Tag: News

Welcome back, I hope students had an enjoyable break and have come back energised for Term 3. The start of term sees us continue to hold Year 10 Subject Selection interviews. I would like to thank all the staff involved in the process, particularly Mr Farley and Mr Geekie. In Week 3 we will be holding our Guild Athletics Carnival. I strongly encourage students to get involved on the day and enjoy the opportunity to be out of classes with their peers on what promises to be a great day for the Guilds.

The start of term is a good time to remind people of the resources available to help children have safe and enjoyable experiences online. If you have not already done so, I would strongly advise parents to visit the esafety Government website and use some of the resources offered.

Finally, a reminder that if families have any questions regarding their child, please do not hesitate to contact the College. Classroom/Pastoral Care teachers, Leader of Wellbeing and our Counselling Team are available to help students with any problems they may be having or to provide guidance for their studies.

Humanities Tour / Arts Tour

Over the break we saw two College tours take place; the Humanities Tour visited Sydney & Canberra while the Arts Tour visited New York. Reports from staff and students have been hugely positive and I hope our students have taken away some great memories from their time away. I was also very pleased to receive feedback from members of the public about our students on these tours. Our students were complimented on the way they conducted themselves in public areas and the manner in which they carried themselves. While it is always nice to receive such positive feedback as a school, these comments really compliment the families in our community and the children they are raising.

Counselling and Wellbeing Team

Returning to school after the holidays can be a time of readjustment for many students. Supporting your child to have a regular school routine will help them to transition back to school and maintain good habits throughout the term. Click here for some tips on how you can assist your child to develop a regular routine and reduce potential school-related stress.

Pathways and Careers Update

Click here to see all of the upcoming list of events that may be useful for students and parents.

Latest Sport News

NAS Results

• Marcellin Guild / ACC Athletics Carnivals
• Run Club
• Strength and Conditioning Program

Click here for more details on the above.

Thank you to all students and coaches on a great Term 2 of NAS Winter Sport. We had many teams show great improvement over the season with most playing off in the finals. Congratulations to the Year 7A Netballers and Year 7 Girls Floorball teams for winning Premierships. NAS Sport recommences in Term 1 2020.

Year 12 Human Biology Excursion

On Monday the Year 12 Human Biology class visited the Harry Perkins Institute. Students worked in the lab, where they set up and ran biotechnological processes to better understand how mutations can be identified. Click here to read more and see more photos from the day.

Year 11 & 12 High Achievers Breakfast

On Wednesday morning students in Years 11 and 12 who have demonstrated outstanding academic commitment and achievement throughout the year were invited to a celebratory breakfast. Over breakfast students shared their successes and strategies and engaged with like-minded individuals, forming a network of support and encouragement for their remaining time at the College. Students were congratulated by Mr Fitzpatrick, Mr Lynch and their Leaders of Wellbeing.

In the last week of Term 2, all of the Year 11 students headed to Hillarys dressed in their finest. If you were at the AQWA function room that night, you would have seen the gents looking professional in their suites and ties and the ladies looking spectacular in their stunning dresses.

At the start of the night, we enjoyed ice cold beverages as well as the privilege to explore the massive aquarium. As lots of you may know, AQWA is an amazing place, but to have it all to ourselves was quite special.
After the exploring of the aquarium, we were led to our tables. After some important thankyous and a prayer, everyone enjoyed the massive buffet. Fortunately for the Year 11 cohort, the AQWA staff knew how to prepare a meal. The food was amazing!

After dinner we all headed onto the dance floor and to the photo booth. While some students were tearing it up on the hard wood floor, others were taking memorable high school photos. Both the photographer and the DJ did more than an awesome job to satisfy the students expectations of the night. As the night came to an end, the DJ played Queen’s Bohemian Rhapsody at full volume, and the whole year group danced around the speakers and sung. It was an excellent end to the already legendary night.

From the excellent catering to the final finishing song, we had heaps of fun. The Year 11 Dinner Dance was a night to remember, it was utterly sensational and I’m sure I can say for everyone that we all had a great time.

To to access the photo gallery click Newman College Year 11 Dance 2019 and use the code CGQ6982.

Samuel Giumelli & Grace Zlnay, Year 11 Students

New York is aptly named the Big Apple and the Newman College Arts students certainly took a big bite out of this city in the two weeks they were there. The purpose of the tour was to immerse students in their chosen arts disciplines of either Music, Drama, Dance or Visual Art and this was certainly achieved. After some very long flights, students hit the ground running with lots of sightseeing. They visited Central Park for a bike ride; St Patrick Cathedral; did an NBC studio tour; hung out in Times Square and went on “The Ride” which is an interactive bus tour, walked across Brooklyn Bridge at dusk; listened to a gospel choir and ate soul food in Harlem; chose to visit the Natural History Museum for a scavenger hunt or visit the famous Guggenheim Art Museum; and were entertained by singing and dancing waiters at Ellen’s Stardust Diner.

After these first few days the group was ready to start workshops in their chosen arts disciplines. Each group worked under the tutelage of professional practitioners. The wealth of knowledge they absorbed throughout their time in these workshops was certainly impressive. The tour was broken with a “rest day” at Governor’s Island where students were able to get away from the craziness of the city and either walk or bike around the island. Evenings were spent at various performances. Students got to experience “Sleep No More;” “Country, Blues and Roots Performance;” “Dear Evan Hansen;” “Beetlejuice;” “Dizzy’s Jazz Club;” “Mark Morris – dance performance;” Amateur Night at the Apollo” and “Much Ado About Nothing.”

The tour concluded with attendance at mass in the beautiful St Patrick’s Cathedral followed by visiting the High Line, the Chelsea Markets, the 911 Memorial and the steps of the MET Museum. The students and teachers had the most exciting, action packed and wonderful time in New York.

Student Reflections

Dance Reflection by Ruby Vance

New Yorks’ dance is extremely unique and offered the dance students the opportunity to step out of our comfort zones. We all loved learning unique techniques of warm ups, stretching and dance style. Choreography and improvisation classes we experienced with leading choreographers helped us develop our own personal sense of movements and phrases. Dancehall was also a group favourite, where we learned a new style of dance with Jamaican and African roots. Contemporary at the Alvin Ailey Dance Company was by far my personal favourite. Choreographer Martell Ruffin provided comedic relief as well as a cool sense of contemporary he likes to call ‘hip hoppery’ that was visually stunning and fun to perform.

Overall New York provided me with the amazing opportunities that I only wish I could experience in Perth. To be in the city where dance really made its place in the world was truly magical, and for that I will forever be thankful to have had the opportunity to go on the 2019 Arts Tour.

Visual Art Reflection by Jaime Pyne

My time in New York was an experience of a lifetime. For me the main focus was on visual art. After a quick subway ride to Brooklyn, graffiti covered the buildings everywhere. We were given a tour and background of the art and then got to try it for ourselves. It was like nothing I have ever tried before. I loved learning the history of graffiti art and that only more recently it has become accepted as a ‘form of art’. I also loved hearing about how artists would go out and spend most nights painting and trying not to get caught when creating their art.

We also visited the Guggenheim museum, which was definitely one of my highlights. Not only was the artwork amazing but the architecture of the museum was as well. To me, it was such a good place to people watch and I found it fascinating seeing people’s reactions to the artworks. I also really enjoyed being able to watch so many musicals and plays. It was amazing to watch the sets and performance spaces come to life. Seeing the visual elements come together to transport the audience to another world was really impactful.

The trip to New York was unforgettable and I felt like I got to experience first-hand what it would be like living there as an artist.

Drama Reflection by Elisabeth Metcalf

I am incredibly grateful for the opportunity I was given by the College for the 2019 Arts Tour. The exhaustion that I felt as we arrived at our hotel after almost 32 hours of airports, security checks and cramped planes was washed away by the sheer incredulity and awe of being in New York.

As workshops began, I initiated “sponge mode,” soaking up everything I could about physical theatre, and our theatre practitioners; Bogart, Laban, Lepage and Meisner. It was daunting and exhausting, and every night I’d get back to my room and fall into bed, shattered. But each morning I’d wake up ready and excited to seize every opportunity I was given to improve my acting skills. My highlight for the tour was definitely “Beetlejuice – the Musical.” Apart from my own love of musical theatre, I was excited to identify techniques in the performance that we’d been studying in our workshops! The set design was stunning, and the actors and actresses were of an incredible caliber, inspiring me to really apply myself to my own drama studies.

I also loved the workshop I attended on writing an Original Solo Performance, something that will be invaluable in my practical exam for my ATAR Drama course.

Overall, this was an experience that I will cherish forever, and the friendships I developed with other students whom I wouldn’t have otherwise interacted with, are bonds that I will carry into my adult life post-school.

Music Refection by Meg Hobson

While I was in New York my chosen discipline to explore was music. This meant that the activities I did were generally based around writing, performing, recording music and the music side of productions and performances. The first workshop we did was a music production workshop where we had the opportunity to record a song that we had been rehearsing. This was the first time I had ever been inside a recording studio and it was amazing to see how the music that we had been playing could be recorded and mixed to sound like music that you hear on the radio!

After this I went to a composing workshop for musical theatre where we worked in small groups to write a song that could be used in a musical. We wrote the lyrics and made a chord progression to go with a melody. This workshop was one of my favourites because it really let me be creative and it allowed me to gain a lot of appreciation for the amount of work that goes in before a musical can even begin to be rehearsed.

Another great session that we did was a jazz jam session and street performance. The performance and the variety of sessions that we did before and after the performance encouraged all of us to attempt solos and to be more expressive through our music. Music students also got to experience a hip-hop history walking tour and a tour of Lincoln Centre.

Although all of the workshops and opportunities were amazing experiences, my favourite would have to be sitting in the orchestra pit of the Tony award winning Broadway musical “The Prom.” I was lucky enough to have the opportunity to sit amongst amazing musicians who were performing live. Watching these musicians perform and having the opportunity to speak to them about their work and their life leading up to working as a musician on Broadway was incredible and truly inspired me.

The two weeks that I spent on the tour were such an amazing experience.

Our aim is to provide students with all the latest information that will help them to make decisions about future careers and life beyond school.Please contact Justin Farley, Pathways and Onsite Coordinator for any further queries Justin.Farley@newman.wa.edu.au | 9204 9457