Principal's Report
When we reflect back on 2022 as a school community, the year can be characterised by our optimism, enthusiasm, resilience, and a sense of urgency to seize the day. There was a real sense of excitement around the return of onsite learning and teaching and for the opportunities to reconnect with each other. We are very proud of our students’ achievements, commitment, hardwork and endeavour to strive to do their personal best throughout the year. Moreover, we encourage the students to continue to be curious, creative, and critical thinkers and to develop an intrinsic motivation and passion for learning.
Students participated in record numbers in the House events and once again enjoyed playing music and sport. They attended the Student Progress Conferences, camps, clubs, the Year 10 and 12 Formals, Valedictory Dinner celebrations, Peter Pan Play and the spectacular James Morrison workshops and concerts.
The Science Talent Search Competition was very popular and a team of 15 students built their own robot and entered it in the First Robotics National competition, where we won the ‘Best Rookie Team Award’. This robot cut the ribbon at the official opening of our STEM Centre, which was attended the state member for Box Hill Mr Paul Hamer. Students were also very enthusiastic about the introduction of the new Dog Therapy Program.
Last week we recognised over 200 students for their academic excellence at the Presentation Day Awards ceremony. This included the 2022 Year 12 award winners for a wonderful year of achievements and milestones. Congratulations to all the students in the graduating class of 2022 and we wish them well in whatever path they take, post-secondary school and hope that they cherish their great memories of Blackburn High School and enjoy the next phase of their lives. We especially acknowledge Kayla Flavel, the 2022 Dux of Blackburn High School, who achieved a score of 99.30 and demonstrated the effort and dedication required for this exceptional result. Kayla attained a study score of 40 in four of her studies: German-45, History Revolutions-45, English-46, Legal Studies-49 and is interested in undertaking Law and Global Studies at Monash University.
We are also delighted in the outstanding 2022 NAPLAN results in Literacy & Numeracy and commend the students for their hardwork and effort.
In 2022, we continued our work around Improving the learning & teaching spaces with the completion of our state of the art 14 room STEM Centre precinct and the commencement of construction of the new Hollows and Melba locker bays, the new bike shed and the refurbishment of Hollows, which is the first stage of the development of our new VCE Centre.
Olivia Roche – World Junior Diving Championships Bronze Medallist
2 weeks ago, Olivia flew out to Montreal, Canada to represent Australia at the World Junior Diving Championships. She was entered in the 3m Springboard Synchronised event, where a pair of divers dive simultaneously. They were up against teams from Great Britain, Canada, Ukraine, Sweden, Switzerland, Germany, USA, Croatia, Korea, Turkey, Mexico, Czech Republic and Brazil and after their 5 dives were completed, they finished in 3rd place behind Canada and Great Britain – A Bronze Medal and ranked 3rd in the world!
Fabulous effort Olivia – Below is the link to watch the replay of the event.
Thomas Linnett – Australian All Schools 1500m Champion
Last weekend, Thomas Linnett represented Victoria at the Australian All Schools Athletics Championships which were held in Adelaide (SA). He participated in 2 events, the 800m and the 1500m. In the 800m he finished in 4th place. However, he saved his best for the 1500m event, where he came from behind to quite comfortably finish in 1st place in a personal best time of 4:19.52. Below is the Youtube link to watch Thomas’s 1500m race.
On behalf of the Principal Team, Mr Conte, Ms Gachon, Ms Hartley, and Ms Jenner thank you to the dedicated teachers, education support staff and the leadership team who have worked tirelessly to provide a supportive and positive school environment throughout the year. I hope that our students, their families, and staff have a safe Christmas break and return
re-energised for the start of the new year in 2023.
Joanna Alexander
Principal
