We have had a busy start to the term with so many events and activities on as we finish off 2024 but plan 2025.
There are a couple of important updates for parents and students
Uniform.
Firstly thanks to all of the parents and students for their feedback on our uniform in the surveys done in Term 2/3 . School council has been working though this and looking at changes. As parents I hope you can understand there are many views and school council listens to all of them and while we would like to meet everyone’s wishes this is not always possible. I would like to make special mention to the Be Bold Be Heard girls group and the SRC for their feedback and drive to ensure student voice is heard.
In 2025 there will be a number of changes
We will be introducing an active wear range of uniform. This will replace the current Sport / House polo and tracksuit
Students will be able to wear the active wear or the Formal Uniform on any day they want to. Students can wear active wear on every day of the week if they wish.
We will be introducing a “girls” short. There will be two types of active wear short a traditional boys cut and female cut. The female shorts will have bike short lining inside them to encourage more participation
There will be an activewear house polo. The polo will still have the house colours on them, but we have improved the material and the look of the polo. There will be a short sleeve and long sleeve option.
The fleece jacket, rugby jumper, dress and formal uniforms all still exist we have just updated or introduced a few new options for families / students.
The implementation of these new options will be for two years. So, if you have brought a current house polo or tracksuit you can wear this for 2025 and 2026. It is a parent choice to purchase the new uniform, any current uniform can be worn for the next two years.
PSW are intending on having a large sale of current stock and the flyer is attached. PSW are offering discounts on discontinued items such as sport, tracksuit, jumpers, dresses etc 25% off. If you purchase these, you can still wear them for the next two years. The new stock will come online in Winter 2025. The production of the new uniform takes up 12 weeks.
School council have looked at what students are currently wearing, cost for families and what many schools are moving towards which is the active wear uniform. We want kids comfortable and in unform.
I will have sample of all of the new uniform shortly which I will place on the website, compass and front office for display.
School Saving Bonus
Many of you will be aware of the $400 available to parents to cover school expenses. The criteria for the use of this has been set by the Department and not by the school. Information has been sent out earlier in the term to all families. We are expecting this will become available by the end of November. I ask parents to understand that at school we don’t control any of this and it is done by the Department in Melbourne so there are times when we don’t have the answers. We will do our best to find out. I ask parents to check their email address are up to date with the school and information will be sent to you directly.
Captains
I would like to announce our school captains for 2025 are:
Captains; Annabelle Lane and Jackson Barker.
Vice Captains; Matt Aidt and Sandy Khun.
This year the quality of the applications and speeches were amazing. We have some great kids at GHS.
Toilets
I just wanted to update the school community on our toilet upgrade. I have just met with the architects and started the design process of our new toilets. When this is done, I will share with the school community. We have just had the current Winstanley toilet block all painted and new doors installed. We are also replacing all damaged toilet units. This is costing over $30,000. I am sure we all agree we want our students to have clean and fit for purpose facilities.
Graduation
On the 25th of October we held out Year 12 Graduation this was as very successful evening with over 500 in attendance. Thanks to the Senior School Team for organising this and I hope the students and parents had an enjoyable night and were able to reflect on their time at Geelong High.
Staff news
I would like to make special mention of Ms Jacinta Grills. Jacinta recently was recognised for her 35 years of outstanding work in the Education system. Congratulations Jacinta you should be very proud of this achievement and all the hard work behind it.
In October, 32 of our GPEP [Geelong Positive Education Program] students went on a 7-day camp to the Northern Territory visiting Alice Springs, Lilla, and Yulara/Uluru. Throughout the trip we had conversations with First Nation communities about how important their culture is, how it is being affected, and a reflection on how we can contribute for the better.
The trip included many hikes and walks around the desert outback, also stopping at a few waterholes along the way. We also got to watch a bird show at the Alice springs dessert park and at night got to go view and learn about the stars, then which we got to sleep under.
Overall, it was a once in a lifetime opportunity for us, we got to experience the Australian outback while learning about the Aboriginal culture and seeing some amazing sites.
Congratulations to Jacinta Grills who this month celebrated the milestone of 35 years teaching in the education department. Jacinta was recognised along with an esteemed group of colleagues by the Department at a celebration held at Truffleduck in mid October. Jacinta spoke of the pride she has in being able to have worked with so many incredible students and staff along the way after starting her career in Stawell in 1989. She joked that she caught the train in January of that year and thought she was heading somewhere in Gippsland before going through Ballarat on her way to the Wimmera. Jacinta also praised Geelong High in her speech, explaining that in her 25 years here she has seen so many changes that at times it feels like she has worked at a number of different schools both in physical structure and programs.
Congratulations Jacinta on this amazing achievement.
Parents and families are reminded that assessment results and comments on assessments are available for all assessments on an ongoing basis. This means that parents can log in to Compass on their phones or a desktop at any time during the year and see the assessments that their children have completed, what their outcomes where and what their next steps are. Teachers will have provided written comments on all tasks that have been completed.
Families are reminded to check these Learning Tasks regularly. All Learning Tasks published to parents are important assessments used to track and monitor student progress.
When checking Learning Tasks in Compass across the year, families might consider discussing with their child:
How they felt about their performance in the assessment
What the teacher comments mean and how they might achieve those targets
What they did to prepare for the assessment and what they might do next time
How parents might be able to support students to prepare for the next assessment
Please note that parents also receive Progress Reports at the end of each term and more extensive Semester Reports, but these do not include comments on individual tasks as these are provided across the year. Families are also strongly encouraged to attend all Parent Teacher Interviews and reach out to teachers if they have any concerns about their child's progress.
Also, families should be aware that Compass has a new feature that will translate your homepage into any language. In the bottom right of your homepage, click Language and then select your preferred language.
Last week Barwon House held a series of fundraisers for Beyond Blue. Teacher Lachlan Envall demonstrated his auction skills in front of a large group of students while on Friday students enjoyed a barbie and band. $1,300 was raised by Barwon House for Beyond Blue.... a fantastic effort!
About Beyond Blue:
Since 2000, Beyond Blue has been working to reduce the impact of anxiety, depression and suicide within Australia, by supporting people to protect their mental health and to recover when they are unwell, reduce people’s experience of stigma and discrimination, and to improve people’s opportunities to get effective support and services at the right time.
Funds raised help Beyond Blue to continue to:
Provide an expert listening ear – 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
Develop and trial ground-breaking new initiatives to tackle anxiety, depression and suicide.
Give people the information they need, whenever they need it, wherever they live.
Distribute free information resources across Australia.
Produce evidence-based awareness campaigns to reach people at risk of developing mental health conditions.
Our Art & Technology Showcase was a huge success as hundreds of parents, students and teachers had the opportunity to walk through the Atrium and view a diverse arrange of artworks from our talented Year 7-12 students. Apart from the art, tech, design and digitech displays the showcase presented student short films, photographs, live dance and drama performances.
A highlight on the night was the live performance by the GHS SOUL REVIEW BAND who thrilled the crowd with their mix of rock and blues. A huge thanks to all staff and students who helped work on the showcase. It was a fantastic celebration of our students many creative, artistic and design talents.
Our Be Bold Be Heard team represented our school at the final forum for the year at GMHBA stadium. Each school presented their goals, actions and success across the year. Our girls did an amazing job at presenting in front of well over 100 people including students, staff and principals from schools in the region and special guests from the broader community. This year our Be Bold Be Heard team have been working on a new design for female shorts, connected community links through volunteering with Lazarus Community Centre and built on staff/student relationships through our House staff and student netball tournament. They should be proud of their work across the year. Female and female identifying students who are interested in joining our team for 2025, are invited to see Mrs Walsh to find out more about the program.
The Western Metro event was run with a couple of our Year 12s competing for the last time - Tallen Smith and Raj Kambo. We thank them for their efforts over the last 6 years. Angus Baker and Raj made it to the State finals last week with Angus achieving a 1st in the 14 boys 1500m and a 2nd in the 1500m. An amazing effort - well done Angus. Raj coming 4th in the 1500m, another great effort.
Angus Baker, All Schools 1500m champion. A fantastic effort on the track!
Our Year 12 Class of 2024 had a fantastic day as they celebrated the end of six years of learning at Geelong High. A morning breakfast barbecue was followed by photos, stories, streamers, bubbles, celebrations and their final school assembly of the year.
Six wonderful Year 9 students set out for their big adventure to the School for Student Leadership – Don Valley Campus. Makayla Ordner, Dami Ola-James, Ari Iliff, Ruby Barker, Lachlan Harland and Georgia Smith were selected for the program in term one and have been working hard to prepare for the amazing experience of a 9-week residential school program. Across 9 weeks students will be immersed in an exciting program to develop and nurture their leadership and teamwork skills, engaging in indoor and outdoor educational activities. While 9 weeks living away from home will prove a challenge for our team, they have demonstrated great resilience, teamwork and a commitment to this experience. Your school community is incredibly proud of you and I can’t wait to follow along on your grand adventure.
On the 7th of August, 20 students represented Geelong High School in the Maths competition. Congratulations to all students involved. The students competed against thousands of students and around Victoria. Some outstanding results were achieved.
High Distinction
Year 7 Hudson Andrews
This is awarded to a student who is in the top 3% of their year and region
Distinction
Year 7 Zhiqing Li
Year 8 Jimmy Cox
Year 10 Damjan Paskoski
This is awarded to a student who is in the top 20% of their year and region
Credit
Year 7 Matthew Skey
Year 8 Winston Hubers
Year 9 Ben Norris and Abbey Davies
Year 11 Jackson Filippi and Jackson Barker
Year 12 Dart Spark
This is awarded to a student who is in the top 55% of their year and region or 60% for Senior division.
Our Year 12 students have chosen to celebrate by dressing up as their favourite characters. It has been a big six years of study with COVID thrown in as a major challenge and the early years of the re-build. We wish our students all the best as they journey into the world beyond Geelong High School.
Our Year 11 VCE VM students have been busily working on their Semester 2 PDS projects aimed at supporting community. They have continued to support the Geelong Food Relief Centre by planning and cooking meals for their mini mart. Students wrote sponsorship letters to Austin (Manager) at Bellarine Woolworths (Newcomb) who were extremely generous in providing donations in the form of $50 vouchers for the students to work in small groups to cook as many healthy, tasty and nutritious meals as they could budget for. So far we have made more than 60 meals and 30 packs of cookies over 2 cooking sessions. Great work team, you have all worked incredibly maturely and have been challenged by tight timelines and limited resources. Super proud of you all.
Supported by Geelong Arts Centre’s Creative Learning Program
On Thursday the 31st of October, Year 10 drama students were involved in a drama incursion led by award winning playwright and theatre-maker Dan Giovannoni. Dan is working on a new piece of work for young people and our students were lucky enough to be part of this devising process.
Dan’s plays have been produced across Australia and include works such as SLAP. BANG. KISS. (Melbourne Theatre Company), Loaded (with Christos Tsiolkas, adapted from his book of the same name, Malthouse Theatre), Mad as a Cute Snake (with Amelia Evans), Merciless Gods (Little Ones Theatre, adapted from the book by Christos Tsiolkas), Jurassica (Red Stitch), Bambert’s Book of Lost Stories (Barking Gecko Theatre Company), Turbine (Malthouse Theatre) and Cut Snake (with Amelia Evans, Arthur). He has won awards for his work on Merciless Gods (Green Room Award: Independent Theatre – Writing), Jurassica (Green Room Award: Theatre Companies – Writing New Writing for the Australian Stage), Bambert’s Book of Lost Stories (Helpmann Award: Best Presentation for Children, also nominated for Best New Australian Work), and Cut Snake (Melbourne Fringe Awards: Best Emerging Writer; also nominated for two Green Room awards). Dan was a resident writer at Melbourne Theatre Company 2017-2019.
A big thank you to Dan and Geelong Arts Centre for making this workshop a fun and educational day. We look forward to watching this work progress into the rehearsal room.
Our Year 7 Cricket team played Grovedale in their first match and made 118. Harry Cranny (20), Che Salter (25 ret) and Lincoln Burn (24 n.o.) all contributing with the bat. Harry and Ollie Baker did the damage early to kept Grovedale to 7/33 in reply.
The second game was played against Bellarine, with the winner going through to the next stage. Bowling first, Geelong allowed Bellarine to consolidate after an early wicket. Their batsmen got themselves in and were able to build a solid launching pad to reach a total of 70 off 10 overs. In replay, we lost early wickets which saw us fall behind the run rate and never got back in reach. Geelong scored 6/42 in reply off our 10 overs. Che top scoring with 10.
Some very good performances throughout the day but the final game didn’t go our way unfortunately. Well done to our team!
Geelong United Basketball All Abilities Competition
This will be the third season of Geelong United Basketball All Abilities. There have been a number of new teams join. If you have clients/students looking to join a team please reach out to Clinton Meehan. Teams will be accepting registrations all the way through the Summer Season. The season commenced last Friday.
Ford Aussie Hoops – All Abilities
Ongoing until 31 Jan 2025 Tuesday (4:00pm - 4:45pm)
Beyond Bank Stadium, Court 6
Pricing information $45 excluding the Aussie Hoops Welcome Pack. This price covers sessions for the term.
Geelong United Basketball are proud to provide the All-Abilities Aussie Hoops Program.
This program will be sensory-friendly and will cater to junior players with physical and intellectual disabilities.
