Student Agency & Growth 

Year 12 Headstart Assembly by Tom Westerman

On Monday 20 November the new Year 12s gathered at the stadium’s show court for the announcement of award winners and the recently confirmed student voice and Leadership Team of 2024. Many talented and dedicated students were recognised for their pursuit of excellence in various enhancement subjects, for which they received a book prize, as well as others for high achievement in their Year 11 studies. The session was then transformed into a series of House challenges, with students competing at games such as moving a hula hoop around a connected circle as well as a miniature dodgeball bracket. The thunderous echo of House spirit was perhaps the most gratifying aspect for the Student Voice and Leadership Team as a major goal for the activities. 

Student Voice and Leadership Team Induction Day by Maisie Walsh

On Monday 27 November, the new members of the Student Voice and Leadership Team for 2024 gathered together for the Leadership Induction Day at school. The new Student Leaders started off the day with playing games to get to know each other. One of these games included pulling a random person's name out of a hat and that person having to introduce themselves, their pronouns, their role for next year and an interest they have. The rest of the day was spent planning for the new year and what each term has in store for the team such as national days, school events and more. A vision statement was also created to help the student voice and leadership team come together with a common goal and what we hope to achieve in 2024. The Leadership Induction Day proved to be successful in planning and bringing the team together, setting us up for an exciting year of new ideas! 

The vision statement is listed below: 

The 2024 Student Voice and Leadership Team is a collaborative and welcoming collection of students from across the school that work productively together. Everyone is an equal participant whose views and opinions are heard and respected. We aim to create an environment where everyone is open-minded, inclusive and comfortable. 

This year our goal is to implement the reformed house system and broaden the impact of student leadership throughout the school. We strive to increase enthusiasm for the house system amongst students and staff and promote house unity. 

By the end of 2024, we will have gotten students involved in House events and competitions across all areas and seen a rise in school spirit. 

We are passionate about promoting the school values and community mindedness. We are dedicated to meeting the needs of all Eltham High School students and extending the reach of collaborative efforts beyond the student body to the wider community. The 2024 Student Leaders are:

Cups for Change

The Eltham High School Team of Term 2, 2022, is excited to announce that we completed our Community Learning Project successfully!

At the start of our journey, approximately two years ago, the Cups for Change team came up with the idea of selling reusable cups bearing a logo that contains our local butterfly, the Eltham Copper-winged Butterfly, to help the environment and to minimise the amount of waste from single-use cups that goes into the surrounding grounds.

The team borrowed some money from the Student Leadership Budget to allow us to purchase these cups.

We were aided by our local Member of Parliament, Vicki Ward, and her connections to the community, specifically Melbourne's Level Crossing Removal Project (LXRP), and their social enterprise, Position Promo, which is an Indigenous Australian-run organisation.

One of our very talented students, Coco Bergmann, won our logo design competition, which included our school's name, and an illustration of the Eltham Copper-winged Butterfly. We were able to put this design onto our cups, supplied by Position Promo, finalising our product. This end product was sold for 10 dollars, allowing for both the repayment back to the loan from the Leadership budget and also a profit.

We also took advantage of 7-Eleven’s Program, #CUPRESCUE and its partner, Simply Cups. This involved 7-Eleven supplying us with towers where people can dispose of the single-use cups that are still used, as we understood that not everyone can buy a reusable cup. The single-use cups are placed into the towers and collected before being taken to our local 7-Eleven for recycling. Not only has this helped waste around the school by reducing the number of disposable cups used, but it has also helped the broader community.

We raised $530 to give to our local community farm, Edendale Farm, and it will be interesting to see how our money is used soon.

Our project ended by receiving a Certificate of Appreciation from Vicki Ward MP, marking a final triumph in our long, but highly worth-it journey.

Thank you to all the staff who helped us along the way, we could not have done it without you. And to the current students, please remember that this school is a magical place, it is not only the start of life-long friendships and your own CLP, but is also the starting point of many successes in leadership within your lives in the years to come.

Charlie Clarke (Year 10, Andrew House) on behalf of the Cups for Change Team

New House Patrons

On behalf of the Student Voice and Leadership Team, I am pleased to announce that our houses from 2024 onwards will be:

TONER HOUSE 

House Patron: Pauline Toner 

The first female Cabinet member of Victoria, Pauline Toner was an advocate for the environment, community services, young people and education. She was a passionate campaigner and instigator of the Eltham Copper Butterfly Reserve, which is now named in her honour.

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SKIPPER HOUSE

House Patron: Sonia Skipper

Sonia Skipper was a prolific artist and painter with works featured in collections across Australia. As the daughter of founding members of Montsalvat, she was responsible for constructing the barn at Montsalvat and completed several of the carvings in the main Montsalvat building. Sonia's legacy represents the shift towards recognising the contributions of female artists at Montsalvat. 

PAKANA HOUSE

House Patron: Uncle Charles Pakana

Uncle Charles Pakana is an Indigenous Australian journalist and Head of Victorian Aboriginal News. He has worked extensively within mental health awareness and advocating for widespread acceptance for those with mental health issues. Uncle Charles is an active member of the Eltham community and comes to speak with Year 12s every year about Indigenous Australians. Pakana is a Palawa word that comes from the north of Tasmania and refers to the Indigenous people of the area. 

EVERARD HOUSE

House Patron: William Everard

William (Bill) Everard represented this district in the Legislative Assembly for many years. We believe it’s important to retain Everard House to recognise the ongoing support from the Everard family through the W H Everard Award for Social and Environmental Responsibility. 

Young Women Leaders of Nillumbik Awards 2024

Nillumbik Youth have just opened nominations for the Young Women Leaders of Nillumbik Awards for 2024. Could I please ask you share this information with staff, students, and parents. 

The aim of the Young Women Leaders of Nillumbik Awards are to recognise and celebrate the contribution of young women in Nillumbik to their communities. Nominations for 2024 will be accepted across the following categories:

1. Nillumbik Young Woman of the Year – Young women making a difference and leading change in Nillumbik
2. Young Creative Leader – Young women using creative arts to represent, motivate and inspire community
3. Young Sports Leader – Young women who lead and inspire others to participate in sport and physical activity
4. Young Gender Equity Leader – Young women championing gender equity, wellbeing and freedom from violence for every girl, woman and gender diverse person.
5. Young Climate Action Leader – Young women who lead initiatives and support others to do work in the environment, sustainability and climate action spaces.
6. Young Community Leader – Young women working towards making a difference for a specific community or cause.

All women aged 12-25 who live, work, study, volunteer or play in Nillumbik and have made an outstanding contribution to our community are invited to self-nominate. Friends, family, and others in a young person's life can also nominate a deserving individual. 

Nominations close on Friday 15 December 2023 and the awards will be presented at Nillumbik's International Women's Day event in March 2024.

For more information and to submit a nomination: nillumbik.vic.gov.au/young-women-leaders

LAUREN MCNALLY, Student Growth and Agency