31 October 2024
From the Deputy, Preparatory Schools & ELC
International Market
The International Market is quickly approaching! Please find more detail below about donations and ‘currency’ on the day.
Cake Donations
We are requesting cake donations this year for our International Market. Like Back to Newington Day (BTND), cake boxes will be sent home on Friday 15 November and instructions will be included. We are particularly interested in donations that include an international or cultural component. We kindly request that cake donations are dropped off Friday 22 November in either the morning or during the day, ready for our International Market, commencing at 3.00pm.
Raffle Prize Donations
We’re raising funds to donate to Kiva.org and would greatly appreciate any items for raffle prizes from families. If you have items to donate, please drop them off at the school office as soon as possible. Raffle tickets will be sent home next week, and prizes on offer will be made available via New Spaces.
International Market Day Currency
The International Market is a cashless event, and to ensure staff and student safety on the night whilst also providing the students with an opportunity to handle currency, there will be ‘market currency’ in place for all purchases, including food, games and market stalls.
The currency has been designed and made by our Year 1 students and will consist of $1, $5 and $10 notes. We would like as many families as possible to pre-purchase their market currency through Humanitix to facilitate the process. Please note that you can purchase multiple tickets of each value, and the ‘notes’ will be given to students on arrival at the event.
Prepaid currency will also be available on arrival, and additional currency will also be available to purchase at the event itself. Any currency that you have left at the end of the evening will be refunded to the card used for the purchase.
Ticket types will be as follows, and you can buy multiples of each ticket type:
3 x Ticket options will be as follows:
Market Currency to the value of $10
Market Currency to the value of $20
Market Currency to the value of $50
Please CLICK HERE to purchase your currency
What Happened This Week
Pet Therapy
On Wednesday, Anne Fulcher and her dog, Polly, visited our campus as part of a Lindfield Student Representative Council (SRC) initiative.
Anne volunteers with PAWS Pet Therapy, which is a registered charity, and will be visiting Newington Lindfield weekly.
Anne and Polly visited every class, and all the students had a chance to pat Polly, give her a treat and she in return showed off her wonderful tricks! It was wonderful to see how engaged the students were, and they had plenty of questions for Anne.
Sport
Round 8 of sports took place over a beautiful weekend filled with exciting games and outstanding performances. The Senior White Cricket team had a thrilling match, securing their first win of Term 4. Our Basketball teams shone brightly at Lindfield Prep, with the Junior Black team achieving a strong victory over Barker and both the Senior Green and Yellow teams winning their matches against Coogee Prep. The Senior White Touch Football team fought hard in a close game, narrowly falling 7-5 to Riverview, and it was impressive to see their progress in set plays on attack.
Congratulations to the following students for receiving the Spirit Values Award for Round 8:
Lindfield Spirit Recipients
Basketball
| Snr Black | Max T | Max M |
| Snr White | Oscar M | Toby U |
| Snr Grey | Jonathan K | Seb S |
| Snr Orange | Joshua L | Jace G |
| Snr Green | Ian V | Caleb K |
| Snr Yellow | Hubert M | Blake T |
| Jnr Black | Antoni C | Max T |
| Jnr White | Leon A | Spencer C |
| Jnr Grey | Zheng H | Joshua M |
| Jnr Orange | William D | Oliver M |
| Jnr Orange | Louis Y | Clark X |
Cricket
| Snr Black | James E | Rohan D |
| Snr White | Andy L | Oliver E |
| Snr Grey | Callum W | Luca K |
| Year 4 | Arlo C | Finn B |
| Year 3 | Max K | Will L |
Touch Football
| Snr Black | Sean S | Zach J |
| Snr White | Conor F | Luca W |
Chapel Thought
‘Be still and know that I am God’ – Psalm 46:10
Recently, I’ve been reflecting on the importance of stillness and the need to embed moments of reflection or spiritual practices into our day. Our days can be so busy as we work or organise home life, and the same can be said for a school day. Finding five minutes to centre ourselves, to focus on our breathing and to reflect on what’s really important can be such a rewarding practice to get into the habit of doing.
Across the school, K-12, we’ve spent time in Chapel and RE classes over the last fortnight reflecting on various spiritual practices and the importance of being still, of calming our mind and our body and listening to the still, small voice of God within us and the presence of God’s Spirit around us. While meditating and reflection may not be for everyone, it can be so rewarding to find the time to simply be still and calm. In doing so, we find a sense of peace within ourselves and are able to recalibrate ourselves to face the next part of the day. It can be an incredible blessing to simply be still and know that God is with us.
Pastor Richard La’Brooy
PYP Exhibition Update
Our Year 6 students have been working hard on their Exhibition Units of Inquiry, which is a culminating activity for Year 6 students in the PYP. They are currently continuing the research phase of the process.
They are inquiring into the theme of Sharing the Planet, which is an inquiry into:
- rights and responsibilities in the struggle to share finite resources with other people and with other living things
- communities and the relationships within and between them
- access to equal opportunities
- peace and conflict resolution.
The locally and globally significant central idea that all the groups are addressing with their chosen issues is:
Resource security focuses on the fair allocation and sustainable use of finite resources to promote equity in our world.
Below are the issues that the students are exploring:
This week, students spent time researching their chosen issue and seeking feedback from their teacher mentors. Mentors have continued to guide their groups through this process. They also revisited the importance of note-taking and academic honesty.
With the help of their mentors, some groups have organised interviews with external experts and a couple of groups have arranged to visit an off-campus site to consult with experts. Once again, if you have any contacts or information that may be suitable for any of these issues, please let us know.
PYPX Action
Conor and Angus have chosen the issue of animal welfare and have discovered that white and black rhinos are in danger of extinction. The White Rhino Project helps to protect the white rhino by establishing a breeding population in Australia, and the students would like to raise some money to help them. They have decided to do something challenging in the hope that families will sponsor to help raise money to protect the rhinos. During lunch next Tuesday, they are going to swim 1200m! Their aim is to raise $200. Please support by sending a gold coin donation in with your child on Tuesday 5 November.
Book and Record Donations
2MBS FM is organising a record and book donation at the Stanmore Campus. There will be a collection point at Lindfield to assist will these donations for the month of November.
The Dish Christmas Food Drive
Each year we collect resources for those who are less fortunate than ourselves, and this year we would like to continue to support The Dish and their Christmas Food Drive. By giving a little, we can help a lot, and your contribution can bring joy and nourishment to those in need. Food to donate includes Christmas cake, chocolates, mince pies, biscuits, dried and glazed fruit, nuts, crackers and more.
There will be a Christmas tree setup outside the School Office so please place your donations under the tree.
Honouring Félix Laubi (ON 2020)
Earlier this week, the Newington Foundation launched an appeal to raise funds for a new prize to be awarded at Prize Giving this year, established in honour of Félix Laubi (ON 2020). Tragically, we lost Félix earlier this year to a rare form of cancer. With the consent of his family, The Félix Laubi (ON 2020) Prize for Outstanding Commitment, Dedication and Humanity will be awarded to a student concluding Year 10 who demonstrates outstanding leadership in their pursuit of excellence, be it in academics, sports, in service or the arts. I invite you to join with me and others, by making a tax-deductible gift to the Newington Foundation to help establish this prize. Together, we can recognise and celebrate our values, in honour of Félix. Every contribution helps. Please donate.
Staff Profile
In the coming weeks, we will be profiling a staff member from each of our different campuses. This week, we introduce you to Jodey Baylis, a Year 6 teacher from Wyvern House.
Q. Why teaching? What is it you enjoy about teaching?
A. I was a student who often struggled in school. Sitting still and focusing was difficult for me, and looking back as an adult, I realise I often felt unseen, with my unique strengths going unrecognised. This experience inspired me to become a teacher – so I can ensure that every student feels seen, valued and supported. My goal is to help students reach their full potential in a way that honours and embraces who they truly are.
Q. What is something people don’t know about you?
A. You wouldn’t know it now, but I used to be an athlete. I began as a swimmer and eventually transitioned into triathlons. After just three weeks of training, I competed in my first triathlon at the New Zealand Junior Championships and finished 5th. That led to my selection to represent New Zealand at the Triathlon Junior World Championships. The following year, I placed second at the New Zealand Junior Championships and competed in the Triathlon Junior World Championships again, this time in Mexico, where I ran my fastest 10k at 38 minutes.
Q. Which book, movie or TV show do you think every student should experience at least once, and why?
A. When I was in school, I struggled to enjoy reading because I could never find books that truly captured my attention. Now, as a teacher, I read children’s books with the goal of finding ones that spark engagement, so I can recommend them to my students. My top three favourites are Hatchet by Gary Paulsen, Holes by Louis Sachar and Stormbreaker by Anthony Horowitz.
