Principal's Report

Welcome Back

Welcome back to all students and staff from the Term 2 break. I hope that everyone had a restful and relaxing time and that you managed to do some of the things you missed out on during the term.

Term 3 promises to be a busy term as it always is. We began the week with our Year 9 into Year 10 Information evening on Wednesday 23 July and the Year 12 Formal on Friday 25 July.

The term is rather short (9 weeks), but we will pack quite a bit into it both in terms of teaching and learning as well as planning for 2026.

We are pleased to welcome back Madeline Gaitanis from her period of parental leave. Madeline will resume her role as Student Services Leader, and will be available on Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday during Semester 2.

Joining the Student Services team is Felicity Ahern, our new Counsellor and Psychotherapist. Felicity will be present on Monday and Wednesday, on the days Madeline is not on site.

For any Student Services matters:

• Madeline Gaitanis can be contacted via email madeline.gaitanis@education.vic.gov.au
• Felicity Ahern can be reached via the school number: 9430 5111

I take this opportunity to recognise the work of Flis Marlow, who replaced Madeline whilst she was on leave. It is always difficult to arrive in a new place of work halfway through the year taking over an important role such as that of the Student Services Leader pretty much overnight. Flis embraced the role with confidence and commitment and was able to lead the team admirably during the last twelve months. Their passion for student wellbeing was evident in the way they approached their work with students and families. Flis has moved on to a new role with the Department of Education and we wish them all the very best with their new role and we thank them for the positive contribution they made to Eltham High School.

Premier’s VCE Awards 2025

The Premier’s VCE Awards recognise top performing students for outstanding achievement in the Victorian Certificate of Education 2024. 

Eltham High School was well represented at this year’s awards. Three of our students were recognised for their outstanding achievement in one of their subjects. Each of these students was awarded a top score of 50/50 in their subject. In order to receive a Premier's Award students must receive a perfect score in a particular subject and also have achieved outstanding results across their other subjects.

We congratulate Parnia Erfanian, Tom Westerman, and James Francis for being recognised as three of the top performing students for 2024.

Parnia received her award for Literature.

Tom received his award also for Literature.

James received his award for Foundation Mathematics.

Their teachers Lee McQueen and Sarah Stevens (respectively) are thrilled with their students’ achievement as we all are. Our congratulations extend to the teachers as well.

I do want to mention that there was another student who also received a score of 50/50 for Literature and who also performed exceptionally well in his other subjects. 

He too should have been recognised through the Premier’s VCE Awards; however, for whatever reason, he was overlooked. 

Like his three school mates, he also deserves to bask in the limelight of this accolade and so I congratulate Alex Irwin for his outstanding achievement in VCE 2024.

I was privileged to attend the awards ceremony on 2 July and watch our amazing students receive their awards from the Minister of Education and Deputy Premier, the Hon Ben Carroll.

The following photos show Parnia, Tom, and James receive their award.

Upcoming Information Evenings

The Year 10 into Year 11 Information evening is scheduled to take place on Tuesday 29 July, and this will be followed by the Year 8 into Year 9 Information evening on Thursday 31 July. I strongly encourage all students and parents in Years 10 and Year 8 to attend these evenings which provide you with the information around course selection and pathways for 2026 and beyond. 

Each evening will begin at 7:00pm in the Nalleijerring Performance Centre with a formal presentation and information session. 

Following this, students and parents will have the opportunity to speak with teachers about individual subjects or programs of study. 

This is not an opportunity to be missed.

VINCENT SICARI, Principal