Newington College Holiday Rugby Clinics

Beginner Water Polo Clinics

Real Madrid Foundation Clinic

Newington College is hosting the first ever Real Madrid Foundation Clinic in Australia over the June/July school holidays. There will be two Players Clinics, open to boys from Year 3 and above at Newington College, and two Coach Seminars open to staff and parents.

Real Madrid Foundation will be sending senior academy coaches to Newington to run Player Clinics and Coach Seminars for two weeks, coinciding with the International Champions Cup (ICC) in Melbourne where Real Madrid will play against AS Roma on July 18 and Manchester City on July 24.

Both Player Clinics and Coach Seminars will take place at the Stanmore Campus.

Please visit our insight for more information.

Dates

Clinic will focus on:

• The ‘Real Madrid way’
• On field technical skills
• Off field technical skills
• Small and large game scenarios

Over 4 days,  players will train for 90 minutes per day.

Newington Football Coaches will be integrated into the program to make sure all pastoral aspects are covered.

Players will receive the Real Madrid strip before the clinics start in order to wear during the sessions.

Please note that the Players Clinic is only open to Boys in Year 3 and above. 

Cost: $400 including GST

Register Today:

To register please choose either Clinic 1 or Clinic 2  and pay online here. 

Young ICT Explorers Competition 2015

Do you have the ICT skills to create something spectacular? Go to http://www.youngictexplorers.net.au/ for more information.

Share your ideas with your class teachers or Mr. Patel by 24^th June at the latest. You will then have until 31^st July to complete your project and report.

RULES

• Years 3-6 can enter
• Maximum 4 students per team (must be in the same year).
• It must be your own work – plagiarised material will be disqualified.
• Any project can be submitted providing they have a clear link to ICT.

To give you some guidance, projects might come under some of the following subject areas:

• Science
• Engineering
• The Environment and Sustainability  
• Business
• Entertainment

Need more ideas? See some of last year’s projects at www.youngictexplorers.net.au/category/news/

Projects in previous competitions have included some of the following topics:

• iPhone/mobile phone applications 
• Computer games 
• Websites 
• Digital media 
• Short films and animations 
• Robots

You will need to submit a report on your project that is no more than 15 pages long and not greater than 10 MB in size.

Projects must only have material that is suitable for all ages, inappropriate or offensive projects will not be accepted.

Acceptable file types: mp3, mpg, avi, jpg, mov, swf, flv, mp4, html, doc, docx, pdf, ppt, pptx, xls, xlsx, iWork & iLife file formats.

The ZIP file containing the project and report files cannot exceed 10 MB respectively.

GOOD LUCK!

REPORT STRUCTURE

Please note that this is only a recommendation and adherence is not compulsory:

• Title page
• Your Name/Name of your group members
• Name of your project
• School
• Introduction
     *  What is you project?
     *  How did you choose your project?
     *  Problems you encountered

• Describe your project design and features
     *  How does it work?
     *  Use clearly labelled images, photos, diagrams, screenshots
     *  Research
     *  Problems you encountered

• User Manual/Instructions
     *  How do you use your project?
     *  Conclusion
     *  What did you learn?
     *  What would you do differently the next time?

Chris Patel
ICT Facilitator

National Simultaneous Storytime

On Wednesday May 27^th, Wyvern boys in Kindergarten to Year 2 participated in National Simultaneous Storytime. NSS is an annual campaign that aims to encourage more young Australians to read and enjoy books. Now in its 15th successful year, it is a vibrant event that aims to promote the value of reading and literacy using an Australian children’s book that explores age appropriate themes and addresses key learning areas of the National Curriculum.

At 11.00am more than 525,000 participants in more than 3,010 locations including schools, public libraries, kindergartens, childcare centres, bookshops and homes across Australia had the The Brothers Quibble by Aaron Blabey read to them. This book – about two siblings learning to get along – had been translated into 17 different languages. For the first time, the NSS chosen book was translated into an Indigenous language – Woiwurrung, the language was spoken by the Wurundjeri People from the Kulin Nation of central Victoria. In South Australia, Children’s Laureate, Jackie French read out loud to 1,500 students at the Mount Gambier Library. 

Our Kindy boys had the opportunity to walk to the Senior School where Year 12 students read and discussed Aaron’s book with them in the surrounds of the Senior School Library. When they returned to school they completed an activity which saw them drawing the members of their family and adding them to their individual ‘Our Family Tree’ page.

Years 1 & 2 boys shared and discussed The Brothers Quibble story with their teachers and classmates. Year 1 used the Popplet app to make a photo and word collage of a feeling that the main character, Spalding, felt when his new brother came home from the hospital. Year 2 wrote a letter from Spalding’s perspective, to his parents, explaining his feelings and why he was behaving in such a disagreeable manner.

All the boys responded well to the story telling and enjoyed participating in the activities of the 15^th National Simultaneous Storytime event this year.

Joanne Barnes
Librarian – Wyvern House

da Vinci Decathlon

On 28th of May, 16 Wyvern boys from Years 5 & 6 participated in an academic gala day at Knox Grammar, known as the ‘NSW da Vinci Decathlon’, in which a stunning 113 schools were competing. The Decathlon is a tournament run in the spirit of an Olympic Decathlon, including the following ten disciplines: Science, Creative Producers, Philosophy, English, Maths & Chess, Cartography, Engineering, Art & Poetry, General Knowledge and Code Breaking. The da Vinci Decathlon is an academic competition designed to challenge and stimulate the minds of school students.

Leonardo da Vinci (1452 – 1519) was one of the world’s greatest thinkers and scholars. Da Vinci demonstrated an ability to perceive the interconnected nature of knowledge and embraced learning with a lifelong passion and determination to uncover the unknown. The Decathlon competition places a particular emphasis on higher order thinking skills, problem solving and creativity.

At 7.00am in the morning, the boys hopped on the bus for the journey to Knox. They were greeted by Knox senior students and were taken to the Great Hall where they joined almost a thousand other students in a rush to find their tables. A brief introduction led them to session 1, where the boys competed in Science, English and Philosophy. Morning tea lasted only a short time before session 2 began, including Engineering, Cartography, Art & Poetry, Maths & Chess and Creative Producers. The boys then had lunch before being called in for the last session. In this session the boys worked hard to complete Code Breaking and General Knowledge before a surprise performance by three vocalists from Knox and one of the cast from the musical ‘Les Miserables’.

The boys performed stunningly, the Year 5’s worked hard and had an outstanding result to come 3rd in Art & Poetry and Philosophy, while the Year 6’s performed amazingly, coming 3rd in Philosophy, 3rd in Science and 1st in Engineering. The Year 6 team also managed to come 3rd overall out of 113 schools. Everyone obtained a small da Vinci badge, adding even more to their collection from the day.

The Engineering task (Tornado Tower) asked the team to build a tower out of 30 paddle pop sticks, 6 straws, an A4 sheet of cardboard, a 20cm piece of string and 1m of tape which could hold 8 marbles. However, there werea  few limitations. The tower had to be at least 3 paddle pop sticks tall and they could not use over 1m of sticky tape.The team based their tower entirely on triangles, with a triangle shape base and top connected by 3 poles that were joined by a layer of triangles.

The boys performed superbly with integrity and everyone greatly enjoyed their experience.
Addison Eastway 6H

Faith Matters

Taking Care of Unfinished Business

A young Korean once approached the counter at Trans World Airlines and explained that nine years earlier, when he was 17, he’d travelled on a child’s ticket. Now he wanted to pay the difference. The agent was dumbfounded by his honesty! Billy Kim was 17 when the Korean War broke out. His dad died and his school was bombed, so he joined the American troops, shining boots and washing dishes. When he got an opportunity to go to America, he was thrilled. Landing in San Francisco he thought he’d arrived in heaven! But he had to get from there to his sponsor in Virginia, and he had no money. Afraid he’d get lost, some friends bought him a child’s ticket and pinned a note on his uniform; it read, “To Whom It May Concern, send this boy to Route 1, Box 75, Danville, Virginia.” But the story doesn’t end there. Billy later became an influential leader. Not bad for a boy who shined shoes!

God’s choice of leaders has less to do with connections and charisma than with character and humility. Restitution is important in God’s economy, after all He sent Jesus to set things right between us and Himself. Do you have any unfinished business that needs attention?

Peter Morphew
Chaplain

The Importance of Building Resilience in Your Child

As many of you are aware, Building Learning Power (BLP) is our Learning Framework here at Wyvern. A fundamental part of BLP is teaching our boys to be more resilient in life. It is vital that we are all equipped with strategies to help us ‘bounce back’ when life throws challenges our way. And it will. As a parent of two (now rather grown up and hairy) sons myself, I know how tempting it can be to try and shelter our children from difficulties. However, in the long run, we are far better parents by instead teaching them to stand on their own two feet in when challenges come their way.

Resilience is not something you either have or don’t have. Whilst it may be true that some of us are naturally more disposed to ‘bouncing back’ than others, the good news is that strategies which help build resilience can be taught easily and practically in school and at home.

Perseverance & Stickability

As a component of the BLP framework, the resilient strategies focus on the emotional aspects of how we learn – teaching our boys to identify how they feel about their learning. We look at perseverance and teach our boys to stick with tasks that may be difficult. In doing so, Wyvern staff aim to explicitly enable the boys to be aware of their feelings of frustration and channel this energy productively. For example, some teachers display Getting Stuck posters in class, where each boy has identified a strategy that helps them when they find themselves ‘stuck’ in their learning. It may be taking a short break for one person, or examining the tricky aspect from a different perspective for another. The term stickability is one I often use when working with boys in this area. This silly but easily remembered word appears to help urge boys of all ages to exercise stickability and see a task through to the end.

Managing Distractions

Another important aspect of resilience in BLP is managing distractions. Here we aim to help the boys recognise and then reduce aspects that distract them within their learning environment.

Campfire, Waterhole, Cave

An example of supporting boys to become more aware of how they learn best in a distraction-free environment is the use of Campfire/Waterhole/Cave learning.

This involves creating three distinct learning environments for a particular task and allowing the boys to select which one they feel suits them best. The labels refer to:

• CAMPFIRE – boys choose to sit in a small group environment with the teacher, who guides them step-by-step through the given task. They have teacher support directly on-hand and feel secure when approaching their learning;
• WATERHOLE – tables are set up in small groups of 4-6 and boys learn together, collaboratively tackling the task as a team;
• CAVE – some desks are set up individually, where boys might feel comfortable tackling the task on their own, grappling with whatever challenges it may present alone.

When this technique is used in class, it depends on everyone working to 100% capacity and making the most of this learning opportunity. Teachers allow boys to move from different learning contexts if they desire. For example, a boy may start in the Campfire group, quickly gain confidence once he fully understand the task and then moves himself to Cave, where he can complete the task on his own.

These examples illustrate how easily, but nonetheless effectively, resilience can be built in students of all ages.

Later this term, Campbell Jenson, our School Counsellor, and I will be running a K-2 Parent Workshop on how you can help build resilience in your son at home on a daily basis. We are planning a number of fun and practical strategies that we hope you will enjoy and feel confident to use at home. The workshop will be limited in numbers to allow maximum participation. However, if we find that many families are keen to be involved, we will run more than one session. Keep your eyes peeled, more details in the next Wyvern!

For those of you with sons in older grades, fear not – we will run more age-appropriate sessions for you later this year – stay tuned!

Cate Fryda
BLP Learning Framework Leader
cfryda@newington.nsw.edu.au

Sausage Sizzle Flyer

Donut Day Flyer

Traffic Update

Dear Parents and Guardians,

Please be aware that Marrickville Council does enforce traffic regulations in relation to school zones. Please be considerate of our neighbours at all times when entering and leaving the school premises.

Term Dates 2016

TERM ONE

Thursday 28 January to Friday 8 April
Classes commence Thursday 28 January
11 week term followed by a 2 week break
SPD Day – Thursday 24 March
Good Friday Public Holiday – 25 March
Easter Monday Public Holiday – 28 March

TERM TWO

Tuesday 26 April to Friday 24 June
Classes commence Tuesday 26 April
Anzac Day Public Holiday – Monday 25 April
SPD Day – Friday 10 June – No students
Queen’s Birthday Public Holiday – Monday 13 June
10 week term followed by a 3 week break

TERM THREE

Monday 18 July to Friday 23 September
Classes commence Monday 18 July
9 week term followed by a 2 week break

TERM FOUR

Monday 10 October to Thursday 8 December
Classes commence Monday 10 October
Annual Prize Giving 3-6 – Thursday 8 December

Term Dates 2015

Each year much thought goes into term dates to ensure the most appropriate balance across the year with a focus on the boys’ learning from Kindergarten to Year 12. This process, conducted by the College’s Senior Executive, takes many hours to ensure all options are considered. By now, you have probably realised that next year we have only a 2 week break between Terms 2 and 3 and a 3 week break between Terms 3 and 4.

Every year the calendar gets challenged by a number of factors. They include when Australia Day lands, when Easter lands, not wanting to start too early when it is hot, not wanting to finish too early at the end of the year with working parents, ensuring state school holidays coincide with our holidays, getting a balance of days between each Semester right (the aim is for 92 in one and 93 in the other), and finally getting maximum time possible for Year 12 for Terms 1, 2 and 3.

This balance is illustrated in the following summary:

2014 – Semester 1: 92 and Semester 2: 93

2015 – Semester 1: 93 and Semester 2: 92 (based on 3 week break between Terms 3 and 4)

2016 – Semester 1: 92 and Semester 2: 93

2017 – Semester 1: 93 and Semester 2: 92

Given the unusual situation of 2015, if we had a 3 week break between Terms 2 and 3 it would have resulted in 88 days in Semester 1 and 97 days in Semester 2 and Year 12 would have effectively lost a week.

It is important to understand that each school has different organisational and learning structures and requirements, thus the difference between other independent schools next year.

Please note that the change in holidays is only for 2015.  In 2016 we will return to a 3 week holiday break between Terms 2 and 3.

TERM DATES 2015

TERM ONE

Thursday 29 January to Thursday 2 April
Classes commence Thursday 29 January
10 week term followed by a 2 week break

TERM TWO

Monday 20 April to Friday 26 June
Classes commence Monday 20 April
Staff PD Day – Friday 5 June  – No students
Queen’s Birthday Public Holiday – Monday 8 June
10 week term followed by a 2 week break (for 2015 only)

TERM THREE

Tuesday 14 July to Friday 18 September
Classes commence 14 July
Staff PD Day – Monday 13 July
10 week term followed by a 3 week break (for 2015 only)

TERM FOUR

Monday 12 October to Tuesday 8
Classes commence Monday 12 October
Annual Prize Giving 3-6 – Tuesday 8 December

OshClub – Wyvern’s Before & After School Care Program

Wyvern’s Before and After School Care Program is run by OSHClub. Enrolment for all students is recommended and allows parents to easily manage their before and after school care needs via an online account. Visit www.oshclub.com.au to use the free enrolment service.

For all late bookings, please contact the Coordinator, Eleanor, on 0428 131 700. OSHClub’s head office number is (03) 8564 9000 Click here for the OSHClub Information Flyer.

OSHClub Newsletter Term 2 – Week 7 click here

Oshclub Program 1

Oshclub Program 2

Kind regards
OSHClub Team

Newington Crested Ware

There are a range of crested ware on offer at the Black and White shop. They range from memorabilia, clothing, keepsakes as well as an exclusive Sesquicentenary line which can be found on the Sesquicentenrary site. For more information about crested ware, please contact Kylie Ann Mayer at kylieann@mayhemcorp.com.au

To download the crested ware catalogue and price list  click here

To view the crested ware page on the public website, click here

Flyers in Bookstand

Martial Arts

• Kung Fu Action at Wyvern

Clubs and Co-curricular Activities at Wyvern

• Co-curricular (Before and After School) Activities at Wyvern

Football

• Football Skills Development – Term 2

Rugby

• Rugby Skills – Term 2

Speech Pathology

• Gladesville Speech Pathology & Learning Centre

Hopalong

• Occupational Therapy for Children

Uniform Shop

Wyvern Uniform Roster Term 2 Weeks 8 and 9 Click here

Wyvern Uniform Shop Order Form, Click here

Wyvern Uniform Shop Winter Price List 2015, Click here

Tuckshop Menu, Roster & Online Ordering

Dear Parents,

As a parent volunteer working in the Tuckshop can you please make sure that you adhere to the rules and regulations regarding appropriate footwear – closed in footwear with a rubber grip sole (ideally leather trainers). No sandals, thongs, open toe shoes or fabric trainers (fabric shoes may bring bacteria) may be worn.

If your son suffers from an allergy it is imperative that you advise the Wyvern Office and the Tuckshop so that we are aware of it. Click here for the ‘Alliance Catering  – Food Allergens Advisory Statement’.

Please click here for the Spotless Food Safety Information for Volunteers Guidelines

Tuckshop Menu and Roster for Term 2 Weeks 8 and 9, Click here

Everyday Menu and Price List, Click here  

Online Ordering Instructions, Click here

Online Ordering FAQs, Click here

sport

For all Saturday morning sport at Newington Senior School, parents are requested to park off site along the street. The schools onsite car park is maintained for officials, emergency vehicles and staff only. With the summer sport season upon us, the car park area can become very busy early in the morning. Please consider this simple request to ensure the smooth management of Saturday morning sport at Newington.

Sports Results and Match Reports, Click here

Wyvern Sport Newsletter Term 2 – Week 7, Click here

Sporting Venue Addresses, Click here

2015 Sports Handbook, Click here

Next Two Weeks

Clubs & Co-curricular at Wyvern 2015

Dear Parents,

Click here for the Clubs and Co-curricular at Wyvern 2015 – Term 2.

Artist of the Week

K – 2 Artists of the Week

Harry Vohra – KB  

Harry used timber off-cuts and coloured match sticks to create an animal sculpture. His inspiration was a photograph of a Major Mitchell Cockatoo.

Debbie Bourke
K-2 Art Teacher

Years 3 – 6 Artist of the Week

Jimmy Simpson – 3B

Students in Year 3 have been making things out of recycled materials. This adorable ‘Little Penguin’, a native to the south coast of Australia, has been our inspiration.

This artwork was made out of a recycled water bottle, some sand and ‘Modroc’ (plaster bandage). Students observed the little penguin and were able to make the hunched back, the head, wings and beak and in some cases, the feet. The good thing about this work was that the students were able to experiment with the plaster bandage as a sculptural form.

All of the Penguins will take part in the show at Concordia Gallery, Week 3, Term 3.

Meredith Buining
3-6 Art Teacher

Achievement Awards and House Points

House Points

A Message from Mr Holden

I am sure that those of us who were lucky enough to be part of the audience at last night’s music showcase for students from Year 3 -6 were enthralled with the wonderful talent on display. From beginner groups through to elite ensembles and massed choirs, it is very clear that Wyvern boys really enjoy their music making, hence there is no surprise when such a high standard of performance is achieved. Many congratulations to Wyvern students and the music team led so well by our Head of Music, Ms Alina Belshaw, for a memorable concert.

As mentioned at last evening’s concert, Dr Luke Gilmour, current Director of Bands, will be leaving Newington at the end of this term to take up the position of Director of Music at Cranbrook School. We thank Dr Gilmore for his wonderful contribution to Wyvern music over the past 3 years and wish him every success in his new role. Mr Joshua Mann has been appointed as the new Director of Bands at Newington College commencing in Term 3.  He joins the College after spending several years working with the Chatswood High School Music Program.  Mr Mann is an accomplished trombonist having played with the Sydney Youth Orchestra, Salvation Army Band, Pacific Brass Band and 1/15 RNSWL Regimental Band. 

Last week some our Wyvern Year 5/6 boys attended the da Vinci decathlon at Knox Grammar competing against over 100 other primary school teams in this very demanding event. The Year 6 team were placed third overall and along the way gained a first place in Engineering, a third place in Science as well as in Philosophy. Our Year 5 team were placed third in Art/Poetry and third in Philosophy. Many congratulations to the boys and Mr Baker (team manager) for these exceptional results. 

Two other Year 6 students who have also excelled in another context this week are Sam Eagleton and Wil Rumi who have been selected to play in the Combined Independent Schools rugby team. This is a very significant achievement and we whole-heartedly congratulate Sam and Wil.  The boys will take part in the NSWPSSA Championships later this year in August.

I hope you all get a chance to catch your breath over this long weekend after what has been a very busy few weeks at Wyvern.

Ian Holden
Head of Wyvern