Principal's Report
The Premier and Treasurer visit Coburg High
Excitement filled the air at Coburg High School as we welcomed the Hon. Daniel Andrews, Premier of Victoria, along with our local MP for Pascoe Vale, Anthony Cianflone, on a surprise visit on Wednesday April 5, the second last day of Term 1. Our students and staff were thrilled to have the opportunity to personally thank the Premier for his leadership of our state over the past 8 plus years. The Premier, accompanied by our school captains, Tabby, Josh, and Ezzat and School Council President Natalie Abboud made his way to various classes in Science, Health, and the Visual Arts, interacting with our talented students and teachers and observing their exceptional work. The visit was also an opportunity to highlight our facility needs, which we had a chance to discuss with the Premier. We express our gratitude to Dan Andrews for taking the time to visit and witness our wonderful school firsthand.
On Friday March 31, we were also very pleased to welcome the Hon. Tim Pallas, Treasurer of Victoria, accompanied by Anthony Cianflone, for a talk about our facilities needs. Tim met with our School Captains Josh, Tabby, Ezzat and Monique and immediate Past School Council President Care Hall. Tim also enjoyed seeing some of our Year 10 Music students practising on his tour of the school and was quizzed by our knowledgeable Year 10 Politics students. Thanks for visiting, Treasurer!
Masterplan progress
As many would know, in the second half of 2022, Coburg High School received $50,000 to complete a Masterplan for the next stage of development of Coburg High. The Labor Government made an election commitment to the school, promising funding for Stage 1 of the Masterplan, a $17.8m Technology building for our school. Earlier this year the School Council wrote to the Education Minister, the Hon. Natalie Hutchins MP, seeking approval to move ahead with planning. During the school holidays we received notification that Coburg High School can now proceed with the detailed design of the project until Tender Documentation stage. This is very welcome news. We would like to thank our local member, Anthony Cianflone MP, for his advocacy on our behalf. We are very hopeful of receiving funding in the upcoming state budget for this exciting project. Please see below for a summary of the masterplan. We have also begun to make links with the STEM Centre of Excellence and Whittlesea Tech School to ensure that this new facility meets the needs for our students, the local community and industry.
Eid Mubarek & Ramadan
On behalf of Coburg High School, I would like to extend my heartfelt wishes to our Muslim students and their families for a joyous Eid celebration. Eid Mubarak!
On Wednesday April 5, students celebrated Ramadan through our annual Iftar. For those who are not familiar with the term, 'Iftar' is an Arabic term that refers to the evening meal that Muslims consume to break their daily fast during the holy month of Ramadan. Muslims traditionally fast from dawn until sunset during Ramadan, and the iftar meal is the first meal that they eat after the sun sets.
My thanks to Gary Vella and Mem Oztas for the organisation of our Iftar and Ramadan at CHS.
Bachar Houli Visit
On the final day of Term 1 we were fortunate to have former Essendon and Richmond AFL footballer, Bachar Houli, come to speak with our senior students. Bachar works with young people, including some of our students, to be the best possible people and leaders they can be, through his Bachar Houli Foundation. We thank Bachar for visiting and for his inspiring story and words of wisdom for our students, and thanks to Dave Snaddon for his organisation of the visit.
Ride to School Day / Travel to School Census
A big thanks to everyone who participated in Ride2School Day during Term 1. Thanks also to Trek Cycles Coburg who donated some amazing prizes for our students. We completed our annual census of how students travel to school and found another increase in the proportion of students walking and riding to school:
- 53.3% students walked, rode or scooted to school (active travel)
- a further 23.3% of students caught a bus, tram or train to school (and then walked the rest of the way)
- Overall, this means 76.6% of students use sustainable means to travel to school
Bell Street Bridge - Have your say
To improve safety for all road users, around 12 months ago VicRoads introduced traffic calming treatments intended to provide a safer Bell Street Bridge. VicRoads want to hear from pedestrians and bike riders about how they are now experiencing the road environment.
The survey is open to Friday 5 May and will take 5 to 10 minutes to complete.
VicRoads particularly want to hear from people who walk and bike ride in the area, but the survey is available for all road users to complete.
As outlined above, with a strong majority of our 1250+ students walking and riding for a significant proportion of their journey to and from school, and the Bell Street bridge being a key route for many students living on the eastern side of our school (or visiting 7-11!), our school supports further improvements to the Bell Street bridge to improve safety for our school community.
Turkiye & Syria Earthquake Appeal
With such a diverse range of students and staff at Coburg High School, we know we have families who have been affected by the Turkiye and Syria Earthquake. Our thoughts are with them.
Over 47 000 deaths, 26 million people displaced and over 4300 aftershocks, this level of suffering can lead to people feeling like they can’t help.
Many organisations around the world are providing support in different ways to those impacted.
Our students have asked what they can do and have come up with ideas on how our school community can help. Student voice leaders have organised an upcoming casual clothes day to help with fundraising.
Students have asked about providing further help and donations and the following places are recommended as recognised charitable organisations in Turkiye
Turk Kizilay/Turkish Red Crescent (this is the name of RedCross in the Middle East):
https://www.kizilay.org.tr/Bagis/BagisYap/405/donations-for-earthquake-in-pazarcik
AFAD/Disaster and Emergency Management Presidency (this is State Emergency Services (SES) in Turkiye):
https://www.afad.gov.tr/depremkampanyasi2
Our staff held a morning tea during Term 1 to support the millions of people affected by the Turkey–Syria earthquake. We would like to thank Al Alamy Coburg for their donation of delicious pastries for the event. Over $1,000 was donated by our staff for the people of Syria and Turkey.
Merri-bek North Education Plan - have your say!
The Victorian Government is reshaping local education through the Merri-bek North Education Plan (MNEP). The schools involved in the plan are: Coburg High School, Glenroy College, John Fawkner College, Pascoe Vale Girls College. We want to hear from you! Complete a short survey to share your thoughts and opinions about what you want secondary schools in Merri-bek North to look like. Click here to complete the survey. The survey is open until 2 May.
School Council Corner
At the first meeting of the new Council, the following officebearers were elected:
- President: Nat Abboud
- Vice-President: Karin Sitte
- Treasurer: Trent McCarthy
- Secretary: Melanie Buscema-Moore (non-voting member)
Congratulations to Nat, Karin, Trent and Melanie for taking on these important roles. Natalie can be emailed at nat.abboud@education.vic.gov.au
Brent Houghton
Principal