Penrith Selective High School
December Newsletter 2019
From the Principal
Update- HSC results (Top ATAR- 99.8)
Over the last 24 hours, we have been delighted to hear about the large number of students with ATAR's of 99+. To date, the highest ATAR achieved by a student has been an incredible 99.8. Two students have also scored state ranks (12th in Biology and 17th in Business Studies). Congratulations again to all students and we look forward to sharing more details about the 2019 HSC when school returns.
Dear parents and students,
On the final school day for 2019, I want to take this opportunity to thank each of you for a wonderful year.
Students have continued to achieve exceptional things across so many areas and the parent support across the school is invaluable.
I would also like to congratulate the Class of 2019 on their HSC results. The success of students from this group is highlighted by the number of early university offers, awards including two Minsters Awards and 115 of the 156 students named on the HSC Honour Roll. Our first ever Accelerated Business Studies class scored 19 band 6s from a possible 23. Also pleasing were the school's Chemistry results where 43% of students scored a Band 6.
At this point, we are waiting to finalise the Dux and will share this and an overview of the HSC marks in 2020. It has been wonderful to hear from so many students about their ATARs and plans for university and we know that more offers will come in the next few weeks.
Thank you to all of the teachers and support staff for their hard work this year to ensure that all students and particularly Year 12 had every possible support to achieve their personal best.
A special thank you to everyone involved in Presentation Night on Monday. It is always a special evening to celebrate so many incredible examples of success. We are hoping to have pictures of the evening on the website by the end of term but if not, they will be available in early Term 1.
Please enjoy the newsletter below and feel free to re-visit the earlier editions from this year. The work by students in 2019 has been something to be very, very proud of.
I wish everyone a Merry Christmas, a happy summer holiday and a safe break.
Key dates are available on the school calendar and years 7, 11 and 12 return on Wednesday 29 January and years 8, 9 and 10 return to school on Thursday 30 January. Further information will be emailed to students and parents during the holidays. Please note that the school will close tomorrow and emails and phones will be unattended during the break.
Warm regards and I look forward to seeing you in 2020 as we celebrate the 70th Anniversary of the school.
Mark Long
Principal
Yr 12 Return for Morning Tea to discuss their HSC Results
Event : PSHS 70th Anniversary Reunion Lunch
At: Penrith Paceway
Date: Saturday 12 September 2020
Time: Midday (subject to change to meet catering requirements)
Capacity: Maximum 200 persons
Approx. Cost: $75.00 (excludes bar purchases)
Eligibility: At this time, invitation is only open only to those who attended PHS between the years 1950 and 2010 (this may be relaxed, depending on demand for seats)
Key Dates:
1 March 2020 - final details advertised
1 May 2020 - Ticket sales open
Facebook: Penrith High School 70th Anniversary Reunion
Contact: Jim Mason email <masomika@tpg.com.au>
Final P&C for 2019
It was wonderful to see a large audience of over 200 in attendance.
Thank you to our President, Praba Maheswaran, as well as the whole committee for another successful P&C year.
Thank you P&C!
SRC Update
The SRC has had a busy December with 12 days of Christmas running as an initiative to get Penrith into the holiday spirit. Each day consisted of an activity that students could participate in or get involved with. As the term is fast approaching its end the
SRC would just like to thank all the teachers and students who supported all of the events that have been run this year and for significantly contributing to the spirit of Penrith Selective High School. A special thank you to Ms Horsley, Ms Zhou and Ms Pipio whose continuous efforts in managing the SRC are greatly appreciated by all.
Variety Night
Variety Night is a celebration of the talented individuals of Penrith who possess so many great skills outside of the classroom. It was a great success with many students, teachers and parents participating in the event. The SRC body thank all those who participated and helped ensure the Night ran smoothly.
Q and A with Year 8 SRC:
“ Why do you think Variety Night is so important for students to be apart of? “
Variety Night is an important event for students to get involved in as it features each individual's talent. From dancing, singing to playing music, the event gives opportunities to showcase talents and for the audience to recognise that. The fun night allows students to support and cheer for their peers, creating a joyful atmosphere that no one would want to miss. This year was my first Variety Night and I have enjoyed it so much. It is truly a great event to get involved in.
Alicia Cai - Year 8 Representative
“Looking back on this year as an SRC member, what is the best advice you could give to others in a leadership position?”
This year, being an SRC member has taught me many things. A leader’s most important ability is to learn from others or from themselves. Being a leader doesn’t necessarily mean telling people what to do. To be a leader, you must have a vision, an opinion and will have the courage to speak. Many people say to be a leader you must be a follower first, I say that this should be changed to - be the leader that you would follow. Cooperation, communication, collaboration and inspiration are the core qualities a leader has. They know how to problem solve and make tough decisions. The true test of leadership is how well you function in a crisis. Advice to give to leaders? Don’t be afraid to put your hand up and speak your opinion or show your vision, because there are no boundaries to what you can achieve.
Milvia Mathew - Year 8 Representative
“ Is there anything in particular you hope that the SRC body works on next year?”
The SRC worked on many things this year and we plan to continue. In particular, we will be organising two of the biggest school events Spirit Week and Multicultural Day. Both these events give students a chance to express themselves. The SRC are also planning to continue improving the school environment by adding more facilities, these are made from suggestions that come straight from the student body to ensure we give the students what they want.
Parth Purohit - Year 8 Representative
Lina Zhou
Mathematics Teacher
SRC Year 8 Representatives
Toy Drive to the Smith Family!
Lina Zhou
Mathematics
Currently, the Year 7 students are working in class on a research task that will increase their knowledge from where their school mathematics has been developed, as well as encourage the students to think about how maths is used in their everyday lives. This culminates in each student completing a presentation to their class. The Year 8 students are completing a Project Based Learning task involving statistics and school sport. The Year 9 students are still working on units of work that will be assessed in 2020. The Year 10 are finalising their work on their Stem Project, the winning STEM Project will be uploaded to Facebook on Monday Week 10.
Tournament of Towns
The Tournament of Towns is an international competition with more than a hundred participating cities around the world. Melbourne, Sydney, Canberra and Perth are among the Australian participants. It is conducted in November each year. It has two papers: O (Ordinary) and A (Advanced). There are also two streams: Junior (for students in Years 8 - 10) and Senior (Years 11, 12). The level of difficulty of A-level paper is comparable with that of AMO, i.e. it is very hard. The O-level paper is slightly easier, but it still requires a student to have an extra-ordinary talent for Mathematics. The duration of the competition is 4 hours for O-level and 5 hours for A-level.
Students can only enter this highly elite and challenging competition by invitation only. The AMOC state director for NSW, from the Australian Mathematical Trust Mr Dmitry Badziahin, issues the invitation. This year for the first time in Penrith Selective High Schools’ history we had two students invited to compete in both papers in November! This honour went to Jamieson Berida and Keeno Mendoza, both of Year 10. Three other students from Year 10 were invited to participate in the two training sessions; Anaf Sayed, Beonrik Pascual and Yash Mishra. We are very proud of all five young men who not only have worked hard on their Olympiad Mathematics, but who represented our school admirably.
Jamieson and Keeno achieved very good results in the Tournament of Towns O-level paper. Their scripts have been sent to Canberra. This is Stage 2 of the process in getting invited to join the International Mathematics Olympiad Training teams.
Mathematics Enrichment
The Enrichment program runs once a week before school, starting at 8am. We run Euler for Year 8, Gauss for Year 9 and Noether for Year 10. The program is taught by our Alumni - former students who themselves excelled in Mathematics. It is designed to extend laterally the mathematical skills of the students who are excelling in their day to day mathematics. There is an approximate fee of $130 involved, and this covers the tuition fees and resource materials from Canberra for the three terms. If your child starts the program you are liable for the whole fee, so please discuss the program with your child before entering them.
The application forms have been sent out for Years 8, 9 and 10 in 2020, but if your child/children would like to participate, they can come and see me in the Maths staff room for an application form. The invoices will be sent out very early in Term 1 2020.
However, if your child is struggling with Mathematics or just needs a little more help with their work then I highly recommend our Peer Tutoring program. This is free, and is a program designed to have our senior students help their fellow students address their area/s of weakness. If you would like your child to take up this offer they can either send me an email or send an email to mathspeertutoring@gmail.com
Primary School Peer Tutoring
Our final meeting was held on Tuesday week 8 in A.1.7. Our Year 9 students hosted the party to say goodbye. We will be holding the Peer Tutoring again next year for Penrith Primary School and Orchard Hills Primary school’s gifted and talented Mathematics students.
By Mrs Sue Briggs
Head Teacher Mathematics
Left to Right: From Penrith Selective High- Anders Ernest, Supreethi Kanta, Charmaine Ali, Shreya Patel, Niyati Shah, Harrison Shi, Daniel Zhou, Eric Ruan. From Penrith Primary School - Manisha, Ishraj, Joshua, Cooper and Artham. From Orchard Hills PrimarySchool - Sebastian, Ahmad and Mira.
Jamieson Berida and Keeno Mendoza; Tournament of Towns 2019.
Mathematics Challenge Corner
Answer all the questions correctly without the use of a calculator, present your full worked solutions to Mrs Briggs in the Mathematics staffroom at recess. The first Junior and Senior with all questions correctly presented receives a prize.
1. A tortoise and hare take part in a 1km race. The tortoise walks a slow 5.4m/min. The hare, confident of winning, decides to hop for 10 minutes, sleep for 30 minutes, hop for 10 minutes, sleep for 30 minutes, maintaining this pattern with a casual hopping speed of 19.2m/min.
a. How far has each travelled in one hour?
b. The tortoise actually wins the race. By what distance?
c. If the hare wishes to maintain the same pattern of hopping for 10 minutes then sleeping for 30 minutes, what is the minimum hopping speed the hare will need to win the race?
d. If the original race continued indefinitely, at what distance from the start would the hare become permanently ahead of the tortoise or vice versa?
2. Ms Smith told all the students in her class to write four different integers from 1 to 9 on the four faces of two counters, with one number on each face. She then asked them to toss both counters simultaneously many times and write down the sum of the numbers that appeared on the upper faces each time.
a. The only sums that Joshua was able to get were 8, 9, 10, and 11. Find all five possible combinations of four numbers on the counters.
b. Alex wrote 4 and 5 on opposite sides of one counter. The only sums she was able to get were three consecutive integers. Find all possible ways the second counter could be numbered.
c. Ben was only able to get sums that were four consecutive numbers. Show that either one or three of the numbers he wrote on the counters were even.
d. Show that it is possible to number four counters with 8 different positive integers less than 20, one number on each face, so that the sums that appear are 16 consecutive numbers.
3. The base of a triangle is increased by 25% and its height is increased by 50%. What has the area increased by?
4. Billy, a seasonal worker in the town of Cowra, collected an even number of buckets of cherries on his first day. Each day after that he increased the number of buckets he picked by 2 buckets per day. In the first 50 days he collected 3250 buckets. How many buckets did Billy collect on the 50th day?
5. Consecutive numbers are written on five separate cards, one on each card. If the sum of the smallest three numbers is 123, what is the sum of the largest three numbers?
Rubik’s Cube Challenge Term 4 2019
At lunch time on the Thursday December 12, the Mathematics Faculty and prefects held the Rubik’s Cube Challenge!
It was a great event, where many students came to watch the four competitors battle it out for Rubik’s Cube supremacy. It was an intensely competitive atmosphere, as the contestants unjumbled the colourful cubes with incited cheers from the growing crowd of senior and junior students alike. The four brave competitors were Mustafa Bandukwala and Victor Zhou of Year 12, Caspar Zauner of Year 11, and Abinav Chennupati of Year 7. As the crowd eagerly anticipated the fast-paced action, the competitors were allowed to have five seconds to assess their pre-jumbled Rubik’s cube (except for Caspar, who’s skill deficiency meant he was allowed to start at this time), indicated by Parth saying “Guys it’s reading time, no using calculators”.
Then, the race was on! The contestants scrambled to solve their cubes, moving their dexterous fingers as fast as they could. In the end, Abinav finished first at 15 seconds, and was met with wild and raucous cheers and applause. Next was Victor at 20 seconds, followed by Mustafa at 21 seconds, and finally Caspar, who was sadly unable to solve the cube at all.
Thanks everyone for coming and supporting our contestants for the Rubik’s cube competition, and make sure to come next term for more wholesome and exhilarating fun!
Then in round 2, Abinav wanted to see if he could break his previous record of 12 seconds. Mrs Briggs and then Mustafa jumbled his cube – he was given 5 seconds to assess the cube, and then he placed it on the table and go!!Abinav smashed his record with an incredible 10.28 seconds! (See the video on the PSHS Face Book).
Article by William Baltaks, Erick Rajan and Lance Santos
History Mastermind 2019
Twenty Year 7 and 8 students (ten from both years in four teams of five) were given the opportunity to participate in the 2019 History Mastermind competition on Friday, 22 November, 2019. It was an honour to represent Penrith Selective High School in this competition. We trained hard for two lunchtimes twice a week for six weeks before the competition, answering questions on Ancient Egypt, Rome, Greece and China, the Vikings, Medieval Europe, Aboriginal History, Colonisation and contact history, ancient human remains, popular culture and current affairs. When the day of History Mastermind finally arrived, we were very excited and nervous.
The bus ride was 20 minutes of revision and testing each other. This benefited us greatly, as we may have not known answers if we hadn’t revised for that extra 20 minutes. We arrived at St Clair High School and the long day began. The most challenging part about this was that we had to decide who was going to sit on the sidelines as a rotating reserve from our team. This was a tough and stressful decision because if the person sitting out knew the answer then it was the wrong decision to make. With the variety of different schools, we were able to bond with each other and make new friends and everyone was really courteous and polite.
The first round was 20 questions on many topics to do with history. We had four of these rounds and we had other rounds in between such as flags of the world, civics and citizenship and sports throughout the day. After a few rounds we would go outside for a break where the two Penrith Year 7 teams came together and discussed our answers. We were gobsmacked by the difference in answers when discussing.
We had come 12th and 18th overall out of 40+ schools, so we did fairly well. One of the Year 8 teams came 12th as well. The best part of the whole day was watching our Year 8 team (Jules, Pranavan, Krish, Shuva and Zoyeb) win on the stage. ( They also won Year 7 last year). They won their semi final against Mitchell HS 7-1 and the final against The Hills Sports HS also 7-1. They are true role models to look up to as they led the school with pride. They are very dedicated to strive for the best. Next year we aspire to be like them and become true winners of the History Mastermind.
Overall, the day was a great learning experience filled with fun and memories. We represented Penrith Selective High School with pride and did our best.
The four teams were:
Year 7
Team A
Jocelyn Yunardi
Swathi Ilango
Akash Godiyal
Harry Li
Ria Kamalakkannan
Team B:
Satvik Warrier
Cassidy Lauguico
Shavinu Gamage
Karman Jawanda
Bhavika Kakkar
Year 8
Team A
Dev Shah
Eesha Pillai
Dharani Sutharshan
Paige O’connor
Guo (Mia) Chang
Team B - (the winning team!)
Krish Gupta
Pranavan Prakash
Jules Blair
Shuva Khatiwada
Zoyeb Hossain
Written by Akash Godiyal, Karman Jawanda, and Jocelyn Yunardi (members of the Year 7 History Mastermind team).
Debating
Junior Debating Training Day at the University of Sydney
Twelve students (including me) from the year 7, 8 and 9 debating teams, along with Mr Bates, represented the school at the University of Sydney Junior Debating Training Day on Friday December 6, 2019. Three teams from our school participated in three debates each against a range of selective, comprehensive and private schools. We had a highly successful day with each team winning two of our three debates.
We were given three different topics for each debate, which all tackled issues around ethics and the practicality of these real-world concerns. The topics each confronted us about different issues ranging from cosmetic surgery, racism in sports, and school student strikes. All of these topics were very thought-provoking and helped us learn and grow as debaters through the challenges posed by the topics and the other schools at the University.
We were adjudicated by university student volunteers and they gave us quality feedback about our argument structure, our idea generation, and our organisation. We all engaged with our opponents through rebuttal and went in depth with our arguments. We all agreed that we had a fun day and this was valuable to the development of our debating skills. This was a great experience for my peers and I, and it definitely improved our debating skills for upcoming tournaments in the future.
Tamiz Rumey Jiffrey
Junior State Debating Championship (JSDC)
The annual JSDC Tournament ran from Monday 2 Wednesday to 5 December at the Women’s College of the University of Sydney this year. Jamima Rumey Jiffrey, a Penrith High School student, tried out for this team and was selected to represent the Western Sydney Region at this tournament. This competition includes eight regions from around the state including four metropolitan regions and four rural regions.
The competition included 5 round-robin styled debates, which were held over the Monday and Tuesday. Over the course of these debates, the teams were able to use the feedback from the adjudicators to improve and refine how they worked as a team and to try out different team combinations based on the topics. In the round-robin stage Western Sydney won four of its five debates to progress through to the finals.
Western Sydney in the semi-finals was up against Northern Sydney. The Western Sydney team were able to successfully affirm the topic at hand and progressed on to the grand finals against the Sydney region. In this very close grand final debate Western Sydney were narrowly beaten.
Overall, the competition provided a unique and interesting opportunity to develop debating skills and world knowledge with experienced coaches and talented adjudicators that provided useful and important feedback. Such experiences will be invaluable to Jamima and her team when they continue debating into the senior years of school.
Western Sydney Regional Debating Team – State Finalists - picturing Jamima (second left)
AECG Youth Development Camp 9 - 11 December 2019
Recently Ashton Grant and myself, along with Mr Newell and Ms Ross, went on a STEAM Youth Development camp run by the AECG at Stanwell Tops in the Illawarra. The NSW Aboriginal Education Consultative Group are a non-profit government organisation involved in educational matters regarding Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. The camp was strongly based around the STEAM concepts of Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics, while still remaining greatly connected to Indigenous cultures.
During the camp we participated in activities such as boomerang throwing (learning about the physics of flight), a forensic policing workshop run by the Australian Federal Police, and a cultural string art workshop. We also went off-site to the Science Space in Wollongong, an incredible facility where we were able to play around with multitudes of scientific demonstrations and watch two shows, one on liquid nitrogen, and another in the planetarium.
In short, the camp was highly enjoyable and very educational. We learnt much about Indigenous cultures and believe that it was a worthwhile experience that we would gladly partake in again.
Written by Alex Vella, Year 8
PDHPE 2019
Year 7 had a jam packed year within PDHPE. They started the new PDHPE syllabus studying about Identity, Relationships and Safety. Plus all their practical units of Fundamental Movement Skills, Fitness, Athletics, Cross Country, Basketball, Soccer and Volleyball. Year 7 recently participated in the Year 7 Swim Program for 4 days. Students were taught swim survival skills which they picked up very quickly and enjoyed the time in the pool and socializing with friends, whilst learning new skills.
Year 8 worked on developing their coordination skills in a variety of sports including; Touch Football, Fitness, Athletics, Cross Country, Dance, Gymnastics, Cricket and Ultimate Frisbee. In theory, students developed their knowledge in Nutrition, Lifelong Physical Activity and taking risks in life.
Year 9 students have just completed many units based around the new PDHPE syllabus, learning about Relationships, Identity, Mental Health and Empowerment. In practical lessons students worked on their hand eye coordination in sports such as Netball, Sofcrosse, Fitness, Athletics, Cross Country and Oz Tag.
Year 10 focused on healthy literacy. Students learned about Lifelong Healthy Living, Safer Celebrations, preparing for Stage 6. They also explored spatial awareness in the following sports; AFL, Slider Hockey, Softball, Athletics, Cross Country, Fitness, Dance and Gymnastics.
PASS students have had a taste of what it is like to be a teacher while coaching primary school students and completing their coaching unit. Students participate in various sports to build upon their knowledge of physical education such as Futsal, Flag Football, Gaelic Football, Strength and Resistance Training and European Handball. Year 10 PASS leaders were given the opportunity to develop their leadership skills in teaching the Year 7 Swim School program, alongside many teachers. The leaders excelled and developed their leadership skills throughout the 4 days.
Year 11 completed the preliminary course with a jam packed 3 Terms. Year 11 students were given the opportunity to obtain their Senior First Aid Certificate which assisted them in their First Aid unit of work.
Year 12 completed their final examination in the HSC and have continued to succeed in all aspects of PDHPE throughout the year. It was a very busy year of learning new content and applying this to many HSC practice papers.
Grade Sport
Penrith Selective High School is lucky to be in one of the few Zones that still participate in Grade Sport. Each Wednesday, 6 of the schools in our Zone compete in a number of sports. The schools involved are Penrith Selective High, Nepean Creative and Performing Arts High, Blaxland High, Springwood High, Winmalee High and Katoomba High. Some weeks we travel to other schools and some weeks they travel to our home venues.
Below is a brief snapshot of the sports played and our results for the year.
Each week, the wins are tallied from all of the sports played and a winning school is determined from the overall results. Penrith Selective High was undefeated throughout the whole year. This is an outstanding achievement and is a result of the commitment shown by our students. Whilst the Zone Competition is fun, once our students sign up for a sport, they always do their best to represent their school with pride and the results reflect this fantastic attitude.
NEPEAN ZONE GRADE SPORTS 2019
TERM 1 was greatly affected by wet weather. We only played 4 of the 8 weeks.
GIRLS
BASKETBALL 1’S undefeated 2’s 2 wins
EUROPEAN HANDBALL undefeated
OZTAG 1 draw
VOLLEYBALL undefeated
BOYS
ULTIMATE 1 win, 1 draw
EUROPEAN HANDBALL undefeated
TOUCH 1’s 1 win, 1 draw. 2’s 1 win
VOLLEYBALL 3 wins
TERM 2 we played 7 games
GIRLS
NETBALL 1’s undefeated. 2’s 5 wins, 1 draw
SOCCER 3 wins
TOUCH 1’s 3 wins 2’s 5 wins
BOYS
BASKETBALL 1’s 5 wins. 2’s 5 wins
AUSSIE RULES 4 wins, 1 draw
SOCCER 5 wins, 1 draw
OZTAG 1’s 3 wins, 2 draws. 2’s 4 wins
TERM 3 we played 8 games
GIRLS
NETBALL 1’s & 2’s undefeated
AUSSIE RULES 4 wins
SOCCER 3 wins
ULTIMATE VORTEX 3 wins, 1 draw
BOYS
BASKETBALL 1’s 5 wins, 2 draws. 2’s 5 wins
TOUCH 1’s & 2’s undefeated
SOCCER undefeated
ULTIMATE VORTEX 5 wins
TERM 4 we played 8
GIRLS
BASKETBALL 4 wins
FUTSAL 5 wins
BOYS
CRICKET undefeated
FUTSAL undefeated
MIXED
NETBALL 2 wins
VOLLEYBALL 4 wins
TOUCH undefeated
LOTE in Review
Hello Everyone! It’s the LOTE Prefects Simon and Ihan. 2019 has been a wonderful year for LOTE with many exciting programs over the past twelve months. The biggest event involving the LOTE faculty this year has been the Japanese Exchange program with our sister school in Hakusan. This year, our students hosted 14 exchange students from Hakusan. The students from Japan learnt all about what Australian life was like. Two of the students who hosted this year’s Hakusan students were Susan and Cathy.
Hey I’m Susan and this is Cathy, two of the hosts for the Japanese exchange this year. On July 24, 2019, Penrith High School welcomed Japanese students from Penrith’s sister city, Hakusan and 14 generous PHS students and their families each billeted a student which included travelling together to and from school, carrying out after school activities such as movies and weekend activities such as sightseeing, karaoke and so on. During classes, they were involved in whatever classes we as hosts took and learned what it was like to be a student in Australia. They learnt to participate in various subjects such as Visual Arts, Science and English. In Music, we would even invite them to join along as we sang songs and played music. The weekend was an opportunity to further enhance the bond between the Japanese students and yourselves (as some went in groups or pairs), and Penrith students all definitely became closer with their Japanese student.
Aside from the exchange program, our junior classes learnt the introduction to Italian and Japanese, learning various skills like greetings and phrases. In Japanese, they even learnt calligraphy!
Additionally, this year we also created an Ozclo Team - a language and problem - solving style Olympiad held early each year. As a faculty, we have decided to participate in the National Competition next year and hope for it to continue as a Penrith High tradition for future years. We currently have an amazing team practising and refining their skills to compete next year. We wish them the best of luck for their future competition!
Simon Woo & Ihan Samaraweera
Year 7 2020 Orientation Day
On December 3, we had around 150 yr 6 students walk through our doors to Penrith High School’s Orientation Day. This day was packed with information and activities to get these students prepped to enter the next 6 years of their schooling. They had the opportunity to meet with their peer support groups, get to know a few other students and ask lots of questions about high school. These students were introduced to their Year Adviser, Ms. Horsley, who will be working with them through their high school journey in various ways. As a school, we are ready to welcome our newest Yr 7s at the start of next year.
Rachel Augustine, Candy Ma & Caleb Op't Land (Yr 7 Prefects)
Fundraiser for Port Macquarie Koala Hospital
On November 29, the prefects held a fundraiser in support of the Port Macquarie Koala Hospital. Due to the many bushfires burning throughout the state, koalas have faced severe habitat destruction and many have been injured. By selling iceblocks (which were very popular on such a hot day!), we were able to raise around $250 to go towards drinking stations for the koalas in burnt areas.
Our fundraiser was part of an international effort to support this cause, with donors from around the world contributing to the koala hospital’s GoFundMe page and raising a total of over $1 900 000. This has well and truly exceeded the organisation’s initial target, allowing them to extend their drinking station project to a broader area of NSW and establish a koala breeding program. If you would like to make a personal donation, please head to the following link: https://au.gofundme.com/f/help-thirsty-koalas-devastated-by-recent-fires
The prefects would like to thank everyone who contributed to the fundraiser. We were really impressed (but not surprised, of course) at everyone’s willingness to donate their change for such a worthy cause. Many thanks also to Ms Shearer and Ms Battistella for allowing us to use the freezers in the food tech block.
-Sophia Hadjimichael, School Captain
Our poster, thanks to Hasanga’s Calligraphy Skills
All hands on deck, meeting high consumer demand!
CAPA in Review
This year has been an eventful and productive one for the CAPA faculty, with many prestigious events and wonderful experiences for the talented Music, Visual Arts, and Drama students across all years. Here is a summary of the CAPA faculty in 2019:
Visual Arts
In term 2, Ana Maksimovic was one of three winners in the Australian Youth Week Design Competition and was invited to attend the NSW Youth Week Forum event at NSW Parliament House.
In term 3 we had MAD Night, where the works of Penrith art students from years 7-12 were selected as a part of the public exhibition of the Creative and Performing Arts at Penrith High School.
Students also had the opportunity to attend “Operation Art”, a forum for schools and students to demonstrate their visual arts achievements through exhibitions at the Armory Gallery, Sydney Olympic Park and the Art Gallery of New South Wales. From this Saniru Dayaratne was successful in having his work exhibited at the Armory in Sydney Olympic Park.
Penrith also participated in the “Design an ad” competition, with our very own Ashley Tan winning 2nd prize in high school division.
Stage 5 students also visited the prestigious Archibald Prize Exhibition at the Art Gallery of New South Wales as an extension of their class work. In term 4, stage 5 students attended an excursion to the “Sculptures by the sea” beach-walk exhibition as an extension of their classwork.
The year closed with our first annual exhibition, Retrospect: a year of art, where students from Stage 4 and 5 Visual Arts exhibited their artworks from Semester 2. This also included the “Penrith Prize” Competition, where Visual Arts Enrichment students displayed portrait works of members of the Penrith High School community, with the best winning the prize. Please see Highlights below.
Music
In term 2, students participated in the Pulse String Ensemble, Pulse Combined Choir, Pulse Big Band and the Pulse Concert Band. Students were selected to participate in a regional level music ensemble which performs at several music events, including PULSE at the Opera House.
Additionally, our school choir was also able to perform at In-Concert, a state-wide performance in which our students were able to play in a combined choir with the Idea of North an internationally renowned acapella group.
In Term 3, 4 students from Year 11 Music went to the WSU Composition Day, where they had their compositions performed and recorded by professional musicians. This provided a taste of tertiary music and allowed students to further enhance their performance skills while building valuable connections approaching the HSC.
Our Concert Band, String Ensemble & Stage Band also performed at the Penrith Eisteddfod, where Concert Band and Stage Band received third-place and our String Ensemble placed first in their relevant category.
In term 4, our school choir performed at “Schools Spectacular” with 5,500 other students from NSW Public Schools in an Arena Spectacular.
Additionally, our very own Sophia Hadjimichael and Lachlan Braikenridge successfully auditioned in to the NSW Public School's Pulse Big Band for 2020 which will see them perform at prominent Arts events as representatives of NSW Public Education.
Year 7 Music were audience for a concert by the NSW Pulse Public Schools Music Ensembles, which consisted of performances from the Concert Band, Big Band and Vocal Ensemble. This 1 hour concert helped us learn more about the instruments of the orchestra and we were joined by students from Penrith Public School.
We closed the year with an Encore Nomination for Ruth Kim for her Music 2 Performance program.
Drama
In term 1, the Year 11 Drama class presented a full production as a part of their preliminary Drama course, entitled Grace Under Pressure. This required them to act as directors, designers and dramaturgs, and present the piece to a public audience. This production used direct testimony from those in the medical profession as the basis for a theatrical work.
In term 2, HSC Drama students participated in the 2-day Co-Lab workshop series, providing them with an opportunity to work with their peers and professional industry artists to develop skills in making and performing Drama. Penrith High School hosted the event which included 70 HSC students from 8 different NSW Public Schools.
We also had MADD Night, where students, including the school drama ensemble, presented their works at the school-wide event to showcase the talent and creativity of students.
Additionally, our own Bridget Fletcher participated in the Year 9 State Drama Ensemble throughout the year, and performed at the NSW State Drama Festival.
We had the LightsUP Drama Festival, a regional showcase of Drama in NSW Public Schools, where the work of our drama ensemble students which were directed by Anthony Vassallo and Tara Lawson was selected to be presented at the festival.
On the same day, we had the LightsUP Workshop, where stage 4 and 5 students were selected to participate in a workshop series for talented students focusing on refining and developing their skills in making and performing. Participating students worked with professional artists and students from other NSW Public Schools to create a work that was showcased at the LightsUP Festival.
And, finally, we had the Arts Alive Festival, a showcase of exceptional filmmakers in NSW Public Schools. Our own Angus Benedek's film was shown at the Festival, where it received the Silver Award and was placed second overall. His film was premiered at the Dendy Cinema in Circular Quay and demonstrated excellence in this area.
We closed the year with our Drama Ensemble students performing The Internet is a Distract…. Oh look a kitten! a short scripted comedy directed by Tara Lawson and staged a production to a public audience.
Highlights of Retrospect Night!
The Penrith Prize People's Choice Award Winner - Karl. by Eshita Singh(above)
The Open Section CAPA Award Winner - Series of Ink Pen Drawings by Pranavan Prakash(above)
2019 Duke of Edinburgh: a Year in Review.
2019 has been a very busy year for the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award at Penrith. 2019 marks the 60th Anniversary of the Award in Australia and Penrith Selective High school was lucky enough to be invited to the events associated with this commemorative occasion.
In September, His Royal Highness Prince Edward Earl of Essex attended the largest Gold Award Ceremony outside of the United Kingdom. It was here we had 4 Gold participants awarded with their certificates by HRH at Town Hall.
That weekend, those students and others attended the Royal National Park: Bundeena and walked with the Prince as he unveiled the first walk of 10 short walks which form part of The National 60th Anniversary Award Trail.
In November, the second part of the National Anniversary Trail was opened in Blackheath at Govetts Leap. Once again Penrith Selective High School was invited to attend. Some of the Bronze and Gold Students were in attendance. Kristiana Margate was lucky enough to attend both! (see her words below for her experiences).
Grace Faulder was also awarded her Gold Certificate this year at the most recent award ceremony, where she was awarded her certificate by Her Excellency the Honourable Margaret Beazley AO QC Governor of New South Wales at a ceremony at St Stephens Anglican Church, followed by morning tea at Government House.
There have been 14 camps and excursions organised for the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award at Penrith High School this year, all of which each and every student has engaged thoroughly with the program at their given level. They have challenged themselves immensely, built resilience, utilised teamwork and have learnt to become more responsible for themselves and their actions.
Currently the school has 362 young people registered with the program, of that 119 have entered the program this year in their current level: 11 at the Gold level, 24 at Silver and 84 at the Bronze level.
This year to date 26 bronze students have completed their award, many of these are the 2018 cohort, with 2 students from 2019 who have already completed this award and many more close to finishing over the next month. We have had 17 students receiving their Silver Award, which is another great achievement.
We have had five students complete their Gold Award with the school program and they all should be congratulated on this outstanding achievement. These students have dedicated hundreds of hours in accomplishing this, within the foundations of physical recreation, service, skill, adventurous journeys and residential projects. Not to mention fitting all this in whilst studying for their HSC!
Highlights from 2019 are:
- Gold Residential projects such as hiking the Kokoda Trail, a Rustic Pathways Fiji program, study camps and religious camps.
- Giving back to the community, whether it be the school community, or other local community. Helping with homeless shelters, local primary schools, nursing homes, coaching younger sports teams and school service.
- Learning new skills, such as coaching sports teams, photography, first aid, artistic pursuits, music, or choreography.
- Being physically active with swimming lessons, yoga studies, team sports or many other activities designed to get you sweaty.
Some ‘famous’ quotes from 2019:
- “I wished it could go on forever”
- “ The view was breathtaking”
- “ I would definitely do this again with my family and I hope it would help them overcome their fears just as it helped overcome mine”
- “This hike taught me the true meaning of having teamwork and clear communication and how vital those qualities are"
- “Duke of Edinburgh has built confidence in me”
- “Team spirit has been something which I have cherished the most”
Ms L. Andreatta
Duke of Edinburgh’s Award Coordinator
60th Anniversary National Trail Opening: Bundeena.
On September 14, I was invited by Ms Andreatta, our Dukes Award Leader, to the National Trail Walk Launch in the Royal National Park, Bundeena in celebration of the 60th Anniversary of the Duke of Edinburgh’s International Award. I was joined by Andreas Higginbotham and former Penrith High students, Joshua Lin, Grace Faulder, Michelle Lin, William Ngo, Amber Walker and Holly Vallester.
As part of the trail opening, we were granted the honour of meeting His Royal Highness Prince Edward, Earl of Essex, the youngest son of Queen Elizabeth II, whom we got to speak to and walk with for small sections of the trail.
The morning was a mix of nervousness and excitement as everyone anticipated their meeting with a member of royalty. His Royal Highness was very patient, and seemed genuinely intrigued in the stories of Duke of Ed participants, and how the program had changed their lives for the better. He made sure he had a chance to speak with everyone, even if it was just for a short time.
While I greatly enjoyed meeting a member of the Royal family, it was also fun to catch up with former students and see where they were after high school. I was also able to meet interesting people from other schools, as well as admire cliff top, panoramic views of the ocean. After the trail opening had been completed, we all headed down to the beach for some lunch and ice cream.
Many thanks to Ms Andreatta for an exciting day, and a wonderful opportunity and honour!
Kristiana Margate
Some Highlights of the 60th Anniversary Presentation and National Trail Opening:Bundeena
Congratulations Grace!
Well done Grace and thank you to Ms Andreatta for her tireless work with all Dukes students!
Were you a Captain or Vice Captain of PSHS?
If you did hold these positions or know someone who did, can you please contact Clark Stone by email - clark.stone@det.nsw.edu.au
Happy Retirement Glenn!
Thank you Glenn! We wish you well in your retirement! Enjoy travelling and spoiling the grandchildren!
Danielle Shirey from SASS has been at the school for six and a half years and has gone on extended leave. We wish her well in her travels! Danielle is pictured below (on the left) with our School Administrative Manager, Maria Ryan, and also with our Principal, Mark Long, and other SASS.
Alumni Garden Update 13/12/19
There are yellow roses(Soulmate) and white roses(John Paul 11) alternating along the pathway up to the gazebo while there are white roses(Icebergs) down the path towards MacDonalds.
The drip system is now complete and for those concerned over water restrictions, it is allowed to be on for 30 minutes in the morning and certain watering is allowed because of the presence of students, basically because we are a school.
The pavers are taking shape as well.
Thanks again to Matt Oxley and his team for all the hard work going into establishing this beautiful area.
Iceberg
Penrith Selective High School
Email: penrith-h.school@det.nsw.edu.au
Website: https://penrith-h.schools.nsw.edu.gov.au
Location: 158-240 High Street, Penrith NSW, Australia
Phone: 02 4721 0529
Facebook: facebook.com/penrithselectivehighschool