31 May 2016

Da Vinci Decathlon

The Da Vinci Decathlon is an annual event hosted by Knox Grammar School.

As the Knox website says, “The da Vinci Decathlon is an academic competition designed to challenge and stimulate the minds of school students. Students compete in teams of eight across 10 disciplines: Engineering, Mathematics, Chess, Code breaking, Art and Poetry, Science, English, Philosophy, Creative producers, Cartography and General Knowledge. The Decathlon is designed to celebrate the academic gifts of Australian youth by providing a stimulating and challenging competition run in the spirit of an Olympic Decathlon”

Thirty leading schools from the greater Sydney region sent teams to compete in the NSW championships which were held at Knox on Tuesday 24 May.

After internal election trials held last term, Newington entered teams in both Years 7 and 8. In the weeks leading up to competition day the boys attended regular training sessions and also spent much time on their own honing their skills in the various disciplines.

This year’s event was another hard-fought affair, with tough competition (particularly from the selective schools) in each discipline. The hall had a constant buzz as five hundred talented students wrestled with the highly demanding tasks placed before them. The enthusiasm and excitement was a joy to witness as the students relished the opportunity to extend themselves beyond the regular curriculum. The shouts and screams of delight as tasks were completed and results in each category were announced echoed throughout the hall. It real did feel like an Olympics of the mind, complete with cheering crowds, starting and finishing gongs and medals being awarded to the winners.

Results

The Year 8 team were placegetters in Mathematics, Chess and Cartography.

Overall they finished the day in third place (behind Sydney Girls’ High and St Andrews Cathedral School). This is our best ever result at high school level. Each boy received a bronze medallion.

The Year 7 team, while not achieving a podium finish, were still formidable competitors. The Year 7 team won the final event of the day, receiving the highest score of any school in the general knowledge category (which covered everything from Astronomy, Politics, Geography and Popular Culture). However, it was not quite enough for them to achieve an overall medal finish.

 

Mr Craig Fitzsimmons
Year 7 Mentor

Update from Community and Development

First seat sponsored in the New Drama Centre Theatre

With our Drama Centre near completion, you have the chance to name a seat in the new Drama theatre. With just 170 seats available for naming, it is vital that you act fast to secure a seat before they are all snatched up! Seats are available for individual naming or in honour of a family member.

Congratulations to Christian McLoughlin (8/JN) who was the first Newington boy to name a seat in the Drama Centre theatre with the help of his parents Michael and Kim McLoughlin. Christian methodically picked his seat by selecting his first initial and the date of his birthday.

We look forward to welcoming all members of the Newington community to the new Drama Centre which will be officially opened by His Majesty the King of Tonga Tupou VI on 18 July 2016.

If you would like to learn more about how you can secure a seat please contact Miss Renee Payne in the Community and Development Office by email rpayne@newington.nsw.edu.au.

Founders Society Lunch

The seventh annual Founders Society Day was held on a sunny autumn day in May at the Stanmore Campus. The Founders Society was established in 2010 to recognise, honour and cherish those who have remembered the College in their Will. It also seeks to acknowledge the pivotal role that they play in contributing to the future of Newington. It is such a powerful message to younger generations that their future is being secured by those that are reaching out beyond their lifetime.

Seven new members were recognised at this year’s lunch. The day’s proceedings began when seven of the current Founders Society members presented a personal testimony about why each decided to leave a legacy gift to the College. After the ceremony on the front lawn of the Founders Building, the members and guests then moved to Prescott Hall where they enjoyed a special lunch. This year’s entertainment came from Year 10 student Rohen Wang (10/LE), the Robert Walter Storr Music Bursary holder.

2016 Founders Society Members:

  • Mr Bruce Belbin (ON 1967)
  • Mr Justin Bosilkovski (ON 2005)
  • Mr Rod Bosman (ON 1978)
  • Mr Denver Don Paul (ON 2001)
  • Mr Warwick Fordham (ON 1965)
  • Mr Philip Smith (ON 1970)
  • Mr Fred Tulloch (ON 1942)

For further information on how you can be involved in the Founder Society contact Mr Rod Bosman.

Football Season Launch

On Friday 27 May the Newington College Football Association (NCFA) held its Season Launch in the New Gym at the Stanmore Campus. The MC for the night, Mr Justin Verco and Director of Football, Mr Brian McCarthy presented a short montage of the year groups before presenting the players on stage. Head of Wyvern Mr Ian Holden presented the Year 6 Wyvern Footballers.

President of the NCFA, Mr George Long (ON 1980) spoke to the guests about his Football days and thanked all the boys, coaches, staff and the NCFA Executive for helping to build and support the Football program at the College. With the help of new equipment and the Football camps held during the holidays there is no doubt that Newington Football is becoming a force to be reckoned with this season.

After the presentation, the boys, parents, staff, coaches and guests were treated to canapés and drinks in the Function Room; this was a great opportunity for the boys to swap stories and discuss tactics for the season ahead.

We wish all of our Footballers every success in during the coming season.

Corporate Rowing Regatta 2016

At Newington there are a number of P&F Parent Support Groups that organise different events throughout the year. In Term 2 the Newington College Rowing Association offered a Corporate Rowing opportunity for past and current Newington parents and friends of the College. Over a six week period there were seven crews that trained at the Newington Boatshed for the Annual Great Autumn Regatta (GAR) which was held at SIRC on Sunday 29 May.

The day was organised by the GAR committee, a group of people from all the schools involved in the day, including Mr John Treloar (ON 1970) and Ms Pip Bulbeck representing Newington.

At the GAR, Newington had 56 rowers, seven coxswains, eight boat holders and five Masters who all helped to unload and rig four Newington Boats and assist with the Regatta.

In the first heats of the day, the crews raced well, getting familiar with the course and the experience of what it is like for our boys at the Head of the River.

Fun and teamwork was the theme for the event with many of the crews dressing to reflect their crew names and some of the crews dressing just to stand out in the crowd.

After the heats, semi-finals and then finals, one Newington crew (I like big boats and I cannot lie) took their place on the podium. Overall, The King’s School, with their all male crew won the A Final and retained the GAR Trophy for another year. Congratulations to all the crews for being a huge part of the day.

If you are interested in joining Corporate Rowing in 2017 or would like more details, please contact Mrs Julie Gigg by email at djgigg@gmail.com.

 

Tongan Prayer Group

We are proud of our Tongan connection and very much embrace all that enriches our Newington community. One very special group that meets each Thursday evening is the Tongan Prayer group, affectionately referred to as ‘Polotu’. The aim of this group is to collectively connect with God in prayer, song and in scripture.

To better understand the ‘Polotu’ experience, various students from the group have reflected on the importance of regularly sharing this space;

“‘Polotu’ is a celebration of singing, speeches and prayer; a way to celebrate, welcome, farewell and reflect.” – Mai Tolu (11/FL)

“‘Polotu’ officially means ‘night of prayer’. It helps me understand more about myself and what God wants me to do.” – Opeti Helu (12/FL)

“We gather together to help us focus on God and to talk about spiritual matters. Back home, we would have some form of worship every day, as the most important thing to us is God and our faith in him. No matter how busy we may be, we need to straighten our path with God, or other things will get in the way.”  – Isileli Halaufia (12/FL)

Most of the students from the Tongan Prayer group sang together at the Metropolitan Rehabilitation Hospital in Petersham on Monday 23 May. With the powerful vocal gift they share, the patients were entertained and encouraged, which in turn made the boys happy.

Those who took part in this event included: Victor Mkaronda (12/ME), Jaidyn Goodwin (12/JN), Alec Fuller (12/MO), Mai Tolu (11/FL), Tu’a Mahe (10/FL), Nasili Ofahengaue (10/FL), Anthony Kama (10/FL), Arthur Kuan (11/MA), Samuel Churchin (9/MA), Brian Wu (11/LE), Mr Norman and Mr Stanley. To see a video of their performance, click here.

The ‘Polotu’ group is not restricted to just the Tongan community here at Newington, with various students attending the weekly experience of prayer, there is always lots of singing and laughter to be had. We invite any student who’d like to join us each Thursday evening from 6:00 PM – 7:00 PM in the Grove Room, at the back of the Chapel.

 

 

Reverend Geordie Barham
College Chaplain

Sport Report

Basketball

The Newington 1sts Basketball team won the NSW Combined independent Schools Cup defeating Trinity Grammar 86-57. The team will now play for the NSW All School Championships title in September. Congratulations to the team and the coaching staff!

Cross Country

The 2016 Cross Country season is in full swing with all boys training hard during the week leading up to the races on Saturday. The Newington Invitational was held in superb conditions on 14 May at Sydney Park. We thank the Cross Country Support Group for their efforts on the day. 

Last weekend saw the boys competing at St Ives Showground for the right to be selected for the GPS age teams to compete at the CIS championships in June. We would like to acknowledge the efforts of all boys and in particular those boys who were selected. Congratulations!

Fencing

Fencing at Newington College continues to grow with the recent appointment of two high quality external coaches to assist the boys in their development. Antonio Signorello and Alex Andre hold coaching positions with Fencing NSW and the Australian Fencing Federation. We welcome Antonio and Alex to Newington College!

Football

The 2016 AAGPS Football competition started on Saturday 28 May with a home fixture against The Kings School. Both the 1st and 2nd XI squads made a good start with excellent team performances recording wins over their opposition

The 1st XI squad has also reached the semi final stage of the CIS Cup against Bishop Druitt College from Coffs Harbour. This game will be played later in Term 2.

Congratulations to the following boys on their selection in the GPS 1st XI Sam Mehmet (12/MA) captained the team ably supported by Connor Eldridge (12/PR) and Jamie Gorgovski (11/LE)

The boys played against other Independent Schools at the CIS Football championships last week. The GPS team won the carnival with Sam Mehmet scoring a goal in the final minutes of the last game to seal the win.

Congratulations to Sam and Jamie on their selection in the Combined CIS team.

Rugby

Simon Kennewell ON 2015 and Vunipola Fifita ON 2013 have been selected in the Australian U20 team to contest the U20 World Championships in England in June. We wish Simon and Vuni all the best for the championships.

We would also like to acknowledge all those Newington Rugby players who will represent their various districts at the upcoming State Championships on the June long weekend. Enjoy your experience.

Valuable Rugby Knowledge and Experience Required.

Each home weekend Newington host 25-30 games of Rugby all requiring a referee, if you are an ex-player, ex-coach or believe you have the ability to manage a free flowing game of school boy rugby then we would love to hear from you. All expressions of interest can be forwarded to Mr Rod Bosman rbosman@newington.nsw.edu.au

Snow Sports

We would like to welcome Mr Symon Astley to the Newington College Snow Sports program, Mr Astley has vast experience in the sport, and currently manages Cross Country at the College. You can read more about Mr Astley on the Sports Insite.

Library and Information Week

The Library celebrated Library and Information Week this year during the last week of May. As an opportunity to showcase and promote the wide range of services and resources that we provide to the school, one of the highlights of the week was the screening of a TED Talk on the important role of libraries in the 21st century. This lunchtime with TED event gave the attendees an insight into the range of strategies that other libraries use to bring communities together. It was a great session of discussion between students, teachers, and library staff to share their own experiences with Libraries, and how we can continue to grow to meet the needs of the Newington College community.

Other activities during the week included a ‘Guess the book in the Jar’ competition, where boys were encouraged to try and work out which famous book  – shredded – was in the jar, and an ‘instagram discovery board’, where students and staff had their photos taken and displayed alongside a description of something they had discovered in the library. We received many great answers, including libguides, databases, books and graphic novels, and research assistance from library staff.

Ms Gina Simmonds
Library Operations Manager

National Simultaneous Storytime 2016

Each year, the junior and senior campuses come together to celebrate National Simultaneous Storytime – an Australia-wide initiative to promote the power of reading, and its role in bringing communities together.

This year the event was hosted in the Wyvern Library, where Kindergarten, Year 1 and Year 2 classes were joined by a group of Year 12 students from Stanmore (Lachlan Elliott (12/MA), Theodore Harding (12/JN), Will Latimer (12/JN), Harry Ludlow (12/MO), Chris McMaster (12/KL), Dion Riotto (12/KL), Harrison Singh (12/KL), Leon Vitogiannis (12/KL), Andrew Ward (12/ME), Peter Zavvos (12/FL), Stephen Zinonos (12/MO), Jacob Turl (12/MA), and Jack Jacobs (12/FL)). Not only was it a special time for the junior boys, but the senior boys also enjoyed a rare break from their busy study schedules to wear silly hats and act out some of the characters in this year’s nominated book, ‘I Got This Hat’ by Jol and Kate Temple.

One senior student said, ‘It’s really great to work with the little guys on their reading. It’s such an important skill that we take for granted – it’s easy to forget that we were once at that stage, not knowing how to read.’

After the reading was complete, the senior boys did the ‘Mexican hat dance’ with the little ones which brought many smiles and laughter into the Library!

Ms Gina Simmonds
Library Operations Manager

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

One World, One Talk – WONTOK Conference 2016

WONTOK. While it may at first appear to be an acronym, is indeed the Pidgin word for ‘One Talk’, and can also refer to a kind of family gathering. On Friday 29 May, twelve Year 11 student representatives joined some of our fellow Uniting Church in Australia schools – Knox Grammar, Pymble Ladies College and Ravenswood School for Girls – as well as students from some Anglican schools to discuss issues of global significance at the annual ‘One World WONTOK – Poverty and Development Youth Conference’. The focus of the conference, which was held at Ravenswood School, centered around gender equality, climate change, and poverty.

Throughout the day we participated in a variety of activities, which were engaging and helped us look at some of the global topics in a different way. For example, we read scripts in which some of us assumed the position of a disadvantaged African woman. Speaking in first person helped build a sense of empathy within each of us, enabling us to capture the essence of gender inequality. Another activity involved one group throwing balls and the other trying to catch them with our arms crossed. This simulated the experiences of climate change refugees who suffer the consequences of another countries’ carbon emissions and are struggling to cope with climate change.

One other activity was a game of Top Trumps in which each card was a different country with statistics, varying from population density to births per thousand women aged 15-19. This game made us aware of the disparities between some countries. Australia has a population density of three people per square kilometre, while Bangladesh has twelve hundred people per square kilometre. Some African countries also have birth rates (per thousand women aged 15-19) in the hundreds. Many of these statistics were alarming to us.

The conference was a far cry from a day of monotonous lectures, but instead included hands-on activities which were engaging, eye-opening and challenging! Indeed, we covered a lot of information about the most pressing issues in the world.  It does not do the conference justice to simply talk about what we did, but rather to cover what we learned from it. On the issue of poverty, we were shown eye-opening information about the errors in our thinking. The most common misconception citizens from developed countries have about poverty is the sense that it can be solved by shipping canned food overseas, or by dropping spare change in the nearest collection box. Throwing money at a problem is simply ineffective. Sending food to the hungry or adopting a malnourished child doesn’t eliminate the source of poverty but is merely putting a bandage on the raging rapids of the symptoms of poverty. It is much better to ‘kickstart’ small sources of income in an impoverished town so that the populace is able to sustainably find their own way out of poverty. Rather than a town having a dependence on the aid of others, it can start sustaining itself. This is just one example of the countless nuances involved in effective foreign aid.

Additionally, we learned not to be deceived by statistics. Countries like Iraq may have a Parliament made up of 25% women, but this cannot mask the terrible injustices associated with gender inequality more generally in the country. On the other hand, Tonga has no women in its Parliament, but this statistic only takes into account the King as the monarch, as there are women represented in the legislative assembly, and as a general rule, women are treated with respect in Tonga. This demonstrates that statistics don’t necessarily give us an exact picture of what are the main issues of concern within various countries.

Finally, climate change. It is an issue that Australians hate to talk about, but that is all the more reason to talk about it. We all know what it does and what we’re doing to cause it. And yet, because we do not see the immediate effects of it, we continue to pollute the environment for our children to take care of. After all, rising sea levels barely affect Australia. But what we don’t see are climate refugees. Small, close-knit communities in the Polynesian islands, who are the least responsible for climate change and pollution, are forced to flee their homes because of these rising sea levels. We were enlightened by Reverend James from Fiji, who shared with us how cyclone Winston, the most powerful cyclone ever recorded in the Southern Hemisphere, devastated his country. Climate change has caused millions of Pacific Islanders to leave their homes because they’re being flooded. Ultimately, why should Fijian children pay for the environmental crimes we commit?

The WONTOK conference was truly an eye-opening experience that enriched not only our understanding of global issues, but has challenged us to engage in working towards a solution. It has forced each of us to consider the global impact of our actions, alerting us to the universality of inequality that permeates within every society, including our own. It has made us realise that we are global citizens in every way, forcing us to question how we can possibly experience a better future without change, where each of us are responsible for working together to create this change.

Fin Casey (11/KL) and Richard Zhang (11/LE) 

 

 

Boarders bring the gift of music to Metro Rehab Patients

Recently, boarders from Edmund Webb Boarding House paid a visit to Metro Rehabilitation Centre in Petersham for a community service initiative. Gathering some of the best singers and choristers from Edmund Webb, the boys sang to patients at the hospital. Boarder Victor Mkaronda (12/ME) shared his rewarding experience with us, noting the important lessons that can be gained through Service Learning:

“Singing for the patients at the hospital was a nerve-racking experience for many of the boys, however seeing the patients entertained made us feel better and confident about what we were doing. Taking part in Service Learning opportunities in the local community is very rewarding not only for us as students but also for those in the community who are directly and indirectly impacted by our service to them.

Personally, Service Learning has had a tremendous impact on me; the time spent giving back to the community has helped me learn to appreciate those around us who may be less fortunate, sick and suffering. Although our project is a small one, I think that making these little differences to someones day, week, or even month by sharing the gift of music or whatever we have to offer is something we can do to show our appreciation and sympathy to those we owe it to.

The best part of the experience for me was walking around the wards with the boys singing ‘Lean On Me’ by Bill Withers and watching the faces of patients brighten up as we went by.”

 

 

 

 

Good Discipline Models Good Character

‘Character growth’ is often a common term used when speaking about learning and education yet it is quite difficult to define and even more challenging to measure.

Good character growth requires schools to be specific about what it expects from its students and it can be centered on:

  • Making good choices
  • Being responsible
  • Modelling positive behaviour
  • Showing kindness to others
  • Good community service
  • Modelling good character traits – this can be done through good staff mentoring and good senior students setting the best of examples.

Discipline should not just be about keeping students under control. Being more proactive is essential when trying to grow character. Simply reacting to poor behaviour in class or in co-curricular activities by issuing detentions or demerits will not grow character. It will give a consequence for that behaviour but it will not necessarily show them the way forward.

Glasser (2004) outlines that follow-up with a Mentor is essential if character education is to be core business. A consequence for poor choice of behaviour acts as a punctuation mark to stop and reflect. However, for character growth, the follow-up is essential. To correct behaviour is a good thing but to promote collective and observable changes for the better is critical.

Each of us relies on certain and preferred character strengths. This is often very subconscious but research on ‘flow’ (performing a task in the present that we are totally engaged in) tells us that we often experience ‘flow’ when we are using our preferred character strengths.

Dr Paula Robinson, Director of the Positive Psychology Institute Sydney, and guest of the P&F Parent seminar last week, pointed out the importance of realising what our main character strengths are for the reason of using them to contribute to wellbeing. But what does that mean for discipline? In short, we must make our boys aware of different character strengths and cultivate their strengths whenever possible.
[Ed: See suggested reading list below]

The VIA (Values in Action) character strengths are a good starting point in identifying some strengths for our boys. In order to cultivate these strengths, we must reward them when we see them. Our boys need to know when they have shown good character and why. As well as affirming their behaviour in the usual way, we have decided to reward this behaviour with character merits. Whilst merits are often issued more to our junior students, it allows us to track those who are displaying good character strengths at school. Academic merits will remain, but the following will be recognised.

  • Knowledge [creativity, curiosity, critical thinking, love of learning]
  • Courage [bravery, perseverance, honesty, enthusiasm]
  • Humanity [compassion, generosity, social intelligence]
  • Justice [citizenship, fairness, leadership]
  • Temperance [humility, self-discipline]
  • Hard Work

Also recognised are the Cultural Framework Values of our co-curricular, such as:

  • Resilience
  • Unity
  • Teamwork

Essentially, we would like to honour good character traits, or those working towards them, and actively encourage our parents to acknowledge these merits when they are issued. This balances our Merit/Demerit system towards positive discipline where our boys are acknowledged for good behaviour as well as bad. This will motivate our boys to thrive and contribute to our community.

 

Mr Bob Meakin
Deputy Head of Stanmore (Students)

Reading List suggested by Dr Paul Robinson

  • Fredrickson, B. L. (2009). Positivity. New York: Three Rivers Press.
  • Dweck, C. S. (2006). Mindset: The new psychology of success. New York: Random House.
  • Seligman, M. E. P. (2011). Flourish : a visionary new understanding of happiness and well-being. New York : Free Press,
  • Seligman, M. E. P. (1996). The Optimistic Child : A Proven Program to Safeguard Children Against Depression and Build Lifelong Resilience. New York: Houghton Mifflin.

 

MCA Exchange Series: Year 11 Boys in Q&A with Justene Williams

In 2015, Ms Hannah Chapman responded to a invitation advertised on the Museum of Contemporary Art’s website calling for senior Visual Arts students to contribute to critical art resources for the Sydney Biennale 2016.

Early in Term 1, Year 11 HSC students Jack De Lacy (11/ME), Tom Davids (11/MA), Edwin Hooper (11/JN), Sebastien Mills (11/KL), Rohan Gupta (11/FL), Fin Thompson (11/MO) and Ms Chapman travelled by ferry to Cockatoo Island to see artist Justene William’s stage installation and documentation of Russian artist Kazimir Malevich’s anti-opera Victory Over the Sun.

After meeting the artist, doing research on the original opera staged in 1913 in Saint Petersburg and analysing William’s practice, the boys decided on some questions to ask the artist in order to further their investigation.

On Monday 16 May, the boys returned to the MCA to take part in a live streamed Q&A session with Justene Williams. As a salute to the Russian artist, the boys choose to wear black t-shirts in recognition of one of Malevich’s most iconic works, ‘Black Square’ (1915) – a non-object painting.

The live broadcast was streamed onto the MCA Youtube channel and went from 1:00 – 2:00 PM. The six Year 11  students were the only interviewees for the event and throughout the course of the session they developed a deeper understanding of contemporary artistic practice and gained critical skills in researching performed and exhibited artworks.

The participating Sydney Biennale artist Justene Williams reflected at the conclusion of the interview that the boys’ poignant questions enabled her to reflect on the intentions of her own work and reconsider her own practice in a refreshingly critical way.

You can watch the recording of the live steam here:

2016 Red Shield Appeal

On Sunday 29 May, the Black and White army, made up of more than 330 boys from Years 10,11 and 12 plus more than 105 parents and staff, took to the streets of the Inner West for the annual Salvation Army Red Shield Appeal.

Nicholas Adgemis (12/JN) and Taylan Behayi (12/FL) were amongst the formidable Newington crew who door knocked in Dulwich Hill and Marrickville; they found that the greatest challenge of the day was being rejected from door-to-door. Nicholas said, “We overcame this challenge by moving on to the next house and collecting more donations. Door knocking service learning activities involve communication and social skills, so boys should always be prepared for the unexpected.”

Taylan agreed saying that the rejection was harder to take when you could hear movement inside the house but still no one came to the door. However he said he developed a thicker skin by the end of the day by understanding that the Appeal is by donation only and that the job required him to serve something bigger than himself rather than get downtrodden by rejection.

He also devised a clever way of writing up receipts to encourage more donations. “I developed a system of filling in the receipts with the most common amounts of donations before knocking on the doors and asking for donations,” Taylan said. “That way I would not have to waste time writing up the receipt for all the people giving donations.”

By the end of the day the boys raised $21,500 in cash with more to come from envelop donations. 

Once again, we would like to thank all our parents, friends and staff who came along to volunteer as drivers on the day. It’s not everyday that our extended community gets together for initiatives such as these, but it’s truly heart warming to see the strength, generosity and positivity of our Black and White community.

Mr Mick Madden
Head of Service Learning

 

News from Careers

Monday 9 May saw 2015 Fletcher House Captain, Jonathan McConnell (ON 2015), return to talk to a healthy crowd about the UTS Accounting Scholarship.

As a student and House Captain, Jono was very organised and diligent. These traits shone through in the interview process for the Scholarship and he was accepted into the program.

The joy with which he spoke was certainly infectious, as the boys were completely sold on the idea by the end of the talk. He was joined on stage by two girls formerly of MLC at Burwood. Their enthusiasm was similarly hard to disguise.

Mr Shane Serhon
Head of Careers

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Football Camp to AIS

In the second week of the holidays, the Newington Football Program took 27 boys along with four coaching staff to the Australian Institute of Sport in Canberra for a 3-day camp involving an intensive schedule of training, strength and conditioning and games against local opposition.

On arrival, we were quick to acclimatise to the extremely professional nature of the Institute with their strict guidelines on food, exercise and curfews. The boys got an excellent insight into the life of an elite athlete and even got to dine with a few of them during meal time.

Monday began with a quick training session followed by a night game against the U18 side from Gungahlin United. Newington certainly had the lion’s share of possession and shots on goal, but as is all too common in football, the opposition took the early lead to set us back. Despite a missed penalty, we worked hard to get on the score sheet to even the score up at 1-1 and with some more polished finishing, should’ve won the game by some distance. We finished off the night with a very intense trivia competition, with our Year 12’s showing their pedigree in seeing off the opposition which happened to be a rather underwhelming coaches team!

Tuesday began with an early morning training session in perfect conditions followed on by a hearty breakfast and some strength and conditioning. We were then privileged to be taken on a tour of the facilities at the AIS and everyone was impressed with what was available for the athletes on site. Tuesday night was taken up by another game against local opposition, this time the U18 from Belconnen. This game was a chance for some of our younger members of the touring party to get a run and they rose to the challenge. After sustaining early pressure and going a goal down, the boys showed great spirit to bring the game back to 1-1 with Connor Tran (12/JN) setting up Ellis Bellos (10/JN) for a cool finish. Again, the boys started to dominate possession in the last 10 minutes and were unlucky not to overrun the Belconnen team. Tuesday night was also spent playing some team bonding games conducted by our Year 12’s which helped forge some solid friendships amongst the boys.

Our final day in Canberra again began with an early morning training session in preparation for two simultaneous games against Marist College that afternoon. The culmination of three great days of training and matches resulted in two absolutely stellar performances from both sides. The ‘first’ team winning 8-0 with Connor Tran (12/JN) netting an impressive four goals in a great day out and the ‘second’ team winning 7-1 with some impressive performances all across the park. Marist then hosted a very enjoyable barbeque for the boys and many thanks go to them for what was a lovely afternoon. Wednesday night was spent testing the boys’ skill behind the wheel as we all hit the go-kart track. Particular mention must go to Hunter Karam (10/PR) and Carlo Ottavio (10/ME), who should never, ever be behind the wheel of a car again!

Special thanks must go to Director of Football, Mr Brian McCarthy for his meticulous organisation which meant that not a minute was wasted on the trip and to Mr Brian Baker and Mr Jablonski whose expertise provided the boys with an excellent insight into the life of a professional footballer. Hopefully the boys got a lot out of the experience and can build on it for further development and a successful season in 2016.

 

Mr Justin Verco
1st VI Football Coach

Congratulations

Swimming

Newington College 2016 Swim Team Captain, Calum Lowe-Griffiths (12/PR), has been announced as a captain of the Australian Life Saving Youth Team for the 2016 Lifesaving World Championships in The Netherlands in September. Calum is looking forward not only to representing his country and wearing the green and gold but also to being a leader of the team in and out of the water. The Australian youth team coach, Brett Dowker, said that the two Captains of the team “Jemma and Calum are outstanding young leaders and will do a great job as team captains. We did some leadership identification and development work and they shone through.”

Calum is an example of a student who has managed to find success in a number of different sporting disciplines.  This year Calum received Colours at Newington for both Swimming and Water Polo and was also awarded the perpetual Jeff Snare “Spirit of Swimming” Award for the second consecutive year. Calum’s recent performances at the NSW All Schools Swimming Championships have also earned him selection in the NSW team for the School Sport Australia Swimming Championships also later this year. 

Football

Congratulations to Sam Mehmet (12/MA), Connor Eldridge (12/PR), Finn Ballard McBride (11/PR), Jamie Gorgovski (11/LE) and Malcolm Ward (11/MA) on their selection into the GPS Combined Football team.

In particular, special Congratulations go to Sam Mehmet (12/MA) for being selected as Captain. 

Cricket

Congratulations to Lawrence Neil-Smith (11/JN) who was recently selected in the Cricket NSW Under 19 Academy Program. He will be joining Jordan Gauci (ON 2015).

Jack de Lacy (11/ME) and Sebastien Mills (11/KL) accepted into National Art School Course

Year 11 Visual Arts boys, Sebastien Mills (11/KL) and Jack de Lacy (11/ME) were recently accepted into the prestigious National Arts School HSC Intensive Studio Practice Program. With over 800 applicants each year and only 50 places on offer, it’s a stupendous achievement for both boys to be accepted. ‘Black and White’ sat down with Jack de Lacy to find out more about his journey and what he hopes to gain from the course.

Collating everything necessary for the HSC Studio Practice Course at the National Art School was very much a collaborative effort. Without the initial support of Ms Hannah Chapman and Mr Andrew Thompson to enter an application there is no way I would have even thought it to be an appropriate undertaking for myself. With this strong foundation of encouragement I met with various members of the arts department as often as twice a week to sort out my application. 

Together we primarily tried to find the works I would submit. I decided to enter two photographs made outside of school and two mono-prints made at school, as I was trying out for the photography and printmaking courses. This proved no small task as we looked through several thousand images, before selecting the final few. From here I went about making two new prints straight from the original photographic negatives and scanning then reprinting my mono-prints ready to be entered. 

I’m extremely excited to have been selected into the dark room photography course as analogue photography has been a fixation and hobby of mine for nearly two years. I hope to get out of this course an intimate knowledge of developing photos so that I can enhance my images. With a strong technical ability, I hope to facilitate conceptual growth in my work both for the HSC, but also into university and beyond. 

We wish the boys every success as they enter this course. Congratulations Sebastian and Jack!

Year 12 Retreat

At the end of Term 1 and with anxious anticipation, 220 Year 12 students embarked on the annual Year 12 Retreat. Not sure what to expect, they were pleasantly surprised by what would unfold over the coming days. The Retreat is generally a time of reflection, personal growth, friendship, and spiritual consideration; at the end of it, all the participants would have experienced something new, challenging and worthwhile.

During the Retreat the boys were split into small discussion groups led by a mentor to discuss issues relating to trust, relationships, painful and difficult times as well as the purpose of life. The students also engaged in a session of positive affirmation of each other – a powerful experience for each and every one of the students, including the mentors. Tears and hugs were not uncommon during this experience and all participants left feeling affirmed and valued.

The last day saw the students consider spiritual matters and the possibility of thinking about more than just themselves. A recent addition to the Retreat has seen the boys open a letter from their parents and guardians, once again affirming the love and affection they receive from others. Having experienced the Retreat many times, every year I have witnessed  the wonderful generosity of spirit that the boys develop over the course of their time there. Their relationships are enriched, their understanding of themselves deepened and they return in Term 2 with a renewed clarity of purpose.

None of this would take place without the generosity, warmth and professionalism of the mentors who have guided these boys for many years. These mentors have seen them grow and mature into the fine young men that they have become and they have been instrumental in this growth.

Viva Retreat!

Mr Alex Pyne
Head of Kelynack

Senior Concerto Competition

After a close finish at the Junior Concerto Competition, it was time to see the Seniors battle it out the day after at the Senior Concerto Competition held in Prescott Hall on Tuesday, 10 May.

A big congratulations to all the boys who put in countless hours to perfect their pieces and defy their nerves to perform on the day. The following awards were given in the Senior division.

1st Prize

Jeremy Campese (12/MA) – Cello (Winner of the Elizabeth Swain Trophy awarded at Annual Prize Giving)
Piece – Rococo Variations
Composer – Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Accompanist – Mr Sam Dhama

2nd Prize

Christopher Cooper (12/LE) – Clarinet
Piece – Concerto for Clarinet mvt I
Composer – Artie Shaw
Accompanist – Miss Szu Yu Chen

3rd Prize

Nico Maclean (10/KL) – Clarinet
Piece – Concerto for Clarinet and Orchestra
Composer – Carl Maria von Weber
Accompanist – Mr Benjamin Au

Highly Commended

James Rosse (11/PR) – Violin
Piece: Scottish Fantasy mvt III
Composer: Max Bruch
Accompanist – Miss Szu Yu Chen

Rohen Wong (10/LE) – Cello
Piece: Cello Concerto No 1 mvt I
Composer: Camile Saint-Saens
Accompanist – Mr Benjamin Au

Le Couteur get behind CanTeen with Cricket Play-off

CanTeen is an Australia-wide organisation designed to support, develop and empower young people living with cancer. This includes not only cancer patients, but their brothers and sisters and young people with parents or primary carers with cancer. CanTeen is Le Couteur’s House charity and this term the boys have been busy raising money to help make sure young people living with cancer don’t have to face it alone.

Early in January this year, friend of the College, Mr Kendall Warren organised a Cricket ‘test’ match between two competitive sides – one containing our very own Head of House, Mr Potter! The day was a great success with each participant donating $50 to CanTeen. The mix of player ability meant that the two 20 over games were nail-biting and everyone had a chance to have a ‘crack’, enjoy themselves and raise some money for a worthy charity.

On Friday 6 May during the Le Couteur House meeting, the House warmly welcomed Mr Warren who presented Mr Potter with a cheque for $700. This  generous donation was a wonderful contribution and will assist Le Couteur fundraising for CanTeen.

A big thanks from Le Couteur goes out to Mr Warren who organised the day and all who participated in helping to raise the money.

Tom Langford (11/LE)

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lunchtime visit from The Waratahs

Johnson Oval was a hub of activity at lunch time on Tuesday 17 May thanks to a special visit from The Waratahs. Staying on for a training session, the players got in early to meet and greet the boys as well as sign some autographs.

The Comedy of Philosophy

“Philosophy and comedy might not sound like natural and traditional bedfellows because there aren’t many jokes in the great works on philosophy,” said Newington Philosopher-in-residence Julian Baggini at the first Centre for Ethics lecture for 2016. But, who is to say that you can only learn about the big concepts in philosophy from Kant, Rousseau and Sartre and not from Homer Simpson and Monty Python?

Speaking to an audience of Newington boys, staff, families and friends in the Old Boys Lecture Theatre, Mr Baggini argued that cartoons such as The Simpsons and comedies such as Monty Python are great mediums to explore and convey philosophical ideas because in the same way that Homer critiques the meaning of life, so do philosophers. 

“There’s a kind of illusion and a pretense in philosophy that fine details really matter but people’s commitments at the end of the day are based on those big broad arguments and not on the fine details,” he said. And who is a better conveyer of big, bold statements than Homer Simpson?

In this way, cartoons are more in line with philosophical thinking than literary fiction because the various comedic devices of satire and caricature are better suited for providing social commentary.

Satire is deeply conservative said Mr Baggini because it feeds on existing prejudices and assumptions. The Simpsons is very clever in the way it employs satire because everyone gets it. 

“The Simpsons satirises the climate of opinion that we have,” said Mr Baggini in relation to the episode titled ‘Homer the Heretic’, which shows Homer questioning the reason he goes to church. In this episode we see Homer come to the understanding that there is no absolute truth about God, yet you also can’t deny people of their own God even if it comes across as ridiculous and so there must be some truth in untruths and half truths. So while we might be laughing throughout this episode at Homer, he is also teaching us some useful information about Standpoint Theory and the relationship between Truth and Objectivity.

Likewise, Python also comes across as an unlikely source of philosophical theory because instead of pompous French philsosphising, it chooses to use irreverent, almost slapstick British humour to critique the metanarratives of ‘progress’, ‘reason’ and ‘history’, said Mr Baggini.

“Humour is a great vehicle for skepticism because it shows us how ridiculous we can be,” said Mr Baggini about Python. And while philosophy can provide an outlook on life that can be demoralising and nihilistic in our Postmodern day and age, comedy provides us with an attitude shift in how we engage with this reality.

“In a world where people have an attitude like Python and Homer, that is not a world where people kill each other over ideology… it’s one which is kind of inherently compassionate. It’s a compassionate philosophy because there’s a realisation that we’re all in it together and we’re all kind of absurd.

Most utopian projects have been disastrous and have led us astray, so it’s not bad to have more skepticism but the second thing is that there is a kind of radicalism in this kind of worldview which is kind of different to political radicalism.

It’s about seeing the world more kindly, more equally…and the absurdity of all people is the great leveller of all people.”

 

Reverend Barham’s Commissioning

On Wednesday 11 May one of Newington’s newest members, Reverend Geordie Barham, was officially commissioned as Chaplain of the College in a service held in the Chapel. Featuring musical items from the College Chapel Choir, Bible readings from the Chapel Prefects and a Message delivered by PLC Chaplain, Reverend Punam Bent (Member of the College Council), the Commissioning service was a moving occasion which saw Geordie affirm before the College community his commitment to serve Newington and take on his new role and ministry.

Welcome to the College community Geordie!