Principal's Report

As winter gradually changes into spring, we get a wonderful mix of cool mornings and sunny afternoons. Thornbury High School students are embracing the warmer afternoons and spending more time playing outside in the sun. Since the Ministerial Order banning mobile phones in schools was implemented a few years ago, it has been very pleasing to see the positive impact of that policy on students at recess and lunchtime, as more students socialise, play sports and games. 

The memory of the wonderful production of The Lion King lingers, as we recall the excellent performances, the great set design and the amazing costumes. It was incredibly powerful to experience such a high-quality production, with so many students involved, and to hear the feedback from the community who saw the show – many of whom came back to see it again the next day. Thank you again to the team of THS staff involved in the production, under the leadership of our Head of Performing Arts, Emma McCulloch. 

Over the past few weeks, we have been visited by a delightful group of students from our sister school in Bologna, Italy. These students gave our students the opportunity to practise their Italian while our students also represented Australian culture as well as core THS values. The friendships made through this exchange may very well be lasting, and they will hopefully prompt some of our THS students to consider future opportunities to travel or even live in Italy after they leave secondary school. The team of Italian teachers at THS did a terrific job planning for – and running – the events involved in this exchange – grazie mille!

The recently released results from this year’s Attitudes to School student survey reveal that our students at THS feel happier and more connected to school than they did last year. For the whole 7-12 student cohort:

• Effective teaching time has improved from 61% positive endorsement to 64%
• Sense of connectedness has improved from 49% to 56%
• Managing bullying has improved from 52% to 57%
• Respect for diversity has improved from 43% to 46%
• Life satisfaction has improved from 51% to 56%

A great deal of work, commitment and shared learning went into these results, as THS staff have collaborated throughout 2024 to set goals for improvement, and then commit to strengthening our practices in order to support student learning and wellbeing. Similarly, the improved NAPLAN results in Literacy and Numeracy are not an accident, but rather a product of our consistent efforts. As always, I’m incredibly grateful to be working with such an excellent group of educators. 

Lars 

Principal