Over the last few weeks, I have been extremely impressed by the way our Year 12’s have finished off their time at Geelong High. They have all worked hard in the last few weeks and their celebration day and last assembly was a credit to themselves. It was a pleasure to see them have some fun and enjoy their last days. The Year 12’s celebrated in a positive and respectful way.

A highlight was the Year 12 Graduation at GMHBA stadium. Thanks to Ms Cameron and the rest of the Senior School team for their outstanding organisation and all of the House leaders for their support and contribution. While this was my first Geelong High graduation, it was an amazing opportunity to celebrate their time at Geelong High with the students and parents.

As we approach the end of the school year there is considerable planning underway regarding staffing and subjects for students. At this stage we only have 1 or 2 places for students in Year 10 and 11. I ask parents that if you are leaving Geelong High for any reason to let the school know as we do have a number of students wishing to enrol at all year levels.

We have just sent off the Year 9 GPEP students to Central Australia for 7 days. I know having done this trip before with students, it is an amazing learning experience and something the students will never forget.

In the coming weeks we have smart start underway where students will begin their Year 11 and 12 subjects for 2024. All students will be given holiday tasks to complete over the break and ensure they are ready for day 1 2024.

We have had some great activities this term so far. All Year 9 students participated in the Reach - Heroes Day program. Reach Organisation specialises in social and emotional development for young people and was founded by the late, great Jim Stynes. The workshop seeks to help students find their voice, equip them with the essential tools to navigate life’s challenges and encourages them to think beyond our everyday assumptions.

Well done to the following students who had outstanding performances recently at the State Athletics Championships

Angus Baker – 1^st 800 and 1500m run.

Leo Strzadale – 3^rd 400 and 5^th 200m run.

Grant Sumner – 6^th 1500 walk.

Sienna Reid – 6^th 1500 walk.

Raj Kambo – 6^th 800 run.

We were the top placed Geelong and district school, and we were the 54^th placed school out of 256 in the State. That is an excellent effort and congratulations to all the students.

Go Geelong High!

There are a number of key dates for parent’s and carer's calendars.

Friday 3^rd November – Tuesday 21^st November – Year 12 2024 Smart Start. Tuesday 21^st is the last day of formal classes for current Year 11 students, however, Year 11 students will have an opportunity to attend school to complete any catch-up work due to absences during Smart Start from Wednesday 22^nd – Friday 24^th November.

Tuesday 7^th November – Year 7 Melbourne Zoo excursion

Wednesday 15^th November – Thursday 23^rd November – Year 10 Exams in normal class time

Friday 24^th November – Friday 1^st December – Year 11 2024 Smart Start. Friday 1^st December is the last day of formal classes for current Year 10 students.

Tuesday 28^th November – 2024 Year 11 Information Evening AND 2024 Year 7 Information Evening

Monday 4^th December – STUDENT FREE DAY (Assessment Day)

Tuesday 5^th December – Thursday 7^th December – Year 7 Swim and Survive Days

Friday 8^th December – Adventure Park Day Years 7-9
No formal classes run on this day. Events will appear on Compass

Monday 11^th December – House Picnics Years 7-9
No formal classes run on this day. Events will appear on Compass

Tuesday 12^th December – 2024 Year 7 Orientation Day – NO YEAR 7s AT SCHOOL

Wednesday 13^th December – 2024 Year 7 Orientation Day – NO YEAR 8s AT SCHOOL

Wednesday 13^th December – AWARDS EVENING at COSTA HALL – 6:00pm – 8:00pm.
Families will be informed closer to the date if their child/ren is receiving an award or performing in the Awards Ceremony.

Wednesday 13^th December will be the last formal day of classes for students in Year 7-9. The school is still open for students to attend if they need to from Thursday 14^th – Wednesday 20^th December, however, no formal classes will be running. Students who do attend will be involved in community service activities at school.

2024 Dates
Monday 29^th January - Staff Return (Student-free day)

Tuesday 30^th January – 11:00am – 7:00pm. 15-minute Start Up Day Interviews to take place for all students and parents/guardians with their Home Group teacher. Information as to how to book these interviews will be sent out in mid-January 2024. No formal classes.

Wednesday 31^st January – ALL STUDENTS RETURN TO NORMAL CLASSES and School Photos (Correct Formal School Uniform must be worn on this day for all students).

If you have any questions, please contact our Administration Office.

It was with excitement, pride and a great sense of achievement that the Class of 2023 celebrated their Graduation on Friday night at GMHBA Stadium. It was a sensational celebration with students, parents, and the GHS teaching staff coming together to acknowledge the dedication of our Year 12 students to finish their secondary schooling.

Congratulations Class of 2023 you are an amazing group of people!

On Monday 9^th of October, selected students from Year 7 to 10 represented Geelong High School at the Victorian Challenge and Enrichment Maths Games day.

This was held virtually, so our students worked in teams at the school to solve number problems. The tasks required flexible thinking, applying their number sense to riddles, and collaborating with their peers to submit the best solutions. Over 200 students from 50 schools participated virtually in the day and our students should be proud of their efforts.

Four of our teams ranked in the top 25 for the state and we’re excited to report that Jett Whitford and Ed West were the only students in the whole competition to completely solve the Magic 4 Square puzzle. Well done!

Our GPEP students and staff had an amazing time!! The seven day immersion program is designed for schools looking to make a difference in the indigenous community. Students were introduced to the stunning landscape of central Australia and further developed their understanding and appreciation of our unique indigenous people and their relationship to the land through participation in numerous community service projects.

Another highlight was the opportunity to form relationships with the Lilla indigenous community members through staying on country in Lilia and engaging in a variety of cultural experiences. Participants have increased their understanding of team-work and leadership, improve cultural awareness and gain a greater understanding of nature.

An absolutely amazing time had on our annual NT GPEP trip! Thank you to our incredible staff for your support and guidance!

Our Year 11 Vocational Major students supported Geelong Food Relief for their major project for Personal Development Skills in Semester 2. They wrote letters requesting donations from Coles Armstrong Creek (thanks Jonty and Lisa!) for $50 gift vouchers, one per group was all they had to budget for.

Each group was responsible for planning a meal with the rest of the class. Once the students prepared the meals, they were frozen and donated to Geelong Food Relief. Their first cooking session was at Geelong Food Relief’s North Geelong Distribution Centre (thanks Lisa!), which included a tour of the facility and then into the kitchen to prepare and package 27 pizzas.

The remaining sessions were held in the GHS cooking rooms where vegan butter chicken, spaghetti bolognese and chocolate chip cookies were cooked.

It’s been a fun and challenging project for all involved.

Year 12 students celebrated their last official day at the start of this term. It was a fantastic way to celebrate their six years at Geelong High School.

We wish them all the best in the future. (Special thanks to Joel and Cameron for additional photographs).

Last Friday students from Geelong High joined other secondary schools across Geelong in the final Be Bold Be Heard Forum for the year. This day was a celebration of their achievements throughout the year in activating their voice, agency and leadership within their school.

Congratulations to this wonderful group of girls!

The library is running a couple of activities in partnership with Geelong Regional libraries.

Virtual Reality has proved to be one of the most loved, entertaining, and sought-after activity. The student enjoyed the experiences, you can see from the images below!

The Year 10 Recreational Sports class went on a Bushwalk and Camping trip last week! Everyone had a great time!

During 7BB’s Art/Technology rotation, they chose to explore Industrial/Object Design. They were prompted to think about the issues they face with their own lunch boxes and factors that influence their selection when purchasing these products.

As a result, these students produced innovative solutions to this design challenge.

Well done Year 7s!

Week 2 saw Geelong high school intermediate basketball teams go out and compete against other schools in the area. The girls had a red hot crack but lost their 2 group games. They beat North Geelong in a physical contest in their consolation game.

The boys won both their group games against Bellarine and Surf coast meaning they met Oberon in the semi-finals. Up as many as 8 with 12 minutes to go Oberon fought back and the boys went down by 4 points.

On Monday 23rd October, ten Year 8 girls were involved in junior girls cricket. Though we lost both matches, the students had fun and learnt many new skills.

Of particular note were great batting performances from Madison Burns and Dakota Hepner, some great bowling from Jorjah Beach and Jaz Wray and some fine wicket keeping from Sandrinne Umutoni.

The Year 8 boys junior team (combo of Year 7/8) played in the first stage of the Geelong division cricket competition under the skilful eye of Tony Kilfoyle.

They played an excellent day of cricket and managed to beat Western Heights and North Geelong to get the opportunity to play in the Geelong finals on Friday.

We wish them all the best!! Go Geelong High.

Our Intermediate Boys Hockey team played in the Western Metro Finals coached by Warren Finlayson.

They won the first two games to make the final against Maribyrnong Secondary College. Scores were level at half time but they were too good for us with the final scores 3 goals to 1.

On Thursday 19 October, our Intermediate Table Tennis teams played in the Geelong & Bellarine competition.

Despite missing out on finals, all students played well and enjoyed the day.

On 9^th of November Barwon house will be running their annual fundraiser for Beyond Blue. There will be a sausage sizzle for the day, along with an auction during recess, in which we will auction off items to teachers and students. There will be live music that will entertain us at lunch time.

This will be a normal school uniform day but I would encourage students to bring money to donate.

The Spring Music Concert is a celebration of all the hard work and dedication of the Geelong High School music students.

On Monday 4th September the following ensembles came together for a live performance in front of staff, students, family and friends: String Orchestra, Chamber Strings, Bach Ensemble, Wind Ensemble, Senior Brass Ensemble, Blues Band, and selected trios, duets and solo performances.

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