From the Principals' Desk 

It is hard to believe that we are already halfway through term 3 as the past few weeks have really flown by. Term Three is always challenging and exciting as we have a number of important and enjoyable whole school events that are both highly useful educationally, but also team building and very affirming of our school community. We also head into some significant assessment periods and the final few weeks of formal classes for our Year 12 students who only have a comparatively short time remaining before the final exam period is upon us. Then they will have completed their schooling and will be heading off to university and further studies for the majority. 

Teacher Shortages

You will have seen the recent media reports of the looming teacher shortages and this is a very real and extremely concerning issue which has been long anticipated and probably accelerated due to the pandemic. I am pleased to see the Federal and State Education Ministers meeting to address the issue, but we are well beyond the point of no return now and they will need to come up with some radical and impactful solutions both in the short and longer terms. Currently we are hearing of schools unable to fill vacancies in the local area, and teachers being required to teach outside their areas of expertise particularly in hard to staff subject areas, although it is becoming apparent that most subject areas have been impacted. There is no quick or easy solution and many of the proposed courses of action will have little impact unless the underlying causes can be more effectively addressed. In my view and quite simplistically - more teachers are leaving the profession than are entering it for a number of reasons. 50% of tertiary students who start an Education Degree do not complete it; young teachers do not stay in teaching for long ( many leave after 4 ort 5 years); many current teachers are contemplating retirement in the next year or two; the workload (in spite of the generally held misconceptions about what an easy job it is) is not sustainable; initial pay rates are reasonable but plateau after 5 years and there is little chance of advancement short of moving into Principal class which fewer and fewer teachers are wanting to do; teachers can earn much more money and work less hours with more opportunity for advancement in many other professions (particularly for those in Government schools where wages are now often lower than in the private system); community and media attitudes to teachers and teaching is often negative, ill informed, and blaming and sadly this is also sometimes true for our politicians and decision makers in the public service. Layer all this over the past two and half years of the pandemic and increasing and ongoing absences through extended illness and our system is looking very fragile at the moment. The impact of this on Nossal is comparatively less than on other schools that I am aware of and remote and regional areas have been increasingly grappling with this issue for many years. However we too are seeing a gradual increase in teacher absence due to COVID infection (and subsequent increased workload for others), and a significant decrease in applicants for teaching positions. 10 years ago I might have received 150 applicants for an advertised teaching vacancy but recently we are struggling to get to 10, and Nossal is a desirable destination. Other local schools have advertised multiple times and received no applicants at all for some positions. 

Dramatic and innovative solutions are required immediately and considerable additional resourcing will need to be allocated to address this and avert an escalating crisis, but to date I am not convinced that the possible responses being reported will have much impact at all; certainly not in the short term.

and now for some better news......

House Performing Arts Festival

Many of you (and most of our current students) have not experienced a "real HPAF." This is a wonderful whole school event where the four Houses and all students undertake a friendly and highly structured performing arts competition around a designated theme - this year it is the four seasons. The program will be presented at Robert Blackwood Hall at Monash University, involves all students in each House and features a range of performances and interpretations that are judged by an external panel of experts. The program and performances are student instigated and led and the school has been full of groups of students rehearsing and singing and making props. The entire Year 9 cohort will perform as a Choral ensemble publicly for the first time and you will see some memorable and brave presentations during the show. This is not a highly polished school production - this is the entire school participating and (hopefully) having a lot of fun in doing so, while also showcasing some known and perhaps as yet undiscovered talents. I encourage you all to attend - it is a very entertaining and joyous spectacle. 

NEST Native Garden

The NEST instigated Native Garden is now complete thanks to the excellent support and assistance we received from the Rail Crossing Removal Authority and it looks fantastic although is not yet open due to the wet and soggy grounds across our site at present. 

I also commend Mr Ratnayake and our NEST students for their hosting of the NEST Environmental Summit earlier this week which was highly successful and involved a number of other schools and members of the community.

Rail Crossing Removal Authority

We owe this organisation several big votes of thanks for their support and assistance, and for their generosity. Last week they provided us with several hundred native shrubs that were surplus to their needs so we will be doing some additional planting around the school shortly. I thank and commend them for the strong community support they have shown through the duration of this project.

Curriculum Day - Monday August 15

The entire Nossal staff gathered together on Monday for an intensive morning with Psychologist Maria Ruberto who took us through an illuminating and impactful exploration of brain science and resilience in relation to our own experiences of the past few years. It was fascinating and provided us with a much more informed perspective of our own mental health and wellbeing and the impact on our students and the wider community. The afternoon session was conducted by Nix from Minus 18, and focussed on inclusion and the impact of our attitudes, processes and responses particularly in relation to young members of our LGBTQI+ community. Again, a useful and insightful session for us all. I thank Ms De Zylva for her leadership in this.

Year 9 City Week

I had the pleasure of attending a day of the City week program last week and am very pleased that we have been able to reactivate this program after the past two years where it was a virtual event. All Year 9 spent all week based in the City conducting small group research into a "Big Question" about our capital city. This involved them working collaboratively and independently, making their own way to and from the city each day, and moving around the CBD with minimal supervision while they conducted research, interviewed people and undertook visits to businesses and support services. The outcome will be a comprehensive digital presentation from each group with the best ones being showcased to the whole cohort. I am looking forward to seeing the results of their endeavours; I always learn something new and am astounded by the quality of some of their video productions which could easily be packaged up for public viewing on community or commercial television. As is usually the case, I received a number of unsolicited messages from members of the public complimenting our students on their demeanour, insight and intelligence which is always nice to have affirmed. I thank the Year 9 students for their excellent participation, the teachers for their engagement with the program, and Mr Labrooy and Ms Winton for their leadership.

Coming Events....

I am looking forward to Market Day next week ; the Year 11 Ball on Friday Night; HPAF (of course), and the PFA Badminton Competition over the next three weekends.

PFA

This year the PFA have instigated a Father's Day Badminton Competition for Nossal parents and the children and they have a large number of teams competing. They will be vying for an impressive trophy and bragging rights for the next 12 months. I commend Shankar for his leadership in this and invite you all to attend and cheer them on, or to assist with the organisation (see the PFA section for more details). 

The PFA will also be running a Father's Day stall at the school at recess and lunchtime on Wednesday September 1. Please encourage your children to buy some bargain gifts for their dads and help the PFA to raise funds for the school.

I also thank and acknowledge the PFA  for their purchase of the new outdoor seating units that we have recently installed near the end of the main building - the students will make great use of them when the weather improves. 

Sir Gustav Nossal Statue Appeal

Please see a more detailed report elsewhere in Sir Gus Nossal page  of this newsletter, but let me encourage you all to contribute to the fundraising for the statue of Sir Gus. Any amount will be welcomed - we are about one third of the way to our target figure and have quite a way still to go. We are seeking commercial and corporate sponsors who may be able to contribute so if you know someone or your place of work might be a potential donor please contact me and let me know so we can send them some information. We are very keen to get this instigated as soon as possible as there is a significant lead time from when we sign up with the sculptors to when it will be delivered and installed.

Roger Page

Principal