Principal's Report

Welcome Back to Term 3

Welcome back to all staff and students to the start of Term 3. I trust that everyone has had a restful and relaxing break in readiness for the work ahead.

We start Term 3 with some staffing changes because of staff retiring or going on leave.

To ensure that every class is covered with trained and qualified teachers there have been a small number of allotment changes. Due to this, some students in Years 7 to 11 may have a new teacher for one or more subjects. Please rest assured that if this was not necessary it would not have occurred. Regardless, all students will continue to be well supported in their learning and wellbeing.

At the end of Term 2, we farewelled two long standing members of staff, Chris Agar (a valued member of both our English and Humanities faculties) and Warren McCullough (a valued member of our IT team).

I want to thank them both for their contribution to our students over the many years of their service to Eltham High School as well as thank them for their contribution to the life of the school. Both of them have had a number of roles during their time at EHS and within each role they have worked hard and executed it to the very best of their ability ensuring that our students and staff were well supported in their work.

On behalf of our school community, I wish them both well as they move into the next stage of their lives.

I welcome three new members of staff, Katherine Rose (English/ Humanities); Charlie Davidson (English) and Lucien Stals (IT Team). Katherine and Charlie began their time with us on Monday 10 July and Lucien will begin on Thursday 13 July. I wish them all the very best for the remainder of the year and hope that they have a fulfilling experience at our school and with our students. 

Parents/Carers and Students' Information Session – Progression from 2023 into 2024

As we begin Term 3 and over the next few weeks, a number of information sessions will be running for parents/carers and students to support their course selection for 2024. As appropriate, students will also be attending course counselling sessions during school time and they are certainly encouraged to seek further assistance from their Co-ordinators or our Careers/Pathways Co-ordinator (Ross Pringle) as needed. I strongly encourage you all to attend the relevant information session(s) for your child(ren). These will provide you with the information and knowledge that you will require to support your child to make the best choices at this time for their 2024 course of study.

These information sessions are advertised in this Newsletter so please ensure that you check it each fortnight.

Facilities Work Carried out over the Break

Some work occurred over the break which has provided additional covered sitting space for our students.

The area outside of the Humanities building which faces the outdoor basketball courts has been redeveloped into both a garden area and a sitting area for students. This work has been on the agenda of the Grounds Committee for some time but unfortunately it was held back due to the lockdowns.

However, we are very pleased to see this work come to fruition under the guidance of our Maintenance Team and in particular Ben Dawes. 

We are sure that our students will make good use of this new space and I thank the Maintenance Team for their hard work to get this done in such a short time.

Student Safety on Their Way to and From School

I have received a report of risk-taking behaviour by a small number of our students who on their way to and from school are required to cross Main Road in Eltham. I am very concerned about the safety of our students and so I once again ask you for your support.

If your child(ren) cross this very busy road, can I ask that you please remind them that they need to be vigilant in crossing the road. They should not have airpods in and certainly should not be distracted by their mobile phones. Furthermore, can you please remind them that along the distance that aligns with the school there are traffic lights, and this is where they should be crossing and not cutting across the road at any other points. 

We certainly understand that students will generally take the most direct route irrespective of the obstacles that face them, but it is very important that we emphasise this as a safety concern.   We do not want any of our students placing themselves in danger of being hit by a moving vehicle so let’s support them to prevent this from happening.

New Community Newsletter

This week’s Community Newsletter will be presented to you as an iNewsletter. In addition to a refreshed look, we trust that the new format will provide you with easy navigation to the specific areas of interest.

I continue to encourage parents/carers to inform the school of the amazing things that your children engage in outside of school so that their effort and achievements can be highlighted in the newsletter for our community to see and read about. You can e-mail our receptionist at reception@elthamhs.vic.edu.au 

Eltham High School STEAM Centre Update

The Asset Management Plan (APM1) stage 1 was endorsed by our School Council on 22 June. 

The Plan was submitted to the Victorian Schools Building Authority on Friday 23 June, well before the 13 July due date.

We now wait to hear back with some direction as to how to proceed. We are looking forward to meeting with architects to discuss our move to the design phase (AMP2). 

I will keep you informed of future developments.

VINCENT SICARI, Principal