NORTHCOTE HIGH SCHOOL
E-Newsletter
Volume 89 Issue 4
Tuesday 17 March, 2015
Celebrating 89 years of education in 2015
WHAT’S COMING UP
TERM 1 2015
Tues 17 Mar: Yr 8 Camp to Boho
Wed 18 Mar: PARENT TEACHER MEETINGS
1.30-7.30 PM. School dismissal at 12.40
Thurs 19 Mar: School AGM, 5.30
Thurs 19 Mar: Farewell Music Concert
Frid: 20 Mar: Staff Data Day.
No School for students
Tues 24 Mar: PARENT TEACHER MEETINGS
1.30-7.30 PM. School dismissal at 12.40
Tues 24 Mar: Yr 8 Boho camp
Tues 24 Mar:
Tues 24 Mar:
Tues 24 Mar:
Friday 27 Mar:
for Charity
Batman House wins the 2015 swimming carnival for
the first time since 2008!
Regional Swimming
Malaysia Music Tour departs
USA Art & Design Tour departs
Last Day Term 1—Casual clothes day
TERM 2 2015
Mon April 13: First Day of school
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2015 School Swimming Carnival
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NHS Sports Update
VCE Volleyball
On Tuesday 3rd March our VCE Volleyball teams had a great
day out competing in the VCE Divisional Volleyball Competition
at Darebin Community Sports Centre. With four sides entered
we had a team in each pool. In the girls section we had Northcote Gold and Northcote Purple. Both teams were very competitive. Northcote Gold won all of their matches which made them
the overall winners for the day . In the Boys competition there
was some tough games for our two competing sides, Northcote
Gold and Northcote Purple. Northcote Gold won their pool,
which moved them through to play the winner of Pool B. This
was a strongly contested final where they successfully defeated Thornbury.
All Teams should be proud of themselves. Thanks to Ms Ring
for coaching the winning Boys team and also helping out with
umpiring.
Intermediate Volleyball
On Thursday 12th March our Intermediate Volleyball teams
competed in the Intermediate Divisional Event. It was a great
day with many fierce battles taking a few of the games to 3
sets. In the Boys section, Northcote Gold were the winners of
their pool then played off in a thrilling 3set match winning
against Thornbury. Our girls also had a successful day with
both of our sides winning many of their matches. Our Northcote
Purple side won their pool, then played off in the final against
Thornbury. All of our teams competed well and should be
proud of their achievements. Many thanks to our wonderful
student coaches Eren, Beatriz and Coby and to Ms Emanuel
and Ms Jacobs for coaching the teams.
light of the day would have to be the inflatable race, with
the Oversized Crab, Rubber Ducky, Crocodile, Dolphin ,
White Swan and who could forget the Pink Flamingo. It
was enjoyable to sit back and watch the mayhem.
Thanks to all of the staff and students for all of their help
to make this such a successful enjoyable day.
Results:
Batman 263,
Sumner 211,
Plenty : 181
Merri 143,
Sporting Achievements
Patrick and Tim Butler were selected to be members of
the Victorian Junior Track Cycling Team, and competed in
the Nationals (at DISC), two weeks ago. They both
achieved second places in their age groups for their final
events, the individual scratch race. The races were incredibly exciting. Victoria was the overall winner of the
competition. Congratulations to them both, what a great
achievement.
Coming Up
Monday 16 March Year 7 -10 Baseball and Softball
Thursday 19 March Year 8 Divisional Volleyball and
Tennis
Friday 20 March Year 7 Volleyball and Tennis
Intermediate Tennis
Our Intermediate Tennis team competed in the Divisional competition on Thursday 12th March. Although they weren’t stong
enough on the day. The team played well and should be congratulated on their competitiveness and sportsmanship.
Intermediate Regional Cricket
Our Intermediate Cricket team competed in the Regional Division on Tuesday 10th March. In our first match, Montmorency
won the toss and elected to bat. Our boys bowled and fielded
well. When it was our turn to bat, we started off strong with a 50
run opening partnership from Chris Zapantis and Donovan
Toohey. The team played well, but were eventually defeated by
Montmorency. Our next game was a forfeit due to the other
side not turning up on the day. Mr Price said that the boys
showed good sportsmanship by choosing to play a practice
match against Montmorency. Thanks to Daniel Coleman for
captaining the side and organising the team. Also thanks to Mr
Price for coaching the team.
2015 Swimming Carnival
I think that you will agree that the Swimming Carnival was a
great day. It started off a little chilly, but by the end of the day
as the races were heating up so was the weather. We had
some outstanding results by many competitors of which will be
moving through to the next round. The novelty events were very
popular with many competitors braving the icy waters to have
some fun and earn valueable points for their house. The high-
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Principal’s Report
Events and Celebrations – Term 1!
Term 1 has been a veritable feast of events and celebrations in and beyond the classroom. Year 8s and our
International Students have been camping at Boho
South, while the Year 9s had loads of fun participating in
the Duke of Ed Program in the Brisbane Ranges, whilst
Year 7s workshopped cyber bullying and digital citizenship via the Dot.Com Program. Meanwhile, music,
chess, the production, debating and sports program are
in full swing. The Year 12’s are thriving and surviving the
VCE, with a very busy few weeks of assessment and
recognition that the countdown to their final day of secondary school is on! I met with the VCE leadership
group last week and it was great to hear about their
plans for the year and speaking with great passion as
they reflected on the arrival of the new Year 7 group and
their experiences of this time. They also spoke about
the significant school decisions they have been able to
have influence through forums, surveys, and focus
groups that have resulted in changes to curriculum and
our relationships / connect structures via the sub
schools, leadership program and the Tutorial program.
Northcote High has much to celebrate!
$3 million for Northcote High
Further excellent news for Northcote High - Election
Funding Commitments are being honoured, this will go
some of the way to funding stage 1 of the Master Plan.
Please find below excerpt from DE&T letter. As you are
aware, the Government made a funding commitment of
$3 million to your school during the 2014 election campaign. The Department of Education and Training is
working closely with the new government to ensure that
all election commitments are fulfilled. Investment in education and school infrastructure is a priority for this government, and it is committed to spending $530 million on
school infrastructure projects over the next four years.
The majority of election commitments will be funded in
the 2015-16 State Budget.
I would like to acknowledge the support of Fiona Richardson who worked with us to make this a reality. We
are now pressing as many buttons as possible to find
another $3 million+ to deliver a quality Performance/Arts
Hub facility for our community.
VCE Offshore – Application Approved!
Another first for Northcote High - Please find below congratulations from the DE&T to Northcote High on the
approval of the VCE Offshore Business Case. We have
been working hand in hand with the International Education Division of the DE&T for the past 3 years to seek
permission/approval to deliver the VCE in China. The
next stage, is preparing an application for approval by
the VCAA for a licence to be deliver the VCE Offshore.
This again highlights Northcote Highs outward facing
focus and commitment to international links that support
young people; their education, access and outcomes,
plus it also supports significant and authentic professional development opportunities for staff. We will update you of further developments of this program in the
next months.
GPA (Grade Point Average) and Parent Student
Teacher Nights
GPA Cycle 1 opened to families last Friday and is available via Compass - Reports. The GPA is an excellent
conduit to begin a learning conversation with your child.
Parent Student Teacher Nights –are on this week and
next, we recommend bringing your child as part of the
conversation.
International Women’s Day and Chinese New Year
Student lead International Women’s Day celebrations
brilliantly – not only did they highlight why we need IWD
they raised over $800 raised for IWD projects internationally – well done – Esther, Cindy, Prue and Jeannie
Learning News…
Teaming@NHS - This year we are focused on teacher
teams within faculties which is proving to be invaluable
in terms of achieving shared goals and understanding
around classroom learning focus, how we teach and
what we teach. The feedback from staff on the value of
working together has been most positive, which goes
hand in hand with great student feedback around the
valuable learning resources and activities within MyNorthcoteHigh.
Writing@NHS - Prue Morris and the Year 7 English
Team are working with all staff around the school strategic goal - Improving student writing – through the The
Six (6) Traits of Writing framework – the next session of
staff will be on Friday - Data Day at NHS. Importantly –
we are delighted with the fabulous writing the Year 7s
are producing to date as they work through the framework and writing program.
Key Projects@NHS - we are again delighted to be
working with Judy Petch who is facilitating the development of a NHS Student/Teacher Survey Tool and a
learning behaviours framework that support student
best effort (GPA). Both of these projects are critical
aspects of developing shared community understanding
of quality work, our instructional framework, lesson
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model and the utilisation of feedback and support tools
that will our actions and work with the schools vision
and values. We are very lucky to have Judy working
with us, providing expert advice regarding teacher professional practice and supporting the development of
activities and tools for students to learn about and reflect upon their learning habits, which will ultimately
inform better learning and life outcomes for young people.
Year 7 Transition night
Thank you to families who attended, I hope you found
the information helpful and learned more about
MyNHS, GPA and how to have family discussions
around reflecting on Year 7 learning and planning the
next steps.
Gail Davidson (past Principal) Presents to VASSP
On Friday, Gail Davidson spoke at the Secondary Principals Association AGM – A Silicon Valley Story
through the eyes of an American - Australian Principal it was most interesting to hear about her experiences and how the different systems support teachers
and students to grow and develop and be their best in
their area of interest and passion. As always Gail was
high energy and engaging and controversial! And of
course spoke glowingly of her time at Northcote High.
Markerspace@NHS
Last weekend Peter Murphy conducted a community
Makerspace day at NHS. Peter is passionate about
design and connecting with community. On Thursday
26th March there will be another opportunity for students in Years 10, 11 and 12 to be part of a DATTA
Program – So You Think You Can Design. See Peter
if you are keen on any aspect of design. Peter is also
heading up the ACARA STEM Project with Michaela
Greenwood.
Peter Lewis – Papua New Guinea – Farewell!
Many of you are aware that this will be Peter’s last
week at Northcote High, prior to beginning a new role
as Principal of the Salvation Army School in Lae - Papua New Guinea. Peter has been the Director of Music at Northcote High for 15 years and there is much to
celebrate. Peter took up the leadership of a fledgling
music program with a small number of enthusiastic
players and a small group of staff who were keen to do
great things. Together under Peter’s Leadership the
staff and students did just that – they built a fabulous
music program with 300 plus students who are regarded as leaders in the state and in some genres nationally! Peter’s contribution, energy, commitment to excellence and plain ol’ fun has been considerable. He
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lives every day what we are all trying to achieve in
our classrooms, (and lives and with the support of the
music staff) and together they have built a fabulous
music department and a culture of excellence - you
can see, hear and feel great things happening. Students and staff in the music program work together to
improve and perform at a high level. It’s a great story
and one Peter should be very proud!
We wish Peter well in his new role and look forward
to hearing about his new fledgling music program.
School Council AGM – Bring a Friend! Thursday
19 March 5:30pm
I would like to introduce our two new school council
members:
Sandra Morris
Sandra Morris has 4 children, two sons and a daughter who are currently attending Northcote High and a
son who completed Year 12 in 2013. Sandra works in
the northern metropolitan region and manages a
health promotion and education team at a community
base women's health service. She has been actively
involved in the management of a local childcare service and the primary school her children attended. She is committed to accessible, quality public
education. She will bring experience in working in
both the community sector and government to the
school council.
Mahmoud Fahour
I have been in the corporate industry for most of my
career having started at Qantas Airways, PBL Media
and then GM of Volleyball Victoria. I am currently;
Head of Corporate Partnerships at the largest all service health club in Australia - Goodlife Health Clubs.
I have been a Northern suburbs boy for almost 40
years and have 3 sons, the eldest attending Northcote High School.
My family are active members of the community who
work with Federal, State and Local governments in
areas of diversity strategies, business and sport.
I hope to contribute to the growth of the NHS in any
capacity and look forward to working with parents,
students, teachers and leaders of the school.
Next Newsletter will feature school council members
and the range of ways you can connect with our community.
Kate Morris
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USA Art and Design Tour 2015
I
Northcote High School Art & Design students and
teachers are counting down to the bi-annual NHS
Art and Design tour of the USA commencing March
22nd.
Look out for live reports.
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Lunar New Year Celebration at Boho
International Student Camp
On the eve of 18th March at Boho we witnessed the very first Lunar New Year celebration party on the camp site, when 33
Year 11 International Students sang and danced into midnight to welcome and celebrate the Lunar New Year—The Year of
Goat.
That night despite a long day of horse riding, tired and hungry, the International Students were in high spirits and they were
determined to celebrate their most anticipated Lunar New Year. Once we returned to camp, the dinner duty group immediately dived into the kitchen to prepare traditional New Year dinner which was cooking dumplings! The party preparation
team started setting up the party scene by putting up balloons and testing the stereo system etc. After the sumptuous New
Year’s Eve dinner, all students were involved in the New Year Eve celebrations. The Boho camp site becomes a mini version of the UN with five different national anthems being sung in five different languages! All students cheered and applauded when the Yr 11 coordinator Ms Carolyn Richards and Head of English/ EAL Mr Paul Gilby sang the Advance Australia
Fair!
The annual Year 11 International Student camp provides a great opportunity for our young international students to build
relationships with each other and teachers, to develop team skills, independence, cooperation and a cultural awareness of
their “new country”.
The International Students and their families are truly appreciative to the school for this great camp opportunity.
Ms Lixia Wang
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More news from Alpine school
Well I am back alive from expedition two! Which included a 9k walk on a beach followed by a 3k walk on land then a 200m
canoe to our campsite, and a very yummy dinner of pasta. Next day was a 5am wake up for the 10k canoe down the Brodrive river. We walked into camp to find that it was a paddock surrounded by a formidable wall of cows that I will discuss later. After setting up a very flimsy supposably cow proof fence we had our lunch. Later in the afternoon everyone was out exploring the paddocks when we noticed that the cows had snuck up on our camp and had started to lick our tents, apparently
our fence was not so cow proof after all. One of the boys who lives on a dairy farm decided the best thing to do would be to
run after the cows to scare them away. I now know that one of the most terrifying things that can happen is to
watch someone who has lived on a farm all his life and knows his way around cows, run away from a pack of angry cows
screaming RUN RUN RUN. The cows had decided to rebel and started to chase him (and everyone else) back towards our
camp. We honestly thought that the cows were going to kill us and trample our camp. Luckily they lost interest before they
did any damage and now I have a good story to tell. The last day was a struggle because we had to hike for 6ks up Mt Raymond and I had a slight case of dehydration and asthma attack. But all is good and I had so much fun at the top. I am very
tired now! Mollie Mckenzie (Alpine School Term 1)
Yr 10 French class at the French Film Festival
On the 11th of March, the Year 10 French class departed on an excursion to the French Film Festival.
Before arriving we were graciously treated to, by our accompanying teachers Mme. Dearlove and Mme. Charenton, a varied selection of crêpes at the local crêperie: Myrtles.
Once sated, we strolled just down the way to Westgarth Cinema where we posed for a group photo before heading into the
theatre.
The trailers came to an end and we began watching “La Famille
Bélier”, a heart-warming film about Paula, a 16-year-old farm
girl born into a deaf family. Her role as the family’s interpreter to
the hearing world is threatened when she enrols in the school
choir discovering her vocal talent; the question soon presents
itself, should she stay with her family or leave for Paris and possibly her career.
Overall the day out was a great success and definitely bolstered
our skills in the French language, the crêpes were delicious and
the film was also a great pick, easy to relate to, what you might
call a dank meme.
Excursions like this truly add a little something special to school
life.
- Thomas Paizes
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Celebrating Greek language
The Year 7 Greek class made masks to celebrate APOKRIES (Carnival)
Ms Sgardelis
First meeting of the NHS Student Writers¹ Club
On Friday the 13th a group of students made their way to the library for the first meeting of the NHS Student Writers¹ Club.
The club¹s goals and rules are up to students, but basically involve meeting with other writers and sharing ideas, providing
support and looking for opportunities to publish. All students who are interested in writing are welcome to attend. Next meeting will take place at lunchtime on the last day of term (check the daily bulletin and speak with your English teachers).
Enquiries to Paul Gilby - [email protected] comments: “Its so fun here and it does not feel
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PARTY program at Royal Melbourne
On the 5th of March, forty Year 10 students were given the opportunity to attend the P.A.R.T.Y program at the Royal Melbourne Hospital. The program was about preventing alcohol and risk related trauma in youth, and throughout the day we
were given an insight into how a person is treated when they have alcohol or risk related trauma – from start to finish.
Overall, it was a very surreal and confronting experience. We are grateful for the chance to participate, as it was beneficial
to us all; it taught us all heaps about risk taking and how to prevent endangering not only our own lives, but also the lives
of others.
Leah Nassis
Northcote Police Bicycle
Engraving and
Sausage Sizzle
Sunday 22nd of March 2015
11.00am to 2.00pm
48 Dennis Street, NORTHCOTE
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NORTHCOTE HIGH SCHOOL
What is “my Northcote High”? “my Northcote High” is our online Learning Management System. Teachers create interactive class webpages to share and deliver course content and communicate with students. Students submit their work and receive feedback and marks from their teachers through “my Northcote High”. They have a calendar that displays due work items, assessments and homework set by teachers. Student groups and administration also have unique pages that members can read and use. Parents have access to “my Northcote High” for the following: • School events calendar (a work in progress!) • See your student’s upcoming due work and calendar • See your child’s developing ePortfolio • Access to relevant resources and information such as: – Information for parents (located on the left hand sidebar) – Subject selection handbook in term 3 – Student wellbeing pages – Year level pages – Education technology program support and resources Parents do not have direct access to the class webpages that are used by teachers and parents or the lesson resources that are uploaded by teachers. But parents are encouraged to discuss the access to these resources with their children, ask them “is it on my Northcote High?” and they will show you their class spaces. At this stage, while staff and students are learning to use the system parents do not have access to view students’ marks and feedback from teachers. We may make this available in the near future. How to Login •
•
•
The direct link is http://schoolbox.nhs.vic.edu.au Or access via Compass by clicking on the star icon then “my Northcote High” Use your Compass username and password to login. Parent Dashboard Information for parents menu
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Public Art in Northcote High School!!
OLD SNEAKER DRIVE!
The Art and Design Department are currently planning a piece of
public art in the grounds of Northcote High School that requires literally hundreds of pairs of old sneakers. (more will be revealed later!)
The work will be carried out by our students during semester 1,
2015.
We are asking all parents to dig out old sneakers once lived in by
your children and drop them into the school. We need a range to
reflect the foot size of year 7 – 12.
See Mr. Drinan in B5 for further information, or horrid old sneakers
can be put in the receptacle outside Ms Morris’ office in the main
foyer.
Grill’d Fairfield support NHS Green Team
This month at Grill’d in Fairfield, the Northcote High School Green Team are one of
three groups to be featured in their Local Matters campaign. Every burger purchased allows the eater to vote for the organisation they care for the most. At the
end of March, the organisation with the most votes will receive a money donation to
go towards our cause.
We invite all families to dine at the Fairfield Grill’d and vote for our Green Team.
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Year 10 Visual Comm at the Melbourne Museum
On Thursday 19th February, twenty five enthusiastic young design students
took a trip to the Melbourne Museum to draw animals from the Wild Exhibition. For their current unit of work students need to draw an animal illustration that combines realistic animal proportions with creatively applied design elements and principles, for a visually effective design.
Whilst surrounded by a diverse display of stuffed mammals, birds and reptiles from around the world, the Year 10 students sketched creatures that
caught their interest the most.
Images of fur, feathers, webbed feet, scales and snarling mouths gradually
appeared on the pages of student sketch books. Strange, unknown animals from distant lands were sketched in wonder, as students learnt about
their habitats and which creatures were thriving or only just surviving in the
wild.
Drawing real animals frozen in motion was an extremely valuable experience as it allowed students to capture the complex textural details of animals that may otherwise be hard to record, had the animal been in motion.
Being able to stand so close to the animal also allowed students to really
study its form and transfer tonal qualities to their pages. Whilst images
from books and photos sourced from the internet can be useful, drawing
from real life is the ultimate experience for students wanting to develop
their observational drawing skills and master the technique of transferring visual information onto the page.
Ms Christine Martin
String Quartet perform at MCG awards
The Northcote High School String Quartet performed at the Victorian School Sports Awards on Tuesday
10th March at the MCG. Julia Vu, Luca Cotugno-Morrison, Joachim Habgood and Maggie O’Reilly were complimented for entertaining the guests at this prestigious event. Speakers at the presentation included Nicole Livingstone, OAM, The Hon. James Merlino MP, Olympic Gold Medallist David Crawshay and AFL player David Rodan.
The quartet (pictured) represented NHS proudly and are to be commended on their wonderful performance at this
event.
Ms Jackie Brogan
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