Welcome to 2021 – Energy Breakthrough’s 30th anniversary!

This year marks the 30th celebration of the Energy Breakthrough Festival in Maryborough! We are excited to make the event a special one and, as you will all be aware, a safe one given the current climate.

At present, our planning revolves around holding an event that maximises learning, participation and competition within a COVIDsafe framework. At this stage in the year, as schools register for events and begin their Energy Breakthrough programs, please note the following advice:

Our ambition is for the festival to operate as it has previously, with COVIDsafe practices in place. A range of COVIDsafe scenarios are being developed to ensure the best possible event can come to fruition, regardless of movements in restrictions throughout the year. The team will keep all participating schools well informed during the year, as to these movements and their potential effects on the overall event.

With this in mind, please note that you will find a few changes to the handbooks in 2021. In particular, the following:

This year the Display and Presentation element will be submitted and judged as a digital presentation prior to the festival. Detailed information of this process will be communicated to schools after registration (in the coming weeks).

At this stage, the likely process will be as follows:

Students will prepare and submit a video, up to a maximum length of 15 minutes, consisting of a 10-minute presentation by students and up to 5 minutes of impromptu questions. The impromptu questions will be supplied by the Education Planning Group sent to the teacher via email prior. The teacher will then ask the questions ‘live’ for the recording.

The general information in the handbooks regarding the purpose, criteria and aspects of assessment will remain the same. However, the presentation will be created digitally by students throughout the year and submitted prior to the event for judging.

School Planning

Currently, there are no restrictions on travel between metropolitan Melbourne and regional Victoria. There is no limit on group sizes, but excursions need to comply with any specific capacity limits on venues that are being used.

Every Victorian school is responsible for having an up-to-date COVID-19 Safety Management Plan (COVIDSafe Plan). For government schools, you can find all the information you need here: Safety Management Plan for COVID-19. This plan must be supported by a current excursions policy. All other information and direction required can be found in the School operations guide, which is updated regularly.

For non-government schools, you will need to refer to your governing body or institution for advice on risk management planning for excursions.

Registrations

Handbooks

Whilst we’re still not 100% sure what November will look like for the world, we are planning to hold the 30th Energy Breakthrough in some capacity. We have released the 2021 Handbooks in draft, with some more decisions on virtual Display and Presentations coming later in the year.

You may view and download these handbooks here >