Term 3 is upon us, and it was great to welcome back students to school yesterday. In discussions with many students throughout the day, it was pleasing to hear of the exciting adventures many had over the school holiday break- many ventured to warmer weather up north (yes, I am jealous!).
As is our normal start to a new Term, we conducted a Whole School Assembly in the Hall. During the assembly, I spoke of each new Term as an opportunity for a fresh start offering students a clean slate. I used the analogy of my holiday experience, when I did some home renovations, or painting to be specific. The once tired and marked walls now have a new fresh lease of life. The room itself is now brighter and has a different feel to it. A new semester offers students the opportunity to come back refreshed. It provides students with an opportunity for a clean slate with new subjects, new teachers and exciting new experiences. We hope that students and their parents/ carers took the time to reflect upon the semester just gone, reviewed the End of Semester Reports and feedback on Compass and set out plans for further growth and achievement in the semester ahead. This goal setting process is an important for all members of the students support team to stay connected with their student’s growth and learning at school and to provide much needed guidance where necessary. Together we should have High Expectations on our students, and collectively we have the potential to make a real difference to the aspirations and achievements that our students should aim for and are capable of realising.
Facility Upgrades & Mobile Phone Policy amendments
Over recent days, I have shared communications with all in our college community in relation to two significant changes to the school environment- Facility upgrades and the Mobile Phone Policy amendments. Both communications are shared below on this newsletter and accessible via our school website.
Please take a moment to read through the details and information contained within the communications and discuss with your student if you have not yet done so.
Facility Upgrades
We are very fortunate as a school to be able to have such amazing facilities and to be able to add further upgrades to the college in an environment where projects have been stalled or delayed due to financial constraints. Equally, we are very proud to say that our facility upgrades are a direct result of student and community voice. The new college fence line offers greater security to the school premises throughout the college day, the Basketball Court upgrades and relocation will be an exciting addition to the college, our 350 lockers will be the envy of students within Geelong given they have a direct power supply to charge laptop devices and the new Bike Shed and shelter will be a vast improvement on our current storage facilities for our very popular Bike programs and for those who travel to school on a bicycle, legal scooter or skateboard.
At this stage it is expected that:
· Fence line- completed and in action
· Basketball Courts- due for completion and partial student access in the coming week
· Lockers- due to be installed on August 1 & 2
· Bike Shelter- due to be completed in 2-3 weeks
Upcoming:
o Seating around Basketball Courts
o Shade Sails around Basketball Courts
What an exciting time for the whole college community!
Mobile Phones Policy amendment
As has been extensively shared with our community through Term 2, including in previous newsletter articles, the amended Mobile Phone Policy at Newcomb Secondary College is now in place. Over the next fortnight we will be working closely with staff and students to ensure a smooth transition via Phase 1, Phase 2 and then in week 3 the full implementation of the Mobile Phone Policy.
As noted earlier, if you haven’t already made yourself familiar with the amendments to the policy and had a discussion with your student, I encourage you to do so. After all, this is a team effort, underpinned by comprehensive and decisive research and data about the harms associated with Mobile Phones as a gateway to social media and thus the real impacts on learning, social and mental health upon the young people for whom we care so much about.
At yesterday’s assembly, I connected the transition to the amended Mobile Phone policy (and our facilities upgrades) with our College Values of Learning, Respect and Working Together. We will support students in learning how to manage their use of technology responsibly, we expect that students will show respect to the policy and its implementation by staff, and it is imperative that we work together as a cohesive and supportive college community.
We ask that all member of the community respect and support the Mobile Phone Policy. We know that in doing so the transition will be a smooth experience for all and the outcomes of the policy will be positive for all involved.
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 discussing tips to support young people with school stress!
Issues with school can have a major effect on young people and can often leave them feeling overwhelmed or stressed. While this is the case, it's important to note that there are two kinds of stress - good stress and not so helpful stress.
In Term Three the SLAM team, school captains and house captains have some big events planned. This will make the term more enjoyable and help build a positive community spirit at the college.
The Newcomb Secondary College Olympics will be held in Week 3 from the 29th of July until the 2nd of August. The week will consist of house-coloured Olympic based competitions. Over the week the winning houses of each activity will accumulate points and the leading house at the end of the week will be crowned 2024 NSC Olympics champions. This will be a great event to bring together the school community and build house spirit.
The prize for the winning house is going to be funded by collecting the 10c cans and bottles, therefore the more cans and bottles collected, the bigger the prize! Students can collect cans and bottles via the box in the refectory, or members of the community are able to donate via your local can collection depot points.
It would be greatly appreciated if you could choose Newcomb Secondary College next time you collect your 10c bottles and cans!
You are able to donate your funding from cans and bottles to Newcomb Secondary College via the CDS app by registering via the instructions below.
Charity Donation
You can donate via the CDS Vic West app. Just download the app, select Charity Donation as your payout method, and choose your preferred charity. (Select Newcomb Secondary College)
Scan the barcode before you start your session.
Insert your containers and select “Payout” on the screen when you’re done. The charity will receive 100% of your donated refund within 1 week.
This is what you will see when you have downloaded your app and set up Newcomb Secondary College at the active payout.
Simply scan your barcode when you deposit your cans and bottles, and Newcomb Secondary College will benefit from your deposit.
Year 7 Indonesian: Nova Balinese Restaurant excursion
In the last two weeks of Term 2, each of our Year 7 Indonesian classes took a trip to Nova Balinese Restaurant in Pakington Street.
Here, our students were exposed to traditional Balinese dishes that have been passed down to Nova (the head chef) from his mother and family, as well as some of his own recipes. Our students tried nasi goreng (fried rice), mie goreng (fried noodles), sate ayam (chicken satay sticks), lumpia (spring roll) and corn fritters.
This excursion was a wonderful way to finalise the makanan (food) unit the students had been studying throughout the weeks leading up to the excursion.
2025 Geelong Youth Council - Nominations Open NOW!
Are you aged between 12-17 and interested in having a say, making a difference, and learning more about local government decision-making?
The City of Greater Geelong is looking for 11 passionate new members from the Geelong region to join the 2025 Youth Council Advisory Committee.
Youth Council is an opportunity to share your ideas, discuss issues affecting young people, provide advice to Council, develop an understanding of local government, build your leadership skills, and make heaps of new friends!
If you are interested in this amazing opportunity, make sure you submit an application for the 2025 Youth Council program.
Nominations are open from 12 August - 13 September so head over to our socials @GeelongYouthCouncil or head to the Geelong Webpage
If you have any questions or require more information jump on to the Youth Council Instagram page- @GeelongYouthCouncil and DM us, or email Youthcouncil@geelongcity.vic.gov.au
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 and hot chocolates!!
* Tuesdays (Weekly): CBCA Shadow Judging Book Club with Miss Marshall - members only at this stage as we prepare to vote for our favourite Older Readers Fiction books.
* Tuesdays (Weekly): Games Club - Board games, movies, karaoke and popcorn!
Ms Noor Al-Assafi and Vanessa (COGG)
Joining in and having fun is central to the success of Games Club. Run by Vanessa (City of Greater Geelong) and Ms Noor Al-Assafi (our Newcomb Secondary College Social Worker), we have an outstanding turnout of students enjoying the warmth, friendship and fun in the school library every Tuesday lunchtime.
* Wednesdays (Fortnightly): Geelong Regional Library with Ms Laura Farrington
Manga, mysteries, magic, trivia games and craft are on the table when Laura is visiting from Geelong Regional Library Corporation. Newcomb Secondary students particularly enjoy using their badge maker machine and special activities like Easter, Halloween, Christmas and Idahobit Day crafts. We are very fortunate to be right next door to Newcomb Library where Miss Laura Farrington is the Children's and Youth Services Librarian.
Our Term 3 2024 schedule of visits are as follows:
Theme: Magic & Monsters
Wed 24 July – Monster Rock painting (With Sharpies, not paint) “Let’s talk about your favourite Book/Movie villain”
Wed 7 Aug – DIY Magic Wand “Favourite Fantasy Novel & How Magic Works in books vs Tv”
Wed 21 Aug – Book Week Kahoot Harry Potter HOUSE CUP competition (with Miss Marshall) & additional craft activity Magic Bookmarks for colouring and sewing
Wed 4 Sept – Glow in the Dark Silhouette “Haunted house movies and Scary Books”
Wed 18 Sept – Trivia
* Thursdays (Weekly): Craft Club with Miss Marshall
* Fridays (Weekly): Crochet Club with Mrs MacArthur
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.
