Our Targeted OLNA Support Workshops, offered at Newman College’s Homework Club, provide students with the focused preparation they need to succeed in OLNA. These workshops, offered in the lead up to the assessment, are specifically designed to expose students to a variety of practice questions across reading, writing, and numeracy, allowing them to familiarise themselves with the types of challenges they will face during the actual assessments.
In addition to practicing questions, students will also learn effective test strategies and time management skills crucial for performing well under exam conditions. The workshops offer a supportive environment where students can build confidence, refine their skills, and receive guidance from experienced teachers who understand the demands of OLNA. Whether students need to strengthen their understanding of specific concepts or develop strategies to maximise their performance, these workshops provide the tools and support necessary to help every student achieve their best possible outcome.
These workshops will have a focus on Year 11 and 12s who will be sitting OLNA in May. Further OLNA workshops will be offered later in the year in preparation for the September testing period including Year 10.
OLNA.com.au
In addition to OLNA Support Workshops, the College has purchased OLNA.com.au subscriptions for all students requiring to sit their OLNA assessment in 2025.
Login: Student Newman College email
Password: Student first name, eg Sarah
If you encounter any issues accessing your olna.com.au account, please contact Mrs Nicky Winterbourn, Leader of Learning Support (Acting), on nicola.winterbourn@newman.wa.edu.au.
Marcellin Homework Club
Just a friendly reminder to parents collecting their child from the Marcellin Homework Club to please check in with a staff member at the library desk and they will advise your child of your arrival. Please refrain from accessing the JHN Learning Hub as this can pose a duty of care issue for our students.
NAPLAN
NAPLAN will be held for Years 3, 5, 7, and 9 from 12 –24 March. Further information will be shared to families in the coming days.
Our Year 1 Red class were the first to share their learning with us in 2025, presenting their class assembly this morning. 1 Red started their assembly with a beautiful song, reminding us all to ‘let our light shine’. The focus of the assembly was on highlighting how we are all special in our own individual ways. Year 1 Red students shared the different ways they are ‘clever’ and let their light shine each and every day. To finish the assembly, the class shared a wonderful song about being special. Thank you 1 Red!
Primary Swimming Carnival (Y3-6)
Our Years 3-6 Swimming Carnival was a huge success today! We were blessed with beautiful weather for what was a sensational day of sportsmanship, athleticism and joy! A huge congratulations to all of our students for trying their best in their races and events! Our Guild shirts looked brilliant throughout the day at our first-ever Primary ‘Guild Carnival’ and a huge congratulations to Thomas More for winning the Swimming Championship Shield, and Brigid for winning the Spirit Shield. Thank you to all Primary staff involved in the day, with special mention to Mrs Tash Richards for her planning, coordination and running of this huge event!
Year 6 Camp
Our Year 6’s spent a wonderful three days at Forrest Edge Campsite in Waroona. Over the three days they participated in activities such as flying fox, pamper pole, kayaking, rafting, crate climbing, screen printing and so much more! It was so wonderful to see our students engaged with the activities and pushing themselves to try new things and forge new relationships with their peers. A huge thanks to our Year 6 teachers for their work in preparing the camp, and our supporting staff who also attended. The camp ran smoothly thanks to the collective efforts of our staff and a heartfelt thanks for the time they gave up away from their own families to be able to provide our Year 6 students with a camp they will always remember.
Community Mass
It has been wonderful to see so many Lavalla students at our first two Community Masses in 2025. Catherine Guild had a wonderful turn out at our first Community Mass, with Brigid Guild having smaller numbers yesterday. When your child’s Guild is invited to Community Mass on Thursday mornings at 8:00am, it would be wonderful if they could be there to support. To build Guild spirit, students that attend the Mass are able to wear their Guild sports top for the entire day.
The remainder of the Guild Masses for Term 1 are listed below for Lavalla parents to mark in their calendars:
Week 5: Thursday 6 March – Thomas More
Week 6: Thursday 13 March – Chisolm
Week 7: Thursday 20 March – Marcellin
Week 8: Thursday 27 March – MacKillop
Week 9: Thursday 3 April – Romero
Week 10: Thursday 10 April – Camara
Primary Extension Opportunities
We wanted to share with our families an explanation of the approach to extension within the primary school. We use a three-tiered system, similar to our support structures (outlined in the previous newsletter). At Newman College, we believe in nurturing the unique gifts of each child and providing experiences that encourage growth, curiosity, and critical thinking across all learning areas. The diagrams below outline the key components of each tier of extension and the criteria used for withdrawn small group activities. We hope this gives you a clearer understanding of what extension looks like on a day-to-day basis.
Catherine Young
Leader of Learning Primary
URSTRONG
A reminder that parents continue to have access to a FREE URSTRONG parent membership. We hope that as a URSTRONG Family, you will reinforce the important messages of empowerment, self-compassion, and kindness at home.
Newman Norms / Medals of Marcellin
Our Medals of Marcellin are back in 2025! Each fortnight at each Primary campus, one person will be drawn out of the raffle and receive a small prize for living out our Newman Norms. Congratulations to Niall, Ivy and Leo (Lavalla Campus) who were the winners in Week 2, and Charlotte (Marian Campus) who was the Week 3 winner of our raffle! Each raffle ticket received is swapped for a token and the Guild with the highest number of tokens at the end of the term wins a prize for the whole Guild!
Lavalla Homework Club
A reminder that children attending Homework Club must be collected by a parent/guardian from the bottom floor of the 3-6 Building at the end of Homework Club. If your child will be getting home another way (i.e. walking) then it is essential you email our Library Teacher (Sam Wynne) so we have this on record – samantha.wynne@newman.wa.edu.au
If you completed the form in the previous Newsletter, you are confirmed for Homework Club for the remainder of the year. If you did not complete the form but would like your child to join anytime from now until the remainder of the term, please email samantha.wynne@newman.wa.edu.au
Primary Library News
Congratulations to every single student who is participating in our Library competitions. Miss Hall, Mrs Bailey and Mrs Wynne are very proud of you all. Wait until Mrs Le Dan hears our news too!!!
Our Marian Campus Winners for the “Library Bear Needs A Name” competition were: Lachlan, 1R and Kiana, PPG. Lavalla winners were Emily, 4G and Lucius, 6G.
Student Sporting News
Congratulations to Lilah, who won the CBC Green Busselton Junior Tennis Tournament for singles and doubles in the girls division over the Australia Day weekend. Over the summer holidays she also came second in the Applecross Head Junior Open and the City of Joondalup and XCeed Sorrento Open, and also came first in the doubles in the WA Junior Open! What a sensational achievement Lilah!
If your child has achieved state or national recognition in their sport or extra-curricular activity, please email us at communications@newman.wa.edu.au, so we can celebrate their success.
Newman App
It would be beneficial if parents could ensure they have the Newman App, as this will be utilised more in 2025 as one of the main modes of communication. To download the app in the Apple Store (Apple Devices) or Google Play (Android Devices), simply type in Newman College.
3D Printer
In the bottom floor of our Years 3-6 building we have received a generous donation of a 3D Printer from the Zafiropoulos family. This will be utilised throughout the year by some classes as part of their Digital Technologies programs. A big thank you to the Zafiropoulos family for their time and donation of the printer.
This week has seen the first Primary assembly for the year and it was a delight to present merit certificates to our Marian students and watch Year 1 Red perform about their way of ‘Shining’ and the many ways we are smart. Primary continued their big week with the successful running of the Year 6 Camp at Waroona and the Lavalla Swimming Carnival. The week’s events saw our students shining through class work, adventure and teamwork, and sporting endeavour. Tonight, we celebrate the Primary Family Picnic at Lavalla and the response from families has been great, even with a long-weekend backing onto the event. Thank you for your strong support of Family Spirit.
Primary Build
The Primary build continues to go well and we will ensure we provide the community with good notice as to when, in Term 2, the move from Marian to Lavalla Campus will occur.
Student Voice and Agency – Your children leading the way
There’s so much importance in nurturing the voice and involvement of students in their own education and formation. In our new Strategic School Improvement Plan 2025-2027, initiatives of student-adult partnership feature heavily.
Student voice and agency happens in the classroom through empowering young people to give feedback to teachers, feedback to others and feedback about their own learning. Their agency is promoted in providing the opportunity to be responsible and own what is happening in their lives. It is the nurture of partnership and was described within the Australian government-endorsed Through Growth to Achievement: Report of the Review to Achieve Educational Excellence in Australian Schools 2018. Projects underway in 2025 across the whole College that nurture voice and agency include:
The building of Guild spirit and identity;
Involvement in planning transition programs to secondary school, feeding back the successes and challenges of the program, and
Co-designing a student recognition system (colours and honours in Christian Service Learning, Academic, Cultural and Sport participation).
In Term 2, we will highlight ‘My Learning,’ which is our approach to further voice and agency in each student’s learning journey. One project just about to finish began with the Year 6 group from 2024 who planned and presented to the school a ‘friendship bench’. This will shortly be installed on the Lavalla Campus. We are blessed with caring, considerate and community concerned children and it is heartening to see the work they are leading at Newman College.
Active Transport – My Way
Another exciting initiative we will be developing in the next few months, that has the leadership of students and involvement of parents, is our plan to encourage walking and riding to school. In today’s edition, Mr Michael Chiera, Vice Principal, writes about our plan in partnership with the City of Stirling to encourage alternative ways of coming to school. This always needs to be considered in context of the individual’s age and journey from home to school and back, but it is important in so many ways to encourage active transport.
I wish all Newman College families a wonderful long weekend. It is hard to believe that we are at a mid-way point of Term 1.
Our Lavalla building program is progressing well, with the facilities due for completion towards the end of term two. The new hardcourts are currently being surfaced and we should have access to them by the end of this month. Planning is underway for the relocation of our Marian campus students and staff. It will be an exciting chapter in the history of the College, to have all staff and students on the one campus.
Finance & Accounts
All families will have received their school fee account now and I thank you for completing your payment plans via our new web portal, Parent Lounge. To access the portal, click here.
As is always the case, any families experiencing financial hardship are encouraged to contact the finance team for assistance.
Public Transport
In response to the feedback we have received from our parents, we are continuing to lobby Transperth for a review of bus services to and from the College. In particular, it has been identified that services from both Karrinyup bus station & Glendalough train station would assist you greatly. As this process continues, we will keep you updated on progress.
The 2025 school year is off to a fantastic start, filled with engaging activities and events that have brought our community together.
A special welcome to our new families – I hope you are settling in well and embracing the opportunities to connect with others. We look forward to sharing this journey with you.
Wishing all parents and students a year of growth, success, and meaningful experiences!
Family Mass
Next Tuesday 18 February, our Newman College community comes together for the Family Mass, an event that holds great significance in reinforcing our identity as a Catholic school in the Marist educational tradition. The occasion is made even more special as we will celebrate the commissioning of our Year 6 and Year 12 Student Leaders.
I remind parents and students that participation in all aspects of College life, including events like the Community Mass, are an integral part of our shared commitment upon enrolling in the College. As a Catholic school, there are few occasions more significant than coming together for a Community Mass, where we not only share in the Eucharist but also celebrate our unique charism as one united community.
We sincerely thank all our families, students, and staff for joining us for this special event.
I would like to remind parents that at Newman College, we deeply value our collaboration with families and caregivers in nurturing a supportive and respectful community. Our relationships are built on courtesy, mutual trust, and open communication.
To support this, we ask all parents and caregivers to familiarise themselves with the Code of Conduct for Parents and Adults. Understanding these expectations ensures we can continue working together with respect and appreciation for one another.
Newman Norms
At Newman College, we are committed to creating a learning environment where every student feels safe, supported, and empowered to succeed. To achieve this, we have established the Newman Norms – a set of non-negotiable expectations for student behaviour and conduct in the classroom. These norms provide clarity and consistency, ensuring that both students and teachers understand the standards that guide our interactions and learning.
The Newman Norms are not just rules; they are the foundation of a respectful and productive classroom culture. By upholding these expectations, students take responsibility for their learning, demonstrate respect for their peers and teachers, and contribute to an environment where everyone can thrive.
By embracing the Newman Norms, we create a community where learning is the priority, respect is non-negotiable, and every student can reach their full potential.
The Newman Norms are displayed in every classroom and can also be accessed on the College Website.
Transperth Updates
412 and 719 – Route Disruptions
Due to ongoing road closures, Stop 19068 (Huntriss Rd before Williamstown Rd, Woodlands) is currently out of service. This disruption will remain in effect until further notice. Please refer to the Transperth Service Update for details on the nearest alternative stops.
Bus Arrival Times
We acknowledge concerns regarding the morning arrival times of School Special Buses. The College has reported these issues to Transperth and assures parents that all services should arrive by 8:35am.
If your child experiences ongoing issues with bus arrival times, we encourage you to notify both the College and Transperth. Contact details for Transperth can be found here.
