General Nossal News

House Performing Arts Festival - Everyone a winner

Another year – not just another House Performing Arts Festival (HPAF).  There was generosity of spirit and genuine care in the air at Robert Blackwood Hall on Tuesday August 23, with students displaying all the hallmarks befitting this year’s theme – Love.

The usual hubbub of confusion and “can I just…?” peppered the day, but so did the energy of 832 students who knew they were about to do something truly wonderful.  Their hard work began in term 1 with meetings to decide the theme and negotiate the rules of engagement.  Too many hours to count have gone into the planning of the drama, the design of the stage and sets, writing and arranging music, and rehearsing in the various configurations. 

I am proud and amazed at the development I’ve seen in the students’ ability to communicate with the staff and fellow students.  In true Nossal style, a Google Doc was created to help coordinate rehearsal schedules and spaces, giving unprecedented clarity to the months preceding HPAF. 

Students took advantage of the recent acquisition of large percussion instruments and included them into their compositions and arrangements and showed enormous creativity in the way they tapped in to the unique talents of their fellow peers.

The Year 9 performance of ‘When I Grow Up’ utilised the acrobatic skills currently being taught in Year 9 Dance to put together a performance that represented the position our year 9 students hold as the youngest in the school.  This group of remarkable Year 9s is one to watch.  They’re ambitious and fun, and just a little bit naughty (in a good way!).  The students performed beautifully and have done themselves proud.  I know they’ll remember their first performance together for the rest of their lives.

My thanks go to the staff who supported all of our students, and the wonderful parents, Alumni and community members who came to see what students can do when given the chance to be creative.  Congratulations to the House Music Captains, your hours and hours of hard work and student leadership was more than just noted – we are marvelling at you.  You are our future leaders and I, for one, will always be happy to follow you.

Julia Stoppa

Director of Music

On Tuesday  August 23, Nossal High School had their House Performing Arts Festival. This was a new experience for all the current Year 9s, the Class of 2019.

As a year nine student, being on stage and performing in front of hundreds of people was quite daunting at first. However, as we started the show, we felt more confident as a group and felt proud to be up there and be singing for the school. For me this was something completely different and new as I had never attended anything like this before at my previous school. I absolutely loved each and every performance and couldn’t have enjoyed the night more.

When it came to the House performances, each House was unique in their own way.  My house, Garuda, was last to perform and after seeing everyone else present, I was very nervous because everyone else had done so well. Although, in the end everything turned out to be amazing. Even though we won, each house did their utmost best and sang beautifully!

Divnoor - Year 9

IMPORTANT Safety Message

All students and staff who use an appliance at school that plugs into a power point, must have the power cord tested and tagged for safety annually.

This year's "Test and Tag Day" is this coming Friday, September 2.

All power cords used at Nossal need to be checked on this day.  This includes cords for laptops, portable devices, mobile phones and any other electrical item.

Cords will be collected during Tutorial on Friday morning, labelled and retained for testing before being returned later in the day.

This is a compulsory DET requirement and any cords not tested and tagged on the day can not be used at the school until such certification has been completed.  Cords not tested at school on Friday, will need to be tested at a time and place arranged by the owner and at their expense.

Please ensure all cords are at school on Friday at the morning Tutorial session.

SEN Gifted Outreach Camp

As part of the Select Entry Network Gifted Outreach Program, an overnight camp was organised for August 18-19 for 55 primary school students across Victoria and Year 10 peer mentors from the Select Entry High Schools involved in the program, including Nossal High School. The primary students stayed overnight at Urban Camp while the Year 10 peer mentors joined their mentees for the day program.

On the first day of the camp, the primary students and their peer mentors visited the Scienceworks in Spotswood. They visited the SportsWorks and Think Ahead exhibits which was then followed by an informative and entertaining live show session in the Lightning Room where there was a demonstration of the giant Tesla coil which is capable of generating two million volts of electricity to produce three metre lightning bolts! After the lightning room show, the students visited the Planetarium where they experienced full dome stunning visualisations of constellations and being inside a supernova explosion.

In the evening, the primary students were engaged in a trivia quiz involving teaming up with students from other schools to answer challenging questions on various subject areas. They were very enthusiastic about being challenged and working together and thoroughly enjoyed the trivia, while also forming new friendships.

On the second day, the peer mentors arrived early at Urban Camp and conducted group team-building activities for their mentees. The primary students and mentors had a lot of fun playing team-bonding games and getting to know one another better. After the morning session of team building activities, all the students took a ten minute walk to the zoo. At the zoo, the students were involved in the ‘Save Our Species: Call of the Wild’ program where they learnt more about diversity and uniqueness of wildlife and the threats they face. It was a very wet and rainy day however, the primary students and peer mentors made the very best out of their time at the zoo!

We would like to thank all the Year 10 peer mentors from Nossal High School for their effort and time in supporting their mentees throughout the camp.

Stephen Alderton and Vani Manokaran

Gifted Outreach Coordinators

A "Tree-mendous" outcome

To celebrate Planet Ark’s School Tree Day, on FridayAugust 26, NEST (Nossal Environment and Sustainability Team) and students in the Environmental Science classes planted trees around the school grounds. Students and staff were assigned the task of planting approximately 150 tube stock which were generously donated by Bunnings Fountain Gate.

The students sowed a variety of Australian native trees in locations including along the edge of the road in front of the gym and alongside our developing school oval.  All involved had an enjoyable time learning and becoming in tune with nature and it was delight to see the new sprouts planted around the school.

As indicated, this project was made possible through the sponsorship of Bunnings Fountain Gate and we thank them and their Community Liasion Officer, Kassy for their assistance.  Not only did Kassy deliver the plants to Nossal, she also stayed around to help us plant out the new garden and plantation areas.  Bunnings supplied eucalyptus, correa and hebe plants.  

We hope that along with the seedlings, the Nossal community’s interest in the environment will continue to grow and flourish.

NEST would like to thank all the staff and students who organised and took part in the event to make it a success, especially our school garden contractor Jenny Chandler, laboratory technicians Chris and Leeann, Facilites Manager Jason Bell, and Assistant Principal Keith Butler for their assistance. National Tree Day and Schools Tree Day combine to make Australia’s largest community tree planting and nature care event.

For more information on National Tree Day:  http://treeday.planetark.org/

Jessica Ball and Stephen Alderton

NEST Coordinators

Many hands make light work

Next Saturday morning, September 3, we will be holding a Working Bee at the school and we would like to see as many students and parents attending as possible.

Our projects for the day will include repairing damaged and worn parts of the sport ground with soil, mulching some new garden areas, establishment of a new bike shelter, and general gardening.

We will be commencing at 8:30am and for Health and Safety purposes, all who attend will be required to register in the main courtyard before moving off to help with tasks.  If you are able to bring equipment such as shovels, rakes, garden tools or even a wheelbarrow, that would be of great assistance.  It is recommended that those attending also bring a pair of garden gloves with them. Morning tea will be provided.

Your attendance, even if only for a couple of hours, will help us maintain and improve the physical environment of the school for all. We look forward to receiving your assistance.

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Juliea Slywka

Digital Media Coordinator

juliea.slywka@nossalhs.vic.edu.au