Principal's Report

Year 7 Camp at Amberley

Year 7 Camp is progressing well. I was fortunate to be able to visit the first group of students on Monday and engage with them during their break time from the planned activities. The students were all excited and pleased with what had been organised for them and with the venue.

There is a great deal for them to explore and engage with at Amberley.

The second group headed out on camp on Wednesday and this has meant that the entire Year 7 cohort were on site at Amberley on this day.

I wish to thank the Junior School team under the leadership of Kathryn Boysen, for their organisation of this great experience for our students and I extend my thanks to all the staff who have sacrificed family time at home in order to participate in the camp and ensure its success. A big thank you to Lestina Theodosis for the administrative support she provided to the team during the planning of the camp and for holding the fort in the Junior School office whilst the camp is in progress.

The students are having a great time as are the staff. However, I envisage that they will all return a little tired once it is over. The weekend will give them all the opportunity to rest and recharge.

Wear it Purple Day

Wear It Purple Day is an annual awareness day, typically held on the last Friday of August, that supports and celebrates young people from the LGBTQIA+ community. Co-founded by students, it started in response to bullying and harassment of LGBTQIA+ youth. People show their support by wearing purple, creating a supportive and inclusive environment in schools, workplaces, and communities for rainbow young people.

Each year we encourage our school community to wear something purple on the day to show solidarity in support of all rainbow youth both at Eltham High School and in our broader community.

Our students also created a display in the main corridor of the administration block. This demonstrates our commitment to ensure that our school remains a safe haven for all of our students, irrespective of who they are.

Thank you to all of our staff and students who supported Wear it Purple Day on Friday, August 29. There was a noticeable sea of purple across the school, showing allyship and support for LGBTIAQ+ members of our school community.

Most importantly, thank you to the Student Leaders and STAND Out in their support of the day.

Year 12 Practice Exams

Year 12 teachers are currently planning for the Year 12 practice exams which will take place in the first week of the Term 3 break.

Teachers are organising the papers as well as procuring external markers (often VCAA markers ) so that students can be given realistic, objective feedback of what they have achieved and what they still need to do to in terms of their study to be fully prepared for the final exams in late October - November.

It is imperative that all students present for all of their exams and do their very best in their performance.

The senior school team has provided information to the students as to what will be expected of them and the fact that these trial exams will run under the same exam conditions as those put in place by the VCAA for the final exams.

We will only be able to provide a limited arrangement in relation to special provision for the trial exams. Students who have been approved for special exam arrangements by the VCAA will have been informed of this by the senior school team.

The running of the Year 12 trial exams is a process that has been in place for a number of years at our school and provides a great opportunity for our students in preparation for their final exams.

For further information on the Year 12 trial exams, please contact Orianne Megaloudis (Senior School Team Leader) at orianne.megaloudis@education.vic.gov.au

Parent/Carer Opinion Survey

All parents/carers/guardian would have received an invitation from the school to participate in the state-wide parent/carer/guardian opinion survey.

We appreciate that life can get very busy and that whilst you may have had every intention of completing the survey you are yet to do so.

This is a friendly reminder and request to complete the survey by Friday 19 September, as your feedback is an important part of understanding school experiences and shaping improvement. I strongly encourage you to complete the survey and thank you in anticipation of you doing so.

Your support with this is greatly appreciated.

STEAM Centre Build

Things are progressing well with the building of our new STEAM Centre. If you have driven past the Ely end of the school you would have seen that the building is taking shape. All the steel work has been completed and the contractors are now working on having the roof in place over the next couple of weeks.

We are still in line to have the building completed by the end of the 2025 school year in readiness for occupancy from the first day of term 1, 2026.

Lots of work will be happening over the Term 3 break in particular over the second week as the first week we will be running the Year 12 practice exams, to ensure that the scheduled completion date is met.

I will keep you updated on the progress.

VINCENT SICARI, Principal