Northcote High School Newsletter

Welcome new staff

Joining our community

We are delighted to have a number of new staff join our community this year. Over the coming newsletters, we will bring you a short introduction to each of them. Please say hello when you see them around. 

Salut Claire!

Moi, c’est Claire Chabaud, I am the new French assistant of Northcote High School. Born and raised in a small town near the Champagne region, this is my first time overseas. Motivated and excited, I am looking forward to discovering, learning from this year to come. Moreover, I am very enthusiastic to work alongside the French teachers and making sure every student grasp the French language, culture and vibe!

If you want to learn French, talk French, or ask about France, food, cheese, wine, champagne, Paris, baguettes… Come to me, and I will be very pleased to share a part of my “Frenchy-ness”😉

Andrew Fry (Science and Maths)

Here is a little about me...

  • I have been teaching for over 9 years now
  • I completed a science degree with honours in biology at Monash University and then studied teaching at the University of Melbourne.
  • I have had a lifelong passion for science and became a teacher to try to help instil that passion in others.
  • I was previously teaching science, maths and biology at Charles La Trobe College.
  • I am excited to teach at a large school with many staff and students as my previous school was very small.
  • I am looking forward to getting to know the school community

In my spare time, I like to go scuba diving (which helps me explore my passion for marine biology) and play and watch soccer (although I have become very injury-prone, which makes playing more of a challenge these days).

Liz Bastian (Drama)

Liz is excited to be teaching at Northcote High School this year and is looking forward to working with the students to create fun and interesting theatre performances. She has been teaching Drama for 8 years and loves being involved with all aspects of performance, including the school productions. In her previous positions, she directed the school productions of Shrek and Annie, as well as the VCE plays for Drama and Theatre Studies.

Prior to becoming a teacher, Liz spent 20 years as an actor and has worked in Theatre, Film and TV professionally both here and in the UK, where she also trained at Drama School. Her passion is acting and she is still involved in the industry when time allows.

In her spare time, Liz loves seeing theatre and going to the movies, as well as travel, good books and great food. She likes getting out of the city often and likes walking on the beach or in the hills. She has three guinea pigs called Yodo, Gizmo and Billy.

Lara Machado de Azevado (Science)

From a little girl who loved David Attenborough’s documentaries and spending time outdoors, a biologist was born. At University I struggled to decide on what to specialise in, because when it came to biological sciences I loved everything. My pragmatic side ended up drawing me to biotechnology, where I could see what I loved applied into developing solutions to real-life problems. By the time I was working with second-generation bioethanol and protein engineering, I was also discovering the traveller side of me who was eager to explore worlds quite different from mine. My curiosity towards Australia, the country ‘where evolution happened differently’, or so my professors used to say, ultimately brought me to the country on an exchange.

 

But what was meant to be a one-year adventure became four after I discovered my love for education, and I decided to return to Australia and undertake my Master of Teaching. Interesting to see how all these things link up together to bring me here, about to start this exciting journey with Northcote High! I am ecstatic about joining this exceedingly exciting team of educators, who are known for working together in a challenging yet rewarding environment. There is much I am yet to learn about what that means at NHS, and I am most interested in how to make thematic teaching work within the curriculum framework. Biggest apprehension and reason for excitement, I will hit the ground running and I have no idea what that is going to look like!

Will Medcalf (Maths and HPE)

Hi all, looking forward to being part of the Northcote team as it’s a reputable school in a lovely part of Melbourne. I’ve already had an enjoyable and impressive first impression from staff and students during my brief stint here in 2019.  I moved to Melbourne last year after teaching in Wimbledon, London and my home in rural NSW. Graduated from the University of Newcastle and currently completing further studies through Charles Sturt University. My subject areas are PE and Mathematics. PE I find is a useful tool to assist students to form routine and habits regarding diet and exercise, whilst in maths, I promote financial literacy and enhance mental problem-solving skills to use in everyday life.

 

In my spare time, I enjoy cricket, golf, tennis and running. The sporting teams I follow vividly are Liverpool and the Sydney Swans. 

Fei (Sophie) Sun (Computing and Maths)

Sophie trained as a software developer in her home city of Tianjin and taught Chinese ICT curriculum and VCE Computing at TEDA International School, the sister school of The Peninsula School for 7 years. She helped her Chinese students overcome language and cultural barriers in studying VCE IT so they would be eligible for admission to Australian universities.

 

In 2012, Sophie relocated to Melbourne, where she studied for her Master of Information Technology. In addition to studying, Sophie kept busy by also working as a developer of eLearning platforms or online Learning Management Systems (LMS) for various of clients such as Fitness First, Goodlife Health Clubs.

 

In 2018, Sophie decided to return to teaching because she felt she had more to offer by sharing her first-hand industry experience with students, especially the problem-solving methodology and computational thinking skills that have been used by IT professionals on a daily basis. Through her teaching training program, Sophie discovered a passion for physical computing and robotics, which she finds is an effective way to introduce programming to students and develop some of their 21st-century skills. In the past two years, Sophie has been a volunteer referee and judge for RoboCup Junior Australia, First Lego League Competition. Sophie is also passionate about music, in particular playing the ukulele and piano.

 

Sophie is most looking forward to collaborating with, and learning from, her Northcote High School colleagues to support the growth of her teaching practice, as well as designing innovative teaching programs, engaging students in learning mathematics and computing, and promoting students’ agency.

 

As a graduate teacher, Sophie really appreciates the school trusting her to teach VCE Software Development Unit 3 and 4 and looks forward to combining her industry and study experiences when working with the Software Development students.