From the Principal's Desk
Welcome back to Term Two
We hope all students, their families and their friends had a relaxing holiday. It was great to see our students and staff return from the holidays looking refreshed and prepared for another term of learning and growth. We hope the break allowed students to reflect on their progress throughout Term 1 and enabled them to set some challenging goals for themselves both in and out of the classroom over the next eleven weeks.
It was great to welcome parents back onsite for parent-teacher-student interviews. These meetings represent an opportunity to put our reports to their proper use in encouraging discussion between students and teachers, students and parents, and parents and teachers. A growth mindset approach, which allows young people to take risks in their learning, is required to do this successfully. Adopting a growth mindset means learners understand that there is always room for improvement and that feedback is an opportunity to reflect and learn. In doing so, parents and guardians can engage in conversations with their students on the learning goals they establish for themselves, as well as the strategies that they will employ to improve their learning based on the feedback they receive.
ANZAC Assembly
As has become a Nossal tradition, we began Week Two with a whole school assembly commemorating ANZAC Day, in honour of our defence forces. This year, the assembly was held on Monday 22 April. Mr. Ray Heathcote (past President of the Berwick RSL and current RSL Welfare Team Leader) focused his speech on the veterans and their aspirations. Similarly, Kimberley Ikin, a humanities student, presented historical details about 25 April 1915, when the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps' first soldiers landed on the Gallipoli peninsula's shores. Members of the Student Representative Council joined the House Captains in laying House wreaths beneath the school’s flags.
The Wind Symphony also made the assembly memorable, performing the National Anthem and “Orion's Last Battle, " composed by Jonathan McBride and conducted by Sally Haworth.
The commemoration prominently featured The Ode, read by our School Captains, followed by the Last Post, superbly played by Patrick McConachy—the observation of the traditional minutes' silence, followed by Patrick playing the Reveille to conclude. Thank you to all the staff and students who assisted with organising this event.
Select Entry Network: SRC Summit
The Nossal SRC attended a summit at Melbourne High School on Wednesday, 17 April 2024. This summit provided an opportunity for the four selective entry high schools to collaborate, sharing perspectives, information, and new ideas on current topics. It was also a chance to compare and learn from each others’ projects and approaches. Members of the Nossal SRC will share their discoveries with our community via teams and the newsletter in the coming weeks.
Members of the SRC are currently planning for Nossal Week in Week 5 of this term. They are planning a week of activities to get the school community involved in collaborating. The clubs and societies are working with the SRC to hold several activities and events to let students experience what they have to offer and to have fun. There will also be teacher-student competitions. On Monday 13 May, we will have the SRC assembly; on Wednesday 15 May, we will have the Autumn concert (starting at 6.30pm); and on Friday 17 May, we plan to have the Parent Picnic, which will include our wider school community. The students plan to organise activities and events such as table tennis, cup pong, card games and maybe trivia. Please save this date.
Japanese Tour to Chosei High School
Nineteen students and three teachers travelled to Japan from Friday 5 April to Saturday 20 April 2024.
Students who participated in the tour developed and strengthened their Japanese language skills by immersing themselves in the Japanese language and culture. They visited locations such as Tokyo, Kyoto, Hiroshima, Himeji, and Chiba. They also participated in an exchange with our Sister School, a senior high school in Chiba called Chosei High School (a Maths—Science focused school).
Students experienced the "Japanese way of life" within a family context and attended school for two days. They participated in the school's program and attended regular classes with their host student. Furthermore, students developed a deeper cultural understanding through visits to tourist attractions, such as the Peace Park & Peace Memorial Museum in Hiroshima, Kiyomizu Temple, Yasaka Shrine, and even Tokyo Disneyland, to name a few. We are grateful to Ms. Sumiyo Kamimura for organising such a memorable experience for our students, Ms. Vanstan and Mr. Pegram, and for helping to create lifelong memories.
Parent evening with Lael Stone
Last term, we were lucky enough to invite Lael Stone, an educator and author, to address our parents on the importance of connections with their teenagers. The conversation focused on building the young person's confidence and focusing on the positives. The parents in the audience were asked to think about their teenagers' strengths and something good about them.
Lael described resilience as “the happy knack of being about to bungy jump through the pitfalls of life—to rise above adversity and obstacles.” She encourages parents to build their children's resilience by improving the quality of their connections with young people and building trust in them by communicating with them about their decisions. We must make time for the hard stuff and help young people navigate discomfort. It is essential to embrace teenagers' differences and their individual safely.
Lael drew our attention to Robert Waldinger’s longitudinal study on "Happiness", which highlights that although “many young people tend to think that fame, fortune, and hard work will bring them happiness, it’s actually our social connections that are most important for our wellbeing.” Lael challenged parents to consider Susan David’s comments, “Because we know that no matter what grades children have, and no matter what their outward skills are, ultimately what’s going to be the limit of whether they are well and happy and thriving human beings is determined much more by what goes on inside of them — their capacity to navigate difficult emotions, thoughts, experiences so that they can bring the best of themselves forward. Please refer to the Wellbeing page for more information about this parent session.
The Duke of Edinburgh - Adventure Camp
Thirty-seven students set up on Monday 22 April, for a thirty-kilometre walk on the Yea rail trail. The students commenced their walk at Molesworth, went through the Cheviot Tunnel, and arrived at the Yea Caravan Park for the night. Students carried their heavy backpacks during the walk and had to fend for themselves by setting up their tents and cooking their meals.
This adventure was designed to get students out of their comfort zones, challenge them to learn more about the wider environment and develop self-confidence and teamwork skills. Students were working to achieve the Bronze award. We thank Ms. Lucy Bonham for organising this camp and supporting the students in achieving this internationally recognised award. We appreciate the support of Mr. Bradley Monaco and parent volunteers Irvanpreet Malhi and Gagan Agrawal. We are encouraged by the sense of adventure that our students reflected during this camp and are incredibly grateful that staff and parents are willing to support these activities.
Winter Uniform
All students are expected to wear their full winter uniform this term. We ask parents to support us by ensuring that students are correctly attired in their uniforms before they arrive at school. Posters of the uniform can be found in all the tutorial rooms, and we have several mannequins that display the correct uniform. The NHS Student Handbook offers further clarification; please check the Student Handbook 2024, pages17 and 18. https://www.nossalhs.vic.edu.au/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/NHS-Uniform-Dress-code-and-expectations.pdf
The next PFA Uniform Shop will run on Monday 6 May at 8:30 am. They have an excellent selection of uniform items that can be purchased for a reasonable price. If families need help, please do not hesitate to contact the Wellbeing team because we are always willing to help.
Nossal Events coming up
The busyness of Nossal will continue throughout the term as preparations are already underway for a number of events:
Year 11 Mock Job Interviews
On Wednesday 1 May and Thursday 2 May students in Year 11 will have the opportunity to present their resume and practice their interview skills with experienced members of our local community. Students receive invaluable feedback on how they might improve their interview skills.
Year 9 Healesville Excursion
All the Year 9 students will have a science excursion to Healesville Sanctuary on Friday 3 May. This is a fun excursion where lots of learning takes place.
Year 12 Proactive Programs
As parents will know we have organised a series of lectures and information sessions for our Year 12s throughout the year. These lectures are designed to provide students with information about topics that will be required beyond Year 12. On Tuesday 7 May there will be a one-hour workshop run by Minus 18 which will focus on diversity within our community.
SRC 2024 Raffle tickets
The Student Representative Council will be selling raffle tickets for $2 during the weeks ahead. We ask parents to support this worthy cause by sending some money through their students. The money will cntribute to the Nossal 4 Nossal fund which is the fund that is used to support students within our school.
There are some amazing prizes -
- iPad and apple pencil.
- P2040dn Printer ($300)
- $100 JB Hi Fi voucher
- Laptop repair voucher (approximately 2 hours of time worth $100)
- Laptop stand and Bag
- Churro maker
- University branded Merch
There are several other consolation prizes. The draw will take place during Week 6 – please check Compass and email for more information about the raffle.
Fiona De Zylva
Assistant Principal