From the Principal 

Welcome back! 

Term 2 has started with so many events that I hope our students used the break to re-energise ready for a big Term. I hope that they also took time to reflect on achievements from Term 1 and the feedback provided through Parent Teacher Student Conversations and class feedback. A big thanks to the staff for the conversations that were organised with families. 

A group of our Year 9 and 10s travelled to Italy over the break and explored cities from Rome to Milan. A big thanks to Angela Cappelli, Audra Keane and Fraser Martin for participating in the tour. Please read the article in this issue which highlights the experience that they had and what they were able to learn about the Italian culture and language. Half of the group were part of the exchange program and have enjoyed the last 6 weeks in Italy. 

Our Year 7 students hit the Term running with a Camp during the first week, again thanks to the staff that took them on camp and participated in the activities with the students joining in with the encouragement as students challenged themselves. Find out about the Outdoor Ed Camp for our Senior students that ran in the last week of last Term in this issue as well for a comparison of the experiences and challenges that our students will experience throughout their time at NHS. 

Our Year 8s also had an assembly last Friday to celebrate the work that they have been doing in their Slam Poetry lessons. Our group of finalists waited for the “1, 2 , 3 SLAM”, and then presented their poem to the whole cohort. A big thanks to Elleni Balis for her organisation and enthusiasm (‘click’, ‘click’) for poetry and (‘click’, ‘click’) judging, it was great to be part of the event. 

We were again very lucky with the great weather yesterday for our Whole School Assembly, which made for a successful event outdoors in North Park. It is great that our school could come together as a whole community of learners and set the tone for our year. 

I would also like to highlight 2 dates this Term where classes will be cancelled for students for Curriculum events. The first is a whole day; Curriculum Day, Week 4, Wednesday 8 May, to complete the final day of our Berry Street Education Professional Learning for staff.  The second date is a half day in Week 7, Wednesday 29 May when we hold our Course Expo for all Year 8 to 11 students to assist in preparing for selecting subjects for 2025. Classes will run on Periods 1-3 this day so students can partake in the Course Expo.

Our Friends of Northcote planning committee have begun planning for events this year with the first event being the movie night later this Term. You can find out more about it in this newsletter. I hope to see you at one of the events this year or even maybe met you at our Open Day this week. 

Chris Jones 

Principal