Principal's Report & Captain's Corner

Trivia Night

On Friday 13 June, our Parents and Carers' Association hosted a Trivia Night at Coburg Town Hall that brought around 400 parents, carers, family members and friends together. Dave Hall kept the room entertained as quiz master, there was a silent auction, and there was a lot of dancing. Months of planning by a dedicated volunteer committee, led by Craig, Lanie and Taria made the night a massive success. A big thank you to everyone involved.

Please support these sponsors who generously supported the Trivia Night:

Sponsors:

Jetts Fitness

Palace Cinemas

Victorian Cleaning Supplies

Verve Photography

Wildsoul Wellness Coburg

Koi Toy Japanese Restaurant Pentridge

NumberWorks’n’Words Coburg

Social Fair Coburg

Yarra Bend Golf Course

Elite Tennis

Bunnings Coburg

Beauty Tips by Sandra

Coburg Fruit and Veg Market

CHS Cafe

O’Hey Cafe

Pillow Talk

Zoos Victoria

Big Elma Cafe

BFT Preston

Lanie Harris (Hey, That’s My House)

Yiannis Pantheon Cakes

Lynton Joseph Marriage Celebrant

Rumi

Half Moon Cafe

Preston Market

Victorian State Schools Spectacular

Six CHS students will perform at John Cain Arena on Saturday 29 August as part of the 2026 Victorian State Schools Spectacular, This is Me. Congratulations to Sarah H, Rosalind R, Vera L, Holly D, Riley D and Florence T J on being selected. The performance will also be broadcast on television in December. Tickets go on sale at 11am on Thursday 16 July via ticketek.com.au.

NAPLAN

We have received preliminary NAPLAN results and there is plenty to be positive about. Our current Year 9 students entered CHS in Year 7 with strong foundations: 81% were scoring Strong or Exceeding in Reading and 75% in Numeracy, well above state figures of 67% and 63%. By Year 9, the proportion in the Needs Additional Support band has dropped further, from 5% to 3% in Reading and from 6% to 5% in Numeracy. Our Year 7 and 8 Literacy program has been a key part of that work. Our incoming Year 7 cohort also looks strong, with fewer students in the Needs Additional Support band than last year in both Reading and Numeracy. We look forward to sharing the full picture once results are confirmed.

Technology Building

Good progress continues on our $17.8 million Technology Building, as shown in the above video featuring Year 7 Student Voice Leaders Dante, Tino, Emma and Amber. I took a group of staff through the site on 3 June and it is really starting to look like something. The current finish time is expected in November.

Music

The Year 9/10 and VCE Music Nights were highlights of the term, and the Instrumental Music Concert in Week 10 was a great way to close out. Thanks to our musicians, their teachers, and the Parents and Carers' Association for their support across all three events.

Exams, the GAT and Senior Pathways

Year 10 and 11 students sat Semester 1 exams across Weeks 7 to 9, with the GAT on 16 June. Year 10 students also completed Work Experience across Week 9, with staff making visits and phone calls throughout the week to check in. Thanks to everyone involved in making both of these run smoothly.

The 10 into 11 and 9 into 10 online information evenings were both well attended. We look forward to welcoming Year 9 and 10 students and their families on the last day of term for student-led conferences and course counselling.

Big Week Forward

Big Week Forward brought an energetic close to the term for Year 10, including the Latrobe University excursion - see a full report here. Year 11 had their celebration assembly, VCE students headed off for their Big Day Out with options including IceHQ, the Dandenongs, bowling, laser tag and movies, and Year 7 and 8 had their own celebrations including the Zoo, Bounce and other excursions.

Excursions and Events

Year 8 visited Scienceworks, Year 9 spent a day at the University of Melbourne including an Elevate session, and Year 7 Humanities students were out across multiple sessions for Geography fieldwork along the Merri Creek. Our VCE Theatre Studies students performed in a showcase afternoon in Week 9, and author Danielle Binks visited in the final week of term.

Attitudes to School Survey

Preliminary AtoSS results are encouraging, with improvements in most areas year on year. Standouts include a 5% lift in students feeling a sense of inclusion and a 7% increase in positive responses to the question about whether teachers use more than one way to check for understanding. Full comparative data against similar schools will be available in Term 3.

Attendance and Punctuality

School-wide attendance is up by 1.1% in 2026, and our late rate has dropped more than 21% year on year. Period 1 lates are down 18.5%. Thank you to students, families and staff for keeping this moving in the right direction.

Brent Houghton

Principal

School Captain's Corner

Pyjama Day

Last Monday, Year 12s celebrated the official commencement of Unit 4 in our VCE subjects with a day of cozy pyjamas and hot chocolate. It was so special to see the effort our lovely SST went to to make sure the day was special, we can’t wait to finish this year strong as a cohort!

GAT

On Tuesday of Week 9, the Year 12 cohort and Year 11s studying a 3/4 subject had an early wake up to sit the General Achievement Test (GAT). We are so proud of everyone for the hard work that went into the day, from part A; working hard to write about a yearly bird count and answering multiple choice questions on numeracy and literacy, as well as a strong finish with part B; constructing a piece on criticism and answering a variety of questions across fields of science and arts.

Littering

A kind reminder from the Captains, please ensure you respect our school grounds by placing any rubbish in the designated bins – found outside around the school and within every classroom. We want to keep our free fruit program going, and to ensure this, we need to rely on the student body to keep scraps off the ground.

Sophie, Evie, Lucas & Astrid