This is our last newsletter for the year, and I would like to provide the school community with some staffing updates for the 2026 school year.

Staffing appointments 2026

We have a number of staff members who have been employed at Oberon High School who are either retiring or will be moving to other schools next year.

Mr John Tserkezidis
Mrs Geetika Saggar
Mrs Hana McKenzie
Mr Tony Zerafa
Mr Brad Clough
Ms Jessica Jacobsen
Ms Sophie Ford
Ms Charlotte Hegarty
Mr William Edwards
Ms Candece Gosper

I would like to thank all of these staff for their contribution to the school during their time at Oberon High School and wish them well either in their retirements or at their future schools.

I am pleased to announce that the following staff will be joining the Oberon High School community for the 2026 school year:

Mr Antoni Cantone
Ms Rachel Williams
Mr Simon Ashby
Mrs Kristy Williams
Ms Matilda Bremner
Ms Olivia Leonard
Mr Caleb McNaughton
Ms Michaela Wright
Ms Neve Richards
Ms Tara Racut
Mr James Winzar
Ms Cassidy Sapwell

We also welcome our new principal for 2026 and beyond, Mr Warren Dawson (provisional appointment). He is an experienced secondary school principal, and I am confident the Oberon community will make him feel very welcome. I wish Warren all the best in his new position.

Awards Evening

Our celebration of student achievement for 2025 will be an Awards Evening at Costa Hall on Monday 15th December beginning at 6.30pm. I look forward to seeing you in attendance to celebrate the student’s achievements over the 2025 school year.

End of Year Activities Program

The school will once again be running an end of year activities program for students in years 7-9. The school Awards Evening is Monday 15th December at Costa Hall therefore we won’t run any activities on this day. Organised activities will conclude for students on Wednesday 17th December. Students in attendance at school on Thursday 18th and Friday 19th December will be supervised by staff members. Students in attendance at school on Friday 19th December will be dismissed at 1pm. Please contact the school if you haven’t received information regarding activities week.

VCE Results

Students received their VCE results and VCE Vocational Major results on Thursday 11th December. Congratulations to our Year 12 students on their outstanding VCE results. We are very proud of all of our students who undertook their VCE and VCE Vocational Major studies in 2025.

We had 85 students who received an ATAR in 2025

3.5% of students received ATARs in the 90’s
12% of students received ATARs in the 80’s
24% of students received ATARs in the 70’s

The school median ATAR was 65.35

The school median study score was 28

Dux - Ruby Lo – 96.10

Bridgette Allen – 92.6

Parthiv Jegadeesan – 91.35

Lachlan Hatty – 86.90

Archie Keating – 86.75

Banjo Ramage – 85.85

Riley Drever – 85.65

Monty McNeilly – 85.5

Zali Stiles – 82.35

Joshua Rachor – 81.45

James Zerafa – 81.35

Darcy Myers – 81.05

Grade 6 to Year 7 Transition

It was great to have the Grade 6 students who will be joining us in 2026 as year 7’s at the school on Tuesday 9th and Wednesday 10th December as part of the transition program. Thank you to Ms Priscilla Begg who organised this program.

Reports

The end of semester reports will be available on the Xuno portal on Thursday 18th December. I encourage students and parents to read these reports and reflect on the comments made by their teachers. We should always be looking for improvement, and this can only occur through feedback and self-reflection.

School Council

The final school council meeting for the year was held on Wednesday 10th December. I wish to take this opportunity to thank all council members for giving up their time during the year to attend council meetings and contribute to our school community. Your contribution to the life of the school this year has been very much appreciated.

Intentions 2026

If you are aware that your son/daughter isn’t returning to Oberon in 2026, can you inform the school. We are currently planning for 2026 and confirmation of students in all year levels is an important part of this process.

Scholarships to Support Students

Scholarships are available for eligible students in Grade 4 to Year 11, and for Year 12 students planning to do tertiary studies in 2026.

The Department of Education administers a number of scholarships that are available to eligible students who are enrolled in Grade 4 to Year 12 in 2026.

Applicants for these scholarships will be evaluated on their:

· participation in school activities

· community involvement

· academic achievement

Scholarships are either one-off payments or cover the duration of the student’s course or annual study.

Many of these scholarships have specific eligibility criteria so please refer to individual applications for more information. Applications are open and close on Monday 2nd February 2026.

For more information and a list of available scholarships, refer to the 2026 Student scholarships for Grade 4 – Year 12 fact sheet. For information on how to apply, refer to https://www.vic.gov.au/student-scholarships

Return to School Dates 2026

Just to inform parents/guardians in advance that the 2025 school year will commence with a staggered student start as follows:

Friday 23rd January - OFFICE OPEN

Tuesday, 27th January - Teachers return to school (Student Free Day)

Wednesday, 28th January - First day for all new Year 7 students, Year 11 and all 12 students (as well as year 10 students undertaking a year 11 subject).

Thursday, 29th January - First day for all other students

As this is the last newsletter for the 2025 school year and my last as Principal at Oberon High School, I would like to thank the school community for their continued support of Oberon and of your support of me over the past 13 and a half years. I hope that everyone has a wonderful Christmas vacation spending time with family and friends and look forward to hearing of the continued success of Oberon High in the future years.

Tim McMahon

CRAFT CLUB