The term so far

Term 3 has been busy and productive, with some of our focus now turning to planning for 2023. The start of term saw continued interruptions due to COVID and other illnesses, but by mid-term this seems to have subsided and we are resuming something of a rhythm.

Like most schools across the state (and many other workplaces), UHS has been challenged by staffing shortages. Unexpected and unavoidable events have meant the departure of some teachers mid-year. Whilst we have been lucky to recruit some highly skilled and experienced replacement teachers, other roles have been more difficult to fill. Our teacher teams have been working together to share resources and to support their colleagues and our students, and we now have most roles filled. Recruitment is already underway for 2023, but this is likely to still be a challenge faced by schools over the next few years. I've been pleased to see state and federal governments looking at systemic solutions for this challenge: teaching is a wonderful and rewarding profession, and deserves to be recognised as such.

Highlights of the term have included our Production and Music Concerts, as well as an enhanced subject selection process for our Year 9-11 students. Year 12s are now entering the ‘countdown’ to exams, and will undertake a revised and extended General Achievement Test (GAT) on September 7.

Student Achievement

On 20 July, I was very proud to be in the audience as four UHS students were awarded Premier’s Awards for their achievement in 2021. The annual Premier’s VCE Awards recognise the top-performing students in the state. This year, 298 students across 90 subjects were recognised with awards for their outstanding results. Three of our students were in Year 11 at the time, and are still in our cohort:

Lara Karunajeewa (award for Psychology)
Jocelyn Wang (award for Biology)
Xinru (Samuel) Yang (award for Chinese First Language – studied at a community school)

In addition, Adriano Morandini (class of 2021) was awarded for Italian, studied through the Victorian School of Languages.

Congratulations also to Christopher Tran of Year 11, who was a member of the Australian team at the International Mathematics Olympiad held in Oslo, Norway. Christopher achieved a Bronze medal in the competition and placed 187th overall out of 589 contestants. The Australian team placed 29th out of 104 countries represented in the competition.

These are remarkable achievements for all these students. I'm sure you join me in celebrating their hard work.

School Production

An absolute highlight of the Term so far has been the school production of Shrek. It played three shows (and a dress rehearsal for Year 7s) at the Clocktower Theatre in Moonee Ponds. The standard of both the performances and the production elements was extremely high, with many who saw it expressing surprise that it was entirely students! After overcoming numerous challenges, including changes of dates, venue availability and multiple COVID absences, as well as the disappointment of cancelled 2020 and 2021 productions, it was particularly special to see it all come together. A huge thank you to all the families who supported this show, to the staff who worked so hard to make it possible, and of course to the students whose commitment, collaboration and creativity shone through.

Facilities updates

It's been another challenging year with our facilities, but we are seeing some progress in this area!

Elizabeth Blackburn Sciences (EBS)

We were able to return to the EBS building in Week 2 of this term, with the exception of the fire-damaged lecture theatre which is still undergoing repair by the University of Melbourne. It's been wonderful to have the spaces back again, and for students to be able to once again use the collaborative study areas and to be back in to their regular lockers.

The return to this building has also enabled us to move some of the Year 9 lockers into the Main Building, creating much-needed additional indoor eating space in the Canteen during the winter months. It will also allow us to return the Galileo program to Story St in Term 4.

South Building Level 2

We are making good progress towards the refurbishment of the classrooms and Science Labs on this level, and have now moved through the Design and Development stage towards a formal preparation for tender. Whilst a firm timeline is still not possible (there are a number of contingencies to be worked out), we are aiming for works on this level to commence over the summer holidays, finishing in Semester 2, 2023. The refurbishment will return the previous spaces of three classrooms and three Senior Science labs, as well as an additional staffroom and student collaboration spaces and lockers. Thank you to all who have made contributions to the Building Fund, which will be partially supporting the upgrade to these facilities, supplementing expected funds from insurance.

Sharman Hall

Earlier this year we identified an issue in a column in Sharman Hall, and have been working with structural engineers to find a resolution to what is a rather complex problem. Two classrooms and parts of the back of the Hall have been out of action during this time. We expect a solution to be installed by Term 4, which should allow us to regain full use of the spaces whilst we undertake further investigations and determine the long-term outcome for that area.

Planning for 2023

Year 9, 10 and 11 students undertook an updated subject selection process this term, with a broad range of staff being trained to conduct their individual interviews on a dedicated day. These sessions were very well attended, and it was great to see that a number of parents accompanied their children for the discussion. The set-up also allowed students to have immediate access to additional, specialist advice from the Careers, English as an Additional Language (EAL) and VCE-Vocational Major (VCE-VM) team.

Student preferences are now fed into the timetabling system, along with staff teaching preferences and availabilities and rooming availability. All of this is processed to try and optimise preferences and allocation of resources across the whole school (a huge undertaking) and then will undergo several rounds of refinement and adjustment before subject allocations and timetables can be confirmed in December.

We have also submitted all of our required documentation and curriculum planning for the new VCE-Vocational Major (VCE-VM) offering. This was a significant undertaking by a number of staff, who worked as a strong team to develop a promising program. We are really looking forward to celebrating our first VCE-VM cohort next year: it's a wonderful curriculum which will provide real options, opportunities and flexibility for students.

We’re also starting to look at our overall timetable structure for 2024 and beyond, including considering whether the current structure of 50-minute session times best serves our learning and teaching needs. Any change to a structure such as this requires considerable consultation and planning, of which students and families would also be a part.

We are also reviewing our break and bell times for 2023. We currently run 50-minute recess and lunch breaks on Tuesdays to Fridays. This was put in place in 2021 to help cater for the offsite arrangements and to give us the option of running classes, if necessary, during break times (with alternative recess/lunch arrangements). We have mixed feedback on this arrangement, with SRC feedback that students would prefer shorter breaks and an earlier finish/and or a later start to the school day. However, programs such as Instrumental Music rely on these breaks to facilitate ensemble rehearsals. We’re in the process of seeking additional input and will consider a range of options for 2023.

Vale Olivia Newton-John

The recent death of Olivia Newton-John resulted in flurry of media and public interest in the school: the performer and philanthropist attended UHS in 1963-64. We were able to find some mentions of her in the school archives (yearbook and Ubique), including a short interview. Her talent and future career path were already clear: during her time at the school she featured in a play and also competed in a talent quest television show. The news of her death prompted a few alumni to contact the school and to visit, which was lovely to see. See the photos further in this newsletter for more details.

School Policies

A reminder that key school policies can be found on our website in the 'Our Community' section https://www.unihigh.vic.edu.au/index.php/our-community/school-policies

Some policies of particular relevance to families are the 'Communicating with School Staff' and the 'School Values and Statement of Philosophy', which both outline practices and expectations of staff, students and parents/carers.

Statewide, Child Safety policies have also been reviewed this year, and UHS will be in the process of implementing these updates through the remainder of 2022. We are asking for parent and carer input into this process - please see the information further in this newsletter for your chance to contribute.

Ciar Foster - Principal

ciar.foster@education.vic.gov.au