Principal's Report & Captain's Corner

Message from the School Council: Support a new stadium at Coburg High School - sign and share the petition!

Coburg High School has one indoor court for almost 1,300 students. Our community has the same problem at a larger scale, with Coburg Basketball Association supporting over 5,000 participants a week and 520 domestic teams across Merri-bek without a facility large enough to hold them.

Stage 2 of our School Masterplan is a four court indoor stadium on the Coburg High School site, used by the school by day and by the community at night and on weekends. A Merri-bek City Council feasibility study assessed hundreds of sites across the municipality and identified ours as the most suitable. Council has already committed $3 million. Building a new stadium on our site also frees our existing gym to become a performing arts theatre, which is Stage 3 of the Masterplan.

What we need now is a state government commitment. On 9 September, School Council resolved unanimously to call on the Victorian Government, and on every candidate contesting our local seats, to commit a minimum of $10 million to build it. The state election is on 28 November, not far away. 

We are asking you to do two things to show your support today:

1. Read more about this project and sign the petition at https://c.org/hQhm6LkB8k. It takes under a minute. 

2. Then send it to five people: grandparents, neighbours, friends, your workplace. Signatures from outside the school community count too.

Trent McCarthy

School Council President

Coburg High School

Spain Trip

At the time of writing, our students and staff are in the air, returning from Kuala Lumpur on the last leg of their flight home from Spain. By all reports, they have had an exceptional time, sightseeing across several cities and visiting a sister school in Grenada. 

Check out more photos on the CHS instagram page. 

Practice exams

Well done to the Unit 3/4 students that completed their practice exams in the second week of the holidays.  With most Year 12s completing five subjects (some with two exams) students were very busy. Attendance was very high, and reports from the invigilators running the exams indicated students used their time very well. My thanks to Christina Scholzhorn (Senior School Administrator) and Katherine Ryan (Year 12 Leader) for running these exams.

New building names at CHS from 2027

At CHS, we believe in the importance of language. Alongside the teaching of English, we are proud to offer the two next most spoken languages in the world to our students (Mandarin and Spanish). Twenty-one students and four staff are taking the opportunity to tour Spain these September holidays to immerse themselves in a foreign language and culture. We have a dedicated English Literacy support program supporting students in Years 7 and 8 so that they can best access the CHS curriculum.

We also believe in the benefits of our school community learning a little of the local indigenous language (Woi-wurrung). Our current building names of A to E are more functional than meaningful. Over the past week or so, students and staff have voted on some suggested words relating to our buildings, including the new Tech Building, based on advice from Aunty Gail Smith at the Wurundjeri Woi-wurrung Cultural Heritage Aboriginal Corporation. Before they voted, students and staff were able to hear the pronunciations of the words and learn a little of the language that has been spoken around Coburg for many thousands of years. 

Enjoy the video below which outlines our new building names from the beginning of 2027. 

Holiday works

Along with the Technology Building progress, students, staff and visitors will notice even more changes when they return from holidays, with:

• The enclosure of the flybridge between Buildings A and B:

• A landswap between the school and the Department of Education, with the school gaining access to a new site for our garden centre, to open later in the year:

Student Achievement

An exceptional, prize-winning result from Hamza A in the Australian Maths Competition, being placed in the top 0.3% students - something to read further in the (very full) Teaching and Learning section of this newsletter.

Upcoming Arts Events - Save the Dates!

Brent Houghton

Principal

School Captains' Corner

This year as the 2026 Captains has been such an amazing experience, we are so grateful for the opportunities that we have been given in this role. From making real change in our school by introducing a new Year 12 study room, bringing back free fruit and creating a new avenue to learn with our alumni tutoring program. We were also able to attend events like our annual Leadership Camp, as well as organising the Year 12 formal and Coburg's Got Talent. 

Overall, the thing we were most proud to contribute to was the World's Greatest Shave. It was an incredible event which really showed the strength of our school community and was such a joy to be part of. 

Earlier this term the elections for the 2027 School Captains took place, and the incredible Lyric, Alexei, Nameera and Noah were elected. We want to say a huge congratulations to them, and wish them the best for all their plans next year. We were able to have a lovely morning tea where we discussed the fun and merits of being a school captain and gave them advice for how to make the best of their year. They are all incredible people and we’re certain they’re going to do an amazing job.

Finally, we would also like to give a shout out to the head of student leadership, Nat Stewart, with this year being her first year in the role she has done an outstanding job guiding us through this year, and supporting us as Captains through all our trials. We cannot thank her enough for the commitment and support she has given us, and we know that with Nat at the helm, Lyric, Alexei, Nameera and Noah are going to be the best school captains they can possibly be. Again, we cannot thank everyone at Coburg High enough for the opportunity that they have given us, and on behalf of our year level we’d like to thank all for the effort that has gone in to supporting us in our most difficult year.