Principal's Report

Reservoir High School’s vision commits to providing an environment where “every student will explore their passions, achieve success and ultimately flourish”. This is something the School Council, the School Leadership team and all staff, work very hard to achieve each year. 

There is no doubt that 2025 has been another successful year in the history of Reservoir High School. 

Our school’s NAPLAN results are once again outstanding, with the majority of our Year 7 and Year 9 students in the ‘strong’ or ‘exceeding’ bands for both Literacy and Numeracy. In almost every measure our school is achieving well above similar schools and is on par or above the state average.

Our VCE results for this year are excellent. Of the 51 students who sat the VCAA exams, 12% of our students received an ATAR over 80 and 25% of our students received an ATAR above 70, which is outstanding. An incredible 8 students received Study Scores over 40, which will place them on the Premier’s Honour Roll.    

The two students who received the highest ATARs are in 1% of the state. Truly remarkable young people and exemplar role models of learning.

Of the 88 students completing Year 12 this year, 37 chose the VCE VM or an Unscored pathway. These young people were empowered and proactively chose a pathway into further study upon completion of this year. 

This cohort of Year 12 students are resilient and passionate about life and the endless possibilities it will offer. They are optimistic and dream of achieving great things beyond school.

We finally opened the Science and Technology Centre and watching our students engage in scientific inquiry and be immersed in technologically rich learning has been a true highlight this year. The Canteen, operated by a new team, has been embraced by staff and students alike and I thank Rema and Liz for providing such delicious food for our school. 

2025 has also been a year of remarkable individual student success with many reaching the highest level in sport, visual art and design, performing arts and academic achievement.

There have been so many extra-curricular opportunities for our students to explore their talents and passions. The Performing Arts Nights, the inter-school Bands Showcase, the Dance recitals and the Arts and Technology Exhibition were exceptional. The School Production, “The Day the Internet Died” was a comedic triumph. Our students competed in various sporting competitions, often victorious at the highest level. Sonali Reniguntala competed in the final of the State School Victoria Athletics Competition, where she dominated in her field and also won the gold medal in the Australian Little Athletics held in Adelaide. Our Inter-School Debating Competition competed were triumphant and our senior Debating Team competed in the Grand Final in the Lions Club Interschool Debating Competition and won.

Mackenzie Runciman and  Michelle Chen were named Kwong Lee Dow scholars by Melbourne University and Aqeel Hussain received a prize and medal at the Australian Math competition State Awards for his performance in the Year 11 &12 category. Aiden and Tyson Turker competed in the state, national and Pan Pacific Jiujitsu Competitions, both cleaning up with bronze, silver and gold medals. Finally, five of our students - Lily Harris, Cameron Runciman, Sonali Reniguntala, Tyson Turker and Prarthana Nambiar were accepted into the School for Student Leadership in Term 3, where they were commended for the creativity, passion, courage and maturity. 

In June we held the inaugural Victoria Police versus Students Basketball Tournament. Watching our students play and how they were celebrated by the whole school was a testament to our sense of community and school spirit. 

Three students from Reservoir High School – Ivy Olszewski, Ayda Yilmaz and Aaradhana Vijayparthasarathy were selected for main parts in the Victorian State Schools Spectacular, a highly prestigious event which was televised nationally just recently.

Our ever expanding partnership with La Trobe University saw a group of Year 11 students spend the day at Carlton Football Club, others have been able to work alongside Football Australia and train on the famous grounds of the Matildas. Students from across each year level have been connecting with La Trobe, whether it be through STEM opportunities and visiting the campus and exploring potential university courses.

Another highlight for 2025 has been the introduction of the re-visioned Year 12 Leadership Team, consisting of our 8 Student Leaders. Thank you to our School Captains, SRC Presidents, Sports Captains and the Arts Captains. Each of them have led our school with maturity, compassion and an understanding of how to enact positive change in our school. The newly elected Student Representative Council has been instrumental in establishing a House culture at the school, with healthy competition taking place throughout the year among students from Darebin, Merri and Plenty Houses. Their work in creating strong student voice, leadership and agency, achieved through the partnership between the Year 12 Student Leaders and the SRC, has been exceptional and I am so heartened to know that these young people are the changemakers of our future.

There is no doubt that our students, whether it be academic, sporting or creative, are capable of remarkable things.

For all of our staff, the focus of the past 12 months has been to improve our own practice, so as to provide the best outcomes for each of our learners. The theme for this year was “Getting Better Together”. We further embedded Learning By Design which is our engaging and enriching curriculum across all subject areas. We implemented the Reservoir High School Lesson Model and are working with our students in having every learner understand their responsibility in the classroom, building self-regulation and independence. 

We launched Visible Wellbeing, led by Professor Lea Waters. The Visible Wellbeing program will enable us to embed a culture of wellbeing for students, staff and our parents and we will be working with Professor Waters for the next 18 months.

Schools are the heart of our communities, the thread that connects individuals to a greater good. There is no doubt that our school is the embodiment of a powerful learning community.

I would like to thank every leader for how you have carried our school community through this year. I thank every teacher for all that you have done for each and every one of our students. I thank our Education Support staff for keeping the school running and ensuring our parents are engaged with us on a daily basis. I also thank every parent and family member for the partnership you have forged with us to enable your children to grow, thrive and succeed. This learning community is exceptional because of each of you. 

I would also like to express my gratitude to the members of the School Council, to our parent members and to Eddie Turker, our School Council President. Over the past few years, our School Council has gone from strength to strength, with all members deeply committed to the wise governance of our school, lived out through their care and dedication to our learning community. Each parent member goes above and beyond to advocate for our school and provide opportunities to fundraise. All of you are remarkable and I thank you. 

I would like to acknowledge the courage and commitment that this year’s Year 12 students have demonstrated. We are very proud of what you have achieved and I wish you all the luck in the world with your continual learning and studies. Please do come back and visit at times, no matter where your paths may go. You will always remain a member of the Reservoir High School community.

Following the conclusion of the learning program our Year 7-9 students engaged in the School Picnic and an excursion to Fun Fields. They were magnificent days of fun for the staff and students to experience together. 

The annual Awards Evening took place on Wednesday night at The Centre in Ivanhoe, attended by all staff. The evening commenced with a Year 12 Valedictory celebration, before the Awards ceremony took place. It was a spectacular event in which we could recognise individual student success and celebrate the numerous achievements of our students. 

I have felt deeply privileged to lead our school community and am enormously proud of who we are and what we stand for at Reservoir High School. 

I hope you all have a wonderful summer break and I look forward to welcoming you all back in 2026.

Katie Watmough

Principal