From the Principal 

I hope that you were one of the many families that enjoyed our School Production of Disney’s Newsies over the last fortnight. Below is a photo of the cast, backstage, support roles, and musicians at Saturday’s finale saying thank you to the staff that have been supporting them over the last 6 months of preparation. Chris, one of our performing arts captains, led the thank yous and farewelled our Year 12s that were part of this year’s show. There was such enthusiasm in the room that I am sure that they will all be back to participate again in next year’s show. 

Our Extra-curricular camps program is continuing as our weather warms up again. This week our Outdoor Ed students are heading off to the snow to experience cross-country skiing and camping, I don’t think the warmer weather will be noticed. We have 3 trips coming up during this Term and over the holiday break; Our Northern Territory trip will take a group of our Year 10 students to Uluru and ; a group of Music students will be heading to China to participate in our Sister School cultural exchange and our senior Classics students will be learning as they travel to key locations in Rome and Athens. 

With the Olympics dominating our television watching at home, I was pleased to watch the Women’s Road cycling race that included alumna Ruby Roseman-Gannon, who is part of the Australian team competing in Paris, a fantastic achievement.

Final phase work is continuing on our Library STEM building as the completion date draws closer and the builders have started cleaning up the areas at the front of the school. The Victorian School Building Authority have agreed to extend the works to the front of the school to upgrade the fencing, gates and paths to improve the presentation of the area. We ask that students continue being careful around the site as the builders move towards the front of the school. 

Tickets are now on sale for our Friends of Northcote comedy night, on 19 September. This is our biggest fundraising event for the year and we hope to fill the Thornbury Theatre. The comedians that are performing are well known and hilarious! Please check out the article in this edition and get a group of parents together to share the evening. 

Our School Council is currently reviewing our families’ opportunities for engagement with the school. School Council will be sending out a survey about the ways that you wish to connect with our school. We also are currently asking families to complete the Parent Opinion Survey and I would encourage you to do so as this gives us important information about the best ways to support families and whether changes that we make are improving the outcomes for you children. 

Thanks so much for reading the newsletter! It is the best way that you can find out what is happening around the school and participate wherever possible. 

I hope to see you at one of the events during the Term. 

Chris Jones 

Principal