FROM THE PRINCIPAL

Finishing Term 2 Strong

As Term 2 draws to a close, we are fully focused on providing our Year 12 students with every opportunity to perform at their best during these important final months of their secondary education.

Exams have taken place across Years 9 to 12, and planning for the 2026 school year, including workforce planning, is already in progress. Course selection and careers counselling are also underway, helping students make informed decisions about their future pathways.

I encourage all students to make the most of the opportunities available to them—both in the classroom and through extracurricular activities across the school. Our dedicated staff work hard to provide these opportunities for everyone.

Years 7 to 12 Awards Assemblies - Semester 1

Over the last two weeks of Term 2, we proudly held our Semester 1 Awards Assemblies for Years 7 to 12. These special events recognised students for their outstanding achievements in Academic Excellence, Endeavour, Grade Point Average (GPA), and more.

The awards celebrate not only exceptional results but also consistent effort and meaningful improvement across all learning areas. We congratulate all award recipients—your hard work and dedication truly deserve this recognition!

And to those who didn’t receive an award this time – don’t be discouraged. Set yourself a goal, stay focused, and give your best next semester.

Update on Suspension and Expulsion Powers

Our school is committed to providing a safe, respectful, and inclusive environment for all students and staff. You may be aware of recent changes announced regarding suspension and expulsion powers, which will be available to Victorian principals from the beginning of Term 3 (Monday 21 July 2025).

We understand that student behaviour outside of school, particularly online, can at times affect the safety and wellbeing of students and staff within the school environment.

In exceptional circumstances, principals in Victorian government schools will be able to suspend or expel students for behaviour that occurs outside of school grounds and/or hours, including online, if it poses a significant danger to the safety or wellbeing of others in the school community.

These powers apply only to serious incidents where there is a clear and close connection to the school, and where a student's behaviour outside of school unreasonably impacts the safety and wellbeing of others or affects their ability to learn or work.

Please note:

These changes do not apply to behaviours unrelated to the school or school community.
They only apply to behaviour occurring from Monday 21 July 2025 onwards.

Suspension and expulsion will continue to be measures of last resort. Our primary focus remains on proactive and positive behaviour support, working with families to teach and reinforce the behaviours we expect from our students — both at school and in life.

New Department Policy Regarding Racism

At Lilydale High School we value the diversity of culture, ethnicity, and faith of all our students. We are proud of our diversity, and everyone is welcome at our school.

Celebrating the diversity of our community makes us stronger, kinder and more innovative. We are committed to making sure that students from all backgrounds feel accepted, supported and able to learn.

We teach all students according to our school values and teach the respectful relationships framework. This includes education around diversity and inclusion.

To achieve our values and aims, everyone at Lilydale High plays an important role.

During Thrive sessions, we have reminded students of our values and had their input into reviewing our current values. The discussion has included:

Understanding that we celebrate diversity and multicultural inclusion
Understanding the importance of everyone at school being treated with respect.

For more information, please see Racism: talking with children and teens, Raising Children Network.

School Saving Bonus – Winter Uniform Reminder

As the colder months settle in, we’ve noticed a number of students wearing summer uniform items or arriving at school without a jumper or jacket.

The School Saving Bonus is available to support families in purchasing warm, appropriate uniform items. We encourage students to wear invisible underlayers (e.g., thermals) for extra warmth.

While our classrooms are heated, they can be chilly first thing in the morning, and it’s difficult to learn effectively when you’re not warm and comfortable.

Please ensure your child is appropriately dressed for winter — warm students are focused students!

❌ Please Note:

Hoodies, tracksuit pants, and runners are not permitted.
Black, polishable hard leather shoes are the required footwear.

🛍️ All approved school uniform items are available for purchase at LOWES, Lilydale Marketplace.

🚸 Student Safety Reminder – Marketplace and Hutchinson Street Bend

We continue to observe students loitering in the shopping precinct and crossing the road unsafely near the bend outside the Box Hill Institute driveway.

For their own safety, we ask that students avoid the shopping precinct during school hours and always use the pedestrian crossing when crossing the road.

We kindly ask parents and carers to reinforce this message at home and encourage their children to prioritise safe and sensible travel to and from school.

Thank you for your support in helping to keep our students safe.

Year 8 Significant Persons Project

Our Year 8 students and teachers did a wonderful job on this year’s Significant Persons Project. The idea behind this project is for students to reflect on a significant person in their lives and to create an artistic representation and written piece to acknowledge them. There were also some excellent contributions from students in French and Indonesian.

A huge congratulations to our Year 8 Captains – Chloe Stephen and Charlie Glenn – and Vice Captains – Lenny Akinkugbe and Ethan D'Amico who did a fantastic job as MCs, and to all students who proudly presented their work to the audience.

The research is clear — one of the protective factors for young people in building resilience and maintaining strong connections is having a significant person in their life, whether that be a parent, relative, sibling, grandparent, coach or teacher.

A Heartfelt Thank You

We sincerely thank all the parents, carers, grandparents, siblings, and significant people who joined us for the presentations and afternoon tea. Your support means so much to our students and school community.

We also extend our gratitude to the dedicated teachers who guided and supported the students throughout this project.

A special thank you goes to the following staff members for their leadership and commitment to making the project a success:

Sarah Hardy, Head of Arts
Jess Kilkenny, Head of English
Kelly Farrell, Head of Languages
Melissa McMillan, Assistant Principal

Your passion and dedication are truly appreciated.

LHS Battle of the Bands

What a fabulous celebration of the incredible musical talent we have here at LHS! A heartfelt thank you to Jacki Goode and the entire Instrumental Music team for their outstanding work in making this event such a success. Their efforts created a supportive and positive environment where our students could truly shine.

It’s clear how much the students love this event and how deeply they appreciate the opportunity to perform. Battle of the Bands has become a much-loved tradition—one that continues to build and enrich the vibrant culture of our school.

And a BIG congratulations to ABC, who took out the top spot with their incredible original song, “Home To You”. What a performance!

Thank you to everyone involved for making this such a memorable and inspiring event.

Term 3 – Return Date Reminder

A friendly reminder that school resumes on Monday 21 July.

We hope all students enjoy a safe, restful and happy holiday break. We look forward to welcoming everyone back for a great start to Term 3!

Wendy Powson

Principal