Penrith Selective High School
April/May Newsletter 2023
From the Relieving Principal
Welcome to the latest edition of our school newsletter. As you read this, there is no doubt that the colder months have arrived in Penrith. The colder months are likely to bring an increase of respiratory illnesses in our community, including COVID-19, influenza and Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) as well as many other respiratory viruses. With that, I would like to remind our families that the school does have a supply of rapid antigen tests for students and families. These can be collected from the Accounts’ Office at the school.
Term 1 finished with an uplifting School Spirit Week organised by our SRC leaders and Ms Tiarne Verbeek, the school’s Student Support Officer. The theme ‘Feel the Beat’ saw us all move energetically towards the autumn break - some a little more fatigued than others after competing in the Cross Country Carnival on the last day of term. The energetic close of Term 1 was met with an equally energetic beginning of Term 2 with our annual Athletics Carnival. Our thanks to the PDHPE Faculty, under the leadership of Head Teacher Mr Justin Garland for organising the 2 day event. Quite frankly, there have been so many events since our last newsletter and I extend my sincere thanks to all the staff and students involved.
Before signing off, I’d like to share some exciting news in three areas: remarkable student achievement; important wins for the P&C and a new initiative to support our students:
Academy U
We are so excited to recognise the achievements of our students, as they celebrate a significant milestone of completing a university subject – made all the more remarkable by doing so whilst completing their Preliminary HSC!
In 2022, PSHS partnered with Western University to offer a pilot program to students with high potential in Years 9, 10 and 11. As part of this program, the below Year 11 (now Year 12) students not only completed a first year university subject, they performed so highly that they are each eligible for an Academy U Early Offer and an Academy U Engagement Scholarship worth $22,500 upon participation in 20 hours of Community Engagement:
Daniella Daniels-Obiokolie
Amanda Exley
Shiv Nair
Rabeet Nisar
Ankita Pramod
Victor Qin
Srujana Yerramsetty
Aaliah Yunus
Finally, a huge congratulations to Daniella Daniels-Obiokolie who achieved at the Distinction or High Distinction level in all aspects of the program. In addition to the above, Daniella has now met the preliminary requirements for an Academy U Excellence Scholarship.
Well done to these students who will attend their graduation ceremony on campus in June.
Term 2 P&C Update
Thank you to the 119 families who joined us for our Week 3 P&C Meeting. Our next P&C Meeting will be held on Tuesday 6 June. At this meeting, we will be welcoming back students from the class of 2022 to take part in a forum where they will share their experiences with parents, as well as provide some insight on how their families best supported them during their high school life. Please save this date.
Finally, we have been advised by the Department of Education that Penrith Council has provided initial approval to an extension and some renovations to our Lethbridge Street bus bay. Thank you to our P&C President, Mrs Priya Rodriguez and the 2023 committee members who have advocated for these changes to ensure the safety of our students and staff. While this will take some time, it is positive news for our community and I will continue to update the community on the planning for this.
Alumni Learning Labs
This term we have also launched an initiative called, ‘Alumni Learning Labs’. This initiative aims to support our Year 11 and 12 students by providing them with access to small group coaching sessions led by high performing alumni. The Alumni Learning Labs are held Monday, Tuesday and Thursdays between 3:30pm and 4:30pm in the school Library. So far we have launched support in HSC Advanced and Extension 1 Mathematics, HSC Advanced English, HSC PDHPE, HSC Business Studies and HSC Modern History. The Alumni Learning Labs are overseen by a supervising teacher who in the future, will provide academic support for students in Year 7-10.
We hope you enjoy the coverage of the many, many events that have run at the school recently.
Warm regards,
Jaclyn Cush
Relieving Principal
Congratulations to our 2022 Graduate, Aatish Budhwani!
This is the 12th year a local PSHS graduate has won this award.
Aatish is currently studying a combined Bachelor of Laws Degree at the University of Sydney. As the 33rd winner of the award, Aatish was presented with the Bateman Battersby Bursary Trophy and winner's bursary to assist him in his initial year of legal study by the firm's partners John Bateman and Michael Battersby.
A great achievement Aatish!
Secondary School Leaders Reception
At the reception Milvia Mathew and George Mikhail were presented with a Certificate of Appreciation by Councillor Tricia Hitchen, Mayor of Penrith.
PSHS is very proud of these outstanding leaders.
Academy U
Congratulations to Year 12 student, Daniella Daniels-Obiokole (as mentioned above) who has now met the preliminary requirements for an Academy U Excellence Scholarship worth $22, 500 having received at a Distinction or High Distinction level throughout the program.
Congratulations to the whole cohort for their wonderful achievements!
Alumni Learning Labs
Alumni Learning Labs are small group coaching sessions run by our highest performing graduates. They are after school Monday, Tuesday and Thursday afternoons for an hour in the school library.
So far we have launched Alumni Learning Labs for the following HSC courses: Advanced Mathematics, Extension 1 Mathematics, Advanced English, PDHPE, Modern History and Business Studies with more to come!
Thank you to our Alumni who are giving up their time to help our senior students for now but with a view to supporting our 7-10 students in the future!
RECENT PODCASTS
Podcast 15 - Kings and Queens.....in Chess
Podcast 16 - The Athletics Carnival
In this episode Yashika Saravanan Yr 10 and Manasvi Salaka Yr 10 talk to two successful participants from this year’s Athletics Carnival - Ruby Li and Jessica Liang of Year 8. The carnival is a festive and study-free two days, showcasing our school's many talents and skills in various sports with school records even being broken. The girls talk about the track and field events, caterpillars and everything House Spirit.
This episode marks the debut for 2 of our Multimedia Editors - Simran Kaur and Kavya Viswanath.
SRC REPORT
World Greatest Shave:
In March, the SRC held a successful World's Greatest Shave event. The school community raised over $12,000 for the Leukaemia Foundation. In the lead up to the event and on the day, students could participate in multiple activities. These activities were:
· A raffle, the main prize was a pair of Airpods
· Coming to school with a crazy hairstyle
· Making donations
· Some brave students also shaved their head!
A special mention to year 9 student, Charvi Voola, who independently raised $9,713!
School Spirit Week:
The theme for the 2023 School Spirit was ‘Feel the beat’. There was a wide variety of events focused around the theme of music!
Day 1 - The SRC started off School Spirit Week with a Teacher vs Student Dance Competition in the gym. The teachers were the team who walked away as the winners. This decision was decided by the crowd, the team with the loudest cheer won.
Day 2 - On the second day, students dressed up as their favourite music artists. Students were also able to take photos with their friends at the photo booth which was designed and ran by the SRC during recess and lunch.
Day 3 - On Day 3, the SRC held an Easter Egg hunt for the student body. Prior to recess, SRC members went around the school and hid chocolate eggs of all different shapes and sizes for the students to enjoy. This made for a chaotic but fun recess.
Day 4 - The final day of School Spirit Week was the Cross Country Carnival where students competed in to obtain a spot for Zone Cross Country or just ran for fun. There was also a barbecue where students could enjoy a drink and sausage sizzle prepared by the SRC throughout the event.
Students V Teachers Dance off
2023 Cross Country
Multicultural Day:
The 2023 Multicultural Day is the most anticipated event for the SRC and we have an exciting day planned ahead for it. This year the event will be on Friday 30 June (the last day of the school term).
This year there are many Multicultural Day food stalls from North Indian to South Indian to Sri Lankan. Some of the other cultural food stalls on offer will include Latin American, Philippine, Korean, Australian and many more. These stalls will be run throughout recess and lunch on the day. While the food stalls are running there will be many multicultural dances, so head to the hall during recess and lunch and see your peers performing their cultural dances.
So look out for any announcements in the coming weeks about this year's Multicultural Day!
The 2022/2023 Team
Girls Volleyball Knockout
The Girls Volleyball team went down to Auburn girls in two sets. They were missing their star coach Mr Flaxman to rev them up and keep them on their toes. The girls worked well together with great leadership from the seniors to ensure everyone was covering their space. A big shout out to Tanish Patil who refereed the game, Edbert Gunawan and Jonathan Sarayar who were the linesmen and Seth Weston-Cole and Ryan Wen who kept score. It takes a community to make these games happen! A top effort!
Congratulations PSHS teacher Mr Huynh!
A huge congratulations to our resident supercoach David Huynh who has coached the Sydney West Boys Open Basketball team to win the NSW CHS title at Bomaderry. The tournament involved 10 regions from across the state. Mr Huynh's team went through unbeaten, winning all five pool matches, then the semi final against Hunter and the final against South Coast. This is a very competitive tournament so full credit to Mr Huynh's ability to get the best out of the boys. Sydney West has not won a Gold Medal in basketball for over 10+ years. The last time Sydney West received a medal was silver 6 years ago.
Fun Fact: Mr Ferguson was also Sydney West basketball convener.
At PSHS, Mr Huynh is a Mathematics teacher, Year Adviser and the coordinator of our extremely popular Basketball Enrichment Program.
Three team members from David's side made the CHS team where Matt Bishop(Western) and Steve Delaney(South Coast) are coach and manager
Staff Development Day Term 2
Definitely an enjoyable collaborative experience!
How one Sydney selective school is trying to attract more girls! See article below
Anzac Day Commemoration 2023
Thank you also to our Concert Band led by Mr Sandham and the Choir who contributed to the service.
We paid our respects to all the men and women who have served our country, past and present, and honour those who made the ultimate sacrifice so that the world may be a safer place in which to live.
Athletics Carnival 2023
Thank you to Mr Garland for his leadership of the two days and to the staff for helping out as starters, judges and timekeepers. There was also great participation by the students!
Thank you to the Multimedia Team for some wonderful photos of which you can see a snippet below and many on the website in due course.
Lawson House dominated on the day but Congratulations to Wentworth House - although they didn't win the carnival, a huge turnout from house members saw them take first place overall!
ZOOM Seminar with Alumni James Beckett
Penrith High School's Business Society Presidents, Rabeet Nisar and Muhammad Abdullah, hosted a successful Investment Banking Seminar for all students, open to many selective schools and private schools around the state, inviting Alumni and current Vice-President of Jarden Investment Banking, James Beckett. James revealed the untold truths about investment banking and guided the students around the stepping stones to becoming a successful Investment Banker. His advice and experience proved to be extremely helpful for students, with amazing feedback from all attendees. Rabeet and Abdullah asked a range of questions stemming from the salary of an investment banker to whether his life was like ‘Suits’. To which James replied “Haha, funny you mention that, the first season of Suits was actually based on Investment Banking and I’d say it’s pretty similar.”
Over 50 guests and students attended the seminar, with amazing feedback from the top private schools and selective schools around the state. We thank James for taking the time out of his busy schedule and making the night a success. We hope to see more seminars from Penrith students in the future.
BSOC Ambassadors meeting at Sydney Grammar HS
The meeting was a huge success, with Rabeet, Sasha, and Muhammad getting the chance to socialise with other like-minded business leaders. They were able to network with presidents from other schools and exchange insights on running a successful business society.
The event was a great opportunity for Penrith High School's Business Society presidents to broaden their knowledge and connect with other leaders in their field. We hope to see more in the future.
Congratulations Keyan
We look forward to seeing how far Keyan's talents take him in the world of cricket.
Congratulations!
Sky Story Symposium
This program aims to connect Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander students from across selective high schools and classes and help them thrive in their education journey. The two day agenda involves a range of cultural activities, a Sydney University Tour, inspirational speakers and much more.
Thank you to Ms Scardanas for joining our attendees.
Elijah was asked for some feedback about the Symposium.
What electives did you choose for your camp?
A Cultural walk with Uncle Les
Kayaking in Chowder Bay
What was something that made a lasting impression?
The knowledge from the inspiring guest speakers
Connecting with and sharing ideas with other First Nation’s people at the camp
The location of the camp was amazing!
The visit to the University of Sydney was amazing. Not only will I never forget the custard tarts and apple pies but hearing from and chatting to First Nation’s students attending the University of Sydney opened my eyes to a world full of possibilities.
I’ve never been on a camp with food as good.
In what way did this experience build your understanding of culture? Or your connectivity to Country?
The people who were running the sessions at the camp were so informative. On our coastal walk, Uncle Les taught us about bush foods and bush medicines. The acknowledgement of country writing workshop was so insightful, it allowed me to see so many new ideas. However, my favourite activity was the Maths Enrichment session. Seeing the link between my culture and mathematics was really helpful to me, it’s helped me look at math’s completely differently. As a proud Aboriginal person from Kamilaroi country, talking to other Aboriginal people from Kamilaroi country was really important in helping me build a deeper connection to country. Overall, I loved the camp. Not only did it help build my understanding of culture, it also helped deepen my connection to Country.
Students below in front of the Bangarra Dance Studio after a session with the Bangarra Dance Company
Smoking Ceremony and Cultural Dance
Physics Depth Study
Thank you to Mr Dos Santos, Mrs Holloway and Ms Lam for guiding our students through this scientific process.
Beautiful Spectral Lines
Students used the Tracker App to convert their images into quantifiable data/graphs
Student investigating how chlorophyll in leaves can affect the emission spectra of light
PSHS CoLab
Synergy Dance Festival
Wendy De Paoli Art Gallery Update
We are very grateful to our exceptional CAPA Faculty for providing our students with such wonderful opportunities.
String Ensemble Performance
Thank you to the students, families and teachers who made the early trip into Parramatta.
Yr 9 and Yr 10 Drama Excursion
Thank you to Ms Lawson for organising this excursion to deepen our students' learning.
Sport for Jove Shakespeare Carnival
Our students received Highly Commended in the Duologue and Group Devised Sections and in the Ensemble Scene Section our students placed 1st and will now go through to the State Carnival.
A huge thank you to Ms Magi for her work with the students!
Relay for Life
Thank you, Mr Rolls, who accompanied them and supported Moriah on the acoustic guitar.
Congratulations to our Bronze and Silver Duke of Edinburgh Candidates
Congratulations to our Duke of Edinburgh candidates who completed this prestigious award at the Bronze and Silver level. To achieve at these levels, students must meet criteria across 4 categories. These involve helping the community/environment, becoming fitter, developing new skills as well as planning, training for and completing an expedition.
Congratulations to these outstanding students!
Duke of Ed: Gold Practice Journey
On May 2-5, the Gold group, consisting of Brayden Kwok, Dianne Caslangen and Tanish Patil(All in Yr 12), travelled to Glenbrook for our practice journey. We had an extremely fun time, climbing down rocks and navigating various obstacles like creeks, cliffs and trees. We started at Glenbrook station and walked all the way down to Euroka clearing, via creek crossings and steep hills. The weather on the first day was extremely enjoyable as we hiked along Glenbrook Creek up to Tunnel View Lookout. We then hiked back down to Euroka campground. This day was extremely familiar with parts from previous trips.
On the second day we were joined by the Year 10 Silver group. Waking up at about 6:00am, we walked down to the Glenbrook causeway to meet the group and walked along the Red Hand Caves Track back to Euroka Clearing. This day was a bit shorter, so we collected firewood for the challenge Miss Andreatta had set us, and completed some navigation upskilling. We also had time to relax at the Euroka campsite, adjusting tents and cooking some good grub.
The third day was a long one, with 17km of uphill and downhill trekking!! The main highlight of this day was Pisgah Rock where we got to see amazing views of the National Park before finding Attic Cave and writing our names within the historic book hidden in there. We wrote a note for future PHS students who do Dukes to find, just as we found comments from past students. We reached the campground just before dark, where we then spent the next hour attempting to start a warm campfire with a flint and steel.
Finally on the last day, we walked back to the Glenbrook National Park entrance. This day was extremely tiring having to bush bash and find old tracks that haven’t been used in years (thanks to the floods!). However, it was extremely rewarding to reach the end of the day.
Overall, we all had an extremely enjoyable time at the camp.
Brayden, Dianne and Tanish
Year 12 Gold participants
Congratulations Tarin!
Tarin also represented PSHS in the Senior Sabre School State Championships, winning another bronze medal. Next, Tarin will represent NSW Senior Schools to compete for the 2023 Senior School National Championships.
Cheerleading at PSHS
It will be wonderful to see the team in action!
Penrith Twilight Festival
Students in our Vocal Tutoring Program were also invited to perform along High Street to showcase their work across Semester 1.
Thank you to Mr Sandham, Ms Parashko and Penrith CBD Corp for supporting our students.
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