From the Principal's Desk  

Newman College hosted a breakfast this week for the Industry Training Advisory Board which brought together local industry employers and training providers. The forum highlighted the importance of good community relations, particularly with local industry in supporting young people with employment and training opportunities. 
 
Newman College has long been developing these relationships which are so valued and never more useful now that another year group of students are soon to be entering the workforce.
 
It's less than three weeks until our Year 12's will complete their formal studies (it always astounds me as to how quickly this comes around). It's not only a time to get things in order with completion of courses, but a time to consider their resumes. By now students will have a considerable list of workplace experiences and achieved competencies, including a summary of skills acquired. Skills that transfer across all subjects such as; communication, problem solving, organisation etc. These are the transferable skills developed over the past 18 months which significantly enhance employability prospects.
 
Students should also think carefully about the person who they would like to list as a referee and then make contact with them to ask if they would consider this, and provide their email contact. A College staff member or previous workplace employer, that they have worked well with, for example. These conversations themselves can sometimes lead to new doors opening.
 
It's time to take action on preparing, not only for the end of one chapter, but the beginning of a new one.

Stephen Pares
Principal

Curriculum News

• Students are required to be at all of their exams at-least 15 minutes before they start, and that the finishing time stated on the timetable is only a guide.
• In the unlikely event that you need to miss an exam you must contact the College as soon as possible and you are to sit that exam at the earliest possible opportunity. Presentation of medical certificates and/or other supporting evidence is required when exams are missed.
• Students are not required to go to PC each morning (except Wednesday) and are only required to attend their scheduled exams, however they are not permitted to leave and return to school in the same day. So if students have exams in session 1 and 3 of the same day, they will be required to be in the study lesson held in the Learning Centre for the middle session of that day.
• Students that are at school whilst they are not scheduled an exam must be in the Learning Centre for supervised silent study.
• Some important exam rules are printed on the 2nd page of the timetable document.

Andrew Banham
Leader of Curriculum
Exam Timetable

The bus came to a halt at the junction of Bob’s Creek and Yellow Creek Roads. The weather was closing in and the heavens began to open  as the students stepped nervously off the bus and onto the damp soil of Queens Lake Nature Reserve. A few nervous glances here and there, they scoped out the competition that was St Columba and Regional College. They were ready... and the 2 months of preparation instilled a visible confidence. With a 5 minute foreword from the convenor and founder, Mr Chris Delaney, they were issued their Checkpoint (CP) Cards and compass. Then, no faster than you can say ‘Orienteering,’ they were off.

Like bees to the honey, they scattered, in random directions at first, then slowly coming together, eyeing off their first CP. For the next four hours they bush-bashed, slogged their way through muddy trenches and tiptoed up steep embankments, calves aching from the lactic-acid drenching.

The sighting of the familiar orange and white flag was sometimes difficult, often groups hastily passed the marker, missing out on the points that came with it. The pinnacle, the top of Jolly Nose Hill, stands at an elevation of 222m and was worth 100 points to all students who dared to take it on. Most of the NSTC teams beat the hill and got the points!

Some students chose a more southern track and headed to the lake to navigate by kayak and discover 3 hidden CP’s. These were also worth considerable points.

As the hours went by quickly, the finish point (Corama Place, Bonny Hills) drew closer. Some groups yearned for the finish. I received a phone call 1 hour before the finish time. A trembled voice came through from the other end, “Miss, I don’t know how we got here, but we are back at the start!” After ensuring the group was ok, we talked tactics and made a plan. Although this wasn’t ideal, the group had to realise the situation they were in, make a decision on the best route to take and act on it. They finished just on the 2.00pm cut-off and later laughed about their mistake.

Some of our teams covered over 20kms on foot that day. All of our teams did at least 10kms. This is an extraordinary effort. Our highest point scorers for the day were Joshua Brennan, Conner Stevens and Tyson McGovern on 670 points and they came in the top 15 teams overall. This team was closely followed by Wyatt Lawrence, Ryan Leviston and Caitlin Loumeau on 550 points.

I would like to congratulate all of the students on their energy, determination and stamina. You guys are awesome! This is real learning through memory-making and first-hand experience, decision making and cooperation, critical thinking and problem solving... and I loved witnessing this!

Thank you also to Andrew Holloway who accompanied the teams and a special thanks to Luke Roe who imparted his knowledge from the year before and helped with all in-class preparation.

To all our adventurers out there - “Just because my path is different, doesn’t mean I’m lost!”

Well done Year 11.

• Certificate II in Hospitality
• Certificate III in Commercial Cookery
• Certificate II in Retail
• Certificate III in Painting & Decorating

• Fulltime Certificate III in Irrigation
• Certificate III Bicycle Mechanic
• 2 x Full time painting apprenticeships
• Diesel Mechanic