Drama Boys Tour the USA’s Best

During the September school holidays Elective and Co-Curricular Drama boys lead by Ms Tamara Smith, Mr Terence Priester and Mr Jeremy Green travelled to Los Angeles, New York City and Chicago to visit some of the biggest and best theatres in the world, and take part in a number of performance workshops. Black and White caught up with the boys to hear some of their reflections on the tour. 

The USA Drama Tour was by far one of the best experiences I’ve had and possibly ever will. The tour was an amazing experience for all 25 of us who had the pleasure to go. We started in the city that never sleeps and looked at some of the great attractions such as Time’s Square, The Empire State Building, The Statue of Liberty and Central Park with our tour guide Jeff who never failed to amaze us with his knowledge of the city and surprise us with new random facts. He really made the busy city come to life. In Chicago, we visited The Chicago Institute of Art and Millennium Park and at the Art Institute, many boys recreated scenes from Ferris Bueller’s Day Off. In LA, we did a driving tour and went to the Hollywood sign where there is a selfie from almost every single student on tour. We also looked at Hollywood Boulevard and admired Grauman’s Chinese Theatre.

The theatre and workshops were easily the highlights with lots of effort obviously put in by Ms Smith and the other teachers to get the shows that we did. Some of the shows we saw included Dear Evan Hansen (personally my favourite one!), The Taming of the Shrew, The Tales of Hoffman (an Opera at the Metropolitan Opera House), A View from The Bridge, Amateur Night at the Apollo and Improvised Shakespeare. The performances were of all sorts of styles and really gave us a view into how the performing arts can be in many different forms and this includes not just acting. The workshops we did were also exploring new ways of interpreting theatre with a course on dance and musical theatre, a course on ensemble work and working with others and finally a course on auditions for film and television. All the boys involved had so much fun as seen in some hilarious videos and pictures and everyone took away something from each course. They really helped me improve as an actor.

It was an amazing tour and we really had the time of our lives exploring the US with some of the best teachers in the school so a big thanks to Ms Smith, Mr Priester and Mr Green.

Sam Burkitt (10/FL)

I was incredibly lucky to be able to come on the Newington Drama Tour these holidays and it was fantastic. We visited all the major theatre and entertainment hotspots of New York, Chicago and Los Angeles. For many of the boys it was their first time in many of these places and for some it was their first time in America as a whole. We did great workshops in each city with a musical workshop with one of the ensemble members of Hamilton in New York, an ensemble and chorus workshop with The Lookingglass Theatre in Chicago and a film auditioning workshop in LA with members of the film industry there.

We also saw a wide variety of incredible shows including a modern take of Shakespeare’s The Taming of the Shrew, The Tales Hoffman, a cultural experience of seeing Amateur Night at the Apollo, A View from the Bridge and the incredible Dear Evan Hanson which was a confronting and beautifully performed musical for us to see. We had not only experiences with Drama, but a lot of American culture too. We visited Time’s Square, The Statue of Liberty, Central Park (where we went rowing through the largest lake in the park) and the main theatre hotspots which was great. In Chicago, we had a guide take us around the city showing us history with the gangs, the Chicago fire and famous tragedies in the city as well as visiting the Art Institute of Chicago which for many boys was fun to see being fans of Ferris Bueller’s Day Off. Of course, in LA, we went down Hollywood boulevard and saw many of the fantastic movie studios and sets as well as going to Universal studios which was so much fun.

Overall, the tour was an incredible experience that I will never forget. I learnt a lot about American culture, advanced and expanded upon my skills in drama and made a lot of friends from other years. This was one of the best experiences I’ve had and I feel so lucky to have been a part of it.

Xavier Papps (10/MA)

New beginnings at Valedictory

As Term 3 came to a close, it marked a series of lasts for Year 12 – last Maths class, last English essay, last game, last lunchtime. However the end of term also marked the start of new beginnings. With their exams now well underway, the boys have almost completed the transition from their life at school to their life beyond.

On Friday, 22 September, family, friends, staff and members of the Newington community gathered to celebrate and acknowledge the Year 12 cohort of 2017 as they stepped towards life beyond school. Valedictory Day marks the end of a 13-year education and all the challenges and achievements that have marked each student’s journey at Newington.

With an address from Headmaster Dr David Mulford and Senior Prefect Mitchell Long, the College celebrated Year 12’s contributions to the school – the relationships formed, the lessons learned and the triumphs made during their time here.

The assembly was followed by a Guard of Honour where family, friends, boys from Years 7–11 and staff bid farewell to the Class of 2017 and welcomed the new 2018 School Leaders:

Senior Prefect – Lachlan McIntyre (11/JN)
Deputy Senior Prefect – Matthew Dyster (11/FL)
Deputy Senior Prefect – Alexander Humphreys (11/JN)

Senior Boarding Prefect – Richmond Sear (11/MA)
Deputy Senior Boarding Prefect – Anthony Kama (11/FL), Tua Mahe (11/FL), Long Duy Pham (11/MO), Finn Sleigh (11/PR)

Fletcher House 
Captain – Dale Schlaphoff (11/FL)
Vice-Captain – Thomas Barker (11/FL), Nicholas Fitzsimmons (11/FL)

Johnstone House
Captain – Justin Raja (11/JN)
Vice-Captain – William Mellor (11/JN), Michael van Walsum (11/JN)

Kelynack House
Captain – Nicholas Maclean (11/KL)
Vice-Captain – Angus Bell, Gus Burton (11/KL)

Le Couteur House
Captain – Liam Nikos (11/LE)
Vice-Captain – Angus Crump (11/LE), Alec Machin (11/LE)

Manton House
Captain – James Roach (11/MA)
Vice-Captain – Daniel Baykitch (11/MA), Andrew Harrison (11/MA)

Metcalfe House
Captain – Nolan Whitcomb (11/ME)
Vice-Captain – Kelvin Du (11/ME), Nazim Rahman (11/ME)

Moulton House
Captain – Darcy McDonald (11/MO)
Vice-Captain – Anton Fichtenmaier (11/MO), Riley Vaughan (11/MO)

Prescott House
Captain – Matteo Lannan (11/PR)
Vice-Captain – Hunter Karam (11/PR), Andrew Liu (11/PR)

Though the boys leave the College gates behind, they will remain an important part of the Newington community as they transition into the Old Newingtonians’ Union.

From script to screen: Student filmmakers shine in 17th Annual Film Festival

An audience of over 200 people flocked to Newington’s Duckmanton Theatre on Thursday night to watch the screening of Newington’s 17th Annual Film Festival.

Showcasing the work of CineArts and film students, the audience enjoyed quality films centred on this year’s theme ‘Time for Change.’ The screening also featured films from other schools including Presbyterian Ladies College and The Scots College.

“The wonderful thing about film is that it is able to convey these ideas in minimised or exaggerated ways,” said Senior Prefect Lachlan McIntyre, who opened the event. “So as audience members, enjoy the films, but be active, look for what the director is trying to convey with a certain shot. Think about the deliberate choice of words that the writer has used and watch the details in the performer’s movements, this is where you’ll find the real depth in film and where some hidden meanings can be found.”

Short films captured the heart of a narrative in a few minutes, making viewers laugh and reflect on prevalent issues in our society.

Filmmakers were congratulated on their ability to transport an audience to a new world in a matter of minutes. From balloon heads to a film about a film festival, within a film festival, this year’s films were a reflection of the hard work and commitment of the Newington film community.

The winners on the evening were:

Best Actor – Dylan Rubin (9/LE) for ‘Tripping on Youth’
Best Sound Design – Will Angus (9/MA) for ‘Josh’
Best Scriptwriter – Matthew Lowe for ‘Cycle’ (The Scots College)
Best Cinematographer – George Pople (11/JN) and Aston Brown (11/MO) for ‘A Long Way Home’
Best Special Effects – Xavier Papps (10/MA) for ‘The Date’
Best Editor – Dhruv Kumar (9/JN) and Calum Boland (9/PR) for ‘Examinum’
Best Director – Euan McKenzie (10/JN) for ‘Auxillum’
Best Junior Film – Christina Shi and Angeni Bai for ‘Airheads’ (PLC Croydon)
Best Senior Film – Josh Macdessi (10/MO), Isaac Carriline (10/MO) and Philip Langshaw (10/MA) for ‘Losing it’
People’s Choice Winner – Nelson Crossley (11/PR), Jarrah McEvoy (S11/FL), Anton Fichtenmaier (11/MO) and Kevin Wu (11/KL) for ‘The Film Festival’

Next year’s theme is ‘Connect’ and students from Year 9, 10, 11 and 12 wishing to join CineArts in 2018 are encouraged to send Mrs. Naomi Tsvirko (ntsvirko@newngton.nsw.edu.au) an email expressing their interest in the program.

Naomi Tsvirko
English Teacher

The start of the HSC

Some of the media reports on the start of the Higher School Certificate exams last week noted that this year is the fiftieth anniversary of the first HSC in 1967.

That first HSC was really the final step in the long process of implementing the ‘Wyndham scheme’. Named after its chief architect, Sir Harold Wyndham, Director-General of the NSW Department of Education from 1952 to 1968, the scheme involved a whole range of reforms to secondary education. The addition of a year of secondary schooling — from five to six years for a full secondary course — along with the introduction of the School Certificate and Higher School Certificate qualifications, were only the best-known of the many elements of the scheme.

That first HSC was a long time in coming. A committee chaired by Wyndham worked from 1953 to 1957 to develop its blueprint for reform. The NSW Government took four years to accept the recommendations, passing the necessary legislation in 1961. The first HSC cohort of 1967 started their secondary schooling under the new curriculum in 1962. Since there were still four cohorts going through school under the old system, the two systems ran in parallel until 1965. Thus, the last cohort under the old system, after starting secondary school in 1961, sat for their Intermediate Certificate in 1963 and their Leaving Certificate in 1965.

Theoretically, there would have been no final year cohort in 1966. In practice, at Newington and undoubtedly in schools across NSW, a number of students from the ‘Year of 1965’ returned to repeat their Leaving Certificate in 1966: repeating a year was much more common under the old system. Some of the 1961 starters repeated twice to enable them to sit for that first HSC in 1967.

When the Class of 1967 (incorporating 1966 and 1968) gather for their 50 Year Reunion this Saturday, among their memories will be making history as the ‘guinea pigs of the first HSC’.

David Roberts
College Archivist

New Basketball at Sydney Schools Shootout

From 5–6 October, Newington competed in the 10th Sydney Schools Basketball Shootout with excellent results. The tournament had 42 teams playing in a round robin competition with the top two teams in each pool progressing through to the finals.

From our point of view, we were able to expose 25 boys to GPS basketball which will only strengthen our squad for the upcoming season. Newington won the final of the Premier Division (1st) against The King’s School whilst our 2nds went through the rounds with a 2 win 2 loss record.

For the record book the results were:

1sts

Newington 45 def. Waverley 26
Newington 46 def. Shore 22
Newington 70 def. Grammar 42
Q/F Newington 50 def. Riverview 40
S/F Newington 51 def. St Augustine’s 48
G/F Newington 54 def. King’s 29
Tournament: MVP Reed Nottage (11/LE)

2nds

Shore 37 def. Newington 33
Waverley 32 def. Charity Bounce 30
Newington 38 def. Oxley 31

Rex Nottage
Coaching Director – Basketball

A New Benchmark for Duke of Edinburgh

This year 18 boys completed their Gold Duke of Edinburgh’s International Award – a new benchmark for the school after 11 students in 2014, 12 in 2015 and 16 students in 2017.

The boys showed great perseverance and demonstrated the positive effect of a strong, supportive cohort.

To complete the award, the students participated in a range of activities including 12 months of physical recreation, 12 months of a skill of their choice, 12 months of community service, a four-day adventurous journey and a five-day residential project. Coordinator of Duke of Edinburgh Mr Dominic Garner congratulated the boys for their efforts.

“I have thoroughly enjoyed seeing you develop into well rounded, community minded, young men of the world,” he said. 

Congratulations to these boys for achieving their Gold Award:

Matthew Bramich (12/JN)
David Charlton (12/MA)
Jack De Lacy (12/ME)
Rhys James (12/PR)
James Kah (12/FL)
Matthias Laubi (12/MO)
Jarrah Lindhout (12/KL)
Mitchell Long (12/MA)
Justin Ly (12/LE)
Jacob Nastasi (12/PR)
Matthew Putt (12/PR)
Max Quinn (12/KL)
Jason Ren (12/MA)
James Smith (12/PR)
Henry Stathis (12/JN)
Conor Walsh (12/MO)
John Ward (12/JN)
Richard Zhang (12/LE)

Sport Report

Athletics
During Week one of Term 4 Newington had 11 boys attend the NSW All School Athletics Championships at Homebush. Boys from years 7-11 competed in track and field events with some outstanding individual performances. We would like to acknowledge those boys that competed.

Louis Dalrymple 8/KL
Jake Goodhand 8/KL
Renato Pane 8/JN
James Smith 8/MA
William Smith 8/MA
Joshua Watson 8/PR
Angus Beer 10/ME
Ned Stevens 10/LE
Aiden Fisher 11/FL
James Karabesinis 11/KL
James Roach 11/MA

Well done to all boys, we hope you enjoyed the experience.

Cricket
We would like to wish the 1st and 2nd XI cricket teams the very best for their opening weekend of AAGPS competition against The Kings School on Saturday.

Rugby
Congratulations to Australian Schools Rugby player Angus Bell 11/KL who represented Australia in the recent Australian Schools v New Zealand School Rugby test during the holidays. New Zealand Schools won the game 34-11.

Share the Journey

I recently attended a School Nurses conference in Melbourne where Dr Michael Carr-Gregg, a well-known Psychologist spoke. I wanted to share some of his thoughts as the month of October is Mental Health Awareness month. This year the theme is “Share the Journey” which focuses on the importance of social connections.

Research tells us that feeling connected, valued and loved by others gives us a sense of security, support, purpose and happiness. Close connections with others allows us to enjoy the good times but also helps us deal with the hard experiences we all face. Dr Carr-Gregg suggests that if parents are wondering how their child is going that they could ponder these questions as a starting point:

Does your child have friends?Have they emancipated from their parents or adult carers?Do they understand and enjoy school?Have they got a ‘spark’ – something that they feel passionate about?

He has 10 thoughts to help us build a positive outlook.

1. When we are together everything is better. Strong and broad social relationships are happier and healthier. 

2. If you can’t change it, change the way you think. 

3. See life as it is, focus on the good bits. 

4. Be active, relax, rest – repeat daily. 

5. If you want to feel good, do good. 

6. There’s more to life when you stop and notice. 

7. Find time to lose yourself in what you love. 

8. The meaning of life is a life with meaning. 

9. Hope, it helps to know what you are looking forward to. 

10. Don’t compare your insides with other people’s outsides. 

And for parents sound advice to help deal with conflict from ‘teenage brains under construction

• Keep calm Don’t talk too much
• Look for compromise
• Use humour
• Avoid ultimatums as they will be tested!
• Only argue over things that matter
• Do not remind them of past mistakes
• Set clear boundaries
• When they get angry, keep calm
• Talk while doing something together

On a personal note having supported a family member with anxiety, which was most distressing. I hadn’t thought of the positives that came with it. I was amazed at what we all learned as a family.

The person themselves discovered their unique wonderful qualities and character differences that made them see things and react the way they did. They learned to recognise causes of their anxiety, to understand their emotions and find ways to cope and hopefully manage them – a continuing process.  We as a family learned to listen, really listen so that anything could be said without taking offence. Every one of us played a different role to support not only the person but also each other. In a sense this adversity tested us and although we were initially shaken, it strengthened us. If we are not learning, then we are not living.

I guess in a way I have returned to the theme – Share the Journey!

Sister Margaret Bates
School Nurse

Strong Skiing for Newington Boy

While the school holidays are a time of rest and recuperation for some, for Sam Martin (9/MA) they are a time of intense training and preparation. Keeping up with his school work in between intensive holiday training camps, Sam achieved some excellent skiing results this year.

This year Sam competed in two FIS (International Ski Federation) events: The Australia/New Zealand Continental Cup and the ABOM Mogul Challenge. The Australian team is drawn from these competitions. FIS competition courses meet international standards and Toppa’s Dream in Perisher, where the Aust/NZ Continental Cup is held, is considered to be one of the three hardest FIS standard courses in the world.

1. Australia/New Zealand Continental Cup

As one of the youngest competitors in this year’s Aust/NZ Continental Cup Open Men’s (age 14 and over), Sam placed 10th out of all the Australians competing (including our Olympians) and 20th out of the 14-20 year olds. On Day 2, he placed 6th out of the Australians competing and 18th out of the 14-20 years olds.

2. ABOM Mogul Challenge

In the ABOM Mogul challenge Sam placed 18th in the Open Men (14 and over) and 6th out of the Juniors (age 14-20).

In the interschools competitions, Sam achieved a 2nd place in regionals, and 5th at state and nationals.  In the NSW Junior Series, Sam placed 1st in the Junior division (age 14-20) in Event 1 and 9th in Event 2.

Sam is currently trying to perfect his back flip and 720 at Australia’s beautiful aerial training facility in Victoria and will be heading to the US over our summer for more training and competitions.

Brothers Sail to Success

Last holidays, Newington brothers Henry (11/FL) and Tom Larkings (10/FL) competed in the 2017 NSW Youth Sailing Championships on Lake Macquarie. 

Both boys competed admirably with their crews gaining excellent results:

1st 29er Class – Henry Larkings
5th 29er Class – Tom Larkings

Henry and his crew are now training hard for the World Sailing Youth Championships in Sanya, China in December.

Congratulations to both boys.

Advent – preparing to celebrate Christmas

The Sovereign Lord comes with power,   
and he rules with a mighty arm. See, his reward is with him,   
and his recompense accompanies him.
He tends his flock like a shepherd:   
He gathers the lambs in his arms
and carries them close to his heart;   
he gently leads those that have young. 
(Isaiah 40:10-11)

It’s crazy to think that Christmas is just over two months away, yet exciting all the same. The anticipation of joy, celebration, giving, receiving and spending time with our loved ones is so much what the Christmas celebration is all about. The weeks leading up to Christmas are traditionally referred to as Advent; the expectation of the ‘coming’. Christmas is the time we celebrate the coming of Christ into the world, as depicted in the scripture above. This is why the focus of our remaining chapel services for 2017 will be based around the four tenets of Advent; Hope, Peace, Joy & Love.

“Waiting is a period of learning. The longer we wait, the more we hear about him for whom we are waiting.”- Henri Nouwen

Hope is the confident expectation that there will be a positive outcome, because we have an anchor to secure this hope to. If you think about it, it’s entirely appropriate for Jesus Christ, the Christian hope of the world, to have come in the form of a baby, because babies are hope personified. They are pure potential. Their lives are all about the future. Is there a mother or father who hasn’t looked into the face of their newborn baby and wondered, “What will this little child accomplish, what will he become? A doctor saving lives, a lawyer pursuing justice, an engineer; a painter, astronaut, college professor, athlete, research scientist. . . anything is possible. What happens when people don’t have hope or lose hope? Spouses give up on marriage. Parents give up on their teenage children. Leaders give up on their people. Healthy emotions, such as contentment and peace are replaced with the toxic emotions of confusion, shame, worry, and disappointment. In short, it’s impossible to be spiritually, psychologically, emotionally, or relationally healthy without hope. This is why the ‘Advent’ message focuses on looking at what we put our hope in.

Peace is what we all desire.  We all want to be able to rest, to not worry, to feel free to enjoy life, family, friends, work, church, hobbies, entertainment, and much more.  We want to be able to enjoy ourselves and not be burdened down with worries that rob us of vigor, life, and purpose. With our Year 12 students now in the throes of their HSC and IB examinations, and with the rest of the college anticipating their Yearly exams within the coming weeks, desiring peace amidst the pressure to perform and succeed is something worth anticipating. Pursuing peace is a fitting tenet in anticipation of the Christmas celebration.

Joy. Robert Louis Stevenson, the famous Scottish novelist who wrote Treasure Island and Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, at life’s end famously quoted; “To miss the joy is to miss everything!” Our lives are filled with opportunity, adventure, experience: the next holiday, moving into a new house, the next level of challenge; which are all meant to be immersed with joy, but can often be amiss. Advent is a time to be reminded that we are to be filled with joy in all we experience.

Love. ‘All you need is love’ (The Beatles), ‘Love is an open door’ (From Frozen the movie), ‘Love makes the World go round’ (Madonna), ‘Without Love, life is like the seasons with no summer’ (From ‘Hair Spray’ the movie). Such song lyrics remind us that society values love as an essential part of our existence, no matter what our cultural or religious heritage might be. The love of God finds its most profound and life-giving expression in the Christmas event. Such love is a mystery beyond our understanding and, certainly, beyond our deserving. This arrival of God in the man Jesus is the heart of what the Advent season is all about.

In conclusion, to quote Dr. Seuss; 

‘Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn’t before! What if Christmas, he thought, doesn’t come from a store. What if Christmas…perhaps…means a little bit more!’

Rev Geordie Barham
College Chaplain