Welcome back to Term 2! 

We hope that the holiday break offered all members of the Newcomb Secondary College community an opportunity to relax and refresh in preparation for another busy school term. I trust that the holiday break offered many highlights shared with those close to you.

I was fortunate to spend my holiday break in Fiji and yes, it was full of highlights as you would expect! 

During my trip, I managed to immerse myself in the culture, history and traditions of Fiji and their wonderful people. I was lucky enough to visit a local school in a town called Sigatoka, on the Coral coast, or as the locals proudly call, ‘Rugby Town’. 

Upon entering the local school, we were greeted warmly with big smiles, much excitement and high enthusiasm. The young students were learning languages with a focus on Numeracy, and doing so in three languages, English being one of them. It was inspiring to witness how determined and dedicated the students were to succeed in their learning. The classrooms were basic but colourful and welcoming. There were no whiteboards, rather blackboards and chalk! The students, despite the financial hardships of their families were all dressed in the full school uniform, and they wore it proudly, almost as a badge of honour. 

Every young student just wanted to say ‘Bula’ pronounced ‘buu-laa’ (hello), give you a big hug and be recognised. They offered such genuine affection and warmth in each greeting and embrace. It was not easy to leave the classroom spaces, not because of the crammed space but rather that the students simply wanted us to stay and support their learning. They sang mostly traditional songs but also ‘Baby Shark’! joyfully in each and every class we visited. They were happy and they were proud. Learning seemed fun to them and their enjoyment of school was evident. We provided the teachers with some basic resources (rulers, pencils, books etc.) to aid their learning, saying ‘vinaka’ (thank you). They were so incredibly grateful. It was at this point that our visit to the school was over, and we reluctantly left. 

This wonderful experience was quite moving. It enabled me to reflect on how fortunate our students are in this country. Yes, we all have levels of challenges to overcome, but this experience certainly put ‘challenge’ into perspective. It has confirmed to me that with the right attitude, outlook on life and values set, anyone can achieve great success, no matter their circumstances. Fijian students loved their school and were extremely thankful for the opportunity given to them to learn. I have no doubt that they would be blown away by the size, facilities, and resources of our Australian schools. Our students are blessed with abundant opportunities in comparison. Personally, I cannot wait to return to ‘Rugby Town’ and visit the school once again. It is an experience I encourage anyone to consider if given the opportunity. 

Focus on High Expectations and Good Order

As we move into Term 2, we do so in continuation of our focus on High Expectations aimed to ensure that our school environment remains consistent with the Newcomb Secondary College school values and that we can all coexist positively and safely together as a school community. We all have the responsibility to contribute towards a safe and orderly school environment where positive relationships, growth and development can occur in both our classroom learning spaces and when interacting and enjoying unstructured time together in the yard.

Building on the success of Term 1, students will continue to focus on Good Order featuring organisation, routines, and predictability. Together we can have another very successful term of learning at Newcomb Secondary College! 

Have a great week!

Mr McLeod

Staffing for Term 2

At the end of Term 1, we parted ways with a Newcomb Secondary College stalwart, Andrew McNaught. Mr McNaught dedicated 34 years of service to the young people of this community, and we wish him every happiness and success for the next chapter of his life. 

Aphra Millis and Ian Crowther will also be taking a break from their teaching duties to focus on other endeavours and aspirations. In light of this, we welcome into our College community, Miriam Ramsay, who will be teaching Indonesian and Humanities classes. Annie Bourke will be taking instrumental music lessons. 

On behalf of the wider school community, we extend a very warm welcome to our newest colleagues. Congratulations upon becoming a part of our team, and all the very best for the opportunities that await you in these roles.

Mr Murphy

Visiting Newcomb Secondary College, Dropping Students Off and Picking Students Up

Newcomb Secondary College is committed to maintaining the safety of our students and staff and are continually upgrading our facilities to support this.

Recently, we have focussed on the Traffic Management of the school and have modified the school’s access points to increase the safety and security of our students.

Any Parent/Carer who is visiting the school should visit the front office and park in the Visitor’s carpark at the front of the school.

During pick up and drop off times, Parents/Carers should plan for meeting places with students which encourage students to leave either through the two main gates at the front of the school (opposite the front office and opposite the crossing) or from the entry at the back of the school (Hibiscus Crescent).

It is our advice to avoid using the carpark in the neighbouring shopping centre and we have recently closed the gate nearest this point to discourage the use of this location.

Parent/Teacher/Student Conferences

Parent/Teacher/Student Conferences are a great opportunity for the three key stakeholders in a student’s education to meet and discuss the successes, challenges, and next steps in education. This term’s PTSCs are running from 4pm – 7pm on Thursday 4 May and 9am – 12pm on Friday 5 May, all of which are occurring in the school’s Language Centre.

Bookings for these can be made on Compass.

Some Important Term 2 Dates

Term 2 has two days in which no classes will be running for students, as teaching staff work to continue developing the school and their own teaching practice.

These two dates in which students are not required at school are:

Thursday 18^th of May (Week 4)

Thursday 15^th of June (Week 8)

Mr Sinclair

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Mr Scott McLeod, Acting Principal
Mr James Murphy, Assistant Principal
Mr Jeremy Sinclair, Acting Assistant Principal