27 March 2025
What Happened This Week
Harmony Week
On Friday 21 March, along with the entire college, Wyvern celebrated Harmony Day. Students participated in age appropriate, meaningful activities which promoted inclusion, respect, and diversity across all year groups. Some of our year groups featured on the college socials and we are excited to share more with you today.
NAPLAN
A huge congratulations to all our Year 3 and Year 5 students for completing their NAPLAN testing last week. We are so proud of the way they handled themselves with persistence and calmness throughout the whole time. Thank you also to parents and carers who supported the students beforehand at home; the children were so well prepared each day, and this made a huge difference in the way they approached each assessment. We should expect the results back at some point in Term 3.
Bricks & Breakfast
Amazing building abilities and Wyvern Spirit were on show at last week’s community event, Bricks & Breakfast. Enjoying a delicious bacon & egg roll and barista coffee to fuel the energetic parents early on a Friday morning, the event proved to be enormously fun for all. A big thank you to all the volunteer parents that helped organise this event, in particular, Mr Hareeshan Nandakoban and Mr Liam Minett.
Grandparents & Special Friends Day – last chance to register
Wyvern House extends a warm invitation to our community’s grandparents and special friends in joining us for a wonderful morning of learning.
All students are encouraged to invite their grandparents or friends of the family to join us on Friday 4 April 2025.
Click here to register your child’s guests before Friday 28 March.
Hats to Support Yuzakhil
On Thursday, the SRC organised an event to raise much needed funds for our World Vision Sponsor Child, Yuzakhil. Students in all year groups were able to wear a hat of choice to school. The front office is still accepting donations from students that missed bringing a coin to school today.
Wyvern Sport News
Read the latest news from our sports department here.
Congratulations to the Wyvern Spirit recipients in the final round of Summer Sport for Term 1. A list of the recipients, along with some great photos of our students and staff from the weekend, can be found here on New Spaces.
Music Workshop Weekend
Thank you to the music department, led by Mr Ashley George, for organising what will be another incredible event for students in the various music ensembles this weekend. Events such as these could not be possible without the support of the P&F who will be feeding the 100+ students over the weekend.
Ensembles involved: Wyvern Jazz, Wyvern Winds, Wyvern Strings, Dragonetti, Wyvern Winds, Wyvern Concert Band, Wyvern Strings, Dragonetti and String Factory.
Co-curricular Clubs – Semester 1, Term 2
The schedule for Semester 1 (Term 2) Clubs and Extra Curricular Activities will be published next week. The schedule will include details of the morning sport skill sessions being offered in Term 2 and contact details for the activities run by external companies.
You will be able to register your child for the morning sport skill sessions via ‘Activity Selection’ which is available in the Parent Services menu in New Spaces.
Enrolments for clubs managed by Wyvern Staff will roll over into Term 2. If your child is no longer able to participate in their activity next term, please advise the Wyvern Office as soon as possible, as there is a waiting list for most activities.
Child Safeguarding Hub
Student safety and wellbeing continue to be at the centre of everything we do. They have a right to feel safe and be safe. Their wellbeing is our most fundamental concern and as a Child Safe Organisation, we are dedicated to this criterion.
To enhance Child Safeguarding at Newington, in September 2022, we established a Child Safeguarding Committee to oversee the development and monitoring of systems, policies and process that implement the child safe standards.
The Committee is comprised of key staff members integral to Child Safeguarding at Newington. The Committee manages several Child Safeguarding initiatives and engages external experts to advise on best practice on various aspects of child safeguarding, including safe recruitment, student voice, engaging parents, staff training and risk management.
One of the initiatives Newington’s Child Safeguarding Committee has been working on is the Child Safeguarding Hub, a unique and innovative resource that puts the College at the forefront in its commitment to student safety. This hub is available here on New Spaces and contains valuable resources and tools for parents and carers.
To find the parent hub on New Spaces head to:
New Spaces > Parent Services > Child Safeguarding for Parents and Carers
2024 Newingtonian
We are excited to share that the 2024 Newingtonian will soon be available.
The Newingtonian is Newington College’s annual yearbook recording the lives and achievements of students and staff since 1884.
If you would like a hard copy we request that you register via the following link. Digital copies will be shared in April.
The deadline for orders is this Friday 28 March, 5pm. Please note it is limited to one per family.
Chapel Thought
As we move through Lent and approach the season of Easter I’ve been reflecting a lot this week on the symbol of the Cross, the central symbol of our faith.
For Christians, the Cross reminds us of Jesus’ death and resurrection. It’s the most recognisable symbol of our faith seen in all places of worship and often worn as a personal item of devotion. The Cross has even moved into popular culture, Hot Cross Buns being a perennial symbol of this season with the emblematic cross across the top.
But as we reflect on the Cross, we must remember that historically this was a symbol of deep brutality and extreme punishment in the Roman Empire. Crucifixion was a painful and humiliating punishment in the ancient world reserved for the most extreme of criminals.
Yet at Easter we see our Saviour, Jesus Christ, undergoing such brutal punishment; an innocent man willingly undergoing this so that we can be closer to God. In this act the Cross is transformed from a symbol of pain and suffering into a symbol of Love, the all-encompassing love of God that knows no bounds. The love that includes all people, no matter their background or experience, a love that welcomes and accepts all people.
As we move towards Easter and we see the symbol of the Cross throughout our daily lives, may we see it as a reminder of God’s all-embracing love; a love that we celebrate at Easter time.
– Pastor Richard La’Brooy
Easter at Wyvern
We warmly invite the Wyvern Community to join us on the final day of term, Friday 11 April, to celebrate the end of term and Easter. Please join us for some or all the following events:
- Coffee on Cambridge from, 8.00am – 9.00am
- Kindy & Year 1 Easter Hat Parade, 9.00am – 9.30am
- Whole School Easter Chapel, 9.45am – 10.30am
Wyvern Easter Toy Drive
The front office is now accepting donations for this year’s Toy Drive for the Sydney Children’s Hospital Play Therapy Department. More information and specific requests from the hospital as to the types of toys required can be found here.
Co-ed Scholarships for Year 5 2026 Now Open
Become a part of history with the Pioneer Scholarship, created to celebrate Newington College’s transition to co-education and support girls and boys who are ready to lead, innovate and inspire. This is more than just a scholarship—it is an opportunity for trailblazers who are eager to make a lasting impact.
This scholarship is available to existing and prospective students (both boys and girls) currently in Year 4 (entering Year 5 in 2026). This prestigious opportunity is designed for students with a balanced range of achievements who will benefit from the outstanding opportunities at Newington College while enriching our vibrant school community.
Current and new students can apply here.
Staff Profile
This week, we hear from Hana Kitamura who is a Religious Studies Teacher at Lindfield. Hana has been teaching at Lindfield for 7 years.
Q. Why teaching? What is it you enjoy about teaching?
A. I enjoy getting to know the students and seeing them grow throughout their primary school years. I feel very privileged to see my first Kindergarten cohort graduate Year 6 this year!
Q. What is something people don’t know about you?
A. It was after spending a year in Tanzania that I decided to become a teacher.
Q. What is one of your best memories of being a student?
A. Living in the boarding house in the senior school and playing Saturday sports and training with my friends.
