Mirboo North Secondary College Newsletter

School News

Hydrogen Car Club

On Wednesday the Hydrogen Car Club racing team had a meeting with Kieran Curry, Horizon Educational Education Programs Manager (APAC), and Phil Thomas from the Gippsland Tech School to check on the team’s progress leading up to their 4 hour endurance race in July.  Kieran had flown down from the Gold Coast to meet with all the Victorian Teams and was very impressed with the progress our team has made, and said he was looking forward to seeing how they perform on race day.

 

The Hydrogen Car Club have been constructing a hydrogen powered radio controlled car, they are in the process of making some modifications to make the car more efficient on the track, and testing the results of their modifications, ready to race at the Toyota Centre of Excellence in Altona against 20 other teams

Sarah Giessler

Smoking and Vaping Ban

All parents, carers and students are reminded of the legislation that within Victoria, a person must not smoke cigarettes, including e-cigarettes/vapes (regardless of whether they contain nicotine) within school premises and within 4 metres of any pedestrian access to school premises. Smoking or Vaping in these places is a fineable offence. The smoking and vaping ban applies to:

  • anyone present on school premises during and outside of school hours including students, teachers, contractors, parents or carers or the wider community, such as sporting groups
  • all activities that take place on school premises including pre-schools, kindergartens, outside school hours care, cultural, sporting or recreational activities and school fetes. Parents, carers, schools, and community all play an important role in protecting children and young people from, and educating them about, the harmful effects of smoking and vaping.

Research from the Royal Children’s Hospital shows many parents and carers are not aware of the harmful effects or how their views about smoking and vaping can impact the likelihood of a young person taking up smoking or vaping.

The Department of Education has developed resources to help you learn more about the health risks of smoking and vaping. The resources include advice about how to talk to children and young people about vaping, and where to get support. To access the resources, go to https://www.vic.gov.au/smoking-and-vaping-advice-parents

You can also view this video on smoking and vaping from experts at the Royal Children’s Hospital Melbourne for health advice and tips for starting a conversation with young people.

School Dental Van Visit

The School Dental Initiative will be visiting Mirboo North Secondary School to provide free dental check-ups and services for students. This service is bulk billed with Medicare for eligible students under the Child Dental Benefits Schedule.  

Students will receive either a Free Dental Health screen, or if eligible, Free check-up (preventative and general dental health care) in a fully functional dental truck - just like a dental clinic.

Do I need to pay anything? No, Medicare CDBS covers the cost for eligible student's via bulk billing.  If your child is not eligible, ADHV will do a FREE dental Health Screen.  ADHV will check your eligibility before treatment.  

For your child to be seen, you will need to fill in the Dental Consent Form and return it to the school signed and as soon as possible. 

Forms are available at the school office and will be given to all the students over the next few days.Consent form collection & return deadline: June 14th, 2024Dental Van Visit week is allocated for the August 5th, 2024* 

Please return all forms to the school reception.If you have any questions, please contact school reception, Emma Hughes (School nurse) or ADHV directly at (03) 93239607 or via email at info@adhv.com.au.

Regards,Emma Hughes and The Wellbeing Team

Lunchtime in the library 

The library offers a range of lunchtime activities- quiet reading, chess, Uno, other games , knitting etc. The latest activity is a community jigsaw puzzle. The current puzzle is a 1000 piece puzzle featuring Australian birds. It is about half finished - come and join us and help complete it by the end of term. The library is open from 1pm on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. 

Lesla and Kerry

Mobile Phones/Devices

A reminder that the Department of Education has in place a mobile phone ban that requires students who bring mobile phones to school to have them switched off and securely put away during school hours.

The Department is requiring all schools to ensure this ban is in place and enforced from the start of the 2024 school year.

The ban applies equally to all government schools right across the state.

This helps ensure that school is a learning environment free from unnecessary distractions and disruptions. 

By ensuring mobile phones are kept away at recess and lunch times, students can interact with each other face-to-face, without the distractions and social pressures that mobile phones can cause.

We ask for the support of all our families, staff and students in continuing to support the implementation of this policy in our school. 

 

Further information 

Exceptions: For a small number of students with particular health needs, an exception to the policy may be granted. Please contact the Principal if you would like to discuss this.

Emergencies: In the event of an emergency or if you need to immediately contact your child, I ask that families contact the school office who will pass on a message as required. 

Parent support: The Mobile phones in schools webpage provides links to resources for families to help them balance their children’s time using mobile phones.

If you have further questions, please contact the school office.

Exceptions can be granted by your Principal, or by the teacher for your class, in accordance with our school's Mobile Phones policy. This may include health and wellbeing-related exceptions; and exceptions related to ensuring your safety if you’re out of school grounds.

 

Head Chefs

In Food Technology, Year 10 students perform the role of Head Chef. They are responsible for: menu selection, food ordering, trialling recipes & time management. The Head Chefs wear uniforms as worn in the hospitality industry and demonstrate skills and techniques to assist the class as they prepare the menu. Appropriate food presentation and garnishes are suggested to the group prior to plating and tasting the dish. 

Here we have captured some of our experiences this semester as students enjoy the teamwork and develop a wide range of skills & knowledge.

 

Wendy King

XSEL @ MNSC

The Resilience Project – Parent/Carer Hub

 

Throughout the school year we will be working closely with The Resilience Project to support the wellbeing of our school community.

 

The Resilience Project provides emotionally engaging programs and containing  evidence-based, practical strategies to help student to build resilience.

 

Our Partnership Program consists of online presentations and weekly lessons for students, professional development for staff, and Parent & Carer Hub (inc. digital presentations) for our parent and carer community.

 

This week, were be sharing the Parent & Carer Hub with you. The videos are 5-10 minutes long and will walk through the key pillars of resilience: Gratitude, Empathy & Mindfulness. You’ll hear stories and be introduced to activities to show how these strategies can support our kids' learning and development, and also support you as parents and carers.

 

This program is an important part of our school’s effort to look after the mental health of our community.

 

View the first presentation of the series here:

 

                    

 

In this presentation, Hugh shares a personal experience about his sister's battles with Mental Illness.

 

Note: This video contains a story about an Eating Disorder that may be triggering. Please consider this before watching. For mental health resources and support information, visit The Resilience Project’s Support Page.

 

We will be in touch regularly to share the remainder of the program, including research and wellbeing activities to integrate into day-to-day life.

Enrolments for 2025

Just a reminder that enrolments for Year 7 2025 have opened, and school tours are available.  Enrolments for other year levels are also available.  Please contact the school for more information.

 

Absences and Attendance

As the cooler weather brings an array of colds and flu’s, we know students may be getting sick and we prefer not to have contagious symptoms at school. If your child is unwell and not at school, please ensure you contact the office or year level coordinator, email keith.kerstjens@education.vic.gov.au, or alternatively, log into compass and complete the attendance note yourself. 

In an ideal world we would have every student at school every day, but if that’s not possible, please inform the school if your child is going to be away for an extended time, so we can support your student with opportunities to catch up on missed work.

 

Regional Cross Country

Early Thursday morning 15 Mirboo North SC students braved the fog and cold to head of to Drouin for the School Sports Victoria - Gippsland Cross Country Championships. 

Competing against the best young athletes from across Inner and Outer Gippsland, an area bigger than Switzerland, Denmark or the Netherlands. At stake was a place in the state finals. Our students, represented the school with dignity and pride, showing endurance and speed on the race course, but also being well mannered, polite and supportive to other at all times. 

 

Congratulations to Aleesha, Miller and Matilda who will go on to the SV State Cross Country Championships at Yarra Valley Racing Club in July

Nic Ryan

 

Trade Class

The Year 9 Trade class modified and painted a table to make it wheelchair friendly so students can use it.   The year 8 Trade Class made some bench top tables.

 

 

National Reconciliation Week

This year National Reconciliation Week is observed 27th May to 3rd June. The theme for this year is ‘Now More Than Ever’ and is a reminder to all Australians to continue the fight for justice and the rights of First Nations Peoples.

It commemorates two significant milestones in the reconciliation journey: the successful 1967 referendum and the Hight Court Mabo decision.

Mirboo North Secondary College observed this week by having lunchtime activities including hand printing the Aboriginal Flag. The week ended with our KESO Anne-Maree Stever hosting a whole school assembly educating the students on Sorry day and the Uluru Statement from the Heart.

This was concluded with the Year 9 Food Technology students helping with the making and cooking of Johnny Cakes that were enjoyed with a selection of jams and honey by the whole school community.

This week is a reminder that all Australians should feel valued and know the history and culture of the land we call home. An opportunity to celebrate our shared histories, cultures and achievements, and to explore how each of us can contribute to achieving reconciliation in Australia.

Kate Gib

Year 9 Furniture Making 

The Year 9 Furniture making class have once again made produced some amazing tables, and quality joinery.