From the Assistant Principal 7-9

New building and bathrooms are now open!

Our new Senior School building opened with great excitement last week. It was wonderful to see our Year 11 and 12 students finally moving into their new lockers and enjoying their outstanding new learning environment! I’d like to thank the many staff and students who participated in the design process, helping to create the best possible outcome for our school through focus groups, workshops and consultations, as well as those who have played an active role in getting the building ready for occupancy - even coming in during the holidays to put the finishing touches in place! 

Huge thanks to Fiona Thomas for her work behind the scenes to ensure all the furniture and other necessaries were in place ready for Day 1, and to Georgina McLay for her work coordinating the room changes and timetabling and to Ella Price for her excellent work with Year Level Leaders to develop new processes to ensure the positive culture within our senior subschool continues in the new space.

We are currently working on some timetabling machinations to give each of our junior classes an opportunity to have a lesson in the new building over the next couple of weeks and share in the excitement!

At long last, the newly renovated bathrooms in the main building are finally open. The temporary facilities will be removed this week and our drinking bubblers are scheduled to be reinstalled as well. Again, we thank our students for their patience during these frustrating delays. Good things do come to those who wait!

France Study Tour

It was my great pleasure to lead 20 excited AHS students across Year 8-11 on our very first France Study Tour since the pandemic! Every day was full of highlights, but to name just a few: 

• We were impressed by how quickly our diverse group of travelers connected with each other and the strong sense of camaraderie. Every student approached each new opportunity and experience with courage, humour and enthusiasm, even when faced with a plate full of snails and frogs legs!
• Each student made a real effort to practice their French language skills and every one made great progress as they ordered at the local markets, interacted with locals and navigated public transport.
• We loved seeing each student flourish in different ways, some surprising us and themselves with hidden talents and interests in everything from Louvre masterpieces to the engineering feats of the ancient Romans.
• Our visit to the Sir John Monash Centre and Australian Cemetery at Villers-Bretonneux was emotional and moving. One of our travellers had a great-great uncle serve, perish and buried at this place. Our senior students conducted a heartfelt wreath-laying ceremony at his gravesite, which was received with great maturity and respect by all. 
• New friends were made when we spent the morning at the College Van Gogh in Arles, where students from both schools engaged in lively conversation and an impromptu AFL skills lesson!
• Our daily photo challenges were a lot of fun and gave students the chance to see things through a “different lens”. Many of these are now on display in the Student Entry and the school Facebook page.
• Climbing the hundreds of steps to the top of the Arc de Triomphe, Sacre Coeur and Pont du Gard for the views was truly breathtaking (literally) as was the stunning Monet’s Garden at Giverny, the street art of Montmartre, the busting market at St Remy de Provence… 

Sincere thanks to Nola Cefai and Ashley Lanfranchi who were exceptional expedition leaders and a lot of fun to spend two weeks with! Thanks also to Heather and Shannan from Global Learning Expeditions for their attention to detail and going above and beyond to ensure a great experience was had by all. We look forward to running this fabulous tour again in 2026. 

ANZAC ceremony

On Friday, Yr 7 and 9 students Tara and Evie S represented Auburn High School at Melbourne Legacy's 92nd Annual ANZAC Commemoration for Students. This service was held at the Shrine of Remembrance in the lead up to Anzac Day. It was timely as the speech from Her Excellency Professor the Honorable Margaret Gardner AC, Governor of Victoria focused on the strengthened relationship between France and Australia following WW1. Our France Study Tour travelers learned about this during their recent visit to Normandy. The speech can be viewed at the 28 minute mark of the live stream, link below. AHS students will be representing AHS at the Camberwell RSL Dawn Service on April 25th. https://www.shrine.org.au/melbourne-legacy-students-service #Respect

Information Expo

We welcomed around 300 visitors to our annual Information Expo for Prospective Families last week. It was of course the first time we’d held the event across our two buildings, so it was fantastic to see it run as smoothly as it did! Visitors commented on the positive energy that was so evident from our staff and student helpers alike and were very impressed by the various Learning Area displays. Thanks to our dedicated Education Support staff for their work behind the scenes and to all teachers and student helpers for their efforts on the night.

Transition application forms have now been distributed by primary schools for 2025 Year 7 entry and we anticipate welcoming a similar sized cohort to our school next year.