Providing 100 means-tested scholarships by 2040 for students who may not otherwise have access to a Newington education is an important undertaking by the Newington Foundation. Class of 2026 student Ali Sena H tells how a Newington scholarship changed his life. 

Imagine not seeing your father for nearly half a decade because he had left on a perilous journey to try to provide a better life for you and your family. Year 12 student Ali Sena H was less than one year old when his father, Abdul, did exactly this.   

Ali Sena’s family comes from Afghanistan. Belonging to the ethnic minority group, the Hazaras, his grandparents fled the war-torn country when the Taliban first came to power in the mid 1990s. Ali Sena’s father, Abdul, and his mother, Momina, married in 2001 after they met in an Afghan community in Pakistan, Quetta. Their three eldest sons, Ali Reza, Hassan, and Ali Sena, were born there.   

‘Life was very hard for us in Pakistan,’ says Momina, who learnt English and studied to become an early childcare teacher after arriving in Australia in 2013.  

‘As refugees it was too dangerous for us to return to Afghanistan, but Pakistan was never our home, and we faced problems for the religion we believe in. It was not a good place to be with small children.’  

In 2009 the family made the Odyssean decision to try for a better life for their children. Abdul set out on a perilous 11,000 kilometre journey by boat to Australia. He spent time in Indonesia before the boat was intercepted in Australian waters by authorities, and he was detained on Christmas Island. He was in detention for 18 months before he was granted permanent residency and made his way to Sydney. In 2013 his family was granted asylum and joined him in Sydney.  

Ali Sena was five years old and had not seen his father for four years. He clearly remembers his family’s trip to be reunited with his father.   

‘We were so happy to be leaving Pakistan because we were refugees, we weren’t welcome there and we couldn’t do anything. We were all so excited on the flight to Australia because we hadn’t seen our father for so many years and we were coming to Australia.’  

The family settled in Sydney. Yet despite their newfound freedoms, life remained challenging as they began to assimilate into the Australian way of life. Abdul became a metal recycler, but memories of his arduous trip, and onerous separation from his family, remained close to the surface.   

‘Dad always told us the stories of the rough seas during his trip,’ says Ali Sena.    

‘He was very frightened and spoke a lot of having that horrible homesick feeling you get when you are alone and away from the people you love.    

‘He had to leave my mum and the three of us behind. My older brother Hassan was four years old, Ali Reza was six, and I was so little I don’t even remember him going away, but I clearly remember arriving in Sydney and how happy we all were to be together again.’   

In 2021, with the help of the Newington Foundation diversity program, Ali Sena and his brothers, Ali Reza and Hassan, started at Newington. Ali Sena was in Year 7.  

Hassan graduated from Newington in 2025 and Ali Reza in 2023. Both are now undertaking electrical apprenticeships with plans to start their own building business. Ali Sena, who graduates this year, is aiming to gain qualifications as a carpenter and join his brothers.  

He was recently awarded the VET Excellence Award by not-for-profit organisation, The Youth Partnership, for sustained high achievement and exceptional commitment in Business Services, Construction, and Electrotechnology. 

Ali Sena says the fact Newington students come from a diverse range of cultures and backgrounds, made starting at the College easier than he thought it might be.   

‘I like the fact that the College is so diverse,’ he says.    

‘There are kids from Tonga, and other scholarship kids here from families who have been through a struggle, and I would class my family in that group because my Dad came to Australia by boat.    

‘I know not everyone from where we come from gets an opportunity like this and I will be forever grateful for what Newington has given me and my family.’ 

* Ali Sena H’s story appears in the latest issue of the school magazine, The NC. You can read the magazine here.

Did you know?

• Newington 2028 Senior scholarship applications are now open and close at 5.00pm Friday 22 January 2027. 
• Newington scholarships are open to students in Years 7 to 11. 
• Newington offers a broad range of scholarships from academic and music to general excellence and all-rounder scholarships, as well as boarding scholarships for students from rural and regional areas and internationally. 
• Means-tested scholarships are offered to students who come from diverse cultural, social and economic backgrounds.  
• Year 11, 2028 Pioneer scholarships are offered to Year 11 2028 female students who are motivated to embrace the challenge of a new school community and to help shape Newington’s first co-educational Senior School cohort. 
• Scholarship testing takes place on Monday 1 February 2027 for 2028 Year 7 students and Tuesday 2 February for 2028 Year 8 to Year 11. 
• To apply for a Newington College scholarship, follow the link here.