Category: Future Families

The start of 2022 has been significantly disrupted by COVID-19 and the myriad guidelines that have been put in place for schools.  I assure parents that the College is doing all it can to ensure a safe environment for our staff and students.  Please click here to visit the COVID-19 page on the College website to view correspondence that has been circulated to date.  As more information is provided by the WA Government, we will inform parents and guardians of the impact on our local context.

Newman College Council Formation

Last Saturday, our College Council members attended a beginning of year formation program, delivered by a member of the Marist Mission and Life Formation Team.  The opportunity to reflect on our mission was summed up in the quote ‘Mission comes first.  The church does not have a mission.  The mission, rather, has a church’, (Bevans 2009).  At the heart of our Marist community is our family spirit which is built on the premise of the common good articulated by our Founder, St Marcellin Champagnat, to make good Christians and good citizens. As a leadership, our decision-making matrix is underpinned by our formative experiences in mission and our commitment to the faith and learning development of our young people.

Our Vision for Mission is our guiding light in our school in how we engage with our Catholic Identity and how we create formative experiences.  We aim to provide opportunities for our young people where they reflect on critical questions that determine their place and engage in the world.

At our Student Leadership Commissioning Mass this week, Monsignor Kevin Long noted that leadership is underpinned by service which, put simply, is action.  For our young people the questions of rights, responsibilities and power to be good Christians (and Citizens) is a process of discernment.  As a Catholic school, this discernment is based on the principles of Catholic social teaching, the Gospel imperatives and our experiences of mission.

200 years ago St Marcelin Champagnat identified the need for education for dislocated rural children.  This ambition was to enable underprivileged youth the opportunity to participate and ultimately compete in the world.  Marist education is now in over 80 countries across the world and serves over 800,000 people.

In 2022 we hold the same ambition to create the opportunity for our young people to participate and make a contribution both individually and collectively to our society with the view to consider the other person, however challenging that may be at times.

The Sesquicentenary of Marist Education in Australia 2022, Marist Alumni Project 

This year marks 150 years of Marist Education in Australia in which the first school class occurred in 1872 at the Rocks, Church Hill, in Sydney.  As part of these celebrations, Marist Schools Australia is recognising those who have been educated by the Marists and have made a significant contribution to Australian society.  All Marist schools across Australia have been invited to nominate those who have made such contributions.  Following extensive research by our Archives Team, a number of worthy candidates were identified and the common denominator of all was clearly their service to the common good.  The outcome of the project is the creation of an Anthology of Outstanding Australian Marist Alumni.

Next week we will be celebrating the High Achievers of 2021 and, at that event, I will provide an outline of some of those with whom the College has chosen and subsequently nominated.

We look forward to the weeks ahead with the hope that as one community we can walk together in solidarity.

John Finneran
Principal

The cultivation of relationships underpins our faith and learning experience at Newman College. Our collaboration as a school, with students and families, is growing our culture of excellence and the engagement of our students in their experience of learning. The advent of COVID-19 has caused a significant disruption to the world requiring us to consider how we respond individually and collectively as a community.

Pope Francis in his Christmas Message Urbi et Orbi (to the city, Rome, and the world : to everyone) reminds us that we cannot grow tired and withdraw from society or lose sight, as it is in our relationships where we encounter others.   He says:

“Our capacity for social relationships is sorely tried; there is a growing tendency to withdraw, to do it all by ourselves, to stop making an effort to encounter others and do things together,” ….

As we commence 2022 it will be our commitment to each other and our capacity to collaborate and build our family spirit that will be the mark of our success.  Our Vision for Learning ‘Shine through Discovery’ – let your light shine (Matthew 5:16) invites us to create a learning experience that supports our young people to become their best selves; passionate, articulate, faith filled and hopeful.

To do this, I challenge each of us to actively consider the other person, to be actively present and commit to a culture of excellence.

I recognise the difficulties and uncertainties that everyone will face in the coming months.  It is our hope that our College community will be a place of support for families. Our ongoing collaboration, underpinned by our family spirit, will be more important than ever in the year ahead.

Governance

As advised to the College community in December last year, Newman College has exited the Catholic Education Western Australia (CEWA) system as a result of Marist Schools Australia Limited (MSA Ltd) streamlining its governance structures as a school governing body under the WA Education Act.  As part of this change, MSA Ltd has worked closely with CEWA in the transition and to clarify its responsibility as a governing authority and proprietor of Newman College.  CEWA will continue to provide ongoing Religious Education support.  The letter I refer to above can be accessed by clicking here.

COVID 19

On Thursday all families would have received a letter regarding the start of the year which includes updated COVID-19 guidelines to schools from the WA Government.  Please click here to view.

School Improvement – A Culture of Excellence

Our 2022 Annual School Improvement Plan will set the tone for our year for School Improvement. Our goal is that every child continues to strive to do their best in all endeavours and our cultural imperative is to create a space for our students to flourish individually and collectively.

A key strategic priority is growing our culture of excellence that imbues our faith and learning community.  This includes the high expectations that we set for ourselves not only in what we say but in what we do.  In 2022 our College staff will focus on building teacher quality and developing the leadership within our school.  For students, setting goals and committing to our Vision for Learning ‘Shine through Discovery – let your light shine‘ (Matthew 5:16) and performing to the best of their ability, is an imperative.  To that end, I encourage each student to challenge themselves in their learning and in how they form relationships with their teachers and each other.  Critical to this will be the application of our Newman Norms that seeks to provide an alignment of our College’s expectations and standards.

Significant to our Annual School Improvement Plan 2022 is the introduction of Sustainability of the Environment which will be owned not just by our staff but by through the leadership of our students.

Capital Works

Significant work has been undertaken across the College over the extended holiday period.  Most notably is the piping of the open drain through a large section of the College site, between the Lavalla and Marcellin Campuses.  Please click here to view a report on the works carried out.

The consolidation of our PK-6 campus is progressing well, notwithstanding the challenges that have emerged with the WA border restrictions and the impact on the construction industry.  There will be disruption and delays over the coming 18 months and we will communicate changes with families as they arise.  The final design will be available for viewing in Term 1.

2022 College Leadership and New and Returning Staff

A new organisational chart has been developed as a result of immediate and impending change to the leadership structure.  The following staff make up the College’s Senior Leadership Team:

• John Finneran             Principal
• Lucie McCrory             Vice Principal
• Steve Halley-Wright   Director Finance and Administration
• Thomas Wagner          Director Operations and Engagement
• Simon Martino            Director Mission and Catholic Identity
• Carla Pastorelli            Deputy Principal Secondary
• Lisa McClue                  Deputy Principal Primary
• Bernie Roberts            Director Curriculum Administration PK-12
• Jenny Miraudo            Director Transformational Learning

To view the list of new staff starting this year, please click here.

I thank all parents and guardians as they prepare their children for the return to school and we look forward to welcoming all students on Monday and Tuesday next week.

John Finneran

Principal

Late last year the College reached an historic agreement with the Water Corporation that will allow the piping of the open drain through a significant section of the College site. Over the course of 55 years at this location, the College has attempted to negotiate to have the water course undergrounded but failed; this is a significant moment in the history of the College. With the ongoing plans to relocate the Early Childhood Centre (Marian) to the Churchlands site, undergrounding the water course will allow for the physical connection between the campuses.

Civil works have commenced and are expected to run into March. During this time there will be restricted pedestrian movements across the College, with the lower car park closed for the start of Term 1. The College will provide updates on parking and access should they change during the course of the civil program of works. We understand that disruptions around drop off and pick up locations can be frustrating, but we ask for your patience as we see this historic body of work completed.

The College has continued its upgrades to the Marcellin campus during the Christmas holiday period. Three new classrooms will be commissioned early in term 1. Of particular interest is in the creation of two new classroom areas that will expand the new St. John Henry Newman Learning Hub into the northern A Block area. This will increase the College’s capacity to accommodate large flexible working environments, continuing our progressive refurbishment of learning spaces throughout the College.

The Facilities Team has also worked tirelessly in maintaining the campus infrastructure, while the work to refashion the exterior colour scheme of the College continues. Painting of the Chapel windows has been completed, along with the central courtyard area at Marcellin.  This new and contemporary look will be completed by the start of Term 1.