Acting Senior School Principal

Uniform Matters

It is an expectation of NSC that our students wear the correct uniform each day. Wearing the correct uniform shows that our students are upholding our college values and taking pride in being a member of our community. With the warmer weather approaching, students will be able to wear their summer uniform from the first day of Term 4. The first two weeks of the Term will be a transition period where students can select to wear either the full summer or full winter uniform. From Monday, 21 October, all students will be expected to wear the summer uniform only.

Please ensure that hemlines are checked and adjustments for students who have grown taller are made in the holiday period. This applies to both skirts and shorts. Please check the College Website for Uniform Shop hours and online purchasing options.

Parent / Caregiver / Guardian Opinion Survey

There is still time to complete the survey – it has been extended, and will remain open online until next Friday, 20 September!

Our school is conducting the annual Parent / Caregiver / Guardian Opinion Survey and is seeking your feedback. The survey, offered by the Department of Education, is designed to assist schools in gaining an understanding of families’ perceptions of school climate, student behavior, and student engagement. We sent you an invitation to complete the survey via email on Monday, 29 July. If you have misplaced this, please contact the General Office and we can resend this invitation to you. 

Your opinions are important to us and will contribute to identifying areas for improvement and professional development needs in the school, to target school planning and improvement strategies. The department will use the results from the survey for research purposes and to improve outcomes for students. The survey is being conducted online and only takes 20 minutes to complete. It can be completed on any internet enabled device (desktop computer, laptop, tablet or smartphone) and is compatible with most browsers.

Year 10 Presentation Balls

It was a pleasure to attend both of the Year 10 Presentation Balls on Wednesday and Thursday of this week. The balls are a highlight for many of our Year 10 students and it has become a long-standing tradition here at NSC with it first being held in 1992. 

The students grew in confidence from their very first dance lesson, and hearing about their achievements, goals and career aspirations was a very proud moment. The students presented on both nights were very appreciative of their families and friends and this was particularly evident in the 'special person's' dance. Thank you to Annie Hearne and Jessica Bishop for their organisation of the event. 

Year 11 Student Leaders - Deakin Roundtable

This year two of our Year 11 student leaders, Bella Conversano and Amy Robertson, participated in the Deakin Student Leadership Roundtable Series with the Hon Michael Sukkar MP. The purpose of the Roundtable Series was to discuss issues that are important to students and their peers, and to give students an opportunity to ask questions and share ideas on topics that directly impact them.  

Bella and Amy have shared their most recent experience below:

On 28 of August myself (Bella Conversano) and another Year 11 student (Amy Robertson) attended a Deakin round table with Michael Sukkar the electorate of Deakin in the Parliament of Australia. The Deakin Student Leadership Roundtable series is made up of student leaders from secondary schools throughout the Deakin electorate. Amy and I have been lucky enough to attend a few of these sessions. At our last meeting, we discussed what makes us a good leader and how these impacts can be positive but also negative. It was nice to hear how everyone had different opinions/ views about this. We also heard Mr Sukkar's view and how he has grown on this view. This was our last round table. Both of us really enjoyed doing this as we could see how other schools have different views upon leadership. We also spoke about skills and attributes that make a good and bad leader and how we can implement the positive in our schools. 

Bella Conversano & Amy Robertson

Year 12 Exam Preparation - Study Skills

Our Year 12 students are now busily preparing for their final exams with practice exams scheduled for each subject in the second week of the Term 3 holidays. In some cases, there are VCAA External Assessors marking these exams and this feedback will be invaluable giving students a very good idea of their strengths and areas for further revision. 

In recent weeks, the students have also had guest presenters to support their revision with VCE English Assessor, Ben Taylor of The English Lab working with students to deconstruct essay questions. In his workshops, Ben emphasised the importance of focusing on thematic ideas within texts, exploring authorial ideas and values and analysing how texts are constructed. 

Our College Captain, Lachlan Christie, and Vice Captain, Jack McCartney, have also shared details about an exam preparation session that the Year 12 students attended on 3 September below:

The Year 12 cohort was pleased to have Darren (Big D) from ‘Success Integrated’ come in with a positive and funny attitude to talk about university next year and the transition into the upcoming exams. He gave us insights and tips into how to stay motivated and organised to prepare us for our best result. His enthusiasm allowed all the Year 12’s to be engaged and interested in a topic which is difficult for most when applying for universities. The DJ blasted some energetic music throughout the presentation to make sure we were all intrigued. This session helped us to change negative mindsets about the end of Year 12 into a positive outlook on a bright future in our careers and lives.  

Lachlan Christie & Jack McCartney

Final Exam Preparation Tips:

1. Set goals for yourself on how much writing practice you will do, and how much revision you will do. Write these goals up on a checklist, and review it regularly.
2. Allocate regular study time to each subject. 
3. Identify problem areas by checking pages of the Study Design, past Assessor’s Reports and by having conversations with your subject teachers.
4. Complete practice exam questions – the more, the better!
5. Complete your practice tasks by hand – this helps you practice your handwriting, and helps give you a good idea of how quickly you write.
6. Begin working in 2-3 hour blocks without breaks – there are no breaks in the exams. Set time limits for tasks and work using a timer. 
7. Seek advice regularly, even after classes have finished. Hand in practice exam questions for feedback and ask questions about problems in revision.
8. Avoid cramming at the last minute, because you will not retain the information.

I wish all of our students a restful and enjoyable Term 3 break. I hope that you all return feeling refreshed and ready to tackle brand new challenges.