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Dear Parents and Guardians,
With exams now complete we have returned to the weekly routine, including our Wednesday assembly. This week, in the lead-up to White Ribbon Day, Alistair Shaw (10/LE) spoke about domestic violence. He quoted statistics that show one in three women will experience physical or sexual violence in their lifetimes and one in two women will experience sexual harassment, most often by someone known to them. Alistair asked the boys “to consider the impact on just one of those victims and how many people do you know who will be affected”.
Our attitude toward gender is crucial to bringing about the change necessary to prevent violence against women, Alistair said. Attitudes held by young people today will determine the state of things in 30 years’ time. Alistair asked boys if they knew what to do when they see actions that are disrespectful to women. He explained that Newington is actively working towards setting up discussions and education about practical solutions.
We also had the opportunity to acknowledge and celebrate several boys who have had extraordinary success in various Science and Mathematics competitions.
William Sun (8/LE) was awarded a High Distinction in the International Competition and Assessment for Schools (ICAS), The Big Science Competition and The Australian National Chemistry Quiz (ANCQ) as well as achieving a perfect score in the Chemistry Quiz and an Australian Mathematics Award.
Alexander Lynch (9/FL) and Addison Eastway (9/MO) also achieved High Distinctions in the science competitions above.
During Year 10, Science students are required to undertake a major research project. Nicolas Yule (10/ME) produced a project of such high quality that we entered it in the NSW Young Scientists Awards. Nicolas’ project, which looked at the photon absorption of different coloured water, was awarded third place in the Year 9-10 Physics category of the awards.
Angellos Korsanos (11/FL) achieved a High Distinction in the Physics Olympiad, placing him among the brightest young physics minds in the country.
Congratulations also to Vasili Filippatos (7/JN) and Kevin Wang (10/MA) on their Mathematics awards and Adrian Lo (10/LE), who received both Science and Mathematics awards. Kelvin Du (12/ME) has just completed his IB. Kelvin’s Physics IA project on smoke detectors has not only won a major prize at the NSW Young Scientists Awards but has also earned him the honour of representing Australia at next year’s International Science and Engineering Fair in Phoenix, Arizona. You can read the full story in this week’s Black & White publication.
These are wonderful achievements for our boys.
We also announced the Captain and Vice-Captain of the 1st XVI and the first five members. The boys took the stage to be presented with their “Baggy White”. They are: Rohan Wood (11/PR) (Captain), Harry Janson (11/PR) (Vice Captain), Will Barton (11/FL), Max Buist (11/MO), Isaac Carriline (11/MO), Joshua MacFarlane (11/ME) and Alexander Wood (11/MA). Wear your caps with pride.
As you can see, the pace on campus has not slowed down in the final weeks of the term!
Enjoy your weekend.
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