Our vision for New Norfolk High is a respectful learning community with high expectations for ourselves, for others and for the way in which we learn together. Applying our Values to bring this vision to life is The New Norfolk Way.

One of the ways we do this is by focussing on what we can do to increase students access to meaningful future pathways. One example since our last newsletter comes from our Year 11/12 students who took advantage of the opportunity to undergo First Aid training. Not only is does this provide useful life skills in and of itself, it will also provide certification to enhance their resumes.

Another example is the number of Year 10 students engaging with the support of staff to progress their Transition Plans. All Year 10 students are required to complete a Transition Plan by the end of Term 3. Building on the successful Career Expo, almost 20% are already complete. A number of Y10s now have work experience opportunities lined up to give them exposure to employment opportunities they are keen to explore. Others have a new and clear focus for the upcoming Claremont College Taster Day.

Finally, this week we had the commencement meeting for the further building work enabled by our successfully application to the Commonwealth Government’s Schools Upgrade Fund. Further good news from that meeting is that we will be able to leverage the work already underway to upgrade our Year 7 toilets through the State Governments Safer Student Bathroom program, putting us two to three months ahead to complete the further work.

It is wonderful to have a number of improvements in the built environment of the school ahead of us and we will, of course, keep you updated as both of these projects progress.

Stuart Lord