From the Principal

As I sit down to write this contribution for the Newsletter to conclude Term 3, the sun is streaming through my window, and the first buds of spring are emerging. It is hard to believe that we are three quarters of the way through the school year, and that our Year 12s will attend their formal Graduation Ceremony at the end of this week. In fact, I am sure they don’t need me to remind them that they have only 16 (or so) days of formal classes remaining, until they take time away from school to study and then commence their final secondary school exams.

This last week is always a poignant one in any school year calendar. Over the last week we formally welcomed the parents and Grade 6 students who will join us next year as Year 7s. The excitement and apprehension surrounding this new beginning is palpable, and we hope that our information and conversations helped to alleviate some of the normal (anxious) feelings associated with this transition. As, still the relatively new principal of the school, I am moved by the prospect of having the full six years to get to know these families and students.

The excitement and apprehension surrounding the start of secondary school parallels similar feelings of the Year 12s and their families, as they prepare for our Graduation Ceremony at the Grand Hyatt on Friday this week. Our staff feel honoured and humbled by the opportunity to share in a significant part of a young person’s life. One of the greatest joys of secondary educators is seeing young people grow up and become comfortable in their own skin, begin to demonstrate reasoned logic and critical thinking, and compassion and empathy, whilst still being filled with hope, adventure, idealism and invincibility of youth. We hope that the Ceremony on Friday is a joyful celebration of the experiences and learning that the Year 12s have had in their time with us, and that it spring boards into the serious endeavour of finishing the year in the best way they possibly can.

On that note, there are VCE revision sessions in the holidays that Unit 3 and 4 students can participate in, and they should do some work to prepare for their upcoming exams, but it is also important for them to have some rest during this break too.

At the end of each term we invariably say farewell to some staff and welcome others back as they return from various forms of leave. We thank the following staff for their contributions to the school community in the time they were with us:

• Alessandro Alesci – has done a wonderful job replacing Angela Cappelli and Angela Orodisio in Term 2 and 3.
• Mark Richard – replaced Carolyn Hutchens in Science in Term 3
• Rachael Bor – replaced Barry Drinan in Visual Arts in Term 3
• Richard Wang (Business Manager) – we say farewell to Richard at the end the term. Richard has contributed to the International Students’ Program, the Finance areas of the school, and most recently as Business Manager. He has been a loyal and hardworking member of the team, who leaves us to pursue career advancement at another school. We wish him all the best on his new adventure.
• Kirby Mackrill (Student Counsellor) – commences one year of leave at the end of this week, heading off to Spain on a new life adventure as an English Language Assistant.
• Shirley Barbara – begins her Term 4 leave at the end of the week too.

We welcome back the following who will be returning next term, hopefully rested and refreshed: Kiera Hermansson, Barry Drinan, Angela Odorisio, Carolyn Hutchens, Danny Leondidis, Jerome Rush, and Andrew Kyprianou.

Major Celebrations of the Week just past

Music news

The Australian Music Examinations Board (AMEB) is one of the most highly regarded music organisations in the country, who establish and maintain accredited standards of performance. This year they celebrated their 100 years birthday, and invited music contributions from across Australia to combine to perform collaboratively in an Online Orchestra. The piece was an arrangement of Waltzing Matilda. Anne Rassool led the Northcote High Orchestra to contribute an entry, and we were selected to contribute to the final piece. This video link shows the collective performance. Northcote High School Orchestra appears at 1.59 min.  It was recorded at Decebel's recording studio which is part of the Darebin Youth Network, and the submission was put together by Anne’s husband Roger. Thank you so much to the team effort enabling NHS to shine.

Not only that, our Stage Band, conducted by Tessa Bodenham, was invited to play at the AMEB birthday celebration at Federation Square on Wednesday last week. Our Band was one of only five performances, and the only school invited. Please find the link to Northcote High at the AMEB Launch - we feature at approximately the 36 min mark. Congratulations to the students, and to Tessa.

Last week the Senior Strings were also on camp at Phillip Island and toured around performing at various venues. Thank you to Jackie Brogan and Julian Perry for giving them the opportunity.

Comedy Night

Thursday night at the Thornbury Theatre was a huge celebration for the school. The Events and Fundraising Team, led by Katie Archibald (Assistant Principal), Sandra Morris, Julie Anderson, James Thyer (parents), and ably assisted by Kate Challis, hosted the annual Comedy Night. Caitlyn Crowley (parent) used her contacts to put together a fabulous line up of comedians to entertain us all. About 240 community members attended. This year all funds raised will contribute to the Thrive Fund, and specifically, a renovation of the library, which will expand and modernise it. Not only did ticket sales contribute to the fundraising efforts, but generous families also made pledges to buy a brick, a chair, a table and so on. We are so grateful to have the support of our broader community to assist us make our great school even better.

If you would like to contribute to the fundraising campaign, go to our website:

https://www.nhs.vic.edu.au/about-us/thrive/

VCAL Social Enterprise Project

Rohan Bevan has been working collaboratively on a Social Enterprise project with other VCAL providers in our Network, to develop curriculum with students.

This link outlines some of the work they have been doing together on the Youth Enterprise Hub. This trailer captures the recent Student Think Tank on September 11. Northcote High School features in the clip (Jackson Temby and Rohan Bevan).

Spending the Building Fund

Many generous families have donated over the years, to our Building Fund, now the Build branch of the Thrive Fund. Throughout Term 3 we have been utilising the Build Fund to begin some projects to enhance the amenity for our students. Most recently, the installation of furniture in the GCC, and the construction of another locker bay. When this is complete, we will be moving some lockers out of the atrium near the canteen to help us accommodate more students in the indoor eating area. We will also construct a bay of microwaves in this space so that students who bring their own lunch can heat it up.

This week coming

Mentoring graduation

On Friday, our Year 7 and 8 students involved in the Raise Mentoring program will graduate. Thank you to Kirby MacKrill for her organisation of this program. Both the students and the mentors have remarked to me (unsolicited, I might add) how worthwhile and successful our program has been.

Visit from AITSL

On Monday Christian Meyer from the Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership (AITSL) visited our school, at the request of AITSL, to observe classes and tour the school, to maintain a current understanding of the workings of schools and teachers. This is just another way that NHS contributes to the profession.

Northcote in China

This week, Nick Murphy, Effie Sgardelis, Zhen Wang and Paul Giddy are in China visiting our VCE Offshore partners to provide professional learning. On Thursday Sarah Blanchard, Meredith Gollan, Ben Orphin, Ciar Foster and Yongzhong Zhu are taking off to our sister school, Huaibei No. 1 High School with 28 of our students on the sport tour. During the holidays, Jocelyn Hill and Lixia Wang, will be in China to celebrate the 60th birthday of our sister school at Huaibei, and will conduct our annual reporting trip with families of our International Students. We wish all travellers a safe and enjoyable time.

Performing Arts Centre

As previously notified – as the course of brick work from the ground to 2.8 metres high is completed, the fencing along St Georges Road has been moved outward onto the footpath a little further. This is temporary. On Wednesday 19 September there will be traffic management in place, and St Georges Road will be down to a single lane out the front of our building works. This is for the construction of the gantry over the footpath, so that the brickwork at high levels can continue. The interruption will be for one day only. Please be patient and careful during this time.

Netball Courts

The outdoor netball courts will be out of action for one week during the school holidays, when the final coat of sealant will be laid. We look forward to the completion of the courts, and the commencement of local out of hours community club competitions in Term 4.

It has been a busy term, full of daily learning and celebrations. This term marks some of the highlights of the year for students, staff and families – the production, the Jazz Night, Strings Wine and Cheese, and many other performance opportunities for students, sporting excellence, with many teams reaching the State Championships, Duke of Edinburgh Camps, the STEM showcase, visits from our international partners, our Writers’ Festival, the culmination of our student social enterprise projects and much, much more. As I said to our Grade 6 parents last week, we are a community school, deeply embedded within – we are enriched by our community, and in the spirit of reciprocity, we enrich the broader community in return.

I wish everyone a safe, happy and restful holiday, and look forward to more of the same in Term 4.

Sue Harrap