Newington goes head-to-head at Macquarie University Chess Challenge

Last Sunday we sent two teams to compete in The Macquarie University Chess Challenge. This was an open competition with open aged teams from all across Sydney and 43 schools represented.

The two teams included William Tao (9/KL), Stephen Chan (9/JN) and Eamon Barret (9/JN) in the team that finished 11th overall and Cedric Koh (9/MO), Victor Dai (10/FL) and Justin Ting (10/JN) in the team that finished 4th. This was an outstanding result from both teams and provides great confidence for all our teams going into the inter-schools competition next term.

Mr Graeme Downward
Chess Co-ordinator

Summer Sports Assembly Prizewinners

Congratulations and colours were awarded to boys during assembly today to celebrate another successful summer season of Sport.

Basketball

Michael van Walsum, J. Felix Booth Trophy (The most successful team member)

George Kalamvokis, ONU Service Prize

Cricket

Marcus Atallah, J.M ‘Johnny’ Taylor Memorial Trophy (To the best cricketer in the First XI)

Mitchell Long, Macquarie Bank Trophy ( For outstanding performance in a non-GPS competition team)

Benjamin Page, Stuart Jenning’s Trophy (to the non-competition cricket team with the best results for the season)

Tennis

Damien Minguez, Johnson Shield (Open Tennis Champion)

Waterpolo

Marco Loprevite, ONU Service Prize

AAGPS Swimming Report

The Newington Swimming Team had a very successful season, winning two of the four GPS trophies on offer – the Junior Premiership and the GPS Relay Competition, winning all of the six events contested, something which is rarely achieved.

The Junior team was dominant from the outset, winning its division by more than 170 points. Outstanding contributions came from Callum Lowe-Griffiths (9/PR), Jason Hartill (8/MO) and Jack Rudkins (7/MA).

The Intermediate team recovered from a slow start to finish a creditable third, while our Seniors just failed to make it three successive Premierships, going down by 23 points to the strong Riverview team.

Again, Te Haumi Maxwell (12/PR) was a dominant force in his age group. Newington clearly won the overall point score for the season.

An unprecedented twenty boys were selected to represent GPS at the CIS Carnival with Newington swimmers setting 13 GPS records during the season.

Marrickville Council implements Water Sensitive Strategy

Marrickville Council is encouraging everyone in the Eastern Channel North Subcatchment to get involved in creating a water-sensitive community and they would like community input.

Water sensitive communities create places that are “resilient, liveable, productive and sustainable. They efficiently use the diversity of water resources available within towns and cities; enhance and protect the health of urban waterways and wetlands; and mitigate against flood risk and damage. They also create public spaces that harvest, clean and recycle water, increase biodiversity and reduce urban heat island effects.”

Newington College falls within this catchment, one of seven in the Marrickville Valley. They are inviting people who live and work in the area to join in by participating in a vision workshop in April and/or attending the community forum in June. If you are a local resident or would like to find out more, their website has a very clear outline of their plans for ensuring water safety and sustainability in the Cooks River area. Find out more.

To see the Water Sensitive Community strategy, please click here.

Congratulations

Congratulations to Morgan McDonald (12/MO) who competed at the 2013 IAAF World Cross Country Championships in Poland over the weekend. Morgan came 33rd overall out of 120 contestants and was the first Australian junior. He was the youngest Australian starter in the race and docked at 23:21.  Congratulations to Morgan on an outstanding effort.

In fencing, Alex Mei (11/JN) finished 3rd in the National Schools Foil qualifier on Saturday 23 March. He will present the NSW school team at the National School Championships in Brisbane this June. Congratulations Alex.

Jordon Gauci (10/FL) has made the Australian under 15 years Schoolboys’ cricket team. He will be playing with the national team against the West Indies in Bowral later this year. Congratulations Jordon.

Rowing Report

Last week, the rowing world converged on Penrith and Australia’s first hosting of the Rowing World Cup, held in conjunction with the Australian Schools National Championships. This was a wonderful spectacle of rowing where boys from our 1st and 2nd VIII’s were able to compete in the same event as Olympic champions. Members of the 2nd VIII competed in the Schoolboy Four and the Schoolboy Quad Scull events.

The Schoolboy Four event was a hotly contested event and our crew was unfortunately knocked out in the repechage. The Quad Scull progressed through to the B-Final and put a great performance in to finish second, which was 10th place overall. The 1st VIII won their heat in fine style, then had the toughest semi-final where they were unfortunately relegated to the B-Final, despite having a very strong performance. In the B-Final, the crew put their best performance of the season together and finished in first place, well ahead of The King’s School and Melbourne Grammar. This ranked them 9th out of a total of 27 schools.

Several Old Newingtonian’s featured in the Interstate Regatta representing NSW.  James Chapman (ON ’97) won his sixth King’s Cup for NSW and also won Gold in the Men’s Coxless Four event at the World Cup! Theo Cominos (ON ’12) was a member of the victorious NSW Youth Eight who won the National Title.

Mr Simon Pennington
  Director of Rowing 

Sport Report

AFL

Any boys interested in attending the CIS AFL trials please see Mr. Dickens in the Sports Dept.

Athletics

The first of the 2013 Invitational Athletics Carnivals was held on Saturday March 23 at Blacktown Olympic Park. Newington boys competed with boys from The Kings School, St. Josephs College and Sydney Grammar. It was very pleasing to see many Year 7 boys competing and we look forward to seeing them at the upcoming carnivals. Highlights included Sebastian Gray (11/JN) jumping 1.93m in the U16 high jump to beat the previous Newington record by 1cm. The next carnival will be held at SOPAC on Saturday 6 April, 8.00am – 12.30pm. Details will be placed on the respective SPACES pages.

Fencing

Nine Newington boys competed in the National Schools Qualifier. The competition was tough and the boys fenced well. Max Schultz (12/ME) and Adam Chew (10/ME) placed in the top 8, while Alex Mei (11/JN) placed third. Alex will be invited to represent the NSW School Team to fence at the National School Championships in June.

Congratulations to all the boys who represented Newington College.

Swimming

The final AAGPS Swimming Carnival was held at Homebush on Friday night March 22nd. With over 400 Newington boys in the crowd our swimmers competed strongly in all age groups against the other GPS schools. The Junior Team (U12 to U14) placed first, the Intermediate team (U15 and U16) placed third and the Senior team (U17 and U18) finished second. Well done to all boys who represented Newington swimming over the course of the season.

Tennis

Three Newington tennis players were selected to represent AAGPS against CAS in the annual fixture. Blazo Djurovic (12/LE) was selected as number one in the GPS 1sts, Damien Minguez (11/FL) at number three in the GPS 2nds, and Richard Palmer (11/KL) was selected as a reserve. For the record GPS lost to CAS 12-6. Well done to the boys on achieving this representation.

Winter Sport

Training for all winter sport will commence in earnest the week after the Easter break until the end of the term. All boys should be attending the two training sessions per week. There are no Saturday fixtures this term, other than the Athletics Carnival on Saturday 6 April. Please check your respective SPACES sport page for training details.

Literature Festival Highlights from the Library

I had the pleasure of attending my very first Newington College Literature Festival last week, and it was an incredible experience for all, myself included.

Having spoken to many staff and students and authors themselves, by all accounts it was an extremely successful Literature Festival.

Over the course of three days 36 authors, academics, poets, graphic novelists and performers inspired, entertained and enthralled both students and staff alike.

Some personal highlights from the Festival included:

• The great deal of hard work and effort put in by the Postscript student journalism team spearheaded by Ms Caterina Troncone and seeing the enormous amount that they learned and gained from the experience
• Riotous applause from Year 7 and Year 8 during the Spelling Bee with guest author Richard Harland, in his fantastically quirky steam punk hat and waist coat
• Meeting authors whose books I have read and admired, including one whom I read in my own high school days
• Sitting in on the Year 12 panel session on ‘Belonging’ with talks by authors Linda Jaivin, Benjamin Law, Randa Abdel-Fattah and Archimede Fusillo who all spoke from unique points of view, and yet whom experienced and seen disconcertingly similar experiences of belonging, wanting to belong and in fact, not belonging.
• Having a go at drawing cartoons alongside 7EngDor with graphic novelist, Mandy Ord
• Listening to Charlie Thomson aka ‘the Educator’ rap about literary devices and explaining that Shakespeare’s plays written in iambic pentameter totally lend themselves to rap

School Prefects gather at Newington to talk Mental Health

One in four Australians will be affected by mental health issues at some stage throughout there life time. Only 23 per cent of 15-24 year olds will speak up and admit that they have a mental health problem. Don’t let the other 77 per cent, who are suffering in silence, be someone you know!

Tuesday 19 March saw over 100 students from all across Sydney, from as far as the Central Coast, gather at Newington College for ,what we hope will be, an annual Newington Prefect Afternoon. In what was a first for Newington, we invited prefects from a vast array of schools to come to Newington for a chance to talk, mingle and discuss differing perspectives on leadership within their schools. To do something beneficial, the afternoon was centred on the idea of ‘How can we as leaders in our schools help stem the prevalence of mental illness in students?’.

The afternoon provided a forum for leaders to discuss their own personal experiences with mental illness and friends, whilst also providing an opportunity to listen to some guest speakers from Headspace in Camperdown who clarified the avenues available to obtain professional advice or just if you need someone to talk to.

Some great initiatives came up throughout the afternoon such as Random Acts of Kindness days, and Student-led counselling programs, but overall the most important thing was to get rid of the stigma surrounding mental illness and this is something the 30 Newington Prefects who attended and the other Year 12s will be focusing on as the year progresses.

If you need someone to talk to within the College community, never hesitate to come up to one of the Year 12s, or even the School Counsellor, Mr Stan Comino, who is situated next to the small hall above Centenary Hall. Mental Health problems do not discriminate, and if left untreated or bottled up, can have serious consequences.

I know myself and the Year 12 cohort are really passionate on this topic, so help us get behind it!

Kids Help Line – 1800 55 1800

Lifeline Australia – 13 11 14

Online services: eheadspace.org.au

Lachlan McKirdy (12/LE)
Deputy Senior Prefect 

An Easter Challenge

This will be the last Black and White article from me prior to Easter and therefore I want to offer an Easter thought. Just a few weeks ago Jeremy Clarkson, and the Top Gear team, were in my home country New Zealand. They were there to film a show on Ninety Mile beach, the last strip of the West Coast just before the tip of the North Island.

According to reports Clarkson really fell in love with Aotearoa (The Land of the Long White Cloud) and made the audacious proclamation that God should have had his son born in New Zealand and not Bethlehem – somewhere really beautiful and nice. This is interesting amateur theology and, well, high praise for my country of origin, and yes I do realise that he’s not being that serious.

As much as I love Top Gear dear Mr Clarkson misses the point of the whole “God sending his son” bit – which is at the real heart of the Easter (and Christmas message). Such a message is that in Jesus, God comes to the common, and insignificant, and difficult places like Bethlehem, Jerusalem, and Golgotha (the place of Christ’s crucifixion). These are not particularly nice or touristy locations, but Easter is like that – God getting involved in unexpected places doing unexpected things.

So where is God this Easter?

A recent speaker at Newington talked about the traditional idea of God, as a Personal Caring Creator, being pretty much “out of fashion” Down Under. Certainly there does seem to be an exodus away from the old style of doing “church”, which I personally have great sympathy for. Interestingly though, more and more people are thirsting for a spiritual reality in their lives. In countries with vast populations and burgeoning technologies like China (recent demographics indicate there are 60 million Christians in China – more than in the whole of Europe), Korea, Africa and South America there is massive growth in commitment the real Easter story. We do not hear much about this in our press. Nor do the trendy philosophers and sociologists at our universities pay much attention to these present day realities.

Maybe it is us, in Australasia, who are the ones out of step with what God is really doing in the world. God may not be especially on Ninety Mile beach in New Zealand, but the message of Easter is that the mystery of the Almighty means that God does not march to our tune. God does not conform to our expectations. God is not a “tame” God – as C.S.Lewis indicated in his Narnian Chronicles through that masterful metaphor of Aslan the untamed yet incredible Lion.

And so I guess my challenge this Easter is, for all of us, to look for the unexpected in the Easter message that we hear and see. Let’s give ourselves a chance to catch a glimpse of the majesty and wonder of the true Easter story. That may indeed mean going to a Good Friday service or the Resurrection Sunday worship somewhere, or it may mean watching some of the special programming on this theme on television.

May you all have a holy and restful Easter weekend.

David N Williams
Newington College Chaplain

Navy Band Workshops

Over two days in Week 6, Newington College was privileged to host four musicians from the Royal Australian Navy Band – Sydney Detachment. The four members led a series of intensive jazz workshops with all four of our Senior School jazz ensembles and were suitably impressed with the standard and enthusiasm of our boys. Topics covered included – various jazz styles, jazz articulations, improvisation, ensemble playing, rehearsal etiquette as well as insights into the life of a professional military musician.

We are fortunate at Newington to have such a strong level of involvement in jazz led by a team of talented tutors and staff. This depth is recognised within the broader community with leading performances throughout each year at events such as the Manly International Jazz Festival, various eisteddfods and our annual Darling Harbour Jazz Showcase. My thanks go to Mr Stephen Foxe, who also leads two of our jazz ensembles, for his support in making this inaugural event come to fruition.

Luke Gilmour
Director of Bands 

Lost and Found: Set of Keys

A set of keys were handed in by one of the groundsmen on Friday 8 March.

They were found in the grounds behind the Founders building. If you think they may be yours please contact Kath Clarke or Cate Lukins on 9568 9333.

Yr 12 Geography Investigate Human Impact on Stockton Sand Dunes

On Monday 11 March Year 12 Geography students headed to Port Stephens to investigate the human impact on and management of Stockton sand dunes and Glenrock state conservation area. They walked Tomaree headland with National Parks and Wildlife before going on a 4 wheel drive tour of the sand dunes in the afternoon followed by the trips highlight; sand boarding down the largest moving sand dune system in Australia.

On Tuesday they visited a pocket of coastal rainforest that has been impacted on by coal mining and urban development. The rangers, including an Indigenous guide, gave the boys invaluable information on rainforest processes and traditional and contemporary management strategies for protecting ecosystems. The boys had a great time and once again had it confirmed for them how much time in the field can enhance their learning and enjoyment for a subject.

Rebecca Matthew
Yr 12 Geography Teacher 

Men in the Arts Forum Ends on a High Note

On Wednesday 13 March, a creative forum was held inside Newington’s Centenary Hall. ‘Men and the Arts’, gave the elective students an insight into the lives and beginnings of creative arts careers of three key figures in Art, Music and Drama. The panel included actor, Jeremy Lindsay Taylor (ON ’91), artist and architect, Dr Richard Goodwin (pictured above) and composer, Dr Matthew Hindson AM.

After graduating from Newington College, Jeremy went on to pursue a successful Australian acting career and has appeared most recently on Australian television in Underbelly Razor and Puberty Blues. Richard has over 30 years experience as an international artist and architect. Mathew is one of Australia’s most commissioned composers both internationally and nationally and also sits on the board for the Australia Council for the Arts. The forum was essentially a talk show with the boys as the audience, Ms Tamara Smith as the host and the creative men as the guests. A few students and I introduced ourselves to the guests after the forum and found ourselves warmly welcomed and engaged in further advice and conversation.

The forum, which was for all elective Art, Music and Drama students, provided an opportunity for the boys to hear highly respected figures talk about their personal experiences in their creative field as well as to ask their own questions including: “How did the inspiration for Carapace come  about?”, “How do you get into the mood of a particular character?”, “Is it hard to drop everything and pursue life as an actor?”, “What makes a good artist?”, and “How do you feel about government funding for the Arts?”

It was interesting to learn that although they had different views, all agreed on the most important point of the night – you should pursue your passion with all of your strengths. Jeremy commented that, “If it wasn’t hard everyone would do it. Strive for it. Learn everything about your craft. It is about staying positive in the hard times and focused in the down times.”

To be able to meet some of Australia’s leading individuals across three creative fields was a significant opportunity and the boys took  full advantage. It was an evening of learning and laughing and a great experience. The next event we look forward to is special guest Ah Xian, an internationally acclaimed sculptor who will be accompanied by Visual Arts specialists, on Wednesday the 19th of June, 2013.

Robert Townsend (ON ’12)
Former Student

‘Sweet Evelina’: the Origins of ‘Dear Newingtonia’

Newington’s school song, ‘Dear Newingtonia’, was first sung at Speech Day on 13 December 1895. The words had been written for the occasion by Frank Williamson, a teacher who had charge of concerts and entertainments at the school. The Sydney Morning Herald reported that this ‘glee’ was ‘perhaps the selection most appreciated’ of the entertainment pieces performed that day.

While the words were new, the tune was well known. It had been published as a sentimental love song, ‘Sweet Evelina’ (words by ‘M’, music by ‘T’) in New York in 1863. It is likely that the song was older still: the published song describes it ‘As sung by all the Minstrel Bands’.

It was not the melody alone that was borrowed for the new school song. The words of the chorus, ‘my love for thee shall never, never die’, also came from the original song, with its refrain of ‘Sweet Evelina, Dear Evelina, my love for thee shall never, never die’.

‘Sweet Evelina’ was popular among Confederate soldiers in the American Civil War and was reportedly a favourite song of J.E.B. Stuart, the famous dashing Confederate cavalry commander. The Confederates also had a more martial version to the same tune, ‘The retreat of the grand army from Bull Run’ (‘Poor Mr Lincoln, Poor old Abe Lincoln…’).

After its successful debut, ‘Dear Newingtonia’ quickly became popular in the Newington community and by 1899; it was being referred to as ‘the old school song’. For many decades it appeared at the front of each issue of The Newingtonian and it continues to be sung with great emotion today.

David Roberts
College Archivist

What do you know about Concussions?

While concussion can occur in any sport we see more incidents during rugby and football season. Concussion in sport has been discussed again recently in Melbourne with the Australian football codes and medical experts coming together.

A concussion is an injury to the brain, usually caused by a blow to the head that results in temporary loss of normal brain function. A person does not need to lose consciousness to suffer a concussion.

The brain floats inside the skull, cushioned gently by the surrounding spinal fluid. An abrupt blow to the head, or even a rapid deceleration, can cause the brain to bounce against the inner wall of the skull. There is potential for tearing of blood vessels, pulling of nerve fibres and bruising of the brain.

Symptoms

Common symptoms include headache, vision disturbance, dizziness, vomiting, confusion, memory loss, ringing in the ears, and loss of balance.

A concussion can affect memory, judgment, reflexes and muscle coordination.

Behavioral changes such as inappropriate emotions, irritability, feeling nervous or anxious may be seen. Poor attention, sensitivity to light and noise, lack of concentration and sleep disturbance can also be symptoms of concussion.

Perseverating (repeating the same thing over and over), despite being told the answer each time can occur. For example, in a 2012 game against Scots, a concussed player asked repeatedly, “Did we win? Did I play well? Did I play well? Did we win”? In this case it was another player who sought medical attention for the concussed player and that’s what we need. Players, coaches, parents, staff – everyone being aware of concussion and seeking medical advice as necessary.

On the sideline the Pocket Scat test can be used testing memory and balance.

For the past few years we have been doing pre season concussion testing on all rugby players and firsts and seconds football players at Newington. This involves a paper and pen, 90 second, digit symbol substitution test DSST. Basically the boys have to match symbols to numbers and get as many done as they can in the time allotted. If a boy suffers a concussion he will repeat the test in the clinic to compare. This test is a useful tool but must be used in conjunction with player symptoms and other testing such as Scat 2 test.

On the sideline the rule is: if a concussion is suspected then the player is removed from play and must not be allowed back on. Medical examination is required. So if in doubt – sit it out.

Adolescents (10 – 18 years) need a conservative approach as studies have shown that their brain takes longer to recover. The Medical Practitioner responsible for treatment will advise on how long the player should rest from physical activity. In some cases shorter school days and/or reduced school work may be required to ensure mental rest.

The Graduated Return To Play (GRTP) program

Each stage of the GRTP takes at least 24 hours with no symptoms developing. If symptoms develop then the player rests for 24hours and starts that stage again.

• Stage 1 – rest and recovery determined by the Medical Practitioner
• Stage 2 – walking, swimming or stationary bike at a low intensity
• Stage 3 – progress to running drills
• Stage 4 – complex training drills – no contact, start resistance training
• Stage 5 – medical clearance must be obtained to return to full contact training

People who have had a concussion seem more susceptible to another one, particularly if the new injury occurs before symptoms from the previous concussion have completely gone away. If a player suffers a second concussion in a season then it is recommended that he does not play for the remainder of the season.

Most children with a mild head injury make a full recovery but symptoms such as tiredness and mild behavioural changes may persist for up to 2-3 months.

The International Rugby Board has excellent concussion guidelines and electronic education modules. Click here to read these.

I am looking forward to the season and really enjoy watching both football and rugby.

Sister Margaret Bates
School Nurse 

Sport Luncheon celebrates Sporting legends of New and Old

On Friday 22 March more than 430 parents, Old Boys and Newington’s sporting community joined some of the most admired sporting legends to celebrate 150 Years of Sport at Newington. It was a chance to look back at the changes that have taken place – the bygone days of Athletics competitions including novelty three-legged races and a ‘wild goose chase’, to the influence early participation in Cricket, Rugby, Athletics and Rifle Shooting has had, since the founding of the College, in helping to shape its identity.

MC for the day, Head of Geography Mr Shane Serhon, followed a special lunch held at Dockside in Sydney’s Cockle Bay Wharf, by introducing a panel of sporting stars as guest speakers to enlighten and entertain the audience about Sport in Australia today, from the Wallabies training sessions to the culture of doping in cycling. The panel included Frank Farina, Greg Chappell, Bob Dwyer, Johnny Lewis, Barry Ross, John Alexander and Old Boy Olympic Triathlete Greg Bennett (ON ’89). John Alexander made particular note of the importance of sport in school, commenting that exposure to the ideals of sport builds character in the very young – something Newington’s sports department celebrates, especially in boys working towards their personal best in every training session and match.

The event was also a chance to celebrate some of Newington’s sporting and coaching greats of the last 150 years, with ‘Dream Teams’ put together for every position in every major sport. The likes of Jim Maiden (ON ‘1880s), 100 yards champion for New South Wales and Victoria, took a position in the sprints section of the Athletics ‘Dream Team’; more recent Newingtonian James Chapman (ON ’97), who achieved a Silver medal at the London 2012 Olympics, was selected to take the third seat in the rowing VIII ‘Dream Team’.

Special thanks to the Sesquicentenary Committee and in particular Marisa Broome, Mark Bland and Rod Bosman, along with College archivist David Roberts, for their roles in making this a fantastic celebration of Newington sport.

To view the 150 Years of Sport brochure, including history and Dream Teams, distributed at the luncheon, please click here.

It’s a Wrap! Spelling Bee and Shakespearean Rap at the 6th Biennial Literature Festival

The 6th Biennial Literature Festival at Newington College ran from Wednesday 21 to Friday 22 March 2013. Featuring more than 36 authors, illustrators, graphic novelists, poets and researchers who came and gave lectures, participated in Theatresports and helped run a spelling bee competition, the festival was a roaring success with boys walking out of lecture halls and classrooms buzzing with enthusiasm.

Among the luminaries who attended included Good Weekend magazine editor Judith Whelan, children’s authors Felice Arena, Andrew Daddo and Deborah Abdela , along with industry heavyweights Archimede Fusillo, Benjamin Law, Peter Goldsworthy, Linda Jaivin and Barry Heard just to name a few. Many entertained and engaged the boys through writing workshops, sharing insider tips and ideas. One memorable presenter, Charlie Thomson aka The Educator rapped about Shakespeare in the Old Boys Lecture Theatre emulating the atmosphere of a hip hop club.

In collaboration with the Centre for Ethics 2013, a panel discussion “Words, Words, Words” was held on the opening night of the festival. The panel discussed the future of language in the digital age and many parents, boys and members of the public attended. While there was some debate about the disapopointment of receiving a text rather than a letter being like, “opening a shorthand version of what used to be beautiful discursive language”, the general consensus of the panel was that language has always met the needs of communication and we fashion it to suit our needs. The plea was simply that youth keep engaging in complex reading and writing as well as enjoy new styles of expression.

During the festival, a select group of boys under the guidance of Ms Caterina Troncone produced a festival magazine Postcript showcasing the talks given each day which was distributed to boys and staff. On the last two days of the festival, children from neighbouring public and Catholic schools in Stanmore, Leichhardt and Dulwich Hill travelled to Newington College as our guests to take part in some of the activities and a sausage sizzle was held at lunch to help raise funds for the festival’s chosen charity Room to Read in particular their work in Nepal.

Click here to see the student publication Postscripts

Postscripts Edition 20 March

Postscripts Edition 21 March

Postscripts Edition 22 March