Principal's Report

Welcome Back

I take this opportunity to welcome all students and staff back to Term 4. I hope that everyone had a restful and relaxing break and that this will sustain us all as we tackle the opportunities ahead of us.

For our Year 12 students, there is very little time left of their academic year prior to starting SWOTVAC for their final examinations. 

Across the term we will progress our work with the final stages of planning for 2024: the new school day arrangements are being finalised as well as the student courses across Years 9 to 12 (some already having been published). We are also in the process of finalising our staffing for the new school year taking advantage of the opportunities provided.

The Year 12 and Year 11, Head start programs will be implemented in November and through these, students will begin their preparation for their 2024 programs of study.

Further to the above a number of activities will take place including the Opening of our Art/Technology exhibition; Volleyball Tournaments; the Year 12 Valedictory Night and our Twilight Music Concert. 

I look forward to the work that we will achieve together during term 4 and to celebrating together the achievements of our students and staff.

Student Achievement

Congratulations to three of our amazing Year 8 students last weekend who managed to take out amazing wins in basketball representing the Eltham Wildcats and Eltham High School. 

Emma Plunkett-Zbaracki (Everard House), Olivia de Jonge (Andrew House) and Anika Borrell (Stewart House) won the U16 Girls Rep Grand final last Friday night and then repeated their amazing effort, and skill application to win the U15 Girls Domestic Grand final on Saturday. 

The girls showed such great team spirit and have been wonderful team mates all season. 

Congratulations and be proud of your outstanding achievement. 

Victorian Schools Music Festival 2023

Our Wind Ensemble, Concert Band and Symphonic Band recently performed at the Victorian Schools Music Festival.  This is the biggest School Music Festival in Victoria, with over 11,000 students from 125 schools performing in various sections.

Our ensembles performed incredibly well with our Wind Ensemble receiving a Silver Award, our Concert Band a Gold Award and our Symphonic Band a Platinum Award from the Adjudicators.  Our students performed wonderfully under the increased pressure of a competitive environment. 

Congratulations to all staff and students who were involved in the preparation and presentation of these wonderful performances. 

Final Days for Year 12 Class of 2023

Thursday 12 October is the final day of formal classes for our Year 12 students. Next week we have a series of assemblies planned to remind the whole school of the expected behaviour around our Year 12’s final formal days at school. In particular to reinforce the understanding that the Year 12 celebrations over the last days of Year 12 attendance are for Year 12 students only. I ask all parents/carers for your support by reiterating this message to your children at home. Students will be told that a no tolerance rule will apply and that serious consequences will be put in place for anyone who behaves in a way that goes against the school values and the ultimate safety of any member of our community.

At the end of Thursday, Year 12’s will be involved in the traditional countdown to the bell. On the following day, all Year 12 students have been invited to breakfast and they are allowed to dress up in costume if they so wish. At the end of breakfast, Year 12 students will leave the school. 

We are looking forward to celebrating the end of the school year and their achievements to date with all our Year 12 students.

A reminder that Year 12 teachers will be available to students up until the day of their subject exam. Year 12 parents/carers, please encourage your children to take advantage of this opportunity and support. Teachers can also be accessed outside of their scheduled class time but I would encourage students to e-mail their teachers before coming in, just in case they have another commitment.

The facilities of the school, including the VCE Study Centre, Resource Centre and Year 12 Common Room are all available to Year 12 students who may wish to come into school to study. 

STEAM Centre Development

Our work on the development of the School’s Masterplan began today, 3 October.

I am pleased to announce that Haskell Architects have secured the contract to undertake the Masterplan Development work as well as to design the new STEAM Centre at Eltham High School. We look forward to a very positive working relationship and to working closely with this firm on achieving the desired outcomes.

Our first meeting today was very productive and demonstrated a genuine willingness on the part of the architects to listen to the needs, desires, and dreams of the school for the development of this new facility.

I will keep you updated as we progress with this work.

All Gender Toilets

A great deal of the heavy work for this project took place during the break to minimise disruption to classes and the work of students and teachers.  So far, the work is progressing to plan, and we should start to see the new development take shape.

Work should be completed by the anticipated time of the end of Term 4, if not prior.

Once again, I will keep you updated as the work progresses.

Day Before Melbourne Cup Day – 6 November

Historically the day before the Melbourne Cup holiday has had very poor student attendance.  Consequently, and as a way of causing the least disruption to the educational program of the school, the last few years have seen this day used as time-in-lieu for teachers.  As clearly expressed in the Victorian Government Schools Agreement 2022 and supported by the Department of Education and Training, this compensates teachers for the time they allocate beyond work hours throughout the year to student progress interviews involving students, parents, and staff.

In the past, irrespective of the time-in-lieu arrangement, the school has remained open on the Monday before Melbourne Cup Day as Year 12 exams are generally on during that time, and the school is an examination centre.  This will also be the case this year. 

However, while this day would seem to be the most appropriate in terms of minimising disruption to the educational program of the school in the provision of time-in-lieu, I am writing to ascertain your intention as to your child’s/children’s attendance on Monday, 6 November for us to plan effectively. The school will be open on this day and based on previous experience, due to the small numbers of students in attendance, it is most likely that an alternative educational program will be in place.  Your information will be valuable in ascertaining staffing requirements for this day.

I ask you to confirm with us only if child will be attending on Monday, 6 November 2023 by contacting the appropriate Sub-School Office either by telephone on 9430 5111 or by email through each of the Sub-School Team Leaders by Wednesday, 1 November:

Senior Sub-School: Amanda Saliba - sai@elthamhs.vic.edu.au

Middle Sub-School:  Ross McKinnon - mki@elthamhs.vic.edu.au

Junior Sub-School:  Melissa Hughes - huh@elthamhs.vic.edu.au

I thank you for your cooperation with this matter.

VINCENT SICARI, Principal