ASSISTANT PRINCIPALS’ REPORT
Mrs Julie Andrews, Mr Paul Dawson &
Mr Bradley Headlam
Assistant Principals
Welcome back to all members of the NGSC community. We are looking forward to working with students and families to achieve some extraordinary outcomes in 2019.
As always, please contact any of the Assistant Principals to discuss areas of concern, acknowledgment and improvements. If the matter is directly related to your child, contact with the relevant Sub-school Manager or Year Level Coordinator should be made first.
Assistant Principals and Sub-school Managers:
Junior Sub-school
Mrs Julie Andrews and
Sub-school Manager, Mr Steven Quinn
Middle Sub-school
Mr Brad Headlam and
Sub-school Manager, Mr Simon Scoullar
Senior Sub-school
Mr Paul Dawson and
Sub-school Manager, Mrs Sarah Bridges
UNIFORM and CLASSROOM MATERIALS
We are now heading into week three of the year and students should have all items of the uniform and booklist. These should be labelled with your child’s name. Any issues regarding your child and their uniform/classroom materials are to be referred to the Sub-school Managers or Student Wellbeing.
IMMUNISATIONS - Year 7 and 10
Please see the letter regarding the Collection of information for all students in Years 7 and 10. This can be found on the Junior and Middle School news pages of this newsletter.
COMMUNICATION WITH SCHOOL
At NGSC, there are a number of methods to share information and communicate.
Attendance: all student absence days need to be accounted for by phone contact with the relevant Sub-school assistants, or a written note (student planner or separate piece of paper). At NGSC, students are expected to have an attendance rate of 95% or more to make the best use of the learning opportunities. Concerns are raised for students whose attendance rates fall below 80%.
Student Planner: all students receive a student planner. Students use the planner to record homework, upcoming test dates and assessments, school events and reminders. The planner is also useful for parents and guardians to send/receive notes with teachers. It contains information about uniform, iPad/device responsibilities, term dates, bell times, school map, library processes and classroom management strategies.
Phone calls: Staff welcome phone calls but often a voice message will need to be left. Contacting the relevant student manager is sometimes a preferred option. Staff will usually try to make phone contact with home to discuss learning concerns, relocations, etc. A follow up email is often used if phone contact could not be made. Sometimes it is easier to have a meeting at school; these will be arranged by a student manager or a member of the student wellbeing team.
COMPASS: online communication and school operations platform
COMPASS ACCESS - a login and password for parents/guardians is required for access. Students have their own access login and password. COMPASS can be opened as a phone/iPad APP or on a computer/laptop.
COMPASS TRAINING FOR PARENTS - it is important that students and parents/guardians regularly check COMPASS for News Items, Progress Reports, Semester Reports, online booking for Parent/Teacher/Student conferences, and communication from teachers. If you would like information and support to use the various aspects of COMPASS please contact the school. A training session for parents and guardians may be scheduled in Term 1 if the need is expressed. See below for Compass information on how to use the software.
Should you require training, please contact the school to arrange an appointment time on either of the following dates:
1. Wednesday, 22 February
2. Wednesday, 6 March
You can also email Brad Headlam headlam.bradley.b@edumail.vic.gov.au for Compass assistance.
A Parent's Guide to Compass
Hogwarts School and Harry Potter characters are used by Compass to show how the features look on a screen.
● Knowledge Base
● Parent Portal
● A Parent's Guide to Compass
OVERVIEW
The Compass Parent Portal is an integrated, online portal that allows you to access up-to-date and meaningful information about our school and your child's progress. Compass includes many different features, including the ability to:
- Monitor your child's attendance, and enter an explanation for absence or lateness
- Communicate with your child's teachers
- Update your family contact information
- View your child's timetable and the school calendar
- Monitor your child's homework and assessment tasks
- Download and view your child's Semester Reports and Progress Reports
- Book Parent/Student/Teacher Conferences
Your school may be using some or all of the modules indicated in this article. Likewise, within your parent portal you may have access to some or all of the functions listed.
ACCESSING COMPASS
Compass is a web-based system that is accessible on any modern web browser (Internet Explorer, Firefox, Chrome, Safari) or by using the Compass iOS or Android apps. To download the app to your device, search 'Compass School Manager' in the applicable app store.
Every family receives a separate login to our school's Compass site, which will be provided to you by the school.
If you are having trouble finding the Compass link for our school, go to http://schools.compass.edu.au where you can search for our school to access our link.
LOGGING IN TO COMPASS
To log in you will require your unique family username and password. These details will be provided to you by the school however if you are yet to receive them please contact the school office. You will initially be provided with a temporary password that you will be prompted to update to one of your choosing when you login for the first time.
To login, go to your school's Compass site.
Type in your username and password.
Upon first login, you will be required to confirm your email address and mobile phone number. These details may be used by the school for SMS, password recovery and email communication throughout the year.
Please confirm your mobile phone number and email address(es) below. These details will be used by the school to keep you up to date on school news, upcoming events, student absences, fees due for payment and a range of other information services (depending on the Compass features your school uses).
Also when logging in for the first time, once you have confirmed your details, you will be required to change your password. Once you have chosen your new password, you will be taken to your parent home screen.
If you have lost your details or forgotten your password, you can recover your details by clicking the 'Can't access your account?' link on the front page.
THE HOME SCREEN
The home screen provides you with relevant alerts and news, as well as quick access to your child's profile.
Main Menu
Allows you to access other Compass and school resources. The options available here may vary based on your school's use of Compass, more information on these icons is provided in the next section.
Tools
The Tools Menu (Cog icon) allows you to update your contact details and change your password.
Alerts
Custom notifications for items that require your action or attention. These may include excursion notifications, ordering options for school photos, absence notifications, surveys, student report availability and more.
- Outstanding absences or late arrivals that require a note or approval
- Course Confirmations or payments that need processing
- Parent/Student/Teacher Conferences that are available for booking
- Excursions or Events that require consent and/or payment
- School photos that are available for purchase
- Semester Reports or Progress Reports that are available to download.
Your Child
This section provides you with a quick summary of available options, and highlights a summary of upcoming and overdue tasks. To access more information click on the relevant quick link or select 'Profile' to access details information about your child. Options here may include:
- Your child's profile page
- Email functionality
- Attendance pages customised for your child, where notes/approvals can be entered
- Academic reports for your child
- Parent/Student/Teacher Conference bookings
- Any overdue Learning Tasks that your student has not yet submitted.
News
Recent school news items and information relevant to parents. This may include newsletters, details of upcoming events and much more.
MENUS AND FUNCTIONS
Along the top of the screen there are various icons, and from these icons you can navigate through the Compass portal.
The Home icon will take you back to the Home page.
The Calendar icon will take you to the school calendar, where you will be able to see the schedules of your students, as well as any school events or activities that have been entered to the calendar.
The Pencil icon will bring up the Teaching and Learning menu, from which you can access Learning Tasks and School Resources.
The Grid icon will bring up the Organisation menu, from which you can access Events and Course Confirmations/Payments.
The People icon will bring up the Community menu, from which you can access Conferences, Photos, and School Documentation.
The Star icon will bring up the Favourites menu, where any websites that the school has added will be linked for you to easily access.
To the right of the screen, your name will display, with the Cog icon</