Category: Secondary

Key Dates

Mon 12 Sep – Year 5 Makers Market – 5.30pm 6.30pm, JHN Learning Hub 

Mon 12 Sep – Y7 2023 Parent Information Evening – 6.30pm – 7.30pm, Marist Auditorium 

Wed 14 Sep – Y7-12 ACC Athletics Carnival Division A – offsite 

Thu 15 Sep – Y6 IPSHA Athletics Carnival, All Saints College, Bull Creek 

Thu 15 Sep – Charlie and the Chocolate Factory Opening Night, 6.30pm, Marist Auditorium 

Thu 22 Sep – Year 12 last day 

Thu 22 Sep – Year 12 Ball, 6.30pm – 11.00pm, Frasers Restaurant, Kings Park 

Fri 23 Sep – End of Term 3

Welcome to Week 8 and welcome to spring. This week there were a number of focuses on wellbeing and resilience across the school. As we finish another busy and productive term, it is a timely reminder to check in on each other to ensure our Marist family are travelling well. Over the last two weeks we have had Newman students compete across the school in the Speak Up finals in Primary and the Spirit of the Arts, Catholic Performing Arts festival continues for students in Years 3 to 12. Our Primary Athletics Carnival was a great success today, with the sun coming out to shine as our young people exhibited the sportsmanship and participation that defines our Marist family. The Year 7s came together to dance the night away on Thursday of this week and our Year 10 Children, Family and the Community students took on a virtual baby during Week 7 – they were shattered by the end of the week. There were numerous excursions and camps across Primary and secondary, including Outdoor Education, Humanities, Science and Gamechangers.  It is magnificent to see that we are once again able to provide these life-giving experiences of challenge, collaboration, and celebration to our students.  

NAPLAN

NAPLAN Reports for our Year 3, 5, 7 and 9 students will go live on SEQTA next week, Friday 16 September. Hard copies will be posted to your mailing address.

R U OK? Day 

Yesterday was R U OK? Day, the National Day of Action to raise awareness around mental health and suicide prevention. Students and staff were reminded that every day is the day to ask “are you OK?”  Starting meaningful conversations when we notice signs that people we care about might be struggling could help them to open up.  Asking if someone is okay is not always easy, but it could change a life. 

Staff and students were encouraged to accessorise with yellow items.  Yellow iced cupcakes were available for sale on all campuses, proceeds of which will go to R U OK to use towards mental health awareness. 

Zero2Hero 

On Monday 5 September we held the first of our parenting series presentations. In partnership with Zero2Hero, Newman College invited three well known experts to our Marist Auditorium to speak to our parent and broader community on Resilience, specifically providing thoughtful insights into how to develop Resilient Young Minds, Claire Eaton, Claire Orange, and Linda Stade. As a mother to a lively 13-year-old, I certainly found the session useful, and entertaining.  My take aways…there is no substitution for connection and presence with your child. Teach you tween or teen how to focus on trying to stay above the line at least 80% of the time. When your young person approaches you with outrageous comments or tricky topical conversations, raise your eyebrows in a curious manner and seek further information. Finally, when conflicts and disagreements occur in peer groups, try not to get involved. Instead encourage your young person to Look for the good, Lift others up or failing that, Leave the person alone, give them space. Claire Eaton referred to these as the three Ls. 

Languages / Multicultural Week

The Languages Learning, once again, provided our students with various events throughout the week, Taiko – Japanese drums, Brazilian dancers, Indonesian musicians, accordion performance, and the ever-popular gelato van!  These events are just some ways we can bring greater cultural awareness to the College.   

Historically, this week is about celebrating those who have come from other areas of the world, and being able to share their culture, beliefs, and values with our multi-cultural country. 

Year 7 2023 Parent Information Evening

The College is running the Year 7 2023 Parent Information Evening on Monday 12 September at 6.30pm in the Marist Auditorium. This presentation covers relevant information about your child’s Year 7 experience in preparation for their transition from their current schools into their first year of secondary schooling here at Newman.   

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory – College Production 

Excitement is building as we get closer to the opening night of our College production. Students, staff and members of our College community have been working very hard to ensure they dazzle you with their musical skills and creativity.  

Based on the famous novel by Roald Dahl, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory features an original score composed by Marc Shaiman with lyrics by Shaiman and Scott Wittman (Hairspray) and a book by David Greig. The score also pays homage to the Leslie Bricusse and Anthony Newley score from the 1971 film with songs from the motion picture including “Candy Man,” “I’ve Got a Golden Ticket,” “Oompa Loompa Song,” and “Pure Imagination.”  

Tickets are going fast so be sure to secure your tickets to a night of pure imagination! Click here to purchase your tickets.  

15/09/22 Opening night: 6.30pm    

16/09/22 Performance 2: 6.30pm   

17/05/22 Performance 3: 11.00am   

17/09/22 Performance 4: 6.30pm   

18/09/22 Performance 5: 11.00am 

SHINE Announcements

It is with great pleasure to announce some of the wonderful events our SHINE students have participated in recently.

Firstly, at Lavalla several students participated in the Children’s Book Council of WA Create a Book competition. Students spent time carefully curating their books and developing their stories. It is exciting to announce that Kate Gordon in Year 4 achieved second place for her book “Brother, Sister” in the story book category. We congratulate Kate for her efforts and her success in this wonderful competition. Well done Kate, we cannot wait to read more of your wonderful stories.

This term we have several students working towards the FameLab Academy Science communication competition. The FameLab is the world’s leading science communication competition that aims to discover charismatic early career scientists who can inspire people to see the world from new perspectives. We commend our school finalists – Ethan Wynne (Year 9 – Physics); Holly Kallawk (Year 9 – Space); Leyla Do (Year 9 – Height); Hannah Woolfrey (Year 8 – the heart) and Alyssa Petracca (Year 8 – Fingerprints). It is exciting to commend Leyla Do (Year 9) who will participate in the State Final on September 20 at the Heath Ledger Theatre.

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.  

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Dear Parents and Guardians

Staffing Announcement

This week we announced the appointment of Mrs Lisa McClue to the position of Principal at Our Lady of Good Counsel Karrinyup. 

This is a wonderful and well-deserved opportunity for Lisa.  She is an authentic faith filled leader who has great passion for young people and their learning. She has a great technical proficiency to analyse a student’s learning journey and respond both strategically and operationally. She is a people person who engages well with all members of the community. Lisa has been a highly valued member of the College Executive and Senior Leadership Teams.

We look forward to farewelling Lisa at the end of the year to wish her well and to acknowledge her vast contributions to Newman College during her tenure.

I will be working with Marist Schools Australia in the coming weeks on the appointment process for the replacement of Lisa, to commence at Newman College in January 2023.

Acting Deputy Principal Secondary 

This week we farewell Mrs Carla Pastorelli, Deputy Principal Secondary, as she commences parental leave. Our best wishes go with Carla as she embarks on this new phase of her journey.

Mr Simon Martino, currently Director of Mission and Catholic Identity, has been appointed Acting Deputy Principal Secondary, commencing this week. Mr Stuart McClorey has been appointed to the position of Acting Director of Mission and Catholic Identity.

National Catholic Education Commission (NCEC)Conference

Earlier this week I attended the NCEC Conference “The Future is Listening” in Melbourne. 

Delegates were addressed by the Most Rev Peter Comensoli – Archbishop of Melbourne, Nicholas Moore – Chair NCEC, Hon Jacinta Collins – Executive Director NCEC, Federal Minister for Education – Jason Clare MP, as well as other notable speakers.

The major themes that emerged were:

• The ongoing formation of staff, students and families respective to the declining number of Catholics as per the last census.
• School improvement – sector and school strategic priorities and measurement to ensure learning gain for each student over their primary and secondary education.
• Educational pathways that are responsive to technology, sectorial needs.
• Student agency.
• Wellbeing of staff, students and appropriate resourcing.
• Funding allocation for Catholic schools.
• Workforce retention and recruitment.

Our school is entering the final year of a 3 year strategic directions plan as of the end of 2023.  We have just completed our school climate survey (DISA) which will provide significant feedback and input into the consultation period for our Strategic Directions going forward.  The aforementioned themes will be instructive in determining the future directions of our community.  What continues to be assured is the importance of teachers, their development and their capacity to ensure that our students have the very best learning experience.

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

I highly recommend families attend our 2022 College Production.  This musical is based on the 1964 children’s novel by Roald Dahl and has devoured the hearts of readers and theatre goers over many years. I am sure that everyone will enjoy seeing Charlie Bucket and his Grandpa Joe as they join a small group of contest winners who get to tour the magical and mysterious factory of the unusual candy maker Willy Wonka.

Please click here to purchase your tickets.

Newman Parents

The very first parent centred partnership event with Newman College and Zero2Hero was held on Monday evening. 

A big thank you to all those staff, parents and guardians who attended the event.  500 people attended and enjoyed a highly engaging and educational session, focussing on building the resilience of our children.  The feedback has been extremely positive.

Zero2Hero has committed to developing a series of similar events across the Calendar year to educate and engage our parent community.  Should you wish to provide input into which topics are chosen, please click here.

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 

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