Newsletter- Week 2 2024

Can I start by commending staff and students on the way for which the school year has commenced. The collective commitment to our High Expectations focus has been a very positive and well-received one throughout the entire college community. The new structure to the day providing Ready to Learn preparation, continued focus on Good Order and predictable learning environments have produced a positive school climate where learning is maximised, and positive relationships are fostered. I don’t have to explain to you that the benefits of building positive relationships and creating an orderly and predictable classroom are many, but with student growth and outcomes at the centre of any intervention, this commitment has already proven to generate greater and more effective teaching and learning time, something we hold in high importance here at Newcomb Secondary College. I encourage, and challenge, all students, and members of our community to continue to have High Expectations of themselves and each other.

Great start for our new students!

I am pleased to say that our Year 7 students, and those new to the college across Year 8 - 12 have settled into the college community well. I have enjoyed meeting to our new students, learning more about each of them and hearing the positive feedback from staff on how they have commenced. Congratulations to you all and keep it up!

Home Group & Positive Futures Framework

In 2024, and as shared in last week’s newsletter, you will note that our Home Group program has moved to the start of the day. During this valuable pastoral and ready to learn program, students will be supported in learning about being their best self, positive members of their communities (home, school, local and other), how to manage challenging situations sensibly and responsibly, as well as how to attend to their own wellbeing and support the wellbeing of others. This learning is a feature of Newcomb Secondary College’s Respectful Relationships curriculum, our School Wide Positive Behaviour program, our Berry Street Education Model supports for students and the Newcomb Secondary College Positive Futures Framework (see below). Throughout the year, we will share resources with you at home and for all members of our college community to allow you at home to facilitate conversations with your student and participate in this very important life education program together with us.

Action packed Term 1!

Term 1 is always an exciting term full of new beginnings, opportunities, events, and of course warmer weather! Upcoming events and opportunities to keep an eye out include the College photos (February 14) and Summer Swimming Carnival (February 15), Athletics Carnival (February 29), and our Information Evening (March 25). Equally, we have excursions planned at each year level, SSG meetings, P/T/S Conferences, Elective Sport days and much more. We encourage you to keep an eye out on the College calendar and communications in the Newsletter and via Compass. It certainly is a busy time (which I think is great by the way)!

Positive Attendance

In last week’s Newsletter, you will have noticed articles focussed on Attendance. It goes without saying that at Newcomb Secondary College we are strong advocates for students to attend school. If we learnt nothing else from the recent years (lockdowns etc.), being at school is so important for the growth and development of students. Social skills development and learning progress through school education equal positive outcomes and successful pathways for all young people. We encourage you to have frequent discussions with your student about attendance and active engagement in the learning programs here at Newcomb Secondary College, especially during those times when students seek to have time away from school. We are here to support you in these discussions- please reach out if we can assist. We value and appreciate your support.

Compass Chronicle & Behaviour Incident notifications

Finally, we have made some improvements to our Compass communication system for 2024. The purpose of these changes was to ensure that parents and carers can be better informed of the progress of students. If a student engages in behaviours that go against Department or Newcomb Secondary College behaviour expectations, staff will record this as a Compass Chronicle notice visible to parents and carers so conversations can be entertained at home in support of Newcomb Secondary College. If, over the course of a fortnight, several behaviour incidents are lodged on Compass, parents and carers will receive an email from the school to indicate the continued patterns of behaviour. Again, this communication is a supportive prompt for parents and carers to engage in a restorative conversation with the student, contact the school for further details or support or to action a suitable response to correct the patterns of behaviour moving forward. We actively facilitate proactive collaborative approaches with students, parents, and carers to ensure that we attend to behaviour incidents in a responsible manner and shift back to positive behaviours quickly that are conducive for best practice learning outcomes. Afterall, and I have said this before, supporting a student with their learning is a collaborative partnership and a team effort!

Have a great week!

Regards,

Mr McLeod

Principal

Year 10 Meningococcal Immunisations are scheduled for the 20th February 2024. More information will be made available shortly.

Dear Parents and Carers,

Welcome back to another exciting year at Newcomb Secondary College, and to our new community members, welcome!

I hope the holiday break was a positive time for you all.

We love our families to be involved in our school community and a significant part of this involves maintaining regular communication by way of phone or email, particularly regarding attendance.

Attendance remains a major focus for us at Newcomb Secondary College. For us to ensure the best outcomes are accomplished for our students’ growth in all areas and to reach our set end of year target, we will continue to maintain high expectations for daily attendance for all students.

Both staff and parents have an important role to play in supporting our students to attend school every day, on time and ready to learn. If your student must be absent, please contact the school as soon as possible to prevent unexplained absences that may hinder your student’s progress. If a reason is not provided for your student’s absence, the school is required to contact you on the same day. This is to ensure the safety of your student and maintain open communication to ensure you and your student are supported and successful in our school community.

At Newcomb Secondary College we strive for high attendance to maximise student learning, and behavioural, cognitive and emotional engagement for all students, and we endeavour to work with and support all families in our community.

If you have any questions regarding attendance or require any support or assistance, please contact the school on 5248 1400.

Warm regards,

Ms Demopoulos
(Attendance Officer)

School Photos 2024 – Newcomb Secondary College

Annual school photos will be taken by Arthur Reed Photos on Wednesday 14th February 2024.

There is no need to return any forms or money to school.

Unique image codes will be issued to all students on/after photo day so families can register online to view images when they become available in the webshop.

Registration is simple, just follow the 3 simple steps on your child’s personalised flyer once you receive it and remember to add the codes for all your children attending this school.

Even if you registered last year, it’s important that you do again this year using your child’s 2024 image code to link their images for the current year with your contact details.

When images are ready to view and in the webshop, all parents who have registered will be notified by SMS and email.

Once registered, please wait for notification that 2024 images are online to view before making your purchase.

Year 11 VCEVM student Jordyn Russell has kicked off 2024 by starting a school-based traineeship in Early Childhood Education and Care. 

Jordyn works two full days a week at Leopold World of Learning and attends Newcomb Secondary College the other 3 days.

Jordyn signed up to be a part of the HeadStart Program late in 2023. She was interviewed and did a 5-day work trial to secure her position in December, then she started work in January while still on school holidays. 

Jordyn says she is loving being involved with all of the children at the centre, but her favourite age group are the kindergarten children.

The HeadStart Program works with Year 10-12 students attending government schools connecting them with school-based apprenticeships and traineeships across most career areas.

If you are interested in learning more about the HeadStart Program at Newcomb Secondary College, please call the school office.

Kind regards,

Glenn Robertson

Head Start Coordinator

M: 0429 525 329

Newcomb Secondary College

Bellarine Secondary College

Nelson Park School

Northern Bay College

Dear extended NSC community,

I run the On2Wh subject at school.

In this program, all students work on their own personal bike project – a complete strip down and re-build of a geared bike.

So, I am asking for our community to look into the “darkest depths of their family sheds”, or “just out the back beside the water tank” and look out any unused, or ‘not likely to be used again’ bikes and donate them to the school. You don’t even need to dust them off! We’ll do that. Any condition, any brand. If you have extended family or friends that may have a bike or 2, mention this to them. If you see one sitting out for hard rubbish collection, maybe wheel it into your front yard and give the school a call!

Sometimes bikes that are ‘too good’ to pull apart find a home with the bikes we use for Bike tour, or with a student who might be in need of a bike.

Thanks in advance! – Can’t wait to see what comes out of the woodwork.

Kind Regards

Glenn Unmack – On2Wheels teacher

We know access to high-speed broadband is a necessity in the 21^st Century. Yet sadly many families and school students are still unable to access the internet at home and that this can place students at a significant disadvantage.

The Albanese Government is providing up to 30,000 families with free broadband for one year, as part of their plan for a better National Broadband Network (NBN). Already, 1,000 families now have home internet thanks to the School Student Broadband Initiative.

This helps ensure that students can reach their full potential, by helping them to stay connected at home so they don’t fall behind.

To check your eligibility please refer to the contact details below:

Below is a great opportunity for students who are interested in gaining work experience with a supportive employer with potential long-term opportunities. A few decades ago I responded to a very similar handwritten notice pinned onto our Newcomb Secondary College's Careers Officer (Mr Adair's) door and I gained lots of valuable work experience at Geelong Regional Library Corporation. I enjoyed the experience so much at Newcomb Library that I went on to university to study Librarianship and have had a 30-year career in Libraries...I hope to encourage some of our Newcomb Secondary College students to try out for these NEW positions. Please come in for a chat with me at your school library if you are interested or see Ms Fell our Newcomb Secondary College Senior Pathways Coordinator! Here is the link you need to apply...BambooHR

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