Student Leaders

Naysha Tomar

Hello everyone, for those who don’t know me, I’m Naysha and I was the inclusion school captain this year. This whole week I’ve had waves of nostalgia hit me; I was reminded of our time at Melbourne Polytech where we spent the first term of high school. I remember all of us being the only ones at school. Most importantly, I remembered the memories I have made with everyone over the past five years. 

Year 7 was our time to transition from childhood to adolescence, it was a time when we went from being at a school where we had lots of friends to being at a school where we had a few of those friends from primary school and room for many more. It was also a time when our excitement to meet new people and fully understand our passions and interests was at an all-time high. Then came year 8, the start of our journey as leaders and role models at school. Year 8 and Year 9 feel like a blur to me and I’m sure a few of my peers feel this way as well due to lockdown and online school but we made the most out of it. I remember having Houseparty calls with my friends during class and how one of my teachers used to sing at the top of his lungs whenever we didn’t answer any questions, which was rather effective and a win-win situation for all of us because when we did answer he understood whether we knew what we were doing, and we got him to stop singing. 

Majority of our junior school years were unfortunately spent in lockdown but thankfully we were able to make more memories as a whole in our senior years. Year 10 was our year back at school full-time after lockdown and that’s when we finally got to experience the actual high school experience. Year 11 was the first time some of us gave a VCE exam. And now finally, Year 12 … this year has been the most eventful, we had the formal, our last first days of term, our last last days of term, the dress-up week, our graduation and most importantly, the exams.

The past five years have been a rollercoaster ride and I’m so glad to have experienced it with every single one of you guys, no matter how close we are. I would like to thank my peers for making my high school journey as memorable as it is. I would like to thank our teachers over the years for supporting and believing in us and of course, I’d like to thank my parents and the families of my peers for having our backs throughout the years. This is it from me, good luck everyone and have a lovely evening.

Sturt Boltin

School is a little like architecture. It seems very intricately designed, with all possible options or hazards accounted for, but it’s designed by someone who doesn’t have to live in it. Someone far away and untouchable who trickles ideas into our domain for us to test.

I’m sure this relationship sounds familiar: we have grown accustomed to being the guinea pigs. This pedagogical playground, originating in Melbourne Polytechnic, tests its strength against us, like sword’s blade on the dummy, and sharpens its steel, like hammer to anvil. We have adjusted to the smithy of education, and now it’s time to move on. It has seemed a brutal task, this forging of a school. But a sword is valued for both its sharpness and the deeds it does. Likewise, we now celebrate a twofold completion. The completion of our formal education and the completion of a school.

We did it. I refer not only to the students who survived, persevered, but to the teachers who made it possible, the parents who made it bearable, and the friends who made it easier.

And again: we did it. I feel like this passing signifies the completion of the school in many ways. It’ll continue to morph and rework itself to the student body, but this moment here represents a finally finished institution. The ecosystem is complete.

It’s not easy to do this, for anyone involved. I wouldn’t wish the past 13 years upon my worst enemy, and yet it astounds me how many people still get on and get it done. I mean, seriously: VCAA hates us. School is a product of the capitalist institutions within which it exists. School is ideology’s training ground. The systemic division of the rich and poor classes starts here, with the private-public school split. VCAA hates us, Preston High School does not: it’s successfully challenging the constraints of a public school. It has equipped the student body with an incredible critical lens, provided the tools to challenge authority where necessary, and promoted incredible perseverance. It’s a school choosing the not the easy path, but the good path – and it’s a very risky ploy for a government faculty.

Naturally, I would like to provide you with two Chomsky quotes:

“Far from creating independent thinkers, schools have always, throughout history, played an institutional role in a system of control and coercion. And once you are well educated you have already been socialised in ways that support the power structure, which, in turn, rewards you immensely.” (Chomsky on Mis-Education, 2000)

“If you assume that there’s no hope, you guarantee there will be no hope. If you assume that there is an instinct for freedom, there are opportunities to change things.” (Wired Magazine, 1997)

I’ll leave it up to you to determine which is more fitting. It’s been an honour and a privilege to be your school captain. It’s been a joy to grow up with you lot. I’m proud of where we’ve come from, I’m proud of where we’re going. I’m glad to have tried, I’m glad to have survived, I’m glad to be done. You all should be too. And now it’s time to get on with our lives; the world awaits.

Jessica Daniels

From the beginning, we have always been referred to as ‘Cohort 2024.’ The year that we will graduate at Preston High School. I remember thinking that it was so far away and full of possibilities. Only, I never expected it to feel so special and rewarding to be standing here today at our Year 12 Graduation with the memory of such a wonderful body of teachers, students and families that have helped shape us into the people that we are today.

I’d like to cast your minds back to a common saying that we always hear after leaving a space from teachers. “Leave it better than how you find it”. Being the first cohort of Preston High School, we have definitely made our mark on the school and the overall Preston community. Whether you helped build up the impressive and highly talented musical productions, represented our school through interschool sports or in chess tournaments, you have and will continue to evidently guide the future generations of our school to achieve such a tight knit, prosperous and kind group of people that Cohort 2024 students and teachers consistently present.

When we leave Preston High School, we leave with the ability to be role models and leaders to our peers, to have the skills and knowledge to problem solve in innovative ways and to collaborate and work together with our cohorts as a team. And let’s not forget, we know how to successfully run the mud run at the Year 9 Summit camp and survive the tedious and difficult times that COVID was.

I would like to thank all of the families of the graduating class who have spent countless nights helping calm down nerves before SAC and driving us to and from school everyday. Without your dedication and continued support throughout the past few years we wouldn’t have been able to become the independent role models that we are to the years below and amongst ourselves.

On behalf of all of Cohort 2024, we thank all of the VCE teachers and leadership team who actively share their passions with us and strive to help us to always be our best. All of your hard work does not go unnoticed, and we are very grateful for all that you do for us every day.

To the graduating class that is Cohort 2024. As we reminisce and spend our last few weeks together, let’s not forget the 6 years of friendship, exploration and all of the ups and downs of high school that we have spent with each other. 

I wish you all the best in the future and on the upcoming exams. And I hope that you always remember to leave everywhere that you go a little better than how you found it.

Thank you.