Penrith High Towers-Alumni

Welcome to our third edition of Towers Alumni. Term 3 has been incredibly busy yet successful. It is also notable as we farewell another graduating class. Year 12 has been an outstanding group of students who have spent quite a bit of time learning about the history of the school right back to its opening as a stand alone high school in 1950. Their decision to host an Alumni Night was a huge success and allowed for an authentic connection between current and former students.

In this edition, it is a pleasure to hear from former Principal, Wendy De Paoli. I had the chance to meet with Wendy just after my appointment in 2016 and her passion for the school has not waned. As well as the honour as the second longest serving Principal of the school, she is also notably the only female to date to hold the position. Thank you to Wendy for not only taking the time to share her memories of the school, but for leading it for 10 years. A principalship that lasts a decade is full of challenges, sacrifices of important family time and sheer hard (but rewarding) work.

Finally, it is exciting to announce that, over the coming months, we will be able to share with you digitised versions of Towers from 1950 onwards. We will be navigating the complexities of current day Privacy Legislation to meet the legal expectation of reasonable notice required to publish school documents from 1955 or after. Eventually all copies of Towers will be available on the school website and a notice outlining how to ask for an image to be removed will be posted so that we can respond as quickly as possible. Digitising Towers will be a wonderful step forward in helping us celebrate 68 years of Penrith High School as a comprehensive and selective school.

Please feel free to send photos and stories through for our Term 4 edition to penrith-h.school@det.nsw.edu.au (Attn: Cathie) and if you have a reunion coming up, please let us know. We are looking forward to welcoming the class of 1958 back in Term 4 for afternoon tea.

Warm regards,

Mark Long

My decade as Principal of this fabulous school was neatly bookended by our Fiftieth Anniversary in 2000 and our Sixtieth in 2010. Both significant birthdays were special opportunities to celebrate our school’s past and present achievements and to reconnect with former students of the school from different generations.

Mr Long has very thoughtfully sent me copies of the Alumni newsletter and I have read them with great interest. It is wonderful that the entire collection of the Towers magazine is being digitised, that the superb work of our Duke of Edinburgh Scheme teachers and gold award winners over so many years is being recognised and that the recent Alumni evening was such a success.

I have so many wonderful memories of my years at Penrith High. Not a week went by without students accomplishing really impressive things right across the curriculum – performances, competitions, volunteering, leadership initiatives, awards – so many PHS students achieved at the highest level in real world situations that received public recognition and these activities flowed from the outstanding learning that our teachers offered our students every day in their classroom lessons.

I always enjoyed talking to our incoming Year 7 students about the history and heritage of our school – the special events that were always on our annual calendar or formed part of the fabric of our school culture – School Spirit Week, Penrith in Performance, the Walkathon and the staff v students tug-of-war (due to months of disciplined training the staff team always won this event) and on and on. Our students are genuine contributors and they always made me so proud that their contributions to their school and their community encompassed not only their participation in events, competitions and challenges, but also in the daily care they took of each other, in random and not so random acts of kindness and in always being very happy to help out when asked (eg when I had a Principal’s emergency with my computer that would totally refuse to behave and had to commandeer the expertise of a passing student – always with a successful and efficient outcome. Thank you to all who helped me!)

As I recently passed a bus advertising the new Harry Potter and the Cursed Child play which is coming to Sydney in 2019 (I will definitely be there), I was reminded that my years at Penrith coincided with the release of the first film of the series and all the excitement as each of the last four books in the series were published. And that was just the staff. I think there has always been a Hogwartian aspect to Penrith High School - the shadowy influence of the original Towers mansion has been part of the magic of the school and many of our students and staff over the years have wished at least part of it had been preserved for future generations to appreciate, instead of being demolished when the school was built.

Teaching in my eyes is both the most important and most rewarding of careers. I have been enriched both professionally and personally by my time at Penrith and treasure the enduring friendships I have made. After I left Penrith High I took up a position with the Department of Education School Staffing unit as their Principal Liaison Officer. What was an 18 months posting turned out to be a few years longer than that. I finally retired properly from the Department at the end of 2015, but I still work on small projects for Teacher Recruitment which I really enjoy – particularly interviewing new teacher graduates who are applying for employment in public schools. I remain a passionate supporter of public education. Since retiring I have also been able to pursue my interest in preserving and conserving our precious heritage through different kinds of volunteer work with the National Trust of Australia. The Year 12 students who are about to leave Penrith High will find many opportunities ahead – maybe not exactly what you thought would come along but sometimes something you had not previously considered turns out to be a fascinating new challenge that enables you to grow in new ways. My very best wishes to you all for life after school.

Having been part of Penrith High School feels like being a member of a very special club – I have had the privilege of working with outstanding and dedicated professionals and it is always a particular joy for me to hear about or, even better, catch up with our former students. I am also very grateful for the strong support the school, our staff and I received from so many wonderful parents and community representatives over the years. I wish the students, staff and families of Penrith High, past, present and future, all the very best in the years ahead.

With kindest regards,

Wendy De Paoli

Dr Emma George is the guest speaker for PSHS Graduation 2018

Dr Emma George is a Senior Lecturer in Health and Physical Education at Western Sydney University. Emma grew up in Western Sydney and graduated from Penrith High School in 2005. Upon graduation, she followed her passion for Health and Physical Education and studied a Bachelor of Health Science (Personal Development, Health and Physical Education) followed by a Bachelor of Health Science (Honours) degree, from which she graduated with First Class Honours in 2010. Emma successfully completed her PhD at Western Sydney University in 2014, which focused on increasing physical activity and reducing sedentary time in men. She was employed in the School of Science and Health at Western Sydney University in 2013 and was promoted to Senior Lecturer in 2017.

Emma’s research aims to promote lifelong physical activity and improve health outcomes and she works with health and sporting organisations to develop innovative, evidence-based community engagement initiatives to improve physical and mental health and wellbeing. Emma is the lead investigator for Active Breed – a collaboration between Western Sydney University, the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs, the South-Western Sydney Primary Health Network and White Ribbon Australia. The program engages male football fans and promotes physical activity, nutrition, mental health and violence prevention.

Heath Davis was an English/Drama casual teacher at PSHS from 2006 for a few years on and off and has now progressed to writing and directing his own movies. Heath himself grew up in Western Sydney.

His first movie, Broke, was a huge success and now he has released his second movie, Book Week. It is going to be screening at the Noosa International Film Festival and the Byron Bay Film Festival as well as local cinemas - the first being the Blue Mountains Premiere October 21 at the Edge Cinemas, Katoomba.

Below you will find the link to view the trailer and in the background you will see a photo of Heath.

We wish him well with Book Week and also the project he is working on currently.

Western Sydney University(WSU) has won the American Solar Challenge, becoming the first international solar car team to win the competition - a distance of 2,800 km.

The student-led project, which is based at the university's Kingswood campus, won all but one of the five stages.

In an article in the Western Weekender, Saami Bashir (an ex-student of PSHS) said " The team feels extremely proud and excited, it actually feels like all of the hard work over the past couple of years has been validated."

Saami also said " To be honest, with the astronomical resources some of the competitiors have, a win never seemed possible for a young team from Australia. But we never gave up on the chance that we could."

With only 15 team members the Australian team was significantly smaller than most other teams that had 30-50 members. A great achievement!

On Wednesday October 17, 2018 there will be a reunion for the Class of '58 to be held in the school library at 2.30pm. This Afternoon Tea will allow the Alumni to catch up and they will be able to take a wander especially down to the hall to view the honour boards and perhaps to see some familiar names on the trophies down the entry foyer hallway.

Directions are as follows:

The main gate is still on High Street.

Parking is limited, but if people can find a space, they are welcome to park onsite. If not there is parking on the street, but it might be worth noting that they are quite heavy handed with parking fines in the McDonalds and Aldi car parks.

For any enquiries please contact:

Ralph Sheens on email address:

frankgundy@hotmail.com

Marcia Koch nee McCormack - currently In Merimbula far South Coast NSW

Best memory . !

• Was being one of the founding recipients of a place on the Sports Honour Board secured with a Blue in Tennis in my 3rd year

Went on to Teachers’ College with 2 other classmates , Peter McKenzie and Hedley Willis. We were all selected to follow the 3 year Diploma Course in Physical Education .

( Degrees were not available in this field in those years )

Wonderful memories were made at our Alma Mater.

• came back to do a 2 week Practice Teaching Block in my third and final year

• segregated Teaching was the only option in those years and beyond and in my ten years in this field

• never taught the guys except perhaps in a joint Dance session just before a school Dance function

Some facts we coped with:

• Travelled by train to Granville as our nearest pool for swimming in those years . !

• 5 hours on the train for a 5 hour swim .

• Classes ran from A down to M.

• Only High School in this area closer than Parramatta to the East and Katoomba to the West and Richmond to the North .

Thank you for allowing us the priviledge of contributing to the Towers - Alumni Newsletter(Towers for me) some 60 + years later.

Memories:

· My friends – our year commencing in 1969 – through to 1974. So many good friends, many happy, carefree experiences, and a few sad ones as well but throughout our group remained close knit and supportive. I remain in contact with many of these friends today

· The many teaching staff over those years, many of whom went well above and beyond to support their students (and me, for which I am eternally thankful). Mrs Earp (English), Peter Roach (Economics) and Reg McMorrow (Geography) were just a few.

Now:

Career as an Internal Audit Manager. Formally with NSW Dept of Education and currently with Catholic Education, Diocese of Parramatta.

Message for the Current Students:

· Be acutely mindful of your time at PHS – enjoy and celebrate each day with learning experiences, your friends and your teachers;

· Look to the future with excited anticipation as the world is changing dramatically, and you are living it right now

· Choose your career path in an area in which you enjoy, because that’s where you will excel and succeed, in life, not just a job.

I attended PHS from 1955 to 1959. As a recipient of a Commonwealth Scholarship I went to Sydney University where I graduated with a B.Sc degree in 1963. I then went to the ANU in Canberra where I completed a MSc and PhD in Chemistry. I worked there till I retired in 2013.

One of my fondest memories of my years at PHS apart from the Chemistry and Maths was being involved in the school's production of Gilbert and Sullivan's Mikado.

I was Pooh Bah and sang alongside Derek Gow and Anthony Jay.

The Mikado was performed to a packed house for two nights on December 10 and 11,1959.( I am on the left of Derek Gow in the attached photo.)

My message to current students is that if you do what you want to do with your life(not what someone else wants you to) you will never be bored and your work will always be enjoyable.

PSHS represented by Year 12 student, Kashish Christian, and year 11 students, Neil Chan, Ashley Xia and Maninder Singh have spent weeks battling it out with other high schools to finish with a total of 38 points. Teacher and Chess Coordinator, Helen Leis, said the win was a credit to the students who have balanced exams, study, sport and illness with playing.

The team will now compete in the Sydney Inter Regional Finals going up against teams from Sydney's north, south east and south-west with the winner being named the Sydney School Chess Champions for 2018.

Good luck in the finals!

At the recent SRC and House Captains Induction Ceremony the following students were inducted:

SRC

President: Holly Gerrard (Y10)

Vice President: Benjamin Gange (10)

Secretary: Swapnil Chand (11)

Treasurer: Madeleine Reeves (9)

Media Liaison Officer: Sophia Hadjimichael (10)

Year 7

Arun Dannala

Praas Shah

Tanzeela Ansary

Year 8

Halis Rishamsulkamal

Gabrielle Cant

Yashvean Anantha-Siva

Alan Steny

Year 9

Archanaa Kananathan

Madeleine Reeves

Shameer Iftikhar

Yash Mishra

Year 10

Sophia Hadjimichael

Holly Gerrard

Ben Gange

Vaasav Mehta

​Year 11

Anusha Brungi

Judy Xie

Swapnil Chand

Emmanuel Thomas

House Leaders

Wentworth

Captain: Rohit Warrier

Captain: Gayatri Shiva

Vice Captain: Jerry Yeh

Vice Captain: Aishani Sivashankar

Blaxland

Captain: Mustafa Bandukwala

Captain: Sanaa Chaudhry

Vice Captain: Jason Adamos

Vice Captain: Jessica David

Mitchell

Captain: Daniil Rzhevskiy

Captain: Prithi Sivabalan

Vice Captain: Erick Rajan

Vice Captain: Zoe Peters

Lawson

Captain: Jae Min Jeong

Captain: Julia Labbe

Vice Captain: Sudipto Goswami

Vice Captain: Nicole Huang

A big congratulations to Ricky Rangra who was awarded a 2018 Minister's Award for Student Excellence in Student Achievement at Sydney Town Hall recently. Ricky's service in and beyond the school has been outstanding. We are very proud of his achievements.

Ricky also received the highly prestigious John Lincoln Award at Government House. The award was presented by the NSW OAM Committee and recognises outstanding community service. Ricky was the second PSHS student to receive this award in two years. Former Captain, Upvan Malhotra, was recognised in 2017.

Email: penrith-h.school@det.nsw.edu.au
Website: http://penrith-h.schools.nsw.gov.au
Location: 158-240 High St, Penrith NSW, Australia
Phone: 02 4721 529
Facebook: facebook.com/penrithselectivehighschool