Penrith Selective High School
April/May Newsletter 2022
From the Relieving Principal
With the easing of COVID restrictions at the end of Term 1, we were finally in a position to celebrate our 2021 high achievers and 2021/22 student leaders in a combined Presentation and Leadership Induction Ceremony. Congratulations to all the students who received an award and to those students who have been superb in executing their leadership duties. We finished Term 1 with our annual School Spirit Week which involved trivia, dress ups, a whole school easter egg hunt and the students versus teachers volleyball game.
There was a gear shift as we started Term 2. The second term of the school year is the time where our school community comes together to learn and grow from each other with a range of events including parent teacher evenings and information sessions. Each of these have been extremely beneficial and well attended.
I’d like to thank all the staff, students and families for their attendance at the Year 12, 11 and 7 parent teacher nights held via Microsoft Teams. The Department of Education’s Zoom license is expiring and we have slowly begun the transition to Microsoft Teams. I would like to thank Ms Brooklyn Dicker for working on the help desk over the three parent teacher nights that have taken place over the last few weeks. Our combined Years 8, 9 and 10 parent teacher nights are on the calendar for Term 3. For any families that missed out on securing an appointment, you can contact your student’s teachers by emailing the school:
Email: penrith-h.school@det.nsw.edu.au
My thanks also to Deputy Principals, Mr Brian Ferguson, Ms Doris Lee and Mrs Kylie Lowe for their superb work in leading the many subject selection evenings and the Year 10 Post School Planning Night that have also taken place over the last few weeks.
During our Week 3 P&C Meeting, our Deputy Principals introduced themselves, sharing their portfolios and some of the key initiatives they are leading in the school during 2022. Our next P&C meeting will be on Tuesday, 7 June (Week 7) and will be a forum with our student leaders. Student leaders including our School Captains, Prefects, House Captains, SRC President as well as Enrichment and Club Leaders will be in attendance to share the benefits of leadership and how they balance competing priorities and the initiatives they are involved in. If you would like to ask our student leaders a question or have a topic you would like covered, please register your questions/topics using this brief google form: https://forms.gle/GTjn8ZG1xFYYBDGK6
Finally, I’d like to welcome Aaron Connors who has been appointed to the position of Technology Support Officer at our school. In this position, Aaron will provide technical support to students and staff. He is located in the Library and is available to students during recess and lunch.
Please enjoy the updates from so many areas across the school which are contained within this edition of the newsletter.
Warm regards,
Jaclyn Cush
Relieving Principal
Principal’s Recognition: Farmaanpreet Singh Year 7
I am delighted to acknowledge Year 7 student, Farmaanpreet Singh who participated in community programs at Kids Giving Back during the 1st Term of this year and the recent April school holidays.
Farmaanpreet gave up his time during the April holidays to assist in making over 7000 hot meals, salads, fruit kebabs, breakfast boxes, snack packs, care packs and decorated tote bags which were distributed to 13 charities around Sydney. He was also especially helpful in folding and packing new clothes for over 8000 vulnerable people, many of whom were affected by this year’s floods.
We deeply appreciate Farmaanpreet’s service to others and the kindness he has extended.
INDUCTION CEREMONY for 2021/2022 (delayed from last year)
School Leaders Update
Q&A Excursion
On Thursday, 5 May, 13 of our senior students were lucky enough to attend a live episode of Q&A hosted by the ABC with Leader of the Opposition (now Prime Minister), Anthony Albanese. We departed in the early evening, accompanied by the fantastic Mr Lidster & Ms Scardanas, embarking on a bus trip to the city with plenty of excited chatter, vocal harmonising, and speculation about Mr Albanese’s political performance. Upon arrival in the city, we were allocated our seating in the audience and had the opportunity to see the behind-the-scenes cogs and gears of the production, including how the sound, lighting, and cameras worked and how the host and Mr Albanese warmed up prior to the camera’s beginning to roll. The event itself was deeply enriching, with all of us eager to listen to the perspective and questions of the diverse range of questions presented by audience members, as well as to hear the response of Mr Albanese. It was an excellent introduction into the political and civic world for many of us, while for others it was an opportunity to deepen their existing passion for political engagement. Some of us were lucky enough to be seen on live television, and after the event, we were even able to grab a selfie(see below) with the now-Prime Minister himself. Thank you to Mr Lidster and Ms Scardanas for accompanying us and to the school for facilitating this opportunity.
Gabriel Cant
School Captains Update
We, Andre and Gabe (the School Captains) have been working closely with leadership bodies around the school to develop and sustain our direction for the school. We have helped make Prefects initiatives and ideas come to life including our Prefect Afternoon Tea, Refugee Week and the Push Up Challenge beginning in June just to name a few. These initiatives have been well embraced by the school community and have helped in promoting a positive school culture. On the 23 May we were also invited to the 2022 Secondary School Leaders Reception where we were both awarded for our commitment to school leadership and our impact on the community. Within this event we also met both the Mayor Tricia Hitchen as well as Prue Carr, the local member and Shadow Minister for Education who provided us with some advice for our Year 12 studies(see article below). In our last few months as School Captains we hope to leave a legacy by implementing new strategic initiatives including a Leadership Forum which allows future students to develop skills necessary to be empowered young leaders.
Gabe Cant and Andre Dubier
Congratulations PSHS School Leaders!
The event brought the opportunity to meet many fellow leaders from the Penrith region, as well as meet the NSW Shadow Minister for Education, Prue Car MP.
Congratulations to all Penrith Selective High School leaders and thank you for your continued work for the school community.
Vice Captains Update
Recently, we’ve had the exciting opportunity to begin attending Prefect Afternoon Teas (PATs) organized by other schools around Sydney, in order to socialize and really solidify connections between Penrith High and other schools, whilst also helping to gain some insight into the leadership structures of other schools. As Vice Captains, we’ve also been placed in charge of organising the Year 12 Formal for our cohort. It’s been a brilliant year for the both of us, and we’ve been honoured to be part of the leadership team at a school like Penrith High. We would like to congratulate the newly elected Prefect Interns, and wish them good luck as we move on. With this year being our final year, we hope you take very good care of yourselves because you deserve it! Feel free to reach out to us, about almost anything, should you need it. We’re more than happy to have a chat with you!
Veerja Patel and Joshua Gange
Social Justice Report
The Social Justice Prefects are currently working hard to prepare for the social justice and wellbeing events for our final term as prefects. Starting with reviving the social justice targeted clubs such as volunteering, social justice, and fair trade clubs, we are hoping to restart the spirit of giving back to the community through the Blue Mountains Refugee Group and the Blanket and Beanie Appeal. Additionally, planning for Refugee Week under the theme of ‘Unity - The Way Forward” which aims to promote harmony and togetherness regardless of any differences in our race or background within the school community by sharing the experiences of refugees over the course of three days. Additionally, preparing for NAIDOC Week this year's theme is, “Get up! Stand Up! Show Up!” which is focused on continuing the momentum of seeking systematic change that secures institutional and collaborative reforms for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. The final event the Social Justice Prefects are promoting is the Push Up Challenge which is a campaign that aims to raise funds and awareness for mental health by challenging individuals to complete approximately 3,000 push ups over the month of June to ultimately improve mental, and physical health as well as mental health literacy.
Alisha Ahmed, Halis Rishamsulkamal and Samantha Buda
Academic Prefects Report
Since the middle of Term 1, the Academic Prefects have been organising fortnightly check-ins with the transfer students across all grades. We ensure that their transition is smooth and that their progress in academics is being sustained, while checking in on the social and mental aspects of the students as well. These fortnightly check-ins will continue until the end of Term 2, once we’ve determined that the transfers are comfortable and have settled in well. These check-ins have involved educating the students about our school values, uniform policies as well as making sure there aren’t any social or academic concerns. Up until this point, the transfers have progressed well both academically and socially.
Moreover, we have been planning activities for the Year 12 Well-Being Day which is set to take place in late Term 3 to provide HSC students with a relaxing break from their studies and stress.
Zoe Elizalde, Olivia Lee and Papri Mallick
School Functions Prefects Report
On May 3, Term 2 Week 2 Tuesday, we as the Prefect body held our Annual Prefect Afternoon Tea. It involved gathering leaders from many other selective, local or religious schools for an opportunity to communicate and have fun in activities together. It was a great opportunity to meet and get closer to some new students and we hope that other schools had as much fun as we did during the night. Below are a few pictures that were taken on the day!
We have a few more pictures uploaded on to our Instagram account @penrithprefects so please check them out when you get the chance. We’d like to thank everyone who helped out during the day, our staff, the talented Multimedia and SRC leaders, and our fellow prefects. It was thanks to everyone who assisted that made the night possible.
As we approach the end of our duties and our new Prefect Interns take over, we’d like to thank everyone who helped us fulfill our responsibilities and assisted in organising school events. We couldn’t have done everything without all of you. We hope everyone has a great Term 2 and good luck to our students throughout exam periods.
Thank you!
Shivangi Agnihotri, Luke Byun and Christopher Kwon
JRC Report
We have completed the restructuring of the JRC in order to create more meaningful contributions to the school and wider community. The JRC (Junior Representative Council) is a leadership group for Year 7s who are interested in giving back to the school community and preparing for possible future roles, including SRC and Prefects.
This term, the first group of JRC for 2022 was elected, and we have been overseeing their meetings, while helping them plan a couple of events for this semester. We have already begun collecting food drive donations, for the not-for-profit organisation, Food Bank Australia. In addition to this, we have been helping in the organisation of a House Carnival, at which, the JRC will be running carnival games and selling lolly bags. We look forward to continuing to work with the JRC and other leadership groups, to enhance the school’s spirit!
Athena Xin Tian Auw and Rachel Mathew
The newly elected JRC body for Semester 1, 2022 is as follows:
Triumvirate
Jennifer Chen
Kavin Sachdev
Irene The
Class Representatives
Saamra Abbas
Elliott Baker
Pragyan Bhusal
Jeremy Godiyal
Srihaas Gorrepati
Ashwin Kannadasan
Daniel Low
Krisha Narayanan
Dhairya Patel
Rupanti Paul
Ashton Poon
Vithiya Ravithasan
Amelia Sarwar
Keerthana Sasitharan
Farmaan Singh
Rubini Sivakumar
Anshi Sobti
- House Carnival
The JRC, along with the House Captains, have been working on the House Carnival where we offer many activities for the whole school to participate. The carnival promotes school spirit and allows students to gain points for their house group as well as allowing students to have some fun. The date for the house carnival is Friday Week 8, on June 17. The activities that we are offering to students include cup pong, bullet chess, quick draw, baby photo guessing (of the teachers) and table tennis. The carnival will take place in the lower quad where assemblies are held.
- Lolly Bags
The JRC team has prepared a lolly bag stall for the upcoming House Carnival. The lolly bags can be bought by either pre-ordering via google forms, or buying it on the day. The options for the lolly are chocolate only, lollies only and mixed of both. The pre-order form will be sent to the school soon via email. The money raised from this event will contribute to starting a new JRC fund which will allow for more fun and exciting events in the future!
- Food Drive
The JRC has organised a Food Drive with Food Bank Australia. These foods, donated by Year 7, are going to unfortunate Australians around the country who are unable to eat. Year 7 are able to donate food by placing non-perishable food in their house boxes under the A block stairs. This is a great opportunity for Year 7 to give back to the Australian community in need.
The Little Shop of Horrors
The latest episode of The Penrith Perception is out on Spotify. In this episode, we talk about Putting on a Musical!
Last term, Penrith High School presented its first musical in over 30 years - The Little Shop of Horrors. The shows’ pop/rock musical journey takes audiences from the rough neighbourhood of Skid Row, right through to fleeting fame when Seymour’s flytrap plant gains him star-botany-status BUT can only thrive on human blood and grows bigger and bigger! The Little Shop of Horrors is a show of budding romances mixed with the growing seeds of world domination.
For this episode, the Multimedia Team chat to Mr Vassallo and Mr Rolls to hear all about the successes of putting on a musical.
FUN DURING SPIRIT WEEK!
Students V Teachers Volleyball
Cross Country Age Champions and Point Score Table
Highlights of X Country '22
BOYS OPEN BASKETBALL STATE KNOCKOUT GALA DAY
On Monday, 4th of April, the Boys Open Basketball Knockout team participated in the Sydney West Gala Day at Penrith Valley Regional Sports Centre. This involved the last eight teams in the region. In Penrith’s pool of four were Winmalee HS, The Ponds HS and Arthur Phillip HS.
The first game against Winmalee HS was a very tight affair with Winmalee, aided by some very good 3 point shooting, just pipping Penrith 25-24. This meant that we had to win the next two games to make the semi -finals.
The second game was against The Ponds HS. This time the boys were more focussed, and after a tight battle initially, we managed to pull away to win 50-36.
The third and final pool game was against Arthur Phillip HS. The boys dominated this game from the start to win easily 40-13.
This meant that we were second in our pool with Winmalee HS topping the pool undefeated. We now had to play St Marys Senior HS, who topped Pool B undefeated in the semi finals for a place in the State finals.
The boys played their best match of the day and led going into the last quarter. However, St Marys Senior HS’s greater depth off the bench proved the telling factor in the fourth quarter as our boys started to tire. Eventually St Marys prevailed 33-25 and the dream of another State Final for a second year in a row was now over. St Marys went on to defeat Castle Hill HS in the final.
Congratulations to Mr Karl Serrato as coach, with help along the way from Mr David Huynh. The boys who participated on the day were Lachlan Stone, Abhinav Santhakumar, Rionne Bondal, Pavethan Krishnakumaran, Cameron Lau, Owen Jose McCann, Nawfal Rahman and Ryan Wen.
Hopefully this team has re-ignited a passion for basketball in the school so that future teams can also be successful.
Mr Stone
Congratulations to the Open Girls Knockout Netball!
Congratulations to the Open Girls who represented the school in Knockout Netball.
After a wet start to the Knockout Netball Rounds, the Open Girls Netball team was successful against Hawkesbury High School making it through to Round 2 to play Rouse Hill High School on their home courts.
The team had trained during recess and lunch in preparation for the event. The rain was set to wash out the game but lucky the courts were dry, and the teams were prepared and ready to play.
The game was off to a tough start with scores locked early. The girls fought back in the third and fourth quarter showing resilience and teamwork throughout the game.
Despite their determination and amazing effort, the girls were defeated by Rouse Hill High in the end.
Congratulations on your outstanding effort!
Kylie Lowe
Deputy Principal
Anzac Day Commemoration 2022
ANZAC DAY CEREMONY REPORT 2022
On the 5 April, 2022 Penrith High School’s Years 7 and 10 students commemorated the lives of Australians lost at war in the school’s annual ANZAC Day ceremony. Mrs Janelle Michels, of the History Faculty, was the MC.
The opening address made by Mr Stone, Head Teacher History, highlighted the roles and contributions made by soldiers Cecil Howlett and Cecil Fulton in WW1. Links were also made to the current Russia-Ukraine conflict.
The reading of the poem “In Flanders Fields " by John McCrae (1918) read by Rionne Bondal, Year 12 Subject Prefect, provided words of thought and reflection.
The musical performance of the song “I was Only 19” by Redgum, sung by Esha Singhai of Year 11, captured the solemnity and mood of the occasion, where students were able to quietly reflect on the meaning of ANZAC Day.
The Ode, read by Riya Jain, Year 12 Subject Prefect, has been used in commemoration services in Australia since 1921. It was followed by The Last Post, then one minute’s silence and finally The Rouse, which reinforced the solemnity of the ceremony.
The National Anthem was beautifully sung by the Penrith Selective HS choir, to complete the formalities.
The student body respectfully reflected upon all those lost in wars, reminding us of the devastating effects war has on humanity.
Mr Stone
Head Teacher History
Thank you Elijah Freeman!
Elijah was the only drummer for the Catafalque Party at the ceremony and was recognised as an important part of the ceremony.
Thank you to Ms Scardanas and Mr Vassallo who accompanied Elijah!
WeSSSTA Day at PSHS!
Special guest was Mr Ross Gittins AM FRSN, an Australian political and economic journalist and author.
As always Ross Gittins brought with him vast knowledge and experience to the day.
Drama Workshop
Our Year 11 Drama students were given an opportunity to work with professional artists in their drama period to learn more about various ways to make theatre. Thank you to Zen Zen Zo and Swoop Physical Theatre for their workshops and we hope all of the visiting schools enjoyed the day.
Sport for Jove Regional Shakespeare Carnival
We are proud to say the Physical Theatre performance placed second and the duologue performance placed second.
Our dance, Group Devised and Ensemble Scene, performances placed first in their divisions meaning they will move on to the State Shakespeare Carnival at the Seymour Centre.
Thank you to Ms Lawson, Mr Vassallo, Mr Rolls and Ms Magi who have worked with the ensemble over the last two terms.
A massive thank you to Niall Stewart for managing the canteen for all of our audience members.
Empowering Youth Day 12th May 2022
We, along with Mrs Michels, Advocate for Female Students, attended the Empowering Youth Day, which was a fun-filled day consisting of many different activities and workshops to help us in the future. We not only learnt about skills such as banking and saving but also some practical skills not typically thought of, such as how to dress and what type of makeup to wear for job interviews. The interactions taught us how to prepare ourselves for realistic situations in the future, how to behave and act in a job interview, setting up a resume, saving money, how loans work and self-defence. We learnt about the importance of balance; balance between academics and also self-care, how they each balance and rely on one another. One of the biggest takeaways was from the people we met, they told us about their own career adventures starting from professions such as marine biology, dentistry and hairdressing to banking. It taught us that choosing a certain degree doesn’t mean you are locked in and stuck, but Australia offers us so many choices and it really took away a lot of the stress, especially with subject selections coming up soon for those of us in Year 10. Another highlight of the day was when Mr Vassallo’s sister- who previously so kindly donated her time to the school’s fundraising efforts for World’s Greatest Shave- also donated her time, and that of the other hairdressers at her salon, to give hair tips and pampered the students by styling their hair too!
Anchita Eranki, Hazel Malhotra and Moriah Urmeneta
Congratulations Anders!
Anders said " it was a wonderful experience and I am looking forward to doing it again ".
Anders also entertained us in the library recently during recess with his amazing piano accordion!
News from PSHS Library
It has been an exciting time in the library with the launch of our Library Leadership Team’s first edition of their magazine “Pages From Penrith” The magazine has been well received by students and staff and contained a vast array of reviews and reading suggestions. It also included some wonderful micro fiction by Penrith Selective High Students and a literary crossword. I am really looking forward to seeing what the team are going to do for the next edition.
The Library Leadership team have also been busy with helping with the running of the library, including circulation, shelving, tidying and displays. So far this term we have had a display to celebrate the Bard himself, William Shakespeare, as well as displaying some new titles. There is also the founding of a Library Book Club in the works (more to come on that in the next newsletter). We also had a wonderful display on the power of books and how they allow us to travel anywhere and anytime, even if we have to stay just where we are.
It is hard to believe that we are almost halfway through the year and that Winter is on our doorstep! Anytime is a great time to read but Winter evokes thoughts of cosying up with a warm blanket, a cup of tea and a good book or two. This is the perfect time to take advantage of both the books in the library and our wonderful new e-book and audio book platform Wheelers. They have a wonderful selection of titles and add new books each month. You can access the e-platform through the Oliver Library homepage, but feel free to contact me if you need any help in accessing Wheelers.
Happy Reading!
Lisa Roberts
Teacher Librarian
Monthly Melodies at the Royce
Each term students from across our music program are selected to perform at the Monthly Melodies event and we look forward to performing again next term.
Thank you Mr Rolls for accompanying our students!
Congratulations Tarin Liu Y10 who represented Penrith High School at the Men's Sabre Senior School Championship round# 2 at the NSW Fencing Centre and won the Bronze Medal
Gold Dukes Update
Gold Duke of Edinburgh Qualifying Journey
Warrumbungle National Park
Sunday 27/3 to Friday 1/4
We left school around 10am to pick up Mela from her house, before starting the five hour drive to the Warrumbungle National Park. It was raining almost the whole time. On the way, we saw Windamere Dam (which was bursting with water), and stopped by Mudgee for lunch. We also stopped at Coonabarabran, the town closest to the Warrumbungles for a toilet break. We entertained ourselves by sleeping, listening to music and playing I Spy. Upon entering the national park, we got out to take a short walk out to White Gum Lookout, where we had a view of the mountains we would be conquering later in the week. After returning to the van, we continued to Camp Wambelong, where we set up our base camp and prepared our dinners.
On our first day walking, we woke up quite late and packed our rucksacks for 2 days and 1 night worth of hiking. We then drove over to the Visitor Centre, where Miss Andreatta had some paperwork to file. After driving to the Pincham Carpark, we got ready to start the Grand High Tops Walk. We began on the Grand High Tops Trail, and passed the intersection to the West Spirey Track. We had a short break after that at our 2nd checkpoint and waited for the teachers to catch up, to make the decision regarding the completion of the Gould’s Circuit. After discussing, we decided to drop our rucksacks and carry our small backpacks while completing the Gould’s Circuit. This circuit consisted of two main attractions; Febah Tor and Macha Tor. The trek uphill to Febah Tor was quite strenuous, but once we got there, the view definitely made up for it. After relaxing for a while and taking some pictures, we moved on to the walk to Macha Tor, which was another 600m away. The view at Macha Tor was breathtaking and impossible to describe in words. The rising mist decorated the mountains in a surreal fashion, giving wake to some pristine views, fragranced by the fresh goat poo. After getting engulfed by the view, we made our way back down to our bags, observing fresh goat tracks. We had our lunch in the intersection of the Gould’s Circuit before continuing on to the Grand High Tops Track. We decided to skip on the West Spirey lookout track, because 5 out of 6 members were too tired, so we went onwards till we reached an intersection on the track. On our maps, there was a mention of Eagle’s Waterfall being just up the track, but we saw no sign of water or falls. Regardless, the teachers and a couple of students went on the track to check it out. After seeing no water and falls, we returned to the main track and continued up the ‘Yellow Brick Road’. We were then met with one of the steepest uphills ever. This ascent continued for another 600m or so, before we were met with the stairs. 246 stairs later, we arrived at Balor Hut. We refilled our bottles here and went to the bathroom as we waited for Wes. Wes was the Principal of the Warrumbungle Education Centre, who would join us for the night to teach, scare and accompany us. Just at that time, Mr McNally banged his head on the edge of the roof of the hut. After some first aid, Wes welcomed us into the land and continued with us for the last 2 kms to Dows Camp. We made it to Dows Camp, with enough time to set up our tents, and then begin cooking our dinners. The only night with a campfire, we shared some scary and entertaining stories along the campfire, before going to sleep when it rained. Little did we know, tomorrow morning would be AMAZING!
The second day of walking started (in the dark!!) early as we got up at 5:30 to see the sunrise. Walking up the steep track to Bluff Mountain we tried not to trip just using the light of our head torches. We reached the summit just as the sun began to rise above the horizon and had breakfast as we watched it light up the clouds. The view from Bluff Mountain was incredible as we could see most of the Warrumbungle National Park laid out below us. Wes told us about the surrounding country and we got to witness the incredible sight of two wedge tailed eagles flying low above us (Maliyan in the Kamilaroi language). After walking back down to the campsite we packed up our stuff and decided how we would tackle the day ahead. We all decided to go up to the Grand High Tops as we missed it the day before. Whilst we headed off Wes set off down the track back to the carpark to continue his day. After a not too steep uphill climb and a few quick stops we reached the top and the incredible view of the surrounding mountains. We took a break to admire the view then the group split in two, three people going back the way we had come for a shorter walk back to camp, and the other three down past the Breadknife (an incredibly tall and thin rock structure). This group, after counting the steps down (388) filled up our water at Balor Hut and met back at camp. After a quick lunch we started the walk out. After a few uphills along a ridge the track was downhill from there. We reached the car at around 3, drove back to camp and quickly grabbed stuff for dinner and a shower before driving to the larger campground, Camp Blackman. There we all had nice warm showers, dinner and painted with the watercolour paints Miss Andreatta had brought.
On a day most of us dreaded, we awoke to Mt Exmouth’s summit imprinted in our minds. The tallest peak in the Warrumbungles, it stands at a mammoth 1200 metres above sea level! We began walking through Burbie Fire Trail, and through its many uphills led us to the base of the Mount Exmouth climb. After a small break to catch a breath and some snacks, our journey to the top began! After what seemed like an eternity we reached the summit, just as Mother Nature blessed us with clear skies looking down upon the Bungles themselves. To our surprise we uncovered a secret ladybug conspiracy, where we discovered an entire colony resided within the rocks of the mountain! After a lunch break we began our descent with our minds fresh with the feat we had just completed. We reached camp promptly, however, rather than weary we were excited for our evening adventure. On this day we were lucky enough to be able to visit Milroy Observatory, the Warrumbungles being the first, and the ONLY dark sky park in Australia! (making it optimal for stargazing). Upon arrival we were quickly ushered to our seats and as the lights dimmed we were exposed to an entirely different universe… up in the stars!!! The show imparted us with valuable information as we gazed at constellations through the telescope, such as the belt of Orion, the Southern Cross and how to find South with the night sky! After some last minute spending purchases we headed back to our campsite, making a pit stop for that extra dark sky experience!
On our last day of hiking, Arvind, Tala and Miss A started out earlier to catch the sunrise on Belougery Split Rock (the rest of us preferred to sleep in). As we regrouped halfway up the mountain, Mother Nature decided to remind us of her power and shot ferocious gusts of wind as we hugged rocks to steady ourselves on the climb to the top. We successfully reached the summit then climbed back down to safety and dear Mr McNally. We made the decision to finish off our hike with the track to Tara Cave - a seasonal shelter used by Aboriginal people since before the Great Pyramids of Giza were even built in Egypt! After purchasing some well-deserved souvenirs from the Warrumbungle Visitor Centre, we packed our bags and headed off to Trangie and visited Mr Newell! After a tour of Trangie Central School (his rural exchange school) and of the small town (equivalent to an 8 minute drive), we settled in Trangie Caravan Park - sharing our pizza and ice-cream with the bugs and sleeping on a bed for the first time in 5 days!
We left Trangie Caravan Park at 7am to have breakfast at Dubbo, an hour’s drive away. After filling up the tank, we began the long drive home. Just when we thought we were home free, one of the trailer tires popped! It was kinda cool learning to change a tire. As soon as we were done, we had some of the leftover pizza for snacks and continued to Blackheath where we had a lunch break. After sitting for ages in traffic, we were able to drop off Mela and FINALLY get to Penrith. At school, we put back all our equipment and made our own way home.
A big thank you to Miss Andreatta for organising this journey, and for her encouragement throughout all our progress from Bronze in year 9 into Gold in year 12. We really appreciate all her efforts in managing the Duke of Edinburgh Program at our school, and we might still be on the Belougery Split Rock without her! We love you Miss A <3
Words and pictures by the Gold Dukes group:
Mela Hoffman, Athena Xin Tian Auw, Arpan K Bassi, Arvind Janardhan, Samantha Buda and Tala (Kristiana Margate-an ex-student).
Post Script
Mela Hoffman from Year 12 has had her Gold Duke of Edinburgh Award signed off.
She is an outstanding student who is very deserving of this award.
Silver Dukes Qualifier
Silver Dukes Qualifier
Well done to all the students and a big thank you to Ms Andreatta for making sure our students have these wonderful learning opportunities outside of the traditional classroom.
Art Express Excursion
Thank you to Mr Wallace for guiding our students through the exhibition.
Updating Honour Boards/Sports Records
We are in the process of updating the Honour Boards in the hall.
We would like to confirm the Duxes:
1.from the 50s and early 60s (see below)
2. 1966
In Addition, we are also trying to find the Junior Sportsman and Junior Sportswoman of the year for;
1987
1990
1991
1992
1993
If you can help please email the school on:
penrith-h.school@det.nsw.edu.au
Attention Cathie in the library.
Thanking you
Michael Handley - PHS -'85-'87 - Finished Army Service as a Lance Corporal
WERE YOU A STUDENT OF PHS WHO SERVED IN THE DEFENCE FORCE OR KNOW SOMEONE WHO DID?
Would you like to be recognised on PHS Defence Force Service Honour Board? Or, have your friend or relative recognised who attended PHS?
If you are interested please email the school on: penrith-h.school@det.nsw.edu.au
Attention Cathie in the library for further details
NOTE: the school was not established until 1950 so bear this in mind
In addition, if the Alumni listed below could also reach out to update some details:
Harry Grimes
Jason Peterson
Stephen Thompson
Brian Carney
Alan Ormerod
David Stevens
Ian Dickens
Penrith Selective High School
Email: penrith-h.school@det.nsw.edu.au
Website: http://penrith-h.schools.nsw.gov.au
Location: 158-240 High Street, Penrith NSW, Australia
Phone: 02 4721 0529
Facebook: facebook.com/penrithselectivehighschool