Clubs and Societies

Adopt a School

Global Schools Partner

Adopt-a-School is a Penrith Selective High School initiative. The club is focused on raising awareness about the educational conditions of many students in less fortunate countries. Adopt-a-School raises necessary funds to help build, support and maintain schools and students in developing countries.

Art Club

High Potential and Gifted Education Policy

• Creative Domain

The Art Club is open to students in Years 7 to 12. The Art Club is for those students who have an interest in freely exploring creative ideas and building social connections with their peers. 

ATAR Clubhouse

High Potential and Gifted Education Policy

• Intellectual Domain

ATAR Clubhouse is for seniors students to come together to share resources and assist each other in various subjects. Students have access to homework help and class notes. The online server (Discord) will be used for messaging between club members, setting up group study sessions, sharing notes and subject-specific content.

Amnesty Club

High Potential and Gifted Education Policy

• Social and Emotional Domain

Amnesty is open to students in Years 7 to 12. Amnesty aims to raise awareness of human rights issues around the world. Amnesty campaigns relentlessly and give a voice to those who’ve had theirs taken away. Amnesty also supports political prisoners who have been dealt with unjustly.

Aurecon Bridge Building Challenge

High Potential and Gifted Education Policy

• Creative Domain

The Aurecon Bridge Building challenge is a STEM based club for students in years 7 to 9 that have a passion for design and construction. Students collaborate in small groups to research, design, construct, test and evaluate truss frame model bridges. It offers students the chance to engage in real-world experiences and see what life would be like as an engineer in the future.

Breakfast Club

High Potential and Gifted Education Policy

• Creative Domain

The Breakfast Club is open to students in Years 10 to 12. Red Cross has been supporting breakfast clubs in Australia since 1991. In 2003, Sanitarium became a national partner and together with Red Cross created “The Good Start Breakfast Club” program. The program is part of Red Cross’ work to address food insecurity in Australia by ensuring that “people have enough of the right type of food every day to keep them healthy.” The Breakfast Club assists in providing a nutritious breakfast to Penrith Primary school children who may otherwise go without.

Business Society Club

High Potential and Gifted Education (HPGE) Policy

• Intellectual Domain

The Business Society is open to students in Years 10 to 12, providing an opportunity to learn and develop skills in problem solving, teamwork and entrepreneurship. Every term, students have the opportunity to think innovatively to derive and develop solutions for real life problems. Students undertake intensive business start-up workshops and group tasks led by student leaders. Each term, students work towards presenting and initiating their business proposals through a pitching competition.

Chess Club

High Potential and Gifted Education Policy

• Intellectual Domain

The Chess Club is open to all years and levels. Students will have the opportunity to compete with other high school students at a competitive level. Chess will develop a child’s logical thinking, analytical skills, forward planning, perseverance, patience, and concentration.  N.B – This Club requires parent involvement with regards to transport to and from venues during competitions.

Creative Food Club  

High Potential and Gifted Education Policy

• Creative Domain

The Creative Food Design Club is for students in Years 7 to 9. This club is for students who have a passion for food creativity and for those who which to expand their culinary skills. The club is open to all levels of ability and will enable students to develop their design and practical skills.

Fair Trade Club

High Potential and Gifted Education Policy

• Social and Emotional Domain

The Fair-Trade Club is open to students in Years 7 to 12. Fair trade is an institutional arrangement designed to help producers in developing countries achieve better trading conditions. Members of the fair-trade movement advocate the payment of higher prices to exporters, as well as improved social and environmental standards.

Game Makers Club

High Potential and Gifted Education Policy

•  Intellectual Domain

The Game Maker's club is for students in years 7 to 12 who have a passion for video game design. Students get to work in small teams to create a video game that may be entered into the Australian STEM Video Game Challenge. Games may be developed using Scratch, GODOT, Unity, Unreal, or any other free-to-use game development tool. A variety of skills are required for each team, from coding to visual design/3d modelling, music/audio effects, narrative/story writing and battle system development. Students who already have a team, or students who are keen to form a team with like-minded individuals, come along to the Game Maker's club!

Gardening Club

High Potential and Gifted Education Policy

• Physical Domain

The Gardening Club is open to all years. The Gardening Club is designed for those students who wish to help with school-based projects aimed at cleaning up the grounds and maintaining our sustainable garden. 

History Interest Group

High Potential and Gifted Education Policy

• Creative Domain

The History Interest Group is open to students in Year 10. This group is for keen History students who are interested in real history projects. Students will work on:

• The Principal's Photo Gallery
• A past Captain's book- for our 70th anniversary
• A PHS war veteran's board.
• Constructing a scaled model of The Towers
• Working out and marking the Towers footprint
• A visit to a local cemetery
• Other negotiated projects

Knitting/Crochet Club

High Potential and Gifted Education Policy

• Social and Emotional Domain

The Knitting/Crochet club is open to students in Years 7-12. The aim of this club is to aid outside agencies who care for the homeless and the poor by making and donating blankets, beanies and scarves. The club will focus on providing support to the Volunteering and Social Justice Clubs in their initiatives as well as helping the local community.

Library Leadership Club

High Potential and Gifted Education Policy

• Social and Emotional Domain

A Library Leaders Team will be developed to organise, facilitate and carry out the initiatives implemented in the library. The School Library will provide a new communication medium and will have monthly publications of stories, book reviews and other engaging content. Please note: This is only an expression of interest as there is a selection criteria for joining.

MUNA Club

High Potential and Gifted Education Policy

• Intellectual Domain

The MUNA Club is open to students in Years 9 to 12. The Model United Nations Assembly (MUNA) aims to prepare students for the annual international Rotary youth program. High school students develop an awareness of the United Nations and the countries they represent at a simulated UN Assembly.  It is an excellent forum for students to develop and practise their public speaking skills whilst debating various world issues.

Mechatronics Club

High Potential and Gifted Education Policy

• Intellectual Domain

The mechatronics club is open to students in years 8 to 12 who have a desire to explore the link between mechanical and electronic engineering. This club will suit students who are keen to work as part of a team with a wide-ranging set of skills. The project-based nature of this club allows students to develop their understanding in the areas of mechanical systems, electronics, and coding as they design, plan, and problem-solve the development of an automated system.

Mindfulness Club

High Potential and Gifted Education Policy

• Social and Emotional Domain

This club will assist students who are finding school a little stressful. This is an opportunity to relax and take some time out. In this club, students have a choice on their way to relax. They can choose from meditation, yoga, colouring, listening to music, board games and maybe even play a short film in the background.

Multimedia Club

High Potential and Gifted Education Policy

• Creative Domain

Multimedia is open to students in Years 10 to 11. The multimedia is for those students who have an interest in photography, lighting, and sound and who would like to operate our sound/lighting system and take photographs for official school functions and events. Although this is not a club that meets regularly, meetings are scheduled before major school events. 

Philosophy Club

High Potential and Gifted Education Policy

• Intellectual Domain

The Philosophy Club is open to all years. The Philosophy club aims to provide students with stimulating philosophical questions to open up a universe of ideas from around the world. Students will develop reasoning and communication skills through critical thinking, collaborative enquiry, dialogue and reflection.

Politics Club

High Potential and Gifted Education Policy

• Intellectual Domain

The Politics Club is open to students in Years 10 to 12. The Politics Club provides students with an insight into the world of Politics. It allows students to develop a deeper understanding of our political system and debate decisions made by governments here and around the world.

Recycling Club

High Potential and Gifted Education Policy

• Creative Domain

The Recycling Team is a great opportunity for students to help out around the school, as a volunteering project or for to service the environment of the school. The Team aims to meet up once a week and help to clear the recycled paper from around the school, bringing them to be recycled once more. Cooperating with other students and working together to achieve these quickly is key to the team.

Robotics Club

High Potential and Gifted Education Policy

• Creative Domain

The Robotics Club is for students in years 7 to 12 who have a passion for robot construction and coding. Students will start out by learning to generate code for Lego Mindstorms EV3 robots and from there, the only limitation is the creativity of their team. This hands-on learning club allows students the chance to experience real world challenges in a competitive environment, where they can develop their STEM based skills.

Social Justice Club

High Potential and Gifted Education Policy

• Social and Emotional Domain

The Social Justice Club is open to all years. The Social Justice Club promotes social justice awareness through a variety of activities throughout the year. Of particular concern are issues which affect the most vulnerable and disadvantaged groups in the local community. Some of the issues promoted in 2019 include: Asylum seekers, Mental Health Awareness, Poverty and White Ribbon Day. 

Starlight Club

High Potential and Gifted Education Policy

• Social and Emotional Domain

The Starlight Club is open to all years. It is designed to raise charity for children who are suffering with illnesses at Westmead Hospital. More so, this club aims to raise awareness to these children to encourage more fundraising. We aim to plan visits to Westmead Hospital to interact with these children as we are very passionate about this cause. 

Volunteering Club

High Potential and Gifted Education Policy

• Social and Emotional Domain

The Volunteering Club is open to all years. The club provides a unique opportunity for students to make a difference to their local community and other communities.  The club aims to develop students' community awareness and assist in and/or lead projects which will impact psoitively on groups in our society or around the world.

Wood Tech Club

High Potential and Gifted Education Policy

• Creative Domain

The Wood Tech club is open to students from Year 7 to 11 who enjoy working with timber to develop creative design solutions that are both real and practical. Timber is used in a wide range of applications from industrial flooring and coverings to fencing, furniture, kitchen implements, ornaments and toys. This club enables students to develop their design and practical skills by taking conceptual ideas through to final solutions.

Working With Textiles Club

High Potential and Gifted Education Policy

• Creative Domain

The Working with Textiles club is open to Years 8 to 11. Students get to communicate their creativity through the world of textiles. With textiles covering a vast range from apparel, to furnishing, textile arts, millinery and fabric decoration, students get to explore the creation of any textile item from flat fabric into a three-dimensional form. Students can work on their individual creation while developing their practical skills whether in sewing, knitting, or in creating a mixed textile artwork.

3D Computer Aided Design and 3D Printing Club

High Potential and Gifted Education Policy

• Intellectual Domain

The 3D CAD and Printing club is open to students from years 7 to 12. This club provides students with the opportunity to develop their creative design skills through the generation of 3D models, both virtual and real. Students can work individually or in groups, at a pace that suits their ability and desire to create.