From the Principal
Sue Harrap with Ma Ying, Principal at sister school, Huaibei No.1 High School
20 Year Celebrations a Huge Success
We were delighted to host Principal, Ma Ying, and her staff, Zhang Suhan, Xie Fei and Tien Lei and 20 wonderful students from our sister school, Huaibei No.1 High School in China, in the week of 6 – 10 August. We thoroughly enjoyed our time with the staff, students, and our extended NHS host families, celebrating our long and meaningful relationship. The trip commemorated our 20th Anniversary, which is a significant milestone. To commemorate the enduring relationship, we had an official ceremony and planted a cherry blossom tree.
I sincerely thank the families who hosted students in home stays. I thoroughly enjoyed observing the sheer joy and excitement of our host students.
A key part of our visit was to reaffirm and build our relationship and commitment and we established further opportunities for collaboration. The opportunities particularly for students include:
1. Explore online collaboration between EAL classes and Chinese Language classes
2. Senior student immersion stays
- At least 2 students at a time
- 2-4 weeks duration – commence 2020 (NHS – Nov/Dec and Huaibei July/August)
- Homestay arrangement
- Enhanced language and cultural learning opportunities
3. Continue with the Themed Visits
- Music
- Sport
- Cultural Tours
We are busy planning for a visit to Huaibei in 2020 for our Music Team – I encourage any interested students to see Jackie Brogan about it.
International Public Speaking Competition
This last week we had a very successful International Public Speaking competition, led by Martin Ramsay, and ably supported by Lixia Wang, and Jocelyn Hill, Jennifer Bi and Jessica Wang. It was once again a fabulous night, leaving me in awe of the wonderfully, brave and skilled public speaking of these young people. Imagine giving a speech in your second language. Issa Pham (11) and Camila Hoang (9 – and only here for the last month) spoke beautifully about how ‘knowledge is power’. A student from Bendigo Senior Secondary College took out the title, with another from the same school and Melbourne Girls’ College in equal second.
VCAL Students hit the News!
It was great to wake up to The Age on Sunday 11 August and read this meaningful and touching comment piece from our VCAL Students. It made me appreciate the impact that we have on the lives of young people, and to be honest, brought a tear to my eye. Isn’t this what schooling is all about? I hope you’re as proud of our VCAL students (and staff for supporting them) as I am.
Alumni Back To
On Thursday 8 August we hosted a ‘Back To’ for our Alumni. It was a wonderful morning, with the mainly ‘old boys’ enjoying a lovely morning tea, a chance to catch up, and student led tours around the school. It was great to hear some of the stories of days gone by. I have since received emails of thanks and congratulations to the school, and in particular our patient, interested and humorous Year 10 students, who led the tours. Our School Captains, Marco and Eliza spoke beautifully about the Northcote High of 2019, and Grace Houston performed her Music Investigation piece with Josh, Jude and Archie.
The future of the Boho South Campus - Consultation
It would be hard for you to have missed the consultation process. If you have not already done so, there are multiple ways for you to share your views:
- Read the FAQs – the link to these is here: https://www.nhs.vic.edu.au/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/boho-south-campus-consultation-process-flyer-dc4.0.pdf
- Complete the survey – the link to the survey can be found here:
- Talk with Tanya at the Jazz Night or at Parent-Teacher-Student Conversations at the end of Term Three
- Email your thoughts to: bohocampusconsultation@nhs.vic.edu.au