Penrith Selective High School
Special Edition - Education Week August 2020
From the Principal
Welcome to a special edition of our school newsletter to celebrate Education Week 2020.
Term 3 marks the changeover in a number of important student leadership positions, including Prefects. Thirty Prefect interns have been announced and they are working across a number of portfolios to serve the school and wider community. Their start has been impressive and I am sure will continue in this way meaning that all 30 will be eligible for conformation as Prefects and able to nominate for the higher positions of School Captains, Vice Captains and Senior Prefects.
Voting is currently underway for the SRC and House Leaders and we look forward to seeing the successful applicants in each of these positions and the impact that they have in the rich culture and history of the school.
In this edition, it felt right to showcase the outstanding work being led by students across so many of our clubs and other programs. Through a deep commitment from our staff and exceptional leadership from our Head Teacher Co-curricular programs, Ms Antoinette Pipio it is fantastic to see students finding other like-minded students to explore their strengths and passions with.
A large number of programs are covered in the articles below, but it is important to remember that in 2020, almost 100 clubs, enrichment and co-curricular programs are operating within the school.
Any student can nominate to start a club and need a teacher sponsor and to see Ms Pipio for a nomination form.
With NSW Education Week taking place next week, the theme of “Learning Together” is captured so well both in classrooms each period and through the large program of opportunities that happen each day.
My thanks to every student, staff member and parent who ensures that this happens each week throughout the year.
Warm regards,
Mark Long
Principal
Co-Curricular and Enrichment Programs
All information regarding Co-Curricular and Enrichment Programs can be found on our website.
Clubs and Societies
All information regarding Clubs and Societies can be found on our website.
Portfolios for the Prefect Interns for 2020-2021 Term 3A
Year 7
Leaders - Kokulaan Santhakumar, Marco Perri
Assistant - Ashvini Dolamulla
Year 8
Leaders - Rana Singh, Paul Sebastian
Assistant - Luke Boyes
Year 9
As the year 9 Prefect Interns, we are keen to work alongside Mrs Wallace, Year Adviser, and Year 9 to form a school environment in which the grade feels comfortable. We have already started to organise wellbeing meetings for year 9, and are working on building a closer relationship with their grade by asking for feedback through surveys and meetings, in order to assist them with various school related problems, in the best way possible. Additionally, we are looking to organise any extra programs that may benefit and support the grade both socially and academically.
Leader - Fairy Patel
Assistant - Jamima Rumey Jiffrey
Year 10
We are Abhijith and Leeanna, the Prefect Interns in charge of the Year 10 portfolio. With an overarching focus in assisting the grade with the transition into senior school, a very crucial time period of schooling, we aim to organise exciting events whilst simultaneously maintaining the wellbeing of the grade.
As year 10 Prefect Interns, we will be working closely with Year Adviser, Mr Elias, in assisting with the organisation of grade wellbeing assemblies, Student-Post Destinations and Subject Selection evenings, alongside collaborating with the grade in order to voice concerns of the student body.
As Year 10 are proceeding into their Subject Selections, an important period before transitioning into Senior School, we will be delivering a presentation which will shed some light into our own experiences with this process, aiming to simplify the process and ease the stress or concerns students may have.
We are really looking forward to working with Year 10 and Mr Elias over the coming weeks.
Leader - Abhijith Maliakal
Assistant - Leeanna Yao
Year 11
We are Olivia, Elizabeth, Shameer and Yash and we are the Year 11 Prefect Intern leaders and assistants for the first half of Term 3. Our role consists of bringing the grade together as well as supporting them via wellbeing meetings, the organisation of study groups and grade events. We hope to bring Year 11 closer together as a year group through various events and meetings. By the end of our Intern period as Year 11 Prefects, we hope to have established a more connected year group, and to ensure that the grade is progressing well and preparing for the HSC next year.
Currently, we are planning to encourage connectedness throughout the grade through different events. These include warm and fuzzy messages, which we are planning with the help of all Prefect Interns and hope to execute around the middle of the term. We are also planning on creating a colour run for the school, as Cross Country was cancelled this year due to COVID-19, and we hope that introducing this fun activity will create school spirit and enjoyment. We have also been discussing establishing a committee for jerseys, which we will all be involved in and hope to get the planning started soon. We are all very excited and grateful to be given the opportunity to provide help and assistance for Year 11, and we are looking forward to executing our ideas as soon as possible.
Leaders - Elizabeth Santoso, Olivia Bock
Assistants - Shameer Iftikhar, Yash Mishra
Mathematics
We are Darren and Leeanna, the Mathematics Prefect Interns, with Abhijith as our assistant. As Mathematics Prefect Interns, we will be closely working with the Mathematics faculty over the next few weeks in organising various exciting and educational events and programs in order to accommodate the student body.
After a hectic return to a new school term amidst these unprecedented times, the Maths faculty has continued with its energetic nature, ensuring that students still receive the multitude of fun opportunities and learning experiences it is known for. As Mathematics Prefect Interns, we will be collaborating on Mathematics Peer Tutoring of primary and secondary students, assisting with the organisation of our school’s many mathematical enrichment and co-curricular activities as well as academic competitions such as Maths Olympiad, APSMO and AMC.
We are currently organising the popular Rubik’s Cube Relay, a notable competition that occurs annually, allowing students to showcase their exceptional speedcubing skills in solving this difficult puzzle in a short period of time. As our school has a thriving and fun maths centred community, we are looking forward to working with everyone and providing a comfortable and educational environment to further better the learning of students.
Leaders - Darren Pradhan, Leeanna Yao
Assistant - Abhijith Maliakal
English
As interns, we are working on two key projects centred around the English faculty. Firstly, we are creating an English Peer Tutoring Program. Junior grades will be provided with an opportunity to work with high performing year 11 students to better their understanding and increase skills. Our other main priority is to develop more English-focused extracurricular activities. This will involve strengthening already existing activities, such as debating, and possibly introducing new ones to provide students with as many opportunities as possible.
Leader - Jamima Rumey Jiffrey
Assistant - Elizabeth Santoso
Science
The science prefects (Yash, Aditya, and Sara) are the clever minds of the prefect body. We organise fun events for the whole school to enjoy, such as the spectacular Science Week or the spooky Halloween Science Exhibit. We are not only here for fun however, we provide peer tutoring for students who are struggling in their science studies. In the upcoming months, we plan to organise and run a STEM Club, a friendly club for all grades to explore and learn the intricacies of science, technology, mathematics and engineering.
Leader - Yash Mishra
Assistants - Sara Saleh, Aditya Kumar
TAS
Leader - Jahin Khandoker
Assistant - Cedric Kutschera
History
G’day from Luke and Nicholas. As History Prefect Interns, we are assigned with the organisation of History Club, school history quizzes and History Enrichment, as well as the organisation of extra-curricular activities like the annual History Mastermind Competition. Within our portfolio, we organise and run special events throughout the school calendar, including the ANZAC and Remembrance Day Assemblies, plus NAIDOC Week, all of which hold extreme significance within our school community, and beyond.
Leader - Luke Boyes
Assistant - Nicholas Whelan
CAPA
Hello from Maddy, Ana, Jola and Fairy, and we’re your CAPA Prefects! We’re the outrageous leaders willing to make an impression. We specialise in all things Music, Visual Arts, Drama and showing the audience your talents! We love all the CAPA students and our goal is helping them to achieve the best results. Currently, we’re aiming to: revive the Art Club and get new instruments and art supplies for the Music and Art students. We also organise the show stopping events such as Retrospect, MADD Night, Yr12 Showcase and other events where students can show their stuff!
Leaders - Ana Maksimovic, Madeleine Reeves
Assistants - Jola Canlas, Fairy Patel
Social Sciences
As the Social Sciences Prefect Interns, we are here to ensure all students across all grades have the support they need in their studies and their input heard in any activities they want to run.
Our roles consist of organising YMCA Junior and Youth Parliament, arranging Social Sciences Peer Tutoring and HSC Study groups, assisting with Breakfast Club and MUNA in addition to subject selection and information evenings, and Student Senate Forums.
If you have any questions or suggestions, please do not hesitate to contact us. We are looking forward to working with you.
Leader - Alyna Arago
Assistants - Sinduja Sreshkumar, Eugene Chen
LOTE
Hello from Sara and Ana from the LOTE faculty (Languages Other Than English)! We specialise in organising the most exciting events such as: running our very own Japanese and Italian stalls at Multicultural Day, LOTE incursions, and participating in Extra-curricular Competitions like the OzClo Competition. Not only that, we also run an exchange program with Hakusan City in Japan! Every year, we host Japanese students and send our students to Japan in the Hakusan Exchange Program. Aside from the fun, we also provide LOTE Peer Tutoring for students struggling in Japanese/Italian and the teachers help prepare students for the OzClo Competition.
Leader - Sara Saleh
Assistant - Ana Maksimovic
Volunteering
We are the Volunteering Prefect Interns. Our roles directly align with the Volunteering Club which is run every Tuesdays at lunchtime in Ms Pipio’s room and involve planning and running various events to either fundraise for a particular cause or increase awareness of a specific issue. For our period as the Interns for this amazing portfolio, we are looking to increase the number of permanent junior participants, collaborate with other superb clubs such as Social Justice for smoother and more efficient planning of certain events, and actively encourage students of Penrith to volunteer outside of school for an opportunity to receive recognition for it. If you have any suggestions, questions, or would like to join, feel free to contact any of us at any time. Looking forward to seeing you all!
Leader - Cedric Kutschera
Assistants - Isaac Chang, Alyna Arago
Canteen
Leader - Nicholas Whelan
Assistant - Marco Perri
The Duke of Edinburgh Program
Duke of Ed is a flourishing and rich group within our school community, in which Zach Wan (assistant) and myself, Sinduja Sureshkumar (leader), endeavour to support and better the group in any way we can. Within this group, alongside Ms Andreatta, students show interest, register and undertake the Duke of Edinburgh award, which is broken down into 3 Award categories; Bronze, Silver and Gold.
As Prefect Interns our main goal is to assist the running of Duke of Ed within our school and encourage more students through their journey from Bronze to Gold, essentially having more students achieve their Gold Award.
We strive to always help and support Duke of Ed at our school to ensure many more memories are made, goals are achieved and for students to find their place within this group and the community.
Leader - Sinduja Sureshkumar
Assistant - Zach Wan
PAT
Hello, school! My name is Isaac Chang, and I am your current Prefect Afternoon Tea (PAT) Leader for the first five weeks of this term, with Paul Sebastian as my assistant. We are very excited and keen for our roles within this amazing aspect of the Prefect Intern Body, and will do our best to serve the school in this regard.
As the PAT coordinators, we are the primary planners and creators of Penrith’s Prefect Afternoon Tea and work to receive invites and designate students within the Prefect Body to attend Prefect Afternoon Teas at other schools. Prefect Afternoon Teas are a fantastic opportunity to increase connections and relationships with both local schools and other selective schools through the activities scheduled for the day. They ultimately serve to both inspire and be inspired by the leaders of other great schools and ensure positive interconnections for everlasting times to come. However, given the current circumstances of our global world, it is unlikely that there will be any Prefect Afternoon Teas this term, but we will still do our best to plan a potential event for future leaders and respond to any feedback from previous years to make our prefect body’s Penrith PAT better than ever.
Leader - Isaac Chang
Assistant - Paul Sebastian
Social Justice and Equality
Hello everyone! I am Ashvini, your Social Justice Prefect Intern, and working with me are assistants Kokulaan and Hana. We will be looking after all the Social Justice events from these 5 weeks. We work closely with the Social Justice Club, which runs every Wednesday recess in T.1.3, and we plan and run various events revolving around social wellbeing and social justice issues. Through this, we raise awareness and fundraise for specific causes. We would love for more students to join the club and help us with effectively organising these events, as well as collaborating with other great clubs and leadership positions, such as Volunteering Club and the SRC. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact us. I hope to see everyone there!!
Leader - Ashvini Dolamulla
Assistants - Hana Hallani, Kokulaan Santhakumar
Alumni
Leader - Aditya Kumar
Assistant - Darren Pradhan
SRC
Leader - Shameer Iftikhar
Assistant - Madeleine Reeves
Towers
Leader - Zach Wan, Jola Canlas, Tamara Jaglica
Assistants - Jahin Khandoker, Rana Singh
Public Relations
We are Hana and Olivia and we’re the Public Relations Prefect Interns. Our key purpose is to cultivate and maintain a healthy relationship between the Prefect Intern body and our fellow peers. We are in charge of the Prefect Intern Body’s social media presence, in which we keep in touch with students, and allow them to communicate any concerns to us. As representatives of the school, we plan on presenting our school to the public and showing the positive events and activities that frequently occur around the school.
Currently we are working on producing an introduction video of the Prefect Interns, which will be presented during Information Evening. We hope this will allow the school cohort, parents and community to become familiar with the new Prefect Intern Body. We also wish to begin many other long term projects that the next interns will be able to carry on with. As Public Relations Prefect Interns, we look forward to connecting with the community, parents, and students together online, representing Penrith Selective High School with pride.
Leader - Hana Hallani
Assistant - Olivia Bock
Uniform
Leader - Eugene Chen
Assistant - Tamara Jaglica
An Update on the Clubs offered in 2020
Breakfast Club
Breakfast Club is a club supported by Red Cross that is participated in by Year 10 and 11 students. The Red Cross created ‘The Good Start Breakfast Club’ program with Sanitarium to help try and reduce food insecurity in Australia by ensuring that young children, like Kokulaan Santhakumar (Current Year 11 Prefect Intern) from the photo back in 2012, are able to get access to the nutritional requirements in food that they need, which they aren’t able to access at home. Breakfast Club members help to provide a nutritious breakfast to Penrith Primary school children who may otherwise go without such requirements. While we have been on hold due to unforeseen circumstances, we will, fortunately, be resuming our duties in week 5 of this term to continue to battle the fight against food inequality.
Leaders - Paul Sebastian and Jahin Khandoker
Adopt-a-School
Leader - Gabrielle Cant
Volunteering Club
Leaders - Cedric Kutschera, Isaac Chang and Alyna Arago
Social Justice Club
Leaders - Ashvini Dolamulla, Hana Hallani and Kokulaan Santhakumar
Robotics
Leader - Natasha Prasad
Anki Overdrive
Leaders - Jamieson Berida and Isaac Dhakal
Technology Committee
The Technology Committee captures staff, students and parents voices on any issues related to technology use within school and how technology can be incorporated into efficient learning and studying. The committee consists of selected Junior and Senior Representatives and has made strides in projects such as the BYOD Program and technology access across the school.
Leader - Jahin Khandoker
Philosophy Club
Leader - Fabien Malherbe
Rowing
Students at Penrith Selective High School are offered the chance to participate in a Rowing program conducted by Nepean Rowing Club. A number of students enjoy this activity. It is not operated or supervised by school staff.
Enquiries should be directed to Daniel (Co-ordinator Nepean Rowing Club)
Ph: 0403 743 189.
email: rowing@nepeanrowingclub.com.au
Rowing is held each Monday afternoon from 4.00 to 6.00 pm at Nepean Rowing Club.Leader - Alex Vella
Gardening
Leader - Sara Saleh
Chess Club
Leader - Cedric Kutschera
MUNA
Leader - Alyna Arago
Starlight Club
Leader - Vishwa Shah
Aurecon
Leaders - Ansh Mittal and Rana Singh
Fair Trade Club
Leader - Anav Prasad
Fitness Club
Leader - Yan Shin Tseung
Sports Club
Leader - Samantha Buda
Woodtech Club
The Woodtech Club is open to anyone interested in this topic. Every Thursday Recess, we progress in building our project- a large wooden toy car. If you aren’t interested in building the car, you are able to build your own wooden item, as it is a free choice project otherwise. Anyone from all grades can attend, however it is very helpful for Year 7 students who haven’t done the subject at school, as they can learn safety measures and learn how to use machinery.
Leader - Brayden Kwok
Amnesty Club
Amnesty Club aims to bring attention to human rights issues from around the world, particularly in relation to political prisoners. Anyone is welcome to come along and share and discuss their opinions and perspectives in this all-inclusive, non-judgmental environment.
Leader - Luke Boyes
History Interest Group
Leader - Alison Joseph
History Games Club
Leader - Bubleen Dhiman
Dungeons and Dragons Club
Leader - Bailey Bass
Typing Club
Leader - Abhijith Maliakal
Business Society
Leader - Aayushi Ajmera
Animal Welfare Club
The Animal Welfare Club is a club which helps animals who are hurt or injured and we help facilities who hold animals who have been injured or just need a loving home. Throughout any occasions such as Spirit Week and Education Week, Animal Welfare Club will be holding fundraisers to donate to various facilities like RSPCA and the Animal Holding Facility. We also work in cooperation with the Knitting/Crocheting Club to make things like clothes and toys to give to animals.
Leader - Kaveya SarvanathanKnitting and Crotchet Club
Hello and welcome to Knitting/Crochet Club, where we enjoy our time knitting/crocheting and teaching our skills to each other! The perfect way to relax and still have fun while keeping your brain entertained. We work with the Social Justice Club by making beanies, scarves, blankets, etc. to donate to the Blanket and Beanie Appeal (BABA). We plan to begin working with the Animal Welfare Club to start making items to donate to the animal shelters. Join our club to spend some time relaxing and help us donate items to a greater cause!!
Leader - Michelle Ho
Social Environmental Club
Leader - Saranyan Satyajith
Harry Potter Fan Club
Leader - Kavvya Mehra
TCG Gathering Club
Leader - Jaide Knaus-Petrie
The Game Development Club
In a digital world where anything can be real, people find fun, comfort, and joy in games. Here at Game Development Club (or GameDev for short) artists, programmers, and storywriters team up to create wonderful worlds where everything is possible. From RPGs to Platformers, we make games for everyone to enjoy and love. Currently we are working on a project called The Storyweaver, a game about someone who writes the stories of people.
Leader - Harry Le
Photography Club
Photography Club provides an insight on the thoughts and behind the scenes of photography. From how each aspect of an image is chosen specifically to meet its requirements, to capturing light and using it to deliver emotions in images, Photography Club helps passionate students on the start of their journey as photographers. Recently, we are learning about negative space, where we capture a photo of a busy place but frame it to look empty. We also had to upload examples on google classroom of what we can produce. The accompanied photo is an example produced by Mr Serrato to guide us in the right direction.
Leader - Nevil Shah
Manga Club
Leader - Tanzeela Ansary
The Duke of Edinburgh Group
Leader - Sinduja Sureshkumar
Penrith Selective High School
Email: penrith-h.school@det.nsw.edu.au
Website: penrith-h.schools.nsw.gov.au
Location: 158-240 High Street, Penrith NSW, Australia
Phone: 02 4721 0529
Facebook: facebook.com/penrithselectivehighschool