From the Principal

Community, partnerships and celebrations

Celebrating – Firsts and Lasts

The next few weeks are a brilliant opportunity to be part of the joy of Northcote High.  Each day groups of Year 12s celebrate a final exam.  Friday is the last day and is followed by the formal at the Aquarium.  Congratulations to the students, teachers and families for partnering in learning. Good luck – results will be published on 15 December. 

Year 10 and 11s have been working hard in preparation for exams: testing their knowledge and ability to respond to different types of information and stimulus in a ‘controlled’ situation.  I encourage all families to review ongoing assessment feedback (CATs) and GPAs are students work toward achieving their end of year goals. In preparation for Course Confirmation I encourage you to dive into this information – celebrating areas of success and identifying areas for future effort.  We look forward to seeing you with your child at the Year 9 – 12 2018 Course Confirmation days (see mail out , Newsfeed and in this eNews).

Congratulations to the Year 8 Basketball Team – state champions – this is a huge achievement and highlights the talent of students and their commitment to work together.  This week has also seen students shining at the Kool Schools Music Awards and the Cyber Games.  

Community making

Come and join us across the coming weeks to hear, see and be part of the student learning experience in the classroom and beyond. Tonight features the Year 7 & 8s at the Showcase and Year 9s at City School Presentations. Meanwhile Year 10s are volunteering and at Work Experience; our students and teachers are in China with the VCE offshore Program mentoring teachers in Baotou and Henghui;  whilst the team in the Year 9 Young Leaders to China program are completing their final days of a 6 week immersion, supported by Liz Lenthall.  This week and next Year 9s are also participating in the Duke of Edinburgh camp to Wilsons Prom, and the Great Victorian Bike Ride heads off from Wilson's Prom around Gippsland - ride safe and have fun!

Next week the Classical Studies Tour to Italy and Greece departs for 15 days – lead by Carlene Wilson , Sarah Elphick and Kevin Hoole.

Year 7 – 9 activities week is booking out fast and the Art and Design Show is a feature of the end of November.  Visual and performing arts give life to the school and are best when shared with you, our community – Uncle Bill Nicholson will be launching the opening with a smoking ceremony. See you there!

School planning 2018

Last week the school leadership team worked with new Principal Sue Harrap (see introduction on the following page) on the school 2018 Annual Implementation Plan including Key Improvement Strategies, Professional Learning foci and teacher collaboration opportunities. Student voice and choice are a feature of the conversations and will live through the course and curriculum design within the Northcote Model at Years 9 and 10.  The Year 7 and 8 Northcote Model planning for 2019 and 2020 is well underway and will be announced early in 2018.  The focus of Year 7 and 8 will be year level specific programs centred on the fundamentals (literacy and numeracy) with a unique focus for the learning program at each year which will include inquiry based learning and some integration of learning areas around STEM and Liberal Arts.  Stay posted for more information.  

2018 recruitment is well underway – all roles are advertised on our website, via Recruitments Online (ROL) and Seek. Appointments to date will further enrich the quality of our staff with the range of skills they bring to our community.  Induction begins in December.

Sue will be onsite for 2.5 more days between now and end of year, and we will be working together to support a smooth handover up until 28 January 2018.

Community news

Campus Master Plan

Last week Baldesso Cortese architects presented a draft report to School Council.  Key recommendations will be communicated  by the end of the year.

Northcote Thrive Fund

The inaugural meeting of the Northcote Thrive Fund - Build, Inspire, Empower, Innovate and Contribute (see article in this issue) was held last week.  A committed group of parents is heading up this initiative.  Northcote Thrive Fund is a purpose built conduit for families, students (past and present) and community to donate money and contribute expertise, energy and resources to the school programs and community. Please call or write to me if you’d like to get involved – we are really excited about the possibilities created by the Northcote Thrive Fund in enriching programs and broader goals of the school.

The Northcote Model Year 9 & 10 - program launch

Faculty teams are working side by side with faculty Leaders, Course Convenors and the Teaching and Learning team to ensure all is in place for the program launch in 2018. Kate Gibbings, Josh McDonald will be supporting myNorthcoteHigh set up with Josh Melican and Prue Morris supporting UBDs and curriciculum design alongside Faculty Leaders

Next newsletter I will send a link to Clare Gleghorn - Class of 2017 Graduation address – she spoke brilliantly around failing forward and her own post school and school experiences.  Clare was School Captain of Northcote High in 1999.

Finally – the Northcote High School community celebrated the 'yes' vote.  "The ‘yes’ vote is not just a statement to the LGBTIQ community: it’s a statement about the kind of nations we are." Bravo Penny Wong.

Kate