Outside the Classroom

Anzac Day

First founded in Australia in 1916, Returned Services Leagues ( otherwise known as RSL’s) all around the world support and pay respects to current or ex-service personnel who took part in wars. The Coburg RSL is located on Sydney Road and was established in 1918. Our student voice leaders recently visited it to commemorate Anzac Day.  

As you walk toward the building, with its high, arched windows, you’ll pass tables and trees and see a memorial on your left, where flowers can be laid.  A long, straight path invites visitors inside where we were able to view artefacts from previous wars, including postcards, clothing, letters and more.  Inside also has seating and areas for presentations where history is discussed.

On this special occasion, there were a number of people there to commemorate and learn. Michael Pianta, the Coburg RSL President, talked to us about leadership and about his own story serving in East Timor and Afghanistan. He also showed us artefacts from several wars that marked the sacrifices people made, including the telegrams from the first world war to a Coburg mother that her son was killed in action and then later that he had been found alive as a prisoner of war. 

Outside, we stood in front of the shrine and listened to the Last Post, which added gravity to the day as we reflected on the sacrifices made. While we were there, Mary, one of our Captains, laid a wreath on behalf of the Coburg High School community and all Student Voice Leaders paid their respects. The RSL is open daily, except Monday and Tuesdays and is worth the visit. 

Eden C 

Basketball Academy

Term 2 is all about Community and giving back. This week 4 of our Academy students taught fun basketball lessons at St. Oliver Plunkett School. They met with 5 different classes and were guided on how to deliver a lesson to various year levels.

I really enjoyed today and learnt a lot about how to engage younger kids and teach them relevant basketball skills. All of the kids were so great to work with. 

Kira L

It was a great experience to be able to work with the kids at the primary school. It was a great opportunity to learn about what lt ls to be a coach and to practice public speaking ln front of large groups.

Luis P

I got more comfortable with public speaking and my confidence of teaching basketball skills to big groups of people. It was a really big growing experience for me.

Maya G

Throughout the day I notice an improvement in the delivery and confidence when explaining and demonstrating a drill. Experiences like this teach our students patience, adaptability and most importantly the importance of giving back to the next generation.

Mike Torres

Library

Another month in a very busy year for the library so far goes by and there is more fun news to share with the community.

We took a wonderful group of students on an adventure to the State Library of Victoria for a self guided tour of the World of the Book exhibition. Students had the opportunity to view the history of the book. What a joy it was to see students reading all of the information attached to each piece, learning where these books came from, how they were created, who owned them and how they came to be at the State Library. Of course a visit to the SLV cannot be finished until the visit to the Dome Room which in itself was an event.

Our next stop after the library was Dymocks Bookstore to purchase books for the library from the money raised from the end of term 1 book sale. Each of the students on the excursion got to choose a book they thought should be in the library collection. The excitement was palpable and the range of titles incredibly impressive.

Our group of students were respectful of the community around them, were incredibly behaved, and this librarian couldn’t be prouder of them.

Below are some of our students at the World of the Book tour and the books they chose.

As a continuance to the book sale fundraiser, DID YOU KNOW that you can make a tax deductible donation to the library fund to help purchase books and furniture for the library? So if you feel the need to donate to a charity, keep the CHS library in mind as we rely on the community for much of our collection whether it be a financial or book donation.

Recently Mike Torres (CHS Basketball Academy) donated some titles we know will be big favourites with our students. Mike is dedicated helping students grow both on and off the court.

"I believe books can be a powerful tool for  young people. They have the ability to expand horizons and open your eyes to new possibilities."

Mike Torres 

Until next time….

Dianna Jarnet

Year 7 Camp

There were a lot of fun stories and new friendships that were created during camp. There were definitely a lot of frisbees that had rolled in the lake, some stories were funnier than others but the camp staff definitely had some retrieving to do. The food was really good, there were lots of options at breakfast and you were able to pick what you wanted in your taco bowl. We thanked the kitchen staff after lunch on Friday for all their hard work. The activities were so fun to do and were a fantastic experience. We did: 

• SUP (Stand Up Paddle) boarding 
• Hut building
• Archery attack
• Frisbee golf
• Mountain boarding 
• Zip line
• Damper
• Low ropes
• Volleyball 
• Tread wall

In my opinion this was the best camp I have ever been to. I tried a bunch of different things that I didn't know you could do food and activity wise and was a great experience for all the year 7s.

Maggie D

Cian Barrie and the Year 7 Team

Urban Planning

This term, Year 10 Urban Planning students are undertaking fieldwork in order to understand how Merri-bek is managing urban densification. On Wednesday May 1st, they met with Esha Rahman, a planner from Merri-bek council. Esha took the class on a walking tour through Coburg, and she answered a range of questions that the class had prepared for her.

Ohad Kozminsky

Market Day

A successful Market Day (#1, stay tuned for day #2) for our future business leaders and entrepreneurs!

What are we reading?

Ever wonder what other people are reading or want a recommendation? Here’s some ideas from what Coburg High’s English teachers are currently reading!

Megan Thomas - I recently finished a novel that I’ve seen raved about on TikTok, which is ‘My Year of Rest and Relaxation’ by Ottessa Moshfegh. The story follows an unnamed protagonist who is attempting to sleep for an entire year, which might seem like an incredibly boring concept for a novel, but the sparse plotline means that Ottessa’s writing and the development of the main character really shine. If you enjoy books that are plot-driven, skip this one, but if you enjoy entering the mind of a character and seeing the world through different eyes, it’s worth checking out. However, it is dark so read it when you are in a positive frame of mind.

Kelly Harper - I’m about a third of the way through reading ‘The Saint of Bright Doors’ by Vajra Chandrasekeras. It’s a finalist for the Hugo Awards, one of the awards in the Science Fiction and Fantasy genres, and I’ve found some of my favourite books by checking out what’s on the nomination list. So far so good! It’s a bit heavy on the trauma and pain but it is a very interesting concept - it seems to be a blend of some more traditional fantasy concepts with modernity - demons and gods but also mobile phones. The protagonist has been raised to kill his father, the leader of a cult, by his mother. Fetter, named so because his father saw him as a chain holding him back, has a lot to work through. It’s a lot. If anyone picks up anything from the Hugo nominations list, feel free to chat to me about it! 

Melanie Buscema-Moore -

 I’m reading ‘Everyone on this Train is a Suspect’ which is sort of a follow up to ‘Everyone in my Family has Killed Someone’. I love a good mystery and these ones blend mystery with humour and a mockery of the ‘rules’ of a good whodunnit. In a nutshell, there are six different crime writers all aboard the one train trying to use their crime writing knowledge to solve an onboard murder. I hope it's as good as the last one!

Alison Godfrey - I am currently reading Yellowface by R.F Kuang. I’ve only just started, but I am enjoying the novel’s immersive and satirical narrative voice. The novel is about two women who are both writers; one is a literary darling and the other can’t even get published. After the successful one dies in a freak accident the unsuccessful one steals her just finished manuscript and pretends to be an Asian writer to sell her stolen story as her own. It has a lot of interesting things to say about diversity, racism, and cultural appropriation in publishing and in society at large. 

Scott Dixon - I am currently very much enjoying Bonnie Garmus’ Lessons in Chemistry. I knew that there was a TV series being made of it but it was pretty much just a blind purchase in the bookstore - the cover looked cool - and it’s been a fun, easy read. Perfect for the recent school holidays. I’d describe it as ‘Mad Men’ meets chemistry class meets Celebrity Chefs, but it’s more than that and it has a strong female main character who is in the early stages of her hero arc (I’m about a third of the way through). Should be interesting to see where the story goes from here…

Lachie Gaylard - I’ve almost finished Annihilation by Jeff Vandermeer. One of the rare times I saw a film first then went to read the book (Dune will be the next example of this). There’s some very strange things going on that will be gradually revealed across the trilogy, but essentially the protag is a biologist in the eleventh expedition to Area X, which has been cut off from society. There are some very strange things happening, where there is a seemingly sentient fungus writing lengthy messages, an entity known as the Creeper and seeming animal-human hybrids that are evolving. It’s a creepy, time-shifted world that is hauntingly rendered and makes me need to know more.

Staff Stories

Amanda Hann

We are proud to announce that Amanda has been awarded the History Teachers Association of Victoria Award for Excellence in History Teaching by a Secondary Teacher for 2024.

Tawfik

As many of you may know, our school Maintenance Officer Geoff is soon retiring, but the good news is that Tawfik is staying on as our full time Maintenance Officer where he will be found mowing, gardening, fixing things, painting, pretty much everything that needs doing to keep the school going.

Tawfik came to Australia 14 years ago from Cairo where as a young man he had many jobs in the construction industry. Fun fact, he is a licensed plasterer! He loves living here in Australia with his family. Tawfik enjoys working here at Coburg High School, say hi next time you see him around the grounds.

Merri-bek Divisional Track & Field

Recently we had almost 60 students compete at the Division Track and Field - We had lots of wins, great sportsmanship, and a fun day! 

Mia Haas

Year 9 Kinesiology

Our Year 9 Kinesiology students recently attend GKR Karate for a Self Defence and Karate session. Students learnt the basics of self defence and worked on their agility and strength and conditioning, all while wearing heart rate monitors. The data collected will now be used to write up a report for their upcoming KLT. 

Samara Harris

Student Success

During the second week of term 2, I was in Tasmania completing XAS101 A Practical Introduction to Temperate Marine Biology. This is through the University of Tasmania and it was an incredible experience gathering and analysing the ecosystems around Maria Island. Anyone wishing to pursue Marine Biology should apply for the course next year, it's open to both year 11 and 12's. 

https://www.utas.edu.au/community-and-partners/schools/activities/sciences/maria-Island-marine-biology-experience

Well done to Fadilla T (Y8), Poppy O (Y12), Lyric M (Y9), Stella W (Y10), Laila R (Y11), and Mikaila T (Y9) for their selection and strong performances at the recent AFL Next Generation Academy tournament, a joint initiative between the AFL and AFL clubs aimed at the attraction, retention, and development of Indigenous and multicultural players. 

Would you like to share your achievements with our community in the next newsletter? We would love to hear from you! Just email details to Virginia via info@coburg.vic.edu.au