Welcome Back!

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.

Principal Letter to Community Facility Upgrades July 12 2024

Principal Letter to Community Mobile Phone Policy July 15 2024

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.

Have a great week!

Regards,

Scott McLeod

Principal

Newcomb Secondary College

81-85 Bellarine Highway | Newcomb 3219

T: (03) 5248 1400 | F: (03) 52483532

Creating Positive Futures