From the Principal 

Yesterday was such an exciting day for us – finally we were all back together on campus. It was so lovely to see all of the smiling faces of our Year 8, 9 and 10 students. It was somewhat alarming to see how much everyone has grown! 

More so than any other year levels, these year levels have had some of the toughest challenges. Aside from three weeks (two in late June and one in the first week of Term 3) our middle school students have learnt entirely from home since the second last week of Term 1. 

Just like all the year levels, but even more so, we are so proud of your persistence, your adaptability, your agency over your own learning, and your continued engagement. We know it has not been easy, but you have shown both curiosity and humanity throughout it. You have our whole-hearted congratulations. 

We’ve had two weeks to get used to being back at school, and there is so much to enjoy. The incidental conversations, the ease of asking questions and getting feedback from a teacher or your peers, the social interaction. 

Both staff and students did have some adjustments to make when we first came back. For the first week we were all exhausted. We are not used to expending so much social energy. We were also hungry a lot of the time, since we had to regulate our eating to break times only, (not just whenever we wanted). We were slightly less comfortable than when we were at home – wearing slippers and activewear is not something we can do any longer. Please make sure you take it slowly and allow yourselves the time and space to adjust. Be kind to yourself and others. 

Your teachers are very conscious of the need to go slowly, create social reconnection opportunities, find out where you’re at and work with you to make the necessary transition as smooth as possible. 

The only thing the teachers told me they missed occasionally was the ‘Mute All’ button and their slippers. We all love being back at school with you. You’re so much more interesting and engaging when we get to experience your full self, rather than a couple of letters on a screen. 

We will support you to adapt to the new ways of being at school, to ensure everyone’s safety. 

End of Year with the Year 12s

As this Newsletter goes live, we officially have only one day of classes left with our Year 12s. It hardly seems fair, really. We only just got them back, and now most are heading off for intensive study. On the other hand, it has been nice to have some COVID – adjusted celebrations, like their final assembly today. I could not help but tear up as I spoke about how proud we are of them, and hopes and dreams for their future. Even though these milestones are not quite what we had hoped for, they are still significant, and we hope that they can experience our heartfelt care and hopes for them in alternate ways.

We have had a wonderful two weeks together with our various dress up days, including: ‘Dress to Impress, ‘Dress like Remote Learning,’ ‘Dress Like a Teacher’ and ‘Dress as a decade day’. Additionally, on Wednesday, each of their teachers will want to personally farewell them. You will even see some photos of me getting in on the action on ‘Dress Like a Teacher Day’ with some of the staff dressing like students.

While we would normally have a farewell breakfast and parade, sadly it is not possible to have this in a COVIDSafe manner. It was planned for Thursday 29 October. We do still want to mark the occasion symbolically, and let students know we are ‘with them’ in spirit, if not physically. On Tuesday we sent each Year 12 a voucher in the hope that it can contribute to a family celebratory breakfast to commemorate the end of classes and formal secondary schooling. 

Year 12 Study Period Thursday 29 October – Friday 6 November

We look forward to welcoming back students at school over the study period, so that they can meet with teachers and get valuable feedback and support with their study. Teachers will be available in their regular scheduled class time and by appointment. With prior arrangement, staff may also be able to do this via Webex. Students may also use the senior study centre and library to study during this time. Our usual wellbeing supports, and the support of the Senior Sub-school are also accessible to students throughout this time.

Meliora Sequamur Awards 

Last Monday we held our annual awards evening – virtually of course. It was still an incredibly moving event. A huge thank you to Katie Archibald, Kate Challis and Peta Sirec for their work to turn our usual celebration into a virtual one. It was once again a highlight of the year. The way each of the staff and students who nominated award winners described them, it was clearly noticeable that each person had had something special recognised about them. As a principal, my greatest desire is that every child is seen, understood, valued and makes progress, and this was most definitely on display. I seriously teared up many times. As I said on the night it makes me really proud to know that we celebrate the right stuff at NHS – good people and making progress, which, I am sure you agree, is even more important this year than ever. 

Kayla Shanley and Sebastian Rio were wonderful hosts, and did a great job of speaking meaningfully, making anecdotal comments, putting together the most visually beautiful PowerPoint and adapting to technical difficulties. The virtual context did not detract from the meaningfulness of the evening. 

Congratulations everyone who was involved – you are indeed following the better path!

Intermediate Strings Ensemble

I also had the pleasure last week of hearing a performance from the Year 7 members of the Intermediate Strings Ensemble. While the rest of the troupe continued work remotely, the Year 7 team members have been able to get together to make music together - some of the intrinsic joy of being a part of our music program. 

Again, this was an incredibly emotional experience for me. As a music lover I usually attend almost all of the music events on our calendar. They bring me so much pleasure and are the embodiment of collaboration, creativity, problem-solving and our community. 

As I listened to the Year 7s outstanding performance, I did (once again) tear up at the joy I was experiencing, and the recognition that this has been something we have all missed this year. 

The Instrumental Music program and team have done an outstanding job of adapting to remote learning, and their flexibility and creativity to still bring the joy of music to our students has been remarkable.

We are hoping if the restrictions continue to ease that we may be able to hold some outdoor concerts on Merri Park in December. Fingers crossed.

Sue Harrap

Principal