From the Principal

Student leaders and a vision for Northcote

I had the pleasure of hearing from our erudite senior students in the interviews for School Captain on Monday 19 February. This is on the back of a lunch we had together a week or so ago, where they outlined the things they were proud of at Northcote High School, and their ideas for further developing their leadership skills in ways that will have an impact on the lives and minds of the Northcote community.

They spoke of real and tangible actions they could take to enhance school connectedness and cohesion for all students, reduce our environmental impact, raise social awareness and much more. I am always left with a reassuring sense of confidence about our future whenever I have the opportunity to speak with young people. The Captains will be announced shortly, however the strength of leadership within the entire group is truly astounding, and I am sure they will work together as a broader team throughout this year for the betterment of Northcote High School.

Celebrating the Year of the Dog

Thank you to Lixia Wang and her team for ensuring that we celebrated the Lunar New Year in style last Friday. Our community is deeply connected to Asia in so many different ways. It is an active demonstration of one of our values - humanity, when we recognise and celebrate important events in partnership with our diverse community. See further in this newsletter for  highlights of the celebrations and for the exciting opportunity for Year 9 students of Chinese to be part of the Young Leaders to China Program.  We trust that the Year of the Dog is a good one for all. 

Partnership and Participation: School Council

There will be no need for a ballot for the Parent nor Staff representatives on the new School Council, since the number of nominations was equal to the number of positions vacant.  

I will announce the composition of Council when that process has been finalised; at that time, I will also formally recognise the 2017 Council and retiring members.   I invite you all to attend theAnnual General Meeting on March 22- see below for details.

Learning in the future: Annual General Meeting 2018

We are delighted to announce the Keynote Speaker for our Annual General Meeting, Dr Wee Tiong Seah, an innovative academic, with a specialism in mathematics from one of NHS’s partners, Melbourne Graduate School of Education (MGSE). A number of key leaders in the school, myself included, have had pleasure of working with Wee Tiong in the past, in various capacities, and have found him to be highly relevant and engaging. The title of his keynote will be:

Role of maths in the future: The implications for maths education

This  is a fabulous opportunity for our families to hear about the directions of mathematics education and how it plays an integral role in setting up young people, and our future, for success. Australia’s Chief Scientist, and Victoria’s Lead Scientists predict that 75% of all future jobs will demand high level skills in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) areas.

Thursday 22 March, Northcote High School

6.00 – 6.15 pm Mingling and nibbles

6.15 – 6.45 pm Wee Tiong Seah – Role of maths in the future …+ Q & A

6.45 – 7.15 pm Sue Harrap – Presentation of the Annual Report + Q & A

7.20 – 8.00 pm AGM for the new School Council and Election of Office Bearers

I encourage families to attend, if not the whole evening, at least the Keynote presentation. Please put it in your calendar.

Wee Tiong’s Biography

Wee Tiong is an Associate Professor of Mathematics in the MGSE. Before embarking on a career as an academic, Wee Tiong has had extensive professional experience in mathematics teaching and pastoral care across a range of school settings in Singapore and Australia.

Wee Tiong’s research interests include the harnessing of socio-cultural factors in the teaching of mathematics. These include the values of students, teachers, parents as they relate to mathematics pedagogy. He currently coordinates a multinational research team in a series of research studies relating to the harnessing of values to promote more effective teaching and learning of maths in schools. These activities are all part of the Third Wave research project which Wee Tiong set up in 2008.

http://newmediaresearch.educ.monash.edu.au/lnm/dr-wee-tiong-seah/

Uniform update - change to supplier

As one outcome of the 2017 uniform review, we will shortly be changing supplier for the Northcote High uniform.  We have been working to minimise impact on families but there will be a short hiatus in the sale of the uniform whilst stock is being transferred to the new supplier. See the article in this newsletter for further details and key dates.

Getting to know our new staff

This newsletter features more on our new staff and leadership positions - read on to find out about the newly created Learning Specialist roles, as well as our incoming Language Assistants and teaching staff. We are also celebrating growth and renewal in our office team as Breanna Flynn, who has been ably working in the front office for the past year, embarks on her next adventure. She is finishing up her traineeship this week and heads off to university. She will be studying a Bachelor of Criminal Justice and a Diploma of Languages at RMIT. We thank her for her friendly, efficient and effective service to the school community, and hope that she can return to fill in for us when other staff are away, if she ever has a moment to spare at uni. We welcome our new trainee – Monica Neilson - who started Monday 19 February.

Advancing students through Duke of Ed

Thank you to Meredith Gollan who ensured that our achievements through the Duke of Ed and Advance Program are recognised. Click on the link below to see us featured in the latest Advance Newsletter. Advance is subsidised through the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) and is a fantastic school-based program that encourages young people to get actively involved in their local community. At NHS it is done through the Duke of Ed subject/program that Meredith is leading.

http://edm2.taguchimail.com/public/broadcast?sevt=1128237381&e=9748655b

Student Lockers

Over the beginning weeks of the year, I have fielded some inquiries from students and parents about the status of student lockers. We are in the unfortunate position of having had a delay to the construction of new locker bays which means that there are some senior students who have not yet been allocated a locker of their own. The construction of the new Mod 10 double storey relocatable classrooms adjacent to Merri Park involved the decommissioning of locker bays. Whilst we are working closely with the company responsible for the reconstruction of locker bays, there have been some unwanted and frustrating delays.

I assure students and families we are doing all that we can to expedite the process so that any remaining students without a locker will soon have one allocated. In the meantime, we apologise for the inconvenience and seek your patience.