Ministry Update – Term 1 Week 4

Season of Lent

If you are a little like me, you are probably wondering where these first five weeks of term have gone. It only seems like yesterday students were coming in for their first lessons, and yet we’ve already got some students who are preparing for their second assessment. Life moves fast. We’re constantly juggling school, friendships, social media, sports, work, and everything in between. And when you’re busy, it’s easy to get caught up in it all and forget to take a step back…to reflect or think about the things that are happening.

That’s why the season of Lent is so important – it’s this great invitation to pause, to slow down, and to refocus on what truly matters.

Lent is a time of spiritual renewal – in other words it’s a chance to check in with ourselves and with God. It’s a time to ask:

  • Am I living in a way that reflects who I really want to be?
  • Am I making time for the things that truly matter?
  • Am I being the best person God has called me to be?

The reality is, we all get distracted – students, teachers, parents, families…everyone. We also all make mistakes. We say things we shouldn’t, act selfishly, and sometimes put ourselves first at the expense of others.

But God doesn’t hold onto our failures – he invites us to recognise them, learn from them, and start again. Lent gives us a way to do this through prayer, fasting, and almsgiving.

Prayer is really interesting. When we hear of prayer, many of us might imagine someone sitting down to read the bible or perhaps going to the chapel where we make the sign of the cross. But prayer is just about connecting with God. For you, that might simply mean a small reflection, where you consider how you were kind that day. Or it could be a commitment you make each morning, to go out of your way to really make someone’s day. Or it could be the decision to reflect on the Gospel reading each day. It’s very simply about giving thought to the person you choose to be each day. You might ask yourself, perhaps, how God working in your life?

When we think of fasting, we might think back to our primary school days – the bold decision to give up chocolate for 40 days, only to gorge ourselves on Easter morning. But fasting isn’t just about giving up chocolate or social media, or whatever else you might choose. It’s about making space for what really matters. It’s about trying to reduce the distractions, or negativity, or things that pull us away from being our best selves in our lives, so we have time perhaps for prayer, or very simply, to connect with and be present to those around us.

And finally, Almsgiving. Very simply, almsgiving is about looking beyond ourselves. It’s about generosity – not just with our money, but with our time, our kindness, and our willingness to help others, especially to those who are vulnerable or in need.

In the Gospel for Ash Wednesday, Jesus talks to his followers about doing each of these things. But there is an important caveat he places on them too – that when we do these things, we should do it for the right reasons. Not to show off, or to virtue signal, or to appear better than others…. but because it is the right thing to do…it is what God wants us to do.

If we make a commitment to these practices, however small or large, in our own lives or household, Lent becomes more than just something that happens to finish the term – it becomes a time of real change. A time where we let go of what’s not important, strengthen our faith, and come out on the other side renewed – closer to God, more aware of His love, and more like the people we are called to be.

So, the invitation to the community is ours – make the most of this time. Let’s step back from the busyness, refocus our hearts, and use this season of Lent to grow in faith, love, and purpose.

Family Mass

It was great to celebrate our Family Mass last week, in what must be said, was some very favourable February weather (though I wouldn’t have minded a little less wind blowing everything off the altar!).

I would love for any families who are able, to provide us with some feedback on the Family Mass, so we can be better prepared to meet the needs of our community in our planning for next year too. You can click on the link to leave your feedback here .

From the Vice Prinicpal – Term 1 Week 4

‘Your Move’: Promoting Active Travel at Newman College

We are excited to re-engage with the ‘Your Move’ program to encourage active and sustainable travel for our PK-12 community. This award-winning initiative supports students and families in healthy activity, including walking, wheeling, and riding to school, while helping to reduce traffic congestion and promote sustainability.

Through student-led activities, travel surveys, and curriculum-aligned lessons, we will track progress and celebrate achievements. Stay tuned for opportunities to get involved and help make active travel a part of everyday school life! More information on the initiative can be found at https://yourmove.org.au/schools.

Traffic Warden Absence & Road Safety Reminder

We have been advised that our Traffic Warden, who supervises the pedestrian crossing on Tuscany Way, will be absent from Tuesday 4 March to Friday 11 April 2025 (inclusive). The Children’s Crossing Unit (WA Police) has confirmed that a replacement will not be available during this time.

We kindly ask all families to exercise extra caution when using the crossing during this period. While our duty teachers will be present to support students, they are not authorised to perform the role of a Traffic Warden.

Traffic Safety Concern

Additionally, we have been informed that some motorists are stopping on the pedestrian crossing instead of at the designated stop line, particularly during peak drop-off and pick-up times. This congestion is making it difficult for the Traffic Warden to assist students safely.

To help resolve this issue, the Children’s Crossing Unit has asked Newman College to remind families to:

  • Be mindful of the crossing location and ensure vehicles do not obstruct it.
  • Stop only at the designated stop line to allow safe passage for pedestrians.
  • Always follow the Traffic Warden’s instructions.

We appreciate your support in ensuring the safety of all students and families in our community.

The Season of Lent

Next week we celebrate Shrove Tuesday; a day for us to pause, and consider how we are living our lives as we prepare for the season of Lent. Traditionally, people would eat pancakes on this day as a way of using up their rich ingredients prior to Lent. Our students will certainly have the opportunity to do the same, with pancakes on sale in Marcellin for $2, and also in the primary school for a gold coin donation, with all proceeds going to Caritas.

The following day, Ash Wednesday, will see liturgies taking place across the College for all of our students. Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of Lent, a season of repentance and renewal, where the ashes remind us of our need to turn back to God and live as Jesus taught. It is certainly a special and significant time in our College calendar, and I encourage all students, over the course of next week, to consider the small but meaningful changes they can make in their own lives to make Jesus known and loved in our community. 

Community Mass

Join us every Thursday at 8.00am in the Champagnat Chapel for our Community Mass. Open to all members of our community, this student-led celebration is a wonderful opportunity to gather in faith, with a different Guild hosting each week. It is also a great chance to connect with others as we strengthen family spirit. We look forward to seeing you there!

Communicable Disease Policy and Procedures

Parents/guardians are required to inform the College of any communicable illness or disease that their child is diagnosed with and not allow them to attend school while infectious. Further information can be found in the Communicable Disease (Student) Policy and Procedures.

Primary Update – Term 1 Week 4

Year 1 Red Assembly

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.

Wishing you a relaxing long weekend.

Ryan von Bergheim

HEAD OF PRIMARY

From the Principal – Term 1 Week 4

Go Primary! 

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.  

Andrew Watson

PRINCIPAL

From the Vice Principal – Term 1 Week 2

Welcome

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.

College Family Mass Parent Letter

A Reminder of Our Shared Values

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.

We thank you for your continued support.

Michael Chiera

VICE PRINCIPAL