Principal's Report

Success is very rarely arrived at by chance: it takes real strength to overcome failures and setbacks and there is much hard work needed to realise a dream. At Ballarat High School, the success that our students achieve is a testament to their resilience, determination and willingness to rise to the occasion when opportunity presents itself. 

In every celebration of success there should also be an acknowledgement of the hard work needed to get to that point. Nothing truly rewarding ever comes easy and we aim for our students to experience success in many different ways to build that belief within them.

As I reach the 18-month mark of my tenure as principal of Ballarat High School, I am struck, daily, by how brilliant our students are. I know I am supposed to be a bit biased, but there is so much evidence of individuals and groups- encouraged by our staff - making a difference to their own and the lives of others that my bias seems completely justified. Like any large comprehensive school, we do have a small minority of students who are not yet aligned to our core values and belief that all students can learn and grow: I urge them to look around them and recognise that the positive changes in our school are driven by their peers. The majority are shaping our school in exciting ways and I urge all students to play their part in this.

I have written previously of my admiration of our students’ tenacity to overcome barriers and their willingness to give their all, regardless of the result. Although only into our fourth week of Term 2, the successes of our students in so many different fields speak of a culture that lives our school values in all that we do. We should never take for granted the potential of our students to do great things, nor neglect any opportunities to shine a light on their achievements.

Whilst this edition of my newsletter column may seem like a brag, it is more that it is written with immense pride and a belief in the importance of celebrating our students’ successes with our community. Our sole purpose as a school is to prepare our students for all that life offers them and encourage them to be their very best, so that’s what I’ll do...

This year sees BHS crowned the overall winner of the SSV Eureka Track & Field for the sixteenth year in a row. The 661 points that separate us from the next placed school indicates a willingness for students outside the podium placings to give their all and wrack up as many points as possible. Well done to all of the students who represented our school so well.

And it is not just on land but in water that we are smashing it! In the SSV State Swimming Championships, Ballarat High School won 7 medals and was the 8th ranked school out of 91 competing schools across the state! Again, this achievement is down to all the participants, but a special mention goes to the following students:

16-20 Years 200m Freestyle, Claire Mathison, Bronze

U13 year 50m Breaststroke, Logan Brundell, Silver

14 years 50m Breaststroke, Alice Smith, Bronze

16-20 Years 100m Freestyle, Claire Mathison, Bronze

17 years 50m Freestyle, Claire Mathison, Silver

17 years 50m Backstroke, Claire Mathison, Silver

17 years 4 x 50m Freestyle Relay, Silver

And it is not just individual excellence that has been at the fore recently, students have rallied together to represent BHS with distinction in a wide range of team events. Congratulations to the Senior and Intermediate Girls who were winners in the SSV Eureka Girls Football Competition. Well done to our Junior Girls who just missed out as runners up. Well done also to Senior, Year 8 and Year 7 Boys teams who ran out winners in the SSV Eureka Boys Netball competition. The Inter Boys gave an incredibly strong showing and only narrowly missed out on progressing to the next round. The most important thing in all of these competitions is how our students conducted themselves and the feedback from the coaches focused on the growth the teams showed and the support they gave each other. 

At Ballarat High School, our students show great depth of excellence in so many diverse areas. I was fortunate enough to attend the VCE Drama Ensemble performances last week and saw a consistency of inventiveness and performance that left the audience spellbound. To take the Robinson Centre audience through such a rollercoaster of emotions was something to behold and the capacity to switch from comedy to social commentary to musical theatre - in pieces that were self-written - is something that requires significant talent. I hope that we never take Performing Arts for granted at our school- the level of musicianship and creativity that can be experienced just by walking through the building, on any given day, is something to be valued. At our school, be they beginners or virtuosos, students get the opportunity to create and perform; to develop and grow. Thanks to our whole PA team (and especially Jess Quick for her support for each of the ensembles) for the work they do.

Ballarat High School is also incredibly fortunate to produce leaders who dedicate their time with us to changing things for the better. In recent weeks, the work of student leaders- in their Year 11 Leadership Conference and their work within World’s Greatest Shave raising money for the Leukemia Foundation and the VM Mothers’ Day stall- speaks of all those qualities I have previously listed. Even on a not so good day, I am encouraged by the willingness of our students to make things better for others. There is a strong tradition in our history of people who have gone on to make a difference and returning alumni and ex-mayor, Daniel Maloney, spoke to our students about the importance of bravery and kindness within leadership. This is clearly reflected in the projects that these leaders are developing to impact our school culture: celebrating cultural diversity, insisting on inclusivity and ensuring that all students feel connected to our school. 

Both staff and students rallied around the fight against blood cancer and by raising over $8000, they will help provide support and resources for those who need it most. More than this, it was an opportunity for students to consider the lives of others and their role in being part of a wider society that cares for others and values life. One small event can cause ripples that touch the lives of others and although our students may never meet the children who benefit from this charity, they have positively impacted on their lives forever.

And finally, well done to our VM students who just keep raising the bar. No matter what they do, they do it in style and the latest project preparing and running the Mothers’ Day stall was at another level. The VM program speaks so much of what we do at BHS as it is student driven and tailored to the academic, social and emotional development of each individual student. When they work together, they achieve great things and the high standard of what they produce speaks of new skills acquired and potential that can only grow: a potential that lives in every BHS student.

Mr Stephan Fields

Principal