From the Principal

Welcome back to Term 3. I hope families had the opportunity to spend some quality time together over the holidays, and that all students and staff have returned rejuvenated and enthusiastic about the term ahead. There was a very positive and productive vibe around the school during Week One, with everyone immersed in the start of a new semester, many with new classes and new teachers.

It was great to see so many parents and students at our Year 10 into VCE Information Night and Subject Expo last Wednesday, and we look forward to welcoming the Year 8 and 9 students and families to this week’s Information Night.

This week we are excited by the opening of the 2018 School Production – Our House by Madness. The production is the culmination of hours, weeks and months of incredible collective effort by students and staff and our Friends of Performing Arts Team. It is bound to be another, in a long line of stellar performances. Make sure you buy your tickets and publicise to family and friends by clicking on the link: https://www.trybooking.com/WPGB  

Welcome to new staff

Semester 2 starts with us welcoming a group of new staff replacing staff who are on leave, or who have left.

Ryan Lok                                            Maths

Xiaoqiong (Jessica) Wang          Chinese and International Students’ Program

Jo Jones                                            Receptionist

Rachael Bor                                      Visual Communication and Design and Art

Mark Rickard                                   Science and Junior Maths

Matty Bilias                                      Greek and English

Chris Fotinopoulos                       English

Genevieve DuBois                         Student Counsellor

Ke (Jennifer) Bi                               International Students’ Program

James Dutton                                  Design Technology Technician

VCE Offshore Conference - China

In the first week of the holidays a team of NHS staff members led the 7th Annual VCE Offshore Conference, held this year in Xi'an, China. I had the honour of opening the Conference, with a welcome address to approximately 220 participants from China and Australia. Nick Murphy who leads the program has written a more detailed account of the conference which you will find later in this edition.

It was interesting to hear about the educational focus of our Chinese counterparts at the Ministry level, and to identify the high level of congruency between the Victorian Education State agenda and their own. There is a focus on the ‘Enterprise’ skills (such as communication, collaboration, problem solving, metacognition and self-regulation), design skills and vocational skills – in other words, the development of the whole child in a holistic way. We heard of examples of this in school design and innovation, from Ye Cuiwei and the Hailing Education Group. They are in the process of designing a school that makes time, and establishes school structures, to promote Reading, Art, Sport and Self Reflection, developing characteristics such as integrity, communication, empathy and future orientation.

We heard from academics who discussed with us the importance of transnational perspectives, and understanding the various identities our students may have. This applies, of course, in the context of every person’s life, not just our International Students and the students studying VCE Offshore.

A big thank you must go to Nick Murphy, who not only provides daily stewardship over the VCE Offshore program, but also took a lead role in organising this conference, along with Gary Li and his team at Aide Education. Nick was our good-humoured shepherd through the journey, and was also conference MC. Congratulations are also in order for our teachers: Kun Qian, Michael Waiser, Danny Leondidis, Kirsty Phillips, Wang Zhen, Rosalie Maidment, Effie Sgardelis and Paul Giddy who did an exceptional job presenting subject-specific workshops to our colleagues in China.

NHS has done itself proud. I had a great time getting to know our people, and the people connected to the program a lot better. Northcote High School remains the only Australian Government school to work in China in collaboration with Chinese partner schools to deliver the VCE.

Sustainability focus at Northcote High School – your help is needed

In past years NHS achieved a five star rating for the Resource Smart Schools initiative. This Victorian Government program is run by Sustainability Victoria. The program assists schools to embed sustainability in everything they do, encourages real-life sustainability learning and helps schools save money.

With over 200 actions across five modules and a network of regional sustainability experts, Resource Smart Schools helps us make the small steps required to achieve huge results. We currently have two Sustainability Coordinators – Rohan Griffiths and Scott MacDonald, who support the student Green Team. The Green Team are currently working hard to enhance our sustainability approaches in various ways - including making their own wax wraps and planting trees for the Regent Honeyeater Project, whilst on the Green Team camp at Boho South.

In order to keep our five star rating we need to reactivate a working party that connects and reports to School Council. This working party should be made up by staff, students and parents and would meet 4-6 times per year. If you have expertise or interest in sustainability please contact Kate Challis on 9488 2332 or at challis.kate.e1@edumail.vic.gov.au to offer your assistance.

Congratulations – State Representatives

Congratulations to Taysen Wilcox who has been selected to represent the School Sport Victoria, State Hockey Team at the Gold Coast in the first week of August, and to Rosie Thyer who has been selected for the State Soccer Team in Shepparton in the last week of August.

We wish both Taysen and Rosie all the very best. Further details about their achievements are outlined later in this edition of the newsletter.

Netball Courts 

We are delighted the Netball Courts have been finished (with the exception of the final seal which will go down sometime in Term 4 when the weather warms up).  NHS has access to them – in fact our Joint Use Agreement with Darebin allows for us to have exclusive use of them during school hours. Our students have already shown us how much they appreciate them, with regular crowds making use of them at recess and lunchtime. The PE staff and PE classes are also highly appreciative. This project is a great example of how school and community partnerships enrich our social fabric: we sincerely thank the Darebin Council and Netball Victoria for development of this fabulous resource.

Performing Arts Centre

We are also very pleased with the rapid construction of the framework for the Performing Arts Centre. Now that the framework is drawing to completion, the next stage involves some inconvenience to pedestrians, and in the near future some changes to traffic along St Georges Road.

The initial works include the lower brickwork along the street frontage, requiring the builders to move the temporary fence, which will result in the footpath being narrowed for 2 days, starting on Wednesday 25 July.

Following that, the gantry and scaffold erection over the footpath will begin in approximately the second week of August and will take two days to complete. The builders will advise us of the exact timing two days prior to beginning these works and we will notify our community via the Compass Newsfeed.  The impact on the community will be significant at this time, with both the footpath and one lane of St Georges Road closed for the two days of erection.

We apologise for any inconvenience during this stage of construction. Rest assured the outcome of the momentary challenges will benefit the entire community when the building is opened.

New website launched

We celebrated the launch of the new-look Northcote High School website this term. The website has undergone a thorough audit and analysis of usability, audience and user needs, resulting in the development of a new information architecture and a streamlined, contemporary look. It is a great 'public face' for our school which well represents our wonderful students, opportunities and achievements. Our analysis identified that the users of the website are mostly community-based and prospective families.  Existing families and students will find most information and resources you need on our internal systems - myNorthcoteHigh, Compass and this newsletter. However the website does contain links to these, as well as some school policies and overview information. Take a look here https://www.nhs.vic.edu.au/