Dear Parents and Guardians, 

The first week of Term 3 has again showcased the many things our College has to be proud of.

As part of World Languages Week, we welcomed a special guest to assembly, Uncle Ray Davison, a respected Elder of the Gadigal people. Uncle Ray delivered a Welcome to Country to formally welcome us to his land along with an explanation of the welcome to country. 

Mrs Marnie Foster, Head of Languages, spoke about this year’s theme, ‘Language = Identity’. Mrs Foster believes language is at the heart of our identity: “After all, language is a lens through which we see and understand the world around us and through understanding each other’s linguistic backgrounds we can better understand each other and ourselves,” she said.

It was a terrific week for Newington in the GPS Rifle Shooting competition. The GPS Firsts engaged in a hard-fought competition with Shore to win the Buchanan Shield and the Rawson Cup, enabling us to accrue enough points to become GPS Premiers for the second consecutive year.  Nicholas Sims (12/LE) was named King of the Range. Nicholas, Angus Mueller (12/MO), Nicholas Malakonakis (11/ME), Hugo Slade (12/PR) and Aydin Varol (12/MA) were selected in the GPS Combined Team, with Aydin named Captain. The boys will shoot in a team’s event on Sunday, and we wish them the very best of luck.

Congratulations to Henry Larkings (12/FL), who represented Australia at the 2018 Sailing Youth World Championships held in Corpus Christie, Texas, during the holidays.  Henry and his partner won bronze in the boys two-person skiff.  Congratulations also to Angus Bell (12/KL), who captained the NSW 1^st XV team that won the National Schoolboy Championships.  His stellar performances for NSW have seen him selected in the Australian Schools Rugby squad to play Tonga and New Zealand later in the year.

From sport to music. The annual Founders Concert ‘Passion and Purpose’, which will be held on Monday evening, has sold out!  The speed of ticket sales is a wonderful indication of what is in store.

Finally, a reminder that Back to Newington Day is only two weeks away.  It is a highlight of the College year, with stalls, music, fun for the kids and some very competitive sporting fixtures. To find out how you can be involved in the biggest day on the Newington calendar click here.