From the Principals' Desk 

Tracey Mackin -  Assistant Principal

Summation and Celebration

As we near the end of the year, the school is engaged in all manner of activities which focus on wrapping up and celebrating the many achievements of 2022. As I write, the final VCAA exams are being held, and our Yr 9 - 11 Examinations are in full swing. These are important opportunities for our students to take stock of their learning across the previous months and years, and to think about their goals for the future. Even for our Yr 12 students, these exams are just another step in the learning journey, and for our more junior students they represent a wonderful chance to reassess how and where they are putting their effort, and what they might want to change or maintain as they progress. 

Reports

Along with their exam results, our Yr 9 - 11 students will this term receive a final report which includes four terms' worth of data about their progress as learners. It's worth remembering that, when looking at our reporting graph, it is elements on the right-hand side (Reflection, Participation and Study Habits) which make possible the ratings on the left-hand side (Skills and Knowledge). In reflecting on their outcomes, we want our students to think about their behaviours as learners first.

 When these change, so do the more traditional measures of success. This is one of the reasons why every year at Speech Night we make a point of celebrating students with demonstrated strengths in these areas through our Endeavour Awards. Winners of these awards, even if they don't top a particular class, will typically be found in the top 5 or 10 of every subject they study. When the reports come out later this term (Thursday 19 December) I encourage our families to focus their conversation and their celebration on these learner characteristics in particular. 

 

Students in Unit 1 & 2 subjects will also be provided with some additional data on this term's reports. It is sometimes difficult for our Unit 1 & 2 students to effectively distribute their effort at the end of the year; some of them allow anxiety about one Unit 3 & 4 subject to overshadow the value and importance of their Unit 1 & 2 studies in preparing them for what is to come. We are therefore including two extra numbers on each Unit 1 & 2 Term 4 report: number of lessons taught and number of lessons attended. We hope that this extra information will be helpful for our students as they reflect on what they have achieved this year, how this expressed itself in their examination results, and whether their current approach is maximising their learning.

End of Year Events

As you are no doubt aware, we are entering the season of end-of-year celebrations. I would like to take this opportunity to remind you of a few important ones:

 

Speech Night will be held this year at the Melbourne Town Hall on Tuesday 29 November. This is a compulsory event at which we celebrate both the academic achievements of our students and their acts of service and community contribution. This year will also be the final Speech Night at which Mr Roger Page, our founding principal, will be officiating, and we look forward to farewelling him in style.

All Nossal students have a free ticket, so no bookings are required for them. Family and friends of the school who wish to attend can book a ticket via the link below.

 

Our new Year 9 families will have their first official day at school on Wednesday 30 November when our annual Orientation Day returns to it's end-of-year time slot. The PFA will be opening the Uniform Shop from 10:30am on this day to aid new parents in particular who are seeking uniform items. 

 

The Second-hand Book Sale, brought to you by the PFA, will be running this year on Saturday 10 December. On the same day, we will be selling surplus equipment from our containers (including a couple of brand new office desks at a very reasonable price!). More information will be available soon via Compass and Teams.

 

Vale, Class of 2022

Finally, this week (Thursday 17 November) we will have our formal celebration with the Class of 2022 at their Valedictory Dinner at the Sofitel. I have no doubt it will be a wonderful evening.

Communication Still Key

Despite the many markers of the end of the year, there are still things going on in the school that rely heavily on proactive communication between the school and its families. 

 

Absent or leaving?

Please send an email to Mr Page (roger.page@nossalhs.vic.edu.au) as soon as possible if you are a parent or guardian who is:

  • hoping to remove their student from school early for an overseas holiday,
  • expecting to return late from an overseas holiday, leading to a late start to 2023 for their student, or
  • intending to leave the school altogether.

COVID-affected?

We do still need to know if one of our students is absent due to COVID (rather than due to some other illness). Please make sure that you let our Attendance Officer (absence@nossalhs.vic.edu.au) if this is the case.

And finally... many thanks!

As a final note, I would like to thank all of the families who contributed so generously to this year's Rotary Christmas Drive. We filled this enormous cage twice over with high quality goods which will now be distributed to the (sadly many) families in need this year.

Thanks also to those of you who have helped us as volunteers this year. We will be holding a morning tea for this delightful group of community contributors on Wednesday 7 December, which will be another lovely opportunity to celebrate the many ways in which we come together to support our students. 

 

Tracey Mackin

Assistant Principal