Preston Life

Rainbows for IDAHOBIT day

by Zia Lim, Cohort 2028

On Friday, May 17, Preston celebrated IDAHOBIT Day. May 17 marks the date in 1990 that homosexuality was removed from the WHO Classification of Diseases. However, even two decades later, people from the LGBTQIA+ community still experience discrimination and prejudice. IDAHOBIT stands for International Day against Homophobia, Biphobia, Intersexism and Transphobia. It's a day to stand against the discrimination those in the queermunity face just for being themselves and to show support for gay, lesbian, intersex, and trans rights. 

Students were invited to wear a splash of rainbow with their uniform in acknowledgement of the day. Our school Rainbow Alliance gave out flag badges, rainbow ribbons and painted rainbow makeup in the library at lunchtime. The Rainbow Alliance leaders also attended a flag raising ceremony and morning tea at Preston Town Hall. 

Clever student inventors on  at Da Vinci Expo

by Nina Naughton-Smith, Cohort 2029, Sugar Glider House

Hi! I’m Nina, a student in Cohort 2029, who recently participated in the Da Vinci expo. The expo was a fun and exciting experience where everyone got to show off and explain their new product which everyone worked hard on. The cohort worked on the expo in a range of subjects across Maths, Science, English and of course, Da Vinci. 

In Maths we surveyed the class about our ideas and made graphs to display at the expo. In science we thought about how the product would really work and the logistics behind our inventions. Finally, in Da Vinci we created the prototypes and a poster about the Design Cycle. 

You may be wondering about my product, I worked with a pair to create the ‘hygiene helper’ which is basically a toothbrush made to help disabled people brush their teeth with ease. I really enjoyed the expo and loved walking around and seeing all the amazing ideas others came up with. It was held in the gym and there was plenty of space to set up and share our posters and prototypes. 

A Dreamtime adventure with Preston Mob

by Toby Krasna, Cohort 2026, Tawny House

Preston Mob is a group of Indigenous students at Preston High who get to know each other through meetings, events, and activities. We come together across all the year levels.  Some of the fun activities we have done this term include our Preston Market lunch, where it was nice to spend some time together outside of our usual meeting and the Dreamtime AFL game.

The Preston Mob went to the Dreamtime Game for Essendon v Richmond and enjoyed a close match where Essendon won by 12 points. This game featured some popular Indigenous music artists such as proud Yorta Yorta and Wurundjeri man Briggs, as well as new hip-hop supergroup 3%, female dance group Djirri Djirri and performers from the Wulumbarra, Koorie youth will shake spear, Bandok Tati groups who performed as pregame entertainment. 

Building tomorrow’s social enterprise leaders

By Christina Paschalis, Cohort 2028, Acacia House

This term, Cohort 2028 worked to create their own social enterprises. Using the ‘Design Thinking’ process, the Year 8s aimed to solve some of the world’s most intricate problems. Through countless prototypes with much collaboration between peers, they managed to invent brand new ways to combat pollution, poverty, food wastage and more. 

From April 15 to 19, Cohort 2028 were met with much enthusiasm as they showcased their enterprises to the Year 7s, who were able to invest in some of their favourites. 

It was an incredibly great opportunity for both Cohorts, especially Cohort 2029, as they gained much insight into the future of their Da Vinci years.

All the gowns, glitz & glamour from Cohort 2024 formal

by Darcy Griffin, Cohort 2024, Marbled Gecko

Welcome to the first ever Formal in Preston High School history. All Year 12s were invited to show up in elegance and style, hosted at The Sovereign and organised by a diligent team of students and upper leadership. 

The night started with a lovely dinner of lamb, chicken, or eggplant ratatouille and the first round of awards. Co-newspaper head Darcy Griffin tied in first place with Emily Findlow for ‘best team spirit’ while co-leader Charlotte Gilmore won the ‘Celebrity look-alike’ award for Anne Hathaway! The lovely Ms Beeching took the award for ‘Best Teacher’ alongside the honourable Ms Jess, who won a student award for ‘most helpful’ in a surprising twist! 

We had a small dance-break between dinner and dessert with tunes played and DJ-ed by non-other than DJ Skizzle, a fellow Preston Year 12 student who kept the party going for the rest of the night. 

After eating our pick of pear-apple crumble or brownies, the cohort danced well into the evening, with the event coming to a close at 11pm. Our very own Ms Shae captured all the glamour and fun of the night on film. You can browse a gallery of the best images above. 

News from Ada Lovelace

Cohort 2024

by Emily Findlow, Acacia House

Cohort 2024 has had another busy term as we have completed -or almost completed - Unit 3 of all our VCE subjects. This term, we have had more incursions in our Ada sessions, including from the police, gamblers' help, rights at work and our last upcoming incursion from Elevate. There have also been various excursions occurring, such as the VCE Season of Excellence, Unit 3/4 Geography and Unit 3/4 History excursions. In addition, we have also experienced our last school athletics carnival and our Year 12 school photos. 

Lastly, the most significant highlight from Term 2 was our Year 12 school formal, where amazing outfits and awesome vibes made for an incredible night; one we’ll remember for years to come. Upcoming in Term 3, the Year 12s will complete Unit 4 of our VCE subjects, finishing all content for this year and beginning revision ahead of the end-of-year exams.

Cohort 2025

by Stellan Armstrong, Tawny House

Though more time than ever is spent in Ada in class and studying, we’ve still gotten our fair share of diversity through extracurriculars and excursions, sometimes in service of our academic pursuits. For the one and two physics unit, students got to go to the Australian synchrotron as a direct extension of their unit of electromagnetism, and units three and four history revolutions students were able to engage in self-directed research in the Baillieu Library at Melbourne University.  

We’ve had internal sessions as well, with seminars from Victoria Police and elephant ed that I hope were engaging enough while being as educating as they were. We are not slowing down just yet in terms of the exciting and interesting things we are getting up to during Ada. 

Cohort 2026

by Otis Williamson, Glider House

The Year 10 Ada program centres around preparing for us for our future. This term, Year 10s made lots of decisions about who we are as learners, both within and beyond high School. Familiarising ourselves with the different VCE or VM subjects, Year 10s have gained a better understanding on the pathways we will choose for our upcoming subject selection date in Term 3. Overall, excitement is growing as we move closer towards our final years of high school, and the experiences that will bring.

Year 10s also attended the 2024 Victorian Careers Show, put on by universities and the ADF to allow students to explore their options for the future. Students visited the stalls of possible universities to discover the courses offered and the subject pre-requisites required. Many TAFE schools and industries were also there offering information about the exiting opportunities available for students. Finally, students were able to attend seminars, with topics ranging from VCE exams to campus life at university. Preston High’s support in making these big decisions is greatly appreciated.

News from Bandler Parks

Cohort 2027

by Ruby Stokes, Acacia House

We are over halfway through Term 2, so let’s review some of Cohort 2027’s highlights so far! In week 5 we went to Merri Creek for a humanities fieldwork trip to see how an organic farm operates. In week 6, we had our second growth habits day of the year, full of fun activities which gave us the opportunity to work on our attitudes to learning. The Year 9s also learnt about Sorry Day and reconciliation week at assembly and in mentor classes from May 24-31. Busy times!

News from Da Vinci

Cohort 2028/ Cohort 2029

by Ava O’Brien, Tawny House and Anastasia Villella, Acacia House

In Term 2, the Year 8 cohort have been working on student voice and agency. We have started working on activities for the Kingfisher Challenge and are very excited to show these events to our other peers at Preston High. 

The Year 7s, on the other hand, have just finished their Da Vinci expo! They are now working on philosophy and having discussions about topics surrounding life, death and money. We are so excited to hear more about what the Da Vinci years get up to next term!