The Eighties - A Changing Face.
Snapshots of A Changing Face.
Timeline.
| 1980 | EHS Concert Band is born |
| 1982 | Sewerage connected |
| 1983 | Wes Muir retires Year 7 intake drops to 200 |
| 1984 | Band concert held for first time. |
| 1985 | Official opening of Stage 1 upgrade Time capsule buried for 2035 AD opening EHS and community tennis club formed Janette Bradley introduces "optional school uniforms" |
| 1986 | Meg Russell retires after 20 years service Stage 2 of upgrade completed at a cost of $2.3 million |
| 1987 | First four-term year Middle school moves to semester units The show was performed at the first Marnik Drama Excellence Competition at the Fitzroy Town Hall coming second. Paul Treadwell, a new comer to acting, wins Best Male Actor |
| 1989 | EHS wins "Most Outstanding Band Award" Year 7 sport introduced "Girls can do Science" grant |
Excerpts from IAN CLARK’s – The ‘Master Plan’.
Upgrades and building projects have been an exciting part of my time at the school. I hardly need to document here the emerging status of School Councils at this time. However, this whole devolution of power to schools saw the School Council develop and implement a ‘Master Plan’ for EHS. Upgrading of buildings and grounds, construction of the Art/Craft, Science and Commerce wings, as well as the proposed Technology building and much needed Basketball Stadium/Gymnasium is all an ongoing process of this ‘Master Plan’.
However, despite this emphasis on buildings over the years, the most important aspect has been the people. There is definitely an aura of Wes Muir, the previous principal still hovering over EHS. My impressions are that he had a great deal of time for people, and that he had instilled this feeling in others.
Much of the success of EHS in the 80’s needs to be attributed to this willingness to help each other. Excellent academic and sporting performances, Arts Festivals and Calendars, Drama Productions, Band Competitions and music programme expansion, Christmas Concerts, Public Speaking awards, Camps and Magazine publications never happen without a great deal of cooperative effort and enthusiasm from both staff and students.
Surely one of the “highs” in the school’s life was the winning of the “Most Outstanding Band” award at the Pacific Basin Band Festival in Hawaii in March 1989, and subsequently being the first school to received the Premier’s commission for the “outstanding contribution made to the State of Victoria”.
Eltham Copper Butterfly Sanctuary.
Michael Braby attended EHS from 1976 to 1981. Always a keen naturalist, in January 1987, Michael discovered populations of the Eltham Copper butterfly in the Diosma/Eucalyptus Roads area of Eltham, an area under threat of subdivision. The butterfly had not been sighted for many years and was thought to be on the verge of extinction. A spirited public campaign followed Michael’s disclosure, and on March 28, 1989, the Eltham Copper Butterfly Sanctuary in Eucalyptus Road was opened by Kay Setches, Minister for Conservation, Forests and Lands. Land in Diosma Road was purchased by the people of Eltham in August 1989.
Theatre Productions Performed in the 80s:
- Midsummer Nights’ Dream — 1980
- Fiddler on the Roof — 1981
- Romeo and Juliet — 1982
- Pippin — 1983
- The Insect Play — 1984
- Riff Raff — 1985
- The Crucible — 1986
- Adrift in New York or Her First False Step — 1987
- On our Selection — 1988
- Hurricane Smith — 1989
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