Principal's Report
Farewell to our Year 12s
Our Year 12 students bid farewell on Tuesday, 17th October, with a day filled with festivities. The morning started with a school-provided breakfast, followed by a final Year 12 assembly and a heartwarming guard of honour from Year 7-11 students.
The evening continued with our second in-person Coburg High School Graduation at the San Remo Ballroom. It was great to recognise all students in the Class of 2023 for graduating, as well as to pay special congratulations to Academic Excellence award winners by subject. The final awards of the night were for our Values Award winners:
Stewart Milner Excellence Award - Lilli B
Curiosity Award - Jeff N
Cate Hall Community award - Tabby B
Alan Mangels Integrity Memorial Award - Dakota F & Aimee P
Each of these students were awarded $500. This was the first time that we awarded the Community award in Cate’s name, and it was great that Cate was present to present this award and have her enormous contribution to the school publicly recognised. Stewart Milner (former CHS Principal) and Jaqueline Milroy (daughter of former CHS student Alan Mangels) were also able to attend and present their respective awards.
Here are some of our Year 12s on the day of their first exam for English:
Congratulations 1!
Check out Class of 2022 Millzy Yassir's AFLW Round 7 Rising Star nomination:
Congratulations 2!
Cate Hall was a very worthy winner in the 2023 Merri-bek City Council Community Awards for her services to Coburg High School and in active travel and safety. Well done on being selected as Volunteer of the Year, Cate:
Congratulations 3!
We look forward to our Year 7 2024 students joining us on Transition Day on Tuesday 12 December. It was my pleasure to visit the Moonee Ponds Primary School assembly earlier this term to award incoming student Maya S for her entry in the competition on the theme of 'Think Global, Act Local'. Maya's entry made links to deforestation and climate change and showed how we can be agents of change:
Change everywhere is made by people everywhere acting in a unified and coordinated way, working towards a common goal. Together, their actions can impact the world and everyone in it. It is contagious, because making a positive change shows that it is possible and inspires more change, which goes on and on.
A big thanks to Nelson Alexander who have been a long term sponsor of this award - a new MacBook for Maya to use during her time at Coburg High! Thanks to Principal Matt for the invite and Peter from Nelson Alexander for joining me at Moonee Ponds Primary School for the ceremony:
Congratulations 4!
Well done to our VCE Vocational Major students who ran a fantastic Colour Explosion late this term, and for all the students who participated. See a report from the VCE VM students later in this newsletter.
Road Safety 1 - Pentridge Boulevard / Stockade Avenue
A small win at this intersection has been achieved with the traffic lights for vehicles exiting Wardens Walk (onto the intersection with Stockade Avenue and Pentridge Boulevard) having been made 'Not in Use' whilst construction continues.
Council staff are pursuing changes to the traffic signals so cyclists on Pentridge Boulevard receive a default green light and are not required to push the call button. The Department of Transport and Planning has requested a road safety audit before they consider the change, but the officers are working through that with them. Thanks to Council staff and outgoing Mayor Angelica Panopoulos for her work on this issue.
I remind all users that they need to observe the pedestrian crossing signals at this dangerous intersection, where we have had recent student injuries.
Road Safety 2 - Bell Street and Bridge
I would like to take this opportunity to thank the Safe Access for Bell Street Bridge for Everyone (SABBE) group for their continuing advocacy for a safer Bell Street, the bridge and the broader Risk Zone of dangerous pedestrian and cycling crossings. Last month I had an onsite meeting with a representative of the Department of Transport and Planning (DTP) where we traversed these intersections. Following the meeting with I am hopeful of treatments being installed in 2024 which will make this area safer for all users.
Parent Dave Hall and others in the community have self funded a Safety Systems Assessment of the area. I encourage you to have a read, with snapshots of the report below:
Road Safety 3 - Safer Walking and Riding for Murray Road
The campaign for a Safer Murray Road continues (see the Safer Walking and Riding for Murray Road - SWARM - group here). This is another dangerous road which our students use as pedestrians, cyclists and public transport users every day. Murray Road was featured in this recent Age article:
Please also see attached below SWARM's comprehensive community safety report, which followed their survey which received 355 community responses.
This survey demonstrated Coburg High as a key destination for pedestrian and cyclists traversing Murray Road...
...which if it were safer, would lead to more people walking or riding, and more people feeling safer for their children:
Road Safety 4 - Lower speed limits on local roads in Merri-bek
The Coburg High School Walking & Riding Sub Committee welcomes the announcement of lower speed limits on local roads in Merri-bek and thanks Council and the state governments for their co-operation on this important improvement. With 77% of CHS students walking, riding or catching public transport to and from school each day, this is a welcome initiative which will make the roads at either end of those journeys significantly safer for our vulnerable road users.
Road Safety 5 - Council enforcement of parking restrictions around the school
Council officers have been active in recent weeks, fining drivers who have parked in No Standing areas around our school, particularly in the Grasslands Avenue area.
We encourage parents that need to drop their children near the school to consider alternatives to the narrow Grasslands Avenue, such as streets slightly further away in the Pentridge area, where No Standing zones do not apply. Another alternative is also to drop students on Pentridge Boulevard, just north of Urquhart Street, as students are then close to the southern entrance of the school.
Coburg Outdoor Pool
We are fortunate to be in close proximity to Coburg Olympic Swimming Pool, holding our annual Swimming Carnival in Term 1 each year. We encourage you to make use of this great community resource over summer:
Thank you
A big thanks to the Parents' Association who recently ran a Bunnings BBQ fundraiser at the Coburg store. Thanks to those parents who gave their time on a Saturday to support our great school.
Parent volunteers
Parent volunteers
Coburg on the Green this Friday
Coburg High School, the Instrumental Music Program and the Parents' Association are proud to present the return of Coburg on the Green on Friday 1 December 5.00pm - 8.00pm. The event will be held on the deck/in front of the Cafe with the option to spread out onto the lawns, relax and enjoy the entertainment.
There will be Parent Association volunteer-run bars (one serving alcoholic and the other non-alcoholic drinks), a BBQ and popcorn machine with all profits going back to the school's music learning area.
Adults are $15, high school students are $10 (except for those performing, who are admitted free of charge) and children/primary school students are free. Note however that anyone under the age of 18 must be accompanied by an adult guardian.
Tickets can be found here.
At the time of writing, all volunteer roles for the event have been filled. Once again, a big thanks to all parents who have volunteered their time.
We look forward to seeing our vibrant CHS community for a wonderful evening!
Technology Building update
Plans for the Technology Building are progressing. Look out on Compass for an upcoming parent, student and staff session to provide input into the Detailed Design stage which is being finalised.
Coburg High School Historical Group
Did you know that the history of secondary schooling in Coburg goes back over more than 100 years? Coburg High School has an active historical group who meet regularly, hold reunions and hold records and memorabilia from that over 100 year span. Please check out http://www.coburghighhistorical.org/ and pass on the details to any former Coburg High School students that you know of.
Brent Houghton
Principal