Preston Life

Preston wins at Victorian Education Excellence Awards

Last Friday at the Victorian Education Excellence Awards, Preston High School won an excellence award for our outstanding work focusing on maximising Learner Growth. The Outstanding Provision for High-Ability Students award recognises the amazing work we do in our school with our students - particular thanks to the Academic Growth team pictured and to every teacher.  

Congratulations too to Maths teacher and mentor Lianna Beeching, who was a finalist in the Outstanding Secondary Teacher category! As well as being an outstanding classroom teacher and learning specialist within our own school, Lianna’s promotion of excellence in the practice of Mathematics has found voice and impact in presentations at the Mathematical Association of Victoria and within the online community of Mathspace, including over 300 participants across the country.

Former PM Julia Gillard officially opens the Gillard Building

Australia's first female Prime Minister, The Hon. Julia Gillard AC, thrilled students when she visited Preston High School with Deputy Premier, The Hon. Ben Carroll MP and other dignitaries to officially open the Gillard Building recently. 

Ms Gillard toured the building named in her honour and met with our Ged Kearney scholars before addressing the crowd of enthralled staff and students. The Gillard Building houses the library, science labs and senior learning spaces. Ms Gillard stopped by the library during her visit to sign copies of books, including her biography and a book detailing the impact of her famed misogyny speech, delivered to Parliament back in 2012.

Here is an extract of Ms Gillard's inspiring address to students before cutting the red ribbon to officially open the space:

"We live in a fast paced world that is constantly changing and throwing up some major challenges to us all. We need to face these challenges together. 

Young people are often mistakenly left out of important conversations and decision-making processes, even though you are the future and you have so much to bring to the table. It is on us, as adults, to open opportunities and include you. But it is up to you to grab these chances with both hands. 

I know what it is like to think as a young person that you are not the right fit and there is someone else who is smarter and more assertive who should take a role on offer. Fortunately, over time, I learned to shed those limitations on my thinking about what I could do. My message to you is to learn that lesson early. 

Be ambitious for yourself, your community and our world. Be brave, be curious, be kind.  I can’t wait to see what you all do”.

Preston's got Maths talent

Congratulations to two of Preston High's own - Oliver Diesendorf and Taj Gordon (pictured left)  - who achieved stellar results in this year's Maths Talent Quest.

The Maths Talent Quest is an annual activity open to all primary and secondary students. 

It encourages students to think deeply about mathematics and apply it to their own passion projects. Students select their own investigation topic based on their personal learning interests and apply mathematics in context. They understand and discover how mathematics is used and found in the world around them.  

Year 8 student Oliver was awarded a distinction for his work on A Web of Boolean Functions: how computers are built from logic gates' while Year 10 student Taj received a high distinction for his work, 'Representing 3D rotation and orientation in computer simulations'. 

Taj’s project was so impressive he was also awarded the national prize in his age group! What an outstanding achievement for both Oliver and Taj!! Truly embodying Preston High School’s Motto to Lead, Explore, Inspire!

Sue Calder

Maths Teacher

Ada students under the job spotlight

by Otis Williamson, Year 10

Year 10 students spent Term 3 and into Term 4 preparing for their Real Industry Job Interviews (RIJI), which took place on Thursday, 17 October. In Ada, we chose a job and tailored a cover letter and resume to that job as though it were a real-life application.  The Mentor teachers helped us with templates, composition of the cover letter, proof reading and advice on sounding professional. We also had to practise introducing ourselves and I felt that really helped so I wasn’t lost for words!

On the day, I felt a little nervous going into the interview, but the interviewer turned out to be really nice and we had a lovely conversation. She asked me a little bit about myself as a bit of an ice-breaker before moving onto the interview questions.

• Why would you like to do this job or work for this company? 
• Have you ever been involved in any work experience/ volunteering/paid employment before?
• What qualities or skills do you think you can offer for this job?
• Can you give me an example from school or work where you have worked in a team to complete some task?
• Can you think of a time when you have had to solve a problem at school/at work/home/ somewhere else. Describe how you went about it and what was the outcome,

We were also assessed on our appearance, handshake/greeting, posture, eye contact, voice tone, volume and enthusiasm. Afterwards, I was given some great feedback on answering scenario type questions, as well as advice on my future pathway. RIJI gave me a lot of confidence for future job interviews and I look forward to receiving further written feedback in Ada in the next few weeks.