From the Principals' Desk 

Year 12 Wellbeing

It seems hard to believe that we have only three weeks remaining in Term 1. Where does the time go? It is, at this time, our Year 12s start to feel the real pressure of VCE. As the number of SACs start to become more frequent, it can elevate levels of stress. We encourage parents to pay particular attention to the wellbeing of their son or daughter and alert the school either via their Tutorial Teacher, House Leader or Student Wellbeing Counsellors, Renee and Sandy, if they believe there are worrying signs. Signs to look out for include:

•    Not sleeping enough

•    Not eating well

•    Irritable

•    Withdrawn

Katherine Warriner, our Director of VCE can also be of great assistance.

Another way to address the initial pressure of VCE is the Year 12 Camp at Lord Somer’s Camp. This is an opportunity for the students to relax and have some fun with their peers and with the teachers, and form even closer bonds with their cohort. As we know, the VCE is about being part of a team - everyone working together to assist and support each other. Students and staff are looking forward to spending some time at the beach and participating in a range of challenging, adventure activities.  

Camps and Pathways Week

Our Camps and Pathways Week is only one week away. We are excited to offer students in all year levels the opportunity to develop themselves in ways beyond, just academic endeavours. The following table outlines the plan for the week, including what the Year 10s and 11s should wear on each day. Unusual finish times are also noted here.

We sincerely thank the following community groups for allowing us to assist with Volunteering Activities. We are sure the students will receive great benefit from the work they do with these organisations:

• Puffing Billy
• Transit Soup Kitchen, Narre Warren
• Insight School for the Blind
• State Schools’ Relief, Dandenong
• Berwick Lodge Primary School
• Jenny Chandler (our school Gardener)

We look forward to sharing the experiences of students throughout Camps and Pathways Week in our last newsletter for the term. A reminder to families that consent and payment for the various activities during this week are all due on 18 March 2017.

Sir Gustav Nossal Medallion

We are very excited to implement the SGNM this year. This is a way to accredit, celebrate and recognise the co-curricular, leadership and service activities that students participate in. Each child will accumulate points in each of Gardner’s Five Minds (Disciplined, Creative, Respectful, Ethical and Synthesising) and work towards either a Gold, Silver or Bronze achievement. Points for the SGNM are now showing for students and parents on Compass. We are currently finalising how many points are required for students in Years 10 to 12, since they will not have the full four years to complete the Medallion.

Term 1 Reports and Bookings for Parent-Student-Teacher (PST) Conferences

We will release Term 1 reports to parents on Thursday 30 March at 4.00 pm. At the same time bookings for PST Conferences (held on 20 and 21 April) will also open. I have created a short video which outlines how to interpret our reports, and how to make bookings for PST Conferences. This will be posted onto Compass a few days prior to the release of reports, and can also be seen by clicking on the link below. 

Parents are reminded to download and store reports securely.

We hope that the reports are the start of a three-way conversation between teachers, students and parents. 

Congratulations to the Nossal Swim Team

We are delighted with the results of our students who swam at the Divisional Swimming Competition on Wednesday 8 March. Whilst all other competing schools have Year 7s and 8s, and therefore have the capacity to accumulate more points than we do, Nossal High School was 2nd overall at the end of the day’s competition.

Well done, team, and thankyou to Ms Lucy Kutrolli, Mr Tyler Echols and Ms Renee Tuck for supporting the students on the day. Many of our students will now go on to swim at the Regional Swimming Carnival.

News from our Alumni

I recently heard news from Brydie McKenzie-Edwards from the 2013 graduating cohort. Brydie is currently studying philosophy at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland. Whilst there, she is writing poetry and has been recruited by the local Arts community to be a regular at their spoken word performances at a local café.

And in other Alumni news, I recently put out a call to all graduates to offer assistance with the Pathways Week tours at the University of Melbourne and was delighted to hear back from so many of them, who are willing to offer assistance.

Surf Camp

Our very successful Unit 1 & 2 PE Camp to Phillip Island ran last week, led by Miss Shelley Veale, Mr Andrew Hamilton and Mrs Sandy Ayton-Delany.

Congratulations to the students who participated and learnt to surf, and thank you to the staff for giving up their time to organise it.

Reminder – Contact Details and Compass Absence Approvals

Parents are reminded that we need to be immediately informed of any changes to phone numbers or email addresses. We need to be able to contact you in case of an emergency. This is particularly important in the coming Camps and Pathways Week, when students are out an about beyond the school boundaries.

Also we seek parents’ assistance with attendance monitoring via Compass. Please log in to Compass at least once per week, check your child’s attendance and approve absences. 

Sue Harrap

Assistant Principal