Principal's Report
Performance Mastery at Coburg High School
This edition of the newsletter features some great images from our house athletics carnival this week. The sense of house spirit was on full display with spectating students and staff alike forming a sea of colour and cheering on members of their house to the finishing line. All houses competed exceptionally well but this year Bell house triumphed, snapping the three-year winning streak of Pentridge house.
“You got to reach for the stars or try to achieve the unreachable.” Cathy Freeman
There were many outstanding individual student performances at the athletics carnival and this speaks to our culture of excellence at Coburg High School. This year, more than seventy (70!) records were broken. Congratulations to Krittitee (Tony) of Year 9E who now holds the school record for high jump at 1.70m, which is 10cm higher than anyone else has jumped at the school, in any age division. Along with numerous other Coburg High School students, Tony will now get to represent the school at the upcoming divisional and regional athletics championships. We wish all our regional representatives the very best and we are behind them all.
Participation in sport and physical activity is important. There is a strong connection between being fit and healthy and achieving higher academic outcomes. Developing sporting prowess can also enable us to develop teamwork skills and to value fair play and effort.
At Coburg High School we encourage all students to stay fit and healthy. Recently many of our girls took part in ‘This Girl Can’ project which is a government initiative to encourage increased physical activity. We teamed up with Elite Tennis Academy to offer this unique opportunity and five students were chosen as ambassadors for the ‘This Girl Can’ initiative—congratulations to Peppa (Year 11), Millzy (Year 10), Moana (Year 9), Mia (Year 9) and Aimee (Year 8).
“Some people are used to having things done for them by their parents. I am not. I can do it myself” Sally Pearson
At Coburg High School, we are fortunate to have excellent sporting facilities not only on our school grounds but also in the surrounding precinct with Coburg Olympic Pool, the Athletics Track, Moreland Leisure Centre, East Coburg Tennis Courts, McDonald and Jackson reserves, and the Merri Creek Trail, all within walking distance.
We are also located near Melbourne City Ballet and this year we have more students than ever taking part in the classical ballet program as part of our partnership with MICA. This program symbolises our commitment to supporting and developing the talents and passions of our students. Every student in the classical ballet program undertakes about 40 hours of intensive training each week, mostly outside of school hours. For more information about this program, please see: https://www.melbournecityballet.com.au/education
One of the most important things to learn at school is the value of committed effort and deliberate practice when learning new things, even when they may be difficult to begin with. Through effort and practice, complex concepts and skills tend to become easier for us over time. Whether learning to dance, taking up a new sport, learning a new musical instrument, immersing ourselves in a new culture and language, or mastering a complex scientific or mathematical concept, by far the most important ingredient for achievement is hard work. The more we practise, the better we become. Our skills and movements become more fluid, our knowledge becomes deeper, and our recall more rapid.
Recently, over 100 Coburg High School students auditioned for roles in this year’s musical, Honk! Jr. Our performing arts program continues to blossom and students continue to seek opportunities to extend themselves and to express themselves through dance and drama. The audition process has been completed and the first cast call took place yesterday. As we head into term two, the 50 cast members will embark on an exciting journey as they begin rehearsals for the musical, under the talented direction of Sarah Kate Hanley. As a whole school community, we can look forward to seeing Honk! Jr later this year—there is more information about preparations for the musical in this edition of the newsletter—and to continuing to celebrate creativity and the arts at Coburg High School.
Finally, thank you to all families who attended the recent Parent-Student-Teacher conferences. The conversations at those conferences are crucially important in ensuring that students are extended, challenged and supported and are getting the most out of their learning at school. Following the conferences, I received numerous emails from parents with positive feedback about the experience, which is reaffirming of the significant work of our dedicated teaching staff. The guidance and advice of our teachers seems to have resonated with a number of parents and students, particularly in terms of the emphasis on sustained effort and persistence when learning complex new concepts and skills. Thank you to one of those parents, Ashley C, for also sharing the following insightful episode from The Science Show on ABC Radio National—Stopping the plunge in achievement in STEM at school and university —which echoes our key messages at the school. I encourage parents and students who are interested to check out this podcast episode because it includes interviews with some Australian and international experts in maths and STEM education and—surprise!—they emphasise not only the fun aspects of learning science and maths but also underscore the importance of grit,