Principal's Report
Student Achievement: Victorian Schools Music Festival
Congratulations to all members of the Strings Orchestra on their performance at the Victorian School Music Festival on Tuesday 28 July.
Prior to the festival the group attended the music camp, which not only gave them the confidence to perform at their absolute best but also provided a wonderful opportunity for students to connect, support one another, and strengthen the sense of community that makes our string program so special. The positive atmosphere, enthusiasm, and teamwork throughout the camp were evident in Tuesday’s performances. Their performance was amazing and the Strings Orchestra was awarded a Platinum Award for outstanding achievement.
In congratulating the String Orchestra, I also extend our congratulations to their conductor, Tim Veldman, who has worked hard in developing the orchestra and in supporting the students to perform at a high level.
If you would like to watch the String Orchestra performance recording, it is available here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1IdHNAXialaXthu7KB9HoiaHRlbSMR5wi/view?usp=share_link
2027 Information Evenings
The Year 9 to 10 and Year 10 to 11 Information evenings took place last week with remarkable success. Thank you to the staff and the Senior Sub-school Team for its organisation of the events. Parents and students were able to get insights into the senior school programs and had the opportunity to ask questions from teachers who teach the various subjects.
Both Information sessions were well attended and I am sure that parents and students appreciated learning more about the course selection process they are currently undertaking.
The Year 10 to 11 Information evening was also the precursor for the Year 10 Course Counselling Process. Early this week all year 10 students were engaged in this process which provides support for them to make informed choices relating to their course selection for 2027.
On behalf of all the Year 10 students, I take the opportunity to thank the staff under the guidance of Orianne Megaloudis, who took time out of their own classes to ensure that each was supported to fully engage in the counselling process.
Course selection is currently on the way for students from Years 9 through to 11. Once this part of the process is completed, subject blocks will be created, and sub-school teams will then work at counselling students who may have not been able to receive one or more of their preferred choices. Then timetabling and the staffing will begin.
As a school we are well on our way with the planning for 2027. This is never an effortless process but this year it is a little more complex due to the pending new industrial agreement. Not having one in place yet, we will plan based on the current agreement whilst taking into consideration various elements of the pending agreement. With this consideration in mind, we are in a good position to complete our planning by the end of this term.
In anticipation of their work, I thank all the members of the School Consultative Team who lead this planning.
Circulating rumours of a planned school staff strike for the 4th of August
Regardless of what the media is reporting, there is no Australian Education Union sanctioned strike for the 4th of August.
From the President of AEU Victoria, Justin Mullaly:
The AEU has become aware that a small group of members is planning stopwork industrial action on 4 August 2026.
It is not authorised action as determined through the AEU's democratic decision-making processes, and any stopwork action arising is unlawful and unprotected. Any decision to stopwork can only be made through the union's democratic processes, and under the Fair Work Act it must include five clear working days' notice to the Department of the stoppage, issued by the AEU. Stoppages of work to make public comment and/or hand out material can only be for a short duration and cannot be lawfully used for longer stopwork action.
Members should be aware that taking unprotected industrial action exposes them and the AEU to legal action and orders of the Fair Work Commission (FWC).
The capacity for all AEU members to take future lawful industrial action as part of the VGSA campaign, should it be necessary, is likely to be undermined and potentially removed by the FWC or a Federal Court by members taking unlawful, unprotected industrial action.
The AEU advises members to only participate in industrial action that is authorised and protected.
Impact of the Work Bans and Ongoing Industrial Actions
Following last Thursday’s stop-work action, members of the Australian Education Union (AEU) are continuing protected industrial action as part of negotiations for a new Victorian Government Schools Agreement.
One of the current measures is a ban on AEU members performing work outside their ordinary hours. At our school, this means 8:30 am - 4:30 pm Mondays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays and 8:30 am - 3:30 pm on Wednesdays and Fridays.
This action is intended to demonstrate the amount of additional work that school staff routinely perform outside their ordinary working hours.
As a result, families and students may notice the following:
Parent and carer meetings will need to be scheduled within ordinary working hours.
Emails and telephone messages will generally be responded to during these hours.
Assessment, correction, and the preparation of student feedback will be completed during ordinary working hours. This may result in some delays in returning assessed work or providing detailed feedback.
Some administrative tasks, meetings, and activities normally completed outside these hours may be postponed, reduced, or rescheduled.
The following will remain our priority and are not expected to be affected:
High-quality teaching, learning, and classroom instruction during the school day.
Student safety, wellbeing, and appropriate supervision.
Support for students with additional learning or wellbeing needs.
Pre-arranged camps, excursions, and major school activities where approved time-in-lieu or other agreed arrangements apply.
Urgent communication relating to student safety or wellbeing.
Why is industrial action occurring?
AEU members are seeking improvements through the new enterprise agreement, including:
fair and competitive salaries for teachers, principals, and education support staff.
greater recognition and improved conditions for education support staff.
meaningful reductions in workload, including excessive administrative and meeting requirements.
increased time for planning, preparation, assessment, and collaboration.
measures to attract and retain staff, particularly in rural, regional, and hard-to-staff schools.
improved staffing and support to meet students’ increasingly complex learning and wellbeing needs.
smaller class sizes and reduced face-to-face teaching hours; and
full government funding of the staffing and conditions contained in the new agreement so that the costs do not fall on individual school budgets.
These arrangements apply only to AEU members. We respect the rights of individual staff members and will continue to manage school operations as consistently as possible.
We understand that these measures may occasionally cause inconvenience, and we appreciate your patience and understanding. We will keep families informed if there are any further changes that directly affect students or school operations.
Industrial Action and Student Progress Interview
I confirm for parents and carers that the current industrial action has no bearing on the scheduled Student Progress Interviews. These will proceed as planned.
Teachers are entitled to time in lieu for attending the after-hours interviews, so it is considered paid work and do not form part of the ban. I did send out a newsfeed earlier this week and repeat the information here for those of you who were not able to access the previous communication.
Vincent Sicari, Principal
Eltham High School Reminders, including:
Staff Outside of Work Hours
Mobile Phone Policy
Privacy
Student Accident Insurance
Approved Student Exchange Organisations
School Drop Off and Pick Up Times