Dear Parents,

COVID UPDATE

I apologise for the delay in publishing this newsletter – we have been working through the issues and changes being caused by the current lockdown and then partial return of students, so I thought it better to delay this rather than add it to the many other messages you have been receiving from me.

We are now in partial lockdown with Years 11 and 12 onsite for face-to-face lesson and Years 9 and 10 still learning remotely. This is a change to the model employed last time where we were able to have Year 10 students onsite if they were enrolled in VCE classes (as most of ours are).

While looking quite neat on paper, it is a challenging structure for our Year 11 teachers who have to deliver a face-to-face class while at the same time ensuring that they include a number of Year 10 students who are learning remotely. Doing one or the other is relatively straightforward (and our staff and students are quite proficient at both), but doing them both at the same time creates an exponentially greater level of complexity and challenge. I commend our staff and students for their patience, forbearance, and resilience in ensuring that it works as effectively as it can.

I also thank the parents and students who are still working remotely for their assistance and support in facilitating the learning program from home.

We are of course all hopeful that there will be some relatively short-term inconvenience while the current outbreak is brought under control and that restrictions may be eased later in the week, although we do need to be prepared for another extension if there is a flare up in the infection rate. At a minimum, I would be very surprised if some of the current limitations and safety practices (e.g. the wearing of masks) were not mandated into the future.

I do remind students who are onsite this week that they must wear masks at all times, even when outside and travelling to and from school (and particularly when on public transport). I was ashamed and embarrassed a couple of weeks ago (before the current lockdown) when a member of the public contacted me to complain that a large number of Nossal students were travelling on the train without wearing their masks and without distancing appropriately. I certainly hope that those behaviours have ceased and ask all students to do the right thing and to call out those who aren’t; not only is it illegal and dangerous, it also reflects badly on all of us.

There are restrictions on contact sports, the playing of wind instruments and singing, group activities and events, assemblies, excursions and incursions.

As always, we need to sanitise and wash our hands regularly, socially distance where possible, and stay home and get tested if ill or exhibiting any symptoms at all.

In keeping with the spirit of the lockdown we are trying to enable staff to work remotely where possible (i.e., if they don’t have Year 11 or 12 classes) and have adjusted the timetable so some students can leave in the afternoon if they have study periods to ease the congestion on public transport.

The canteen will be closed for the remainder of this week, and I ask that students bring their own snack and lunches. We will not be permitting students to leave the site to go to McDonald’s, and nor will be permitting them to order take way deliveries.

Some tutorial teachers will continue to work remotely, so Year 11 and 12 students are asked to go to their regular tute room in the morning and to login to their tute remotely if this is the case. Rolls and wellbeing check-ins occur at this time, so it is important the everyone is present and responsive.

Should you or your child be experiencing any difficulties or have any questions or concerns – please contact us (me) directly so we can assist.

Below is a very short video produced by Headspace with some hints and tips to help parents support their children during lockdown....

Tips for Parents and Carers - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fw3LzWe-93U

Cancellation and Deferral of Events

Unfortunately, a number of planned events have been cancelled or deferred. In most cases we are looking to move them to an alternate date when the restrictions no longer apply, although not everything is clear or resolved at this stage. We will let you know progressively as we learn more, but for now:

The GAT (originally planned for June 9) has been deferred to a date yet to be determined.
Digital Delivery Day (June 9) has been cancelled; normal classes will run.
Vacancy Testing for Years 10 & 11 has been deferred until a date yet to be determined.
The Central Australian Tour has been deferred until Term 3; new dates are being arranged now.
The Year 12 formal has been moved to July 8 (during the school holidays).
The “Building Better Brains” Parent forum has been moved to June 23.
Year 9 Wellbeing Day has been deferred to a date yet to be determined.

Pupil Free Day – Friday 11June

Students are not required to attend on this day (face to face or remotely) as it is a planned report writing day for the teachers.

“Building Better Brains” Parent information Session: A Nossal PFA Presentation

The PFA met last week via ZOOM and is planning to meet face to face on June 23 for a special event in the Jean Russell Centre between 7.00 – 8.30 pm.

Ms Jo Ensor (Nossal Mental Health Practitioner) has arranged for a parent session where, with the aid of experts in the field, we will explore the effect of trauma on adolescent brains and the behavioural and longer-term impact that may have. The session will be very relevant in the light of the current COVID situation and will provide parents with strategies to best support and assist their children through challenging situations. Please see the flier below for more information.

Limited tickets are available through Trybooking - https://www.trybooking.com/BSABP

PFA Survey

The PFA does excellent work for the school and effectively supports all parents and students with their efforts. They have been asking parents to complete a brief survey for them so they can ensure that they are best meeting the needs of our community, but have been very disappointed with the response rate so far. I assume this is because people have been distracted by the COVID situation; could I please ask that you each take 5 minutes to fill in their survey to assist them to assist you.

You can access the questionnaire HERE

The Alpine School

We currently have 5 students undertaking a full term enrolled at the Dinner Plain Campus of the Alpine School. This is a fantastic leadership and character building program which requires the students to live and learn at Dinner Plain with other students from all around Victoria. Students are away from home for 9 full weeks and have only limited contact with their families and friends, as well as very limited access to internet, phones, and social media. It is a fantastic and potentially life changing program and it has been wonderful to read the student blogs on what they have been doing and how they have been managing the challenges. Mr Monaco and I will be meeting with them (online) soon to discuss the “Community Leadership Project” that they are planning to implement when they return to Nossal for Term 3. They too have been impacted by COVID with the students returning home for the past week before being allowed back this week to the Alpine School campus, but even a badly broken arm has not deterred one of the Nossal students from getting back to the mountains for the remainder of the program. I look forward to hearing about their project and hearing more of their adventures and activities when they return to us. We hope to have the opportunity to send another group of Year 9 students in 2022 if our application is successful.

Bushfire Relief – Visit to Bruthen Primary School

Our 2020 School Captains and Mr Butler, with the support of the student body, last year raised a considerable amount of money for bushfire relief following the devastating January fires of 2020 (sadly now overshadowed by the COVID crisis).

We determined that we would try to do something a bit different with the funds and look to build a relationship and provide a morale boost for a school community that had been badly impacted by the fires. After much delay due to COVID and the challenges these communities were facing in rebuilding, we have finally arranged to visit Bruthen Primary School. Bruthven PS is a remote school of 50 students in the mountains of East Gippsland where we hope to meet with their students, run a games and activities afternoon and put on a community concert with a range of Nossal bands and individual performers. The principal of the school is very excited about the concept, and we thought it would be a nicer way to utilise the funds than making an anonymous donation that may not all get directly to those in need. At this stage I am hoping to run this event on July 22, and Ms Budd and I will soon be organising the activities and program for the concert. We hope to be able to showcase many of our talented students and involve the primary students in the events as well.

Year 9 Applications for 2022

Following the challenges of 2020 where the testing was delayed and deferred and eventually held very late in the year, we have had record numbers of applicants for all 4 selective schools for 2022.

I’m not sure what is causing the increased interest and will be interested to see where the additional applications are coming from. At this stage, the testing is still planned for June 19/20 at the Royal Melbourne Showgrounds, and there is a back-up date ready should it need to be delayed.

Premier’s VCE Awards

Amid the challenging and disappointing news of the past week I received some very welcome news about the performance of Nossal VCE students in 2020.

Each year the top performing students in the state for the previous year are selected to receive a Premier’s VCE Award, and it is a fantastic achievement and a great honour to be so awarded.

I am not allowed to provide any names or details until after the Premier has presented the awards on July 27, but I am extremely pleased to be able to tell you that no less than five Nossal students will receive awards this year – an exceptional result.

Roger Page

Principal

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