Recent Student Achievements
2014
MARCH
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Taylor Clarke, Year 10, participated in the United Nations State Youth Conference
Jonas Thomson, Year 12, and Tasfia Kabir and Amber Walker, both of Year 10, successfully
auditioned for the 2014 NSW Public Schools Drama Company
James Pattinson represented the school and NSW at the Australian Constitutional
Convention in Canberra
Sam Shahrestani was awarded the UNSW Computing Prize
Kashish Christian, Maninder Singh and Andrea Xia excelled as part of the PHS Chess Team,
who won the Inter-School Challenge
Max Duignan is the CHS Champion, winning The Head of the River in the single scull – by a
massive 30 seconds!
Simone Ferreira, Year 11, invited to attend the UBS Young Women’s Leadership Academy at
The Women’s College, Sydney University
FEBRUARY
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Max Duignan (16 years old) won the U/19’s schoolboys’ title at the State Championships
Lylapearl Appel, Matthew Ramirez, Ashlee Gardner, Georgia Wilson-Williams and Priyanka
Srithar have been selected to attend Youth Parliament
Wafa Khan won the NSW Art Gallery ‘Artwrite’ Competition
Wanda Kuai, Year 8, won the Footpath Library National Poetry Competition
Valerie Udan, Year 10, second in the Blue Mountains Gazette ‘Design an Ad’ competition
Daisy Feng, Year 9, third in the Penrith Star ‘Design an Ad’ competition
2013
DECEMBER
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Michael Elliott and Marley Young received Achievement Awards at the Sydney West Sport
Awards for their success in Athletics
Holly Wilson was awarded a ‘Blue’ for her excellence in cricket
Mrs Maxine McNally, our Sports Organiser, was recognised with a State Award for ‘Excellent
Contribution to Sport’ - the first of this type of award to be issued
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Matthew Ramirez and Rahul Menon of Year 10 was awarded the Medich Foundation’s
Elizabeth H Blackburn Western Sydney Scholarship for 2014, also receiving a computer and a
professional mentor in an area related to medicine or medical science
Outgoing School Captain, Grace White, received the Australian national University’s
Centenary Scholarship
NOVEMBER
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Rachel Gibbons, Year 12, received the Order of Australia’s highest award, the John Lincoln
Community Service Award. This was presented by the Governor at Government House
Our students achieved 15 High Distinctions, 136 Distinctions and over 200 Credits in the ICAS
Mathematics Competition (from 390 entries)
Penrith High achieved a ranking in the top 25% of schools in the Mathematics Olympiads: six
Year 7 students and nine Year 8 students being placed in the top 10% of students
internationally; eighteen Year 7 and sixteen Year 8 students being placed in the top 25% of
students internationally
OCTOBER
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Matthew Ramirez represented PHS and the Filipino-Australian community at the
Mulicultural Leaders Day at NSW Parliament
Aaron Tong received first place in NSW in the Australian Geography Competition
Nicolas Tjoelker achieved at the highest level in playing the pipe organ, passing the L Mus
exam for organ with a Distinction, becoming the youngest person in history to achieve this
Grace Shalders and Jordan Ruchalski successfully completed the Kokoda Track in the
holidays
Nathan Wong won a gold medal in the Badminton Val Nesbitt Trophy Event
Jodee Vega won a silver medal in the Badminton Val Nesbitt Trophy Event, also winning the
doubles in the U/15 National Championships
Jonathon Green was one of the top 9.4% of the State to attend the University of Sydney’s
Gifted and Talented Talent Discovery program
Grace Shalders rode a 200km stretch of the Mornington Peninsula to raise money for cancer
research and care
22 of our Year 10 students participated in the State finals of the Australian Brain Bee
Challenge
9 of our students represented PHS at the Inaugural YMCA NSW Junior Parliament
SEPTEMBER
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Lylapearl Appel successfully applied for the Junior Youth Parliament
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Michael Elliott and James Wilson competed in Tasmania as part of the NSW champion cross
country team
Joshua Irawan received a prize for High Distinction in the Australian Maths competition (76
students gained a Distinction and 139 students gained a Credit)
Our Chess Team (Bryce Ashby, Kashish Christian, David Downes, Sachin Kapoor and Ivan
Koudashev) are now the NSW Inter-School Chess Champions
PHS had some great results in the recent CHS Athletics:
o Marley Young - 1st in Shotput (15.49m) and 2nd in Discus (42.53m)
o Michael Elliott - 2nd in 1500m and third in 3000m
o Nathan Reeves - 3rd in Shotput
o James Wilson - 4th in 3000m
o Kelsey McKinnon - 10th in High Jump
o Victoria Hospodaryk - 12th in 1500m
o Alexandra Williams - 11th in 15yrs Triple Jump, 14th in 14yrs Long Jump and 15th in
14yrs High Jump
o Cayla Nicholson - 16th in High Jump
o Our 17yrs boys’ relay team (Ishmam Masud, Mankirat Sandhu, Tiimothy
Tisseverasinghe and Mihir Wagle) came 12th in the Preliminaries
The following students had their group HSC Drama work nominated for OnStage (the best of
HSC Drama 2013): Natalie Buckett, Morgana De Jonge, Ben Mitchell, Kush Sood and Grace
White). Natalie Buckett also had her individual performance nominated
Our Year 11 Drama class has been selected to perform at the State Drama Festival
PHS Year 10 Debating Team (Simone Ferreira, Michaela Gray, Devansh Shah and Lachlan
Penninkilampi) won their Zone final after successfully winning their Regional Semi Final
debate against Glenwood High School
Simone Ferreira has been selected to represent Western Sydney Region in the Junior State
Debating Championships
AUGUST
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Our Junior Chess team defeated Girraween High School in the semi-final of the Interschool
chess competition
Cassandra Galea will represent in water polo at the CHS carnival
Several of our students completed their Silver Duke of Edinburgh expedition
PHS students participated in the combined choir and instrumental ensembles for the PULSE
concert held at The Opera House
Lachlan Penninkilampi, Deaundre Espejo and Philaretos Stylianides were featured soloists in
the Stage Band, Concert Band, String Ensemble and Choir at the PULSE concert at The Opera
House
Deaundre Espejo has been accepted into the next stage of the Talent Development Project
PHS Year 10 Debating Team (Simone Ferreira, Michaela Gray, Devansh Shah and Lachlan
Penninkilampi) won their Zone final after successfully winning their quarter final debate
against Colo High School.
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Natalie Buckett was the runner-up in the Sydney Morning Herald Plain Speaking
Competition. This is a state-wide competition, with only the most outstanding public
speakers, so this is a stunning result
Natalie Buckett, Michael Elliot, Grace White and Ross Penninkilampi were outstanding in
contesting the State final of the Premier’s Debating challenge. As runner-up in this
prestigious competition they acquitted themselves well and brought great pride to
themselves and the school
The Year 12 Drama students showcased their HSC performances and projects to parents
Our Drama students performed at the Joan Sutherland Centre
Our choir was part of the large contingent that contributed to the success of PULSE at the
Opera House
JUNE / JULY
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Simone Ferreira of Year 10 achieved first place in Australia in the Australian History. Erine
Concepcion of Year 8 was also placed first in NSW
Apurva Kesari and Matthew Ramirez took part in the 'Director for a Day' program
Kiran Sathyan of Year 12 received a PWC cadetship for 2014
Deborah Lombard of Year 11 successfully gained entry into the Australian Art Institute
Natalie Buckett continues to excel in debating and public speaking. Natalie has been
selected in the State Public Schools Debating Team for the second year and has made the
final of the Sydney Morning Herald Plain English Speaking competition
Ashim Kapila and Sondarya Krishnan have been awarded a UBS Finance Scholarship. Ashim
and Sondarya undertook a week's residential course at Sydney University in the holidays
Our Year 12 school leaders ran a very successful Political Summit in the last week of Term 2.
This was well attended by our students and leaders from other high schools
Simone Ferreira received a St George Bank Scholarship and spent a week at their corporate
headquarters in the holidays
Phillip Lay has been selected to represent the CHS tennis team
Michael Elliott and James Wilson came second and third respectively in the CHS Cross
Country
Max Duignan continues his achievements in rowing. Max has received a 2013 Youth
Development award from the NSW Union of Rowers
The Year 7 Junior Representative Council (JRC) held a successful team building Olympics at
the end of Term
Grace Shalders and Jordan Ruchalski of Year 11 have been selected to undertake the Kokoda
Track
Riley Callan will represent at the Australian Fencing Championships
MAY
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Liam Holt, Muntaser Mahmud, Anthony Nguyen, Nafiz Khan, Daniel Lane, Simon So and Luke
Lau took part in the World’s Greatest Shave
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Karrie Benz, Ashlee Gardner and Marzuq Shah represented the school at the Model United
Nations Assembly. The students represented India and received a Highly Commended for
their involvement as well as the 'Best Costume' prize
Lachlan Penninkilampi received a Rotary Youth Recognition award
Our wonderful choir and Clare Fox participated in 'Voices in Performance' at the Town Hall.
The following students were winners of the Towers Public Speaking Competition:
Junior Division
First place ‐ Vaishnavi Maheshwari
Second place ‐ Victoria Hospodaryk
Third place ‐ April De Haan
Senior Division
First place‐ Valerina Sureshkumar
Second place ‐ Quy‐Susan Huynh
Third place ‐ Devansh Shah
Jeremy Blackwood and Ben Gethin‐Damon represented Sydney West at the CHS hockey
carnival
Jonas Thomson of Year 11 performed in 'What Are They Like?' as a member of the NSW
Public Schools Drama Company
Ben Phelps and Taylor Clarke both received Gili Secondary Education Student 2013
scholarships - these scholarships are awarded to promote the achievements of Aboriginal
students
The Senior Premier’s Debating team had a strong win over Jamison High (team members are
Grace White, Ross Penninkilampi, Natalie Buckett and Michael Elliot
Taylor Clarke was invited to be on the first Student Aboriginal Consultative Committee
Max Duignan became the CHS Under 17’s single scull champion
Madeline Fox represented Sydney West at the CHS Basketball Championships
Jeremy Blackwood represented Sydney West at the CHS Hockey Championships
Our Girls Open Basketball team had a strong win over Graville South – again played in a
positive spirit
Our Boys’ Open Squash team are now Regional champions – a great effort
Natalie Buckett won the final of the local Sydney Morning Herald Public Speaking
competition
Rachel Gibbons came third in the local Sydney Morning Herald Public Speaking competition
Michaela Gray, Tess Jones and Declan Travers were selected to attend the Western Sydney
Region State Music Camp
Chris Chew attended the Arts Unit Hip Hop Workshop
MARCH / APRIL
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Holly Wilson was named the outstanding wicket keeper at the recent tournament
Max Duignan came second in the single scull event at the national titles
The following students successfully gained representation on the Junior Representative
Council: Angeline Barion, Megan Chen, Valavan Chanthiran, Tyler Dent, Adam Evans,
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Imethma Gunadasa, Zachariah Hammond, Noshin Nawal, Manpreet Kaur, Zachary Kembrey,
Jayanty Pannu, Shiraneeve Ramanan, Devindee Ranatunga, Mithun Rathakrishnan, Sahil
Shandil, Josh Tan, Ming Yong Tan, Aayushi Tripathi and Thea Yuen
Penrith High had five representatives at the 2013 launch of the YMCA Youth Parliament:
Olivia Bowman-Wall, Michael Elliot, Rachel Gibbons, Keith Parker and Mithila Zaheen. (Not
only did PHS have these five representatives, but the Governor is ex School Captain, Geeth
Geeganage)
Ross Penninkilampi was named Penrith Lions Youth of the Year and has progressed to be the
regional Lions Youth of the Year
Marley Young completed at the Junior Australian Athletics meet in Western Australia and
was placed 6th in Australia in the shot put
Marley Young of Year 11 applied for and was successful in obtaining the Mama Lena and
Dino Gustin Foundation Scholarship, which is offered by the Public Education Foundation.
This is a scholarship to study Italian in Rome at the end of the year - a wonderful
achievement
Max Duignan is now Under 17’s Head of the River Champion, having defeated all comers
from the private and public systems
Aparna Panchanathan was announced as the NSW winner of the Somerset Writing
Competition and will be flown to the Gold Coast for the announcement of the Australian
winner
Christina Heng was accepted into the State Dance Ensemble
Vidushka Vithanage was selected in the Under 15’s NSW Indoor Cricket Team
Holly Wilson was selected in the CHS Cricket Team
Darren Jadraque and Sarah Lewis were selected for the Sydney West Tennis Team
Michael Elliot completed in the Australian Junior Athletics Championship
FEBRUARY
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Phillip Lay won the Regional Under 15’s tennis tournament
The following students represented PHS at the National Youth Science Forum: Rachel
Gibbons, Shahana Moon, Ramit Narula and Mithila Zaheen
Christina Hen was selected for the State Dance Ensemble
Jonas Thomson was selected to the State Drama Ensemble
Alyssa Sealtiel was awarded first place in the Australia-Japanese Essay Competition and
received a prize from the Japanese Consul General at his residence. This prize consisted of a
return trip to Japan with accommodation and travel