Dear parents and guardians,

It has been a week of big announcements on the COVID front, particularly in relation to education. Like every other senior school, we very much look forward to having the Year 12 boys back on campus on 16 August, and other years as soon as the lockdown lifts (hopefully on Monday, 30 August). We hope to receive detail from the NSW Government soon about exactly how the return to school will work in terms of rapid antigen testing, vaccinations and student movement, but in the meantime, I can assure you we will continue to follow health protocols around social distancing, masks and cleaning.

We are also, however, very aware that things can change rapidly in the current environment and that we are planning for various contingencies for the return of Year 12s, and then our Year 7-11s. We are working closely with our staff to ensure everyone is taking steps to keep the Newington community safe, including strongly encouraging vaccinations.

Attendance

A number of boys are attending appointments without letting us know. Rolls are marked for every class so please contact Elizabeth Forgan on the usual channels if your son will be absent from class for any reason.

 Year 12

A Zoom meeting was held with Year 12 earlier today to discuss trials, major works and the return to campus. A recording can be found here, and the password is k@@z7669.

While we continue to plan for Valedictory at the end of this term, we have booked alternative dates and will continue to work with student leaders to ensure boys get the send-off they have worked so hard for.

Years 7-11

Feedback from the surveys sent this week shows the boys have generally adjusted well and that time away from screens on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons is important. The boys provided some great suggestions in those surveys, and we are sifting through their responses to see what might be implemented. Staff will continue to change up their lessons to add variety and give boys time off their computers. We will run the same plan next week so there will be no screen time on Tuesday and Thursday after lunch, but it is likely we will adjust for week 5 so that we do not impact the same teaching blocks repeatedly.

Parent meetings

On Monday evening we will run a Zoom information session for Year 12 parents at 6.30pm

Year 12 Zoom link can be found here.

We believe our Year 7-11 parents have all the information we can currently provide however we will be available online via this link from 7.30pm – 8.00pm if you have any questions to ask Mr Driver, Mr  Mr Quinane, Mr Millar or me.

My thanks to all parents for their support over the past few weeks. Remote learning is difficult in any circumstance; when homes are crowded with parents working and students doing classes it becomes even more so.  If your son is struggling, please speak to his mentor, Head of House or one of the College psychologists. They are all here to help.

 Sport

The same arrangements will be in place next week (see Spaces) for compulsory afternoons of Sport.

We are speaking with our AAGPS colleagues about what the continued lockdown means for the winter sport season and will provide information as soon as we are able.

Please encourage your son to stay as active as he can. It will help both his physical and mental wellbeing, and that is paramount at this time.

Co-curricular

Several Co-curricular activities, including Debating, Chess, F1 in Schools, the Equity Committee, the Sustainability Committee and the SRC have moved online. Details are available on Spaces and boys have been notified by the directors of those activities. The first round of GPS Debating is tonight – good luck, boys. The boys from our F1 in Schools program are still focussed and working hard toward the upcoming World Competition.

It’s great to see the level of engagement from the boys, albeit in a different environment.

Newington Long Weekend

The Newington Long Weekend scheduled for 16 August will not go ahead. I’m sure you’ll agree it’s important for everyone to be on deck in one way or another for all our boys, and especially for Year 12 who return to campus that day.

Again, my thanks for everything you are doing to support the boys and the College. Stay safe and have the best weekend you can under the circumstances.