PRINCIPAL'S REPORT

Nicholas Adamou

Principal

2021 Key Dates

Semester Exams

We are nearly halfway through Term 2 already and Semester Two is around the corner. Semester Two, will begin in Week 10 of Term Two (21 June). Semester exams for all Year 7 to 11 students will take place in Weeks 8 and 9 (7 June to 17 June). On June 18, students will not be  required to attend classes (Student Free Day) as Teachers will be working on Assessment and Reporting. 

Also, all Year 12 students and Year 11 students who are currently undertaking a Unit 3 VCE subject will be expected to undertake the GAT (General Achievement Test) examination on Wednesday, 9 June. 

Details about the exams timetable for all Year Levels will be distributed to all students via their Year Level, Sub-School Leaders and Compass.

North Geelong Secondary College has implemented Semester exams for a number of years now and Semester examinations are well embedded in our school calendar and culture. The formal examination structure creates an opportunity to provide students with skills in examination preparation, practice and personal experience in the valuable life skill of undertaking formal testing. Regular opportunities must be provided through both formative and summative assessment for students to develop examination techniques and to receive feedback on their performance.

Our school community prides itself on our structure examinations, ensuring that; 

• students develop confidence and skills in exam techniques and settings
• students experience formal testing situations that may be useful in later life
• a home/school study culture of regular revision and test preparation is instilled
• subject specific exam skills are developed
• the learning and teaching culture of the school amongst the students, parents and wider community are reinforced
• we are provided with an additional assessment tool for teachers and students

Wishing all students Good Luck with the upcoming exams.

NAPLAN 2021, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, 11, 12 and 13 May, 2021

This week our Year 7 and 9 students have taken the NAPLAN tests.

NAPLAN is an annual assessment for all students in Years 3, 5, 7 and 9. It tests the types of skills that are essential for every child to progress through school and life. The tests cover skills in reading, writing, spelling, grammar and punctuation and numeracy. The assessments are undertaken every year in in May.

Education Week, 23 to 29 May

Building Connections

Now in its 77th year, Education Week aims to positively profile and celebrate the strengths and achievements of Victoria's government education sector.

Education Week 2021 will run from 23-29 May and the theme is 'Building Connections'. The theme celebrates the connections between schools and local communities and strengthens bonds with families and carers.

Education Week 2021 is all about celebrating Careers and is an opportunity for all schools to showcase the work they are doing with their students across the board, Pathways 7 to 12 and beyond. North Geelong Secondary College is proud to be a successful educational setting with lots of tailored programs for all, addressing student individual needs. 

Careers, Pathways and Transitions 

NGSC provides very comprehensive, needs based Careers, Pathways and Transitions Programs. Our trained Careers Practitioners have exceptional experience in working with students from a range of backgrounds, and with different learning needs, to help them to discover opportunities they had never considered. Beyond just standard resumes and applications for part-time jobs, our Careers Team connects students with opportunities to participate in work experience, structured workplace learning, school based apprenticeships and traineeships (SBATS), VET in schools and other tertiary education pathways. 

We provide an exemplary course counselling process which incorporates student voice and agency and involves parents and guardians in planning for senior school pathways. As students complete their studies, we ensure all of our students who apply for tertiary courses receive an offer and that students who do not pursue further academic study are engaged in full time sustainable work, apprenticeships and traineeships.  

Other programs providing outstanding learning opportunities to our students:

Performing Arts program

An extensive Performing Arts program is provided to the students interested in performing; singing, dancing, theatre, instrumental music, backstage support. The Performing Arts area offers a variety of performances (musical, theatrical, karaoke and dancing) throughout the academic year. 

Scholarship Program

The Scholarship program promotes and recognises outstanding commitment by primary school students who have displayed a strong involvement in their school community. The College looks for exemplary young people who are exceptional in different areas and possess personal qualities and values that will contribute to the life of our College. The Scholarship Program recognises the considerable achievements of children in our community and provides them with the opportunity to experience exciting curriculum opportunities through a broad range of engaging programs delivered by our dedicated teachers. Scholarships are available in the following areas: Academic Excellence, Student Leadership, Community (Good Citizenship), Sporting Excellence and The Arts.

The Select Entry Accelerated Learning Program (SEAL)

The SEAL Program at North Geelong Secondary College provides an opportunity for students to undertake learning experiences that are designed to meet the needs of high performing students; capable of outstanding academic achievement, who want to be challenged and who demonstrate high levels of task commitment.

Strive to Achieve Results (STAR)

This innovative Literacy and Numeracy program is unique to our College and achieves outstanding results for students in Years 7 to 9. The aim of the Striving To Achieve Results (STAR) program is to identify students with the potential to become our future ‘stars’. Using testing, data and teacher feedback, we establish the student’s individual needs and tailor a program to develop, consolidate and nurture their skills. 

Achieving Core Education (ACE) (Literacy and Numeracy Program)

Another unique Literacy and Numeracy Program at the school aiming to improve the Literacy and Numeracy of students in Years 7 and 8. It is an intervention program for those students that may be performing below the appropriate standards in one or more areas. It also builds student confidence and sets them up to be successful in their secondary schooling. 

Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) program 

The STEM program provides knowledge and skills to our students, so that they can fully participate in the day to day social, cultural and economic aspects of life. Building the STEM knowledge and skills of current and future learners will also help to give employers the confidence to grow, explore and innovate knowing they can call on a highly skilled, adaptable workforce in the future. The STEM program sparks interest and curiosity in young people, both in their learning in education settings and at home therefore, at NGSC we believe that our children deserve rich, immersive learning experiences in scientific experimentation and hypothesis, in using and creating technological innovations, in engineering practical solutions of their own design, and the awesome power of Big Data for discovery.

Excellence in Sports (Soccer and Football) 

The Excellence in Sports Program (Soccer and Football) is designed to harness the sporting talents of our students. Coaches are employed, working side by side with our PE staff to elicit the soccer and football skills of our students.

HPV Human Power Vehicle

The school is one of very few state schools that have a fleet of recumbent vehicles and a strong Advance/HPV team of approximately 30 students that train and participate in energy breakthrough competitions throughout the year.

GROWTH and Resilience programs 

These programs are aimed at students in Years 7 to 10 and they address student needs in the following areas; student engagement, student connectedness to school, attendance, confidence building and student leadership.

The Wellbeing Hub

The wellbeing of students at the school is always front and centre of what we do. Our specialised Wellbeing Team includes; Social Workers, Psychologists, a Youth Worker, School Nurse, Chaplain, Doctors in Schools Program. These professionals work together with the Regional School Student Support Officers and a variety of external agencies to ensure the wellbeing of all of our students. The team works tirelessly on re-engaging and preventative student programs that are geared to ensure healthy and resilient student minds. Here are some of the Student Wellbeing Team activities provided to our students and staff;

• Every day Lunch time social groups;these groups are open to all students. Groups are facilitated by Student Wellbeing staff with the support of volunteers. Students are also invited to suggest ideas for other lunch time social groups.
• Monday and Wednesday: ‘Bijou Jewellery’; students learn how to create stunning pieces of jewellery and can take pieces home.
• Thursday: ‘Bust a Move’ dance group, students have fun learning the latest dance moves and sharing their own choreography.
• Friday: ‘Anime Club’; a pop culture group where students share their interests.
• ‘SoulART’ is an eight week Art Therapy program that taps into student creativity to enhance their wellbeing and resilience. This group is facilitated by our School Chaplain who is also an Art Therapist.
• Twice a Term: Workshops to support staff in building resilience and a workplace climate of mutual respect and trust are offered to all staff members.
• Full time breakfast club; a healthy breakfast menu is offered to our students on a daily basis, at no cost. Approximately 140 to 160 students have their breakfast at the school every morning. The NGSC Breakfast Club has been running on full time basis for the last seven years. It is one of the most successful, high school breakfast programs in the state of Victoria. I take this opportunity to acknowledge the work and sincerely thank numbers of our wider community, organisations, volunteers, Second Bite, the NGSC Wellbeing team and the School Breakfast Coordinator Ms Alison Costa, who work tirelessly, providing breakfast to our students.

Healthy Eating, Healthy Lifestyle, “Kids—Go for your life”   

In today’s modern Australian society, parents and schools are the major socialising forces. 

Childhood obesity and an Australian epidemic obesity issue are current topics that the government and media talk about on a regular basis and schools have become the centre of promoting Healthy Eating and Healthy Lifestyle. 

Without any doubt the school has a role in dealing with this problem and at North Geelong Secondary College we take this issue seriously. At present we ensure that all students get a reasonable level of physical activity in school through the Physical Education classes and School Sports.  We also encourage our students to play sport during recess and lunchtime. Our sporting facilities are maintained at excellent standards with upcoming plans for more sporting facilities upgrade in the near future.  As part of our curriculum we teach Health and Nutrition and we also monitor what is sold in our school canteen.  Our canteen can only promote healthy eating and can only sell foods approved by the Victorian Canteen Association.

However, the school’s role in this area is a supplementary one. The primary responsibility for developing and reinforcing good eating habits rests at home with the family. It is important that parents/guardians develop and encourage good eating habits at home and that this process is enforced from an early age of the child. 

Our school community does take the issue of childhood obesity very seriously and will continue to do what we can to reinforce the message of healthy eating and physical activity, when students are at school. However, good habits are established at home and that is a responsibility parents & guardians must take very seriously. 

Absences during the term “it is not ok to be away”

I am concerned, as of late I have received a great number of requests for students to miss school time for what I see as frivolous reasons. We publish our term dates way ahead of time to assist parents/guardians in planning family trips in the 13 weeks of the year set aside for that purpose. When holidays occur or absences without an appropriate approved reason during the term it disrupts children’s education. Of even greater concern is that it sends the wrong message to a student; it says: “holidays, or some secondary activity such as birthday celebrations, rank as a higher priority than your education”.

At NGSC we work very hard to ensure students understand the vital importance of making the best of their educational opportunities. Receiving mixed messages about this does not make our task any easier.

I am aware of some parental special circumstances and am also aware that not all parents are able to take holidays within term breaks, due to work related restrictions, sometimes it is necessary for single parents to take their children away with them on business trips, etc. and that parents may decide to take their children on an extended break to travel around Australia. When this occurs I ask that parents think carefully about the possible impact of such a trip on their child’s education and then seek to minimise this through consultation with the school as far in advance of the trip as possible.

The school has a fantastic structure to ensure clear parent communication, through the Sub-School Assistants, Sub-School Leaders and Year Level Coordinators. We also provide the latest ICT technology to enable students who have legitimate reasons to be absent to be informed, complete and submit work and to be part of the school community while they are away. The school is required by law to keep attendance records for all students. Absences are recorded as illness, other legitimate reasons, or as unauthorised absences. There is also a 90% minimum attendance requirement as part of VCE assessment. For all of these reasons I ask parents/guardians to minimise student absence during the term, and where it absolutely unavoidable, to contact the school as far in advance as possible. 

Picking Up and Dropping Off your children around schools

For the safety of children, parents/guardians are reminded and strongly encouraged to take care and obey parking signs when picking up or dropping off children around the school. Council’s parking and information officers regularly patrol school areas during start and finish times and motorists detected breaching parking regulations risk being issued with a Penalty Infringement Notice.

Remember, as soon as you stop to let your children in or out of the car, you are deemed to be parked. You do not have to leave your car or turn the engine off to receive a fine.

At children’s crossings, you must remain stationary at the stop line while any person (including an adult or the supervisor) is on the crossing or the stop sign is displayed. Do not let your child out at this time; ensure that they wait until you are safely and legally parked.

If you breach a parking regulation the parking and information officer assigned to monitor our school crossing will usually record your registration number and details, and the Penalty Infringement Notice will be posted to the registered owner of the vehicle within the next three days.

Also dropping off or picking up children in the staff car park is prohibited and no parents/guardians should be parking in the staff car park at any point in time. This behaviour places our students at great risk if they are walking to school or riding their bicycles through the car park. 

Please ensure you adhere to the parking regulations around schools and the school’s expectations, so that all children are safe and you avoid running the risk of a Parking Infringement.