From the Principals' Desk 

It is hard to believe that we are already halfway through Term 3, as the past few weeks have really flown by. Term Three is always challenging and exciting as we have several important and enjoyable whole school events that are both highly useful educationally, team building, and very affirming of our school community. We also head into some significant assessment periods and the final few weeks of formal classes for our Year 12 students, who only have a comparatively short time remaining before the final exam period is upon us. Then they will have completed their schooling, heading off to university and further studies for the majority.  We encourage our Year 12s to keep an eye on the Careers channel to ensure they are aware of deadlines and news available to them.

Nossal Week – Monday 31 July – Friday 4 August

The week was designed to celebrate the unique qualities of Nossal. The school Captains, together with the Nossal High School Student Representative Council (SRC) members and our clubs and societies, all participated in running activities throughout the week that highlighted the strengths within our community. During the week, there were numerous Club events, House sports competitions, teacher versus student competitions, among other events. The themed dress-up day was "For the ages”, and the students wore various outfits.  NEST conducted an audit of flora and fauna within our local surroundings, and Formation had a panel discussion and several other activities, such as face painting and a stall.

We are grateful to the members of our community who donated many valuable items for the raffle. The support was overwhelming, and we had over five thousand dollars' worth of prizes. We also thank the parents and students for supporting the raffle; we were able to bank over two thousand dollars for our Nossal for Nossal Fund. Thank you to Ms. Bonham, who has recently taken on supporting our SRC, for her enthusiasm and determination with the raffle. It all added to the spirit and positivity during the week.  We would like to thank the school Captains of 2023 for their months of planning and preparation for the event. This will indeed be a wonderful legacy they leave for Nossal.

Celebrating the success of 2022 – Premier’s VCE Awards

Tracey Mackin, the Acting Principal, and Jessica Ball, the Director of VCE and Pathways, were lucky enough to attend the Premier’s VCE Awards, which was held on Thursday 27 July, at the Convention Centre. Congratulations to Hritik Jagtap for his achievements in Units 3 and 4 Legal Studies. 

Congratulating the Nossal High School Badminton Team

Last week, the Intermediate Badminton team finished runners-up in the State Finals. We congratulate Christopher GO, Samko CHIEN-MIHALCIN, Sachin Raju, Sugi RANGARAJAN, Lincoln GE and Jeffery LY. We also appreciate the support received from Jie-Yie, a State champion and a member of our Alumni, who assisted with the coaching of the team. We thank Mr. Armistead for coaching and supporting this team and Ms. Pumphrey for her able leadership and support of the many interschool sporting competitions. 

Year 9 City Week

The Principal team had the pleasure of each attending a day of the City Week program last week. The Year 9s spent all week based in the city conducting small group research into a "Big Question" about our Capital city. This involved them working collaboratively and independently, making their own way to and from the city each day, and moving around the CBD with minimal supervision while conducting research, interviewing people, and visiting businesses and support services. The outcome will be a comprehensive digital presentation from each group, showcasing the best to the cohort. We look forward to seeing the results of their endeavours; we always learn something new and are astounded by the quality of some of their video productions, which could easily be packaged up for public viewing on community or commercial television. As is usually the case, we received a number of unsolicited messages from members of the public complimenting our students on their demeanour, insight, and intelligence, which is always nice to have affirmed. I thank the Year 9 students for their excellent participation, the teachers for engaging with the program, and Mr. LaBrooy and Ms. Young for their leadership.

PFA: Father’s Day Badminton Competition

The Father's Day Badminton Competition for Nossal parents and their students commenced on Saturday 13 August. There were a large number of families who attended the two sessions during the day. Although the event was very competitive, seeing so many families enjoying the time with their students was incredible. There was a carnival-like atmosphere during the afternoon, and parents could socialise with each other during the event. We are grateful to Shankar Ramadas for his leadership in this and invite you all to attend the next session on Saturday 19 August starting at 12.00 noon to cheer the finalist on or to assist with the organisation (see the PFA section for more details). 

We also acknowledge the work of Shanny Tan and Ansa David for their work on the day. They collected the registrations and sold some refreshments. 

The PFA will also run a Father's Day stall at the school at recess and lunchtime on Thursday 31 August.  Please encourage your children to buy some bargain gifts for their dads and help the PFA to raise funds for the school.

The funds collected from the PFA events such as these are used for significant projects in the school. There are so many projects, such as the outdoor table tennis tables, the new laser printer for our Technology department, and the popular outdoor tables and chairs that the PFA has purchased. We appreciate these resources. 

Uniform and Mobile phone policy

Being a member of our school community does entail having rights and responsibilities and this covers more than just the academic area. A wider responsibility for students is to wear the school’s uniform proudly. We ask that students make the effort to wear our uniform in the way it should be worn. 

Parents and guardians have a responsibility to ensure their child maintains the culture of wearing the Nossal High School uniform correctly and proudly every day. Being part of our school community also involves the students’ responsibility of following the Department of Education’s ‘no mobile phone policy’ which is designed to provide a safe and secure environment for all students. The policy also aims to build a learning community where students are not disengaged from their learning or their social responsibilities at school as a result of using devices such as mobile phones and the like. 

If students need support with uniform the Nossal High School PFA run a second uniform shop which is open on the first Monday of every month. There are also options of ordering uniform through State Schools Relief. Please contact a member of the Wellbeing team if you need assistance with this.

Curriculum Day - Wednesday 16 August

The entire Nossal staff will gather on Wednesday for an intensive morning with Isabella Symthe, social worker and behaviour support supervisor at Aspect Australia. Our focus for the day will be on Neurodivergent thinkers and Autism in high-performing students. These sessions aim to help the staff in their understanding of the needs of the students by catering effectively to the diversity within our school community. 

During the afternoon session, Jenna Campbell from Safe School will complete the ally training that all Nossal staff commenced in Term Two. These sessions have focussed on inclusion and the impact of our attitudes, processes, and responses, particularly in relation to young members of our LGBTQI+ community. Again, a valuable and insightful session for us all.

House Performing Arts Festival – Tuesday 29 August 

This is a whole school event where the four Houses and all students undertake a friendly and highly structured performing arts competition around a designated theme - this year, “Painted in Brilliant Colour.” The program, presented at Robert Blackwood Hall at Monash University, involves all students in each House, and features a range of performances and interpretations that are judged by an external panel of experts. The program and performances are student-instigated and led, and the school has been full of groups of students rehearsing and singing and making props. The entire Year 9 cohort will perform as a Choral ensemble publicly for the first time, and you will see some memorable and brave presentations during the show. This is not a highly polished school production - this is the entire school participating and (hopefully) having a lot of fun while showcasing some known and perhaps as yet undiscovered talents. It builds the House spirit within the school. We encourage you all to attend - it is a very entertaining and joyous spectacle. Parents are welcome to buy tickets for this event which will commence at 5.00 pm on Tuesday 29 August.

Get tickets through MAPA at https://www.monash.edu/performing-arts-centres/event/house-performing-arts-festival-2/

Don’t forget to complete the consent for you Nossal student at https://nossalhs-vic.compass.education/login.aspx 

2023 Parent / Guardian Opinion Survey: We want our parents / guardians to tell us what they think!  

Last week each family received an email inviting you to participate in a survey. Our school conducts this survey to find out what our parents / guardians think of our school. The Parent / Guardian Opinion Survey is an annual survey offered by the Department of Education that is designed to assist schools in gaining an understanding of families’ perceptions of school climate, student behaviour, and student engagement. The survey is optional, but we encourage all families to participate. Our school uses the survey results to help inform and direct future school planning and improvement strategies. All families are invited to participate in the survey. 

The Parent / Guardian Opinion Survey will be open from Monday 7 August to Friday 8 September 2023. 

The survey will be conducted online, takes 20 minutes to complete, and can be accessed at any convenient time within the survey period on desktop computers, laptops, tablets or smartphones. The online survey will be available in English and 10 other languages including Arabic, Greek, Hakha Chin, Hindi, Japanese, Punjabi, Simplified Chinese, Somali, Turkish, and Vietnamese.  

Please email Ms Fiona Vanstan (Fiona.vanstan@nossalhs.vic.edu.au) if you would like more information. 

Coming Events....

I am looking forward to Book Week next week; PFA Badminton Competition.