Author: Andrew Oreb

Key Dates 

Thursday 1 September – Lavalla and Marcellin Father’s Day Celebration 
Friday 2 September – Marian Father’s Day Celebration 
Monday 5 September – Resilient Young Minds Presentation, Marist Auditorium 6.30pm

Introduction 

The last two weeks has been a busy period for events at the College. This week alone saw our Book Week celebrations, author visits and parades across the College. Our STEM festival ran activities from Years 3 to 12, our Year 11 Gamechanger students attended their Solidarity Immersion in Mullewa and our NAS carnivals occurred in the secondary years; the students and staff should be recognised and acknowledged for their engagement in these activities. The Catholic Performing Arts Festival ‘Spirit of the Arts’ continues to run for Catholic Schools across the state, and our musicians have been performing fabulously and should be commended.  

URGENT Parental Assistance Required  
Diagnostic Inventory of School Alignment (DISA)

As mentioned in earlier correspondence, Newman College is committed to annual school improvement, and we are seeking feedback from all members of our community to refine practices. This requires your engagement through the completion of the DISA survey. 
 
The DISA is a longitudinal survey that evaluates the perceptions of students, parents and staff on the progress of school improvement strategies and our Vision for Learning. It would be greatly appreciated if you could complete the survey here. It is anonymous, no log-in or password are required, and it takes approximately 20 minutes to complete. Your responses will play a valuable part in shaping the strategic vision of Newman College for the years to come. 
 
Sincere thanks for your ongoing support. 

Resilient Young Minds – Monday 5 September, 6.30pm, Marist Auditorium

Newman College, in conjunction with Zero2Hero, are pleased to be hosting their expert panel, Claire Orange, Claire Eaton and Linda Stade.  They will deliver a presentation that addresses how we can best support our children by creating ‘Resilient Young Minds’.  We strongly encourage parents to attend this very informative event. 

Please note: this is a ticketed event for catering purposes.  Please click HERE for details and to purchase tickets. 

Father’s Day Celebrations 

In the lead up to Father’s Day, the College will celebrate Dads, Grandads and all the significant men in our students lives. We will honour these special men at the following events.   

Lavalla and Marcellin Campus – Thursday 1 September at 8.10am 
Community Mass in the Champagnat Chapel, followed by refreshments. 
 

Marian Campus – Friday 2 September at 8.00am 
BBQ Breakfast on the Marian Oval 
Followed by a Liturgy at 9.00am at St Cecilia’s Church. 

For catering purposes, please click HERE to register your attendance. 

Book Week 

Throughout Week 6 our students celebrated the important role reading plays in our lives and in education.  This year the theme was “Dreaming with Eyes Open”.  Students enjoyed a variety of events including meeting authors HM Waugh and Raewyn Caisley, and Captain Cleanup visited the Marian Campus.   

As usual, the highlight for our Primary students was our Book Week dress up parades where students and staff came together to parade their wonderfully creative costumes of their favourite book characters.     

National Science Week (STEM) 

This year to celebrate National Science Week the College held a combined event running over two weeks.  Both Marcellin and Lavalla students were involved in the 14 events that were organised by the Science, Technologies, and Mathematics Learning Areas.  More information to come in upcoming newsletters.

Wellbeing Framework 

This week our PK to Year 12 teaching staff came together to collaborate on a Vision for Wellbeing. Our Vision for Wellbeing has its roots in our Marist charism, positive psychology, and the latest research on student wellbeing.  

We know that spirituality plays a significant role in assisting humans to feel a higher sense of purpose, peace, hope, and meaning. A rich spirituality assists humans to experience better confidence, self-esteem, and self-control. Our Marist spirituality and characteristics can help students to make sense of life’s experiences in a hope-filled manner. When unwell, our connected spirituality can at times help us to access inner strength and may result in faster recovery. 

We aim to launch this framework at the start of next year. Phase two of the collaboration will include student and parent feedback.  

Students Who Have Participated in State and National Representation

The College would like to recognise and celebrate the achievements of those students who have represented their team, sport, or activity at a state or national level. If your child has participated in an activity that falls within that category, we would love to hear from you. Please complete this form to let us know of your child’s achievement.  

NPC Minutes 

Please click HERE to access the minutes from the last NPC meeting which was held on Wednesday 10 August. 

The next meeting is scheduled for Monday 31 October.  Reminders will be sent nearer the time. 

Staff Appointments 

Compliance Officer – Kaine James 
Administration Assistant – Sarah Migro 
Italian Secondary – Miriam Dell’Oro 

CODE OF CONDUCT

This Sunday 28 August is Social Justice Sunday and coincides with the launch of the Social Justice Statement from the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference. The Statement Respect: Confronting Violence and Abuse aims to respond to the calls for a greater awareness to respect in relationships. The message from the Bishops seek to support those who suffer violence and abuse and seeking to promote change in attitudes and behaviour. As a Marist community we continue to promote this message through our Marist theme for 2022 Dignity for All: Known and Loved. The statement outlines the voices that need to be heard, it identifies the major enablers and drivers of the issue, why this is an issue for us as a Church and steps we can take as a community to create a community that recognises the dignity for all that builds respectful relationships. 

An excerpt from the statement below: 

Jesus Rejects Violence 

Jesus’ way of relating to women could not be more different from the toxic masculinity of the ‘man box rules’. Consider the story of the woman threatened with stoning (John 8:1-11). A woman – but somehow not the man – caught committing adultery is dragged in front of Jesus in the temple by the Scribes and Pharisees in order to set a trap for Jesus. Her life hangs in the balance, but she is not allowed to speak. She is treated as a non-person, disposable, just a tool in a power game. 

Jesus uses his status as a male teacher to turn the situation around. He rejects the Scribes’ and Pharisees’ understanding of sin and God’s response to it, which appears to justify violence against women. He actively intervenes to prevent it. Jesus’ response shows that an authentic understanding of the righteousness of God concerning relations between women and men is transformative and saves all concerned from such violence. In this story Jesus rejects the use of religious traditions to justify violence.  

Click here to read the rest of the statement. 

Father’s Day

With Father’s Day approaching on Sunday September 4, we are taking the opportunity to celebrate the importance of fathers and father figures in our families and to thank them for their contribution to our community. 

On Thursday 1 September we warmly invite fathers, grandfathers and father figures to join us at 8.10am for our Community Mass in the Champagnat Chapel and to stay after Mass for refreshments with staff and students.  

On Friday September 2, the children and staff at the Marian Campus would love to see all the fathers, grandfathers and father figures for an early breakfast at 8.00am on the Marian Oval before continuing with a special Father’s Day liturgy in St Cecilia’s Church. 

Please complete this form to register your attendance for catering purposes thank you. 

We wish all the Fathers in our Newman College community a very happy and enjoyable day next Sunday.  

Year 11 Solidarity Mullewa 

Thirteen Year 11 Game Changers have spent this week experiencing a Solidarity Camp in the regional town of Mullewa, 450 Kms north of Perth. Students were led by Bonnie Keynes (Year 11 Game Changers Leader), Aleisha Bryson (Leader of Youth Ministry and Advocacy) and fortunate to have Br Paul Murphy accompany them. 

As we seek to respond to Champagnat’s call to form good Christians and good citizens, through discernment and reflection students have an opportunity to experience ‘service’ and we hope will be inspired to take further action in recognising the dignity of all whilst deepening their experience of communal living within a Christian context.  

On the quiet bus back we tiredly reflected on having to say goodbye to the bright welcoming faces of Mullewa. The friends we made along the way, in particular the students of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, Father Rob O’Bryan, and Kevin, were all sad to see us leave especially after our incredible hosting of the whole school disco on Thursday night. We spent our lunchtimes playing countless numbers of tag and together we helped the community clean up the cemetery. The peak of our community service was when the group assisted in setting up for the town’s local wildflower and agriculture show where we met the wonderfully devoted volunteers of Mullewa. We spent our afternoons hanging out at the local youth centre where we fixed a bike, made landscape artworks, and bonded with the locals. We arrived hopeful and our expectations were far exceeded. 

Reflection written by Michael and Emily 

Marist Connect Night 

On Tuesday evening, students from Bunbury Catholic College and St Joseph’s Northam met together with our Year 12 students for a Marist Connect Night held in the Champagnat Chapel. This event is an example of our three Marist communities coming together to celebrate our relationship and commitment to the Marist charism.  

Students enjoyed making connections with their peers, exploring the concept of “dignity for all” with the Youth Ministry Team and hearing about the challenges and joy of post-school life. 

The connection of our young people across the three schools is an exciting opportunity presented to our students because of our connection to the Marist family. We look forward to the schools gathering again in Term 4. 

The Marist Association of St Marcellin Champagnat 

The Perth local Marist Association of St Marcellin Champagnat continues to gather regularly to foster community and offer formation for people who are committed to living in the Marist Tradition. On Sunday 21 August, people came together to celebrate the Eucharist at St Joseph’s Subiaco and gathered in the Upper Room with family and friends to share a meal. The group took the opportunity to reflect on the importance of why we gather as some of its members prepare to head to Sydney to participate in the third National Assembly. This event is a coming together of Marists from all around the country to reflect on what it means to be Marist and what it means to belong to the Marist Association. I look forward to sharing back to the community on how the Marist Association will continue to offer formation, outreach and community for those who are seeking to live our Marist charism. 

Newman College Parents Morning Retreat: Golden Thread 

Our Marist Tradition offers our community so many different opportunities for formation. This term we are offering a Parent Retreat. Br Bill is the Director of the Hermitage located in Mittagong NSW. Throughout the year, he comes to Newman College to work with staff in faith formation. He is scheduled to return this term in Week 9 and once again spend the week with staff across the College. This time we are offering a Parent Retreat focussing on the Golden Thread. All are invited to attend, regardless of their religious experience. Please register here. 

Morning session: Thursday 15 September 9.00am – 11.00am 

Community Mass 

A warm welcome is extended to the whole Newman College community to join us for our regular Thursday morning Community Mass commencing at 8.10am in the Champagnat Chapel on the Marcellin Campus . The Mass is celebrated by a Priest from one of our local parishes and is hosted by both secondary and primary school students. The schedule for the next 2 weeks is as follows; 

Week 7 
Thursday 1 September (Father’s Day Celebration): Fr Hyginus, Thomas More and Year 3 Green 

Week 8 
Thursday 8 September:  Fr Hyginus, Marcellin and Year 6 Red 

Dear Parents and Guardians

New Principal 2023

This week I met with Mr Andrew Watson who visited our College. We will be meeting regularly over the coming months in preparation for his Principalship at Newman.

Book Week

Since 1945 schools and public libraries have been celebrating Book Week across Australia.  This year the theme is “Dreaming with eyes open”.  We held a number of events across the College throughout the week, including our annual book parade in the primary.

The creativity and imagination displayed by our students is a testimony to their enthusiasm for reading. A love of reading is one of the greatest gifts we can give our children. Every day I sit with my son Stephen and read to him or with him. He is growing an appreciation of literature based on interest but also because of my presence. My interest in his reading has assisted his development and hopefully a lifelong pursuit. One of the great joys in my leadership has been to read to students in the primary school. There is something very special in witnessing students listen with intent to the words that come off the page. The benefits of reading are many. For example, reading increases your imagination; enhances your knowledge; improves your concentration and memory; it reduces stress; expands your vocabulary and strengthens your writing.

Our Annual School Improvement Plan Priority Area – Transformational Learning – has prioritised Literacy over the last two years. We have seen learning gain in our reading across the College supported by our PK-12 Literacy Plan. In 2022 a key strategy has been the introduction of Talk for Writing across K- 10. Talk for Writing is a unique process that uses spoken activities to develop writing skills. Quality writing is created by first expanding and developing students’ oral language skills and then teaching the necessary steps for exceptional sentence, paragraph and text construction.

This strategy is starting to bear its fruit because we are seeing more student engagement in writing and reading. So, as we conclude book week, let us continue to encourage our students to read. Let us see it as a gift, one that can transform their learning and their lives.

Thank you to all staff and students for immersing themselves in the spirit of Book Week at Newman College.  Please see other reports and photos within this newsletter.

Da Vinci Decathlon

The Da Vinci Decathlon is an academic competition designed to challenge and stimulate the minds of school students. Students compete in engineering, Mathematics, code breaking, art and poetry, Science, English, ideation, creative producers, cartography and legacy tasks in a collaborative team of 8.

This week, I invited the teams to have lunch with me to celebrate their achievements:

• Year 5 team won first place for Art & Poetry
• Year 6 team won third place for Art & Poetry
• Year 8 team won first place for creative producers
• Year 9 team won third place for Mathematics

Congratulations to all students and to Mrs Lara Ognenis for her leadership and preparation of the students in this wonderful initiative.

Marist Association of St Marcellin Champagnat – National Assembly III, 26-28 August

The third National Assembly will be held at Mary Mackillop Place in Sydney this Friday, Saturday and Sunday.  The National Assembly is an opportunity for Marists to carefully discern where we are called to be and what we are called to do in our discipleship of Jesus.

Newman College will be well represented by Director Mission and Catholic Identity – Mr Simon Martino, Leader of Learning Primary – Ms Katya Anderson, Leader of Wellbeing Primary – Mr Stuart McClorey and me.

During our visit to NSW, Mr Martino and I met with several Principals from Marist schools, one of those being Matt Brennan, Principal of St Gregory’s College in Campbelltown. St. Gregory’s is K-12 College, co-education K-6 and a Boys Boarding School Year 7- 12.

As we move towards the second half of the Term let us continue to let our light shine in the weeks ahead.

John Finneran