From the Principal

Dear Parents and Carers,

Over the past fortnight, there has been plenty of things to celebrate at Auburn High School. The Olympics have started in France and what an amazing display the nation put on in the opening ceremony. Auburn High is in Olympics fever with displays, competitions, and lots of interest in the performances of Australian and French athletes. That said, we have a diverse school community and families will be barracking for their heritage country. 

Our school has been recognised at the University of Melbourne Careers in Teaching expo. Auburn High has a long-term partnership with the university and were a key presence at the expo aimed at recruiting teachers and providing guidance to current Master of Teaching Students and graduates. Two of our students, Prateek Gupta and Ivy Le, accompanied me and Ms Price for the day and were very popular with the university students as they sought information on student agency, and school culture. As we plan for 2025, it is invaluable to have connected with these graduate teachers and before long students may see some of them in our classrooms. 

Recently we have engaged a landscape designer who is going to be coordinating the landscaping between our new building and the oval. Final tweaks of the drawings are being done so that the project can begin by the end of August. This landscaping will allow us to fully present the building to the school community in the spring to recognise the major development of our site.

This term the School welcomed a group of new international students who will be completing language centre programs and electives. There are 60 international students at Auburn High from a variety of destinations, including Cambodia, USA, China, Vietnam, Malaysia. I regularly speak to them about the courage it takes to embark on their adventure, the opportunities that we offer, and my desire for them to feel connected to the School. The one thing they all have in common is the blazer, and the school community. It is important that all students, from all backgrounds, local and international, accept and acknowledge difference and utilise this to add to the depth and breadth of school experience. 

Professional Learning Day – Wednesday August 7 (student free day)

Next Wednesday staff will participate in a Professional Learning Day held on campus.  The focus is on wellbeing. The DET definition of wellbeing is the development of the capabilities necessary to thrive, contribute and respond positively to the challenges and opportunities of life. This relevant to study and work, and teaching programs at Auburn High are all centred in providing the optimal environment to maximise learning outcomes for individual students. BY achieving this we also provide a teaching environment where staff enjoy their work, know their students and connect to their vocation and the community. Currently, we have an instructional model, GANAG (Marzano), embedded in each lesson that provides a framework for teachers and students to operate within. The school has a tool kit of proven teaching strategies that can be used within this framework that ensure the best opportunity for knowledge and skill development in students. Our leading teachers will facilitate workshops extending our strategies to include targeted teaching strategies to engage all our students. Whether students need modifications, adjustments, extension, or special provision to access the teaching and learning, we are building our staff tool kit to create access to an inclusive, high quality state education. 

Another aspect of the day will be the opportunity for staff to participate in a ‘CYOA – choose your own adventure’ session to acknowledge different staff needs across the area of student and staff wellbeing. These sessions will provide opportunities for collegiality and collaboration, aimed at providing staff with strategies that can be implemented immediately in their teaching. 

House Athletics

On Thursday August 22 we will have our annual house athletics carnival at Duncan McKinnon reserve in Carnegie. Using the energy of the Olympics I encourage everyone to get behind their house, sign up for events, and start doing some physical training if required. This day is a great day on our calendar and Mr Lanfranchi and his wonderful team do an incredible job designing the day for maximum participation and enjoyment. 

Until next time,

Kind regards,

Ross Pritchard