NUMURKAH

SECONDARY COLLEGE Email: numurkah.sc@edumail.vic.gov.au www.numurkahsc.vic.edu.au

Phone: 58621088 Facebook: Numurkah Secondary College

Not for one—but for all

February, 21 2020

Issue 2020—02

In this issue: Principal’s Report—Claire Kelly

From the AP’s Desk Deanne Dewar

School Photo Day Information

From the AP’s Desk Craig Burdon

Dates to Remember

Live4Life Initiative

NSC Athletics Team

Compass

NSC Swimming Carnival Results

Principal’s Report

Dear Parents and Friends,

We’ve had a productive couple of weeks at NSC – jammed packed with extra-curricular activities

including Year 7 camp, swimming sports, senior students beginning to take part in the L to P driving

program and students from across the college auditioning for the College production of Annie

which will run early in Term Three.

This year we have welcomed four fabulous new teachers to the College from Teach for Australia –

these talented young graduates are completing their Masters of Education.

NSC has a long and proud history of working with Teach for Australia, two of our current teachers

Troy Lowe and Chris Deitch joined our college community as TFA associates.

We are very lucky to have these amazing young people teaching and supporting our students.

Welcome …

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Amber Bock—I believe that I have the patience, enthusiasm, empathy and

hard working ethics to tackle the education gap in Australia. I’m at a stage in

my life where I am looking to dedicate time and energy into a career that has

a positive impact on not just those I work with, but on the wider community in

which I am placed. I believe teaching is a great fit and I cannot wait to work in

a field I see myself in for a long time into the future.

Subject areas: Drama, History, German and TESOL / ALD

Francxs Sadler—My personal motivation to teach within the Teach For

Australia partner schools is first and foremost to create an open, inclusive and

culturally sensitive environment to best facilitate the optimum learning

potential of my students. Secondly, it is to learn about and appreciate the

local community and its needs as to best support students in their specific

context and the challenges they face.

Subject areas: History and Visual Arts

Aladdin Watson—Providing pastoral and academic support to Aboriginal

high school students awoke me to the educational challenges that can face

indigenous students, and the power that quality teaching can have on

students. Inspired, I moved to London to work as a special needs Science

and Humanities Teaching Assistant in two secondary schools where I

experienced a great sense of purpose tackling educational inequity.

Subject areas: History, Humanities/HASS & Sociology

Claire Kelly Principal

At Numurkah Secondary College, we recognise our role, in partnership with parents and the community, in assisting our

young men and women to develop the College core values of Respect, Excellence, Aspirations and Pride – and to REAP

the rewards of quality education!

Sam Eager—I want to help tackle educational inequality at the classroom level by

helping transform the self-perception of students so they know they can achieve,

within and outside the classroom. I find mathematics to be profoundly beautiful and

interesting, and would love to share this passion with students to stimulate interest in

a subject area that can have a powerful impact on the individual and world.

Subject areas: Maths and Business/Business Management

From the Assistant Principal’s Desk Where do you begin when introducing yourself?

I’m Deanne Dewar and I’ve lived in Numurkah since 2002. I grew up in Shepparton and left there

when I was 17 (after I finished the then VCE). Life was wonderful and hectic as a young person in

Melbourne. I studied and I worked in many different fields: a Collins Street insurance company, an

insurance assessor and a panel shop (cars and trucks) to name a few. I’ve lived in Melbourne (too

many suburbs to name), Robinvale, Greece and Numurkah.

I have three wonderful adult daughters – all remarkably different and unique.

I began teaching when I was in my 40s. My first school was Nathalia Secondary College in 2008,

followed by McGuire College for the past (almost) 2 years.

Life takes many twists and turns and so far, while some have been tricky, all have brought me to

the place I am today: Numurkah Secondary College. For this year, I am an Assistant Principal

(Student Engagement), and my substantive role is a Learning Specialist.

I am so happy that I’m here. It is exciting to be a part of the College and to take on a new role.

I’ve been made welcome by so many and I continue to learn – life is about learning and growing.

I’m looking forward to getting to know families, students and staff and I know that we are, together,

going to achieve some wonderful things.

Deanne Dewar, Assistant Principal

Student Engagement

PLEASE NOTE: - Your unique shootkey will be on the msp photography envelopes which will be sent home with students in the coming weeks.

Committee Members

Roger Jones (President), Damien Hipwell (Vice President), Craig Burdon (Executive Officer), Jacqui Martin, Peter Smyth, Christine Sigley, Kathleen Newby, David Cook, Andrea Holmes, Rebecca Newbery and Kate Kelly.

Next Meeting AGM 23 March 2020.

SCHOOL COUNCIL DATES TO REMEMBER

February

25-26 Outdoor Ed Surf Trip Anglesea

March

10-12 Outdoor Ed Wilsons Prom Bushwalk

24 School Photo Day

April

29 Parent Teacher Interviews 4pm-7pm.

NSC Facebook Follow the Numurkah

Secondary College Facebook page for action shots of our students attending excursions, updates, and sometimes the fun activities your child is having at school!

From the Assistant Principal’s Desk We have had a number of changes to get our 2020 under way.

Two of the biggest changes that have impacted students

immediately are mobile phones and lockers.

It has been pleasing to see that students have accepted the

new policy very well. Additionally, it has been fantastic to see

students engaged in classrooms without distraction, and

engaged in human-to-human social interaction during recess

and lunch.

With respect to the lockers, most of the teething issues are

resolved now and students are using the lockers as intended. As

a reminder, it is important that students follow the closing

procedure to avoid setting the combination to its next default

setting.

Leave the Open/Close knob in the “open” position while the locker is open

Leave the combination set while the locker is open

When finished placing or gathering items from the locker, close the door

Then, turn the Open/Close knob to “close”

Then tumble the numbers

Craig Burdon

Assistant Principal

Operations.

NSC Spray Jackets With the cooler weather upon us, don’t forget that you can purchase NSC spray jackets from the General Office. $50 each.

LIVE 4 LIFE INITIATIVE

Numurkah Secondary College will be part of collaborative Mental Health program this year,

facilitated by “Live 4 Life Moira”. The program will support the existing services within our

school and improve our capacity to respond.

Youth Live4Life Inc. empowers rural Victorian communities to support, improve and invest in

young people’s mental health and wellbeing through the implementation of the Live4Life

model.

The Live4Life model provides preventative / early intervention around mental health which

can be a significant barrier to engagement in school, and often prevents with high co-

morbidity with other social / behavioural barriers.

This model not only increases individual capacity to know the early signs of deteriorating

mental health, but increases staff, school and community capacity to respond to mental

health issues.

There are 4 main components to the Live4Life model; The Local School and Community

Partnership Group, Delivery of evidence-based suicide prevention & mental health

education in the community, Implementation of local Youth Leadership and Participation

program and Coordination, support and mentoring by Youth Live4Life Inc. staff.

In 2019, phase one of the ‘Live4Life Moira’ project has been completed, which included

forming a Local School and Community Partnership Group and delivery of evidence-based

suicide prevention & mental health education in the community.

Training of local community members to become Accredited Youth and Teen Mental

Health First Aid (MHFA) Instructors

Delivery of the Youth MHFA course to teachers, parents, carers, first-responders and

community leaders (2-day course)

In 2020, the project will commence phase 2 (delivery of the two-age appropriate Teen

MHFA courses to all year 8 and year 11 students across the seven schools.

This includes:

3x 60-minute sessions per Year 8 class group

2x 75-minute intensive crisis session per Year 11 class group

These sessions will take place each Wednesday for our year 8 students, starting on 26th

February. The session for year 11 students will take place on Mondays in Term 2, starting on

27th April.

We have also established a Year 9 Crew, who will be planning various events and activities

around Mental Health awareness and support, throughout the year. Their first event will be

the Live4life Launch event, which is being held on Wednesday 25th March, and this will

involved all of our year 8 students.

Please check out the information on our school Website, Facebook and Compass portal.

If you have any questions about this program, please get in touch with Cassie Willis, Leading

Teacher for Student Wellbeing.

The NSC Athletics team is back up and running again. Whether you want to compete in

a particular event, increase your general fitness, or have fun being active with your

friends, we welcome you to train with us! Training is at 7:30am on Tuesday and Thursday

mornings at the school gym. A healthy breakfast is provided for those that train! See Mr

Deitch if you have any questions. We look forward to seeing you there!

COMPASS NSC newsletters are now available through

Compass. Just view the Newsfeed titled

‘Newsletter’ (see example on the right) to down-

load the latest newsletter by clicking on the link.

Access will remain available for 2 weeks on the

News Feed, after which time you can download

archived newsletters on our NSC website. Printed copies of our NSC newsletter will still be

available from the office.

Webinar tutorials are also available on the website if you would like to familiarise yourself

with the features of Compass. Don’t hesitate to contact us at school if you would like

some support to use the Parent Portal.

Janice Matthews Teacher and Compass System Administrator

NSC ATHLETICS TEAM

Year 11 Psychology students have been learning about the mass of wrinkly material

in our heads, weighing around 1.3kg, which controls every single thing we will ever do. It

enables us to think, learn, create and feel emotions, as well as controlling every blink,

breath and heartbeat.

Our budding NSC Psychologists have put their surgery skills to the test this

week, dissecting brains in the name of science to consolidate their

anatomical knowledge. Here’s what some of our students had to say:

Audrey Goldsack "It was a great opportunity to see first

-hand what we are learning about in detail."

Jalen Brown "I enjoyed learning about the anatomy in

a practical hands-on lesson, rather than just from the

text book."

Nathan Adams “It was very interesting to see the brain

in real life for me and to experiment with it”.

Charlotte Brown “The dissection really helped to visually

learn about the lobes of the brain”.

Carla Cornu “It was emotionally challenging but

I am glad I had the opportunity to experiment

this one time.”

Riley Dixon "It made it easier to identify and remember the 4 lobes of

the brain that we have been studying."

A HUGE thank you to our Laboratory Manager, Mark Read, who made this practical lesson

possible, organising the specimens and instruments needed to perform the dissection. His

demonstration and anecdotes made the experience all the more engaging. We

appreciate everything you do to support our learning, Mark!

As famous scientist James D. Watson once said, “The brain is the most complex thing we

have yet discovered in our universe.” I wonder what amazing new discoveries our students

will go on to make as they apply their learning in the world outside the classroom.

Year 9 Maths A big congratulations to our Year 9 Maths students, Zac Jones, Taihla Harris, Ruby Smith and

Joseph Crisara who have been demonstrating our school value of EXCELLENCE this week

by completing and submitting all classwork and handing in their homework ahead of

schedule. Well done!

Jordan Harris, Cooper Graham, Braidyn Dicker, Ebony Giddens and Paige Sobey have all

shown their commitment to our school value of ASPIRATION, working hard to further their

understanding of Algebra in our Maths classes. We are so proud of the effort that these

students put into their learning by being brave enough to ask, and answer, questions in

class. Keep up the great work!

Janice Matthews Teacher and Compass System Administrator

Numurkah SC Swimming Results 2020 Age Group Champions

Participation Awards

New Records: - 15yr 50m Backstroke – Braidyn Dicker – 43.90 seconds 13/15yr 50m Butterfly – Blake Newbery – 42.62 seconds

Boys Girls

13Yr

1st Nicholas Tickell

Jorjiah Moody 2

nd Tom Masters Shianne Wakefield

3rd

Christopher Bods-worth

Jacinda Blight

14Yr

1st Blake Newbery

Jorga Wakefield

2nd

Viv Russo Georgia Sessions

3rd

Tarkyn Taylor-Wilton Amarlie Gilmour

15Yr

1st Braidyn Dicker

Michelle Rore

2nd

Joseph Crisara Brittney Walley

3rd

Toby Brown Savannah Shanahan

16Yr

1st Fraser Jones

Kate Kelly 2

nd Corey Spokes Montana Hill

3rd

Dusty Ebborn Trinity Watson

17Yr

1st Kane Newby

Taylah Logie

2nd

Dylan Craven Kaitlyn Dicker

3rd

Riley Dixon Kitarna Drury Smith

20Yr

1st Matthew Mansfield

Tiara Kelly 2

nd Jack Millen Jasmin Britt

3rd

Trent Craven Lauren Cook

House Spirit Tweddle

Overall Aggregate.

House Boys Girls

Christie Junior Lucas Spokes Junior Nicole Johnson

Senior Jack Millen Senior Kitarna Drury Smith

Gray Junior Adam Kennedy Junior Talia Gerity

Senior Fraser Jones Senior Kaitlyn Dicker

Hunkin Junior Connor Ciccone Junior Amarli Gilmour

Senior Dusty Ebborn Senior Tinja Nakki

Tweddle Junior Matt Hibberson Junior Jacinda Blight

Senior Pim Hipwell Senior Carla Cornu

1st Tweddle 911

2nd

Gray 808

3rd

Christie 772

4th Hunkin 706

Community Notices

Katunga Football Netball Club Registration Nights / Training Dates / Auskick and NetSetGo The Katunga Football Netball Club wishes to advise that our Registration Nights will be held from 5-7:30pm on Thursday 5 March and Thursday 20 March. Unfortunately due to excessive numbers, registrations to play netball for 2020 are now closed, unless you have just moved to the area. Netballers are advised that they are still required to attend the registration nights to complete appropriate club paperwork and fees. It’s imperative that all online registrations are completed asap to be covered for insurance and club registrations and payment details to be completed on the above two Thursday nights. Please visit our website www.katungafnc.sportingpulse.net for further information, online registration links, club membership form and payment sheet. Football Training Seniors – Currently training Monday and Wednesday, changing to Tuesday and Thursday from Thursday 5 March, 6:15pm start Thirds – Currently training Mondays, changing to Tuesday and Thursday from Thursday 5 March, 5:15pm start Fourths – Commencing Thursday 5 March, 5pm start Fifths – Commencing Thursday 12 March, 5pm start Netball Training Seniors – Currently training Monday and Wednesday, changing to Tuesday and Thursday from Thursday 5 March, 6:00pm start 17/Unders – Commencing Tuesday 25 February, changing to Tuesday and Thursday from Tuesday 10 March, at 5pm 15/Unders – Commencing Wednesday 26 February, changing to Tuesday and Thursdays from Tuesday 3 March at 5pm 13/Unders - Commencing Wednesday 26 February, changing to Tuesday and Thursdays from Tuesday 3 March at 5pm 11/Unders – Commencing Thursday 5 March at 5pm AusKick and NetSetGo will again run this year during Term 2. Details on registering will be available towards the end of Term 1. Please keep an eye on our website, FaceBook page or TeamApp. For further information please contact Rachael Howden on 0400 877 409 or katungafnc@outlook.com.