From the Principals' Desk

Welcome to Term 4

With this edition of the school's newsletter, we welcome everyone back to Term 4 with the one notable exception being our Principal, Roger Page who has extended his term holiday period with three weeks Long Service Leave. We wish Roger a restful and adventurous break and look forward to hearing of his exploits on his return.

In Roger's absence, Sue Harrap is Acting Principal and Angus Clark is filling in as Acting Assistant Principal.

The end of the Year 12 year is approaching fast

As Term 4 opens it is tinged with excitement, anticipation and a little bit of sadness. It is now only a couple of short weeks until our Year 12s finish their classes, begin their study break and then commence their final exams. As we look towards the end of their 13 years of education, it is necessary to prioritise the important things to ensure that each one of them is as well prepared as they can possibly be. I refer to not only academic preparedness - things like diet, sleep and rest time and symbolic and ceremonial events are vitally important. We are looking forward to the shenanigans of their final assembly, the fun of celebration day, and the formal farewell at Speech Night and the Valedictory Dinner. This group of young leaders have shown themselves to be impressive in every way throughout their time at Nossal, and we are sure they will continue to do so with each milestone between now and the end of the year. We wish all students who have started their Unit 3 and 4 Performance and Language Oral assessments all the very best.

Some important points to remember:

Unit 3 and 4 classes finish Period 5 on Monday 23 October. Full attendance is expected up until this point.
The Year 12 Final Assembly will be held Period 6 on Monday 23 October.
Year 12 Celebration Day begins with the staff serving breakfast to the students on Tuesday 24 October.
Study Break (or Swot Vac) commences immediately after Celebration Day - all Unit 3 and 4 teachers will be available to assist students either face to face or online during their normal class times.
Ms Warriner has provided each student studying at least one Unit 3 and 4 study with their exam advice, which outlines the time and venue for each exam. She has also sent a letter to students and families outlining arrival times and expectations throughout the exam period. Students are expected in full school uniform throughout the exam period.
English and EAL are the first VCAA exams on Wednesday 1 November and Japanese and Chinese exams are the last ones and they will be held on Wednesday 22 November.
We look forward to seeing everyone dressed up and relaxed at the Valedictory Dinner at Etihad Stadium on Thursday 23 November.
Speech Night is at Robert Blackwood Hall on Tuesday 28 November. Year 12s are expected to wear their full academic uniform with their BLAZER and not their Year 12 jacket.
Unit 3 and 4 results are to be released on Friday 15 December and we will hold our celebratory morning tea on that day, where the Dux will be announced, and we congratulate everyone on their stellar results.

Throughout the examination period, there will be significant disruption to programs in Building B (Sports and Performing Arts Building) in particular. It is important for everyone to be mindful of the noise in and around the building during this time.

Congratulations to NEST (Nossal Environmental and Sustainability Team)

We are delighted to Find that Nossal High School has been nominated as finalists in the 2017 Sustainability Victoria, Resource Smart Schools Awards. Nossal is a finalist in the following categories:

Student Action Team of the Year (for the contributions of our NEST Team)
Teacher of the Year (for Jessica Ball's leadership of our sustainability efforts)
Waste School of the Year

At the time of writing this, the representatives of the team were preparing to attend the Awards Ceremony at the IMAX Theatre in the Melbourne Museum on Monday 16 October.

The nominations follow another very successful Sustainability Summit organised and facilitated by NEST at our school towards the end of Term 3. The event was attended by students from a range of schools who all eagerly took part in the lectures, debates and activities.

Regardless of the outcome, we are rightly proud of the work the NEST have done to enhance our local environment and contribute to a more sustainable future.

Welcome Year 9, 2018

Last week we welcomed our new Year 9s of 2018 to the school at the Orientation Information Evening. Two comprehensive information sessions were presented by an outstanding group of current Year 9s, to an audience of excited and eager faces.

Charged with the responsibility of identifying what they thought the new students and their families would want to know, the group of eight student ambassadors presented their information, supported by a small number of Music students and some key staff. Together, they gave the new Nossalonians an insight into the exciting future that awaits them.

Finishing Term 3 on a strong note

At the end of Term 3 and after our last newsletter was published, a number of significant events took place within our school community, some of which are expanded on in other places in this edition.

Parent, Student Teacher Conferences were held at the end of the term giving students and parents a chance to meet face to face with teachers to reflect on what has been achieved and help guide the learning paths of students between now and the end of the year. Thank you to the very large number of parents who took advantage of this important opportunity. We know it is beneficial to both students and parents as well as teachers too.

A strong Nossal team took part in the Casey District Athletics Carnival held at Casey Fields. Through their dedicated efforts, the team finished first with many individual and team efforts. As a result of this a smaller group of 38 students went on to the Regional Competition at the start of this term where our girls finished 18th out of 46 schools and our boys finished 14th out of 44 schools. One student made it through to State, Nikola Mandic (Year 9) in the 1500m run and the 1500m walk.

During the last week of term and into the school holidays, Mrs Sly and Mr Delaney accompanied a group of 17 students to New Caledonia where they had the opportunity to participate in a dedicated French Language study program at CREIPAC. This was supplemented with a program of activities that saw the students further develop their French language skills. Congratulations to all the students involved and thank you to Mrs Sly and Mr Delaney.

In another "first" at Nossal, during the holidays, our oval was used to host a sporting event against another school, but not just any local school, the cricket match was an international fixture against a visiting XI from John McGlashan College in Dunedin, New Zealand. Unfortunately Nossal didn't quite make the required number of runs needed for victory, but the game was a great event, played in good spirit on a beautiful bright sunny day. Mr Pegram is already plotting the Nossal revenge for when John McGlashan returns in two year's time.

Coming up...

Over the next couple of weeks, two opportunities are available for students and parents to come to the school to see and enjoy the work of students studying The Arts.

The Spring Music Concert is being held this Thursday in The Meath Auditorium commencing at 7:00pm. This program is an important part of the learning program for the students studying performing arts. They not only enjoy the opportunity to perform and demonstrate their considerable talents, they also get the chance to experience what it is like to work in front of an audience. Entrance by gold coin donation and we would love to see a large audience for this event.

The second Arts event is the second semester Arts & Technology Gala. This is a showcase of work done right across the Arts/Technology Learning Domain and features Visual Communication, Food Technology, Systems Technology, Music and Performance. This is another important event where students benefit from having audience/visitors attend the exhibition of their work. The Arts Tech Gala will be held on Wednesday 25 October, commencing at 7:00pm.

Thank you

I would like to conclude my comments for this edition of the newsletter by acknowledging the commitment to the school and the work done by our very active PFA, a group dedicated to the provision of quality opportunities of our students.

The PFA conducts high profile activities such the second hand uniform shop and special fundraising programs while also quietly going about important things such as ensuring there is a welcoming cup of tea or coffee available when parents and guests arrive at events like the production and more recently, the new Year 9s Information Night.

The PFA meets on the first Wednesday of the month, (during school terms) and is always welcoming new faces to their group. Perhaps you might like to attend the next meeting to be held on Wednesday 1 November in The Jean Russell Centre.

Keith Butler

Assistant Principal