Last Wednesday we conducted a Whole School Assembly, and as you know, I like to take the opportunity to share with you the messages shared with our students and the celebrations that were highlighted together as a college community. As a school, it is our way of recognising and valuing the predictable and consistent approaches we have in educating our students, and the holistic partnership we share in doing so with you, and all involved with every Newcomb Secondary College student. Speaking the same language and sharing in one voice is easily the most effective way in supporting students.
The Assembly focussed on recognising-
the respect shown by all students at the ANZAC Day assembly,
the efforts of our 9/10 Outdoor Education students at the recent 3-day camp,
our very talented Band students for recent performances in the Auditorium,
students who competed in recent Interschool Sport events- the feedback from the conveners has been extremely complimentary of Newcomb Secondary College students at these events,
the wonderful morning tea put on by our Senior students for the Geelong Community Foundation scholarship interviews- it is great to see that every student interviewed was successful in gaining a scholarship,
our Year 8 students who attended the Geelong Tech school for their STEM learning activity- the reports about your engagement in the program and STEM talent has been wonderful,
our families who hosted students from Indonesia this term,
all students who have taken part in the Geelong Future Leaders of Industry program, Making Waves, The Royal Family workshop, our Yarning circle sessions, Peer support, Be-Bold-Be-Heard, SLAM, Art club, Dance club, NEST, Crochet club, Book club, Touch Football lunchtime House competitions, Deakin University excursions, and
all students who have made a considered effort to present at Newcomb Secondary College every day in correct school uniform.
There is so much going on in the college and so much that we should all be very proud of.
As the Assembly continued, we-
presented our 2024 Peer Support students and handed out their badges. Our 2024 Peer Support students are- Emily Carter, Jake Fairfield, Ebony Martin, Zane Bumpstead, Everett Kennedy, Will Howell, Mike Riordan, Katelin Cobb, Ash Stenton-Dozey, Lexi Chinn and Talisha Brooker
heard a wonderful recount of the Year 7 Camp at Anglesea from Holly Riordan and Seth Russell- both spoke exceptionally well!
We concluded our Assembly with Mr Grabowski (Assistant Principal) congratulating students on their presentation and outlining the supports we have in place to assist students who encounter challenges with college uniform. This term we have introduced a Uniform Bank to the supports provided to students- so far it has been well-received and very successful.
The final communication that was shared with students at the Assembly was about our Semester two strengthening of the Mobile Phone Policy. Before the end of this term, we will share specific details with students and our community regarding a confiscation policy and process for students who have their mobile phones visible, or in use, during the school day. Remember, this policy is a ministerial order in all schools and although our previous application of the policy was sufficient (off-and-away), unfortunately as a school we need to resort to a strengthening of the policy (confiscation) to ensure that all students are compliant.
Morrisby Interviews
Last week we our Pathways team supported students in undertaking their Morrisby Interviews. These interviews are an important part of the schools Careers Education program and assist students in determining their strength areas and thus future employment opportunities. From my observations, and the feedback from our guests who interviewed with the students, all students presented very well. Congratulations!
Newcomb Central- Woolworths closure from July 7
As mentioned in previous newsletter editions, and visible over recent months, Newcomb Central has been undertaking renovations. As part of the plans, the Woolworths complex will close from July 7 for a full-store renovation and re-open in March 2025. We ask our community to be aware and stay clear of the work areas during the construction phase as we are aware that many students frequent the complex before and after the school day and many are dropped-off and/or picked up by parents/ carers in the carpark.!
In Term 1 of 2024, across all year levels, 64% of absences remain unexplained something that we hope our college community can assist us with by accessing Compass and attending to your student’s absence reason.
Of the absences provided with a reason, 20% are due to Medical, 10% listed as Parent Choice (unapproved)
and a combined 6% noted as Truancy, Refusal or Family Holiday.
At Newcomb Secondary College, we strive for high attendance to support your child’s learning, and social, emotional and mental wellbeing. We endeavour to work with and support all families in our community; we all want and need to do better for our students.
We can provide the best supports for students and families when absences are explained. Protecting the safety and well-being of students through the reporting and monitoring of absenteeism is the responsibility of both parents/carers and Newcomb Secondary College.
Communication is a critical component in ensuring all students can maximise their learning and engagement. If your student is struggling with attendance due to anxiety, health, truancy, refusal or another barrier, please let us know so we can work together to support your student. We understand that there are barriers preventing attendance and prioritise support for those families. There are a range of resources available to support you with helping students to re-engage and improve school attendance.
95%
attendance rate is the equivalent of missing 10 days per year.
90%
= 1 day per fortnight or 20 days per year.
85%
= 30 days per year (chronically absent)
80%
= one day per week or 40 days per year.
Research has shown that consistent student attendance at school is directly linked to better health, social and employment outcomes.
We have 30
students with perfect attendance of 100% and 130 students above 95%; a huge congratulations and thank you to these students and their families.
A few friendly reminders:
If your student has any outstanding unexplained absences for Term 1, please access the Compass portal to view and enter reasons for these absences.
If your student must be absent, please contact the office as soon as possible on the same day.
Please avoid booking family holidays during the school term.
Please aim to only keep students home if they are too unwell to attend.
If you have any questions or concerns regarding your student’s attendance, or if you or your student requires any support with school refusal, please contact the school on (03) 5248 1400 or the school’s attendance officer.
The Attitudes to Schools Survey is a voluntary annual student survey offered by the Department of Education to assist schools and the department to gain an understanding of students' perceptions and experiences of school. We value student voice as a means to improving student engagement, wellbeing and quality instruction and will be asking your child about their thoughts and feelings in relation to their school, their learning, peer relationships, resilience, bullying, health and wellbeing, physical activity, and life in general.
This year, the survey will be conducted at Newcomb Secondary on June 12 and 13.
If families do not wish for their child to participate, please decline this event. Participation in this survey is voluntary. Please confirm your intention to decline by June 10.
If families do wish for their child to participate, you do not need to action anything. If we do not receive a refusal of consent by June 10th, this will be taken as your consent for your child to participate in the 2024 Attitude to School Survey. However, as noted above the survey is voluntary and even with your consent, your child can choose to withdraw or not respond to questions at any time.
Newcomb Secondary College is fortunate enough to have a Doctors in Schools Program running 2 days a week.
We have both a GP, and Mental Health Nurse that attend onsite to run a clinic on a Tuesday and Wednesday. This clinic is for any student in Years 7-12. The appointments are bulk billed, meaning that there is no cost to families.
Appointments can be made by either contacting the schools Wellbeing Team or calling Bellarine Community Health on 5253 0400.
Students may access this service to address any of the following:
Physical pain or issues
Health lifestyle (sleep, diet, nutrition, exercise)
Mental health
Sexual health and contraception
Sexuality and gender identity
Body image
Scripts
If you would like to know more, please contact Jane Osborne in our Wellbeing Team.
This health content is brought to you by Doctors in Secondary School.
Please find the selected resources from your healthcare team below. These resources offer a trusted source of relevant health information. We hope you find them helpful and informative.
This week's focus is on how to support a young person with a diverse sexuality.
If a young person lets you know that they identify with a diverse sexuality you are being trusted with very private and personal information. They may have never talked to anyone about this before, or they may have only just begun to understand and feel comfortable with their sexuality. They trust that you will support and accept them.
The After School Homework Club is in Room B2 every day except Thursdays. Students are welcome to attend to catch up on classwork, complete homework, receive individual tutoring or to work with classmates on a group project. They may attend for 15 minutes to sort out just one problem or they may attend right up to 5pm to accomplish a greater amount of learning. Those who attend will be awarded a positive learning chronicle (with reward token) and will be offered food.
Today started off with a game against Bellarine Secondary College and we fought hard and got the first win of the day comfortably to start off the day. The next game was scheduled against Geelong High School where we fought hard but unfortunately, we didn't get the win. The third and last game we went up against a better team and we also fought hard again but still lost quite comfortably in the end.
Overall, the day was lots of fun and I am sure we all enjoyed it.
By Xavier Falvey (75)
The first game was good because we won, and Fletcher and I dimed each other. The second game was alright because we lost but we still all gave it a shot. The third and final game wasn't the best because I was in defence, and I don't like to play defence. Mr Klingberg was a great coach and pumped us up even if we were down. We also all had lunch together. Overall, it was a great day even though we didn't make finals.
By Jasper Datson (71)
Today the junior and intermediate boys’ netball teams went out to Geelong Sports Hub and played numerous games. The Intermediate team ended up winning both games in our pool and making a semifinal. We defeated Bannockburn in our first game and Northern Bay in the second game. Everyone played their role and showed great teamwork; leadership skills were shown, and we all represented Newcomb Secondary College tremendously. It was a magnificent day, and everybody had a great time. Also, a big thanks to Mr Bell and Mr Klingberg for taking us out and coaching also to Riley Cameron who came along and helped coach for the day.
Last week on Tuesday and Wednesday the weather was brilliantly sunny and ideal for our Junior Maths Investigations data gathering for Groups 72 and 81.
The students formed groups of 2 or 3 and stepped out 50 paces to mark their runways in different directions from the cricket pitch on the oval next door. Their challenge was to walk the 100m to their marker and back in exactly 40 seconds. As soon as they took their first step they were committed to that speed, no speeding up or slowing down. Each group took turns to act as the stopwatch timekeeper and as the scribe recording the results in the group’s table. Each member of the group repeated the task 5 times, attempting to get closer to a 40 second result.
In the next few lessons, as the project continues, the students will process their data, answer some statistical questions about it and finally use their data to construct some graphs. They will tick off several tasks on a rubric before submitting their projects for assessment.
We’re excited to let you know that entries for the 2024 Insight Creative Writing Competition
are OPEN. If we have any budding writers from Years 7–12 at our school, please enter! We’d love to see your work.
Here is a quick reminder of the guidelines Insight have made to help students get even more creative with their entries.
All year levels have an upper limit of 1400 words. There is no minimum word limit.
We accept other creative writing forms in addition to short stories, including poems, scripts and more.
This year’s theme (Beauty in the unknown) is optional, giving entrants the freedom to write about anything that inspires them.
To download the submission form and view all conditions of entry, please click below.
We know access to high-speed broadband is a necessity in the 21st Century. Yet sadly many families and school students are still unable to access the internet at home and that this can place students at a significant disadvantage.
The Albanese Government is providing up to 30,000 families with free broadband for one year, as part of their plan for a better National Broadband Network (NBN). Already, 1,000 families now have home internet thanks to the School Student Broadband Initiative.
This helps ensure that students can reach their full potential, by helping them to stay connected at home so they don’t fall behind.
To check your eligibility please refer to the contact details below:
We are very fortunate to have strong links with our neighbouring Geelong Regional Library Corporation branch at Newcomb. The Children's and Youth Services Librarian, Ms Laura Farrington, joins us fortnightly to run engaging and interactive sessions promoting genres and doing related craft activities! Laura has a merry band of students who regularly come to her sessions and we invite other students to join us in the school library at 1 p.m. on the dates below! Special activities happen at Easter, Halloween and Christmas with the odd Literature Trivia game throughout the year to spice things up. We also have Ms Naomi Ford from Newcomb Library to run the Lunchtime sessions as well this term, the students are really adoring the opportunity to discuss their favourite Manga reads and to vote on some new Manga titles for the school library!
This term we have a focus on Manga and Anime.
Manga VS Anime theme: 4 sessions this term
05/06 – Chibi Paper Craft
19/06 – Manga Trivia: Manga VS Anime
This year Newcomb Secondary College students are participating in the Children's Book Council of Australia's Shadow Judging program with 2 groups casting their votes on the best Australian books published in 2023. We are focussing on 2 categories 'Older Readers fiction' and 'Picture books' which are picture books for older readers. Our Year 7 students, students in Ms Wray's Year 9/10 Creative Writing elective unit and some keen Senior Year 10 and 11 students will experience the 6 shortlisted books in the 2 categories, consider the official judging criteria and cast their votes for which books they believe should win. The Older Readers group meet at lunchtimes, record their thoughts on each book in special CBCA booklets and make creative responses based on their favourite shortlisted books (poems, sculptures, fanfiction for example).
We will have celebrations on the day that the Book of the Year Announcements come out from the CBCA (Term 3) and see how our favourite books fared. There will be some fantastic prizes for those students who voted for the winning books! Our Australian authors and illustrators are greatly supported by these annual competitions and the Students Choice awards are very important. For further information check out the Children's Book Council of Australia's Website about Shadow Judging. Students will share their creative responses and feedback about the books as they go (on this library page of the Newcomb Secondary College newsletter)!
