The department have actively been promoting and educating school communities on the importance of E-safety. We live in an online age where much of our lives, and increasingly those of our young people, are spent on devices and frequenting all forms of online platforms including social media. These connections can be safe and healthy, however unfortunately harms do exist, and furthermore many young people have experienced them on a daily basis. To ensure that you, like schools, have all the tools and advice to best educate and support both yourself and your young people, we encourage you to take a moment to access and review the many valuable resources from the Safe Socials- Parents + Carers (secondary) and E-safety commissioner website before considering what actions you think are appropriate for you and your family. Doing so will enable and empower you so that:
· You can help your children safely navigate their digital world and educate them to avoid harmful online experiences.
· You can explore websites, games, apps and social media together and set some rules and boundaries.
· Your support and guidance can give your children the knowledge to make sound decisions online and confidence to ask for help when they need it. It is also important to stay informed about online safety.
· You can read more about online safety basics on the eSafety Commissioner’s website.
· You can also learn about the range of social media, games, apps and sites in the eSafety Guide, including what all the apps are, their minimum age requirements, how to protect personal information and how to report content within the apps themselves.
Video
Finally, the government is also launching public consultation on age limits for social media. You and your children can share your experiences to inform proposed changes via an online survey, before 5 pm on Friday 1 November 2024. For more information on the survey and to take part, refer to Proposed changes to social media age limits on the Engage Victoria website.
New staff
A warm welcome to Carly our new Canteen Manager. Carly has shared about herself in our regular New Staff section of this newsletter. We encourage everyone to introduce themselves to Carly when they are in the school canteen, we are pleased to have you on board Carly!
Year 12 Celebrations
As we embark on the final stages of our Year 12 students Newcomb Secondary College journey next week, we enter the phase of celebration and recognition. As such, on Monday we will conduct a Whole School Assembly to allow the Year 12 students, and students of Newcomb Secondary College to say farewell. Following this, on Tuesday Year 12 students will share in a day together to acknowledge their collective journey. Students will depart the school mid-morning and enjoy some together at a couple of local activity venues, one being General Republic for some 10-pin bowling.
We ask that all members of the college community ensure that the activities, recognition and acknowledgements of next week remain respectful. It is a time of celebration for the Year 12’s- lets ensure it is a time that they can look back on in the fondly.
2025 School Captains
On Friday, a number of Year 11 students will present to their peers as prospective 2025 School Captains. It was great to see so many students show aspirations for school captain leadership. As you can appreciate, being a school captain is not only a wonderful accolade for a student, but it is equally a privilege. We wish our perspective 2025 school captains all the best with their presentations and look forward to their leadership of Newcomb Secondary College in 2025.
OED Camp- Otway’s Bushwalk Adventure (October 16-18)
On Wednesday of this week, our Y9/10 Outdoor Education students will head off on their Otway’s Bushwalk Camp. The 9/10 Outdoor Ed Bushwalk is a 3 day (2 night) camp where students cover the 30km+ by foot of The Great Ocean Road Trail. The camp/hike is located at various camp sites between Johanna and Cape Otway and students will carry all their clothing, food and camping supplies via a supplied hiking pack. What an amazing experience!
Geelong Cup Public Holiday (October 23)
Just a reminder that next Wednesday, October 23 is the Geelong Cup public holiday, and the school will be closed accordingly.
Annual Music Concert (October 24)
One of the highlight nights on the Newcomb Secondary College calendar is the Annual Music Concert, this year being held on Thursday October 24 in the Newcomb Secondary College Hall. The night will be filled with outstanding talent by our students and their respective bands or ensembles. The event always draws a big audience, so I suggest that you get there early to secure your seat- see you all there!
Whooping cough cases are continuing to increase across Victoria, particularly among school-aged children. Whooping cough is a very contagious infection, mostly spread through coughing or sneezing. Symptoms include:
· blocked or runny nose
· tiredness
· mild fever
· severe bouts of coughing, often followed by a ‘whooping’ sound on breathing.
Whooping cough can lead to life threatening infections in babies.
If your child is unwell, they should not attend school. Please see a doctor if you or your child develops whooping cough symptoms. Early diagnosis and treatment will help reduce the spread of the infection.
Students diagnosed with whooping cough must not attend school.
To reduce the spread of infection and to protect others within the school community, students diagnosed with whooping cough are recommended not to attend school for 21 days after their cough was first present, or until they have taken a full course of antibiotics prescribed by a doctor (usually a 5-day course).
If your child is diagnosed with whooping cough, please contact the school to let us know.
I hope we can work together to protect the whole school community by following the recommended advice.
For more information about whooping cough, refer to Whooping cough on the Better Health Channel – see link below.
Vaccination is the best way to reduce the risk of whooping cough. The Department of Health recommends staying up to date with immunisations, including booster doses. A free booster dose of the pertussis vaccine is covered under the national immunisation program for students aged 12 to 13. If you are unsure about your child’s vaccination status for whooping cough, please discuss with an immunisation provider, such as your doctor.
We really appreciate your support in keeping our students safe and well.
For more information, refer to:
Better Health Channel, for information about whooping cough symptoms, prevention and Victorian eligibility for free booster immunisations
We deeply appreciate the efforts of our parents who consistently support their children in attending school and engaging with their education. Thank you for your ongoing support and partnership in helping us create a positive and productive learning environment for all our students, ensuring the best possible outcomes for your children and for our school community. Your commitment makes a significant difference!
If you have any questions regarding attendance or require any support or assistance, please contact the school on 5248 1400.
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.
Firstly, thank you to all the wonderful students and staff for welcoming me so nicely to the school.
I would just like to introduce myself for you all to get to know me a bit better.
I am a mum of two beautiful children aged 12 and 9.
I have worked in hospitality most of my working life.
I have been a cook in a number of different places over many of years. Some of those places include falls creeks where I worked for the snow season. I also managed and ran my own kitchen at a busy Sydney pub that held many functions over my time which I catered for one of those being the MasterChef breakup party.
I am really looking forward to getting to know you all and providing you with some new and delicious food.
In Week 9 of term three, Newcomb Secondary College held the R U OK Wellbeing Day event, consisting of presentations from the Black Dog Institute, The Smith Family and we even had our school business manager Ms Hanrahan leading a Pilates session. We had fun activities throughout the day, which included throwing wet sponges at teachers and Teachers v Students dodgeball where the students got badly beaten by the teachers. The day ended with the colour run that most students participated in and enjoyed.
We were fortunate to have Kathy, our school canteen manager, make special lunch orders for the day and we were very grateful to have the Geelong City Council bring in additional activities.
I would like to thank all of the student groups who participated in creating an activity including the SLAM team, LGBT Teens, Peer Support, House Captains and other students who really helped contribute to the day.
I would also like to thank all of the teachers for their contributions, specifically Ms McInnes, Ms Allinson and Ms Dedini who all made significant contributions to the day. We would not have been able to do it without them!
This event is one of the many great displays of student leadership in our school. I encourage students to join in student leadership groups next year to be actively involved in planning special events like our R U OK Wellbeing Day. It's fantastic being part of strong student leadership groups that bring about important changes and events such as these.
Additionally, we have feedback forms coming out in the next few days, regarding how you as students thought the day went, or if you didn’t come on the day there is also a form for you to complete.
Please be tuned for details as these will be coming out in the following days.
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!!
The Newcomb Secondary College Library opens at 8.30 a.m. every weekday morning before school and is open every recess and lunchtime (2nd half) throughout the year.
We have a wealth of board and card games and a number of Clubs running weekly - Monday Clubs include Chess Club and Book Club, Tuesday Clubs include City of Greater Geelong Gaming and Board Games Club, Craft Club runs on both Thursdays and Fridays throughout the year (Term 4: Polymer clay jewellery making and Zart Art Paper Magiclay Miniatures). Geelong Regional Library Corporation runs special workshops fortnightly throughout the year with themed book and craft sessions (Valentines Day, Halloween and Christmas for example).
Students are currently creating Spring and Halloween Displays for our school library, and we look forward to sharing our photos of these in the coming weeks!
Library Opening Hours
Monday to Friday
*Open from 8.30 - 3.30 p.m.
*Open at Recess
*Open 2nd half lunchtimes (reading/board and card games/clubs)
