From the Principals' Desk 

Welcome back to 2024! As you will read later, our return to school this year has unfortunately been touched by an unexpected grief, but despite this it has been a true pleasure to once more be sharing space and time with Nossal's enthusiastic students and committed staff.

Sad news for our community

As many of our readers will already know, the excitement of our first few weeks has sadly been tempered by the tragic news that Juliea Slywka, a long-serving member of our education support staff, had passed away unexpectedly. 

Later in this newsletter you will read the first of many tributes which will be made in memory of Juliea, whose contributions to our community were highly valued and whose lively and welcoming personality made her a much loved colleague and friend. For those who knew her, the page also includes an invitation to share some memories of Juliea with us; we would be pleased to gather these, and share them with her family and friends.

Courage and Curiosity

Throughout last year, you heard a lot from me about the way in which learning brings joy to our lives. That's true whether we're learning a new way to ice a cake or a new way to approach a problem of calculus, or indeed a new way to stretch before exercising that enhances our wellbeing and our experiences as embodied selves. Not all learning is academic, but all learning can bring us that spark of joy and sense of achievement. 

It's important to recognise, though, that learning can also be hard. It requires effort and dedication, openness to the world and engagement with it exactly as it is (not as we wish it was). Inside the classroom, it means being brave enough to contribute both ideas and questions to a group discussion (or to a written response for one's teacher), and having the sang-froid to deal with failure as one of the necessary elements of the learning process. 

Thankfully, there is a force at work within us that can overpower these barriers, taking us out of ourselves and allowing us to focus on the learning itself. This is of course the strong motivating force of curiosity. Allowing one's curiosity free reign is an excellent way to enliven our experience of the world. Those who are deeply curious also tend to be those who are least concerned with how others will judge them if they ask a question or try out an unfinished idea. For them, the need to know is stronger than the fear of criticism. 

We are all driven by curiosity. This is what leads us to spend more hours than we should following links online until we find ourselves watching a video at midnight about how crayons are manufactured, just because it's interesting. This year, I hope that our staff and students give themselves permission to be curious in many different environments, and that they take great joy in the discoveries to which this curiosity leads them.

Foundation Assembly

The formal start to our year came, as usual, in the form of our Foundation Assembly. This year's honoured guest was Mr Roger Page, whose speech to the incoming Class of 2027 (and the soon to graduate Class of 2024!) was both an insightful reflection in its own right and a thoughtful tribute to the school's namesake, Sir Gustav Nossal, in that it articulated for our students "three things" to think about and act on throughout 2024. It was a pleasure to be reminded of Sir Gus's dictum that we ought not to be "unidimensional nerds" but rather engage broadly with the world around us and take up the opportunities presented by the many activities which occur outside our classrooms. 

Mr Page was joined by our School Council President Dr John Inns, who also had some sage advice for our students about finding their own pathways and pursuing these. Between them, they presented a lively and apropos reflection on our school.

Welcome to Nossal!

Along with our new Year 9 students, it was a pleasure to welcome several new staff members to Nossal during our Foundation Assembly on 30th January. I would like to formally welcome to our community

• Ms Lyn Clarkson (Health/PE Teacher)
• Ms Tamara Green (Science/Biology Teacher)
• Ms Tarsha Jones (Health/PE Teacher)
• Ms Shantal Crow (Finance Manager)
• Ms Suzanne Alley (Education Support - Middle School)

and to welcome back some staff members who joined us part-way through 2023, including

• Mr Michael Boileau (Facilities)
• Ms Ashton Chatfield (Mental Health Practitioner)
• Mr Tony Keen (IT Services & Project Manager)
• Ms Elaine Nieva (English Teacher)

Finally, it is a pleasure to welcome Ms Emma Winton back to the school after her absence last year.

So much swimming!

Two major programs have already occured at the school this year. The first is of course our annual iWeek program, which is designed to help our new Year 9 students transition into the school, find their way around, make friends, and begin to understand the way things work at Nossal.

As in previous years, a highlight of the program was the annual iWeek excursion, which this year took place at the Melbourne Sports and Aquatic Centre (MSAC). As usual, our students had lots of fun while also learning to navigate public transport into and out of the city. 

This excursion proved an excellent warm-up activity for the start of our House Festival program, which as usual began with the annual House Swimming competition. Students enjoyed an exciting day at Doveton Pool in the Park and, while Phoenix House took the overall prize on the day, all Houses demonstrated their spirit, enthusiasm and skills. 

I would like to commend the school's Health & PE team, under the expert guidance of Mr Cameron Christiansen, who were instrumental in making the day a success. I would also like to thank all the staff and students at the school for their contributions to this wonderful event. 

School Council Elections: Nominations Now Open

As you will note later in the newsletter, the school is currently accepting nominations for membership to the 2024 Nossal School Council. This year there are 3 parent positions and 2 student positions open. The work of council in overseeing the governance of the school is vital, and the contributions which both our parent and student representatives make to its discussions and deliberations are extremely valuable. I would strongly encourage those interested in this important role to take the opportunity to nominate by submitting the relevant forms to the school by the close of business on Monday 19 February. 

Privacy and Policies

Over the course of this term, we will be reminding you of where to find various policies that outline the way we operate as a school. 

This edition, we'd like to remind you that as a government school, Nossal High School operates within the guidelines laid out by the Department of Education's Schools Privacy Policy. You can read all about this policy on the following two central sites:

• Privacy and Information Sharing: Policy | education.vic.gov.au
• Schools' privacy policy | vic.gov.au (www.vic.gov.au)

as well as on the Nossal High School web site, in the Policy & Privacy section. Specifically, you will find there a copy of the collection notice which goes out to parents, guardians and carers when they enrol their student at the school:

• Collection-Notice-Enrolment (nossalhs.vic.edu.au)

and our annual publicity & media consent form:

• Annual Consent Form & Collection Notice (nossalhs.vic.edu.au)

These documents are designed to make clear how we manage information at the school, and to give our families an annual opportunity to opt out of the use of student images in spaces like this newsletter.

The year ahead beckons

As this newsletter goes to print, we have already completed three weeks of what promises to be an action-packed year. Like you, I am filled with curiosity about how it will develop. I have no doubt that it bring us many new experiences to reflect on (and moments of joyful learning!) as we embrace each of its challenges. I wish all members of our community the best of luck throughout Term 1 and the rest of the year.

Tracey Mackin

Acting Principal