week 7, term 1, 10 march 2023
principal's message
This edition of the Torch is a celebration of International Women's Day. The efforts of our students and staff over the last week highlight our strong commitment to excellence in girls' education to ensure a brighter future not only for our students but for all members of our community.
Our International Women's Day breakfast on Wednesday raised $1670 for United Nations Women, which runs vital programs that provide women and girls access to technology, training programs and safe spaces, empowering women and girls to obtain an education, become leaders in their community and build a brighter, more equal future for us all. Well done to Kaye Guan and Junaid Blake (Maths Faculty), and Katrina Thompson (IT Support), for their extraordinary efforts in organising the International Women's Day Breakfast. It was very well attended by students, parents and staff and was a wonderful celebratory breakfast to acknowledge IWD. The Social Justice Group that Mrs Guan and Mrs Thompson coordinate did a great effort in also preparing and serving the breakfast. Susani Geekiyanage Year 11 gave a very inspiring speech - thank you to Dr Susan Green (Deputy Principal) for assisting Susani. Nicoline Elder, Class of 2021, was on a panel of three and is a great example to the students of how young women can help and assist other young women in the struggle for equality. Congratulations to all who supported the breakfast. Thanks to all students, parents and staff who organised, coordinated, baked, donated and participated in this significant community event.
INTERNATIONAL WOMEN'S DAY BREAKFAST SPEECH
I am beyond terrified. And maybe that’s not the prim and proper front that ‘feminism’ is expected to carry, but it's simply the truth. I’m terrified to grow up and dip colour changing nail polish into my drinks, to carry hairspray in my purse and be told I'm not pretty unless I’m in something pink.
I remember my first international women's day breakfast. As myself, and the croissant crumbs that hung to my junior uniform left this hall, the melody of empowerment that flowed through my veins was laced with a whisper of something else. I think that as young women, we are expected to collect the stories of powerful women, drinking them hastily to quench our thirst for safety. And because this event is so amazing, I felt that way. But I would be lying to myself and you all if I said that there was no frustration beneath my skin. Because there was and it poked and yanked and gnawed at me… and it didn’t go away.
I recently asked the amazing young women that I am grateful to call my friends, “what frustrates you about being a young woman?” Their responses truly broke my heart because my peers are smart, they are compassionate, they are funny and they have made me who I am today. They are also “not taken seriously”, “scared to walk down a street”, “expected to be less physically capable because they're a girl” and feel like no matter how much they try.. “They’re never good enough.”
The worst part about this frustration is that when you carry it openly, a label is instantaneously given to you. Hysterical. Dramatic. Ungrateful. And these words, they spit out at you, forcing you to take all that “feministic rage” and place it politely in your pocket - in the form that Poet Blythe Baird likes to call “pocket-sized feminism” that pleases the very people who prefer to hear our silence over our experience.
So on this international women's day, in this hall, where we are all discussing the idea of “cracking the code: innovation for a gender equal future” I didn’t just want to tell you all that it will be okay, because you probably already know that. Because, to me, this day is about talking.
Talking about our struggles to raise awareness for not just us, but those before and after us. I want to discuss that frustration and fear and heartache so that we can finally take it out of our pockets. It might just be for a day, a morning or even this breakfast - but I sincerely hope that the echoes of that relief will last for however long you need it to.
And as we bask in this rare relief, I think it is clear that even though being a woman in this world seems like a ‘set back’, ‘a disadvantage’ or ‘a loss’ - I don’t think I will ever believe it is that Black and white. I have been so fortunate to surround myself with people like my mother, my sister, my teachers and my peers who have shown me the strength that lies in being a woman.In a society where the code has been written for us, and a multitude of dangers try to get us to leave the brightness of our screen for its surrounding darkness - we continue to crack that code every day.
I will be forever grateful for events like these, because I am aware that not every woman gets to use their voice. In most third world countries, the education of male students is prioritized - which explains that “60% of chronically hungry people are women and girls” who are not able to easily change their situation, because their voice was robbed from them long before it truly became their own.
Where 80% of women between the ages 13 and 18 do not feel safe outside their home, and feminists are labeled “aggressive” and “radical”, it is unsurprising that most women are unable to comfortably speak out and demand equality. Sometimes, I think that we have been trained to be polite, and in return we receive the bite sized treats of approval and safety.
But justice does not come with silence. Politician Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez says that “Justice is about making sure that being polite is not the same thing as being quiet. In fact, oftentimes, the most righteous thing you can do is shake the table.”
The silence of women is an idea that runs on a lack of education and agency. The fact that the silence continues to grow even today, has made me realise the ever growing importance of cracking the code and leveling out the piercing playing field when given an opportunity. It has also made me realise that I owe you all an immense thank you.
In a world that seems to demolish the voice of all women, I will never be able to thank you enough, for letting me use mine.
Thank you.
Susani Geekiyanage – Year 11 Student
On Wednesday 8th March, hundreds of students, parents and staff attended our 7th annual International Women's Day Breakfast. This year's event was held in collaboration with our Social Justice and ZONTA teams, and the theme was: "Cracking the Code - Innovation for a Gender Equal Future".
The event opened with a lovely musical performance as everyone began to arrive. Once everyone had served themselves some of the delicious home-made treats and received an International Women's Day pin from UN Women the event commenced. We began with our keynote speaker, Susani Geekinyanage (Year 11), who spoke about the uncertainty and fear women have to face throughout their careers. She mentioned that after coming out of a celebration of women's rights and achievements, we should all feel empowered.
Afterwards, we heard from our group of female panellists, who have all faced struggles in breaking into the field of STEM. On our panel, we heard from Ms Sitara Charles, ARN 30 under 30 Winner 2020 and Channel Partner Program Specialist at Vocus; Ms Nicoline Elder, a former Hornsby Girls High School student and invested Social Justice member, who studies in a field of STEM at university; Ms Jenny Hutchinson, a Health and Wellness Consultant at Anglicare, who recently graduated with BSc, BA (Hons, 1st Class) in a cohort of 3000.
Our panellists all provided intriguing insights into their experiences as women in STEM. The key messages we all took from their knowledge and anecdotes were to not let others tell you what you can and can't do, to be your best cheerleader, and strive to support other women around you.
The event concluded with the announcing of our Lucky Door Prizes, which were provided by UN Women. We thank all the parents, staff and students who attended, and contributed to raising $1670 for UN Women. A big thank you to our sponsors Coles and Bakers Delight, as well as our Social Justice and ZONTA teams. We also thank their coordinating teachers Ms Guan,Ms Thompson, Mr Blake, and our deputy principal Dr Green, for making this event such a success!
Sienna Samarawickrama (Social Justice, Year 8)
SWIMMING CARNIVAL
Zonta Club visits The Social Outfit in Newtown
Over the summer holidays, students from the Zonta Club of Hornsby Girls traveled to Newtown to visit the Social Outfit! Last year in December, we collaborated with the Zonta Club of Hornsby Kuringai to offer a fundraising Festive Season raffle and stall. We agreed to donate towards a Retail Traineeship program for refugee and new migrant young women. This is run by The Social Outfit, an innovative social enterprise in Newtown that creates and sells women’s clothing, primarily made from fabric remnants and discarded fabrics sourced from fashion labels in Sydney. They promote sustainability by working with quality fabrics and styles.
The Zonta Club of Hornsby Kuringai came up with three hampers of personal and cosmetic items to be raffled at the school in the week leading up to a lunchtime stall selling small craft items and consumables on 2 December. Our Z Club members provided baked items and ‘spider’ drinks! We worked together to set up and resource the stall, and Dr Briggs happily drew the raffle prizes to the delight of the excited group of ticket holders.
On 19 January Z Club members and the Zonta Club of Hornsby Kuringai President (Janine Ricketts) visited the Social Outfit shop to hear about how our donation of $700 will be used and to meet one of the trainees. We were all impressed by their work and came away convinced that their branding ‘Fashion Empowering Women’ is spot on!
Annabelle Zhang - Year 11 Student
INTERNATIONAL COALITION OF GIRLS' SCHOOLS (Established 2022)
INTERNATIONAL WOMEN'S DAY
ZONE SWIMMING CARNIVAL
Congratulations to the Zone Swimming Team who competed at the Ryde Aquatic Centre on Wednesday 1 March.
HGHS P&C - Garden and Grounds Day Saturday 1 April 8am -10am
Due to the wet summer and the fact we have not been allowed under the COVID restrictions to hold a Garden and Grounds Day for the last twelve months there are lots of weeds in the garden. Tasks include weeding the outdoor gym, weeding outside the CLC, trimming the hedge along Edgeworth David and spreading mulch on the gardens throughout the school. Cleaning the school fence and path along Edgeworth David and removing weeds is another big job.
The MEETING PLACE will be out the front of the School where you can and then sign on for HGHS records.
In the event that more than 30 people attend we will split into two groups.
The TOOLS AND EQUIPMENT you will need to bring are:
• gardening gloves, hat/sunscreen, solid footwear (shoes/boots, not sandals) and appropriate clothing.
• Weeding tools
• Buckets, rags, sponges with light scourers, and a bit of detergent
• Rakes (spreading mulch) and brooms (cleaning up)
• Wheelbarrow if you have one (for transporting mulch)
• If you have a hedge trimmer or shears, it would be useful to bring them too
Please bring a bottle of water to prevent dehydration.
We will pack-up and clean up and then finish with a morning tea around 10am in the COLA provided by the school canteen.
Please note the 8am start – this is to avoid the heat. If you cannot get there by 8, don’t worry, just turn up as soon as you can, and scan the QR code and then sign on inside the front door of the School.
Please note that we will go ahead unless it is REALLY raining, the wet ground makes weeding much easier. If we do decide to call it off, we will send you an e-mail by Friday afternoon.
For new parents and students this is a great way to meet other parents and students.
Looking forward to seeing you!
Robert Dyer and Pam Van Der Vlies (P and C Grounds Co-ordinators)
oztag extra curricular sport
There continues to be a growing interest in Oztag throughout the years at Hornsby Girls High School. This year started no differently with Oztag returning back on Tuesday mornings from 7:30-8:30am for extra-curricular sports. This term, all students from years 7-12 were invited to join in on the fun at the school oval. Besides from the wet socks and shoes from the morning dew, all students gain opportunities to play with and against students from all grades, have their morning dose of exercise, and build new relationships through Oztag.
Students are encouraged to read the Sentral Daily Notices for more opportunities to be a part of this growing oztag community.
Ms Hoang - PDHPE Teacher
P&C MEETING ONLINE - 15 MARCH 7.30PM-8.30PM
The HGHS P and C will give an overview of the school activities that the P and C are involved in for the benefit of the school.
The Principal will also provide an overview of the school activities and an update on the HSC 2022 results and current school projects and encourage participants to join the P and C.
As this will be an online meeting it will not be an open forum and therefore we ask that questions/concerns/thanks be emailed to the school. Please email any questions or concerns or thanks to the school prior to the meeting. Please email these by no later than 2pm Wednesday 15 March so that they can be acknowledged and addressed by the P and C or the Principal. Questions can also be submitted on the night via the Chat option in Zoom.
A Zoom link will be sent to all parents and caregivers prior to the meeting.
(Participants are reminded to turn your microphone off in the Zoom meeting unless invited to speak by the chairperson/P and C president).
P and C President Vivienne Xie
Vice President Radhika Prasanna - Vice President Jack Liu
Secretary Kanchan Saxena -Treasurer Charles Lim
Grounds and Garden Day Pam Van Der Vlies and Robert Dyer
ART NORTH OPENING - 4-25 MARCH 2023
Grace Cossington Smith Gallery is currently showing the annual exhibition ART NORTH. This exhibition is a celebration of the artistic strength and creativity of students in Sydney's Upper North Shore. It comprises works by young artists from 15 secondary schools across the region.
The grand opening was on 4 March 2023 Saturday 2pm and there was a huge turn out with so many dignitaries. The Hon Alister Henskens SC MP opened the exhibition and The Hon Philip Ruddock – Mayor of Hornsby Shire and Cr Simon Lennon - Ku-ring-gai Council were attendees.
Penelope Brown and Ranie Lee’s HSC BOW’s are a stand out in the exhibition and really show their expertise in their chosen expressive form. The works have been hung beautifully and many people spent a lot of time looking and contemplating the conceptual and material practice.
Be sure to visit the gallery in the month of March to see our students' work on display, as well as some great artworks from the local high schools.
Ms Pozzolungo - Head Teacher Visual Arts
NSW All Schools Triathlon
Year 8 student Aniela Knight competed in the NSW All Schools Triathlon on the 23rd of February at the International Regatta Centre. Aniela did very well finishing 19th out of 58 competitors (she had the 2nd fastest run time out of the 58). Congratulations Aniela.
WELLBEING NEWS
Two weeks ago Elevate ran a parent seminar on Time Management and it was wonderful to see 29 parents from Hornsby Girls in attendance.
Please see details below for the next free webinar on Wednesday 15th March.
RE: Upcoming webinar for parents – Using Technology and Beating Distractions
We’re excited to announce that Elevate Education's next free webinar will be taking place on Wednesday 15th March, focusing on Technology & Focus.
Elevate Education works with our students, delivering high impact workshops on study skills, motivation, wellbeing, and exam preparation. By tuning into their webinar series you will learn how you can help better support your children at home through reinforcing the skills they learn at school:
Wednesday 15th March @ 6:30pm (AEDT)
Using Technology and Beating Distractions
Click here to register for free
Here's what Elevate will be covering:
✅Technology addiction and how to reduce technology dependence
✅Practical strategies and apps to minimise procrastination
✅How to help your child use technology productively to enhance their learning
Click link below to register
https://get.elevatecoaching.info/au/schoolwebinar
Year 8 English Eileen Chong Poetry Workshops
On Tuesday the 28th of February and Thursday the 2nd of March, Year 8 had the opportunity to participate in workshops run by the poet, Eileen Chong. Year 8 students are currently studying Eileen Chong’s poetry and learning about her she explores concepts such as identity, belonging and migration in her work. See below two poems written by Year 8 students during the workshops:
YEAR 9 AND 11 VISUAL ARTS EXCURSION
On Friday the Visual Arts students in Year 9 and Year 11 Photography Students went on an excursion around the city and to Cockatoo Island for a study on utopia and decay displayed throughout architecture. This excursion was purposed based on the practice of photography to capture unconventional and unique architectural designs which we will later use to create a composition for a “City in Utopia/Decay” canvas project.
The excursion was enjoyable and at the same time we got to learn about convict history on Cockatoo Island and photograph the decaying industrial structures. We also got to experience the amazing architectural achievements of the architect Frank Gehry at his Chau Chak Wing Building at the University of Technology Sydney which resembled a paper bag made completely out of stacked bricks.
It was great to see the buildings and monuments from our case study in real life and observe different creations and design feats while walking around the streets of Sydney City. It was equally amazing to see how nature had taken over some of the crumbling structures on Cockatoo Island. After we had got on the ferry back to the city and halfway through our excursion, we were hit with torrential rain and had to huddle outside corporate buildings as we slowly made out way back to Wynyard station from Barangaroo Warf. It was a great experience and we had to think on our feet.
After many food stops along the way we finally made our way back home. Thank you to Ms Farnon and Ms Wen for organising the excursion
Chloe Hyunjeen Kim & Angelina Chen
YEAR 10 CHARITY DAY - Save the Great Barrier Reef
The Year 10 Charity Day on Thursday 2nd of March was a huge success, raising $1539.35 for the Great Barrier Reef Foundation. The quad was filled with excitement and energy as the Year 10 band ‘Take Two’ performed on the stage while students enjoyed the games and ate the delicious baked goods.
Congratulations to the 70 Year 10 students who were part of the charity committee for all of the hard work and commitment, it was truly inspiring. Thank you to the students, staff and families for the support of this endeavour and assisting us in raising the money for such a worthwhile cause.
Ms Mackenzie Carroll Year 10 Adviser
