Principal's Report

Congrats Class of 2025!

We enjoyed welcoming back the Class of 2025 for a celebratory morning tea on Thursday 11 December. See a further page of celebrations later in this newsletter. 

After the morning tea had finished, Channel 10 arrived to interview one of our graduates. Saleh fractured both of his wrists after falling down in the stairwell at Melbourne Uni whilst studying for his Year 12 exams. He maintained his positive attitude throughout this exceptionally challenging experience, achieving a 40 Study Score in Maths Methods and an ATAR of 96.35. Well done, Saleh! You can see the Channel 10 and ABC news reports about Saleh, below:

At the time of writing, Saleh's story had become the most popular ever on the CHS Instagram with almost 30K views. If you haven't checked out our Instagram, I would encourage you to do so.

As you can see from the table below, Saleh was one of six students to achieve a study score of 40+ in 2025. Students acheived study scores of 40+ in 19 different subjects. Well done to these students for the hard work they put into their studies, as well as the teachers, staff and families that supported them.

Of the top three study scores achieved, two were in the Arts, with School Captain Josh McDonald achieving a Study Score of 49 in Music Performance and Celia Pompeani achieving a perfect 50 in Visual Communication Design. Our Dux, Celia, also achieved a Study Score of 50 in Psychology and an ATAR of 99.15. You can read more about Celia below or here.

We are proud of all of our graduates, and look forward to following the next stage in their lives and welcoming them back as alumni down the track.

Coburg on the Court

With rain on the way, the decision was made to take our Coburg on the Green inside to the Gym on Friday, November 30. Although a different experience to past years, it will still a very enjoyable way to celebrate music and our talented students. 

Our music students are very well supported by their Instrumental Music (IM) teachers, led by Luke McIvor, as well as Music teachers Anna, Scott and Benita. Big thanks to the Coburg High School Parents and Carers Association, led by President Craig Pett for all of their volunteer work both before and during the night.

The event is also a fundraiser, with this year's event making a profit of $11,254. These profits are then used by the IM program to support student involvement in the Kool Skools program. You can read more about CHS's success in Kools Skools later in this newsletter.

Year 7 Transition Day

In the same week as we farewelled our Class of 2025, we welcomed our incoming Class of 2031. On Tuesday 9 December we welcomed around 240 Year 7 students for our Transition Day. Students got to meet their new class mates and many new staff members as well as taking part in getting to know you activities. Our new students were entertained by our talented Music students who performed some of their original songs.

We look forward to welcoming students and their families at the beginning of 2026. The first day for 2025 for Year 7 (and VCE students) is Wednesday 28 January 2026 and our Welcome BBQ is on Tuesday 3 February 2025 at 5.30pm-7.00pm. See many 2026 key dates at the end of this newsletter.

End of Year Assemblies

Throughout November and December we congratulated Year 7 to 11 students on their achievements across the year. You can read and see more from these assemblies later in the newsletter, with all award winners listed. 

Thanks to Merri-bek City Council for allowing us to use the Town Hall for our Year 7 to 9 assembly on Monday 8 December and for Mayor Nat Abboud and our local state MP Anthony Cianflone for attending and speaking to our students.  Thank you to Anthony for donating two $100 Endeavour Awards to award to Year 8 Quinn and Year 9 Eden. CHS Alumni representatives Glennys and Murray were also on hand to congratulate award winners. We thank the CHS Alumni group for generously donating three $100 Awards for the Year 10 Assembly. 2026 School Captains Lucas, Evie and Astrid did a great job of MCing these awards, and the Town Hall was rocked with some great music!

2025 successes in numbers

It has been another great year at CHS. As the numbers below demonstrate, we are proud of our VCE results, with our Class of 2026 equalling last year's cohort in terms of maintaining a 30 median study score and 17% of ATARs being over 90.

In NAPLAN, fewer Year 9 students were in the lowest band when compared to similar schools in Reading and more Year 9 students were in the Top 2 bands for Writing. CHS students experienced lower levels of bullying compared to other students and were overall more satisfied, as were parents with the school. We always say that students can only be learning to the fullest extent possible when they are in class, so are proud that our attendance rates remain better than other schools. 

Finally, our staff have great trust in one another and are collectively focused on student learning.

Instrumental Music Funding

At recent School Council meetings I have been keeping members updated regarding Instrumental Music funding for Coburg High School. Across my time at the school, student numbers in the Instrumental Music program have averaged around 200 students (we are expecting around 240 students enrolled in IM lessons in 2026). In spite of this, funding under the Secondary Instrumental Music Program (SIMP) remained similar to 2007, when Coburg Senior High School commenced operations with less than 100 students!  

Given that a number of members of the school community have played a role in signing a petition on this matter, I thought it appropriate to provide an update. 

A summary of events in 2024 and 2025:

- The School Council sent a letter to the Minister for Education in April 2024 regarding the unfairness of the previous allocations for the SIMP

- A petition was launched by Coburg High School Engagement (CHEG) members and received 387 signatures

- The North-West Victoria Region announced the establishment of a review of the SIMP allocation model in May 2024

- Then Greens Upper House Leader Sam Ratnam asked a question in parliament in June 2024

- The petition was tabled by Anthony Cianflone in February this year

As part of the SIMP Review, the North-West Victoria Region established an Advisory Committee of 10 Principals from across the region. I was chosen as one of those principals and we've many times since then. Based on the committee's advice, the 2025 funding model quickly changed to 70% being based on students enrolled in IM lessons for 2025 funding, with 30% of the funding retained to smooth out the loss of funding for schools that would have otherwise lost funding. The model developed for 2026 funding is more complex but in simple terms allocates 85% towards student numbers, with 15% discretionary.

In terms of funding for CHS, these changes have led to SIMP funding:

2022: $55,105

2023: $79,725

2024: $81,712

2025: $177,904

2026: $205,899

I noted with interest that the recently released Silver Review suggested scrapping the SIMP entirely, a recommendation that the Victorian Government rejected. The SIMP provides an important source of funding for schools to develop their instrumental music programs. Importantly, this is arts funding which helps schools with the costs of employing instrumental music staff and ensures that IM lesson costs are as low as possible for families. Ultimately, this funding ensures as many students as possible can have access to a vibrant music program of lessons, rehearsals and performances.

The Advisory Committee is still meeting to determine arrangements for 2027 funding and beyond. I want to thank School Council, CHEG members and the wider school community for their advocacy on this matter - it has made a difference. 

Wishing everyone a happy 2026!

Brent Houghton

Principal