From the Principal 

What wonderful news on Sunday from our Premier. The state of the pandemic in Australia is something remarkable in comparison to other nations around the world. Our collective efforts have really paid off, and with any luck, we can keep things under control so that we can enjoy the holiday season and return to school in 2021 with more certainty and relief than we have had throughout this entire year. 

I know I am looking forward to a trip to the country next weekend to see my family. The last time I saw them in person was at Christmas last year, and I have had a holiday to Tasmania booked since last summer, so I am delighted that it looks like it can go ahead. 

With only four weeks to go, the pace of things at school only seems to be accelerating. There are many key events and tasks still needing to be done to finish up 2020 and start 2021 -a many of these have either been new, delayed, overcomplicated, or have required us to develop 2-5 iterations of the plans along the way, all due to COVID, and are making the end of the year a continued challenge for staff. Thank you for your continued patience, understanding and support. 

Year 8 Activities

We were overjoyed that the Year 8 Activities could go ahead last week. A big thank you to the Junior Sub-school, in particular, Audra Keane, who has been dogged and flexible to ensure this program could go ahead. This ensured that students could have some fabulous out of class, real-world learning and bonding opportunities, but in addition, also enable Halls Outdoor Education Group to gain some revenue in a year when it would have been otherwise impossible. Thank you also to Courtney Lever and Aurelie Charenton and the Year 8 Tutors, who also did a fabulous job with students throughout the week. 

The Merri Creek reserve proved to be a magnificent venue for the week. Students participated in mountain biking, bush cooking and initiatives and had a great time. 

I had the pleasure of joining the Wednesday bush cooking teams, and have to say, I was a bit jealous of the sumptuous feasts they were preparing. 

VCE Exams

The VCE Exams are going extremely well. Our exam invigilators continually make comment at how organised and respectful our students are. The senior team have been doing a wonderful job to ensure that things run smoothly. 

Graduation

The Senior Team are also doing a wonderful job planning a new-look Graduation, which was communicated to students and families last week. We are pleased to now have the ceremony, and then COVIDsafe meal and fun activities on campus afterwards. The ceremony will be streamed to families. 

Kwong Lee Dow Scholars Program

I had the pleasure of congratulating Zara Baglioni of Year 10, who was the successful candidate for the Class of 2022 Kwong Lee Dow Young Scholars program at the University of Melbourne. Despite the exceptionally high quality of all of the Northcote High School candidates, the university has limited places in this prestigious program, and it meant that a number of our students missed out. Congratulations also goes to our other high calibre applicants: Alicia Chant, Sophie Hargreaves, Mila Lawson, Harriet Lohrey, Matilda Lohrey, Hangsam Nembang, Noah Rindschwentner, Sebastian Rio, Amelie Sibillin. The university made comment about their disappointment that they could not also accept the rest of our applicants. 

Year 11s finishing up

The Year 11s have done a great job of finishing up the year with their last official classes on Friday. They have done a great job with in-class practice exams. On Tuesday they all did a fabulous job sitting their practice English-study exams. We look forward to Course Confirmation on Friday. While the majority of students will receive their preferred courses, there will inevitably be a small amount of disappointment. Rest assured that we have done all that we can to ensure the maximum number of students get the maximum number of course preferences. In 2020, even Course Confirmation will look different. Students will attend their designated appointments, and parents will be called by telephone. Sarah Burns has communicated with families about how to pay their 2021 ESLIs via the Compass Newsfeed and there is a reminder of the key points at the end of the newsletter.

Year 11s will also, excitedly, vote for the 4 2021 School Captains on the day. 

Support for Year 12 Students with their results and pathways 

We are committed to providing high level support to students when VCE/VCAL results are released on the second last day of the year. We have communicated this previously, but thought it worthwhile reminding everyone of the support available to students and families. 

That’s it for now. Until next time, which will be our last newsletter in this extraordinary year, I extend my very best wishes to one and all. 

Sue Harrap

Principal.