Outside the Classroom
Shark Tank
Year 11 Business Management – Shark Tank Success
In Term 3, our Year 11 Business Management students showcased their entrepreneurial spirit at the annual Shark Tank presentation evening. Students were tasked with identifying a problem within the CHS community, developing an innovative business idea in response, and pitching their solution to a panel of CHS Sharks.
The evening highlighted the creativity, problem-solving, and communication skills of our students, who delivered professional and engaging marketing pitches.
We are proud to announce this year’s winners:
Best Pitch – Locker Lux: a smart locker system designed to enhance convenience and security for students.
Best Idea – Swapfit: an online CHS marketplace for buying and selling second-hand uniforms and books.
Best Salesperson – Tito, recognised for his confident, persuasive, and engaging delivery.
Congratulations to all students involved for their innovation and hard work, and thank you to our Sharks for supporting this exciting event.
EJ Hogan & Tate Forster
Maths Enrichment
Coburg High School had 18 students active in this years Australian Maths Trust Maths Enrichment program.
Students from year 7 - 10 were provided with a booklet of problems, supporting resources and the chance for mentoring twice a week during lunches over the duration of term 3.
This has been a great chance for students to work together, extend their knowledge of mathematics and prepare for future study.
Coburg High School has run the Maths Enrichment program since 2015, and has seen students build their skills and independent learning over this time. Many of the school's past Dux students have engaged in the program, as an example of their improved skills.
I would like to recognise the efforts of our year 10 students, Oscar T, Seeley C, Lachlan H, Jamie K, Alex M, Michael P, Oliver R, Adriana R, Archie R, Billy S and Kate V for taking this challenge prior to their VCE.
Chris Bray
Library News
Coburg High School succumbed to the ghoulishness of Halloween. What a truly horrendously, hideous, chaotic and fantastic day it was. Students and staff got into the theme wholeheartedly with some of the best costumes we have ever had here (check out the amazing Year 7 class in the page banner!)
The costume parade was judged by our new School Captains for 2026. The winner has won a $50 Dymocks book voucher and the runner up has won a $10 CHS cafe voucher.
Our librarian, Aunt Gladys, has awarded the librarian’s choice to Olivia G in year 7 for her truly creepy dead bride costume. She has won a $50 Dymocks voucher.
Congratulations to all of our winners and may the frights be with you.
This year we had another massive Book Week in the Coburg High School library. We had a very diverse range of activities throughout the week from the annual Dreaded Shredded Book to our Library Trivia Master Book Week edition. There were some very rare, beautiful books in our display cabinets for students to guess the dates of publications. Thanks to our glorious Assistant Principal, Gary, for donating a few of his precious books, with one dating back to 1658! There was also a character hunt around the library and the Room of Memory (all agreed that this was the hardest one but lots of fun). The most popular one though was our Burning of the Books (not a real fire or real books). Students got a chance to listen to the charges against certain books which had been banned or challenged in the past and then throw it into our existential bonfire. Imagine being banned because your book was considered a “downer” (Diary of Anne Frank). A quick shout out to the two year 11 students who excitedly ran into the library ready to burn actual books. While they were disappointed that actual books were not being burned, they still had a go at throwing the book frisbees into the handmade bonfire. Plus they got to learn a couple of interesting facts about the history of the books they held.
We had our most successful Book Character Dress Up Day with both students and staff supporting the day and dressing up. It was an incredibly diverse range of characters walking around the school. What fun!
There were no surprises on the winner for Coburg High School’s Favourite Book OF ALL TIME!!!! After counting close to 1200 votes, Harry Potter has come out on top once again by a rather large margin with votes from all year levels. It seems that we still cannot get enough of the magical world of our favourite underdogs, Harry and friends.
Our winner of the week went to Rose P in Year 12 who participated in all of the events and donned an absolutely awful wig for her character dress up. Congratulations Rose.
Coburg High also got to vote for what book the librarian was to read next. It seems that the school cohort knows their librarian very well and the book most voted for was Jurassic Park. What a fun and educational story.
Our Fantasy Fiction workshop is almost finished and I am excited to collate all of the wonderful stories into a zine. The students have been working hard to get their stories on the page and I can’t wait to read the finished product.
This librarian is extremely proud of the Coburg High community for always supporting the library. It is something that never ceases to amaze me. The reading monsters here in the library every recess and lunch, quietly reading on a lounge or borrowing books to read at home are an absolute joy. Who says that reading is a dying pastime?
They have obviously never been to Coburg High School.
Dianna Jarnet
Interschool Sport
Intermediate Boys Basketball
Our Year 10 teams competed at the Interschool Basketball Tournament held at Coburg Basketball Stadium.
Both teams delivered incredible performances and made it all the way to the finals. Our B Team put up a strong fight but were narrowly knocked out in the semi-finals by Collingwood College. Meanwhile, our A Team played an outstanding and highly competitive final against AIA, showcasing skill, determination, and teamwork. Their performance was truly one to remember.
The boys gave their absolute best on the court, and a special mention goes to Hash, who had an exceptional game and played a key role in leading the team to victory.
We would also like to commend our coaches, Matteo P and Ahmad S, who demonstrated excellence in leadership and guided the boys with passion, strategy, and unwavering support on their journey to victory.
Congratulations to all the players!
Matteo P and Cian Barrie
Intermediate Girls Basketball
Congratulations to the intermediate girls' basketball teams who competed at Coburg Basketball Stadium. The A team consisted of Charlotte A, Maya G, India J, Alex M, Lyric M and Ella R, who dominated the tournament with 5/5 convincing wins and were a force to be reckoned with all day. We look forward to seeing their progress through to the next round at regionals.
The B team, made up of Jackson K, Samira P, Farah R, Fatima S, Camille S, Mariam T and Fadilla T, put up a fight and also demonstrated their best efforts despite the tough competition.
All participants representing CHS demonstrated fantastic skills, amazing sportsmanship and respect to all teammates, opposition players and officials which was commented on by the convener of the tournament. Well done to all involved!
Eva Loughnan
Tennis
The year 7 tennis teams went to the Northern Metro Region Championships on Wednesday the 29th October. Due to a late illness, the boys team only had 3 players but they did a fantastic job playing in their rounds against TBA, Preston and Montmorency.
The girls had a full squad and won all of their rounds, two by only one game, showing how close the competition was. The girls came runners up, going down to MGC. A fantastic effort from all players on what was a warm spring day.
Samara Harris
Insight Writing Competition
Earlier this year, students were invited to write a short story for the Insight Writing Competition, supported by a number of English teachers. What follows is Hamza A's (8B) entry: a comical meta-narrative reflection on the world of fantasy fiction. I hope you enjoy reading. Good luck in the competition, Hamza!
Harry Potter vs. Frodo Baggins
Tall shelves filled with heavy tomes of ink and paper stretched infinitely in the Cosmic Library. Known as the world between worlds, this is where characters take refuge from their narrative obligations. As nebulae revolve on the ceiling, we find young Harry Potter on a floating ladder, browsing the “Lore of Magical Artefacts” section. A promising instalment catches his eye, but when reaching out to grab it, his grip fails and the heavy book falls towards the ground. Before it could reach the floor, though, it hits something else that responds with a resonant “Oof”.
“What in the Shire was that!?” a voice yelled. A short figure with furry feet and curly brown hair emerges from below, furiously rubbing its head. Looking up he catches sight of Harry on the ladder and his frown deepens.
“Sorry, down there. Are you okay?” Harry shouted from above, looking quite abashed.
“I just had a half-ton brick of a book dropped on my head and you’re asking me if I’m okay?” the furry-footed character said angrily. Quickly sliding down the ladder to assess the situation, the boy with the lightning scar recognises the other as Frodo Baggins of the Shire. Jumping to the floor, Harry leads Frodo to one of the reading tables, gently lowering the dazed Hobbit into a velvet armchair.
“There we go, mate. You feeling alright now?” Harry asked. Instead of answering, Frodo reaches down the front of his shirt and pulls out the One Ring on its chain. Letting out a sigh of relief, he returns the Ring to its original position.
“Yes, thank you for the help, Mr Potter. I’m terribly sorry for overreacting. It hurt ever so much at the time and I still feel a little dazed from the blow.”
“No need to apologise, it was my fault. How’s the Ring?” said Harry.
“It’s in perfect condition, of course. The ring couldn’t take the least bit of damage even if you took a heavy sledgehammer to it. It is essentially invulnerable to everything except the fires found in the Cracks of Doom, which are nigh on impossible to journey to.” Frodo replied.
“Well it can’t have been that hard. All you had to do was find a volcano to drop a ring into.” Harry said. This sentence seemed to awaken something in the little Hobbit who wasn’t used to being told that his quest “can’t have been that hard”. Frodo leaned forward in his chair, ready to put this wizard boy in his place.
“You don’t understand, Harry. The Ring was a sentient force constantly trying its best to corrupt my mind and bend my will in line with its master’s. Also, destroying the ring took its toll on me mentally as well as physically as you would have noticed by reading my book. The closest thing like that in your story was the connection you had with Lord Voldemort, which most readers would say is nothing compared to the Ring.” Satisfied with his argument, Frodo relaxed and watched his opponent closely for signs of giving in. Instead Harry came back with a carefully constructed argument of his own.
“What a load of nonsense,” he said. “Try having the dark wizard who killed your parents come after you, year after year. All the while knowing that one day you’re going to have to be the one to kill him or him me. This was a real threat to me, my friends and everyone I loved, not just a sentient ring trying to take over my mind.”
This was enough for Frodo to realise something: how alike their stories really were. Both lost parents when they were young. Both had to go through extremely draining journeys to ensure the triumph of good and both watched loved ones die so they could save the world. There was no point really, in them arguing over who had the tougher storyline because no matter what happened to them, both had been very successful heroes in their own way and Frodo said as much to Harry.
They spent the rest of their time in the Cosmic Library talking about things that were far from what was discussed earlier, much to their relief. They were so deep in conversation, neither of them noticed the blue-skinned librarian approach. “Mr. Baggins, Mr.Potter, you are needed to return to your novels as soon as possible.” She said. The two heroes reluctantly stood up, ready to return to work.
“Well, Mr Potter, it has been very nice talking to you. I hope we may meet again in the near future.
“Same here, Frodo. Farewell, my friend.” Said Harry. With these words they willed themselves to turn to cosmic dust and be transported into the worlds which their narratives take place in.
Meanwhile, the librarian was left behind to wonder why there were books out of there shelves and on the floor.
Aaron Zampichelli - English Learning Area Leader
Jazz in the Afternoon
Some 8 years ago we took a group of seven students to Uptown Jazz Cafe in Fitzroy to perform an afternoon of music. Since that inaugural event our annual Jazz in the Afternoon concerts have become a staple in the music performance calendar at Coburg High School.
This year we took 30 students to perform a sold out show at Jazz Lab in Brunswick.
The Junior Jazz Band were first to grace the stage. Classics such as Take 5 and Blue Monk were performed beautifully. The solos were impressive as students played with excitement and commitment.
The soloists were next to take the stage. Throughout term three, hopeful students had chosen and auditioned a piece which then, if successful, were able to perform with our faculty band. The level this year was high with some truly exceptional pieces chosen. There were blazing solos and superb performances that were, no doubt, a reflection of the impressive work they had put in. As someone who has played with many soloists over the years, I can testify to the remarkable technical proficiency and passion to which these students played.
Our Senior Jazz Band capped the afternoon off nicely showcasing some magnificent pieces spanning New Orleans Second Line to a monster arrangement of Coltrane’s A Love Supreme.
I hope that all the students involved feel thrilled with this year's concert. It is no small thing to prepare music and perform it on stage, and such a stage as Jazz Lab really impresses that significance.
Thank you to all the staff who put in so much time and effort to get their students to this level. Thank you to the parents who support and put up with the practice hours. Thank you to the students who, I hope, take the memory and experience of this event as a special one. Long may the music continue.
Thank you to the talented Lucas W of Year 10 for these amazing photos:
Luke McIvor
Chinatown Excursion
Last term, our Mandarin students embarked on a rich cultural excursion to Chinatown.
Students enjoyed an immersive experience at the Chinese Museum, where they explored several fascinating exhibits: learning about life on the goldfields in the 1850s, discovering Chinese mythology and the symbolism behind the iconic dragon, viewing remarkable inventions from Ancient China and gaining insight into Chinese-Australian history spanning over 200 years.
Afterwards, they devoured authentic dishes at a Chinese restaurant. Students wandered through Chinatown, soaking in the vibrant sights and sounds and ordered “Carol’s personal fav milk tea”. They practised their language skills by identifying Chinese characters on shop banners. Some even tried speaking with Chinese shop owners – a fantastic way to put their learning into action!
Students rated 5/5 for this excursion, and they think that it was an inspiring opportunity to deepen cultural understanding and celebrate the rich heritage of the Chinese community in Melbourne.
Carol Liu
Year 11 Biology
Year 11 Biology Students recently went on an excursion to the Royal Melbourne Zoo to support their classroom learning, and took some time to enjoy visiting other animals such as baby Noodle!
On Wednesday of Week 1, all the Unit 2 Biology classes went on an excursion to the Melbourne zoo to learn about the adaptations that help animals survive in the wild. We started the day off with a workshop run by zoo educators in which we learnt about both butterflies and the Southern Corroboree frog. In the butterfly house we observed Common Eggfly and Australian Lurchers as they fed, taking note of which colour feeders the butterflies visited the most. We then learnt about the Southern Corroboree frogs and the captive breeding programs that have brought the species back from the brink of extinction. After that we were free to independently observe other zoo animals, but were tasked with studying a particular species and noting its structural, physiological and behavioural adaptations, such a fish with gills to breathe underwater or a dingo sitting in shade to cool down. Overall, it was really great to learn more about the zoo animals through the perspective of a bio student and not just a regular visitor. It was a really fun and interesting experience, and big thanks to the bio teachers who oversaw the excursion.
Esme A
Jess McCarthy
School Garden
Thank you to our students who have been diligently preparing the CHS garden beds in time for the Spring weather! We look forward to lots of delicious local produce in the future.
Anna Vella
Year 8 Dax Center Visit
Introduction
As part of our recent exploration of leadership, the Year 8s visited the Dax Center, located on the campus of Melbourne University. We explored the art gallery and learned about the artworks displayed there, who created them, and why.
Experience
Leaves
Our first activity involved writing on two paper leaves: one word or phrase we felt represented mental stability, along with a short explanation. These leaves were then placed on an indoor tree, creating a collaborative artwork decorated with thoughtful words and ideas.
Gallery Walk
The gallery walk was a fascinating experience. As we explored the inspiring artworks, we were asked to share our favourite painting with the group. Each artwork was created by someone who had experienced a mental illness, which gave the pieces an unseen depth. The paintings reflected how artists personally perceived the effects of their struggles, and each was accompanied by a story that helped us better understand their experiences. This allowed us to empathise with their challenges, even if we could not directly relate.
Daughter to Daughter
Later in the day, we watched a sensitive video called Daughter to Daughter. It told the story of a grandmother recounting her traumatic experiences of war. She spoke about her happy family life, then revealed how she lost her father, husband, brothers, and niece during the war. It was heartbreaking and gave us time to reflect on the long-lasting impacts of trauma on mental health.
Our Turn
We finished with a calming and creative activity. We were asked to close our eyes and draw what our breath felt like, as well as represent six emotions or situations in abstract form. This activity encouraged us to express ourselves more freely and deepened our connection to the artworks we had observed earlier.
Conclusion
Overall, our visit to the Dax Center was both meaningful and inspiring. We gained new insights into the lives of artists living with mental illness, developed empathy for their experiences, and respected the powerful stories behind their art.
From Miles and Nina 8A
Celebrating Student Achievement
Year 12's giving the gift of life
On Monday 25 August, four of our wonderful year 12 students, Sally S, Toby D, Scarlet H and Ivy L, headed to the Bundoora Lifeblood Centre to donate blood. After checking in, students filled out the confidential donor questionnaire to confirm their eligibility. Then one of the Lifeblood team members went over the questionnaire responses to double check they were OK to donate. This process also includes a quick ‘finger prick’ test to check their haemoglobin (a protein which contains iron) and a blood pressure check. Students then gave a whole blood donation (Toby and Sally pictured) and enjoyed some refreshments afterwards. Anyone aged 18-75 can donate and prospective donors can check their eligibility. For more information, refer to the Australian Red Cross Lifeblood website.
School Spectacular
On Saturday the 13th of September, the Victorian State School Spectacular was performed in John Cain Arena with two shows over the course of the day. The Victorian State School Spectacular is a massive show involving a cast of 2,500 talented students from public schools all around Victoria and this year it celebrated its 30th year of performances. The show consists of singing, dancing, music and specialty acts (who perform both aerial and ground based circus acts). We had the privilege to be in this year's show and had so much fun meeting new people and learning about the art of performance. This year's show was based around the theme of 'On Air' which explored both the radio and flying in the air through song and dance. You can watch the whole performance on 7+ in December 2025. Sarah was able to be a part of the Victorian State Schools Choir and Holly performed the first ever aerial solo on trapeze and the first ever duo on aerial hoop. This show is open to anyone attending a public school and they are always looking for new performers to audition for anything from singing and dancing to being in the orchestra or being a specialty act. There are also many opportunities to be a part of the tech and production crew if you don't fancy yourself as a performer but would still love to be involved in making such a large production happen. We would definitely recommend this incredible experience as you get to meet so many new people and perform to thousands.
by Holly D (Specialty Act Aerialist and Circus Performer) and Sarah H (Victorian State Schools Choir)
Athletics
Congratulations to the following students, who have made it through to State Finals for athletics after getting gold at State School Victoria's Northern Metro Regional on September 10th.
Adrian W (u17 100, 200, 400m)
Oliver A (u14 Javelin)
Wilson R (u15 Shot put)
Ice Hockey
Congratulations to Max S of Year 8, who after a solid performance in July representing Victoria as Alternate Captain of the 15U team at the National Ice Hockey Championships in Perth, has now been selected to represent Australia in the Youth Pan Pacific Series 2025. Two 15U Australian ice hockey teams will compete against New Zealand and Hong Kong China at IceHQ, Reservoir, from October 10–12. Thank you to Merri-bek Council for the sporting grant they provided in support of Max’s state team participation.
Taekwondo
Oscar (Year 11) and Sophie (Year 8) have competed in the National Taekwondo Championships in Adelaide recently. Both came 2nd in their respective categories.
School of Rock
In November thousands of people will see Year 7 Emily B. and Year 11 Lily M. in School of Rock playing at the National Theatre St. Kilda.
“Em and I are so thrilled for the opportunity to perform in School of Rock the musical. It has been really fun and a great experience rehearsing over the last three months, and we have made so many friends along the way. We can’t wait for opening night on the 1st of November, and we hope to see you there!” Lily M.
Halloween
This year students had a Halloween dress up day, with money raised for UNRWA. UNRWA is an organisation created by the United Nations to provide humanitarian assistance for Palestinian refugees. Currently, 5.6 million Palestinians are registered to received support from UNRWA. It is funded by UN member states, including Australia. It is the main provider of education, health and social services to Palestinians across the Middle East.
Costumes were absolutely amazing, well done CHS students on an outstanding effort!
