Newman News Term 2 Week 8: From the Deputy Principal Secondary

Jo Dunn on 11/06/2021

Highlights from the Past Two Weeks 

Maggie Dent: Real Kids in An Unreal World 

On Tuesday 8 June, Maggie Dent spoke to families in our community on Building Resilience and Self-esteem in Today’s Children. Resiliency is the capacity to bounce back from life’s setbacks and it is an essential component in healthy flourishing. Maggie shared her 10 resilience building blocks and while this model was developed for children aged 0 – 12 years, this step-by-step approach can be adapted and utilised by families to support adolescents to be happy, healthy, strong and kind. For more information on the 10 resilience building blocks, please visit here. 

Senior School Exams

Congratulations to the Year 10, 11 and 12 students who have now completed their Semester One examinations. As students begin to receive their results and feedback, I encourage students to take this opportunity to reflect on the progress they have made so far and to set some new goals for the new semester.

Year 11 and 12 students who wish to make changes to their subjects, must see their Leader of Wellbeing as soon as possible.

Problem Solve It Immersion 2021

Well done to the  following students who have been successfully chosen to attend the Problem Solve It Immersion 2021

  • Jaydon Augustus (Yr 9)
  • Zoe Boss (Yr 9)
  • Oliver Chapman (Yr 9)
  • Lali Dimitriadis (Yr 9)
  • Caitlin Hawkins (Yr 10)
  • Charlotte Laurent (Yr 9)
  • Meg McAullay (Yr 10)
  • Christian Offenburg (Yr 10)
  • Keira Reynolds (Yr 9)
  • Austin Sickinghe (Yr 10)
  • Pippa Simpson (Yr 9)
  • Jordan Smith (Yr 9)
  • Riley Somers (Yr 10)
  • John Thompson (Yr 10)
  • Zoe Trovato (Yr 9)

This immersion program challenges students the opportunity to engage in authentic, creative and collaborative learning where the process is just as important as the outcome, building their capacity to be dynamic, reflective and resilient life-long learners, whilst concurrently preparing them for the future world they will inevitably enter. It also aims to further develop and promote the formation of critical thinking skills and the capacity to problem solve.

As part of this immersion a relationship was established with Singapore Republic Polytechnic, an institution of higher learning which was the first school system in Singapore to use a problem-based learning pedagogy for all its diploma programs. In 2019, 25 Newman College students and 4 staff travelled to Singapore in what would be our first international immersion. Not only did this allow our students to grow as informed global citizens by traveling internationally to the school, they also had the opportunity to experience another culture first hand. In 2020 and 2021 COVID-19 has seen the program pivot to adhere to the continuing travel restrictions.

In 2021, the immersion will take place between July 13th to July 16th and while tailored to our Gifted and Talented Education students.This will be a local 4-day immersion which not only sees the continuation of our relationship with Singapore Republic Polytechnic, but also incorporates a newly formed partnership with UWA and local branches of other large organisations. The students who attend the immersion become leaders, mentors and ambassadors in this space, supporting students, staff, parents and the wider community in understanding the methodology and benefits of problem-based learning.

Newman College comes third at STEM Challenge Day

The STEM Challenge Day was a very educational experience that took place on the 20h of May and taught the Year 10 participants a lot about how to approach a problem and solve it with an appropriate plan. Held at Claremont showground, competing with eight schools Newman finished third overall, coming first in bridge building, hovercrafts, grasping at straws and future power, and second in activities such as water turbines and many others. The day taught us about what a future in STEM career would look like and how the skills we learn in school can be applied to solve real world problems. We worked collaboratively and approached each problem with a growth mindset, which lead us to many successes, and sometimes a failure, but with failure comes learning. Overall, the day was a success and a wonderful learning experience for everyone. – Mackenzie Boekhoorn Year 10.

“Grasping straws proved to be a fun challenge in which we had to build a robotic hand using limited and unique materials. Future power was a very interesting task where we had to choose different power generators to re-route energy to different sectors.” – Luke Hollett. Luke’s team also included Ethan Nguyen and Aaron Hutchinson. The team came first in both Grasping at Straws and Future Power.

“The wind turbine was an event in which as a group we constructed a turbine out of our limited resources (3 foam trays, 10 popsicle sticks and tape) along with a metal rod. The aim of this challenge was to create an efficient turbine that spins as many times as possible in 20 seconds while water is projected onto the wheel.” – Eliza Swain. Eliza’s team included Caitlin Kojundzich, Sinead Murray and Mackenzie Boekhoorn. The team were close to beating one of the challenges records in the Turbine challenge.

A special mention also goes to the winning team of the Hover Frenzy challenge. Maud Buchanan, Rose Carlino, Sarah Johnston and Christian Offenburg who not only designed a functional, fast and agile hovercraft but they also considered the design and aesthetic of their craft naming it ‘Biscuit’ for the day.

Lastly, the Bridge building team Corey McFadgen, Jacob Rivett and Christian Wearmouth narrowly missed out on first place for their incredibly strong bridge.

Thank you to the following students who were also involved in the day and contributed to our third overall placing: Meg McAullay, Bethany Avins, Lincoln Patterson, Michael Pethick, Ben Giumelli, Isaac Nolan, Cooper Stevens, James Hart, Austin Sickinghe, Noah Cowan, Ben Borgas, Reuben Keane, Blake Arto, Daniel Bulakovski and Kai Kazmer.

Thank you to Mr Bartlett and Mrs Ognenis for assisting in the organisation of the day.

Important Information For Next Two Weeks 

Guild Activities

Students on the Marcellin Campus will be participating in a Guild activities on Wednesday 16 June.  Students are required to wear their Guild uniform on this day.

NAS Finals 

Good luck to all NAS teams who have progressed to the finals during Week 9. We look forward to celebrating their success during the Principal’s Assembly in Week 11.

Year 6 & 12 Student Leaders Gathering 

Year 6 and Year 12 student leaders met this week and discussed the opportunities and challenges that leadership can present. As part of their leadership development, the students will participate in a number of leadership formation workshops throughout the year. These workshops will aim to grow our student leaders and support them in overcoming some of the challenges they have identified. Our first workshop will take place on Friday 25 June at 7:30am in the Heritage Room on the Marcellin Campus. Students will be provided with breakfast.

Careers and Pathways Update

Contact details:

Justin Farley
Pathways  Coordinator 
pathways@newman.wa.edu.au 
Tel. 9204 9457

Alastair MacNeill
VET Coordinator
vet@newman.wa.edu.au
Tel. 9204 9415

Year 10, 11 and 12

Newman Careers Expo

The Newman Careers Expo will be held on Monday 21 June (Week 10) after school in the Marist Auditorium. There will be a wide variety of exhibits, including:

  • All Universities: UWA, Curtin, Notre Dame, ECU, Murdoch
  • TAFE
  • Defence Force
  • Private VET providers
  • SAE Creative Media Institute
  • Apprenticeships and traineeships
  • Disability Support

3.30pm to 4.30pm: Year 11/12 students attending

5.00pm to 5.45pm: Year 10 students attending

5.45pm: Year 10 parent information evening

Year 10 

Subject Selection for Year 11, 2022

Please see below the timeline for subject selection for Year 11, 2022.

  •  Term 2, Week 9
    Year 10 Semester 1 reports available to students and families.
  • Term 2, Week 10
    Monday 21 June
    5.00pm to 5.45pm: Year 10 Careers Exo
    5.45pm:Year 10 Parent Evening
    Tuesday 22 June
    Subject selections will open (online) for students and families.
  • Term 2, Week 11
    Friday 2 July: Final date for Year 11 subject selections to be entered online.
  • Term 3, Week 1-2
    College staff will contact families on an as-needed basis to discuss concerns or questions.
  • Term 3, Week 3
    Information about enrolling in Onsite (work experience) and TAFE will be provided to students and families.

Year 12

University applications open (TISC)

As of 19 April, Year 12s can apply for a place at University in 2022. In Term 3, all Year 12s will be provided with detailed information on how to apply via TISC.

There is no rush to apply and students will not miss out on a place at University. It is better to take your time and think carefully about the right course for you.

Closing dates are 30 September (for Medicine/Dentistry) and 21 December (all other courses).

University Early Offers

Western Australian universities are publishing their Early Offer programs for students entering university in 2022. Please see below for details:


Thinking of studying Medicine or Dentistry next year?

If you are in Year 12 and thinking of studying Medicine or Dentistry next year (either at Curtin, or via direct pathway to UWA) you must sit the Undergraduate Clinical Aptitude Test (UCAT) this year.

The dates for UCAT testing 2021 are:

  • 1 July: Testing begins
  • 11 August: Last test date

You can find out more about the UCAT at https://www.ucat.edu.au/ or you are welcome to book an appointment to talk to me. There are many different ways into Medicine and Dentistry so come and ask if unsure.

Students and parents might also find this webinar useful.

Upcoming Careers Events