Congratulations

AFL

Eight Newington Boys from Year 11 were part of the winning team at the AFL Sydney Harbour Grand Final on the weekend. The Glebe Greyhounds Under 17s team defeated Cronulla 65-63 and gained top place. It has been a stupendous season for the team with only two losses.

Congratulations boys!

Newington Boys in Glebe Greyhounds

• Charlie Mannix (11/PR)
• Aidan Sammut (11/MA)
  
• Joseph Stapleton (11/KL)
  
• James Dummett (11/MA)
  
• Connor Miller (11/KL)
  
• Sam Clark (11/KL)
  
• Tom Ostinga (11/LE)
  
• Will Gowers (11/ME)

Big Breakfast for Year 7 Fathers and Sons

More than 300 Newington fathers and Year 7 sons filled Centenary Hall at 7:00 AM Friday 5 September for the annual Father and Son Breakfast on the eve of the Father’s Day weekend. Head of Stanmore, Dr Andrew Hirst addressed the audience and recounted his own experiences of being a father and spoke about the importance of fathers in their son’s lives. A short film was then shown of Dr Hirst’s own kids talking candidly about what it is like to have him as a father, and on conclusion they gave him a rating. To both Dr Hirst’s humble surprise and relief, his kids gave him a superb rating, and there was a general sigh of relief among the crowd as all the fathers began talking about how often, it’s easy to think that you are not doing enough.

It was a great start to the day and fantastic way to end the week.

Thank you to all Year 7 boys and fathers for attending.

Camping Tips

With outdoor camps coming up, I thought I would give some tips for camping and first aid. While first-aid kits are at all bases it is a good idea to pack a small kit to carry with you with a sling, heavy crepe bandage, non-stick dressing and wipes being the most useful.

Those of you on regular medication should continue with those meds at camp. Keep medication in the original packaging.

If you carry an EpiPen then pack in a protected cover in a pocket of your backpack. Give your second EpiPen to your leader to carry.

If you are asthmatic then please make sure to pack your inhaler. Even if you haven’t used it in ages it is always important to carry one with you.

Hopefully all the boots have been worn in and are comfortable. Even so blisters can be so annoying, so I think some moleskin or foam padding from Dr Scholl at the chemist work really well. They cost about $10 and can be cut to shape.

Vaseline is a staple. It’s cheap and is very useful on lips, blisters, dry hands or feet or chafed inner thighs.

Foot powder can help keep feet dry.

Tummy upsets and dashes to a distant toilet in the middle of the night can hopefully be avoided by washing and drying hands well. Hand sanitizers are easy to carry and use but there is nothing like soap and water. Besides the obvious hand washing after the toilet – don’t forget to wash before you eat.

Keep well hydrated so don’t forget to refill your water bottle.

Pack a few energy bars for those long treks.

Include an Insect repellent for mozzies, ticks and leeches such as the Bushman range or any which contain either Deet or Picaridin. Apply sunscreen first and then repellent.

To remove a tick: Use a pair of fine-tipped tweezers to grasp the tick as close to the skin as possible. Then pull it upwards with a steady motion until it comes out of the skin. Once the tick has been removed, clean the skin with soap and water.

Report any illness or injuries early so that you can get prompt treatment

Remember clip lock bags, a few safety pins, good quality fabric band aids, salt sachets for leeches, maybe some electrical tape which has many uses and of course a few good jokes.

Sister Margaret Bates
College Nurse

2014 Back to Newington Day

The Newington community gathered to celebrate the biggest ‘Home Day’ of the year at the Stanmore Senior Campus on Saturday 30 August. The Marketplace inside Centenary Hall was abuzz with energy thanks to the P&F Association who so successfully organised for so many stallholders to fill up our great hall. Towards the back, near the stage, was the not-to-be-missed New Women Cake stand that had all sorts of mouth-watering treats on offer. The pre-loved clothing and book stores and the Silent Auction were also  hot favourites, with proceeds and unsold goods being donated to our friends at Tupou College in Tonga. Outside Centenary Hall, the various parent support groups lined the driveway and manned a variety of delicious food stalls.

Though the weather was temperamental, the 3:15 PM Rugby game against Scots saw the clouds clear above Johnson Oval. Though the Black and White brigade were defeated by Scots 22-12, the boys played proudly and gave the crowds something to cheer about. “Willie the Wyvern” even made a special guest appearance and happily took photos with members of the Newington community.

Until next year!

Cadets Passing Out Parade and Dining In

As a lovely celebration to mark the end of our year 12s service in Cadets the boys and their parents attended a “Dining In” held in Prescott Hall.

The dining in is a formal event for unit members, male and female. The unit chaplain is usually also invited, as was our Paster Michael Bennet. During the 18th century, the British Army incorporated the practice of formal dining into their regimental mess system. Customs and rules of the mess were soon institutionalised rules, known as the “Queen’s Regulations”.

Violations of etiquette are frowned upon such as:

• Untimely arrival at proceedings
• Haggling over date of rank
• Improper wearing of uniform such as an inverted cummerbund (none were spotted)

For the boys the night was a wonderful way to embrace some of these traditional institutions as well as a chance to gather together to celebrate the camaraderie that has developed over the years in Cadets.

A formal portrait with families was also taken as the boys enjoyed the special moment of elegant uniforms and ceremony.

This very special occasion was organised by Major (AAC) Rodney Wood and LT (AAC) Rob Tredinnick (ON 1982), and the boys and families greatly appreciated the efforts made to ensure the evening’s success.

1st XI Football Bring Home the Wanderers’ Cup

Newington were crowned 1st XI Premiers winning the Wanderers’ Cup on Saturday 6 September. The boys had a great year going through undefeated, and the final game played against St Joseph’s College saw the boys bring the trophy home with a 2-0 victory. It is the first Football title that the College has won since 2006 and the first time the College has achieved the title undefeated since 1996. A big congratulations to all the boys involved in the victory, the coaching staff and the parents who provided so much support to the program throughout several seasons.

The 2nd XI were gallant throughout the season providing plenty of support and challenging the 1st XI boys at all training sessions. Congratulations to St Ignatius’ on winning the 2nd XI competition.

A great way for many of our Year 12 Footballers to finish their Footballing experience at Newington College!

Mr Justin Verco
1st XI Football Coach

2014 Debating an Outstanding Season of Success

On Friday 5 September, the 2014 Debating Season came to an end. This year was particularly successful with strong results recorded across all year groups. More specifically the Year 8Bs and Year 10As and Year 10Bs had some very impressive results throughout the GPS Season.

After positive developments in the pre-season in which Newington’s 1sts team won the FED Cup for the first time in four years, a strong showing in the GPS competition was expected in the Senior Program. Fortunately these hopes were realised in the season’s results. Our 1sts lost only one debate to the traditional powerhouse of schools’ debating, Sydney Grammar School. Ben Adams (12/FL) continued on from his success in the 1sts last year and Sam Wallace’s (12/MO) efforts were justly rewarded with his selection to the GPS Representative 2nds Debating Team.

The 2nds were unlucky to have a number of close results go against them this season but were again ably led by Sean Hatten (12/ME). The experience of senior debating gained by the members of the 3rds now holds them in good stead for next year.

On behalf of the departing Year 12 debaters, I would like to thank Ms Shepherd for her organisation and assistance over the last few years. At the conclusion of my final year as part of the Newington Debating program, I am proud to have been involved with one of the College’s most successful and stimulating co-curricular activities. I am confident of a strong future for Newington Debating.

Sebastian Rees (12/PR)
Senior GPS Debater

Editor’s Post Script: We congratulate Sebastian on an outstanding year in which he was a member of NSW School’s Debating Team that won the National title earlier this year. He has also just been selected to GPS Representative 1sts Debating Team. He and Sam will now battle it out in the State Championships against the Archdale, CHS, and CAS rep teams for the NSW Representative Debating Cup. Read more about Sebastian’s success in the Australian Debating in Schools competition earlier this year here.

Authors of our Own Destiny

I am not ashamed to admit I listen to Ian ‘Macca’ McNamara on a Sunday morning, when I get the chance on ABC Radio. This is usually as my wife and I drive up to our bush retreat near Bulahdelah – very early on a Sunday morning, although this last Sunday, being Father’s Day, I was permitted to have the show on in the house.

This week Macca interviewed a chap who had “gone bush” with his family and was living in a remote area of Northern Victoria. His children were educated through distant education and he was very much into giving them experiences that many in the towns and cities of Australia now never have.

What stood out was his enthusiasm for allowing his children to do “risky” activities like climbing trees and chopping wood – precious fuel that they depended on as a household. He also spoke of a recent experience he had with his eldest son where they went away for an organised “right de passé” four day retreat. During this time the young man learnt more about personal responsibility by having to cook and fend for himself. The father’s point being, amongst other things, that teaching our children a sense of responsibility for their actions was crucial in being a successful parent and equipping the next generation to be useful adults when their turn comes.

Much of what he said resonated strongly with me, and it really does concern me when I hear about the increase in “risk-aversion” within the schooling environment and within our own family environments from something as basic as parents cocooning their kids from getting too cold or too hot. I remember being instructed a few years ago by an insurance expert when I was a Headmaster of a school out west, that the balance-bench in a gymnastic program now needs to be placed on the ground, and even then it must be surrounded by protective mats. What kind of activity is left for such an event – walking along a blank placed on the floor-boards?

Are we becoming so “over-protective” of our children that they are losing out on discovering consequences for their actions or mistakes that they make? Are we limiting them in such a way that they miss out on the thrill of reasonable risk? By doing nearly everything for them, are we lessening their opportunity to be independent and gain a mature sense of responsibility? How will they learn about individual responsibility for their decisions and behaviours when we make so many decisions for them?

As we farewell our Year 12 graduates this week, I sincerely hope that they are young men well equipped to face a world that will not really care whether they succeed or fail; young men who are indeed self-starters and as independent as they need to be to prepare their own budgets, to clean their flats, and to get to lectures on time or arrive at their jobs when expected. Young men who can anticipate the consequences of their decisions and actions, and if needed will be prepared to front up and take full responsibility for what they do with their lives.

The unknown, but wise author, of the Book of Proverbs wrote:

“Young men don’t forget what I have taught you. Always remember what I tell you to do. My teaching will give you a long and prosperous life. Never let go of loyalty and faithfulness. Tie them round your neck; write them on your heart. If you do this, both God and adults will be pleased with you. Trust in the LORD with all your heart. Never rely on what you think you know. Remember the LORD in all that you do, and He will show you the right way to go.” (Proverbs 3:1-6)

Rev David N. Williams
College Chaplain

Art Students Test New Ground with Jensen Tjhung

Jensen Tjhung was the 2014 P&F Association’s New Artist-in-Residence putting a new spin on the art-making process for boys from Years 8-11. The Melbourne-based artist whose works are known for challenging the art world’s status quo was accommodated at Newington College from Thursday 24 July to Saturday 6 September. In that time, he gave lectures in Old Boys Lecture Theatre to the entire Year 8 group; led screen printing and painting workshops, and workshopped with a select group of Years 9-11 boys to resolve ideas and present them in a rich body of work which opened at Concordia Gallery last Friday, 5 September.

The exhibition was called  “Testing Ground”, a fitting name considering the encouragement the boys received from Jensen to explore new ways of thinking about and their own practice. Jensen’s enthusiasm motivated the boys to experiment and discover new artistic methods, and in some cases radically challenged the boys to question established ideas about artistic mediums, in particular drawing.  Jensen introduced the boys to the power of Contemporary Art to move audiences who—upon seeing a new artwork—’actualise’ it within seconds.

Jensen suggested the boys explode both physically, and conceptually, the idea of the white canvas or drawing plane, including shooting a bullet through paper as a mark making exercise. This activity provided the starting point for more complex ideas around the meaning of art and how systems of belief can be shaken and changed.

Throughout this process boys noted that, “Jensen took us out of our comfort zone but it wasn’t uncomfortable.”

On the Opening Night, Director of 4A Centre for Contemporary Asian Art, Aaron Seeto said that the conceptual and technical quality of the works produced was parallel with tertiary level students.

Jensen’s speech to the boys was inspiring and heartfelt. He spoke about each boy who had work hung up in the exhibition, and spoke about what each had achieved.

His final piece of advice to the boys was for them keep alive their ability to think as artists.

Recently two Year 11 boys were asked to speak about their experiences working with Jensen to a group of University of New South Wales Faculty of Art and Design students. When the group saw the level of sophistication in the Year 12 students’ works, one of them asked,

“It seems like you were able to overcome a lot of challenges through the lack of restriction in this project—is there anything you now fear in your artmaking?”

Rowan Smith (11/PR) stated: “The freedom was in the making, the challenge was in making it excellent.”

Our Year 11 boys went on to say that during the making of the project, a combination of having no assessment criteria or syllabus outcome, with having an artist mentor who provided unconditional support meant that they were given the rare opportunity to develop their own artist practice.

“With Jensen there was no wrong way or right way; just your way.” Lachlan Adams (11/FL)

Special thanks to the Head of Visual Arts, Mr Andrew Thompson, Mr Andrew Pawley, Mrs Marina Hinves and Mrs Katherine Francis for their support in this collaborative project. It is always a challenge to bring in new approaches and they are an incredible team to embrace these changes with so much energy and passion.

Thanks also to the Rifle Shooting staff at Newington College, Mr Karl Watson and Mr Greg Pike, who provided training and supervision in the initial stages of the project in the Rifle Range.

Ms Hannah Chapman
Concordia Gallery Curator

Design and Technology Boys Craft Own Way to be Original

As the years progress, the task of developing an innovative project for HSC Design and Technology has become increasingly more difficult. This year’s cohort have successfully identified a diverse range of Design and Technology problems and needs from keeping chickens in a suburban environment to a safety mechanism for preventing accidents when using a forklift truck. Each student successfully managed the year long project to a successful conclusion and should be very proud of their efforts. Below is a small selection of the fine array of works created this year.

Well done boys!

Eureka! Stage Band strikes Gold again at NSW Band Festival

Stage Band receive Gold at the NSW Band Festival

On Father’s Day, our Stage Band performed at the NSW Band Festival Premier Jazz Event at Coogee Diggers. This is an invitation-only event featuring some of Sydney’s finest school jazz ensembles with special guest artists such as Dale Barlow (saxophone), Ralph Pyl (trumpet) and Jacki Cooper (vocals). Our boys played at an exceptional level and were rewarded with a Gold Award – our seventh at this year’s festival!

The adjudicator, John Morrison, praised the boys technical prowess and authentic representation of the many jazz styles performed.

Bravo to all boys!

Dr John Lynch visits Newington

Our program of visiting conductors continued this week as the Symphonic Winds welcomed Dr John Lynch to rehearse with them. Dr John Lynch is one of America’s leading band educators and has recently moved to Sydney to lead Wind Conducting at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music. He is also a member of the prestigious American Bandmasters Association – an invitation-only group of the world’s best conductors and composers.

Dr Lynch’s visit builds upon the work of other visiting Professors this year including – Dr Mike Fansler (University of Western Illinois), Dr Tim Reynish (Royal Northern College of Music), Dr Stephen Peterson (Ithaca College) and Dr Steven Capaldo (University of Wollongong). The boys are very fortunate to have access to these international artists and both staff and students benefit greatly from the expertise shared during rehearsals. Dr Lynch rehearsed American Salute by Morton Gould and Undertow by John Mackey. He was very complimentary of the boys’ sound and overall musicianship.

Sport Report

Basketball

At the recently held Australian Schools Basketball Championships Makuach Maluach (10/FL) was a member of the NSW All Schools Basketball team. Makuach had a great week which accumulated in a 22 point and 12 rebound performance in the final against Queensland. Unfortunately NSW lost 82 – 67. but Makuach was rewarded for his efforts throughout the week with a selection in the Australian Schoolboy team which will tour the USA in December this year. Congratulations Makuach.

Cross Country

The Newington U14 Cross Country team have won the Junior division for the second year in a row, the boys ran consistently during the year, with pressure from Sydney Grammar School. But the boys held their nerve and finished the season strongly. The U16 boys finished the season in second place behind The Scots College. The Opens team in a tight field finished sixth. Well done to all boys who ran during the course of the season.

Rugby

At the completion of the AAGPS Rugby season the 1st XV finished in fourth position and the 2nd XV finished sixth with Scots College. Despite the boys’ best efforts the 1st XV were unable to defend their Premiership from 2013. Congratulations to Scots and The King’s School on their Premierships.

Table Tennis

Newington Table Tennis entered two teams into the Sydney Schools Team Challenge. There were 18 participating schools.

Team 1:

Ross Kovanis (11/LE) and Kevin Wong (11/LE) won through to the semi-finals before losing to the eventual winners East Hills High. The boys received a bronze medal.

Team 2:

Linus Aisutullin (11/ME) and Kerry Zhang (11/FL). In the rounds the boys finished second in their group and did not progress further in the teams competition. In the repecharge singles tournament both boys progressed to the quarter finals before losing. Linus lost to the eventual winner and Kerry to the eventual runner-up in his half of the draw.

Well done to the boys who participated and thanks to Mr Canning for his efforts in managing and coaching the boys.

Badminton

This was a truly historic event being the inaugural season for Badminton at Newington College. The “Top 8 Shoot-Out” could not have been have been closer, or more exciting. The Seniors (Year 11 and 12) came face to face with their Junior (Year 9 and 10) rivals on ‘Back to Newington Day’ in the Old Gymnasium.

First up was the doubles competition which resulted in a 2 all draw across 4 matches. Singles also were very close seeing the final top seed play-off with the Juniors down 5 matches to 6; however, Cedric Koh (10/MO) prevailed, which tied the overall points score at 6 all. On a points count back again the tournament was drawn as each team had 9 games to their credit. Finally, overall points calculations revealed that the Seniors prevailed by a very slim margin of 11 points.

A great morning’s competition was held with so many boys already looking forward to the 2015 season – hopefully including games against some of the other GPS schools.

Seniors Team:

• Rev David Williams
• Kevin Wong (11/LE)
• Kerry Zhang (11/FL)
• James Oakley (11/PR)
• William Du (11/LE)
• Alistair Bate (11/ME)
• Nikhil Srinivasan (11/MO)
• Jonathan Pang (11/LE)

Juniors Team:

• Cedric Koh (10/MO)
• Aaron Yuen (10/FL)
• George Burley (9/KL)
• Ben Page (9/JN)
• Stephen Chan (10/JN)
• Hiu Ming Lau (10/MA)
• Jack McSwiggan (10/KL)
• Tom Lance (10/PR)

Cadet F1 in Schools Team Rival Win the Regional Competition

Cadet Class team Rival made up of Year 7 boys Xavier Papps (7/MA), Joshua Cappello (7/LE) and Dominic Young (7/PR) surprised everyone by winning the Newington College F1 in Schools competition with a car that broke the state record. Last week, Team Rival competed in the Regionals at Marrickville High School and won first place.

Team Rival with their motto “Think fast” is made up of Team Leader and Graphic Designer Xavier Papps, Car Designer, Joshua Cappello and Manufacturer Dominic Young. Each of the boys play a vital role in making their campaign successful from designing the logo, trialing car designs to setting the car to be made on a milling machine.

A big congratulations goes to Team Rival, and all the boys who competed in the school-based F1 in Schools competition. Watch this space for more news from our young stars.

Director of the MCA Talks about the Social Value of Art

Elizabeth Ann Macgregor OBE opened her Newington College Ethics Centre lecture on ‘Why do we need the Arts?’ citing her credentials as a bus driver. Prior to moving to Australia and holding a 15 year tenure as the Director of the Museum of Contemporary Art, Liz Ann curated and drove the Scottish Arts Council’s travelling gallery in the 1980s.

“Running a bus as a gallery is like when the circus comes to town,” she says reflecting back. “If you are respectful of people you will find them more likely to be open to the ideas of contemporary art”. Liz Ann believes that the power of contemporary art resides in its capacity to change the way people think about the world around them, and like a bus, can transport audiences to a different time, place, and frame of mind.

However, rather than housing art in avant garde, austere surroundings and using language that excludes people, galleries and museums need to make their artists approachable and the art accessible, Liz Ann says,“We need to ensure people do not feel alienated. We need actual encounters with artists”.

Throughout Liz Ann’s career she has worked towards increasing the social impact of art. She has worked with Scotland’s Council Schools, and with remote Indigenous communities to show how it can change lives. “Why is it that art can open up a conversation with a group of difficult children?” Liz Ann asks. “Because children can be open to ideas that are challenging if inspired by the possibility of different ideas.”

The MCA’s programs for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities are modern reincarnations of Liz Ann’s travelling gallery. It proves the power of art to transcend geographical and cultural boundaries. In addition, the MCA also commisions for works to be made for audiences with visual impairment and intellectual disabilities.“These are stimulating, fun and include an invitation to contribute” she says. “Interactive performance as well as laughter are very much part of the vehicles for learning in our Museum.”

Currently, the MCA hosts public program events for the Smith Family ‘Momentum’- to bring isolated children from remote New South Wales to the MCA for residency as artists – and ‘Generation Next’ – a youth event which excludes entry of parents or teachers. Such initiatives remove the traditional bias as to ‘who’ has access to the Museum and makes it a dynamic place for everyone. ‘Generation Next’ for example now finds the ‘teenage only’ attendees in excess of 500 on a Sunday evening compared to the 100, once predicted.

So, how do artists add value to society?

“Because art is about process and engagement, an artist can see a situation and create visual communication, or draw attention to an issue. The added value I see, is a future where artists address some of the biggest problems we are facing.

“Creativity is being increasingly recognised as bringing innovation and new ideas. It is not an optional extra and art is the gymnasium for the mind. Art gives us tolerance and new understandings of complexity,” she said.

When asked, “What is valuable art?”, Liz Ann drew a significant distinction between the decisions of the MCA and other museums’ acquisitions. “There is a concept of ‘market value’ in art, and I can’t tell you all about that – museums are full of storerooms where curators got it wrong. But then, there is a completely different value in art – we can ask ‘can art make a social impact?’ At the MCA, our answer is, ‘we certainly hope so!’

James Stokes Millner: Our First Casualty in the First World War

On 11 September 1914 the Australian Naval and Military Expeditionary Force arrived at Rabaul, on the island of New Britain, part of the then territory of German New Guinea. The objective of the Force was to seize and destroy German wireless stations in the area.

Among the 1,500 volunteer soldiers and sailors in the Expeditionary Force was a twenty-three year old Corporal, James Stokes Millner. James was the younger brother of Tom Millner (at Newington from 1898-1903) and was thus the second member of this great Newington family to enter the College. James appears to have spent only the first half of 1901 at Newington; however, he was subsequently educated at Sydney Grammar School. Following study at the University of Sydney, he worked as a civil engineer before enlisting on the outbreak of war.

The Expeditionary Force quickly overcame the small German forces on New Britain and occupied German posts on the mainland and elsewhere in the region. While some members of the Expeditionary Force remained in occupation for the rest of the War, most returned to Australia and were discharged after six months’ service.

James was discharged with the rank of Lance Sergeant on 15 March 1915. He re-enlisted in October and arrived in Egypt as a Second Lieutenant in the Engineers in February 1916. In April, however, he was sent back to Australia as medically unfit due to deafness and was discharged the following August. He died on 25 April 1919, ‘never having thrown off the effects of malarial fever contracted in New Guinea’ (as reported by the Sydney Morning Herald). It is likely that his deafness was caused by the malaria.

Thus, James Stokes Millner was the first Old Newingtonian to see active service and to become a casualty in the First World War, while he was one of the last — indeed the second last — Old Newingtonian on our Roll of the Fallen to lose his life during the War.

 Mr David Roberts
College Archivist

Snowsports Report

This past week Newington College saw eight boys from both the Stanmore and Wyvern campuses invited to compete in the NSW State Interschools Snowsports Championships at Perisher and Thredbo.

The boys were coming up against the best skiers and boarders in the state and attained some pretty impressive results.

In Snowboarding Flynn Gannon (5/HO) and Toby Phillips (5/LU) finished 19th and 14th in the state respectively and the team finished an impressive 6th. Jonathan Sharpe (8/JN) just missed out on National qualification by finishing 11th in the state.

In the tough discipline of Moguls, Sam Martin (6/LU) finished 12th individually and the team (combined with Lachlan Rennie (6/LU) finished 14th.

In the Cross Country competition we had some bad news to begin with, when one of our competitors (Daniel Wright 7/MO) picked up an injury on the day before the race. Despite this, Max Inglis (7/MO) finished 23rd and Eden Bradford (9/LE) finished 26th in their individual races. However, it was in the team challenge where the story of the competition was written. Despite the fact that having a team member down meant instant disqualification, both Eden and Max decided they were going to race regardless and Daniel was going to cheer them on as their number one fan. An absolutely brilliant display of the Newington spirit!

A big congratulations to all the boys who competed and a special thank you to all the parents who managed, volunteered and helped make the week run so smoothly.

Mr Justin Verco
MIC Snowsports

Edmond Cheng (ON 2013) receives ONU Centennial Trust

Upon accepting his ONU Centennial Trust award along with a cheque for $10,000 at a College assembly in August, Edmond Cheng expressed his gratitude to the teachers who encouraged and nurtured not just his exceptional academic ability but him as a whole person. He said “I’ve learnt so much thanks to them, not just about their subjects, but how to think, how to write, how to argue, how to use Photoshop to create an image of an animal with a wolf’s head and a bird’s body, how to use a Blue’s scale to improvise on a saxophone, how to play the Italian card games, Scopa and Briscola, how to run an effective zone defense, how to plan a camping trip, how to organise fundraising efforts, how to say hot chocolate in Nepali and I think, above all, how to appreciate the enormous range of opportunities we have access to here at Newington.” He also acknowledged his teachers for inspiring him to explore overseas study options.

The ONU Centennial Trust selection panel unanimously agreed that Edmond was a very special candidate, talented in many areas and with an extraordinary list of academic accomplishments. The financial assistance provided by this year’s Trust endowment will allow Edmond to read Economics at St John’s College, Cambridge University. Edmond’s achievements include the Dux award from 2010 to 2012 and the John F Lincoln Prize for Dux of the Year 12 IB Diploma Programme. In 2010, whilst in Year 10, Edmond was awarded full marks and ranked first in the NSW HSC Mathematics exam. He won the UNSW Mathematics prize in 2011 and 2012 and numerous other prestigious competitions as well as making outstanding contributions to College activities.

Edmond recognises the extensive resource that is the Old Boys’ network, saying, “the existence of the Centennial Trust award and other ONU support networks and initiatives, further shows just how much Newington has to offer. Newington has always supported my endeavours and I hope that someday, I will be able to more than return the favour.”

Get Connected to Reading – Book Week 2014

It was with great fanfare that the Library celebrated Book Week this year with the theme of Connect to Reading, Reading to Connect.

The Library held a variety of events throughout the week to connect boys and staff to reading. We took the opportunity to launch BorrowBox, our brand new ebook and e-audiobook platform by throwing two lunchtime launch parties. Students and staff learnt how to easily access our growing collection of ebooks and e-audiobooks which are available anytime and anywhere on their phones, iPads or laptops.

Back by popular demand was our ‘Mystery’ book display, in which students were encouraged to not judge a book by its cover and to ‘lucky dip’ a mystery book wrapped in newspaper in order to try out a new genre or author in the process.

A new event this year was ‘Build your Library’. We made lots of new books from the bookstore available for students and staff to browse, and students selected and voted on the books they’d like to see in the collection. It was with great success that we injected a healthy dose of new reading material into the collection as recommended by students, to connect more boys to reading.

We wrapped up the end of the week with a dress up photobooth celebration, in which boys and staff got into character and utilised green screen technology to transport themselves into fictional settings. We had witches, wizards, Jedi knights, Hunger Games characters and many more join in the fun!

Take a look at some of the photos below!

The Library Team

Geography Excursions: Boys vs Wild

The term three excursion season in the Geography Department has finally come to a conclusion. We had the joy of taking out the boys currently studying Geography in both Years 8 and 10.

The Year 10 boys had a day at Long Reef and Collaroy Beaches, studying the impacts of humans on the coastal region. There are examples of good management practices and also some of poor decisions from the past that have left a legacy for which we are paying today.

The Year 8 boys were taken to the lovely bush setting of Camp Kedron at Ingleside, just past Frenchs Forest. They were given opportunities to observe, measure and record elements of the weather, light intensity, soil pH, wind speed and direction, tree height, water quality and identying tree species. The highlight was the massive one-claw Sydney Spotted Crayfish, caught during the day.

Ahh, so many wonderful experiences to be had on a bus trip thanks to the dedicated work of the Geography Department.

Geography is life!

Mr Shane Serhon
Head of Geography

Chess Report: Metropolitan East Regional Championship

In an amazing series of matches filled with drama the Intermediate Chess team of Cedric Koh (10/MO) (board 1), William Tao (10/KL) (board 2), Nick Sharp (10/JN) (board 3) and Eamon Barrett (10/JN) (board 4) clinched the Metropolitan East Regional Championship overcoming Trinity 2 all by countback.

The match opened with Cedric winning convincingly very early, Eamon was behind after a nasty exchange left him a piece down and was under pressure for the remainder of the match losing through both time and material. This left William and Nick to decide the event. William was pushing through the centre but was falling behind on time and eventually lost on flagfall. Finally, Nick had an even position throughout the match with neither player gaining a clear advantage, but with Nick clearly ahead on time. This time pressure created an opportunity and he took the advantage, winning convincingly in the end.

Due to the countback system giving more weight to the higher placed boards this meant we won 6 points to 4 and progressed to the next stage of the Tournament.

The Inter-Regional Rounds will decide the Sydney Metropolitan Champion School and we play the winners of the South-West Region, Macquarie Fields High School, this week.

Mr Graeme Downward
Chess Co-ordinator