New Norfolk High is a respectful learning community with high expectations that we know as The New Norfolk Way. One of the ways in which we demonstrate this is by celebrating student achievement and working to build connections with families. Our recent Student Showcase provided great examples of both.

There was a wide range of musical performances—violin, guitar, singing, keyboard & a dynamite rock band—performing jazz, classical and rock. It was a great example of the courage and growth being developed by our music teacher Kerry McKittrick (I was even drafted in late in the piece to provide acoustic support for a student singing ‘Wagon Wheel’). 

There was also a whole room dedicated to displaying the accomplishments of our students in art. Again, there was a real diversity of the work on display—prints, paintings, drawings, sculpture and even sensory books made by our Y11/12 students for a project with ptunarra, the Derwent Valley Child & Family Centre.

Students were also involved in the Showcase making drinks in the café, serving food (also made by students) and greeting parents. Of course, there were also many students there with their parents, sharing the Evidence of Learning prepared by teachers to demonstrate the progress they are making.

All in all, there were countless great examples of building connections and a sense of belonging. There were also many examples of courage, students accepting challenges and embracing opportunities, and growth, aspiring to learn and improving even when it is tough.

Special thanks go to our Arts & Tech team who took the lead in setting up for and running the event. They spent many hours over the weekend getting everything ready. As I told our students during assembly, they and so many staff put extra work into this event because we care about our students and about building positive relationships with them and our families.

Many thanks to the positive feedback from all those who attended. This was only the second Showcase we have run and we look forward to building on the success of this event again next year. I wish you all a happy holiday and look forward to seeing everyone again when school returns on Monday the 13^th of October.

Stuart Lord