150 Years of Sport Luncheon

Join us in the city to celebrate and pay tribute to the history of Newington Sport. Relive the successes of past premierships in rugby, tennis, athletics, football and swimming…just to name a few, as one of the original six members of the AAGPS. National and international representative sportsmen from the College will join us to recount how their early sports careers were forged on the fields at Newington.

When: Friday 22 March 2013
Where: Dockside, Cockle Bay Wharf
Cost: $125 per person

To register for the event, click here

To make an online payment click here and choose the Sesquicentenary link in the “College” box

Find out what else is on the Sesquicentenary events program by visiting our insite

2013 ONU Golf Day

The ONU invites all members of the Newington Community to the 2013 ONU Golf Day at the prestigious Lakes Golf Course, home of the Australian Open and Australian PGA on Thursday 28 February.

An exceptional day of golf is promised with participation by the Australian Long Drive Champion as well as Australian women’s golf professional Carlie Butler. Lunch and a buffet dinner are also included.

The 2012 ONU Golf Day, attended by Old Boys, College Council members, Mothers, Fathers, Grandparents and others was a great success raising more than $17,000. Proceeds from the 2013 event will again be used to assist any Old Boy (young or old) living with depression by providing counselling and funds for early intervention and specialist treatment. If you would like to sponsor a hole or register to play, please contact the Mylee Angelo (ONU Officer) at alumni@newington.nsw.edu.au

To register and/or make a payment click here 

You can make an online payment here (under sesquicentenary payments) 

Click here to log onto the ONU Online Alumni Directory

 Mylee Angelo
ONU Officer 

Sesquicentenary Memorabilia

To celebrate  Newington’s 150 year legacy, the Sesquicentenary Committee has released a number of limited edition collectors’ items. To find out what items are available and to place an order, please click on the following links

Sesquicentenary Product Guide

Sesquicentenary Collectors’ Pin–order form

Sesquicentenary Tie (Polyester)–order form

Sesquicentenary Tie (Silk)–order form

Sesquicentenary Ladies Scarf–order form

If you would like further information on the events program, or to make an online payment, please visit the Sesquicentenary insite

Faith Matters

Living Life to the Full

Reminiscing about his past a father tells his children, “When I was young I used to climb mountains, surf waves, explore caves and tramp through remote country. I couldn’t wait for the weekend to get out and explore more of God’s creation.” Sounds like this dad had a good approach to life making the most of his time and seeking to discover what’s possible.

Another school year has commenced and like the rest at Newington it will be full. The writer of the Bible book Ecclesiastes seemed to have lived a full life as well but his conclusion was “Meaningless! Meaningless! Everything is meaningless!” But he had largely ignored God.

Francis Schaeffer said, ‘Man has a purpose; to be in a relationship with God…when he forgets his purpose he forgets who he is and what life means.’ There’s more to life than doing the same old same old day after day. Jesus said ‘…I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.'(John 10:10).

It’s all a question of balance discovering what’s possible physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually.

Peter Morphew
School Chaplain

Music Notes

Welcome back to another full on musical year.  Rehearsals are slowly getting underway with the various school ensembles.

String Ensemble 

Please make sure you read Spaces – I will be placing the roster for Friday lunchtimes there. This also where there will be notes placed and information letting you know what the boys need to be getting ready for.

School Band

School Band will be commencing next week as the boys in Years 5 and 6 are on an excursion this week. There is a special page for the band on Spaces. The roster for the lunchtime rehearsals for this term will be placed there. This is where you will also find notes about upcoming events and what in particular the boys should be working on.

Choir

Boys in year 4 have been auditioned this week and a note has gone home. Not all boys are invited to join. I need to have a balanced choir. It is often quite hard to make the selection. If you feel your son should be in the choir and you don’t receive a note, please let me know so we can discuss it. This is going to be a huge year for the choir with the sesquicentenary. Choir will begin next week on Monday mornings at 8am. It concludes at 9am and there are small group rehearsals during Monday lunchtimes. There is a page for the Choir on Spaces. This is where the roster will be placed.

Instrumental Lessons 

Teachers will have hopefully been in touch about private instrumental lessons. If you are continuing on from last year, you must return a form. If you are a new student and you have put in a form but have not heard anything from anyone, please let me know. It is best to email me:

vsouth@newington.nsw.edu.au

Vanessa South
Music  Teacher 

Parents and Friends News

Dear Lindfield Community

Firstly welcome back to Newington for 2013 and a particular hello to all new families who have started here this year. It can be daunting for everyone, both kids and parents, to come into a new environment and learn the ropes of a new or different school. However I hope that you have found enough assistance from those around you here at Lindfield to help you feel more settled.

On that note I do hope that you have all received your invitations to the P&F Welcome Reception on Saturday the 23rd of February at 7.30pm. It’s a great night and the perfect opportunity to meet others, including our Teachers, and to get to know those around you. It’s very relaxed and our Grade 6 Parents are already well in hand organising the event. If you are coming along please remember to RSVP to the office.

We are always looking for more volunteers to help so if you would like to assist either the Tuckshop or Prep Shop or join our Social and Fundraising Committee please get a form from the office. These are 3 areas where can we always use more help and it’s a good opportunity to meet parents from other grades.

Our Sports Committee, in conjunction with Chris and Mark Caulfield, are on a mission to ensure that our weekend sport is the best in can be for our school. They have already negotiated to increase the Cricket and Basketball skills coaches from 1 to 2 coaches on a Monday afternoon. We are also hoping that we can get more parents involved on the weekend and Chris has now sent out a request for parent coaches/managers to work with the relevant Teacher at the Saturday games. Undoubtably there are a plethora of parents out there with great sporting skills that they would like to share.

Our first P&F meeting for the year will be on Monday 25 February, in the library and starting after 3pm. As we’ve mentioned before we realise this is not ideal for many parents but the night time slot appeared not to be either. We are giving this new time a try and if your children are not at afternoon activities then there will be a teacher on duty to supervise them. Young kids are welcome to come with their Parents to the meeting, just bring something along to entertain them. If you are running late from other pick ups it’s not a problem you are still welcome.

 Judy Ryan
P & F President 

A Message from Mr Wyatt

New Shade Structure

After months of anticipation and expectation we finally have our new shade structure over the basketball court. This new structure will provide our boys with shade throughout the day and a waterproof outdoor space for them to play under during wet weather. I want to take this opportunity on behalf of the boys and teachers to express our sincere thanks to the P&F for their enormous contribution to funding this project. It is a credit to our small community that such significant fundraising is possible for the benefit of our boys and their learning. Planning will commence shortly on an official opening ceremony which will include last year’s Year 6 parents.

[Show as slideshow]

Learning Portfolios

At the conclusion of every second Unit of Inquiry the students will bring home a learning portfolio that contains a work sample from each curriculum area. The purpose of the portfolio is to provide a snapshot of your son’s class work. We hope that the work samples provide evidence of learning; understanding of content and concepts; and growth in the attributes of the Learner Profile, the PYP Attitudes and the PYP Transdisciplinary Skills.

Each time the portfolio comes home you will be able to track your son’s growth and development by comparing the samples of work contained in each plastic sleeve. For this reason we request that all work samples be left in the Portfolio (even at the end of the year). This will allow progress to be seen, not only over the year but across year levels.

If you haven’t returned your son’s Portfolio from last year could you please do so by Monday 11 February?

PYP (Primary Years Programme)

As promised at the Parent Information Night we have included a summary page of all of the language associated with the PYP. We hope that this might be something that you can print and place in a prominent place in your house (maybe the fridge) to assist in conversations about your son’s learning. Please click here for the PYP summary page.

It was great to meet with some of our new parents on Monday morning to unpack the PYP and highlight the ways we are seeking to make learning significant, engaging, relevant and challenging for each of our boys. A copy of this presentation will be loaded onto Spaces shortly. If you weren’t able to make this or have any questions please don’t hesitate to contact myself, Joel Weekes (Teaching and Learning Team Leader) or Ashley Barg (Assistant PYP Coordinator).

Advanced Notice: We will be holding our next Parent Information Session on Wednesday 27 February at 8:30am and 6:30pm. The topic of this session will be “PYP and Mathematics…the road ahead”. We hope that you might be able to join us for this interactive session.

On your marks, set . . .

Well, we are off and running! I love this time of year where the boys and teachers are excited about the year ahead and are learning more about one another each day. New units have started, fresh ideas surfacing and everyone is motivated to have a wonderful goal-orientated 2013. This busy and exciting time of the year means the beginning of new Units of Inquiry in all year levels. The boys will be ‘tuning in’ to their Central Idea through a variety of exciting ventures, including incursions, excursions, provocations, exciting learning opportunities and guest speakers. Teachers will be immersing the boys in their Units of Inquiry and engaging the boys in activities which will lead to a deeper understanding of the unit being studied.

Throughout the Units of Inquiry the boys could be exploring, wondering, experimenting, testing theories, collecting data, reporting findings and solving problems. This means that the boys will be actively involved in their learning. Inquiry-based learning, an approach to teaching and learning embraced by numerous articles on boys’ education will be at the forefront of what teachers are promoting in their classrooms.

Throughout all facets of school life the boys will also engage in activities involving the Learner Profile attributes: Inquirers; Knowledgeable; Thinkers; Communicators; Principled; Open-minded; Caring; Risk-takers; Balanced and Reflective. The boys will be constantly involved in reflections around these attributes and how they are applied in various settings of the school day.

Parents are encouraged to become aware of the Units of Inquiry with which the boys are engaged, and to discuss and question the boys about their understanding of these Units and the concepts driving them. Through these discussions parents can assist students to make connections between their school community and the wider world of which we are a part. Building from a local to a global perspective is at the forefront of the International Baccalaureate philosophy and is well embraced by all teachers at our school.

Throughout the year, we will be delving further into what it means to be a PYP school and how you can be a part of this wonderful learning community we are building here at Newington College Lindfield.

Joel Weekes & Ashley Barg
Teaching and Learning Team Leaders

10 minutes to success!

Reading is learned and practiced in thousands of classrooms across the globe every day. It is perhaps, the single most important skill a child learns. Without competent reading skills a child is going to struggle to build on the basis of knowledge in other subjects. Boys who experience success in reading are more likely to become confident learners.

Parents are vital role models when it comes to inspiring boys to read. By reading to your son and having him read to you, boys see the value and enjoyment of reading as well as building language and thinking skills. Stories can aid boys to cope with feelings, build confidence and learn reading skills through modeling. I would hope that reading is being modeled to all boys from Kindergarten all the way through to Year 6.

As a parent myself, I do understand the hectic nature of bedtime! But, making an effort to scaffold reading time to become a part of your son’s daily routine will set them up for reading success. Give your son 10 minutes in the morning or evening. The reading time should be a time for sharing, relaxing and fun. Every boy will be different when it comes to their interests, favourites and the individual development of reading skills. Don’t worry if they like comics as they get older – it is all reading. Once they are confident they are more likely, with some gentle encouragement, to want to move onto reading different things.

Fill your home with reading materials of all kinds and be enthusiastic about your son’s reading. If your son is in Years 2 – 6, please use the reading line under each day in the school diary to share in your son’s success. Each night your son reads works towards in-school reading rewards . . . work together on this.

Keep regular contact with your son’s teacher and try to know what they are learning and reading. Be open to the possibility that your son may have reading problems but don’t delay in accessing help. Ignoring the problem will not make it go away.

Anyway, I’m off to read about the Parramatta Eels and how they are going to turn 2013 around!

Joel Weekes
Teaching and Learning Team Leader

Welcome Back to School

Schools are strange places without students…they are quiet, empty and somewhat lifeless…which is why it is so great to have the boys (and you) back at school. It has been a great start to the year with the boys hitting the ground running in every respect. They have embraced their new learning environments with energy and dedication and the playground is a buzz of positive play at every morning tea and lunch break. The signs are extremely positive for the year ahead.

This year is a particularly important one for Newington College as we celebrate our sesquicentenary… 150th birthday! It was fantastic to begin the celebrations at the start of the year with an assembly, complete with cake, gifts and a rendition of Happy Birthday. Stay tuned for more sesquicentenary events throughout the year.

Mr Chris Wyatt

[Show as slideshow]

Email Delivery of 2013 School Fee Invoices

In an effort to improve communication and make school fee payments more convenient, the College will send all future fee invoices by email.

The first invoice for 2013 was issued on 7 January 2013.

If you have not received an invoice, please contact Ms Coral Balmer on 9568 9333 to confirm or amend the details we have on file for the email distribution.

With thanks

Peter Yates
Head of Corporate Services

Dates to Note

Friday 8 February Chapel in Don Brown Hall at 8.30am all welcome,  Year 3 and 4 return from Camp. 

Saturday 9 Feburary  Summer Sport Round 1 – Sports BBQ at Koola Park

Tuesday 12 February  Interhouse Swimming Carnival at Ryde Pool Years 3 – 6 at 9.00am – 2.30pm,  No Assembly Today

Friday 15 February  Chapel in Don Brown Hall at 8.30am all welcome

Saturday 16 February  Summer Sport Round 2

Tuesday 19 February  School Assembly in Don Brown Hall at 2.30pm all welcome, The 2013 Welcome Reception RSVP’s due

Cricket at Koola Park

The ever-popular Sports BBQs return to Koola Park for various home matches across all terms in 2013.

The Newington Sports Committee will run three BBQs in Term 1 on the following Saturday mornings:

9 February (Open A & B and Years 3 &4)

23 February (Open A and Years 3 & 4)

9 March (Years 3 & 4)

If your son is playing cricket on any of these mornings and you are not assisting with a game, we need your help!  Whether it is cooking sausages, helping to serve or taking payment, your help will be greatly appreciated.  If you are able to volunteer some time (an hour would be great), then please email your details to the Sports Committee at newingtonsports@gmail.com with the date and time you can assist.

Thank you for the support … your contribution is greatly appreciated!

 Sports Committee
Newington College Lindfield 

BBQ Sat 9 Feb at Koola Park

 Cricket at Koola Park

The Newington College Lindfield Sports Committee is delighted to host another sumptuous BBQ on Saturday 9 February 2013 from 7.30am – 11.30am.

Click here for more information.

Tuckshop

Week 3

Tuesday 12 February 2013
9.00am  – 12.00pm  Leearna Plank

Thursday 14 February 2013
9.00am  – 12.00pm  Rhoda MacCulloch
11.00am  – 2.00pm  Kate Bell

Friday 15 February 2013
9.00am  – 12.00pm  Jo Stewart
11.00am  – 2.00pm  Gary Smith

Week 4

Tuesday 19 February 2013
9.00am  – 12.00pm  Lisa Munckton
11.00am  – 2.00pm  Frances Chippeck 

Thursday 21 February 2013
9.00am  – 12.00pm  Brenda Cumarsingam
11.00am  – 2.00pm  Jennifer Gripton-Corbett

Friday 15 February 2013
9.00am  – 12.00pm  Briony Short
11.00am  – 2.00pm  Help Required

The 2013 Welcome Reception

When:  Saturday 23 February 2013 at 7.30pm

Where:  In the Garden Area (near Swimming Pool)  Newington College Lindfield K-6, 26 Northcote Rd  Lindfield

Dress:     Smart Casual

Note:      Complimentary drinks and finger food

RSVP:    Julie Ellam – Tuesday 19 February 2013

Please click here for a copy of the invite.

Prep Shop

The Prep Shop is a clothing pool operated by a voluntary committee of parents and assists greatly in raising funds for the benefit of the school.  We have stocks of both new and good quality second-hand items of uniform.

The Prep Shop is open on Mondays from 3.00pm – 3.45pm and Wednesdays from 8.00am – 8.45am.

Week 2 Roster

Monday 11 February

Ingrid Yao Gao
Brie Evans

Wednesday 13 February

Sing Sing Wan
Hayley Rose

Week 3 Roster

Monday 18 February

Rebecca L’Orange
Brenda Cumarasingam

Wednesday 20 February

Maria Dickinson
Linda Hardyanto

School Leaders

There are three Year 6 boys awarded positions of responsibility as School Leaders.  The School Captain is selected by the Head and other staff.  The House Captains are elected by the members of the Houses and the staff.  Congratulations to our 2013 Leaders;

School Captain   James Favos

Kingswood Captain  Alexander Woolley

Rydal Captain  James Moore

Student Representatives Council 2013

The Student Representative Council meets periodically to discuss issues of concern to the boys throughout the school.  Classes in Kindergarten to Year 6 elect two of their number who bring issues to the Council.  Congratulations to our Semester One Student Representative Council Members;

Kindergarten

Lachlan Tai
Kieran Davey-Webb

Year 1

Freddie Bourne
Ted Walker

Year 2

James Blakeman
Cameron Davey-Webb

Year 3

Thomas Kennedy
Jack Middleton

Year 4

Jarrah Ronan
Andrew Newham

Year 5

Soma Suzuki
Oscar Moody

Year 6

Luca Russo
Ethan Barrett

School Housekeeping Notes

Playground Supervision

I would like to inform parents of the playground supervision times before and after school in our Prep School.

Before School      8.05am – 8.30am
After School         3.00pm  – 3.30pm

Boys should not arrive to school before 8.00am unless they are involved in a supervised co-curricular activity.  Boys not collected by 3.30pm will be taken to Outside Hours Care (OSHC) – Camp Australia and parents charged for the service.

Safety Outside School

Picking up and dropping off of boys safely at school times is a genuine concern for our school community.  Please note the curbside restrictions at the front of our school and obviously observe the Children Crossing and accompanying speed limit zones.  Ku-ring-gai Council Rangers continually monitor parking outside our school and do issue infringement notices to drivers observed parking illegally and dangerously.

Haircuts

Hair grooming is as important as uniform in our school.  It is great to see so many families respond positively to this.  Some boys still require a haircut which conforms with our expectations.

Uniform

All clothing and other property brought to school must be clearly marked with your son’s name.  Every effort will be made to trace lost property that has a name attached.

*  Uniform will be monitored as usual when boys arrive, line up for class and as they leave the school in the afternoon.

*  Black School Shoes need to be shined prior to the new school day.  Laces neat and without frayed ends.

*  White Sports Shoes (sneakers) should be predominantly white.

*  Grey shorts and grey-white shirts are clean and pressed.

*  White hats are compulsory for the boys to be playing outdoors.

*  Black Prep Cap is to be worn to and from school

*  Ties are to be done up to the top button and removed only when changing after arriving at school if they have fitness.  Please note that boys are permitted to wear their Sesquicentenary Ties during 2013 and they should be worn appropriately.

Medication

Please ensure that if children require medication, ointment or drops to be administered during school hours, the medication must be brought to the School Office and a Request to Administer Medication form completed.  Under NO circumstances should the medication be left in the children’s school bag and/or administered without staff supervision.  All families should provide the school with an up to date Medical Information form.

Mr Pascal Czerwenka
Prep Team Leader 

ICT Representatives 2013

Congratulations to our Semester One ICT Representatives for 2013;

Kindergarten

Benjamin Allan
Diesel James

Year 1

Toby Ashworth
Morgan Land

Year 2

William Chandler
Matthew Newham

Year 3

Angus Bourne
Connor Plank

Year 4

Tom Moody
Tobias Rowe

Year 5 

Patrick Christensen
Boris Lee

Year 6

Haydon Ashley
Maverick Ko

Certificates

Sports Shorts

Wet Weather Number: 9432 6460 (after 7am)
Saturday Sport:  Round 1 this Saturday
Primary Swimming Carnival:  Tuesday 12 February
Additional Basketball(3:15 – 4:15pm)  and Cricket (3:15 – 4:45pm) Sessions:  Monday in Weeks 2 – 7
Junior Primary Swim Squad:  Tuesday in Weeks 3 -10 (7:30 – 8:15am)
Primary Fitness Squad:  Wednesday in Weeks 3 – 10 (7:30 – 8.15am)

Primary Swimming Carnival

The Primary Swimming Carnival is to be held at Ryde Aquatic Centre on the 12 February from 9:00am. What better way to spend a Tuesday than in the presence of 2000 litres of chlorinated water and sports stars of the future strutting their stuff to earn the right to represent the College in the upcoming Invitational Carnivals and IPSHA Swimming events.

The Carnival will start at 9:00am with the easy event…..the 200 Individual Medley where we will once again be able to marvel at the talent Newington has to offer. Who will stand up and be counted on the day? For that answer you will just have to make your way west on what promises to be the greatest carnival yet.

Game of the Week

Each Prep Talk we will look back at the rounds of sport played and pick out games or moments that stand out and make us feel proud to be part of the Newington community. These reports will be the students’ recount of the matches which are always more insightful and entertaining than my own.

Sports Star over the holidays….

Resident all-rounder and now Kingswood House Captain Alex Woolley was very busy over the holiday period, competing in a Ski program in Canada. The event was called the Silver Star Canada and Alex attended the Interschools Ski program with kids from Australia and New Zealand.

This involved 2 weeks of all mountain tuition, culminating with a giant slalom race at the end of each week. Alex won a bronze medal first week and gold the next week. A great achievement for a rising star in many ways. Well done Alex!

 Mr Mark Caulfield
Sports Coordinator