Newsletter- Term 4 Week 2 2024

Online Safety Resources

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!

Mr Scott McLeod

Principal

Newcomb Secondary College