Tag: News

As we prepare to welcome new families into our College in 2019, I am reminded how important play-based education is for our young people. As they enter our College community as three or four year old’s, their world is only just beginning. Our play-based environment allows the students to firstly come to understand themselves and their position in their family and their world, secondly it allows them to understand how to interact with others and finally it allows them to explore the world God made. This also allows them to foster a strong imagination, to create new games, to collaborate and to solve problems. Our staff are always implementing learning intentions through this process and we are fortunate to have such dedicated staff offering the best for our students.

KINDY AND PRE KINDY ORIENTATIONS 2019

Over the last two weeks, the College has held the Kindy and Pre-Kindy Orientations for 2019. We have welcomed many new families to the school and recognised familiar faces as younger siblings start their journey. Each program was outlined, and the parents were able to connect with the families their children will become friends with. Thank you to the Primary Social Committee for supplying the refreshments and to Melissa Corbett, Katya Anderson and Lisa McClue for their support on the day.

SUSTAINABILITY @ LAVALLA – ECO NINJAS

The dedicated Year 5 students have banded together to support our College and our environment. They have formed a team to improve the Lavalla Campus in terms of sustainability, waste management and environmental care. These Eco Ninjas have already transformed the veggie gardens and will shape significant changes in the future. Well done!

PRIMARY CHRISTMAS CELEBRATION

Students, family and staff from our PK-Y6 classes came together for a night of Christmas celebration. Each year group has been working with our Music Teacher, Mrs Collins-Ford this term to learn a Christmas Carol. It was wonderful listening to their joyful young voices singing their chosen Carol so beautifully. The evening also allowed for our Primary community to reflect on a year of blessings and enjoy some significant family time together.

One of the key strategic intents of our Vision for Learning Shine through Discovery – Let you light shine Matt 5:16 is to foster creativity. Creative solutions to complex problems is the mantra of our students as they navigate their learning in the 21st century. As educators, we support students to collaborate with their peers to design solutions and options to demonstrate knowledge and understanding. STEM skills that promote processes of design, prototyping and experimenting challenge students to review and improve their ideas and refine their thinking. Across the College, from the Marian Makerspace, to the Coder Dojo at Lavalla and the entrepreneurship program on Marcellin, exploring ideas supports our students to Shine through Discovery!

NAPLAN ANALYSIS 2018

NAPLAN results have been released and it is pleasing to note that Newman College performed above the national average in many outcomes. Spelling and Numeracy were areas of relative strength for most cohorts and reflects some of the different strategies utilised in both primary and secondary contexts. Writing persuasively and imaginatively is an area of growth for most groups of students and will be an area of focus in 2019.

Primary staff have been working with NAPLAN data to review areas of relative strength and areas for focus with current and future year groups. Staff meeting time has been allocated to data literacy and access to bespoke resourcing depending on cohort needs through an external group Best Performance. Extensive time has also been allocated to scope and sequencing of writing across the primary years to better target student areas of need.

Secondary staff have been engaged in productive projects and discussions this year to reflect on the way a range of data sources can be used to personalise the learning experience and activate growth for all students. NAPLAN data is one set of information which also helps target our literacy and numeracy intervention strategies along with Allwell Testing and class-based assessments and observations.
NAPLAN also assists us in providing data informed teaching and learning, which is in line with the College’s annual school improvement plan.

 

‘We educate above all through being present to young people in ways that show we care for them personally. We make time for them beyond merely professional contacts, getting to know each one individually. Personally and together as a group we seek to establish relationships with them, founded on love, which create a climate for learning and an educational setting, for passing on values, and for personal growth’.
(Article 99 – In the Footsteps of St Marcellin Champagnat)

The ideals shared across the 83 countries around the world in which Marist education in the tradition of Saint Marcellin Champagnat is present, are reflected in the extract above from In the Footsteps of St Marcellin Champagnat. At Newman College, we seek to be a vibrant, local expression of these ideals in our commitment to developing each young person in our care in a holistic way that seeks to invite each to reach the fullness of life socially, emotionally, spiritually, intellectually and physically. We do this as an intentional community of faith and learning in which we are unified by our shared appreciation for the place of our Catholic faith and its unique Marist expression. It is within this climate of learning that we seek to establish a nurturing educational setting in which our values may become sign-posts to grow and support each member of our community.

NEW YEARS’ 7–12 SACRAMENTAL PROGRAM

A new opportunity has been extended by the Archdiocese of Perth for Secondary schools to develop age-appropriate preparation programs that support secondary-aged students who may have missed the opportunity to prepare and receive the sacraments in Primary school. This model is a first for secondary schools, and provides an opportunity for the College to provide a school-based preparation program that connects students to local parishes to then receive the sacraments. Here at Newman College, we have had a number of families express the desire for their daughters and sons to have the opportunity to prepare to receive the sacraments in Secondary school. In this Year of Youth, Bishop Donald Sproxton (Auxiliary Bishop – Archdiocese of Perth) has extended this opportunity to all secondary students in our Archdiocese on behalf of Archbishop Timothy Costelloe SDB.

YEAR 11 PHILIPPINES IMMERSION

On Friday 23 November, 16 Year 11 students and 3 accompanying staff members embarked on the 2018 Year 11 Philippines Immersion. This included two students from our sister school, St Joseph’s College in Northam. The Immersion is another practical way in which our Marist communities seek to build opportunities for solidarity, community engagement, relationships and connections between Western Australia and the Philippines.

Students were taken to key places such as PREDA Foundation, Fatima Centre and Kuya Centre. The group also had the privilege of living in harmony and collaboration with the Aeita Indigenous Village of Alibang, where they develop organic, free trade and sustainable practices for preserving indigenous culture.

ANTI-POVERTY MASS

Catholic school students, staff and Church agencies gathered together on Tuesday 16 October to celebrate the Anti-Poverty Mass, held in recognition of the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty and as part the Year of Youth. The Mass was run by Catholic Youth Ministry (CYM) and held at Good Shepherd Church, Lockridge Parish in collaboration with Catholic Mission, Caritas, St Vincent De Paul Society, LifeLink, and the Liturgy Office. Four Year 10 students from Newman College attended the Mass which was designed to inspire, encourage, support, and affirm the actions and efforts of young leaders in schools, parishes and university communities, in working towards ending poverty at home and abroad. For the second year running, Newman College supplied and carried the Anti-poverty Cross bearing positive messages from students who attended the Mass last year. Click here to access the article about the Mass in this month’s ‘The Record’.

REMAR BLUE SOLIDARITY CAMP

The Remar Blue Solidarity Camp took place between 22 August and 28 August in Mullewa, a small country town 500km north east of Perth. This camp was a “live in” experience where we were able to be the ‘hands and feet of Christ’. It gave us the opportunity to experience ‘service’ in a prolonged context, whilst deepening our experience of communal living within a Christian context. Click here to read more and see more photos and a video from the camp.