Dear Parents and Guardians,

It’s is hard to overstate the talent and dedication of the boys who performed on Monday at our Founders Concert, themed Passion and Purpose. It was a wonderful evening with 12 amazing performances showcasing more than 280 boys and 40 instrumental staff from our Stanmore, Wyvern and Lindfield campuses. The future of quality music at Newington is assured.

We also celebrated NAIDOC Week 2018 and its theme “Because of her, we can!” Our special guest Dr Dawn Casey (pictured with Mr Steve Muir, her grandson Anton Fichtenmaier (12/MO) and Darcy McDonald (12/MO)) spoke to the boys about what it is like to be Aboriginal and female. Dr Casey – the former director of the National Museum of Australia and the Powerhouse Museum – has contributed significantly to the welfare of Indigenous Australians and played a key role in the development of the Australian Centre for Christianity and Culture. For at least 65,000 years, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women have kept our Indigenous culture strong. Dr Casey told the boys: “It is on each and every one of you to take action to change the perceptions of others”. That means calling out racism and shutting it down, she said. We hope our boys – our ‘men of substance’ – would do just that.

The Centre for Ethics Lecture by Dr Caroline West on The Philosophy of Happiness provided fascinating insights into the causes of happiness as she traversed the thoughts of ancient and modern philosophers, materialism, the happiness ‘industry’ and traits of optimists. Is unmitigated happiness something we should pursue? The number of questions from our boys and community showed the level of interest in this topic, and I’m sure there were many lively conversations afterwards.

Back to Newington Day is on Saturday, 11 August. It’s always a great day. Organisers are after donations of lightly-worn clothing and books, so make the most of the opportunity to put the clothes you never wear and the books you have already read to a great cause. Make sure you ask your son for the cake box he was given today and think about what you will bake for the famous Newington Cake Stall. Every dollar raised goes back to your boys.

Good luck to our GPS Debating teams whose competition starts tomorrow evening.

Enjoy the weekend.