Principal’s Update | April, 2025
Principal’s Update.
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Welcome to the second edition of the Newsletter for 2025! What an incredible start to the year it's been - in the blink of an eye, it's already April, and Term 1 is at an end!
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House Music.
In true Mac.Rob style, we finished the Term with our annual House Music Competition. The level of participation, enthusiasm, creativity, and leadership was outstanding. In both the solo performances and the large group choral pieces, I’m grateful to everyone who took part and contributed such incredible House spirit. The new Rock band section was a real highlight. A special thanks to our Music Captains, Naomi Kao and Katie Wong, and our amazing House Captains. It was a fantastic way to end the term, reflecting our values of community, growth, and responsibility.
Congratulations to Dryads for taking home the trophy!
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Harding Miller Scholarship Awards.
On March 24th, Assistant Principal Josie Phillips and myself attended the Harding Miller Scholarship Awards. Here 16 of Mac.Rob students were awarded with scholarships. Mac.Rob had the highest number of awards given from any other school in the state. The students were so proud! We’re very grateful for the work of the Harding Miller Education Foundation and the work they do to support girls public education across Australia.
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Annual Report.
On Tuesday, March 25th, we held our Annual Report to the school community, where the 2024 Annual Report was presented and ratified by the School Council. The 2024 Annual Report will soon be published on our website. We discussed the continued high level academic success of our students (including our strongest VCE results in 4 years), the improvements in wellbeing indicators, and the focus of our continued school improvement. In 2025 our focus remains on continued growth for all students in academic achievement, their sense of wellbeing, and, crucially, of their agency in the learning process.
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Neurodiversity Week.
Mac.Rob celebrated Neurodiversity week from March 17th - 23rd. The celebrations included an inspiring talk from Dr. Jessica Riordan from the University of Melbourne on neuro-affirming approaches to research, advocacy, and education, as well as information displays throughout the week in the Library and Wellbeing areas about neurodiversity.
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New School Council.
We also held the Annual General Meeting of the School Council on March 25th, and I can now announce the composition of the Council, and our new School Council President: Mohshin Habib. We look forward to his leadership and guidance. We thank and extend our sincere gratitude to the work of outgoing School Council President, Anand Agarwal, who has worked tirelessly to support the school during his time as President.
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We wish everyone a safe and relaxing Term break, and look forward to seeing you all ready and refreshed for Term 2!
Sam Crocket | Acting Principal
Student Highlights.
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Beachside Swimming Carnival.
I would like to congratulate our Mac.Rob Swim Team on their efforts at the Beachside Swimming Carnival yesterday. All students competed extremely well and many came away with some fantastic results.
Mac.Rob finished 4th overall out of the 10 schools who competed which is a terrific achievement considering we can only score points in the 'Girls' swim events. The students finished first place in 21/27 individual events along with winning 4/5 of the 'Girls Age Group Championships'. Our relay teams were also brilliant claiming first place in all five of the medley and freestyle relay events.
Beachside Division Age Group Champions
Girls 15 Years - Weylen T
Girls 16 Years - Jowdy M
Girls 17 Years - Olivia T
Girls 18-20 Years - Yeju L
First Placed Medley & Freestyle Relay Teams
Girls 15-16 Years Medley Relay - Jowdy M, An N, Weylen T & Ashveen K
Girls 17-18 Years Medley Relay - Linh V, Olivia T, Katherine P & Yeju L
Girls 16 Years Freestyle Relay - Jowdy M, An N, Madison F & Ashveen K
Girls 17 Years Freestyle Relay - Linh V, Olivia T, Cassandra N & Lauren L
Girls 18-20 Years Freestyle Relay - Yeju L, Yan C, Siena L & Katherine P
An amazing achievement by all of our swimmers and we wish them all the best for the upcoming Southern Metropolitan Regional Swim Carnival on March 24th.
Hayden McLennan - Sport Leader | Duke of Ed Coordinator
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Softball: Intermediate Beachside Division.
On Tuesday, February 18th, the Intermediate Softball Team, accompanied by Ms. Lionello and Ms. Schroeder, came together at Kingston Heath Reserve in Cheltenham to compete in the Intermediate Beachside Division against Cheltenham Secondary College. Going into the match, our team didn’t have very high expectations, however as the game progressed, we learnt new skills and tactics, had lots of fun and fostered a strong group dynamic, which consequently enabled us to support and motivate each other as the game went on. We developed great teamwork and communication skills, cheered our hearts out, and our resilience shone even more so when overcoming injuries, allowing us to ultimately secure a 19-7 win respectively. By the end of the day, our team had many fond memories to look back on, as besides the win, we were able to form many great friendships as well as hone our softball skills in a fun and supportive environment, filled with great sportsmanship and encouragement.
Finally, we’d love to give a huge shout out to our coaches Ms. Lionello and Ms. Schroeder, the senior team for helping us train, the umpire, the opposing team, and our amazing teammates for giving it their all and making this day a huge success!
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Year 10 Drama & Theatre Studies: Live Theatre at MTC.
Recently, Year 10 Drama and Theatre Studies students had the exciting opportunity to attend The Robot Dog at Melbourne Theatre Company’s Southbank Theatre. This thought-provoking production explored themes of grief, identity, language, and the increasing role of AI in our lives. Blending styles such as naturalism, retrofuturism and magic realism, the play raised powerful questions about what it means to be human in a rapidly changing world.
Students were particularly struck by the contrast between emotional human connection and artificial intelligence—one of the performance’s key messages. The show also gave students valuable insight into the use of expressive skills, set, sound, and lighting design, all of which will support their current Performance Analysis assessment.
“The Robot Dog made me reflect a lot on my own experiences being born in a different country.” – Erica
“I loved how it explored AI and what our future might look like in 20 years.” – Aila
“It helped me feel seen and represented on stage.” – Sahana
“The performance allowed me to observe how professionals create layered work with hidden meaning.” – Zara
“This performance was one I very much enjoyed watching. It was nice seeing the cultural aspects that were incorporated that I could relate to.” – Ying
A big thank you to MTC for an inspiring and unforgettable theatrical experience!
What’s On at Mac.Rob.
Combined Musical: “The Pirates of Penzance”
Mac.Rob and Melbourne High School are proud to present their annual combined schools' musical for 2025: "The Pirates of Penzance". Featuring student performers and musicians from both schools, this production of Gilbert and Sullivan's classic comedy rides waves of laughter for a rollicking good time!
Gilbert and Sullivan's hilarious, hopeful farce follows young Frederic, an orphan who has mistakenly been apprenticed to an ineffectual but raucous band of pirates. He disavows the pirates' way of life and falls for the beautiful Mabel. Frederic's melodious tones win over the heart of Major-General Stanley's songbird daughter, Mabel, but when the Pirate King discovers that General Stanley has lied about being an orphan to keep the pirates from stealing all of his belongings and carrying off his bevy of beautiful daughters, an "ingenious paradox" may prevent the budding romance and lead to the death of "The very model of a modern Major-General."
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COMBINED MUSICAL: 'THE PIRATES OF PENZANCE'
Performing Thursday, May 8th to Saturday, May 10th
at Memorial Hall, Melbourne High School
Duration: 2 hours and 15 minutes (including interval).
Tickets: $20 Adult / $15 Concession (including students and pensioners).
Mac.Rob International Ball 2025
We are delighted to announce the return of the Mac.Rob International Ball! Students and families are invited to join us for an unforgettable evening of fine food, immersive cultural experience, fun prizes, and community spirit!
The International Ball celebrates the rich diversity of our school community. Bringing together student groups and performers, partner organisations, teachers and support staff, and families, the International Ball is an opportunity for our school community to relax, connect, and celebrate who we are and where we come from.
This fun, informal, family-friendly night features a delicious international buffet dinner (including self-serve entree, main, and dessert), performances from student dance groups and musicians, and plenty of games and activities to entertain young and old.
All members of the Mac.Rob school community - students, families, siblings and staff - are warmly welcome to attend.
Please note that tickets to the International Ball are strictly limited, and are offered on a first come, first serve basis. This event is expected to sell out. While seating will be in tables of 10, attendees are reminded that the evening is served buffet style, and that guests are free to reorganise their seating arrangements throughout the night as they wish.
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MAC.ROB INTERNATIONAL BALL 2025
When: Friday, May 23rd| 5:00pm - 9:00pm
Doors open 5:00pm. Formalities commence 5:30pm. Evening concludes 9:00pm.
Where: St Kilda Town Hall, 99A Carlisle Street, St Kilda, Victoria 3182
Tickets: $40 Adult & Student (all tickets are a flat price).