Junior School Athletics Carnival

On Thursday, 27 March, the Newhaven College Junior School Athletics Carnival was a resounding success, with perfect weather setting the scene for an exciting day of events. The level of participation from all our students was incredible, and it was fantastic to see so much enthusiasm and team spirit.

A huge thank you to our Middle School Captains and our Middle School House and Sport Captains for their excellent assistance throughout the day.

We would also like to give a massive shout-out to the following parents who went above and beyond to help make the day run smoothly: Sean Cohoe, Dave Costello, Tracy Costello, Katie Pirouet, Cathy Felstead, Kyoko Blondel, Rosemary Pace, Matt Brown, Denise Dillon, Jennifer Fallu, Sarah Rollinson, Kellie Latham, and Lisette Rule. We couldn’t have done it without you, and we truly appreciate all your hard work.

There were so many wonderful highlights throughout the day, and the excitement in the air was electrifying. As we wait for the final tally, the big question on everyone’s mind is: Which team will win the House Trophy? Be sure to stay tuned for the announcement at the first assembly next term. Will it be Bass following their swim carnival success? Clarke- always a strong contender! McHaffie, the long-distance experts or Sambell with their excellent history.

A massive congratulations to everyone involved and thank you again for your support.

Jaclyn Clark

JS PE and Sports Teacher

Middle & Senior School House Athletics

The Middle School and Senior School House Athletics Carnival was held on Tuesday, in perfect conditions. The participation across all Houses was high and with a change in the sign-up process many more students chose to run, jump and throw for their House. The Year 12s opened proceedings with their parade down the straight and then the serious business of competing was underway. 

An array of blue, yellow, red and green shirts could be seen across the oval at the various events, and it was fantastic to see groups of students supporting each other and celebrating wins and close finishes. Ribbons were proudly shown off and dress ups, zinc and hair spray adorned many competitors and supporters.

It was especially pleasing to see students wearing their House polo tops, which is the required uniform on House events. This showcased their House spirit but also made it much easier for both the audience and the announcer to distinguish the competitors.

It was close all day, but ultimately Clarke House triumphed over Bass (2nd) by a close margin with Sambell 3rd and McHaffie 4th.

Ben Clark created a drone video of the days, which truly showcases our stunning sports grounds:

Watch

Sharon Paterson

Senior School Bass House Leader

SEISA Finals

Congratulations to our teams who were victorious at the end of Term 1 SEISA Finals.

We are proud of our girls... Softball, Senior Tennis and Senior Netball A & B teams.

Well done for getting to the finals, but not quite getting the win - Senior Boys Basketball, Boys Tennis and Intermediate Girls Netball A & B. 

Valiant effort all round!

House Surfing Carnival

Last month, Newhaven College held its annual House Surfing Carnival. A new format was introduced with a Middle School Grom category and a revised heat structure. These changes made for an exciting and competitive day, with incredible surfing on display and a nail-biting finals atmosphere.

In the end, Bass House clinched the title by the slimmest margin in recent history – winning by just one house point!

A special thank you to Tony Kellett for the construction of our coveted trophy. This will display the names of our individual overall winners for the foreseeable future.

Our individual overall winners for 2025 were:

  • Overall Female: Zoe Scott (Bass)
  • Overall Male: Tate Russell (Clarke)
  • Middle School Grom Winner: Evie Kimber (Bass)

Thank you to everyone who came along to support our young surfers and help out on the day.

Watch Video

Ben Clark

Head of Newhaven College Surf Academy

WSL Phillip Island Pro 

Angus wearing the official jersey

Newhaven College proudly congratulates Tate Russell (Year 12), Tyler Duell (Year 11) and Angus Kennedy (Year 9) for their recent involvement in the Phillip Island WSL Pro. All three boys received wildcard entries in recognition of their success in previous events. 

To be given the chance to wear a WSL jersey speaks volumes to the dedication and skill these three possess in the surfing world. All three boys are members of our High Performance Surf Squad under the tutelage of Glyndyn Ringrose. 

Well done boys.

Ben Clark

Head of Newhaven College Surf Academy

Divisional Lawn Bowls

On Friday 28 March, 24 year 5 and 6 students travelled to the Phillip Island Bowls Club in Cowes to compete in the Interschool Lawn Bowls competition.

We had 2 teams of 12 compete, playing in pools A and B. Our games were against Cowes Primary, Loch, Powlett River and Our Lady Star of the Sea.

There were many small successes in our B team, with Ethan showing great leadership in his role as the Skip, Milla trying hard and Sally improving with every shot. Judd won an end against Cowes and Sophie had some excellent coaching words to guide her group of 4. Great teamwork and technique shown by Rose, Charli and Mia – with our remaining B players Mia, Jim, Tommy, Wren and Kyle taking advantage of the many volunteers giving tips from the club on the day.

In the A team we came away with 2nd place, only 4 points away from the finalists on the day. In our A squad of 12, 2 out of our 3 teams were undefeated; with Wil, Jack, Zen, Lachie, Amelia, Abby, Flynn and Sage winning against Cowes, Powlett River and Our Lady Star of the Sea. Credit too to Alex, Isabel, Izaac and Liliana for their 2 wins also.

A great day was had by all, beautiful weather and excellent teamwork on display by all of our competitors. Thank you to our training coach Sage van der Walt’s nan Carol and to our teachers Mrs Clark and Ms ODy.

Regional Swimming

On the 13th of March 2025, our talented swimmers made waves at the Primary Regional Swimming Championships held in Sale. The event saw incredible performances from our students, with numerous podium finishes and outstanding effort from everyone involved.

Here’s a rundown of the top results:

  • U9/10 Girls 50m Butterfly – 1st Place: Ruby Pirouet which saw her qualify for the State Finals in Butterfly
  • U9/10 Boys Freestyle Relay – 2nd Place: Sam Phillips, Billy Kimber, Sebastian Ferretto, and Austin Lynch
  • U9/10 Girls Freestyle Relay – 2nd Place: Ruby Pirouet, Eden Bennett, Hazel Jones, and Mila Potter
  • U12/13 Boys Freestyle Relay – 3rd Place: Ethan Lynch, Darby Symth, James Lamaro, and Zan Dalli
  • U12/13 Boys Freestyle – 3rd Place: Ethan Lynch
  • U12/13 Boys Breaststroke – 3rd Place: Ethan Lynch

A special congratulations to Ruby Pirouet, a Year 4 student, who has qualified for the State Finals in the Butterfly event – an amazing achievement!

A huge well done to all of our athletes who competed at this high level, showing great sportsmanship and determination. The swimmers who represented our team include:
Sam Phillips, Billy Kimber, Sebastian Ferretto, Austin Lynch, Ruby Pirouet, Eden Bennett, Hazel Jones, Mila Potter, Ethan Lynch, Darby Symth, James Lamaro, Zan Dalli, Cooper Bennett and Leith Cameron.

Awesome effort, team!

Jaclyn Clark

JS PE and Sports Teacher

MTB Track Build Continues

Stage 3 of the on campus MTB facilities has commenced with the progression zone well under after the donation of time and machinery of former Newhaven College parents John & Pinky and friend Ash and current Newhaven parents Pete , Mick and Tom putting in a weekend of hard at work preparing for the next parent working bee. Picture of Coach Tom shaping one of the landings.

MTB Academy also thanks the Parents & Friends Association for donating the Funds for these two awesome Jigsaw Jumps that are being put to use as part of the MTB Academy Lesson.

REMINDER  Mountain Bike Track – Supervision and Safety

To clarify for all riders, the Mountain Bike Track is only available for use when there is adult supervision. These rules are in place to ensure student safety and to prevent accidents. We appreciate your cooperation in following these guidelines.

  • Riding on the MTB track before school and at lunchtime is not permitted.
  • Parents will supervise the track on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday afternoons.
  • Gates will be locked from Friday afternoon until Monday morning.

MTB National Interschools in Thredbo  

Newhaven College MTB Academy represented at MTB National Interschools in Thredbo in the first week of March and what a week it was!

Firstly thanks to all the awesome parents for the massive effort of getting so many students to Thredbo, the support was next level! Everybody represented the school so well and it was a show of force by numbers as this was our biggest and most successful group yet. With an overall school placing of 19th out of 291 schools. To be in the top twenty schools in Australia is pretty amazing for only the second year of the Academy and for a community hours from the nearest mountain.

Maxen Mills blew us away mixing it with some of Australia’s best and ride of the week has to be Miller Macillef’s Cannonball run. Great to see this year’s youngest representative Dash Janson take the big step up in his stride and all our first time Thredbo riders Hunter Janson, Zac Basterfield and Alasdar McKechnie who took on the challenges and variety of terrain Thredbo can throw at you with ease. Special mention to our first ever female competitor Lucy Thompson who keeps impressing with her dedication and ability to stretch her comfort levels. A fifth place out of 110 schools in the ultra competitive division 3 shows the depth of our group with Jude Rigby and Aedan Parker placing impressively to help booster points. Great effort from Kody Lewis and Hugo Wright for their consistency across all four events assisting in our best team result ever. And Flynn Wright leading the charge in Division 4 and his team spirit showing others around a place he loves. Bad luck to the dedicated Hamish Dakers-Hock for his two mechanicals and fantastic to see MTB Captain Ethan Tilley mix it on the gravity side which seemed a great reward for his loyal support of the academy program from day one. We’d also like to acknowledge Miller and Jude for representing the school at Thredbo three years in a row. Awesome to witness the improvement in the entire group over this time.

With lots of individual and team goals to top in 2026, we want to spread the word of how fun the week is so we can head back next year bigger and better than ever before!

If anyone is interested in competing at Thredbo next year please don’t hesitate to contact Coach Tom Basterfield or parent Michael Wright with any questions.

Michael Wright

Gippsland Power Recruits 

Yianni Caffieri, Zac Walker and Finn O'Brien

Newhaven College Year 12 students Yianni Caffieri and Finn O'Brien, plus our AFL SportsReady Trainee and Zac Walker have made the final cut for the under 18s squad, representing PIFNC in the highly-competitive Gippsland Power.

Plus Year 10 student Ruby Kent-Ford will be representing Phillip Island Football Netball Club in U16 girls.

Gippsland Power teams compete in the Coates Talent League against other representative clubs comprised of the state's best young footballers.

Congratulations!