Aussie principal pranks high-school students with a 'mandatory' announcement: 'I was in so much shock'

A high school in Australia gave its senior students a morning they would never forget, and it had nothing to do with exams or graduation. At Wollongong High School of Performing Arts in New South Wales, students gathered for what appeared to be a standard school assembly, but what they didn't know was that their principal, Kylie Woods, was about to pull off an epic prank, per Today. She stood at the front of the auditorium with prepared remarks and a serious face. Unbeknownst to the students, hidden cameras were rolling as Woods took to the stage and delivered the "mandatory' fake announcement, which left year 11 students briefly stunned.

"A mandatory year 13 has been added to your educational pathway and therefore you will no longer be graduating in 2026 - you will now be graduating in 2027," Woods said. The announcement shocked the students, who exchanged wide-eyed glances. The footage, now deleted, showed visible shock and panic ripple through the room as Woods maintained her serious tone. She continued, "There is one other vital piece of information that I need to share with you," holding their attention a moment longer before revealing that it was a prank, per the video. Woods said they "were contacted by the department's social media team."

"They reached out and said, 'Well, we'd like to be a part of their annual April Fool's joke.' We just workshopped a couple of ideas, and they came up with year 13. I just thought, you know what, it's a very serious world that we live in, so we thought we'd bring a little bit of fun. And I think it's just super important that we learn to laugh at ourselves," she further explained. When asked how she pulled it off so seamlessly, Woods said, "There were lots of conversations in the shower the week before, just to make sure I didn’t mess it up." She wasn’t the only one under pressure. Two students, Fabian and Ariella, joined her for the interview and shared what the moment felt like from their seats in the crowd.

Fabian said, "I must say it was pretty much a blur. I think I was in so much shock I couldn't really remember what I was thinking in that moment. I know some of my friends were turning to me and being like, 'Our senior jackets are wrong, and we'll still be an adult in high school.' There were many thoughts, but it was lots of fun." Ariella admitted she had a different reaction, saying, "I wanted to leave. I was actually going to ask if I could drop out of school from then until April 1, because I was not going to be doing the year 13 at all." The prank sparked a flood of online responses before the video was eventually taken down. According to Woods, the feedback was overwhelmingly positive. She said, "Unbelievable. Like, the kids just keep coming across going it's going viral. So, you know, I think it's just really exciting and really nice to see that obviously the rest of the country has had a great laugh with us."