BodyKind August

Our school proudly took part in BodyKind August, promoting positive body image, confidence and kindness towards ourselves and others. Students explored these themes through activities in Connect classes and during weekly lunchtime activities.

Each week focused on a different theme: Speak, Nourish, Move and Nurture. During Speak Week, students and staff wore odd socks to celebrate our differences. Students also enjoyed the BodyKind Question Wheel and wrote positive letters to their bodies.

Nourish Week featured a shared soup lunch, while Move Week included a fun and friendly student-versus-staff futsal match, encouraging students to see movement as enjoyable and social.

During Nurture Week, students took part in mindfulness and creative activities, including Mindful Colouring, Positive Affirmation Bookmarks and Key Chain Making.

BodyKind August was a wonderful opportunity for our school community to celebrate uniqueness, practise self-kindness and learn how we can support positive body image and wellbeing.

Gardening Group

This term, our Gardening Group got underway, and we have already made great progress! Students began by clearing one of our original garden beds and problem-solving how we could have our garden in the same space as the chickens. After some planning and discussion, we decided to create a new gardening space. Students have been busy weeding, clearing, planting and researching what we need to grow a successful garden. We have planted a range of seeds and seedlings, including carrots, cucumbers, radishes, zucchini, beans, sugar snap peas, snow peas and beetroot.

We also learnt about companion planting and which plants grow well together. Students used scale drawings to carefully plan our new garden beds, considering the space each plant needs to grow.

Our gardening group has now built four new garden beds, which have been filled with fresh soil and are nearly ready for planting. Students are excited to see their seeds and seedlings continue to grow and look forward to planting them in our new garden.

A big thank you to everyone who has helped with planning, building and caring for our garden so far. Our seedlings are growing quickly.

We are looking forward to watching our garden grow and seeing what we can harvest!

Preparing for Schoolies

Many students are looking forward to celebrating the end of secondary school with their friends at schoolies celebrations.

In Victoria, schoolies will run from Saturday 28 November to Saturday 12 December. Schoolies celebrations can go beyond these dates across Australia and overseas.

We encourage parents and carers to speak early and openly with their child about their plans for schoolies. This includes any travel plans.

This can help them to think ahead, make safer choices and know what to do if something goes wrong. It may help to talk about alcohol and other drug use, sex and consent, personal safety, and what to do in an emergency.

You may talk with your child about other risks and staying safe while travelling overseas. The deaths of Bianca Jones and Holly Bowles, 2 Victorian teenagers who died from methanol poisoning while travelling in Laos in 2024, are a tragic reminder of why this is important.

Useful resources for families and young people

We encourage you to talk about and share these resources with your child:

• Raising Children Network, for advice on how to help students plan for and stay safe during schoolies
• Better Health Channel, for advice on partying safely at schoolies
• Alcohol and Drug Foundation, for advice on staying safe at schoolies and information on potential alcohol and drug harms when travelling
• Victoria Police, for advice on staying safe at school leaver celebrations. The page includes videos about sexual assault, illegal drugs and road safety
• Red Frogs Australia, a volunteer group that helps young people stay safe and seek help at events like schoolies, with tips and advice for students and families including a 24/7 hotline during schoolies
• Smartraveller, for advice on overseas travel for school leavers and partying safely
• Doctors without Borders, for information on methanol poisoning for travellers
• MethaKnow methanol awareness Instagram page, to help raise awareness about methanol poisoning. 

UNITING VT EDUCATION ASSISTANCE PROGRAM

The Uniting VT Education Assistance Program for 2027 School Year is about to open to those families and students who are holders of Health or Concession Cards and may need extra support with the financial cost of digital book fees, uniforms and books for 2027.

North Geelong Secondary College families who are in need of assistance from Uniting VT MUST phone 52788492 commencing on the 12^th October 2026 between the hours of 9:30 am to 11:45 am to make an appointment.

Interviews will then be conducted on Monday and Wednesday mornings 9:20am to 12:00 pm commencing on the 2^rd November 2026 at Uniting Church Hall Grovedale location situated at 272-276 Torquay Road , Grovedale (entrance via Reserve Road).

Uniting VT will continue interviews until Mid December 2026 and then recommence early January 2027 until the end of January 2027.