Nossal News

From the Principals' Desk 

South East Feast is nearly here!

It is now less than 2 weeks until the inaugural South East Feast is held on Saturday 16.  

See below for more details.

Nossal takes up the challenge

The Victorian Government's focus is on delivering "The Education State", a policy direction that is aimed in their descriptive as "...improving outcomes for every student, in every classroom, in every school, and for all communities."  In addition, the Victorian Government is working to provide, "...every student with the knowledge, capabilities and attributes that will see them thrive throughout their lives, to have the skills that industry needs, and that employers expect. The Education State will improve outcomes for all students, regardless of their start in life, promoting foundational learning domains such as reading, mathematics and science, alongside other important areas, such as critical thinking, the arts, physical education and resilience."

 

At Nossal, we believe the policy direction of The Education State is very evident in both the visible programs and initiatives as well as the planning and development going on "behind the scenes".  Our school is always buzzing with excitement and programs such as those that have taken place over recent days.  

House Performing Arts Festival

This annual event was held last week, and what a spectacular event it was. The program is the culmination of month's of planning and rehearsal for the evening held at The Robert Blackwood Hall.  Led by the House student leaders, each House plans its performance which must include elements of drama, small group vocal, dance and whole House choral.  Points are awarded by the judges for the each of the elements, the story line and stage craft and how well the House used its allocated performance time.

 

The 2017 program was the usual high standard and featured many memorable moments which made it one of the closest outcomes we have seen. The judges deliberated long and hard and only after considerable debate were they able to declare Griffin House the victors on the night by just 1.5 points from Pegasus with Phoenix and Garuda in third and fourth respectively.  

 

And while the competition was keen, with many long held and closely guarded secrets being unveiled on the night, the real victors were all the students who participated. Throughout the process both leading up to the event and on the night, each developed and practised personal and leadership skills that they will be able to use again in the future in a range of settings.

 

Thank you to Mr Woon who led and managed the event, and to James Mustafa who worked tirelessly with the Year 9 students to present their massed choral performance at the start of the evening. Thank you also to Juliea Slywka (Events Coordinator) and the House Leaders who made the 2017 House Performing Arts Festival such a wonderful night.   

Chosei High School Visit

Recently, Nossal High School also played host to a group of students from our Japanese Sister School, Chosei High School. Two students from Chosei have been a part of our school community for the past month, attending classes daily, however during the week of the official sister school visit, they were joined by 21 other students and two teachers who visited classrooms, and also went on excursions with their host students to Healesville Sanctuary and the City of Melbourne. 

 

We were pleased to share a little of our Australian way of life with our guests and were equally impressed by the presentations made by the visiting students at an official school assembly, where they told us about a range of things in Japan.

 

Thank you to Mr Delaney and Mr Witt who worked with the visiting delegation all week and who were ably supported by Mr Bramley in various activities. At the assembly, Mr Delaney told Nossal students to look out for notices and information about a return trip in Chosei in the next 12 months.

Novel ideas

A small, but dedicated team of students recently took up the challenge to "Write a Book in a Day" (WABID) and in the process raise money to support children suffering from cancer. Divided into two groups, the students started early in the day and developed their theme, story line and illustrations before completing the challenge in 12 hours.  Under the scheme, the finished manuscripts will be published and distributed to hospitals caring for young people. While the proposed Dinner Dance planned to be a part of the event had to be cancelled, overall the program raised $2694.50. Team Graphomaniacs made $2354.50 and team Hakuna Matata made $340.00. 

 

Congratulations to the members of both teams for their dedicated work and to Mrs Reddy for her commitment to this program.

 

The  WABID activity was just one element of the the school's annual Book Week celebrations and in 2017, this again included a range of special events including author's visits, lunchtime activities and the traditional day when students and staff are encouraged to come dressed as either their favourite book character or in multi-cultural costume. Thank you again to the IRC Team for arranging these celebrations.  

The Great Debate

Last Friday, the Annual Students versus Staff Debate was held with the topic being that "it is harder to be a teacher than a student at Nossal". In a twist, the staff were arguing in the affirmative, ie: that students are under more pressure, and the students were arguing that to the contrary, that teachers had it much harder.

 

The students were represented by Aditya Gadgil, Cree Oliveira-Blacket and Abhishek Kumar, while the staff team comprised Ms D'Mello, Mr McQuaid and Ms Chapple. At the end of the debate, the students were declared clear winners, and the best speaker was awarded to Cree who was the third speaker for the students team and in fact the final speaker in the debate.  A big thank you to Subi Ramesh a 2014 Alumnus who returned to Nossal to be the impartial judge, and to Ms Banaag who organised the event. Kitty McLoughlin acted as time keeper and Jordan Van Rhyn was our MC.

Digital Delivery Day

Last Wednesday, our students participated in another Digital Delivery Day where students attended their classes from remote locations via the internet. Teachers were at school in their actual classrooms interacting with students online, each student logged into the live Collaborate room and then took part in a range of learning experiences in each class. 

 

This was another very successful learning program and another opportunity for our students to further develop their online skills and abilities. Nossal High School is committed to providing students with a wide range of educational experiences that will equip them for challenges in learning they will face in the future. Online learning in digital classrooms is just one way we are doing this as a school    

South East Feast

The South East Feast is to be held on Saturday 16, 2017 at Nossal High School.  Mark it in your diary now!  

 

This is the first time this community event has been held and it promises to be a great day, a multicultural celebration of food, wine, music and fun. The school will be transformed into a bustling market place with a range of food trucks and other food stalls as well as opportunities to sample both wines and beers.  Children will also be catered for with a petting farm, a range of amusements and face painting.

 

The program will feature a number of both individual and community group performances on either the Volvo Cars Berwick stage or the Murdoch Technology stage while there will be opportunities to see cooking demonstrations in the William Angliss demonstration kitchen or in The Star News performance area. There will also be a chance to win some fantastic prizes during the day, the best of which is a $2,000.00 holiday indulgence package thanks to The Grand Ridge Brewery. We are also grateful to all those who have helped make this day possible, including the many other sponsors who are named elsewhere in this newsletter. 

This initiative is a joint venture of Nossal High School and the Rotary Club of Berwick. Half of all money raised from the day will go to facilities and programs at Nossal High School while the remainder will go to Berwick Rotary's project of supporting mental health within the City of Casey.

 

Gates open at 10:00am and tickets can be purchased either at the gate or online. The day promises to be a wonderful family event and we look forward to welcoming  you, your family and friends to the 2017 South East Feast.   

 

Other important upcoming events

Students and parents are also reminded of other upcoming, important events:

  • Tuesday 12 September: Staff Curriculum Day, (Pupil Free Day). Staff will be focusing on new curriculum initiatives for 2018 as part of the school's response to The Education State.
  • Thursday 14 September: Student Reports are released with details of the associated Parent/Student/Teacher Conferences.
  • Wednesday 20 September:  French students' international study tour to New Caledonia departs
  • Thursday 21 and Friday 22 September:  Parent/Student/Teacher Conferences

 

Keith Butler

Assistant Principal