[00:00:09] Kylie Speer:
Hello and welcome to The Educator TV. I’m Kylie Speer and my guest today is Mark Ashmore, Principal at Salesian College Chadston. Salesian College Chadston has been recognized as one of the winners of this year’s The Educator 5 Star Best Schools 2025. Welcome to you Mark, huge congratulations. Thank you so much for being here today.
[00:00:33] Mark Ashmore:
Thank you, Kylie. It’s wonderful to be with you and we really are excited to be named one of the 5-Star Best Schools.
[00:00:42] Kylie Speer:
Well, firstly, Mark, can you share with us a little bit about the culture that underpins teaching and learning at Salesian College Chadston, in 2025?
[00:00:53] Mark Ashmore:
Thank you. So, firstly, I’ll reference our Salesian Charter. This charter is a lens that we look through school improvement and learning and teaching at the college. The first element of our charter is a home that welcomes. So our students and our staff create an environment where every student feels a great sense of belonging. They feel at home here at the college and that sense of safety enables them to be able to learn really conducively in the classroom environment. As a Christian school, hope is really important for young people and so a parish that evangelises allows us the opportunity for our young people to reflect on who they are and develop their sense of identity and purpose, but also allow them to reach out to other people in the community and be people of hope and support. We are a school for life and so every boy in our community is a valued learner. and we have high expectations on them to achieve excellence. And we understand that boys learn in different ways, and so our programs and our pathways reflect that in our college. And the last part of our Salesian Charter is a playground where friends meet, and this is really important because we, as a school, are ensuring that our boys are engaging in fun, exciting, joy-filled learning activities every day. That is helping with their attendance, with the way in which they approach their learning and they’re developing really positive relationships in the classroom.
[00:02:42] Kylie Speer:
Students at the college have produced some outstanding VCE results, including students with ATARs above 99, high study scores and a growing median study score. Can you unpack what factors—academic, programs, teacher support, student culture or otherwise—that have contributed most to these high results?
[00:03:07] Mark Ashmore:
Thank you Kylie for the recognition of our amazing results. We’re really proud of every student in our school. There’s a number of factors. Firstly, culture in our community is really important in developing those outstanding results. Our student and staff relationships that happen across both our teaching staff and professional staff are helping to foster really conducive learning environments in our community and so that’s first and foremost. The second is our college values of respect, belonging, integrity, joy and dynamism. That speaks to the work that we’re doing with our young people holistically and we promote that within our classrooms, within our pastoral care program, which is our oratory program, and that’s allowing this sense of growth and improvement in our young people. I mentioned our oratory program. This is a holistic and unique program to Salesian College Chadston, where we are teaching boys to be empathetic, kind, resilient, and developing them as leaders, both academic leaders and leaders for the community. And through this program that they experience every day in the morning, they develop a connection with their peers and with their teachers, and those relationships then translate into the classroom. In terms of specific learning and teaching initiatives, we are heavily focused on educating our teachers about data literacy, and we’ve partnered with Simon and IntelliSchools to allow our teachers to fully understand every student from a learning perspective and we are gathering our teachers together to discuss their students and how we can best create learning and teaching programs. We’ve collaboratively developed a vision for learning and a new pedagogical framework that is allowing our teachers to really focus on learning and teaching for boys. So that’s an exciting initiative. And we’ve increased the hours in our study centre so our boys can come together and collaborate about their learning with support from teachers and alumni in a really great learning environment. We’ve recently joined the Council of International Schools and so this is giving us the tools and framework to be able to continually improve the college to be best practice in from an international education perspective. And despite all this, whilst our high ATARs and our academic results are fantastic, we know that a Salesian education is not just about a number at the end of year 12. So one of our key things that we want our boys to leave here is to be great men who will go out into society and inspire others with their character and their values. That’s just as important an achievement as the academic results.
[00:06:20] Kylie Speer:
Which is a lovely segue into my next question, Mark. There has been much public discussion about misogyny in boys’ schools in recent years. What approach does staff at the college take to actively guide boys in developing respectful and positive relationships with women, both at school and in the wider community?
[00:06:42] Mark Ashmore:
Such an important question. At Salesian College Chaston, we know this conversation around respect for women, both in schools and in the broader society, is really important and it’s a crucial discussion that we are having with our young people here in our community. We take it very seriously and educating boys isn’t just about the academic results, it’s about developing whole men that will contribute to society. To be honest, as a dad of two young girls, on looking very acutely at what their experience will be into the future. And so I play an important role as principal of the boys’ school, continuing to educate our young people in this space about developing respect and belonging for everyone. When we are teaching our boys, we draw upon the teaching of St John Bosco, our founder of the Salesians, and we are trying to develop boys who are gentle and who demonstrate loving kindness, and we want them to leave the college as good Christians and honest citizens. So how do we do that is through our oratory program. So we have a holistic program that teaches religious education, gospel values and prayer. We explicitly teach values around respect and belonging and how they can interact with other people. That home that welcomes in our Salesian Charter is emphasised that we are a welcoming place for all people and we respect the dignity of everyone. We partner with the Resilience Project. So through that partnership, we are teaching our boys social emotional skills. And we have some wonderful external companies that come in and work with our boys, such as Tomorrow Man and the Man Cave, that are teaching our boys how to be good people that live out their values every day. So we know that our partners as well with our sister schools, Sacred Heart Girls College and Avila College. We do a lot of work with both of those schools around respectful relationships. And we have combined events and activities and classes with both of those schools. And we have developed leadership programs with girls from both of those sister schools that support the learning of our boys to be respectful and engaged in conversations with girls.
[00:09:13] Kylie Speer:
The College has a visionary College Master Plan underway, including plans for a new Year 7 and 8 Precinct. How do these planned infrastructure changes fit into the broader strategy of improving student outcomes and well-being? And how will they help the College respond to the evolving needs of students and families in coming years?
[00:09:37] Mark Ashmore:
Thank you, Kylie. It’s a really exciting project here at the college is our master plan. We’ve done a lot of research and we’ve looked at data. We’re learning from key people in the media and in education circles and industry around what our young people are needing at this time. We’re reading about and hearing about the high rates of absenteeism, disengagement and challenges of connection in society. So the work that we are doing to make sure our boys feel supported, connected and teaching them about their identity and purpose in society is really important. The master plan is a way in which we can engage our boys through the facilities here at the college. So the first stage of our master plan is well underway, a year seven and eight learning precinct at our Mannix campus. We know that year seven and eight is such a crucial period of time in the transition of boys moving from a variety of different primary schools and they’re moving into the complex secondary school setting. We spend a lot of time around creating that home that welcomes and allowing our boys to build relationships and lifelong friendships. And so the new building space will offer opportunities for connection, reflection and boys to come together and have fun, which we know is important. It also, the new building offers flexible spaces for learning and teaching. it will offer a opportunities for intervention when challenges arise and it will allow us to deliver consistently our pastoral care initiatives in contemporary learning spaces. But we know it’s not just about buildings here at Salesian, it’s about the people inside them and so we’ve got some amazing educators that will be able to deliver our programs from a learning and teaching perspective and student well-being and leadership and faith perspective. that will allow our boys to collaborate and curiously explore their world. And complementing that here at Salesian is our holistic program. So our music, our drama programs, our sport, public speaking programs and debating programs and leadership programs are really important here at the college that will develop holistic learners. So the precinct is part of a broader master plan. We’re really excited that… As this evolves, it will continue to support our boys holistically in their learning and wellbeing and faith development. It also will offer our staff wonderful facilities to work in and help further create this wonderful collaborative environment for our teaching and professional staff.
[00:12:39] Kylie Speer:
As you’ve already touched on, while high VCE scores and ATARs are clearly important, what other metrics do you use to measure success at the college? And can you share a few examples where the school feels especially proud of these kinds of achievements?
[00:12:57] Mark Ashmore:
Yes, so I’ve talked about holistic learners. And so it’s not just about the academic score, Kylie. Our mission as a school, as a Salesian school, is to create men who are good Christians and honest citizens. Boys graduate from here with the understanding that they know who they are, that they are respectful to all people in society, and they have a role in society to bring joy to others. And once they leave the gates here at Chadston. So we look really closely at indicators like student wellbeing, attendance, engagement, because we know that when boys feel connected, and supported in school, their learning will flourish and so too will their relationships. We’ve seen significant growth in our attendance and that’s allowing better results for our students both in the classroom and outside of the classroom. We also are really proud of a group of boys who have been part of a child safety committee. And they’ve just been recognised by winning the 2025 Victorian Protecting Children Award. It’s an award sponsored by the Commission for Children and Young People. So we’re proud of those boys because they are contributing to a safe learning environment here at the college. And it’s all been student led. They’re co-designing our school in this space. And they’ve come up with some wonderful initiatives. we’re also trying to innovate within the community. So one of our Year 12 boys, Thomas, has just been named the VCE leader. student leader of the year and he’s done some work in creating a public speaking program that is being delivered by our students and other volunteers that he’s been able to bring together to teach public speaking to primary school students and so he is enabling future leaders across society so we’re really proud of him. We’re really proud of our boys that are raising awareness and partnering with organisations to make a difference in the lives of those at the margins. And we’re also proud of our boys who have contributed to our new uniform design. We’ve partnered with Peter Morrissey, a fashion designer, and he has created Australia’s first bespoke curated school uniform. So we’re really proud of the contributions our boys are making. in our community and the broader society.
[00:15:46] Kylie Speer:
And finally, Mark, what are the college’s top priorities for the next five years?
[00:15:52] Mark Ashmore:
Thank you, Kylie. Yeah, we’re already looking ahead. That’s part of focus on continuous improvement. So obviously technology is a big part of the conversation in Australia at the moment around artificial intelligence and social media bans. So we’re looking at how our staff and students… and families communicate with each other in a more effective way using the newest and emerging technology. We’re looking at developing the ethical use and the critical thinking skills in our boys to navigate the complexities and emerging challenges in an online world. And we’re looking at artificial intelligence from a learning and teaching perspective. So whether it’s developing chatbots or avatars, the way in which we differentiate the curriculum. So we’re really excited by those opportunities that will improve student outcomes. And we’re also looking at AI from a teacher development and learning perspective. So we’re looking at their wellbeing, whether we can reduce workload, whether we can look at ways to improve the planning for our students and the way they collaborate together to support their wellbeing and workload. That’s a pivotal role that we’re playing and we’re being dynamic in that space as the new technology emerges. The other aspects that we’re looking forward to is implementing our master plan and enhancing our physical spaces across our two campuses that will allow for community relationships and improve learning and teaching outcomes. And developing global perspectives for our students as part of our membership and with Council of International Schools. So broadening our relationship with… the Salesian missions in Cambodia and Samoa, our China program, which is an academic program for our year nine boys and our language students, and looking at a VC offshore program to develop curriculum more broadly.
[00:17:58] Kylie Speer:
Brilliant. Well, thank you so much for your time today, Mark, and huge congratulations to you and the entire college once again.
[00:18:07] Mark Ashmore:
Thank you, Kylie. We really appreciate the opportunity to be part of the conversation today, but also to be part of the broader award and to be recognized for our excellence that we are experiencing in our community. Thank you.
[00:18:23] Kylie Speer:
And thank you of course to our viewers for watching the latest episode of The Educator TV. We look forward to seeing you again soon.