Tournament of Minds

I congratulate the students of the Wyvern Tournament of Minds team. Over the past weekend they competed in the Australasian and Pacific Regional Finals in the Maths and Engineering category. Once again, their performance was of exceptional calibre and whilst not placed, they can take great pride in being named one of the top 8 NSW teams. I acknowledge and thank Ms Christie McMillan for her outstanding work with the team. I also thank parents for their tremendous support.

School Leaders 2013

At this time of the term we consider which of our current Year 5 students have the potential to undertake a number of Wyvern student leadership positions for next year. The student school leader selection process is extremely thorough with every staff member and student (Year 3- 6) having some input. We use the following criteria to help us to form our judgments.

• Capacity as a Role Model
  How the student conducts himself on a day to day basis consistent with the school’s values of respect, care for others and service to the community. Furthermore, how the student participates in all aspects of school life including a strong contribution to co-curricular activities.
• Presentation Skills
  The ability of the student to speak confidently and persuasively to different audiences: e.g. large and small groups of peers and adults, in both formal and informal settings and within prepared and impromptu speaking situations.
• Care For Others
  How the student demonstrates a service ethic and a capacity to think of others: e.g. selfless behaviour, assistance provided to others and the capacity to work as part of a team. In other words, evidence of ‘servant leadership’.

Using these criteria we select a School Captain, two School Vice Captains, School Officers, House Captains and House Vice Captains.

In addition, there are a number of opportunities for Year 6 students to take up various monitor roles next year. Information about these will be given to the boys at the start of next year.  It is important to emphasise that all Year 6 students are leaders in the school and therefore should be excellent role models for the rest of the school. As such I have extremely high expectations about their conduct and contribution. A leadership training day for the whole Year 6 cohort is planned in Term 1, 2012.

Year 5 iPad Program

Finally, current Year 4 parents will soon receive a detailed information pack about the College’s ‘Bring Your Own Device” scheme for 2013. Current Year 5 students will retain their iPad for use in Year 6 in 2013. Please do feel free to contact Mr Andrew Wood (Deputy Y4 – Y6) should you have any IT related questions. awood@newington.nsw.edu.au

Mr Ian Holden
Head of Wyvern House