A Message from Mr Holden

With just over two weeks left of this term, I reflect on a very busy and productive few weeks. Alongside their normal lessons, boys have been involved in many other activities including excursions, our Literature Festival and school camps to name a few. I thank all parents for your practical support of these valuable activities.

Congratulations to our Year 5 and 6 da Vinci teams who recently took part in The da Vinci Decathlon held at Knox where they competed against many other NSW school teams in a number of ‘brain stretching’ tasks. The da Vinci Decathlon is an academic competition designed to challenge and stimulate the minds of school students. Students compete in teams of eight across 10 disciplines: Engingeering, Mathematics and Chess, Code Breaking, Art and Poetry, Science, English, Ideation, Creative Producers, Cartography and General Knowledge.

Both Wyvern teams performed extremely well with the Year 6 boys taking out the English event, followed by the Year 5 team with fourth place in Mathematics, second place in Code Breaking, second place in English and fourth place across all disciplines. Thank you to Miss Ciara Harding and Mr Justin Brayley for preparing these boys for the decathlon so well.

Year 6 Team
Hugh Pockley, Nathan Chong, Daniel Carter, Angus Thompson, Owen Rees, Andrew Wayling, Bradman Fox and Hugo Stock.

Year 5 Team
Ben Chau, Benjamin Macdessi, Rhys Howard-Jones, Thomas Tweedale, Tristan Holmes, Oscar Walsh, Freddie Bolton and Hugo Kilborn

A special mention to Luca Wong (Year 6) and Bailey Roberts–Lintmeijer (Year 6) who have been selected as representatives for Football and Rugby. Bailey will represent CIS for rugby in the NSWPSSA titles and Luka will represent NSW for football in the National titles in Term 3. 

In our final two weeks of this semester we look forward to the Wyvern Music Showcase for all students in Years 3-6 to be held in Centenary Hall on Tuesday 18 June at 6:00pm. Following this, the K-2 Music Showcase takes place in Wyvern Hall on Friday 21 June at 8:45am.

Semester 1 student reports will be available online from Friday 29 June. Please click here for further instructions as to how to access your son’s report. The report format identifies your son’s key strengths as well as areas for future learning in all subjects. We hope that this will allow for purposeful discussions at parent teacher meetings scheduled early in Term 3 (30 July and 1 August). Details of how to book a time slot for these meetings will be sent to you at the start of next term.

Finally, a reminder that there is a P & F sponsored event this evening in the Wyvern Hall at 6:30pm. Dr Judith Locke will be running a parent workshop on “Helping Your Child to Be Confident and Capable at School”. I look forward to seeing many of you there.

Ian Holden
Head of Wyvern House

2019 International Competitions and Assessments for Schools (ICAS)

2019 INTERNATIONAL COMPETITIONS AND ASSESSMENTS FOR SCHOOLS (ICAS)

Each year at Wyvern we offer our students in years 3 to Year 6 the opportunity to participate in The University of New South Wales International Competitions and Assessments for Schools (ICAS).

The ICAS Assessments series is designed to assess students’ ability to apply classroom learning in new contexts, using higher-order thinking and problem-solving skills.

In 2019 ICAS Assessments are online* assessments, designed to recognise and reward academic excellence. 

*ICAS Writing is paper-based only for Papers A and B (Years 3 and 4).

The assessments are based on the curricula for the relevant year. Students are asked to demonstrate a deeper, integrated, and thorough level of learning.

To ensure an engaging and beneficial experience for all students, new ICAS assessments are developed annually for each subject in every year level.

The ICAS assessments provide objective ranking of performance, encourage students to attain greater academic success and think beyond the classroom.  ICAS also recognises student success through medals and certificates.

To learn more about ICAS go to https://www.unswglobal.unsw.edu.au/educational-assessments/products/icas-assessments/

ICAS is an extension opportunity for any student at Wyvern House, however it is recommended to boys in Challenge English, Challenge Maths or students who have a keen interest or passion for Science.

In 2019 your son has the opportunity to participate in the following subjects, participation dates and fees are included for each OPTIONAL subject. 

All subjects listed above are optional.  If you would like your son to participate in the OPTIONAL subjects listed above, please visit the new online Parent Payment System to make a direct payment to UNSW Global.  Online ordering and payment will close on 31st July 2019.

The Parent Payment System is a simple and secure online payment service specifically for parents to purchase ICAS Assessments. Parents can access this service by typing unsw.global/parentpay into a browser and using the unique access code 4bf6c15958.

Achievement Awards

 The following achievement awards were awarded at Assembly:

Clubs & Extra Curricular Activities at Wyvern – Term 2

Dear Parents,

Please find the 2019 Clubs and Extra Curricular Activities at Wyvern – Term 2 below.

Term 2 Clubs and Extra-Curricular Activities at Wyvern

Kind regards

Wyvern Office

Year 6 da Vinci Decathlon 2019

The da Vinci Decathlon is a prestigious inter-school competition. Teams collaborate in groups of eight, working together to complete ten different tasks. The areas which teams compete in are: General Knowledge, Cartography, Creative Producers, Ideation, English, Science, Art and Poetry, Code Breaking, Mathematics and Chess, and Engineering. It is a very exciting event, held at Knox Grammar School. Our two Wyvern teams performed excellently in English, with Year 6 gaining a first place and Year 5 coming second.

Every year, there is a unique theme across the competition – this year it was landscapes, so we began training by researching areas which may relate to landscapes, the ten subjects, and Leonardo da Vinci himself. Training occurred over a period of several months.

When the competition day came, all competing schools gathered into Knox’s vast hall. The opening ceremony started with the arrival of two bagpipe players – a tradition at da Vinci. The opening formality quickly vanished as hundreds of school students across the state furiously scribbled down ideas and answers. Timers counted down increasing the nail-biting tension. Then, with a resounding boom, a golden gong sounded, signalling that time was up.

All the boys had a delightful time competing. Our sincere thanks to Mr Brayley, Ms Harding, as well as Mr Naylor for giving up their time to train the da Vinci team, accompany us to the event, as well as making the Decathlon a thoroughly enjoyable experience.  

Nathan Chong 6K

Donut Day

Next Two Weeks

Oshclub – Wyvern’s Before and After School Care Provider

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 Adam Vilimaa on 0428 131 700. OSHClub’s head office number is (03) 8564 9000 Click here for the OSHClub Information Flyer.

Newsletter, click here

Kind regards

Adam Vilimaa
Program Co-ordinator

Sausage Sizzle

Sport

Sports Draw, Click here

Sports Newsletter, Click here

Sporting Venue Addresses, Click here

2019 Sports Handbook, Click here

Student Absences

Dear Wyvern Parents,

A reminder that if your son is unwell and not attending school or if he has an appointment and will be running late, you are legally required to contact the front office to confirm their absence before 9.00am.

The best way to do this is via email wyvern@newington.nsw.edu.au or phone 9568 9444. 

We thank you in advance for your assistance.

Warm regards

Suzanne Raven, Emma Cope & Karen O’Brien
Wyvern Office 

Term Dates 2019

Term Dates 2020

Tuckshop

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

Tuckshop Menu and Roster 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

Kind regards

Wyvern Office

Uniform Shop

Dear Parents,

Wyvern Uniform Roster Term 2 Weeks 8 and 9, Click here

Nicole Williams
Uniform Shop Manager – Wyvern, Newington College

Mon & Thurs – 7:30am to 9:00am
Tues – 2:30pm to 4:00pm

wyvernuniform@newington.nsw.edu.au
www.wyvernshop.com

Year 6 Canberra Excursion

Year 6 Canberra Excursion – Inquiry Learning Project: ‘Do we always have a Choice?’

On June 5 & 6, Year 6 travelled to Canberra for an excursion as part of their Term 2 Inquiry – ‘Do we always have a choice?’. The students have been examining the stories of populations affected by conflict, and of people who have served at war. Many of these included former Newington students who served during World War I. As part of their inquiry, students are working on developing a ‘Call to Action’ – to persuade, inform or inspire a target audience about the reasons for, and consequences of, war.

Students have been challenged to examine each of the places visited whilst in Canberra, through the lens of how they could use the experiences, education or symbolism to help develop their ‘Call to Action’ and support a specific group affected by conflict.

As part of the excursion we visited: the Australian Institute of Sport; Questacon; CSIRO; Parliament House; National Museum of Australia; and the Australian War Memorial. Everyone had a fantastic experience by asking questions, gaining new knowledge and making links to previous learning. They enjoyed spending time with friends – and even had a few spare moments to cheer on NSW in the State of Origin!

A particularly poignant moment for many students came during our visit to the Australian War Memorial. Each boy had the opportunity to a lay a poppy by the name of someone from Newington who sacrificed their life during WWI – an important mark of respect for their service to school and country.

All the students look forward to sharing the results of their inquiry at the Year 6 Learning Showcase in Week 8.

Justin Brayley
Year 6 Team Leader