Dear Parents and Guardians,

It has been an exciting week for Newington College with the announcement that Mr Michael Parker will be our 19^th Headmaster. He will replace Dr David Mulford, who retires at the end of this year. Mr Parker is currently Headmaster at Oxley College in Bowral and will join the Newington community with his wife Fiona, a Senior Lecturer in English at UNSW, and daughters Julia and Elena, on January 1 2019.  

On Wednesday we held a send-off Assembly for our rowers and swimmers.  Our Captain of Boats Richmond Sear (12/MA) presented the 75 boys who make up our 10 crews.  These boys will compete this Saturday, 17 March, at the 121^st AAGPS Head of the River.

Richmond told us the 2018 rowing season has been defined by hard work, persistence and dedication. For rowers, the sport is about “the rattle of the riggers at the finish line, the music of the tide beneath the boat as it shoots between strokes, the heartening sound of unbroken strength when all blades crash in together”. Richmond asked us to back our boys at the Head of the River: it is our cheering, support, and pride that will bring our rowers home.  

Our Captain of Swimming Aiden Fisher (12/FL) presented the 55 boys who make up our AAGPS Swim Team.  These boys will compete on Friday, 23 March, at the AAGPS Swimming Championships.  Our swimmers have had a strong season, and Aiden hopes the team will enjoy more success next week. He says the thunderous rumbling of the boys in the concrete stands and electric atmosphere they create will make a huge difference. An enthusiastic Newington student body at the championships will fuel the team’s drive and give them that extra boost to go above and beyond their physical limits, so please turn out to show your support for the black and white.

In closing, and in the words of Reverend Barham “Lord, thank you for the excitement that is the Head of the River, and the AAGPS Swimming Championships.  As we rally behind our teams, may you bless their efforts in giving their all, knowing that our entire college stands shoulder to shoulder in support”.