Principal's Report

Student Achievement: Pauline Toner Prize

Congratulations to Tegan Gibbs (Year 12, Skipper House) who was the 2025 Eltham High School Nominee for the Pauline Toner prize. In addition to being part of the student leadership team, Tegan is an avid local CFA volunteer. Her work both in and outside of the school is worthy of recognition and is to be commended. 

The Pauline Toner Prize is in its eleventh year having been established by our local MP Vicki Ward. One of our School Houses is named after Pauline Toner in recognition of her contribution to our community and our state.

Pauline Toner was the first female minister in the Parliament of Victoria, the first female MP, mayor, and councillor of our local area.

The school is in close contact with Pauline’s family as patrons of “Toner House”. 

The ceremony was held at Monsalvat on a beautiful summery evening and guests were entertained with live music and a stirring address from local Artist in Residence, Amanda Grant. Amanda was able to speak movingly of how her generation of women has experienced so much in terms of the choices they get to make as well as recounting her experiences of and response to the tragic Black Saturday fires of 2009. Amanda’s striking public art installation – the culmination of work from many international artists – is located in Strathewen.

We congratulate Montmorency Secondary College on their winning recipient. 

International Women’s Day Breakfast

On Friday 7 March, the Student Voice and Leadership Team hosted breakfast for International Women’s Day. Students from across the school were invited to attend the breakfast with a woman from their life who inspires them. 

The catering for the morning was provided by our VET Hospitality Students as well as some delicious donations from local providers. The smorgasbord looked amazing, and the student did a fantastic job organising the venue and the food. 

The two MCs did a great job welcoming everyone and in introducing our guest speaker Margaret Corcoran, retired principal and international educational consultant. Margaret inspired all in the room with her speech on facing one's fears, entertaining the room with her vivid descriptions of her experiences working in Dubai, Oman, Africa, Saudi Arabia, and Malaysia.

Margaret spoke eleoquently about her life, the opportunities she seized, and how she built her confidence, resilience, and leadership skills that she continues to employ to this every day. 

In her speech Margaret encouraged our young people to always look ahead and to never shy away from an opportunity that may at first appear frightening, challenging or unachievable as you cannot ever know what you are capable of if you don’t give things a try. This clearly aligns with the concept of ‘Growth Mindset’ that we work hard to develop in all our students.

The presentation was well received by all, and the morning was a great success.

Once again congratulations to the student Voice and Leadership Team for their organisation. A big thank you to Margaret for joining us on the morning and for presenting such an inspiring speech. Congratulations to all the VET Hospitality student for a job well done.

Thank you to all the student and the women in their lives who inspire them for joining us for this event. Finally, a big thank you to Nadia Devlin for her support of the students, for giving them the space to organise, implement and celebrate though their voice and agency.

Harmony Week/World Down Syndrome Day

This is a big week to celebrate our diverse student population. Harmony Week (17 - 21 March) and World Down Syndrome Day (21 March) both fall in this week and we encourage you to celebrate inclusivity, respect and a sense of belonging. These themes are celebrated daily at Eltham High School through our school values, and the motto of Harmony Week 2025 rings true ‘we all have a role to play’.

I encourage readers to watch the following clip that gives a good insight into how we can support those with Down Syndrome in our school and wider community. World Down Syndrome Day encourages everyone to show their support through wearing colourful and interesting socks. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kNMJaXuFuWQ 

Reconciliation Action Plan Group

Eltham High School’s commitment to reconciliation continues through the work of our Reconciliation Action Plan Group. Made up of staff, students, parents and community members, the RAP group works towards the Narragunnawali RAP and having written our own Acknowledgement of Country we are now moving towards creating goals for the actions stipulated by Narragunnawali. Active work continues in the space of supporting both our Indigenous students and families as well as continuing to develop knowledge in our school community around the path to reconciliation. 

STEAM Centre Development

All is up and running. The Back oval is starting to look like a building site and the contractors have begun their trenching work in preparation for the moving of the relocatable building which will take place at the start of the Term 1 break in readiness for use on Day 1 of Term 2. We had our third site meeting today and all is progressing well and to date at this point in time. The contractors seem to be working quite diligently but only time will tell.  I will keep you informed with progress.

School Athletics Carnival

The School Athletics Carnival that took place on Thursday 13 March was a great success. The weather held out and for the students present, the day was filled with lots of events and fun. A big thank you to Bree Pascoe for her organisation of the day and all the events, the PE faculty for their support of Bree and to all the staff who supported the event on the day. A big congratulations to the students for their exceptional behaviour, their engagement with the events and activities and for contributing to making this day a fun day.

Planning for the 2026 Year 7 Cohort

We are well on our way with our planning for the Year 7 cohort of 2026. School tours are in full swing and proceeding well. The feedback from participants so far is that they are getting a highly informative and thorough tour of the school.

School Tours will continue into Term 2 and if you know of anyone interested in the school you can inform them that they can book a school tour by contacting the general office, 9430 5111.

Our Open Night/Information evening will take place on Wednesday 2 April starting at 5:30pm for engagement with different area of the school and 7:00pm for the formal presentation.

In the week preceding the Open Night/Information evening student lead tours will be running. Please contact the general o for further information.

Reminders 

Staff Work Hours:

Parents/carers and students are reminded that regular work hours for staff are 8:30am - 4:30pm. Staff are not available to respond to emails outside of regular work hours.

You are at liberty to send an e-mail at your convenience, but please be aware that it will not be responded to immediately if it is outside of the regular work hours. However, your email will be responded to within 48 hours from the first workday that it is received. 

Thank you for your understanding.

Should you require immediate assistance with a matter of concern, please contact these external services:

Telephone or Webchat Support for Young People:

1800 55 1800 

https://kidshelpline.com.au/

Parents/Carers Support:

13 22 89

https://www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au/health/serviceprofiles/parentline-service

The following link takes you to the Eltham High School staff emails and Coordinator list for 2025. 

School Drop Off and Pick Up Times:

I remind all parents and guardians, and inform new parents and carers to the school, that student safety is always the primary consideration including both drop off time and pick up times.

Whilst traffic seems to flow smoothly through the circular driveway of the school at the start of the day, there seems to be greater congestion at pick up time in the afternoon.

The circular driveway is to be used purely for drop off and pick up. 

There is very little parking available within the school grounds between the following time (8:00 – 10:00am and 2:00 – 4:00pm). “No Standing Anytime” signs are located within the school, and it is important that parents/guardians adhere to these. Furthermore, double parking is illegal in the street and within the school grounds, it causes further congestion, which in turn impinges on student safety. 

We will be enforcing the use of the circular driveway purely for drop off and pick up of students. 

As you move into the circular driveway, if your child is not at the front of the school you will need to exit the driveway and re-enter. You may need to do this more than once. Alternatively, it is advisable that you organise with your child another location for pick up.

As always, we will continue to expect everyone to abide by road and safety laws and procedures as they move through the driveway. The same applies at the Ely Street end of the school. Staff parking on the street is now minimal and this means that there is space for drop off and pick up. Please do not park in residents’ driveways. No parents are to drive into the school driveway or park in it or across it. This is the only avenue that students have to get to and from the school buses and we must be vigilant for their safety. 

Subsequently, it is imperative that everyone behaves in a lawful and safe way out in Withers Way, Susan Street, Bell Street and Ely Street. We have informed the traffic division of the Shire of Nillumbik of the school’s strategy, and it is possible that the Ranger’s office may act against people who disregard road and safety laws out in the streets. Likewise, the police will patrol the area at these peak times, and they will not hesitate to reprimand and fine if necessary.

I trust that you will understand the need for this direction, and I ask you for your continued support to ensure the safety of our kids. 

If you do use the drop off and pick up zone on Withers Way, can you please direct your children to cross the road at the school crossing both on arrival and on their departure from school. We certainly do not want students crossing the road in front of oncoming cars and placing themselves at risk.

Thank you for your support with this matter.

VINCENT SICARI, Principal