Principal's Report

Welcome to Term 2 everyone! This edition of our CHES newsletter includes reflections on a range of CHES student activities from Term 1:

• Orientation activities
• Higher Education Studies 
• VCE subjects and seminar days
• Year 10 electives
• United Nations Youth Summit

We also feature some of the upcoming Term 2 activities, including the CHES Expo and CHES Masterclasses. We introduce the CHES staff and school council, and report on the professional learning program that CHES provides to teachers across Victoria together with Deakin University. 

The sections on VCE studies and Higher Education Studies in this newsletter highlight the excellent outcomes of students in 2023 as well as celebrating the Term 1 achievements from our 2024 classes. We are optimistic about the potential of this year's amazing CHES students.

This newsletter includes an update on the semester 2 Year 10 electives that are now open to applications from high-ability Year 10 students who are seeking further extension and enrichment. 

Interested students can apply to enrol in our Semester 2 Year 10 electives here.

Further information is available in this Year 10 Elective flyer: 

In Term 3, CHES will undertake a School Review conducted by the Department of Education and led by an independent reviewer. This review is scheduled for all schools every four years and will enable us to review our development so far as a senior secondary centre of excellence. Through the review process, we will refine our long-term goals, targets and improvement strategies. As part of the review, we will be seeking extensive input and feedback from current students and families.  Please stay tuned for opportunities to participate in this important process. 

At CHES, our overarching goals are to:

• Improve access to tertiary courses and strengthen tertiary pathways and preparation for students in Victorian government schools.
• Expand the acceleration, enrichment and extension opportunities to further stretch and challenge high-achieving senior students.
• Provide additional opportunities for academic stretch and challenge to high-ability students in rural and regional areas and those in priority cohorts across Victoria. 

VCE Parent-Student-Teacher conferences 

For VCE students, the semester 1 online Parent-Student-Teacher (PST) conferences are coming up next Monday 22 April. Term 1 reports have been published for each VCE student and include their teacher’s evaluations of progress as well as student self-evaluations. 

Students who are studying a Higher Education Study, please note that the universities do not conduct PST conferences. We will continue to check-in with you and your course coordinators about your progress as the semester proceeds.  

Likewise, our Year 10 electives will not have PST conferences. However, we are looking forward to our next seminar days with students in our Year 10 elective classes. 

Upcoming masterclasses for CHES students

Through our partnership with universities, we offer students the opportunity to learn from leading academics and industry experts in masterclasses that can be accessed on-site or online. Full details of these Term 2 masterclasses are included in the CHES Masterclasses page of this newsletter:

• Prof Sigfredo Fuentes (Uni Melb) – AI in agriculture and food for Earth and space
• Profs Ros Gall & Ian Bland (Uni Melb) – Transdisciplinary skillset for future food systems
• Dr Ian Hoyle – Microsoft
• Prof Sebastian Sardina (RMIT) – Advanced Searching Algorithms

Register for the masterclasses here. 

Further information is contained in this Term 2 Masterclass flyer:

This term, the focus of our masterclasses is the important, groundbreaking technologies for future food supply and the key skillsets needed for future food systems and agriculture in Australia and worldwide. With a growing world population, sustainable food supply is one of the top 3 priorities of the United Nations and of most nations around the world, including Australia. Our guest academics will share their innovative research and developments in agricultural science - both here on Earth and in space.  We look forward to the presentations from these eminent professors from the University of Melbourne’s School of Agriculture, Food and Ecosystem Sciences and I encourage you to take up this opportunity to participate in these interactive masterclasses. 

Masterclasses on VCE success

Let me also take this opportunity to remind all CHES students in VCE subjects and Higher Education Studies that you have free access to the full suite of Skyline Hatch resources and online resources throughout the year. Skyline Foundation are a not-for-profit organisation with goals that align with CHES. Their mission is to reduce education inequity by equipping VCE students with high-quality study resources. I encourage all of our Year 11 and 12 students to take advantage of the opportunity to access their portal of resources and join these virtual masterclasses:

• Term 2: GAT Preparation - Wednesday, 12 June
• Term 3: Procrastination Buster - Tuesday, 21 July
• Term 4: Exam Success Edition - Wednesday, 9 October

Key dates: Term 2 Seminar Days

• Friday 26 April - VCE Algorithmics and VCE English Language Seminar
• Monday 29 April - VCE Specialist Maths Seminar (Units 1/2 & 3/4)
• Friday 3 May - Year 10 Seminar Day
• Tuesday 18 June - Year 10 Presentation Day
• Monday 24 June - VCE Extended Investigation Seminar Day 

Wellbeing and academic supports

Finally, I congratulate the CHES classes of 2024 on the positive way they engaged in their studies throughout Term 1 and I encourage you to continue to reach out for additional support from our dedicated CHES team at any time. We are here to challenge and support you to be the very best you can be. 

This newsletter also introduces each of the CHES staff members and their roles. In addition to our teaching staff, our Assistant Principal, Fabiano (fabiano.nigro@ches.vic.edu.au), and I are available to support students throughout the year. We work closely with support personnel at schools across the state, including the designated base school supervisors, year level coordinators and the wellbeing teams, in the best interests of students taking part in CHES programs. 

This term we will be holding focus groups with students, making in-person visits to many schools, and checking in with as many students as possible. 

We look forward to seeing you and speaking with you again, whether online or in-person, this term. 

I hope you've all had an enjoyable Term 1 break, as we now look forward to a productive and successful Term 2 ahead.  

Stewart Milner

Principal

CHES