Edition Six SRO

Welcome to Edition 6 SRO

Rozelle Bus Gets Lost

At 7.45 AM on Wednesday the 25th of September the 561 School Service or in other words the Rozelle Bus got slightly lost on it’s way to Newington College in the morning. When driving up Salisbury Road in Stanmore it missed the fundamental turnoff into Liberty street. This left the bus stranded on the side of the road trying to find an alternative route to get to get a bus full of Newington boys to school.

The very stressed bus driver was frantically tapping through his phone on Google Maps trying to find a way to Newington but couldn’t succeed. With help from a very kind year 8 boy though, they worked collaboratively to find the way.

After being stuck on the road for 30 minutes the bus managed to get going again and there was a glimpse of hope. After continuing on through Salisbury road, the bus once again faced another dilemma. Instead of turning left, it turned right. This meant that the Rozelle bus was heading straight for the Sydney CBD. For some this was a good thing as they were going to be late for school, whilst others were sweating with worry.

The bus driver once again pulled up on the side on the road and took out Google Maps and not so long after the directions were put in and hopefully for the last time, the bus was on it’s way to Newington.

Following going through narrow streets and other places you wouldn’t normally see a bus going down, the bus was heading down king street straight to Newington and sooner or later, after a long journey through the busy streets of Sydney, the bus pulled up outside the college.

Boats Splash Down in Pool

Written by Harold Boyd

 After spending over six weeks on their construction, those doing Year 9 Engineering as an elective finally tested their swimming robots in Newington’s swimming pool last week. Their final project of the year was to design, build and test a structure that could “swim” a distance of 10 meters.

The robots had to make use of cams and linkages and have some method of forward propulsion. It also had to float. The main part of the project was to design and make cam systems that could propel a boat in water. For some people, this part proved too difficult, with some people attaching paddles or propellers directly onto the motors.

The most common cam design was a circular cam attached to linkage with a fin on the end, with the boat propelling itself like a fish. The best cam design was given to a boat with a cam system similar to those of a steam train named Boaty McBoatface.

During the testing, the pool had to be on hand as many boats whose paddles weren’t aliened properly or whose weight wasn’t distributed properly went in circles and some into the lane rope. Others weren’t sealed properly and after filling up with water sunk to the bottom. Getting the boats off the bottom took time and effort, and nearly sent a few people in. Fortunately, no one got that wet and any sunken boats were salvaged.

Overall, most of the cams worked and the testing was a success, though many people claimed their ten meters by doing circles.

Fletcher’s prefects quick to act

By: Arley Kekic

 Only a few days after their inauguration as the head prefects of Fletcher house, the Fletcher prefect ‘team’ have already started taking action to improve Fletcher. There have been many minor changes such as, no pupils from other houses in the Fletcher lockers, daily quotes, riddles and jokes written on the white board in the locker room, weekly locker inspections for mentor groups and much more.

 

However, one of these implementations has been very controversial amongst the pupils in Fletcher house. This addition is that every fortnight, there are vertical (groups of mixed years) activities. The aim of these activities is to have students of all years bond with each other as usually every year group is secluded from the others. These activities are, Theatre Sports, Four Court Tennis, Study Skills and Public Speaking courses.

Ever since the announcement around two weeks ago, there have been many mixed comments concerning the activities.

 

Many people think it is a good idea, with a student in Year 11 saying, ‘This is a great addition by the leaders, if we have a great connection between students of all years, we might finally start winning the vertical house competitions again.’

 

Despite this, there are just as many students who abhor this idea, one student in Year 9 stated that ‘Why are we wasting our time with these activities when we could be playing basketball in mentor periods, in my opinion these activities are just a colossal waste of time, not only for us students, but also for the staff and prefects who are running these activities.’

 

The Fletcher prefects, although they may be controversial, have made a great impact upon Fletcher pupils only weeks after their announcement of prefect-ship.

Halloween and exams, is it a trick or treat?

Correspondent Broderick Simpkin

 Well, it is that time of the year again… You guessed it, Halloween and the very important examination time. This means for most students that they will be in the period of their examinations and this leads some people to think that they have to have an 18-hour day full of studying. But the question I am asking everyone is if Halloween is allowed during exams and is it worth it.

 

Year 7 to 10 are currently battling through these exams which some are easy and others not so much. I started the question regarding Halloween and if you allow it, an anonymous year seven stated, “Of course I’m going trick or treating with my friends, it’s fun and I won’t let the exams stop me from going out and having fun.” This leads me to ask people a bit older than year seven and are more responsible. A concerned member of the year 9 group was outraged by the younger students comment and said, “I think that year seven needs to start thinking seriously and that this is going to help you in the future.”

 

 

It is proven by several reliable sources that studying helps improve a person mind and the information they learn is first in their short-term memory and when they study and revise the work they learn over time it will move over towards their long-term memory. This sparks another debate as to whether or not exams should be placed around the time of Halloween. Since there is so much time near the end of the year that is where the exams should be. We asked some students “That would be great!”

 

In conclusion, students have a big decision when choosing between Halloween and their education.

A Time of Change for Newington

Daniel Bordina, 04-11-17

On Friday afternoon, it was announced by Mr David Roberts, that the Head of Stanmore Campus that Mr Meakin would be leaving to Cranbrook School to take up the vacant promotion position of Deputy Headmaster.

This is only another teacher that has decided it is time for them to leave Newingotn to extend themselves and their careers. Only this year we have been informed that Headmaster Dr David Mulford would be leaving the school at the end of 2018. While Head of Manton House Mr Mark Case will also be leaving along with Head of Boarding House, Mr Troy Stanley and Head of History Mr Peter Reid.

 

 The result of this would be a practically new leadership team from 2019 onwards. Mr David Roberts would have only been at the school for roughly over two years while the new Deputy Head of Students would have only been at the school for a year or maybe less.

This has influenced many students to ask the question of how the school is going to be run over the next few years. Will it change because if all the new staff coming into the school? Or will it be the same? Will it affect the way we learn?

 

One concerned student stated, “It is a time of uncertainty for our school right now. Us the students don’t really know what is going to happen in the future. The school is definitely going to change in my opinion, we just have to wait to see if it is a positive or negative change.”

 

The school has approached a period in its history where it is about to experience a major change in a short period of time. The school is either going to embrace it one of two ways: positively or negatively. Like it’s been said, we just have to wait.

Newington 16C Basketball loose their fire

Asher Baykitch

 

Saturday the 4th of November was game day for the 16C basketball in the Old Gym, Newington College against a strong Riverview team.

 

Newington were heading into their game feeling confident with a 3-0 winning streak.

 

Oliver Hunt won the tipoff for Newington but Tom Hart, another Newington player, forgot what basket to score in and ended up getting a basket in the wrong hoop to open the scoring.

 

The score margin increased with Riverview up by 7 but an un-expected, fluke three pointer from Asher Baykitch, got Newington back in the game.

 

At halftime Riverview was up 17-12. Head coach Josh Evans was telling all the boys to move faster on defensive transition and he also told the boys to go up strong to the basket when they get offensive rebounds.

 

In the second half Newington began to fall apart. Bad passes led to many scores of turnovers and bad shots led to easy transition points for Riverview.

 

In the end, the final score was 37- 27 leaving all the boys from Newington disappointed and with a lot to work on at training in the week to come.

 

“We didn’t play well in the post on both sides of the court. On the offensive end, we weren’t driving and posting up properly, and on the defensive end we were leaving too much space for the attacker so he normally ended up getting a layup.” Said Cooper Davey, the point guard for the 16C’s.

 

Newington record is now 3-1 after this loss.

 

Most Points: Ryan Wardle-Neilson: 10

Most Rebounds: Asher Baykitch: 11

Most Assists: Cooper Davey: 6

MVP of the game: Ryan Wardle-Neilson: Ryan put on a acrobatic, Derrick Rose like performance. Converting up and under layups and showing off his ball handling.

Prize Giving Looms Closer

By Christos Fotopoulos

 The end of the school year is arriving faster than anyone could’ve predicted and with it, the one hundred and fifty fifth annual prize giving ceremony. The date of the ceremony this year is on Monday the 4th of December and it will go for around about two hours (10:00AM-12:00PM). Similar to last year, the event will be held at the Sydney Town Hall and will be open for all boys to attend; or so most thought. It turns out that the entirety of year eight do not have to be there on the day except for the boys that are receiving awards. This exemption has caused some unrest in the other cohorts.

 

The reason why the other year groups are so fussed about this is because for most of them, there isn’t much joy in going to the awards ceremony. In the eyes of the boys, they will have to sit there for two hours straight while they listen to speeches and watch other boys receive awards. Of course, there is the orchestra and the choir to add some entertainment to the morning but for the rest of it, the boys just don’t see why they have to attend.

 

The whole idea behind why the year eights don’t have to attend is because if they came, there wouldn’t be enough space for everyone to sit. This is a big problem as the function goes for two hours and it wouldn’t be a great experience for some if they had to stand for the duration of it.

 

The venue for the prize giving ceremony is set to change for next year, most likely being changed so that all of the school will be able to attend and acknowledge the achievements of some of the boys.

Mr Meakin Set to Leave for Cranbrook

Correspondent Edward Dam

In a shock email announcement made to students at 2:54pm today, it has been
confirmed that Mr Bob Meakin, will be promoted to the position of Deputy Headmaster at Cranbrook School. The Deputy Head of Stanmore will take up the elevated position next year.

“This is well deserved, and we congratulate him on his appointment”, the
email read.

The announcement also commended Mr Meakin’s service during his five years
in the College.

“Mr Meakin has given outstanding service to the College over the last five
years”, it stated.

“He is an outstanding educator and we were fortunate to have him as a member
of our community for the time we did.”

Newington now faces the task of choosing a replacement Deputy Head of Stanmore.
In the coming weeks, the College will “publicly advertise this Senior Leadership role”. However, those at the highest ranks of the Newington leadership are confident that there will be many willing and capable candidates for the role.

In the meantime, it has been made public to the student community that Mrs
Munns-Conry, current Head of the Library, will fill in as Acting Deputy Head.
“Mrs Munns-Conry who, with her recent background as Principal of the large
secondary campus Trinity College in Gawler, South Australia, will ensure the continued specialist support of all of you during this period.”

There will still be an opportunity to say goodbye to Mr Meakin before he
leaves for good. He will continue in his current position until the end of this year, and there will be “an opportunity for us as a community to show our appreciation”. There is no indication of what that opportunity would be, but it is highly likely that there will be a special assembly in his honour.

Mr Meakin has previously worked in senior positions at other prestigious
schools, including being Head of Senior College at St Andrew’s Cathedral School.

Swearing in Schools

Daniel Bordina, 03-11-17

 

Swearing has always been frowned upon in all aspects of society. Though it seems as the younger generation or the millennials, as they are commonly referred to are starting to come of age, the use of inappropriate language is starting to creep back into society.

 

In many aspects of society, swearing is now considered commonplace and no action is taken towards those who swear.

 

It was only a mere fifteen years ago in which a young person who was caught swearing would be handed a severe punishment of many varieties.

 

Now swearing has made its way in to our schools. It is not unusual to hear many inappropriate words being flung around the playground. Though it may seem like no problem, it will provide many consequences for our wider community in the near future.

 

The use of inappropriate language in education facilities teaches young people that it is perfectly normal to swear once they leave school. What they are going to find out in the future is that it isn’t.

 

If this continues we will have a while generation of people who believe that it is commonplace to convey their thoughts will wildly inappropriate language.

 

Another massive consequence that this can put forward is that society will have to deal with a whole generation of people who do not know how to speak properly. Studies have shown that the use of ‘swear’ words severely affects how people speak and the way they can communicate thoughts.

 

Swearing can also have a negative impact on our self-esteem and wellbeing. Professionals in the psychiatric and medical fields often advise people to remove themselves from “toxic” environments, for healing emotionally and re-building self-esteem.

 

This illustrates that the things people who are supposed to love us, like our family members, teachers, and other care givers, have a responsibility to maintain an environment that protects and defends children and others around them.

 

If the protective environment is violated by negative attitudes and cussing, the environment is no longer a safe place for living, learning and beneficial development.

 

Our school are being overtaken by a generation of children who do not see the true affects that swearing can have on themselves. We simply have to start enforcing a type of rule that helps children lose this bad habit. It won’t only benefit them but will also benefit larger society as in the near future people will be working and interacting with this generation.

 

It would be hard to say that you would like to work with a person who was cussing in every sentence they spoke. Overall it would be a very unpleasant experience.

 

Swearing in schools needs to be stopped.

 

Now.

Newington once again outplayed by Joey Rugby…… this time in League

By Chief Correspondent:
Flynn Mooney

The Harold Matthew’s teams are starting their pre-season training in preparation for some trial games in early December. The Balmain Tigers held an induction night on Tuesday the 31st of October, which included information for the 2017 training and game sessions, and was completed with an hour and a half of fitness testing. Newington student Flynn Mooney was a part of this team, continuing a strong record of Newington students competing in representative rugby league. However, Mooney was the only student from a year 9 cohort of 220 students to represent the school in the Harold Matthew’s competition.

St Joseph’s college has three students, (Jayme Elias, Henry O’Kane and Emery Joliffe) competing in the Balmain team alone. Why is it that Newington is always out done by Joeys in rugby union, and now rugby league?

Why is it that Joeys boys are always better equipped for the biggest contact sports in the country? Is it just coincidence or are they all better prepared by their training regime? It is most likely the latter as Joeys boys during rugby season are putting in 5-7 training sessions a week at school alone.

This is bound to result in their physicality and game awareness being boosted to a point that Newington students just aren’t at. Their intense training regime may also be the reason none of them are doing very well academically.

However, the bad news for Flynn is that a late year holiday will be cutting some training sessions and a crucial match up against the North Sydney Bears out of the question. This could be very negative for his chances of making the final squad.