities available there.

That same evening, we were treated to a delightful night of music from the IMP at their annual mid-year concert. The music from all ensembles was of the highest standard, and displayed the fruits of their hours of careful rehearsal. Congratulations to all students who performed, especially to the Year 12 students listed below for whom this was the last performance after five and a half years with the IMP.

Erin Ashley
Lucy Bailey
Betty Chen
Hugo Degotardi
Eric Deng
Niamh Elliott-Brennan
Rena Gao
Hugo Giles
Robert Hart
Rosie Hearne
Jocelyn Hu
Chantelle Johnstone
Eloise Kershler
Sofia Locke
Tara Luckock
Anthony Meneguzzo
Katherine Nguyen
Alan Ooi
Andy Papadopoulos
Harry Pritchard
Yolana Truscott
Patrick Vastani
Caleb Vukovic
Patrick Wu
Larissa Yang

 

We thank all these students for their contribution, service and example of excellence, and hope that the lessons learned will stay with them for many years to come. Thanks also to the IMP tutors for preparing their ensembles to such a high standard, and especially to Mr Matthew Manchester under whose inspirational leadership the IMP continues to thrive and flourish. Thanks must also go to the IMP parents for their outstanding catering and fundraising efforts on the night.

 

On Wednesday 3 July, we were pleased to welcome primary school students from Ashfield, Wilkins and Summer Hill Public Schools to display the science projects they had been working on this term. Year 10 Science students from the Fort have been visiting these primary schools every Wednesday morning this term to help students design and run authentic scientific research projects. The results were very impressive, and the following Year 10 students involved should be proud of the leadership they have shown, and the results they helped their students to achieve.

Manit Anand
Mateo Baskaran
Genevieve Bivell
Louisa Chen
Ava Corey
Keshav Dogra
Madeleine Grisard
Alex Kilham
Alyssa Koit
Phoebe Lim
Jess Lovatt
Eleanor McLeod
Carmen Ossimitz
Ashley Saipaia
Satvik Sharma
Stella Sharwood
Clinton Trang
Angelica Wilson
Abi Wong
Xavier Cooney

This program is now in its fourth successful year, thanks to the continued efforts of Ms Eva Jamble and Mr Brian Webb.

On Wednesday the CHS Open Boys Hockey team (affectionately known as the Flamingos) competed in the Northern Region Finals Gala Day in Wyong. Although light on preparation, the team acquitted themselves well drawing their semi final 3-3 against Northern Beaches Secondary College, only to lose on a penalty shootout. The boys also drew their subsequent play off game, to come equal third in the region. Despite not progressing to the state finals, the team remains undefeated in general play for the 2019 season. Special congratulations to the following Year 12 students who have played in this team for several years, and for whom this was their final game: Hugo Degotardi, Eric Deng, Hugo Giles, Aidan Sheils, Max Tesoriero, Patrick Vastani and Julian Williams-Kelly. Special mention must go to the talismanic captain/coach Patrick Vastani who was outstanding on the day, scoring all five of the teams goals, and who will be playing in the under-21 national hockey championships in Lismore during the holidays.

Years 7-10 have also received their Semester 1 reports in the last fortnight. We hope that parents and students take this opportunity to reflect on the knowledge and skills they have gained in their classes so far this year and to set some goals for their continued personal and academic growth in semester 2. Year 8 and 10 students in particular should use this report to guide them in their upcoming subject selections. Our advice to all students considering their pattern of study next year is the same. The students who have the best experience of high school are those who choose subjects that are suited to their individual strengths and interests.

Finally, at the end of such a busy term, let me thank all staff and students for the commitment to learning they have shown this term, and wish our whole school community a safe, productive and restful holiday break. We look forward to seeing all student return on Tuesday 23 July, refreshed and ready to engage in another term full of stimulating, challenging and rewarding learning opportunities.

Joel Morrison
Deputy Principal

 

UNSW Solar Racing Team

UNSW Solar Racing Team

The UNSW Solar Racing Team​ spent a day inspiring Fortians with workshops and presentations focusing on engineering and technology. The Sunswift team, comprised of Fortians currently studying at university, allowed students to get behind the wheel of their award winning car. Fortians in year 8 created their own mini solar car during an engineering workshop run by the team’s engineers. A big thank you to the Technology faculty for organising such a wonderful experience for our Fortians.

RoboCup 2019

RoboCup 2019

Good luck to our robotics team who are competing in the Junior division of  RoboCup 2019 at the ICC this weekend.

End of Semester One celebrations in History

End of Semester One celebrations in History

There is no excuse for History ever being boring, so to celebrate the end of Semester One, students from 7O (who have been studying Ancient Rome) held a Toga Day; students from 8H3 (who have been studying the Spanish Conquest of the Americas) held an Aztec Day and students in 10H1 (who have been studying Australian popular culture 1945–present) dressed up in decade-specific clothing to deliver fabulous presentations on their chosen decade.

Mr de Bres
History Faculty

Student report of 70’s Toga Day:
We started our Toga Day in W13, where we got dressed in togas. We used single, white bed sheets and draped one side over our shoulder while wrapping the other one tightly around our waist and tucking over the other shoulder. The class then moved to the Fountain Quad where we performed the playDeath in the Senatein front of the statue of Meleager, in two groups of 15.The play was about the death of Julius Caesar who was murdered in 44 BCE by a number of conspirators who believed he was gaining too much power. After his death the Second Triumvirate was formed by Octavian, Mark Antony and Lepidus. We finished our plays and headed towards the original front of the school and had a lunch of “traditional Roman cuisine.”

Natnisha Bonnice 70

Premier’s Debating Challenge

Year 9 and 10

The Year 9 and 10 Premier’s Debating teams have had a very exciting week. On Thursday July 4 they competed in a series of debates against Ashfield Boys High School in the third round of the Premier’s Debating Challenge (PDC). Both teams represented the school exceptionally well and both were successful. However, it is the positive way that our students engage with other schools and the wider community that impresses me so much.

Earlier in the week the two teams competed against each other in the first round of the PDC (in front of the newly formed Year 7 and 8 teams) in a high quality debate. Year 10 were victorious and this will see them continue on to the knock out stages of the tournament.

A huge thank you to the Year 9 debaters who were fantastic throughout the tournament but just came up short against a talented Year 10 group of debaters.

Good luck to Meg Raven, Barnaby O’Keefe, Danielle Vilafana, Satvik Sharma and Om Sen in their upcoming debates.

Year 7 and 8

The Fort Street High School Debating Program is excited to announce the members of our Premier’s Debating Challenge for years 7 and 8. The students who made the team should be commended as the program is filled with talented young debaters and the participation numbers for Years 7 and 8 are the highest the program has seen. There are 55 students in year 7 and 22 students in year 8 so the trialling process was thorough and the students who made the teams demonstrated great skill and composure.

Year 7 – Marcus Dong, Jacob Butler, Nicholas Caus, Chloe O’Keefe, Lucie Atkins Bolton, Kalanie Prabhakar, Galileo Lima and Grace Han

Year 8 – Matilda Gibson, Leonard Kelly, Yexuan Yang, Archie Handler, Rose Kenyon, Unai Martin, Dennis Yeo, Sebastian Choo

Congratulations.

Jonathon Glover, Fort Street High School Debating Coordinator

 

Sport Update

Sport Update

Futsal Club

Futsal Club runs every Tuesday and Friday morning for all juniors of all abilities starting at 8am on the tennis courts. Students engage in a variety of skill drills before participating in games. Students should check the weekly sports notices for the following weeks club schedule as we now have table tennis, volleyball, basketball, running and futsal clubs which meet weekly.

Table Tennis Club

Table Tennis Club meets on Wednesday and Thursday lunchtimes in the gym and is available to athletes of all ages and abilities. Students are encouraged to bring their own bats and balls, however, there is some school equipment available for students new to the game.

Instrumental Music Program

Instrumental Music Program

City of Sydney Eisteddfod Results
All groups conducted themselves with professionalism and style, and delivered extremely musical and sophisticated performances. We can be very proud of all they have achieved in some extremely competitive and hotly-contested sections, against some very well-resourced groups for whom the Eisteddfod is the focus of their entire year’s endeavours. While the point of the Eisteddfod is categorically NOT competition and prizes, it was lovely to see that a by-product of some great music-making was that every IMP ensemble ended up with a podium place. Best of luck to the Sax Ensemble, who will compete in the Chamber Music sections in August.

Results overview:
Chamber Choir – Winner of both their section and the Australasian Choral Championship
Jazz Ensemble – Winner
Senior Percussion – Highly Commended
Philharmonic Orchestra – Second Place
Symphony Orchestra – Third Place
Jazz Orchestra – Third Place
Wind Ensemble – Highly Commended
Wind Orchestra – Highly Commended

Mid-Year IMP Concert
The concert last Friday was a great success, musically, gastronomically, and financially. A large crowd of enthusiastic families and friends packed the hall to hear fine performances from all ensembles and to formally farewell Year 12 IMP students who now concentrate on the HSC. Thanks to the generosity of parents and friends who donated their time, energy, food, and money, the evening raised over $12,000 for the IMP.

   

 

Nominations for the 2019 State Choir are now open!
Every year the State Choir brings together talented male and female singers from years 8 to 12 from NSW Government schools to sing challenging repertoire under the direction of some of Australia’s leading choral directors. State Choir rehearses for two days before performing on stage at the Sydney Opera House as part of the NSW Department of Education’s Festival of Choral Music.
For more information about this amazing opportunity please visit the State Choir website:   https://www.artsunit.nsw.edu.au/music/music-ensembles/state-choirs

In Concert
Both concerts were recorded and can be enjoyed here – https://vimeo.com/337666411/07755ab8eb