Nhill College Newsletter

Our School Values:

• Respect
• Honesty
• Teamwork
• Confidence
• Excellence
• Endeavour
  

The School Wide Positive Behaviour Support program is designed to bring together school communities to develop positive, safe and supportive learning cultures by helping to foster an environment that assists schools to improve social, emotional, behavioural and academic outcomes for children.  As part of the SWPBS program, a rewards system has been developed to encourage students to always:

• Be Safe
• Be Respectful
• Be a Learner

A series of Unit 3/4 VCE subject Revision Lectures has been made available to Nhill College students.  These lectures - which are traditionally held in larger centres like Ballarat, Bendigo and Melbourne, are being delivered online as a result of the current COVID-19 restrictions.  The lectures are being delivered on Saturdays and Sundays until the end of term.  Each presenter is an experienced VCE Unit 3/4 teacher and many of them have recent experience as VCAA exam assessors.  Each session is also being recorded, so students can review them - and go over the accompanying notes and slideshows - in their own time.  These sessions are being made available to students at no cost. 

Link to RURAL REVISION LECTURES: page:  https://sites.google.com/education.vic.gov.au/nevr-rural-revision-lectures/home

Link to Rural Revision Lectures TIMETABLE page (remember that recordings of last week’s lectures and slideshows are also available):  https://sites.google.com/education.vic.gov.au/nevr-rural-revision-lectures/lectures-timetable?authuser=0

Nhill College has also arranged to provide our students with free access to other revision programs by Elevate Education.  These sessions will be conducted over the coming school holidays - more information will be sent out about these programs soon.

A Q & A session will be held on Wednesday 2nd September for any families who would like to find out more information about enrolling their child in Foundation in 2021.  The session will be held remotely via Webex Meetings and will commence at 6.30pm.   Please register your interest by either phone on 53912111 or email - nhill.co@education.vic.gov.au and we can send you the link to join the session.

If you are unable to attend the Webex Q & A session, please have a look at our promotional video outlining the fantastic staff, facilities, programs and resources that Nhill College has to offer.  Please visit the attached link to view the Kinder Transition Video, and acquaint yourself with all that is great about our school.  To get a better view of some of the buildings and facilities at Nhill College, try out the link to our 360° Virtual Tour as well.

Kinder Transition Video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=34ZOTodIRKU&feature=youtu.be

360° Virtual Tour of Nhill College

https://app.cloudpano.com/tours/WyjQCw-5b

If you have any questions about anything you see in this video/virtual tour, please feel free to contact Mark Zimmermann or Kim Magrath at the school on 53912111.

On Monday 31st August, Nhill College will be hosting a number of online presentations from The Man Cave to all of our boys in Years 7 – 10.  The Man Cave usually delivers full day workshops specifically designed to support the psychological and emotional development of boys so they can become healthy young men.  We had arranged to have presenters from The Man Cave come and deliver these programs on-site this year but have had to postpone our booking a number of times due to the disruption caused by COVID-19.  Hopefully, we will still be able to conduct these workshops in Term 4.  In the meantime, we have been able to secure presenters from The Man Cave to deliver five 90-minute Online Check-in Circles via Zoom next Monday.

The boys in each class from Years 7 – 10 will participate in their own session on Monday 31st August.  Session times are as follows:

•     Year 7X                10.30am - 12.00pm
•     Year 8X                10.30am - 12.00pm
•     Year 9X                1.30pm - 3.00pm
•     Year 9Y                1.30pm - 3.00pm
•     Year 10X              1.30pm - 3.00pm

This program will provide boys with the space, tools, permission and role models to connect with their mates and talk openly about how they are really going.

Boys participating in the programs will:

•     Gain tools that enable them to better express their emotions
•     Gain skills that strengthen their resilience
•     Experience genuine and authentic connection with others
•     Witness healthy and varied versions of masculinity through our facilitators

More details about their program can be found be reading the promotional flyer attached below.

The messages conveyed by The Man Cave are especially relevant to all boys – especially those who may be struggling to engage with school throughout this period of remote learning.  The opportunity to participate in this highly sought after and extremely important session has been fully funded by School Focused Youth Services and comes at no cost to families.  Parents are asked to support the program by actively encouraging their son to attend.    

Thank you to those students who have participated in the online Student Attitude to School Surveys throughout this week.  It has been great catching up and chatting to everyone as we have gone through that process.  All students in Years 4 to 12 are required to complete these surveys and a number of classes will complete them next week.

Entries can be submitted via email by sending them to Mikayla Farmers at: mlfar8@schools.vic.edu.au . 

Or, you can send them to the office at: nhill.co@education.vic.gov.au

Alternatively, you can drop hard copies of your entries off at the office. 

Further submission details will be posted in the newsletter next week.

The final deadline for entries is Friday 9th October.  

Smart Work   Tuesday 1st September 6pm

Our friends at Elevate Education are offering another terrific opportunity for our parent community to attend a free webinar.

“7000+ parents have benefited from our webinars this term and from speaking with parents in your area, I know they'd love to join the next one on September 1st. We'll be emphasizing the importance of independent learning and studying smarter, not just harder.”  

Event Title: Elevate Education – Smart Work Date: Tuesday 1st September  Time: 6pm AEST  Duration: 1 hour Cost: Free   

CLICK HERE TO RESERVE YOUR SEAT

As always, the Nhill College Year Level Co-ordinators are available to offer support and guidance with any areas of concern students and parents may be experiencing during this time of remote learning. Please reach out to your relevant Form Teacher or Year Level Co-ordinator if you need help.

Like almost everything in 2020, University Open Days will be done very differently this year.  Fortunately, for our regional students, this is quite advantageous, as they will almost all move to a “Virtual” Open Day format.  Whilst nothing beats a face-to-face experience, the virtual Open Days will allow our students to access more Open Days without the physical, time depriving and financial stress of driving long distances to attend.

Included in this Newsletter is a list of Virtual Open Day dates and websites.  If you would like to attend an Open Day please ensure you register on line so the university can send you the required link.  The list we have provided does not include every institution, so if you have an interest in an institution we have not included please check their website.  We also strongly encourage you to make contact with universities and TAFES if you have any questions at all – no question is silly and they will be more than happy to speak with you.

Don’t forget to ask about scholarships, alternative entry programs, application procedures, accommodation options and what they think their 2021 may look like – although, as we know, this can change rapidly.

Please come and see Mrs Hedt or Mrs Sampson if you have any questions or concerns.

Please find a recording of one of Newman College’s online information sessions in a share drive here – https://drive.google.com/file/d/1tZtNDxe2QWIbfUNTw87XVLTrVC2lrNHG/view?usp=sharing

 Please feel free to distribute this to any students interested in living on campus next year while attending The University of Melbourne, ACU, RMIT or Monash University (Pharmacy campus).

We are running virtual tours of the College over the next few months, please direct interested students to contact me at vhoward@newman.unimelb.edu.au if interested. They may also get in touch with general questions about the College, scholarships and financial aid, or applications.

 Finally, we are currently taking applications and interviewing students for 2021 residency. 

Best wishes for the rest of the year,

We are approaching the time where current Year 12 students who are wishing to pursue university entry for 2021 will be looking into universities and courses.  This can be a stressful and overwhelming time.  Many students begin to get anxious about ATARS required.  The good news is, many universities offer alternative entry schemes.  They take extra things into consideration – not just that ATAR.  Student community involvement, where students live and individual circumstances can all be contributing factors.  A student may have made excellent contributions to their community, for example, and a university may decide that rather than the required 95 ATAR, they may be happy with a 75 instead -  because the student has demonstrated they are an all-rounder, a contributor and able to multi-task.  Another example may be a student living in Nhill is recognised as having many disadvantages due to internet issues, inability to access programs based in the city or extra travel requirements – a university may decide this student only requires an ATAR of 70, rather than 80 because of adversity.    These are just two examples of how these schemes can work.  This can alleviate a lot of pressure coming into exams.

We encourage students to look into whether their universities of choice have such schemes.  Some examples include the La Trobe University Aspire, ACU Community Achiever and Flinders University Principal’s Recommendation Scheme.  Students need to look into these carefully as they all have different application date windows, requirements and benefits.  We have attached a flyer to this newsletter highlighting many schemes, but please ensure you do your own research to ensure you are aware of any schemes from your university of choice.  Please read the requirements very carefully and come and see Mrs Hedt or Mrs Sampson for any help and assistance.  

In accordance with the Nhill College COVID-19 Return to School Policy, some classes may operate with open windows (where practical) to promote fresh air flow indoors.  Students will be permitted to wear their winter jackets indoors during class times to help keep them warm in case of this eventuality. 

All students from Years Foundation to 12 are again invited and encouraged to enter our annual Magazine Cover Competition.  Over the years we have had some incredible entries, not just the ones that were ultimately selected, but many others also.  Students have until 4th September to get their entries in to Mrs Sampson.  Hard copy entries can be handed in to the front office (named on the back) or entries can be emailed to natalie.sampson@education.vic.gov.au.

All entries need to reflect our school values of:

RESPECT

HONESTY

TEAMWORK

CONFIDENCE

EXCELLENCE

ENDEAVOUR

The winning cover entries will receive $50 each.  Entries can be from individuals, groups or as a class activity if a teacher wishes to include that in their curriculum.  If a group entry wins, the prize money will be shared equally; if a class entry wins the prize money will be allocated to the class at the teacher's discretion.

Good luck!