I’ll start by acknowledging the fathers within our community. I hope you had a wonderful day on Sunday with your families. It is always important to recognise those special people in our lives as they make many sacrifices to provide supports to their loved ones to ensure they remain happy and can flourish. 

I spent my weekend at the local football finals in Lara, what a weekend. It was such a great atmosphere and experience being involved in the event. I was also very chuffed to see Newcomb Secondary College students participating in the Grand Finals, playing for several teams including St Albans and Grovedale. I know it was a memorable time for every one of you no matter the result, well done. You gave it your all. I also note the trials and tribulations of those students who were involved in the local Netball finals. Whilst I wasn’t there to cheer you all on, it was great to hear of your efforts equally. Sporting finals are awesome, spring is certainly in the air!

Good Order Focus Reminders

On Monday I shared a Compass message to our students and staff reminding them of the need to ensure standards continue to be of the highest level right up to the end of Term 3. It is sometimes easy to relax and lower our standards, it is up to us all collectively to remind and encourage students to not accept lesser standards. Our Good Order focus has been a shining light of 2023 with predictable routines and seamless transitions into the learning in the classroom benefitting student outcomes.

I encouraged staff to support students with the following high expectation Good Order focuses:

1. You always remain dressed in the correct school uniform (no hoodies or items of clothing from home.)

2. You come to class 'Ready to Learn.'

3. You line-up outside and enter the classroom in an orderly fashion, sit down quietly and do not open your laptop until instructed.

4. You always remain seated in class and only 1 student is permitted to leave the classroom by the teacher (using the pass-out) at any one time.

5. Before leaving the class upon the bell sounding, you ensure that the classroom is left in a neat and tidy state.

I hope you too can support students by having a conversation about maintaining high standards always. This can be as easy as checking their school uniform as they depart from home, or even encouraging them to charge their laptop at home each night.

Professional Learning Day: Thursday September 7th

On Thursday this week (September 7th) staff will be participating in our Term 3 Professional Learning Day (pupil free). The day will provide an opportunity for staff to work together on best practice assessment and reporting methodologies and approaches. For staff to best support students, it is important that we provide them with opportunities to remain current with the latest research, resources and presentations. It is also a wonderful opportunity for staff to have a collegial day together to collaborate and learn from each other.

Parental Visits to the College

We always welcome our parent community to the college. It is important to remain connected to the school and invested in your student’s education. Can I ask however that all parental or community visitors to the college enter via the Administration office and not via the other entry points of the school. As a Department of Education facility, we must ensure Child Safe standards are upheld for all students hence to do so all visitors to the college must sign in. Thanks for your understanding and cooperation.

Have a great week!

Regards,

Mr McLeod

Principal

Please note that this Thursday, September 7, staff at Newcomb Secondary College will be involved in a Professional Learning Day. The pupil free day will allow staff to come together to focus on further refining our best practice feedback on Learning outcomes and our Assessment and Reporting processes.

As we progress through Term 3, we are once again reflecting on all that we have achieved in what has and continues to be an incredibly busy and positive term. Maintenance of our Good Order focus, high attendance and communication in our community is essential to ensure success for all our students.

You may have noticed we have a whole school priority focusing on regular school attendance. Attending school regularly has a positive impact on student learning outcomes; for students to experience success at school, we need to be ensuring they are attending school every day, unless they are unwell. As a school, we monitor student attendance and follow up with families when students are absent. The visual below helps us to understand how missing as little as one day a fortnight can impact on a student’s lifetime at school.

Our students are committed to attending school every day, arriving on time to each class, and are prepared to learn. Our students are encouraged to approach a teacher and seek assistance if there are any issues that are affecting their attendance or lateness in the mornings. If you would like to speak to someone regarding your student’s attendance or lateness, we are here to help. Please contact the school office on 5248 1400.

Ms Demopoulos

Attendance Officer

Wear it Purple was celebrated on the 25th August (Sunday this year) as an awareness day for the LGBTIQA+ community members, to show them that there is hope that there are people who support and accept them, and that they have a right to be proud of who they are. It is celebrated by others wearing an item that is purple!

Newcomb Secondary College raised awareness by cooking 200+ cupcakes, icing them and selling them in the school yard. It was a successful initiative led by our SLAM team, Art club and LGBTIQA group!

Ms Wray

Leader of Learning

Please click to view PDFs

2023 Term 3 Regional Parenting Calendar