Newman News Term 3 Week 8: From the Principal

Fathers Day

Last weekend we celebrated Fathers Day, recognising the wonderful presence of fathers in our lives. Poignantly for myself, it has been a year since the passing of my father, Peter. His memory lives large in my thoughts on the influence he has had in my family’s life. A compassionate, faith filled man, full of hope and expectation of what was possible in the life we have been given. He empowered my siblings and me to strive to be our best, grounded in a humility that was focused on serving others.

On Thursday, Friday and Monday we enjoyed Fathers Day celebrations across the College. Breakfasts and the making of Fathers Day presents were the order of the day which gave our students the opportunity to give thanks and show love for their dads. On Friday morning our student led prayer in our Champagnat Chapel was centred on giving thanks for our fathers, beautifully led by Tiggy Connelly and Georgia Whitely. I commend the leadership of these two great young women who have led prayer consistently throughout the course of 2020. Their leadership has been exemplified by an ongoing commitment to create a space for hope and reflection for our College community. Please click here to view the latest liturgy.

Year 12 Industry Breakfast

Newman College hosted its annual Industry Breakfast for Year 12 students with alumni, industry partners and sponsors of Newman College. This event provided an opportunity to Year 12 students in their General and ATAR pathways to connect and be in discussion with people in various specialised fields. These included engineering, communications, commerce, science, arts, construction, architecture, mathematics, technology, human resources and education. The tenor of the occasion was engaging and insightful for our students in enabling them to feel confident about the possibilities of what the future may bring to them.

The great strength of our College is in how we have collaborated with families and students in determining their learning pathways in the senior school. Each pathway, be it ATAR or General, is of equal value as they meet the respective needs and aspirations of each student. Our College alumni, partners and sponsors were impressed with the high level of engagement and presentation of our students.

Opportunities such as these epitomize the intent of our Vision for Learning – Shine Through Discovery – that animates our students to believe that they are capable of harnessing their talents and making a difference to the world in which they live. In 2021, as part of our new Strategic Directions, a key Strategic Intent will be to leverage our Newman heritage by building our alumni database and utilising the high level of human and social capital that emanates from the work and lives of our past students. Click here to see highlights from the day.

College Archives

Further to our Strategic Priority, Leveraging Heritage, has been the curation of our College archives. We have entered into a partnership with the Perth Museum to review and enhance how we maintain and grow our archival resources. This has been an exciting initiative which is capturing the unique story of Newman College. Central to this project has been the digitalisation of College alumni that will enable us to develop a foundation in the year ahead. In addition, it has brought together the story of the Dominican, Brigidine and Marist charisms – the founding schools which is now Newman College.

Hale Leaders Breakfast

Newman College student leaders took time to visit Hale School last week attending their leadership breakfast. This was an opportunity to develop stronger relationship between the schools and also to gain insight to their student leadership program. What was significant was the high level of leadership and discussion that will enable further such events to take place into 2021.

Lavalla Athletics Carnival

Today we held our Lavalla Athletics Carnival, another great College event highlighted by the high level of participation of our students and support from their families.