www.elthamhs.vic.edu.au

 Eltham High School

Tuesday, 4^th April, 2000                                        Term 1 Week 11

About 180 friends gathered last Friday at the New Barn at Montsalvat for the launch of the 1999 anthology of student writing, Thus the Absurd Nature. It was an inspiring and uplifting evening. Guest Speaker and former student, Phillip Adams, spoke with great passion on the importance and power of words, the way that we are able to shape them for meaning and the ability of the new technologies to provide the means for all to find a voice. Local member, Wayne Phillips, MLA, Assistant Regional Director Cheryl Judd and Principal Consultant Fay Thomas made presentations to students.

Congratulations again to all the students of the editorial committee, those whose work contributed to the Mavis Thorpe Clarke Award for Group School Writing and those who gained prizes and certificates for their outstanding contribution to the anthology.

I hope that the coming school holidays give you and your family time together. Our VCE students will appreciate the break from classes and I hope that they achieve a good balance between study and recreation. Classes finish at 2:30 on Friday, 7^th April and resume on Wednesday, 26^th April, following the Anzac Day public holiday.     

Paul Rose, Principal

Students will be selling ANZAC Day Badges all of this week.  Cost $1.00. Please support this worthwhile cause and wear a badge on the day.

Sellers will come around to classrooms and parents are also welcome to purchase one.

The Eltham High community has had a long standing relationship with the Royal Children's Hospital Annual Appeal over the years, raising considerable sums of money and allowing our

students the opportunity to take part in a worthy social service.

This year the calendar makes such dedication a challenge, with  Good Friday falling, not at the start of the term break, but at the end, on Friday 21^st April.  Ms Jean Norton will greet the bus at 8.30 am, for any students still wishing to take part in the all-day doorknock. The Pied Piper Organisation continues to do a fantastic job of supervising its volunteers, providing lunch for all participants.  However, permission forms must still be completed for the Pied Pipers, and these documents are available at school from Ms Norton.

For those families not taking part in this appeal directly, an envelope can be collected from the main office.  It is hoped that your donations will be returned to the school cashier before the last day of term, next week.  Any queries, please ring Jean Norton at the school on 9439-5111.

       Parents, please note that the school

Students from Eltham High School are competing this week for a trip to Washington DC, as the major prize in the 2000 Australian Geography Competition. The students participating from EHS are among over 47,000 students from around Australia participating in this challenging event.

"In the school round of the competition, the students answer questions that range across the broad scope of geography - people/environment relationships, natural and human systems, places, current events, interpreting maps, photos and graphs", said Kath Berg, Competition Coordinator. "I think the Internet, and documentaries on channels like National Geographic, are encouraging students' natural interest in the world around them and how it operates", said Ms Berg. The top student from Victoria will win a three-day trip to Brisbane to join seven other State and Territory finalists for a fun-packed weekend culminating in the National Final on 29 May. The Final has a quiz format, compered by Channel 7 presenter Frank Warrick. The two students with the highest scores in the Final will represent Australia at the next International Geography Olympiad in Washington DC in 2001. The Australian Geography Competition is run by the Royal Geographical Society of Queensland and the Australian Geography Teachers' Association and proudly sponsored by National Geographic Channel.

Nominations are now open for the 2001 National Youth Science Forum (NYSF), an exciting two week residential programme in Canberra held in January for current Year 11 students who are interested in science. The NYSF is now into its 18^th year and seeks to encourage students to continue on to a tertiary course and career in science, engineering or a technology related field.  The programme is a dynamic mix of seminars, debates, workshops, visits to laboratories and key sites of interest around Canberra, as well as social activities. Interested students are asked to contact their year 11 science teacher (Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Psychology) or Science Co-ordinator Mr Bass for further information. website www.anu.edu.au/nysf The selection of the 280 participants is competitive and through interview by Rotary Club and Rotary District. Nominations close late in April, for selection in June/July.

Special thanks to parent and potter, Judith Roberts who has given up her valuable time and expertise to work with year 11 and 12 students who are studying Japanese ceramics.  Judith visited the school on three occasions demonstrating to students how her own work is produced and discussing the history and the philosophy of Raku.  On the second visit students produced their own tea bowls and sculptures using Raku clay under Judith's guidance.  On the third visit Judith set up the kiln and worked enthusiastically all day with students glazing their work with copper and crackle glazes.  The results were magical, even more spectacular than last year.  Some of our Japanese visitors also enjoyed the experience.  Thank You Judith from the students and the Visual Arts Faculty.     

Jeanette Carter - Visual Arts Co-ordinator.

In conjunction with Eltham Library and Eltham Bookshop the school library will be hosting a session with popular author Maureen McCarthy.  Join Maureen as she talks about and reads from her recent books "Chain of Hearts" and "Queen Kat, Carmel and St.Jude Get A Life" (seen recently on television).

Bookings are essential on 9439 8700.

     SPORT SPORT SPORT

Congratulations to our Year 7 boys and girls volleyball teams which won their respective Diamond Valley group competitions last week.

The boys were:  Ryan Dunn, Stephen Courtot, Bryce Martin, Brendan Kerss, David Parsons and Elliot Winfield.  The boys cruised to victory.

The girls won a real thriller in the final against Montmorency Secondary College, winning the 3^rd set 16-14.  The most triumphant girls team were Laura Greve, Maddie Spawton, Georgia Young, Courtney Dummett, Emma Baker, Laura Head, Rachael Apostola and Tenielle Lloyd-Teagle.

Eltham High volleyball teams won eight out of the eight competitions this year.  

The teams will be competing in Northern Zone finals in the 1^st week of Term 2.

   Senior boys and girls)

   Inter boys and girls      )  Thursday April 27^th

   Year 7 boys and girls)

   Year 8 boys and girls)   Friday April 28^th

All competitions will take place at Reservoir Secondary College, Plenty Road, Reservoir.

The competition details are on the volleyball notice board in the stadium foyer.

Students taking part must collect a parent permission form from Mr. Thomas.

Volleyball Victoria will be hosting the 2000 U/15 National Championships from April 16^th - 20^th at Eltham High School.  Games will commence on Sunday 16^th and finals will be held on Thursday 20^th.  Victoria will have 2 boys and 2 girls teams competing against teams from ACT and NSW.  Both the boys and girls teams will be out to win back to back Championships after taking out both divisions in Canberra last year.  Tuesday and Wednesday matches will be scheduled in the evenings to enable parents to come along and support our athletes of the future.  Nine Eltham High School athletes are taking part.  For game times please contact  Volleyball Victoria or check out www.wonthaggisc.vic.edu.au/vb for up to date results, game times and photos.  Entry is free!

Australian Volleyball League                     Great AVL action at the Veneto Club, Bulleen Road, Bulleen.  April 7^th - 9^th.  Details in the stadium foyer.                      Greg Thomas

On the 29^th March, Asher 7A, Leon 7D, Ben 7A, Brent 7A, Lachlan 7A, Scott 7A, Riley 7A and Taiyo 7B played tennis against St Helena, Diamond Valley and Montmorency Secondary Colleges.  The weather held up for a great day of tennis at Tennis City (Lower Plenty).  We all tried our best to play our best game of tennis.  We all had a good time and a lot of fun.

          By Taiyo Takizawa 7B

Last week Eltham played Montmorency and St.Helena Secondary Colleges.   Even though we were narrowly defeated by Montmorency, the girls played well with blinding catches being taken by Kate Dorrington, Diane Robertson and Jenni Lonsdale.  Kates' efforts were outstanding because she was recovering from a wrist injury.

Eltham defeated St.Helena 10 - 4 in the second match.  Diane, who was a very accurate pitcher all day shut St. Helena out in their second innings by taking three great catches. Rita Wollaston, Jessica Whitechurch, Maree Lachmund, Sally Van Der Zwart, Michelle Rudd and Amber Lane all batted and fielded well on the day.  It was a pleasure to coach such enthusiastic students.  Thanks also to the mothers who helped with the scoring.          D.Pollard

The Diamond Valley Athletic Club will be conducting a Cross Country Trials and Registration Day at 9am next Saturday, 8^th April at Willinda Park, Greensborough. The season of cross country racing with Athletics Victoria comprises 8 races and commences on Saturday 15^th April. Age groups for the season are U14, U16, U18, U20 and Open. There will also be a number of club events with the DVAC held locally. Training sessions are conducted at Willinda Park on a Tuesday and Thursday afternoon commencing at 5pm. There are members of the EHS staff in attendance at each training session. The track at Willinda Park has now been upgraded to a synthetic rubber surface. For further information contact Max Balchin.

The turn-out for the EHS Swim Squad has been extremely good, with over 20 swimmers filling three lanes from 7am until 8am on a Thursday morning. The  EHS squad will be running in term 2 at a cost of $50 for the 10 week term. Fees should be paid to the cashier.

The Rotary Club of Rosanna is holding a Fun Run & Walk on Sunday, 16^th April at Westerfolds Park, Templestowe starting at 9am. Proceeds will go towards the Austin Research Institute for Cancer, for cancer research. The categories will be

Good prizes for all categories. Contact Max Balchin for entry forms. The run starts at 9am.

It has been brought to my attention that some students are bringing medication from home and "Sharing" it with their friends. This is not a smart thing to do.  In certain cases even simple medications like Panadol may cause harm.  Prescription drugs are just that - prescribed for a particular person with a particular condition.  Side affects are common with many prescription drugs.Parents who wish their children to have certain medications, eg for hayfever or migraine headaches, kept at school, should talk to me about them being kept in the Sick Bay.Joy Snow

Expansion of services - Current eligible groups for school dental care include primary school students and dependants of concession card holders in Years 7 and 8. The new policy will extend the program to include the dependants of concession card holders up to Year 12. Dental care will now be provided at no cost for eligible students in Yeas 9 and 10. Eligibility for School Dental Care forms and further information are available from the school first aider, Joy Snow.

Visit of the Haruhigoaka High School Band (Japan) A detailed report of band's visit will be published next term.

A series of concerts featuring students Year 7-12. Come and hear some outstanding solo and chamber music.

Thursday 30^th March     Strings

Monday 3^rd April     Clarinet &Saxophone

Wednesday 5^th April     Flute, Oboe, Bassoon

Wednesday 5^th April     Guitar

Thursday 6^th April          Brass

Venue:      7.30pm Eltham High School hall.

Admission: Adults $2; Children free.