NGSC Newsletter

ASSISTANT PRINCIPALS’ REPORT

Mr Stan Koullas & Ms Sarah Bridges

Acting Assistant Principals

Mr Bradley Headlam & Mr Paul Dawson 

Assistant Principals

SWPBS STUDENT MANAGEMENT FOCUS

The focus for the next two weeks will be on teaching the students the right way to seek assistance in the classroom.

 

The key behaviour we hope to see on the SWPBS behaviour matrix under the value of Respect is the right of “everyone to learn in a supportive environment”. 

 

A supportive environment requires all students to exhibit behaviours that allow students to learn and teachers to teach. If students are able to see assistance in a respectful manner then all students in the classroom will not be distracted by inappropriate behaviour.

Seeking assistance in the classroom

  • Put your hand up and endeavour to catch the eye of the teacher
  • If the teacher acknowledges your hand and advises that you are next, then put your hand down
  • Wait patiently for assistance. Try to continue to work out the problem whilst waiting
  • Be specific with your question
  • You may seek help from the person next to you if appropriate
  • Listen attentively as the assistance is given
  • Thank the teacher for their assistance.

ONLINE SAFETY DURING THE HOLIDAYS

It is often the case that school holidays are a time when some young people feel that they can behave in a manner that is less respectful than when they are at school. This can include online bullying. Please keep the communication lines open between you and your children so that any incidents of bullying can be shared and resolved. Here is an excerpt from the kids help line for teens. Follow the link to access more information about bullying and what to do. Also, you can report bullying to the police. 

https://kidshelpline.com.au/teens/issues/bullying

 

What to do if you’re being bullied?

There’s always something you can do.

Here are some ideas:

  • Keep your distance from the bully
  • Don’t bully them back
  • Tell them what they are doing is not ok
  • Talk to an adult you trust
  • Take time to do something nice for yourself
  • Have someone help you report cyberbullying or assault.

PROGRESS REPORTS - RESULTS PUBLISHED WEDNESDAY, 24 MARCH

The latest Progress Reports were released last week.  Parents have been encouraged to support their child’s learning by having conversations with them about their Performance Average scores and celebrate their success and also how they can improve areas that need further development. We have found that the discussions around the scores being lower than 2.5 have resulted in a marked improvement for many students. These students will be further monitored and supported by the Student Management Team with Parent/Carer meetings and Student Support Groups implemented. Scores that are consistently below 2.0 may see the student repeat the Year in 2021. We will also celebrate the students who are receiving high Performance Averages and who show marked improvement after the next round of Progress Reports. This will be an opportunity for those students to shine.

MIDDLE SCHOOL GIRLS FORUM

Students in the SRC have recently been participating in several leadership development discussions. Last year they worked through the Students’ Attitudes to School Survey and shared their thoughts with staff in a number of different forums. We are pleased to report that this is continuing this year under the leadership of Mr Hill (Student Engagement Learning Specialist). A number of the findings highlighted that there are some areas of improvement required with the Middle Years students but in particular the engagement of girls in Year 8-10. Having identified this as an area to improve, the College has embedded goals in the Annual Implementation Plan that incorporate improving in this area. 

 

We have enlisted a team of 20 students to participate in a Girls Forum with support from Mrs Durran (Middle School Leader), Mr Hill, Ms Cropp (YLC Assistant), Ms Henry (YLC Assistant), Mr Headlam and Trish, Georgie, Meryl and Tina from the SWC. The plan going forward is to have our students identify a number of objectives for the school, which the staffing team will build into the school program throughout the year.

Part of this program included an empowering self-defence introduction from Amelia and Dave from Art of Defence Australia. The objective being primarily to ensure they had a powerful voice in all discussions whilst learning about being safe, assertively in the wider community. This was a resounding success and in all the discussions following, staff facilitators gathered some fantastic objectives.

SOCIAL MEDIA

Following the self defence program that students participated in this week it occurred to me that I had not only been in education now for 20 years but also it was about 20 years since I had first observed the self-defence classes. Not a great deal has changed but the glaring concern that I noticed this week was that the language had changed slightly. We have gone from “these are the top 5 situations women might encounter” to having the might removed altogether. Having kids of my own and working with hundreds of teenagers each day this was frightening and confronting. To delve into this further it does not take long to come back to the issues around social media with teens. There is an immediate and unfair peer pressure of influence that leads our children in the wrong direction and the end of this pathway is dangerous. It also speeds up the rate at which younger siblings are exposed and this is also concerning as possibly we have not even started the conversation around their boundaries. In the last month I would have talked with a dozen parents and families on the issues and have identified that a consistent approach would support parents. We would like to continue a discussion with parents and would like to shape that discussion with your input. Please contact Mr Headlam for further information on how you could participate. In the meantime compromise with your children to identify boundaries, permit use in visible areas of the house, if you permit use then not at the expense of their sleep, conversations, dinner, homework etc.

PARENT-TEACHER CONFERENCES POSTPONED

New date to be identified and communicated to parents asap.

CALD WOMEN’S GROUP

The Culturally and Linguistically Diverse women’s group has been meeting regularly already this term and recently they started engaging in workshops on how to use Compass and accessing Centrelink. Nestor, Sef and Meryl have been pivotal in the organisation of this group and I would also like to thank Alison Costa and the school catering team for their support in keeping the group well fuelled. Last week we discussed logging into Compass and accessing reports. This week we discussed how to book into Compass Parent-Teacher interviews. Please contact Nestor Estampa or Sef Agahzaman if you would like to know more about CALD meetings.

COMPASS PARENT SUPPORT

Please be advised that we are happy to run sessions for parents in need of support with using Compass. If you would like to arrange a session please contact Mr Headlam on phone or through email headlam.bradley.b@edumail.vic.gov.au.

PRIMARY SCHOOL VISITS

This week we have had 500 students from seven local Primary Schools visiting our College and participating in Cooking, Art, PE and STEM activities. They were lead by Year 7 SRC members, former students of their Primary Schools and our dedicated teachers who gave up their time to run the activities.

INFORMATION EVENING

The NGSC Information Evening was held on Thursday, March 12, with over 350 people in attendance. Families from as far and wide as the Golden Plains, Lara, Anakie and Ceres were present. Our student leaders from the SRC, iLeaders and Excellence in Sport Program represented the College outstandingly, complimenting the amazing work that staff from all learning areas put in.