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Dear Parents and Guardians,
In keeping with tradition, Newington College’s Senior Leaders this week revealed the motto for the upcoming year. Senior Prefect Mark Elwaw announced the 2019 motto will be “In White and Black, we’ve got your back”. Its aim is to promote support for one another, and a significant part of that will focus on mental health.
An estimated one in four young men experience symptoms of mental illness at any point in time, Mark told this week’s assembly. To add context, he explained that in Taylor Sports Centre, as he delivered his speech, there could be as many as 250 boys battling mental health problems, and only half may have sought help. Newington must do everything it can to fight this statistic. We have a long way to go, but we are heading in the right direction.
Mark asked our boys to challenge each other to become better men in all areas of their lives. When it comes to our relationships with women or acting selflessly in the community, he urged boys to examine their own behavior, to encourage others to do what’s right and to give back. Even the smallest acts of support can make a huge difference.
He asked every Newington man to stand proudly behind his brothers, to speak up when help is needed and to remember “In White and Black, we’ve got your back”.
I congratulate the 2019 Senior Leaders for the collaborative process they have facilitated to get to this point. We are once again blessed to have such wonderful young men leading our boys.
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