From the Principal's Desk

A Final Flurry

As I sit to write my final entry for our 2025 series of newsletters, I do so in the midst of a flurry of end of year activity which is characteristic of "a day in the life of Nossal" in that regardless of its participants or location, it remains focused on the creation of a community worthy of our students and their aspirations.

Many members of our community will be aware of the fact that the school's VCE results for this year were a source of significant pride.  Some of these results have already been shared publicly, but I would like to start with a summary of some of these statistics before I reflect on what they mean for us as a school.

VCE Results: Stats and Significance

Our statistics this year were, in most cases, the highest in the school's relatively short history:

Pictured here with me are a collection of Year 12 students who scored 50 in a very broad range of subjects as outlined below, where the students are named in order of their position in the image, from left to right:

We are naturally proud of the contributions we have made to the learning of our students, but in the final analysis these excellent marks belong to them and I congratulate them on their achievements!

In terms of our reflection on these results as a school, I think that they provide us with some very positive feedback, and with a mandate to continue to put our efforts into some specific areas upon which we have been focusing in recent years. To appreciate the impact of this work properly, it's important to look at some of the statistics that are not deemed news-worthy but which reflect our priorities and practice in some very concrete ways.

Definitions of Success

For example, no-one at Nossal is immune to the sorts of struggles which remind us of a truth which we strive to keep "front of mind" - that success does not always look like a high mark on a test. 

Supporting students through these challenges, when their innate capacity to think well is simply not enough, despite the work they are doing to maintain their wellbeing or to combat other barriers to learning, is something we take very seriously. Students who are experiencing a high level of wellbeing are always going to be better positioned to learn well, and I know from having heard multiple speeches from our graduating class in which they thanked both their families and the school staff for their support that all of our students recognise this. 

It is in line with these realities that I would like to celebrate some different statistics, including the fact that no student at the school received an ATAR below 60, and that the percentage of students who received study scores less than 25 are at an all-time low across every subject. 

The students captured by those statistics will have different pathways to some of their peers, but those pathways will be no less valuable. In thinking about them, I am reminded of the messages we heard at Speech Night, and specifically of the example of our 2024 Dux Ruirui Yao, who in her own words "flunked [the entrance exam] in Year 8.... commencing at Nossal at the start of Year 10." 

To quote her at length:

 "Take from that what you will. Some ideas might be that it’s never too late to improve, and that setbacks you face today won’t seem so bad tomorrow. Other good morals might be that hard work pays off, or that facing failures gives you the resilience to keep on going. 

I’m not sure. Nothing groundbreaking happened in between year eight and twelve except for the fact that I started studying. And I guess the mundanity of that reason convinces me that regardless of where you’re at today, with respect to schoolwork or anything else, you can come away with much more than you bargained for. "

I am proud that, as a school, our work to support those students who have found elements of the VCE hard-going has been so successful. That speaks not just to a very effective wellbeing program, but also to an attentiveness on behalf of our teaching staff, and a mutually supportive environment having been created by our students.

Welcome, Class of 2029

Since our last newsletter, we have had the pleasure of welcoming our incoming cohort to the school during their Orientation Day. I would like to thank Mr Rian LaBrooy and his team which, in true Nossal style, benefited equally from the contributions of a large number of Nossal staff and from a very able team of student mentors to create a welcoming and fun first day for most of our soon-to-be Year 9s. They are all, I hope, feeling as proud of themselves as our outgoing Year 12s. I am looking forward to working with them and with their families over the coming years.

Looking forward to 2026

Along with the usual celebratory items like the news about various awards won by our students (including a Community Leadership Award and a prestigious ICAS award),  many of the pages in this newsletter contain information that will be helpful in 2026. This includes advice about when the school will re-open for the year, a reminder about the Department of Education's policy on various forms of insurance, and some very important advice about the traffic conditions which families will meet when they return. 

On this topic, families can also expect to receive ongoing updates via Compass, so using the holiday break to double check that your contact details are accurate (and that notifications are turned on for the app, if you use it!) will be a good idea!

The Pleasures of a Twisty Path

As the Class of 2025 finally exits the school and begins its journey into the future, I trust and hope that they will grow to understand how to properly value the non-academic learning that they did with us. They have successfully embraced the challenges presented by Nossal High School and by the 12 years of formal schooling which they have just completed, and they should be as proud of this as they were to enter the school four years ago, but the number of ways in which they can engage with the world is about to multiply exponentially. With that in mind, I would like to quote from another of our Speech Night Orators, Ms Rose-Bryant-Smith:

"I’m the black sheep of the family. I was supposed to be a scientist.  

 

If I had done what I was told, I would have done a Science Degree with honours, then a PhD, and probably worked in an excellent research organisation like the CSIRO or a drug company like CSL. Admirable career, but not a great fit for me. 

 

Instead, I became fascinated with ethics and criminology in my Arts degree, transferred into law, and became a corporate litigator at mega law firms. 

 

If I had done what I was told at mega law firms… I would now be defending asbestos companies and defective medical devices. Also an impressive career, but again, not a great fit for me. 

 

Instead, I founded a workplace integrity company, and wrote books about fixing dysfunctional teams and private investigations into workplace misconduct. I later volunteered with a group of human rights activist nuns, while studying oil painting. I had a sold-out art exhibition, and undertook a leadership and ethics program with the Fairfax Foundation. 

 

At various times in the last 20 years I have asked myself – how did I get here? Weaving baskets with Yolngu elders on a beach overlooking the Arafura Sea. Supporting human rights advisors and diplomats to negotiate over the human right to water in the United Nations in New York. Interviewing teenage welding workers about occupational safety in the Dharavi slum in Mumbai.   

Supporting contract negotiations between Spotify and a group of farmers in East Timor who generate carbon credits through regenerative farming. 

 

Twisty paths are much more interesting, right? 

I wish all members of our community a happy summer break and a restful and content-filled festive season. I have no doubt that 2026 will bring with it a new collection of challenges for us to embrace, but also any number of opportunities for us to work collaboratively towards a future of which we can be proud. 

That future will, I hope, be one in which our students can experience many forms of success as parts of an inclusive community which continues to celebrate the value in its diversity. Thank you to everyone who has helped us along that path this year, be they students, staff or families and friends of the school.

Tracey Mackin

Principal