Rochester Secondary College exists to provide quality learning for all in a challenging and nurturing environment

IMPORTANT DATES

August 2019

2nd (Fri) - Green Day at RSC - Casual dress day

5th (Mon) - Year 9 Careers Advisory Service

periods 1 & 2

5th (Mon) - English Session Year 12’s Periods 3 &

4

7th (Wed) - VTAC Information Night 7 pm

8th (Thurs) - Elevate Year 12’s Periods 2 & 3

14th (Wed) - Middle School Information Night at

7 pm

20th (Tue) - Rotary Farm and Road Safety Day

Year 7’s

23rd (Fri) - Intermediate and Year 7 Basketball

September 2019

10th (Tue) - SSVC Athletics

17th (Tue) - Interschool Boys Cricket

18th (Wed) - Parent/Teacher Interviews 4pm -

6.30 pm

20th (Fri) - Last day of Term 3 - 2.30 pm dismissal

To keep up to date with all the great achievements of our students please follow us on Facebook or Our website www.rochsec.vic.edu.au

SCHOOL MEETINGS

1st Aug (Thurs) School Council 7.30 pm

The Rochester Review

Melissa Gould -

Principal’s Report

Volume 1 Issue 22 1st August, 2019

www.rochsec.vic.edu.au Phone: 5484 1844 Fax: 5484 2348

rochester.sc@edumail.vic.gov.au

Thank you to all our families and students who attended the VCE/VCAL EXPO, it was great to

see so many eager to learn about options for 2020. Thank you to Ms McLeod and Mr Huddy

for organizing a fantastic evening with a wide variety of information stalls. If you were unable

to attend or would like more information please make an appointment to see Mr Huddy.

Selection sheets for subjects will be given out on Friday 2nd of August and are due back to the

office by Friday 9th of August.

We have introduced a reading program (R.O.A.Ds – Reading Opens All Doors) with our Year 7

students, students are encouraged to read at home each night with a family member. We

look forward to watching our students grow with their reading and implementing

comprehension strategies.

WE WANT OUR PARENTS TO TELL US WHAT THEY THINK!

Our school is conducting a survey to find out what parents think of our school. The Parent

Opinion Survey is an annual survey offered by the Department of Education and Training that

is conducted amongst a sample of randomly selected parents. It is designed to assist schools in

gaining an understanding of parents’ perceptions of school climate, student behaviour and

student engagement. Our school will use the survey results to help inform and direct future

school planning and improvement strategies.

Approximately 100 families will be invited to participate in this year’s survey. All responses to

the survey are anonymous. This year the Parent Opinion Survey will be conducted from Friday

2nd August to Sunday 11th August.

The survey will be conducted online, only takes 10-15 minutes to complete, and can be

accessed at any convenient time within the fieldwork period on desktop computers, laptops,

tablets or smartphones. Please contact Melissa Gould at the College if you would like more

information.

Just a reminder for your diaries - Rochester Secondary College will be introducing a “Step Up

Program” for students in Years 7-11 in November. On Monday 25th of November all students

will “Step Up” a year level;

Year 12 classes for 2020 will run for one week until Friday 29th November

Year 11 classes for 2020 will run for two weeks until Friday 6th December

Years 8-10 classes for 2020 will run for the remainder of the term with school finishing on

Friday 20th December

Rochester Secondary College is committed to safety and wellbeing of all children and young people. This will be the primary focus of our care and decision-making. Please find our policies in regards to Child Safety on our website – www.rochsec.vic.edu.au

Around the College

Rochester Secondary College exists to provide quality learning for all in a challenging and nurturing environment

Approving and paying for events in the Parent Portal on XUNO

Who can pay for and approve events? Only parents of a student's primary family can approve an event online. Online approval is only possible if your school has enabled this option for the event and an SMS with a 6-digit verification code will be sent to your mobile number to confirm the approval. Parents of a secondary family can not approve an event, but may be able to part-pay for an event if the payments have been split between families.

Cut-off Date for Events: If an event has passed its Pay and Approve By date you will not be able to pay for or approve the event online. If this scenario occurs please contact your school for further information.

Approving an event

1. Log into the XUNO Parent Portal as a parent.

2. Click on the School menu and choose the Events, Excursions and Camps menu option.

3. A list of Upcoming events will be shown. Find the events that have not yet been approved, and click on the corresponding View & Approve button. Events that do not require approval or have already been approved will not have "Approve" in the title of the button.

4. Carefully read all of the event details, and enter any additional medical details or direction in the field provided at the bottom of the page.

5. If your school has enabled online approval, click on the Approve this Event button at the bottom of the page. An SMS will be sent to your mobile phone number when you click the button. Allow up to 60 seconds for your verification code to be sent to your phone. Enter the correct verification code to approve the event.

6. You can print the event permission slip, sign and return the form to approve the event at anytime. Click on the Print this Form button to print the event notice.

7. A green success alert will appear at the bottom of the page if you have successfully approved the event.

Approving an event from the Dashboard: If there is an active event for your child that requires approval or payment, click View Events on your Dashboard to pay for and approve events.

Online Event Approval: This option is only available for an event if your school has enabled it. A verification code will be sent to your mobile number. If your mobile is not correct you will need to contact your school to change it.

Paying for an event

1. Log into the XUNO Parent Portal as a parent.

2. Click on the School menu and choose the Payments Due & Pay Now menu option.

3. You can pay for multiple items at once if you wish. Choose which items you would like to pay by clicking on each corresponding Select to Pay button. As you select each item the Pay selected items amount will increase.

4. Click on the Pay selected items button to make the payment.

5. Enter in your credit card, or VISA/MasterCard debit card details into the fields provided. Confirm that the details are correct.

6. Click on the Make a Payment button to process the transaction.

7. You'll receive a success message and transaction number if your payment was successfully processed. Please record the transaction number, date and amount for your reference.

8. Click on the Finish button to go back to the Portal. A list of all successfully paid transactions your family has made will be shown.

Around the College

Rochester Secondary College exists to provide quality learning for all in a challenging and nurturing environment

TIS Excursion Year 12’s

Y ear 12 students attended the Tertiary Information Session on Thursday 25th July at Rich River Golf Club.

They returned back to the College with plenty of brochures and ides for their future.

Pictured above are: Grace, Stephanie, Sarah, Yolanda, Kristin and Zahra.

Junior boys football

Yr 11 Work Experience

The Year 11’s have successfully completed their Melbourne Work Experience from 21st to 26th July, whilst staying South Yarra. The students arrived eagerly on Sunday for the trip down to practise using Melbourne public transport before getting to work on Monday. Monday saw 38 students head off to work with many needing to get up early with 9 out of the door by 7 am, the earliest few by 5am. Students completed work experience across a range of areas including fitness, primary education, social welfare, building, real estate, hospitality, airplane maintenance, mechanics, golf courses, a specialist school, graphic design and others.

Feedback from our employers was very positive and allows the school to continue offering this program to future year 11’s. Many of our work placements were cold calls by students in the past and such positive student experiences have turned these into regular arrangements and this year students continue with this tradition of impressing employers. This year is no different. The camp offers more than just work experience, with students needing to budget and manage money for meals, deal with transport timetables, routes and delays. Activities after work included going to the Queen Victoria Night Market, to the movies and shopping.

Thanks to all those staff and others involved in supporting this major undertaking especially Hayley Gray, Mr Gosai and Mrs Pelligrino who attended during the week. Special thanks to Christine Hooppell and Mr Huddy who helped organise the placements and paperwork.

Matthew Callaway – Year 11 Coordinator

Science - Engineers Without Borders Workshops

O n Thursday 25th of July Engineering students from the University of Melbourne and Engineers Without Borders came to Rochester Secondary College and ran workshops with the Year 7 and 8 students. The workshops were aimed at inspiring students about Humanitarian Engineering and Global Challenges such as water, sanitation, construction and climate change. The workshops were

designed to develop problem solving and time management skills in students whilst also promoting careers in engineering and provided discussion around university pathways.

The students had to develop a house that was adapted to water changes due to climate change, they had a budget to buy equipment and a short time to build. Students whose houses successfully held the most marbles were the winners. All the classes had a great time with the activity and came up with some really creative and effective designs.

Engineers Without Borders is a volunteer-based organisation which promotes humanitarian engineering globally.

Around the College

Rochester Secondary College exists to provide quality learning for all in a challenging and nurturing environment

SRC Congress in Melbourne

O n the 9th July, 2019 - Haylee Banfield and I had the opportunity to attend the SRC Congress at Ormond College in Melbourne.

This Congress is basically a student led and student focussed conference. It brings together Secondary students from Year’s 7 to 12 form all around Victoria. Haylee and I stayed at the College for three days and we loved every second of it, we would encourage everyone to participate if you get the opportunity, it was amazing experience. We learnt how to have a say in what you would like to change in your schooling and how to make school a better learning experience. It honestly changed my life, I learnt so much from this experience and will definitely be going back in 2020. By Georgia Matthews

School Sports Victoria – SSV Campaspe Netball Carnival

O n Thursday 25th July, after winning their sections at the Schools Sports Victoria – Campaspe Carnival last term, two very talented Rochester Secondary School netball teams travelled to Echuca to compete in Loddon Mallee Region Netball

Carnival. The teams were: Year 8 - Kaitlyn Joyce, Dana Mussared, Alexandra Ingram, Ava Cottam, Summer Pain, Giselle Crawford, Josephine Brown, Jayda Dobell, Shanae Banfield Year 9/10 - Dominique Palmer, Ella Kerlin, Cayde Hayes, Charlee Roulston, Elizabeth Ingram, Sarah Jones, Teal Hocking, Tanzin Myers, Charlee Patience Our Year 8 team came forth in their section of the tournament and our Year 9/10 lost one game to finish second to Catherine McCauley College. A fantastic effort by both teams – playing against much larger schools. Many thanks to our umpires for the day – Kelly Gould and Sharon Canning and a huge thank you to Mrs Trewin for giving up her time to coach. Many thanks also for the parents who travelled to Echuca to support the teams. Ros Thomas, Netball Coordinator

Around the College

Rochester Secondary College exists to provide quality learning for all in a challenging and nurturing environment

Senior Football Sun Country Cup Final

Mildura Senior 8.15.63 defeated Rochester 5.10.40

Best: Adam McPhee, Rhys Holmberg, Charles Ryan, Broden Evans, Grant Fuller and Jack Oogjes.

Goals: Jack Oogjes 3, Broden Evans 1 and Chase Lind 1.

After a slow start, the boys fought back to be only a goal down at 3/4 time. Unfortunately they were over-run in the end. It was a great game of football. Well done boys, the school is very proud of your efforts.

Junior Boys Interschool Football

T he Junior Footballers travelled to Nathalia on 31st July.

With two big wins one against Nathalia (171 points) and Kyabram P-12 (60 points) had our boys dreaming of heading to Swan Hill next week for the LMR finals. Unfortunately 4 goals in the first three minutes to St Joseph's SC quickly shattered that dream. All

the boys worked hard, applying pressure and making life hard for the opposition but were no match for their superior opposition.

Best players for the day were Charlie Palmer, Lachlan Giffin, Ray Pearson, Nate Rasmussen, Jude Ryan & Hugh Kerlin.

Thanks to Mr Ringin for coaching and Hugh Hamilton for umpiring.

Around the College

Rochester Secondary College exists to provide quality learning for all in a challenging and nurturing environment

Around the College

Rochester Secondary College exists to provide quality learning for all in a challenging and nurturing environment

Careers News

YEAR 9 CAREERS ADVISORY SERVICE

Next week, all Year 9 students will take part in a new initiative by the Victorian Government that provides access to an on-

line career discovery tool (Morrisby Online). The aim of the program is to help students better understand their strengths

and interests and explore different career options. The on-line activity will take around two hours and be broken up into

two sessions to complete.

A report will be created for each student which is assessed by an accredited career practitioner from outside the school,

followed by a 30 minute one-on-one career counselling session during school hours. The discussions will include short-term

specific subject choices as well as training, higher education and employment pathways and options.

Information about when the counselling sessions will take place will be provided after the on-line part of the process is

completed (parents are welcome to attend this session).Please contact Colin Huddy if you have any questions.

VTAC INFORMATION NIGHT – YEAR 12 (Wednesday 7th August)

There will be a VTAC Information Night for Year 12 students next Wednesday night (Aug 7th), running from 7:00pm to

8:00pm in Room 23 (new building). The purpose of the evening is to go through the processes involved in applying for

tertiary places for next year, including SEAS and scholarships. There are processes and key dates that must be followed and

VTAC has provided detailed information that will be shared on the night.

OPEN DAYS

University and TAFE Open Days are on during August. Open Days are a great way to find out about campus facilities and

courses, to hear course presentations, and meet staff and students. You need to attend to help you decide which institution

best suits you. This is very relevant for students in Years 10, 11 and 12.

To see when Open Days are on, go to the Careers tab in the Rochester Secondary College website. Then go to ‘Important

Information’ and select ‘Calendar of Events’. This will bring up all the Careers events on for the month, including Open Days.

Most Open Days occur in August, so select August and find the information you are looking for. For example, La Trobe

University Melbourne (Bundoora) has their Open Day on Sunday August 4th. If you click on this, more information is

available, including a link to the relevant website. The La Trobe Open Day for Bendigo is Sunday August 25. This is a really

valuable resource to use in planning which events to attend.

ASPIRE PROGRAM – LA TROBE UNIVERSITY

A reminder for Year 12 students that the early entry La Trobe University Aspire program will close on August 31st. A

representative from La Trobe University will be coming to school on August 15 (lunch time) to assist students and provide

advice on their applications. Applications close at the end of August. For more information go to https://

www.latrobe.edu.au/study/aspire.

REGIONAL BENEFITS PROGRAM – LA TROBE UNIVERSITY

La Trobe University has put a great new initiative in place for rural students. See the attached flyer for details.

CAREERS WEBSITE - https://www.careers.rochsec.vic.edu.au/

For further questions about these activities or other careers issues, please contact Colin Huddy (Pathways Coordinator). ).

Around the College

Rochester Secondary College exists to provide quality learning for all in a challenging and nurturing environment

Around the College

Rochester Secondary College exists to provide quality learning for all in a challenging and nurturing environment

R ochester Secondary College Parents Club are one of sixteen

organisations that currently make up the Elmore Field Days Catering Committee.

It is a great organisation to be a part of and last year our share of the profits was $4720. This money is used to provide items for the school that the staff request.

We are looking for volunteers who can help fill our roster. There are a wide range of jobs from food preparation, serving customers, stocking fridges, working in a coffee van/pie van, delivering goods to site etc.

The field days are in the school holidays and in previous years some of our students have volunteered and have done a wonderful job for the school.

Volunteers from 13 to 75 are fully covered by insurance, so please consider any relatives/friends who may be willing to help.

If you are able to help could you please let us know by Monday the 12th of August (Anne Budge 0429 845 315 or Michelle Horkings on 0427 841 569)

Community News

Rochester Secondary College exists to provide quality learning for all in a challenging and nurturing environment

ROCHESTER ROTARY CLUB

Envision Prosthetic Project

Please save your plastic bottle caps to help the

Rochester Rotary Club with their Envision prosthetic

limbs project. Clean bottle caps may be left at the

Rochester Court House in Moore Street.

POSITION AVAILABLE

Mechanical minded person a position is available at

Graeme Nelson Motors in Rochester.

Spare Parts

General Office Duties

Computer Skills

Good communication and Organisation Skills

Please apply in writing to:

Graeme Nelson Motors 18 Moore Street, Rochester 3561

Or email: graemenelsonmotors@bigpond.com

First Aid Update

We have updated our First Aid Policy and in accordance with guidance from the

Department of Education and Training, analgesics, including paracetamol and aspirin,

will NOT be stored at school or provided as a standard first aid treatments.

This is because they can mask signs of serious illness or injury.

We need to obtain written advice on a Medication Authority Form for all medication to

be administered by the school.

The student’s medical/health practitioner ensuring that the medication is warranted

should complete the form. However if this advice cannot be provided the principal may

agree that the form can be completed by parents/guardians. Please do not allow

student to bring medication to school, all medication needs to be delivered to the office and a form signed by parents. All

medication is to be administered in the office or sick bay and witnessed by a staff member.