Faith Matters

Growing in Four Ways

It’s amazing to see how your sons have grown over the summer break!

Growing is something even Jesus did. It says in Luke’s biography of Jesus that “Jesus grew in wisdom and stature and in favour with God and men.” He grew in four areas: (1) He grew “in wisdom” – intellectual development. (2) He grew “in stature” – physical development. (3) He grew “in favour with God” – Spiritual development. (4) He grew “in favour with men” – social and emotional development. Spiritual growth should not be compartmentalised, but integrated into every other aspect of life.

At Newington we want to encourage your boys to develop in each of these areas. In other words, we want to provide a holistic education. This has been the case since the inception of the College and has its roots in our school motto IN FIDE SCIENTIAM … to faith add knowledge.

We look forward this year in joining you watching as your sons grow in four ways.

Rev Peter Morphew – College Chaplain

Social Skills – PALS and Second Step

 Positive Attitudes and Life Skills (PALS) and Second Step

The development of social skills and a positive mindset are essential for all young people. To support this process each year we run the PALS program which forms part of our Pastoral Care Policy (incorporating Anti-Bullying) together with our use of the Second Step program across all year levels. There is a large amount of research available to support this program which can be found at http://www.cfchildren.org/second-step/research.

Over the years the teachers at Lindfield have collaboratively developed the PALS program and last year adopted the Second Step program to develop social and emotional learning as part of the PALS program and to bring together current research on the importance of well-being, social skill development and resilience, and our observations of the needs of our boys.

Our Second Step scope and sequence (found on the Lindfield:Learning SPACES Page) is followed sequentially throughout the year at all year levels with deviations/modifications as required by the cohort and circumstance. Further information on our approach to Positive Attitudes and Life Skills will be shared throughout the year and the attached scope and sequence will serve to assist you in communicating with your son about his school based learning experiences related to social skills.

The PALS program also provides a leadership opportunity for our Year 6 boys as they are given the chance to lead teaching sessions with each of the other classes. In addition to these lessons, there is at least one other weekly session (often in the form of ‘Circle Time‘) to allow teachers to consolidate the skill or attitude that has been introduced/revisited.

The Second Step program provides opportunities for parents and families to access resources for use at home to support the learning that is occurring at school. These resources can be accessed using the following by joining at www.secondstep.org with the respective activation keys below. Once logged in you will be able to watch videos about the Second Step program and get information about what your student is learning.

If you would like further information on either program please do not hesitate to contact your son’s teacher, Mr Benjamin Barrington-Higgs or myself via the school office.

Mr Pascal Czerwenka

2017 Primary Swimming Carnival

The Lindfield Swimming Carnival was a great success with high levels of participation from the primary boys. From the highly competitive finals to the less competitive 25m and novelty events, all boys put in a big effort for their houses. It was a great day of House Competition with many displays of good sportsmanship. Congratulations to Kingswood who took home the 2017 winners’ trophy!

The Age Champions were calculated based on the Finals Events, the 100m Freestyle and the 200m Individual Medley. Congratulations to the following boys:

AGE CHAMPIONS

8 Years – Luke Malmquist

9 Years – Maksimir Saravanja

10 Years – Oliver Senior

11 Years – Jack Hugo

12 Years – James Knight

Following the Lindfield Carnival, for the first time our campus will have our own team representing Newington at the IPSHA Carnival. The following 16 boys have progressed to swim at the IPSHA representative level. Congratulations to the following boys:

IPSHA Team

Luke Malmquist

Maksimir Saravanja

Nathaniel Warwick

Oliver Senior

Samuel Stewart

Diesel James

Toby Cameron-Tavendale

Finn Wicks

Jack Hugo

Max Tian

Ryan Ng

Freddie Bourne

James Knight

Ethan Hardwick 

Luke Avati

Nathan Sharp 

Eliza Monaghan – PDHPE Teacher/Sportsmaster (Lindfield)

P&F News

P&F Meeting – Monday 27 February 6pm, The Library

Our first P&F meeting for 2017 will be at 6pm in The Library on Monday 27 February.

Key agenda items include:

• HSC Results Presentation from Trent Driver, Deputy Head of Stanmore
• Overview for 2017 – Ben Barrington-Higgs, Head of Lindfield
• P&F Overview for 2017 – Jules Ashworth, P&F President

This meeting is open to all Lindfield parents and is a great opportunity to hear from key representatives of the Newington community who will also be available for questions.

We look forward to seeing you there.

The P&F Executive, Jules, Susie, Vicky and Sylvia

A Message from the Head of Lindfield Campus

Mistakes are Part of Learning

“I never failed. I just found 1,000 ways that didn’t work.” Thomas Edison

Recently I found an article summarised in the Marshall memo by assessment guru Thomas Guskey (University of Kentucky) about the difference between mistakes, which are a necessary part of the learning process and failure. This article deals with an important aspect of educating our boys in terms of the way they approach challenging situations and contexts.  Guskey draws a distinction between failing and making mistakes. “Failure implies a complete breakdown, disaster, and disappointment,” he says. “There is an important qualitative difference between ‘I made a mistake’ and ‘I failed.’

Thomas Edison said this when reflecting on the process to invent the first light bulb: “I never failed. I just found 1,000 ways that didn’t work.” And the same attitude should apply to our boys as they work their way to mastery. “Acquiring new knowledge or skills always involves errors, mistakes, and occasional setbacks, especially when learning challenging material or complex tasks,” says Guskey. “But to see these setbacks as failures invokes unnecessary negativity and pessimism.”

Mistakes for our boys are part of the learning process in every area, whether it is reading, cricket, skateboarding or any area we want to improve.

Marshal wrote that fixing mistakes is relatively easy, but recovering from failure is complicated. One critical factor is attribution – whether people blame external factors (a bad referee, an unfair assessment) or take personal responsibility. Another factor is people’s mindset: fixed (I’m just not good at math) versus growth (I can improve by working hard). All this has three implications for parents and teachers:

• Anticipate learning challenges and address them directly as students, parents and teachers.
• Constantly check for understanding to identify problems as early as possible and then look to solve problems in different ways.
• Help boys understand “that the conditions for success are within their control and that we will help them remedy their learning errors when they occur,” says Guskey.

In other words, we must help our boys have a growth stance to learning, and as parents and teachers we must develop the same stance. We must help our boys realise that we can make mistakes and that is okay because mistakes give feedback on what we need to do to improve.

We want our Newington boys to be resilient and resourceful so parents and teachers must model this understanding that mistakes are part of the learning process and making mistakes does not equate to failing. It is an opportunity to get new information which we can use to improve the way we look at a problem.  

“Why Glorify Failure to Enhance Success?” by Thomas Guskey in Education Update, June 2015 (Vol. 57, #6, p. 2-3)

‘The Difference Between Making Mistakes and Failing’ by Kim Marshall, in Marshall Memo, June, 2015 (Issue 592 #2 )

Ben Barrington-Higgs

Year 2 – First Impressions

First impressions last! This is why Year 2 started the year with a very important lesson on making sensible choices and thinking before we speak and act.

The boys walked into the classrooms with a tube of toothpaste and some toothpicks presented to them on their desks.

They were given one task: To time themselves and see how long it would take to empty the entire contents of toothpaste. Apprehensive at first, the boys soon took on the task, taking an average of only 35 seconds to squeeze out all of the toothpaste.

“Now what?” The boys were then given a challenge to see how long it would take to refill the tube of toothpaste using only the toothpicks that were provided. “Are you serious?” “This is impossible!” “This is going to take forever”.

After about 6 minutes of a messy attempt, the boys realised that this would be too hard to continue.

We then came together and discussed that the toothpaste inside represented spoken or written words or our actions.  Once a person says something positive or negative to someone, it’s impossible to take back what was said. Just like the toothpaste, once it’s out, it’s impossible to put it back in. If we say something bad to someone, we can try and fix it by saying, “I’m sorry”, but the damage has been done. The boys realised that they really need to think about what they say and do before they speak.

This was a great lesson to set the tone for our first Unit of Inquiry. Our Central Idea is An understanding of ourselves impacts the choices we make.

The Lines of Inquiry that will guide our learning will be:

• Our similarities and differences as learners (Reflection)

• Choices we make for our personal well-being (Causation)
• Our choices impact others (Responsibility)

We have had a great start to the term and are looking forward to an awesome year ahead!

Mr Shayne Pollard – Year 2 Teacher

Class and Student Blogs

Class Blogs

Each week class teachers add blog posts to their class blogs to reflect on various aspects of the current/previous week of learning. The aim of these blogs is to provide parents with a further insight or window (following on from SPACES) into the learning that is occurring at school.

It is hoped that these insights will spark dialogue between parents and their sons around the learning experiences that they have participated in. The boys and their teachers would love to see your comments and feedback on these blog posts so please don’t hold back.

All class blogs are now contained within SPACES and can only be viewed with a SPACES login. You will find a link to your son’s class blog on your class SPACES page. Shortcuts on your parent dashboard will be made available soon.

All blogs can also be accessed using these links and class teachers (including Specialist Teachers) are in the process of adding content so please visit regularly.

Kindergarten     

Year 1

Year 2

Year 3

Year 4

Year 5

Year 6

Student Blogs

All students at Lindfield also have their own personal blog sites within our SPACES Portal and you will receive further information on these in the coming weeks. These blog sites serve as ePortfolios for our students as they regularly reflect upon their learning and growth.

Pascal Czerwenka

PYP

What is the PYP and why is inquiry used for learning?

Regardless of location or size an IBO (International Baccalaureate Organisation) PYP (Primary Years Programme) school strives to develop an internationally minded person.

The mission of the IBO is:

• To develop inquiring, knowledgeable, and caring young people
• To create a better and more peaceful world through intercultural understanding and respect
• To work with schools, governments, and international organizations to develop challenging programs of international education and rigorous assessment
• To encourage students worldwide to become active, compassionate, and lifelong learners who understand that other people, with their differences, can also be right.

This means that students are taught WHY they should know something and HOW it connects to other subjects and the real world. It means high quality teaching and learning—challenging instruction and worldwide knowledge.

With the IB PYP at Newington Lindfield (NCL), we are committed to a guided inquiry approach to learning where students make choices within their learning. These choices lead to deeper understanding through guidance by the teachers. Through an inquiry process, students develop an understanding of important concepts, acquire essential skills and knowledge, develop particular attitudes and learn to take socially responsible action.

At NCL teachers developed a structure to assist students and teachers working through guided inquiry. The elements of this process are:

Spark (What are you going to solve?)

Discover (Empathise, ask questions, find out)

Imagine (Generate and consider many options)

Explore (Explore different ideas and make mistakes)

Solve (Create a solution. Discuss and evaluate)

What is ‘inquiry’?

“Inquiry is the dynamic process of being open to wonder and puzzlements and coming to know and understand the world.”  (Galileo Educational Network, 2004)

The Primary Years Programme is committed to structured, purposeful inquiry that engages students actively in their learning (Making the PYP Happen). Inquiry is a process where students are involved in their learning, they formulate questions, investigate big ideas and build understanding, meaning and knowledge around the learning. New knowledge may be an answer to a question, the development of a solution or support for a position or point of view. At some time this new knowledge is presented to others in a variety of ways and may result in some form of action.

Our students in all grades have the opportunity to own their learning. Our teachers do not “cover” a subject or “give” a lesson. At NCL, our students are encouraged to ask questions, learn how to find the answers to those questions, and apply it to their lives and the world around them. With the IB PYP students see how things are connected, rather than simply being fragmented into school subjects.

Sue Gough – PYPC

Years 3 & 4 Camp

A few spots of rain couldn’t dampen the spirits of the Year 3 & 4 boys as they were all very excited to head off to camp at Galston! So 47 boys and 4 teachers headed towards the coach with suitcases and sleeping bags, arriving in Galston just in time for morning tea. The Crusader leaders were there to greet the boys and organise their belongings. The leaders were all in their early twenties and full of enthusiasm! They were fantastic as they were very caring with the boys ensuring they were comfortable at all times. When the cabins were announced the boys were thrilled with their bunk buddies for the next two nights so it was time to go and unpack, get settled and make up their beds in the rooms.

The boys were placed in three mixed groups of Year 3 & 4 students and rotated throughout the activities across the three days. There was BMX riding, rock climbing, the vertical pole challenge and initiative games in the hall. A quick survey of the boys’ favourite part of camp showed that BMX riding was probably the most popular activity amongst the Year 4 boys.

The boys were woken at 7:00am for breakfast each morning where they were served cereal and a cooked breakfast. Lunch and dinner always had fresh salad as an option where the boys usually cleared their plates and some went back for a second helping! The days were filled with activities that kept them very busy and quite hungry when lunch and dinner time came around. Showers and free time were at 5:00pm so once washed, the boys could go outside and play table tennis or GaGa ball. This game was similar to dodgeball but was contained in an octagonal shape. When the boys were in, they could stay in the boundaries and when they got out they were still close to the action but were on the outside. They loved this game as it was quick moving and the turnover was quite rapid.

After breakfast the boys had some bible study time where they were encouraged to think about good Christian values and reflect on their time at camp. The days passed very quickly as the camp was well-organised with lots of fun activities and games. The boys enjoyed the pool in the afternoon where their listening skills were tested in one of the pool games. I’m sure they enjoyed getting out where they had to swim to the other side of the pool but they got to stay in the water whilst the others were on the edge! Either way, they all appeared to be enjoying the water and having a great time!

It was a great experience for all the boys as they participated enthusiastically in the team events. It was fun and relaxing and a great bonding time for the Stage 2 boys!

Mrs Leonie Russell – Year 4 Teacher