Welcome new staff 

Joining our community : Part 2

We are delighted to have several new staff join our community this year, with a great breadth of experience from teaching and beyond. We will bring you a short introduction to each of them over the next couple newsletters. Please say hello when you see them around. 

Daniela Cafasso

Having been a teacher for the past 7 years, I believe that the teachers role is to guide student learning and be a facilitator for their chosen path. With that in mind, I am so excited to be joining the Northcote High School community as I feel a lot of my teaching values align with the school. As an English teacher, I believe reading is the key to success and to model good habits to our students, I can always be found with a book on my person. I am extremely passionate about reading, social justice and the environment. Outside of school, I am a fifth-dan blackbelt in Taekwondo, who is obsessed with her cat and sharing freshly baked goods with her family and friends.

Luke dalla Zuanna

Hi I'm Luke, and I am in my 4th year of teaching. I studied a Bachelor of Teaching and Exercise Science at ACU and have been interested in teaching and coaching for a long time, starting my soccer coaching when I was 16. I have a passion for all sports, playing a variety of sports growing up, and most recently playing soccer. I am most looking forward to getting to know all the staff and students at Northcote High School and growing as a teacher. I am excited to learn new ideas and teaching strategies from those around me to help me as teacher in the future.

Georgia McKay

I have just completed my 4 year degree at Monash University and am lucky enough to have my first teaching job here at Northcote High School. I currently compete and coach at a championship level at calisthenics and hope that the years I have spent coaching will reflect into my teaching in the classroom. I am most excited to teach Duke of Ed here as it is out of my comfort zone but going in the direction on the subjects that I want to teach in the future. I am also looking forward to creating a classroom and space where my students feel comfortable enough to come to me with anything (positive or negative) and they feel safe enough to be themselves and enjoy their time at school. 

Andy Lockyer

Originally I am from Perth, WA and I have been a teacher in mathematics and science for 2 years. Before I was teaching, I was employed in fire safety/protection engineering for around 18 months. In addition to these professional achievements, I have also been lucky enough to be involved in volunteering at Orange Sky and Oz Harvest. The aspect I am most looking forward to here is to be involved in a close teacher community as well as become a part of the more immediate Northcote community.

Sylvie Berthie

Bonjour a tous ! My name is Sylvie and I have been teaching French for about 25 years now in different schools across Melbourne.

I am a native-French speaker and enjoy returning to France as often as I can (not always a very easy thing to do !!) to catch up with family and friends and learn all about the newest trends in France.

I grew up near Paris but my family is from the south of France, a beautiful town called Cahors, near Toulouse.

I am very passionate about teaching my native language and culture to young people, especially about current French music and cinema. I do hope that they will share the same passion with me.

I am very lucky to be able to teach all year levels and look forward to meeting all my students, getting to know them, what they like and what they are capable of.

I’m also keen to develop a close connection with them and the whole Northcote High School community. 

Jack Nitschke

As a teacher, I am committed to ensuring that all students leave my classes with an enduring and meaningful breadth of knowledge that they can carry with them throughout their lives. My educational background is in the study of Ancient and Modern History. I have always been fascinated by the interconnectivity and enduring impact of the historical forces that shape our society. Throughout my career, I have always sought to provide a comprehensive understanding of these forces to students I teach. Reconciling these forces with the profound strangeness of individual historical figures has always been a fun experience for me. I am very pleased that I will have the opportunity to continue my work at Northcote.  I am looking forward working in a supportive collegiate environment and I look forward to getting to know the Northcote High community.