Penrith Selective High School
September/October Newsletter 2022
From the Relieving Principal
Welcome to the final term of 2022 and the latest edition of our school newsletter.
In our last newsletter, I shared that the roof of the school’s Hall, A block and in parts of H Block and T Block would be replaced. These works have now been completed. Thank you to everyone for their patience as we navigated these major works.
The end of Term 3 saw our planned events for Year 12 move due to the National Day of Mourning for Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. Despite this unexpected move and some rain, we were able to send Year 12 off with a student and teacher breakfast on the Industrial Arts Lawn, followed by their Clap Out. That evening we welcomed Year 12 and their families for a very special Year 12 Graduation which was held in the Gym for the first time. My thanks to the organizing committee and in particular Year 12 Deputy Principal, Mrs Doris Lee and Year Adviser, Mr David Elias for their ongoing support of the graduating Year 12 cohort. Of course they were supported by so many more amazing staff and I thank them too.
More recently, our Year 12 students have begun their HSC examinations and while there was a wave of uncertainty at the very beginning, that seems to have faded to a welcomed relief and confidence with each examination completed. I am so proud of all the team here at Penrith Selective High School and am grateful for their ongoing commitment to our school and students.
In September we celebrated a delayed 70th Anniversary with school tours and a luncheon, I would like to extend my sincerest thanks to the 70th Anniversary committee for organising the recent luncheon. It was an awaited event and it was fantastic to see so many of you at our school tours held in the morning and then connecting over lunch. On behalf of the current students present at the luncheon and their families, thank you for allowing them this opportunity to meet so many of you and hear from the Honourable Linda Burney MP and Councillor Tricia Hitchen Mayor of Penrith. An in depth article follows.
We began the school term with our formal Leaders’ Induction Ceremony where we inducted our 2022-23 Prefects, House Captains, SRC and other leaders. The first student leadership bodies were established in 1950 with 2 school captains, 15 prefects and 16 House Captains. This has grown to a leadership team of many, many more holding a much wider range of portfolios. Our Leaders’ Induction Ceremony is a lovely reminder of the importance of balancing tradition and innovation.
Finally, thank you to all who attended our 2022 Open Night. It was the first on-site Open Night since the COVID outbreak hit. We had over 600 current, future and prospective students and families come to visit our school. Our students and faculties did a wonderful job showcasing all the wonderful learning and opportunities that the school has to offer both in and outside of the classroom.
Please enjoy all the wonderful content of this October edition.
Warm regards,
Jaclyn Cush
Relieving Principal
Celebrating Student Achievements
Andre Dubier and Mela Hoffman received the 2022 Minister's Award for Excellence in Student Achievement. This is a highly prestigious award with many high-quality nominations. The Minister's and Secretary's Awards event was held on Tuesday, September 6 at Sydney’s Town Hall where students were presented with their framed certificate by the Minister. Congratulations to Andre and Mela on this significant achievement. (See photos below)
Year 12 Graduation 2022
Leaders' Induction Ceremony
70TH ANNIVERSARY REUNION LUNCHEON
The Honourable Linda Burney MP - Alumna of PSHS, led the Alumni through the wonderful speeches on the day
Councillor Tricia Hitchen, Mayor of Penrith - Alumna of PSHS
Principal, Mark Long
The Organising Committee with the Hon. Linda Burney MP and the Hon. Mayor, Tricia Hitchen
ALUMNI PHOTOS
Students representing PSHS
A Review from Paul Hansen from the Organising Committee
There was a constant positive vibe throughout the afternoon.
The camaraderie amongst the attendees was most evident as old friends and possibly new friends were meeting and greeting. The speeches were good in content and delivery and measured in length and contributed to making it a good day. Teachers, Students and Parents, Alumni and partners mixed seamlessly in the Paceway venue with a happy background hum all afternoon. Many people took the time to express positive feedback to me as they left late in the afternoon. I have been most pleased with the alumni committee's blend of strengths and positive attitudes and the PSHS cooperation for this weekend event; Staff and Students surrendering their precious time. The Alumni committee warmly thank all who attended this 70th Anniversary celebration.
The Speakers
All three speakers were excellent. All were connected to the school. The Honourable Linda Burney MP and the Honourable Mayor, Tricia Hitchen, were both students in the mid-1970s. Both former students now with big political agendas. Mr Mark Long is the Principal (on assignment) in 2022.
- Honourable Linda Burney MP spoke movingly of experiences of racial abuse as a young teacher and her challenges now as Minister for Indigenous Australians, to create constitutional change, emphasising the gap that persists between privileged Australians and the reality experienced by indigenous Australians that no longer can be ignored: thus the importance of truth-telling. Linda heads a Department with resolve for cultural and constitutional change in Australia. The start of this change would be a successful referendum within the first term of this parliament and growing awareness of the importance of truth-telling
- Honourable Mayor Tricia Hitchen advised of the continued crisis in the Penrith City area, being perennially second place only to Blacktown for domestic abuse in NSW, and her challenges as a Councillor to cope with the steady flood of victims. The statistic that an average of one women a week is killed by her partner or former partner is startling, but then all the statistics about domestic violence are confronting.
- Mr Mark Long spoke of the outstanding success of the PSHS curricula and the academic results in recent years making PSHS a much sort after school. This year there were 700 applications to join the school in Years 8-11 and only a handful of places were available. Plus a record number of applications for Year 7 positions making PSHS a most sort after high school in the state.
It was not the first PHS school tour we have been on but it was the best to date. Small groups of 3 with two delightful guides in Rachel and Manasa. The girls certainly showed us the old structure encased in scaffolding but also discussed the attention focusing on the well-being program and the emphasis on awareness. We finished up in the Alumni Garden looking at names on bricks for my father (Year 1933) and our children. Here we happened to meet an old mate Judith Roberts (nee Phillips) who did Year 1 in 1950. and had in her purse the very first Towers magazine protected in a soft leather binding and decorated throughout with signatures. Judy recalled playing in the trenches on the new school site that were excavated during the war and how students collected bits of The Towers building as it was demolished.
Regards
Paul Hansen '68
UPDATE FROM THE PREFECTS
The Executive Prefects
As the Executive Team, we aim to lead the Prefects through the final year of leadership in Penrith Selective High School with integrity, honour and diligence. We each have different portfolios which are outlined below, with reference to our key initiatives as School Captains, Vice Captains and Senior Prefects.
School Captains:
Roles and Responsibilities
Represent the school at formal functions and events
Guide the strategic vision of the Penrith leadership body
Chairing prefect meetings and running school assemblies
Manage Prefect public relations with the staff, students, and wider community
School Captains 2022/23 - Milvia Mathew, George Mickhail
Vice Captains:
Roles and Responsibilities
Managing the individual prefect teams and tracking their progress with initiatives
Representing the interests of the Year 12 Cohort in regard to graduation, formal, gift to the school, and major milestone events
Key Initiatives 2022-23
Organising Year 12 Formal
Year 12 gift to school
Assisting prefect teams with event organisation (overseeing peer tutoring)
Reaching out to junior grades
Vice Captains 2022/23 - Iman Dirron, Tanish Patil
Senior Prefects:
Roles and Responsibilities
Recording attendance and uniform for students at assembly
Liaising with different leadership streams to negotiate prefect involvement and collaboration
Organising the Towers Magazine
Key Initiatives 2022-23
Towers 2021
JRC Restructure
Reintroducing old traditions (House Carnival, Lolly Bags)
Improving recognition and experience of younger leaders
Establishment of JRC fund
Captains - Milvia Mathew and George Mickhail
Vice-Captains - Iman Dirron and Tanish Patil
Senior Prefects - Anitha Pillai and Parth Purohit
School Functions Prefects
Over the last term and a half the School Functions Prefects have been working hard to ensure the successful and smooth running of events at our school. We have worked closely with Ms Fayle collecting interviews from students who attended Alumni Night and helping gather items for the archives which were displayed at Penrith City Library.
Our first main event was SASS Week to share our gratitude with the SASS staff and all their work behind the scenes. We organized a morning tea as well as a video and letters from the school to thank them personally. This was a highly successful and fun event! We also helped in the organisation of the 2022 Year 12 Graduation, specifically in the year 12 BBQ breakfast as well as the clap out assembly.
Currently the Functions Prefects are working to organise World Teachers Day with hand written letters as well as a brownie-cookie package to thank all the teachers for their wonderful work. We are also in the process of organising our first Prefect Afternoon Tea (PAT) which will be a great networking opportunity for our school and other schools attending.
We can’t wait to oversee and organise upcoming events around the school to increase school involvement and promote school spirit!
Dharani Sutharshan, Angeline Kaitharath Joby, Dharika sujendran
(School Functions Prefects 2022/23)
Academic Prefects
The Academic Prefects look forward to assisting our school and our peers achieve their academic goals and maintain their performance throughout high school as well as assisting with study groups for older grades, attending year meetings and planning fun activities such as Gala Day. We also strive to help organise camps and important year 7 events.
Dev Shah, Leah Joseph, Aatman Joshi, Sasha Madan, Avneesh Shivkumar
(Academic Prefects 2022/23)
Social Justice Prefects
The Social Justice team have had the wonderful opportunity this term to continue celebrations and to raise awareness for the many causes and organizations which work to help tackle social issues as well as men and women’s health and wellbeing. This term we saw the celebration of Daffodil Day, where we were able to raise up to $500 with help from the Fair Trade and Social Justice Clubs with our cupcake sale. Wear it Purple Day commenced shortly after, where a purple themed mufti was conducted to commemorate the safe space our school provides for young members of the LGBTQ+ community.
Currently we are working closely with the Social Justice and Knitting/Crochet Clubs to plan the Shoebox Donation Drive to support the Blue Mountains Refugee Group and Able2. This will begin shortly and we will encourage the school to participate in the donation of shoebox supplies through a fun and engaging competition with the prize awarded to the top English class.
We will also be holding a friendly competition for Movember, which will commence next week with both a prize for teachers and students to raise awareness for men’s physical and mental health issues. Coming up is also White Ribbon Day, where we will raise awareness for working to end male violence against women.
That’s it from us for now,
Manhishtha Bucktowar, Paige O'connor, Pranavan Prakash, Janindu Wijayagunawardana
(Social Justice Prefects)
Faculty Prefects
We are your Faculty Prefects. We are here to assist and support each and every faculty to ensure smooth sailing as well as aiding in any faculty-based events. We have already helped plan, set up and run Open Day for the incoming students next year and are in the process of planning to help the Science Faculty for their Halloween Science Week.
Cameron Lau, Shiv Nair, Eric Han, Jayden Kumarage
(Faculty Prefects (2022/23)
Enrichment Prefects
The Enrichment Prefects have been working hard to get Peer Tutoring up and running again - we can report that there has been an overwhelming number of students who have put their hands up to volunteer as Tutors! We’ve also been working with CAPA to plan the upcoming Tutoring Recital in Week 10 to celebrate the efforts of all extra-curricular music students. Stay on the lookout in your inbox for updates on this and competitions!
Alex Vella, Nirosha Manandhar, Mia Heredia, Victor Qin
(Enrichment Prefects (2022/23)
SRC Update
The Student Representative Council of 2022/23 has been inducted and working together for one term creating student-led events and continuing to be the vessel for students voice. During this time, we have also focused on building our presence within the school community in order to become a true ambassador for the student body. As the final weeks of 2022 quickly approach, we want to leave our mark on the year. We have a full agenda of multiple events that we are excited to bring, including Halloween, Walkathon and lastly 12 Days of Christmas which marks the return of a Penrith Tradition: Variety Night.
As Halloween has crept around the corner, we have prepared a variety of events to get Penrith into the festive spirit. In line with the Holiday’s tradition, October 31 will be a Mufti Day featuring students' most creative scary costumes. A spooky haunted house and a school-wide scavenger hunt has been set-up, involving a series of clues and hints which will lead the victors to a prize. The haunted house will lead students through our Cafeteria, anticipating jump-scares at every turn, eventually leading them back out with an eerie thrill.
Following Halloween, the SRC is hosting Penrith High School’s annual tradition of the 12 Days of Christmas, bringing Christmas joy to the community. The first day will commence the entire event with Decoration Day, followed by multiple activities over the course of 12 Days to involve students and teachers in our Christmas Celebrations. The SRC hopes to flourish the Christmas spirit at Penrith through mufti days, card delivery and prizes and bring a happy ending to this school year.
BSOC Pitch Competition Results
I just wanted to share, that I had the absolute privilege to attend the BSOC (Business Society) Pitch Competition in early September at Sydney Grammar and watched our team compete against independent and top selective schools.
This is the first year PSHS has competed at this level and despite having one member down with COVID, Alan Steny, Subham Pyakuryal and Aahil Kidavintavida achieved 3rd place. The judges were amazed with their presentation skills and their ability to engage the audience. Please see the photo of the students with the judges.
Doris Lee
Deputy Principal
Penrith in Performance
Tickets are available via
https://boxoffice-music.sydney.edu.au/WEBPAGES/EntaWebShow/ShowPerformance.aspx
History Smash Update!
Unfortunately there could be only one winner. Year 11 were victorious!
Thank you to the History Faculty for organising such a fantastic event!
Science Awards
There were some very outstanding results.
Well done to all the students!
Mathematics
We have had a very busy three terms in 2022. We have conducted quite a few Olympiads and competitions. I will give you the highlights, but we are still awaiting the official results for the AMC.
The Olympiad Training with Mr Tan was held every Thursday in room A.1.7 throughout the year and will continue throughout Term 4.
The Computational and Algorithmic Thinking Competition: (C.A.T), was held on Wednesday May 4. It was a one-hour exam before school starting at 7:55am. It is a unique problem-solving competition that aims to identify coding potential. The competition incorporates unique three stage tasks that encourage students to develop informal algorithms and apply them to test data of increasing size or complexity. The C.A.T. is the first stage in identifying and training students to represent Australia at the International Olympiad in Informatics.
This year we entered 18 keen students from Years 7 to 12. Over 19 516 students from 406 schools entered the competition this year. Overall, our students achieved 4 Distinctions, 8 Credits and 6 Participations. I am hoping that the certificates arrive at school soon!
The Credits were earned by Mahi Bora Year 7, Talin Bansal Year 8, Kaviya Vignarasa Year 8, Lawrence Chen Year 10, Myat Noe Year 10, Kirk Murillo Year 11, Parth Patel Year 11 and Gurveer Khalsa Year 12.
The Distinctions were earned by Isaac Carroll Year 8, Heer Panchal Year 8, Timothy Gonzales Year 10, and Vedang Purohit Year 11.
Australian Mathematics Competition (AMC)
The AMC was held on Thursday August 4 and is compulsory for all of Years 7, 8, 9 and 10. The results from the AMC will go towards their yearly report mark. All students should have paid the $7.50 entry fee and if you have accidentally overlooked it, can you please pay asap. It is optional for Years 11 and 12, those students who registered their interest with me earlier in Term 2 have been invoiced.
The results will be back at school by mid Term 4.
Peer Tutoring
Peer Tutoring is a free program where senior students are matched with students who are struggling with their mathematics. If you would like a peer tutor to help with your mathematics, please send an email to mathspeertutoring@gmail.com . Stating your name, year, mathematics class and areas of weakness. Juveena and Anuja will match you up with a tutor and contact you via email. This is a free service.
In 2019 we started a homework help centre for Year 12s, in 2020 we decided to include all school years. This runs at recess on Mondays through to Thursdays in room A.1.4. If you have a question with your homework/class work, you can just drop into room A1.4 and ask the mathematics teachers Mr Kim or Mr Pollard for help. You can ask as many questions as you like, but if you have a lot of questions regularly, we will recommend you get a peer tutor.
Primary School Peer Tutoring
This program involves a group of our Year 9 students working with the gifted and talented students from Penrith Primary School and Orchard Hills Primary School. We meet every Tuesday recess in the library. Each primary school student has been matched with a Year 9 student and they work together through the problems. Watching both sets of students interact, grow, and challenge each other is very exciting for myself, Mrs Wilkes and Mr McMahon.
Euler, Gauss and Noether Enrichment Programs
Maths Enrichment is finished for 2022. The tutors have marked the students’ problems and we have sent the results away to Canberra. Hopefully we will get the final results back in mid Term 4.
Applications for Maths Enrichment for 2023 will be sent out in Week 7 or 8. Please remember that this program is only for the more mathematically able students. It is not designed for those students who are struggling or who dislike Maths.
Australian Informatics Olympiad, (AIO)
The A.I.O. is a three-hour examination in which students are given 6 problems to solve. The students need to write a computer program to solve each of the six problems. They can use Python 2, Python 3, Java 11, C++ 17, C# or Pascal. Each problem contains several subtasks, worth a total of 100 points. All problems are of equal value and all problems may be attempted.
This year the A.I.O. was held on Thursday August 25. We had 5 students competing in the Intermediate division and 3 in the senior division. Gurveer Singh Khalsa and Vedang Purohit both achieved a Bronze Certificate in the senior division, Harry Le also achieved a Bronze Certificate in the Intermediate Division, Kirk Murillo achieved a Credit in the senior division and Sameer Mahajan achieved a Credit in the Intermediate Division.
Australian Intermediate Mathematics Olympiad, (AIMO)
This examination is 4 hours and was held on Thursday September 8. Students are not permitted to use calculators or electronic devices or books.
It is suited to Years 8 to 10 level and particularly for those who:
· have completed at least one of the Mathematics Enrichment Programs, (Euler, Gauss or Noether level) and
· are high achievers in the Australian Mathematics Competition (AMC) and
· Students who have acquired knowledge in Olympiad problem solving.
The Australian Mathematics Trust also use the Australian Intermediate Mathematics Olympiad (AIMO) as one of the competitions to determine which students are selected to a number of invitation only events, including other mathematics competitions AMOC, enrichment classes and training schools. Participation in these elite programs increases the likelihood of being selected in the Australian Training Teams for the International Olympiad Team. It gives talented students an opportunity to be recognised and to participate in activities which will enhance their enjoyment and knowledge of mathematics.
This year our AIMO team consisted of 5 students:
Ranuga Jayaweera Year 10, Sameer Mahajan Year 10, Aryan Mehta Year 10, Anmol Hassan Year 9, and Niall Stewart Year 8.
Australasian Problem Solving Mathematics Olympiad, (APSMO)
The Australasian Problem Solving Mathematical Olympiads (APSMO) is a not-for-profit, professional organisation that offers a range of mathematical competitions for students. The programs are unique in that they focus on the students' ability to solve mathematical problems in a creative manner - as opposed to simply reaching a solution using a prescribed method. Each year thousands of schools participate in the competition from around Australia and New Zealand.
The main aims of the competitions are to:
- Teach major strategies and develop flexibility for problem solving
- Foster creativity and ingenuity and strengthen intuition
- Stimulate enthusiasm and enjoyment of mathematics
- Provide for the satisfaction, joy and thrill of meeting challenges
Each mathematics class in Years 7 and 8 are entered as a team. Penrith Selective High
School has entered 10 teams. The Maths Olympiad offers team awards, including plaques for
the top 10% of teams and Team of the Year Awards for the highest score in each section.
Individual awards include certificates for students who participate in all 5 Olympiads, medals
for perfect scorers; a trophy for the highest score within a team; metal pins for students placed in the top 10% of scores; and patches for students in the top 25% of scores.
The students of Year 7 and Year 8 have currently completed the 5 papers over Terms 2 and 3 in the APSMO. The 5th and final paper was held on Wednesday September 7 for Year 7 and Thursday September 8 for Year 8.
There were over 100 000 students from around Australia and New Zealand registered this year. We were excited to find out that 3 of our teams were placed in the top 10% overall!! We would like to thank Dr Katyal for all her hard work and dedication in running these Olympiads every year. Further results and details will come in the next newsletter, so stay tuned!
THE ESSI FINANCIAL MATHS COMPETITION
This competition was held over Weeks 5 and 6 in Term 3. The competition educated the students about budgeting, credit cards, saving money, spending money, incomes, taxes, scams. The students had to get a job, answer quizzes and complete diary entries whilst building their financial empire. At the end of the competition the winners were determined by who had the most money, answered quizzes and completed at least 3 diary entries.
The overall Year 9 winner was Rafsan Ahmed, in second place was Joshua Chun and in third place was Mihin Rajasooriya. These gentlemen all received canteen vouchers and certificates at a school assembly in Term 3.
The top three students from each class have received their certificates . They were:
9m1
Rafsan Ahmed, Risham Dhaliwal and Maddox Ferguson.
9m2
Mihin Rajasooriya, Cayden Tjipowihardjo and Rachel Ding.
9m3
Shanay Parikh, Nimita Siju, and Andrew Mrsic.
9m4
Joshua Chun, Max Allen, and Freya Stewart.
9m5
Aahil Kidavintavida, Bradwell Kwok and Bradley Kwok.
Our overall school winner, Rafsan Ahmed was placed 1st in the National Competition! On behalf of the whole Mathematics staff and Penrith High School we would like to congratulate Rafsan for his magnificent achievement. This is now the best result ever for our school!
UNSW Mathematics Competition
On June 8, 14 students competed in the 60th Annual Mathematics Competition run by UNSW. The students were in Years 8 to 12. It is one of the few Mathematics Competitions where the students can win cash as a prize. This is the biggest contingency we have had sit this competition. This is a 3-hour competition! There were two divisions: Junior and Senior. Each division had 5 questions.
Gurveer Khalsa, Eric Ruan and Harrison Shi all achieved a Credit in the Senior Division.
Timothy Gonzales achieved a Credit in the Junior Division.
This sums up Maths for the last three terms!
Mrs S. Briggs
Head Teacher Mathematics
L to R Back Row: Isaac Carroll, Heer Panchal, Talin Bansal, Kaviya Vignarasa, Mahi Bora. Front Row: Lawrence Chen, Timothy Gonzales, Myat Noe, Kirk Murillo, Parth Patel and Vedang Purohit - Award Winners in the C.A.T Competition.
Peer Tutoring
Peer Tutoring
Kirk Murillo and Vedang Purohit - Award Winners in the AIO
ESSI Financial Maths Competition Award Winners
L to R: Rafsan Ahmed, Joshua Chun and Mihin Rajasooriya.Overall Award Winners in the ESSI Financial Maths Competition
Rafsan Ahmed - 1st in the National Competition of the ESSI Financial Maths Competition
Timothy Gonzales achieved a credit in the Junior Division of the UNSW Mathematics Competition
Library Update
It has been another busy term in PSHS Library.
Year 7 student Maryam Ahmad started a Friday lunchtime Book Club in which any student from any grade can come along to the library and eat their lunch while reading a book. Members of the club are encouraged to discuss books and share their love of reading.
The Library Leadership Club has been going strong and has developed a schedule for displays including a spooky Halloween and have some great ideas for the next edition of our magazine, being released at the end of Term 4.
There have been some significant changes to the senior study space.
SENIOR SPACE RENOVATION
Our school is filled with great resources and throughout the year, we have been working on not just improving these but making them more accessible for students. Due to the acoustics in the library, it was clear that the existing upstairs study space was not effective for collaborative work and changes needed to be made. We wanted to make a new senior study space exclusively for Years 11 & 12 students that was inviting and fun but still a place of productivity. Along with Ms. Lowe, Ms. Lee and Mrs. Roberts, we met with the designer of the space and came up with a colour scheme and design layout that we think will be the most effective and flowed with the rest of the library. The sections of the room include collaborative diner-style seating along a wall for those study group meetings, high tables along the back wall for more independent studies, like when you're trying to focus and memorise work, and more tables scattered across the room to optimise collaboration. Alongside this, senior-only resources have been moved from the upstairs study area onto the bookshelf with past papers and other notes separated by subject and we are working to get a calendar for updates about exam blocks. We have catered to every type of learner and made the whole space more inviting for productivity. The old senior study space is now an exclusively independent and silent study area, where students can focus quietly on their work.
Overall, we have seen massive success with the usage of the library with people working on mind maps at the tables, helping each other with questions and students finding critically valuable resources through this new space as well as students using the silent area upstairs. We feel we have made a massive change to the school and are proud to leave a legacy for future students to remember us by.
From,
Ankita Pramod and Caron Cyril
As always, the library places a strong emphasis on reading for pleasure and our e-books and audio books are going strong with more and more students using them. There have also been significant additions to our fiction and non-fiction collection in the form of new books for as the playwright Alan Bennett says,” A book is a device to ignite the imagination.”.
Happy Reading!
Lisa Roberts-Teacher Librarian.
New Senior Study Space
Halloween Displays
Raise Mentoring Program Graduation
“RAISE is more than the free food, my mentor has helped me overcome some scary challenges”.
Over the last two terms, 17 of our Year 8 and Year 9 students have been working through the RAISE Mentoring Program, and on Tuesday the 18 October they graduated.
RAISE is a youth mentoring program designed to equip young adults with tools, skills and resources they need to support their mental health, social and emotional wellbeing and their education.
At the beginning of the program each young adult was matched with a personal, professionally trained mentor. Together they have worked through the components of the program either face to face or via zoom each week aimed at navigating through the complexities of adolescence life and the challenges that are thrown their way. As well as our young adults being able to cope with today’s challenges they are now equipped with a set of skills and tools that have now become accessible go-to strategies for the rest of their lives.
Specifically, the coaches have worked with the young adults on concepts such as confidence, resilience, conflict resolution, goal setting, bettering relationships, academic confidence, asking for help and coping strategies to name a few.
Once again, the RAISE Mentoring Program was a success, and a highly valued experience by our students. A huge extended thank you to Maria Bui, our RAISE Program Coordinator and Psychologist. Without her knowledge, expertise, organisation and enthusiasm this program would not be as successful as it is, and Penrith Selective High School is very grateful for the opportunity.
Congratulations CAPA Students!
Congratulations to our students for amazing results in the 38th Penrith Eisteddfod held on September 2. Penrith High hosted the Instrumental Section.
As a school we received:
- 1st in the Mixed Ensembles category
- 1st in the Rock Band category
- 1st in the Concert Band category
- 1st in the String Orchestra category
A massive thank you to the staff who have supported the program behind the scenes.
In addition, Jeremy Spikmans of Year 9 (pictured) won the Strings Championship(18 years and under) as well as taking out first place in other solo sections.
Our school also received a special commendation for our contribution to arts and cultural activities in Penrith.
Anthony Vassallo
Head Teacher CAPA
Arts Alive Choral Festival
This year Sudhiksha Karthik of Year 10 who was accompanied by Mia Heredia of Year 11 and our String Ensemble were selected as featured items. In addition, large groups of students in our instrumental program were selected as members of the Greater Western Sydney String Ensemble, Greater Western Sydney Concert band and Greater Western Sydney Orchestra.
We are proud to have our staff as members of the production and creative teams for the concert series and thankful for the teachers who have helped support students in the lead-up to the event.
Anthony Vassallo
Head Teacher CAPA
Congratulations Reuben!
This production played at Richmond School of Arts between September 23 and October 2.
A wonderful achievement!
Competitive Dance Ensemble Update
Thank you to Ms Kennedy and Ms Harrison who choreographed the performance.
A special thank you to the parents, families and students for supporting the programs.
Congratulations Jean-Abe!
Many thanks to our expert tutors, fantastic choir director and musician Stuart Davis, and Schools Spectacular Alumnus and The Voice Finalist, Arlo Sim.
Don't miss Penrith in Performance '22
Tickets are available via
https://boxoffice-music.sydney.edu.au/WEBPAGES/EntaWebShow/ShowPerformance.aspx
Thank you Halis!
Amazing work! Thank you so much!
Blue Mountains Refugee Support Group
Congratulations Lachlan!
Clark Stone
Head Teacher History
Basketball Enrichment Excursion
In the holidays our Basketball Enrichment students attended the FIBA Women's Basketball World Cup to watch Belgium defeat Bosnia and the USA defeat Korea.
Thank you to Mr Huynh, Mr Serrato, Ms Alrubai and our coaches for giving our students this opportunity in the school holidays.
Congratulations Gauri!
Gauri competed in a time trial for the 440m against many top rowers in the state. In such a competitive field, Gauri took 3rd place in the U17 Singles.
Well done, Gauri!
Bronze Duke of Edinburgh Qualifier Term 3
Silver Duke of Edinburgh Qualifying Journey
Students participating in the Silver Qualifier during October 19-21 - Year 10
AHMED, Aariz
AHMED, Rizana
BABU, Ronish
BEDI, Simardeep
CHAPATWALA, Krishna
DASGUPTA, Shinjini
DUDHIA, Reeve
JACOB, Riya
JOSEPH, Neave
KARTHIK, Sudhiksha
KOVURI, Srikar
KURIAKOSE, Holy
LIU, Tarin
MAHFUZ, Sheikh Mustayeen
MALHOTRA, Hazel
MEHTA, Haripriya
NOE, Myint Myat
PERERA, Dinel
RATNESAN, Sri Vidya
ROYCHOWDHURY, Tonmoy
SRINIVAS, Kyra
SUJENDRAN, Krithika
VASHISHT, Shyla
YUNARDI, Jocelyn
ZAIDI, Abbas
For our Silver Qualifying Duke of Ed camp, we went to the city! We stayed at Cockatoo Island for two nights right in the middle of the seagull paradise. Over the 3 days, we walked over 50 kilometres along the city coastlines following most of the Bondi to Manly Walk. This was a very different experience for all of us as normally our Duke of Ed camps are in the mountains for bushwalks with our 12 kg rucksacks. Regardless, we thoroughly enjoyed our time at camp and were sad that it was over. Once again like our last camp, our route was modified many times due to the rainy weather conditions. Thanks to Miss Andreatta for organising a new route for us we were able to go out and about.
On October 19, we started our journey at Circular Quay wharves and caught multiple ferries over the coming days. Along our walks we saw many animals, one group even counted seeing 15 water dragons in one day. We stopped at the many beaches, took lots of pictures and were even allowed to get Starbucks. As we walked we saw so many dogs and talked to a lot of locals who were all very sweet and interested in what we were doing.
At our campsite, we took an historic tour of what used to be convict jails with all the structures and buildings still standing. We could even go inside some of the isolation chambers which were very echoey with the winds. During this camping trip, we all got spoiled with hot showers, microwaves, BBQ and instant boiling water. To make up we had to cook a three-course meal from scratch - people made all sorts of things from vege skewers, steak, quesadillas, burgers and nachos.
However, the best part of camp is always how we come together as one big group: everyone was included and talked to each other. During the camps, all of the awkwardness and friendship groups disappear. All in all, this Duke's camp was lots of fun and every moment was unforgettable.
Hazel Malhotra
Silver Duke of Edinburgh participant
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