Hello Preshil community,

Welcome to another edition of the Preshil Weekly!

It was a pleasure this week to welcome new students into our community who will be joining us in 2026, as part of our transition and orientation activities held across both campuses. These Step-Up Days are a vital part of our broader commitment to supporting smooth, student-centred transitions through each stage of learning. Activities this week included:

Arlington Ciao, Bonjour Day
Year 7 2026 Transition Day
Year 8–11 Orientation Day

These experiences are designed to help students feel confident, connected, and excited about the next steps in their learning journey at Preshil.

Campus Future Updates

We are now moving from an information-sharing phase into one of co-creation and ideation, especially in partnership with our students. A central focus has been exploring our current creative spaces and inviting students to imagine and contribute to the design of our future learning environments.

As part of this exciting phase, a group of students visited the ACU City Campus this week, marking the launch of the Discovery and Co-Creation phase of our Senior Studio project. This visit provided students with a chance to explore inspiring architectural design and consider how learning spaces can be human-centred and purpose-driven.

Drawing on real-world examples continues to deepen our thinking and enrich this important work. Additional site visits are planned over the coming months, offering further opportunities for students to meaningfully shape the evolving vision of our future campuses.

Arlington: Repair and Restoration Works

Restoration work at Arlington has now commenced to take advantage of the upcoming summer break and reduce operational disruptions.

Over the next fortnight, the Kevin Borland Hall windows are being replaced – a long-overdue project, as the condition of the existing windows had significantly deteriorated. We look forward to the installation of the new windows, which will enhance the space both functionally and aesthetically.

In addition, we are excited to begin work on the Tree House renewal project, scheduled to start over the break and continue into Term 1, 2026.

New Kevin Borland Windows

Old Kevin Borland Windows

Attached here is the slide deck used for our Campus Futures information evening for our communities reference.

If you would like to talk through any aspect of this update, please reach out.
We have also set up a dedicated email address for community questions regarding the campus transitions: Preshil Campus Futures

Warmly,

Aaron Mackinnon
Principal

Year 10 Ice Skating Excursion
To celebrate another highly successful year at Preshil, our Year 10 students laced up their skates and joined staff on the ice at O’Brien Icehouse in Docklands. With guidance from an experienced trainer, students learned essential safety skills before confidently taking to the ice.

The afternoon was filled with laughter, shared encouragement, and a surprising number of expert manoeuvres from both staff and students. It was a joyful opportunity to unwind, connect, and create memories together beyond the classroom.

A huge thank you to everyone who brought such enthusiasm and energy, it was a truly memorable day on the ice.

Lighthouse School Sleepover
This week, the Lighthouse children enjoyed a camp style evening together at school, sharing afternoon tea, activities, pizza dinner, and plenty of laughter as they set up their cosy beds in the Library. The group settled into quiet games and gentle wind-down moments before drifting off for their school-night sleepover. By morning they were refreshed, well-fed, and ready for a relaxed day ahead, carrying the joy and connection of a memorable night spent together.

Success in VCE Art Creative Practice
We are delighted to celebrate the work of one of Preshil’s newest Year 10 students, Wassana. Since joining the school, she has settled into VCE Art Creative Practice with a keen interest in art, already demonstrating exceptional skill in drawing and illustration.

This week, Wassana framed a series of her beautiful drawings and experimented with a range of display techniques, thoughtfully exploring how presentation can enhance meaning and visual impact. Her careful craftsmanship and strong artistic voice are already enriching our creative community.

We warmly welcome Wassana to Preshil and look forward to seeing her artistic practice continue to grow.

Exploring Creative Spaces at ACU
This week, a number of our students visited the ACU City Campus as part of the broader Discovery and Co-Creation phase for our Senior Studio project. This experience offered a valuable opportunity to explore different architectural approaches and consider how creative spaces can be designed to be both human-centred and deeply aligned with educational purpose.

We’re drawing inspiration from real-world examples to inform how we might shape our own learning environments, with pedagogy at the heart of the design. More site visits to other spaces of interest are planned in the coming months for interested students, as we continue to learn from and engage with contemporary spaces.

Vessel’s Art Exhibition by The Sunroomers
In Semester Two Art, the Sun Room explored how art can be a vessel that holds stories, memories, and identity through the ceramics unit “Art is a Vessel that Holds.”

The unit began with a classroom archaeological dig, where the children uncovered “ancient” clay fragments and thought like archaeologists: asking what the vessels might have held and what they revealed about the people who made them. This helped them understand how art can hold meaning, history, and culture.

Throughout the semester, the children developed technical skills through a range of clay-building techniques:

Slabs & Moulds: Forming slabs of clay over body parts and natural objects to explore shape and texture.
Coiling: Studying global coiling traditions before creating patterned vessels using decorative and structural coils.
Pinch Pots: Refining joining skills and combining pinch, coil, and slab methods to make more complex forms.
Glazing: Learning how colour and glaze can emphasise form, texture, and meaning, and observing how surfaces transform during firing.

Drawing on these experiences, each child designed and created a personal ceramic vessel that represented something meaningful: a memory, story, or part of their identity. Their finished works were celebrated in a ceramics exhibition titled ‘Vessels’.

Vessels will be open until Tuesday afternoon if you would like to check it out!

Summer Sol Save The Date
Join us on Friday December 5th from 3.30pm – 6.30pm at the Kevin Borland Hall & Classrooms Arlington Campus to celebrate the year. We may even have a special surprise planned.

Preparations are well under way and we look forward to seeing you there!

Preshil T-Shirts
T-shirts, hoodies and more that celebrate creativity, agency and our golden eagle — no uniform required. Designed for school days, gigs, galleries and weekends. Available now and in kids sizes. Wear it your way.

Purchase here.

Preshil Careers Hub
Discover everything you need to make a successful transition through high school and into the ‘real world’. Sign up to receive our Pathways & Careers Newsletters, access the latest guides on life and money management, work experience opportunities, and parent resources. You can also connect with the Careers and Pathways Team for personalised support. Click the link below for more information on Preshil’s Careers Hub.

Preshil Careers Hub

THE WEEK AHEAD

Monday 1 December
All Day: Blackhall Year 10 – 12 – Head Start Program Commences
Tuesday 2 December
All Day: Blackhall Year 10 – 12 – Head Start Program Continues
1:30pm – 2:15pm: Whole School – Let’s Go Lunchtime Sports – The Cage
Wednesday 3 December
All Day: Blackhall Year 10 – 12 – Head Start Program Continues
12:30pm – 3:15pm: Blackhall – VCE & DP Subject Expo
Thursday 4 December
All Day: Blackhall – Year 10 – 12 – Head Start Program Continues
1:30pm – 2:15pm: Whole School – Let’s Go Lunchtime Sports – The Cage
1:45pm – 2:15pm: Blackhall – Student Leadership and Shark Tank Meeting – Hades
2:30pm – 3:30pm: Arlington – Big Day In Concert – Kevin Borland Hall
3:30pm – 4:00pm: Blackhall – Year 11 DP Theory of Knowledge Exhibition – Blackhall Library
Friday 5 December
All Day: Blackhall – Year 10 – 12 – Head Start Program Continues
11:30am – 1:30pm: Blackhall – Year 7 – 12 – Doorstep Concert – Doorsteps of Blackhall Library
3:30pm – 6:30pm: Summer Sol – Kevin Borland Hall & Arlington Campus