Newhaven’s annual Walk for Reconciliation, held on Tuesday, continues to grow each year. It represents a statement of support as our school and community gather together for reconciliation. As I watched our whole College walking together in such a fun but unified way, it also reminded me of the benefits for all of our students to be at a Prep to Year 12 school. It is always pleasing to see our younger and older students interact and enjoy each other’s company.
I often say to prospective families that Newhaven has “small school connection with big school opportunity”. Our four sub-school model (Junior School, Middle School, Year 9 and Senior School) enables us to tailor programmes for specific age groups and stages of development. Having us all on a single site also allows each of the sub schools to access our excellent facilities when required, whether that be the gymnasium, sporting grounds, Performing Arts Wing or specialist areas, to name a few.
At Newhaven, cross-age interactions are an important part of our culture and take place in structured and informal ways. There are numerous benefits to cross-age connections at school, including improved academic outcomes, social development, enhanced personal skills and mutual learning. Older students develop leadership, empathy and responsibility, whilst younger students show higher levels of engagement and enthusiasm when led by older students. There are many examples where this occurs, such as our co-curricular clubs that have cross-age participation. An example I saw last term was at Run Club with our Year 12s taking our younger students through an impromptu cool down and stretch. Our Year 9s have an established reading assistance programme in Junior School that has been in place for over a decade. Our older students are always involved in the running of our sports programme at middle and junior years as officials, umpires or scorers. Many of our charity events, such as dress up days, bake sales or the upcoming movie night, see students of all year levels work together collaboratively with a shared spirit.
As a school we will continue to promote interactions amongst our young people across all ages of the College for the benefit of all our students.
SEISA Music Festival
Last Wednesday, I had the very good fortune of attending the SEISA Music Festival at Beaconhills College Berwick. It was wonderful to see our talented students perform alongside musicians from St Pauls, Gippsland Grammar and Beaconhills. SEISA continues to offer all our students a range of opportunities in areas as diverse as sport, cultural events and leadership. The SEISA Music Festival was a showcase of the benefits of this inter-school participation. More on this event in the Visual & Performing Arts section of this newsletter.
In Quietness and Confidence Shall Be Your Strength
Tony Corr
Principal
Wear it with Pride
The Newhaven College uniform is designed to represent who we are as a school, instil a sense of pride and belonging, and ensure comfort and functionality for students.
The update to our school uniform has taken place after months of planning and included consultation with students and parents. The uniform is designed to represent who we are as a school, instil a sense of pride and belonging, and ensure comfort and functionality for our students. Importantly, it also caters for the unique outdoor and environmental conditions of our school that are such an important part of the Newhaven school experience.
For a comprehensive guide to the College school uniform, visit the Uniforms page on our website.
Tony Corr
Principal