Dear parents and guardians,

Thank you for participating in the last survey. The survey will help inform how we structure Term 4 and how our teachers deliver the curriculum. Once again, the feedback from students, staff and the great majority of parents indicated that no screen time on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons is working well to support everyone’s wellbeing, as well as mitigating screen fatigue. As we move into the last two weeks of term, we will continue on this path.

From Monday 6 September:

• On Tuesdays and Thursdays for the remaining two weeks of term, Periods 5 and 6 will remain as screen-free time. We are back to the start of the cycle so timetables will be as they are and there is no need to swap periods.
• Year 11 students will be completing an examination block.
• Year 12 students who return to Zoom classes on Monday after their trial examinations will continue to be set work to go on with in their Period 5 and 6 classes.
• Your son’s timetables in Spaces, General Access and Synergetic will reflect this.

If you have any questions about this, please do not hesitate to contact the College.

The Sports Department’s “SPRING” into Action series has many boys and families taking on the challenges. The latest, the Urban Family Challenge, has seen boys and their families, and staff members, outside working up a sweat while demonstrating both teamwork and creativity. Due to popular demand, we will be extending the Urban Family Challenge until Thursday 9 September. Click here to see Mr Moar’s take on the Urban Family Challenge.

And so to mullets, the haircut famed as ‘business on the top – party at the back’. Yes, you read that correctly – and no one is more surprised than me to be writing to you about them. However … yesterday, Lachie Sedgewick and our 1st XVI launched “Mullets for Mental Health”. The boys are asking family, friends and the Newington community to dig deep for mental health research by sponsoring them to get a mullet. First up it will be Year 12 who clip in their favourite mullet style. Once they reach their fundraising target of $5000, boys in Year 11 will be able to style up, and so on down through the years. There are a few guidelines:  nothing shorter than a 1 on the sides; when returning to the College in uniform hair must be back to normal standards, there can be no lines shaved in and only a clean, blended part and of course they need to have parent permission.  The 1st XVI presented a very well thought through proposal and I want to thank them. Please support this initiative: you can make a donation here. You will be able to see the boys’ progress on the ‘Blacknwhitearmy’ Instagram page and the College’s official social media pages.

This initiative reminds me again just how amazing our boys are when left to their own devices, and how often they demonstrate ‘inspired minds’ and ‘great hearts’.

The same qualities can be found in our ‘Man of the Week’, Alexander Kosmas 9/PR.  Ms Chapman has provided the following overview of Alex’s impressive approach to the term.  “In Term 3 Alex has taken on a deepened commitment to his learning in the elective B subject ‘The Three P’s’. He has initiated a design that was brave and sophisticated, working with focus and inventiveness to problem solve and complete his project. He has worked with integrity and respect for his learning in a new and refreshing way”.  Well done, Alexander a fine example of resilience.

An interesting article appeared in my inbox this week –Tips for Parenting by Australian author and principal John Marsden. There are some great takeaways that I’d like to share with you. He writes:

• Give children space. Back off. Let them roam. Let them be bored. Don’t over-plan their lives. Cut way back on the after-school activities programs.
• Keep away from all those ghastly, soulless, sterile playgrounds. Keep away from shopping malls. Look for real places. Wild places.
• Be an adult. Say no to your children at least once a day. If the role of adult in your family is vacant, then one of your children will fill it. And it won’t be pretty.
• Don’t take up all the space. If you are dominating, loud, forceful, your children are highly likely to become passive, lacking spirit and personality … and/or sullen.
• Believe about 40 per cent of the dramatic stories your children tell you of the injustices, corruption and satanic practices happening at school.
• Teach them empathy. For example, after their jubilant victory celebrations when they win a sporting match, remind them that their jubilation was only possible because someone else – the losers – have been made to feel awful.
• Help them develop language skills. Don’t finish their sentences for them. Don’t correct them when they mispronounce a word – they’ll work it out sooner or later. Ask them open-ended questions that need a detailed answer, not yes/no questions.
• Make sure they have regular jobs/duties at home and that those jobs are done to a consistently high standard.
• Don’t whinge endlessly about the miseries of your adult life. A lot of children now are fearful about growing up because their parents paint such a grim picture of the awfulness ahead.
• Teach them to be very wary of people who Absolutely Know the Absolute Truth about Absolutely Everything! The colour of truth is always grey. Extreme positions are for the ignorant. Every creature, every person and every situation is complex. The universe is a wonderful mystery.

And one reminder: if your son has an appointment and will not be in class, please email Elizabeth Forgan at eforgan@newington.nsw.edu.au to let us know. We are encountering situations where boys say they have appointments but we need this confirmed by parents or guardians.

Enjoy the first weekend of spring and I wish all our dads a happy Father’s Day.