Year on year, staff at Newtown High School of Performing Arts (NHSPA) watch with pride as students step out of the gates for the last time, but sometimes that’s the last they see of them. 

This inspired three teachers – Bel Macedone, Francesca Heinz, and Judith Hoddinott – to create the school’s alumni network, which launched recently at the school’s art gallery. 

More than 100 people attended the launch, with alumni graduates dating from the 90s to more recent years. 

Musicians and former students Arlo Simms and Owen Gibson performed, with attendees also treated to an exhibition by artist Callum Worsford, a finalist in this year’s Archibald Exhibition. 

Principal Dr Susan Green said the alumni network was a wonderful initiative, which focused on creating spaces to come together and opportunities to support peer development, a key focus for the school. 

“It’s about connection – between past and present students, between generations of artists and educators, and between the creative spirit of NHSPA and the wider world,” she said. 

Drama teacher Judith Hoddinott, one of the founders, explained, “We wanted to capture the energy and vibe of our students and encourage a community, building on the great relationships that we have with students.” 

Key to establishing the network was spreading the word, she said. 

“We have contact with lots of former students which we used as our base, and then we knew many former students have their own informal networks, so we infiltrated that too.” 

Former students from different cohorts were then invited to come together to help develop the goals of the network. This has already led to the opening up of school art spaces for former students to exhibit in, with plans for mentorships and outreach initiatives. 

Callum, who graduated in 2018, was inspired to join the network to connect with students. 

“As an art teacher, I see a lot of opportunity to give direction and perhaps even inspire students through the network,” he said. 

He is preparing to give talks on art practice and run workshops at the school. 

Michael Hankin, a set and costume designer who graduated in 2006 also attended and said, “I thought it would be interesting to see what other former students are up to and perhaps make contacts for diversifying my career.” 

The list of high-achieving alumni of Newtown High continues to grow, and with global impact. 

Among them, former dance student Melissa Toogood was recently appointed Director of Dance at the world-renowned Julliard school in New York. 

“I never would have achieved what I’ve achieved if it weren’t for Newtown High School of the Performing Arts,” Ms Toogood said. 

“To have a public school providing mentorship at the level they do is just incredible.” 

Judith Hoddinott said around 150 people had already shown interest in the alumni network. 

“We are working towards a network of former students who will come into the school, so students will be inspired to look ahead to where they will be in a few years’ time and envision what is available to them in the future.” 

Art Express Selection

Congratulations to Year 12 2025 Visual Arts Student Jack Clegg for his nomination and subsequent selection into Art Express. 

Art Express is an exhibition of Visual Arts Bodies of Work that have received a very high mark in the HSC, and have subsequently been selected by curators from one of the galleries who show the work. Jack's time based work, a film "Catching the Big Fish", referencing the work of director David Lynch, successfully used links to the silent film era to critique the possible decline of human creativity in the age of AI. 

The work has been selected to be shown on the Art Express Virtual Exhibition, as well as WPCC Dubbo. 

Congratulations Jack!

In Week 8, Year 9 Commerce students applied their classroom knowledge in a practical setting with students gaining hands-on experience on the set up and operation of their own mini business.

Students worked in small groups to create a business plan, conduct market research, research suppliers, and effectively use the marketing mix to target their desired market and ensure a profitable venture.

Businesses sold items such as personalised lolly bags, fresh popcorn, snow cones, create-your-own dessert cups, freshly baked brownies, cookies, refreshing spiders and other iced drinks, chocolate strawberry cups, a photo booth, carnival games and perhaps the most popular stall SPONGE THROWING!

A huge thank you to our voluntary targets for the sponge throwing - Mr Mayherhofer, Mr Cole, Ms Coveny, Dr Brooks and Ms Whitefield! Perhaps the students owe you a share of their profit! 

Thank you to our wonderful General Assistant Sean Giles for assisting students to set up/pack down their stalls. 

And to our very generous Canteen operator Michael, for sacrificing his own revenue for one lunch time and even purchasing some of the student's baked goods!

Thank you to students, parents and staff for supporting the event. This was only the second time NHSPA has held a Market Day. We hope Market Day continues to be a success for years to come. 

Ms Stefanie Leotta HSIE Faculty

Student participation in the Write a Book in a Day competition, which hones student creativity while raising funds for kids’ cancer research, brought a team of Year 7 and 8 writers and illustrators together in a productive working relationship, as well as helping to forge firm friendships. Preparation for the competition involved a training day, many joyous lunchtime meetings and one intense day of writing and illustration which culminated in the production of a book titled “Man’s Best Friend”. In her evaluation of the day Marta explained that she “loved WABIAD” because it “was chaotic in all the best ways… And we had really great teamwork and it was so great and calming”. 

This year also saw the formation of a model making club, which involved students in physical and virtual model making and spanned individual and collaborative projects. While the model making gatherings often feature an environment of quiet intensity, the highly exuberant members of the poetry writing club are most often convulsed in laughter at the nonsensical nature of their verse. 

In addition, 2025 saw a number of students embrace the challenges involved in the Duke of Edinburgh Award and contributed to the functioning of the library through book covering, shelf cleaning, genre stickering and book reviewing. 

Every student in the school has access to the library’s google classroom with the access codes stamped on the bookmarks available at the teacher librarian’s desk. Our google classroom provides informative videos and information about competitions and other opportunities. 

We look forward to another year of supporting student needs in the NHSPA Learning Centre. We encourage student requests for resource purchases (requests which are usually met) and we encourage student suggestions for clubs. The clubs are open to all. There is no reason why any student at this school should lack company at lunch time. 

Best wishes to all for the festive season and 2026!

ATTENTION 2025 YEAR 12 STUDENTS

While a student is enrolled in a NSW Public School, they are allocated user credentials that provide them with access to email, student portal, Google Workspaces and Microsoft Office 365. They can access these services for free both while at school and from home - or anywhere else.

BUT WHAT HAPPENS WHEN THEY LEAVE?
Students need to be informed that from the date they leave an NSW Public School - i.e., when the school has marked them as a Leaver in ERN - they have 180 days before they lose access to:

• Their school email account (GMail)

• Their Google Drive contents

• Any Google Classrooms they were joined to

• Their Microsoft OneDrive contents

• Any Microsoft Teams they were a member of

So, from the time that they leave, they have 180 days to check all their content/files in these school-provided services and download anything that they need to keep. There is no need to delete what they do not wish to keep. Anything left in their cloud repositories after the 180 days will no longer be accessible to them.

To support learners in developing effective study habits the school will run an after-school study centre during term times on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday afternoons from 3:25pm-5:00pm in the school Library.

This is open to all students, providing a quiet environment in which focussed study could take place.

Whilst attendance every week is not compulsory, should your child wish to use this facility, it is recommended that they be regular in their attendance for effective learning to occur.

The study centre will be supervised by a staff member between the times above to assist learners with organisation, planning, and developing successful study habits should they so wish.

This is an excellent opportunity for students to form small study teams to work together to improve their understanding of concepts and spur each other on to achieve a personal best in their subjects.

Expectations for attendance are as follows:

Students

• respect the rights of other learners and so maintain a quiet learning environment.

• desire to improve their performance in subjects.

• use this time productively.

• be regular in attendance.

The centre has been shown to be an effective way for improving students' results, confidence, and organisation in an enjoyable, relaxed environment.

THE ASSC IS A QUIET SPACE TO TAKE RESPONSIBILITY FOR YOUR LEARNING AND SEEK HELP FROM STAFF

WHAT IS THE SCHOOL BYTES PORTAL

The School Bytes portal provides flexibility for you to conveniently:

• Make school payments online (including paying for multiple siblings at once)

• Use a family credit to pay for an activity or school contributions

• Download a receipt for payments made

• View all historical payments in one place

• Complete and submit digital permission notes

• View the status of all permission notes

Thank you!

School Bytes Parent Portal - accessed via this link:

TAX DEDUCTIBLE DONATIONS (VOLUNTARY)

1.  St George’s Hall Trust Fund Performing Arts Donation

This donation is to support the school’s performing and visual arts endeavours. We suggest a donation of $200 per year per family or any amount which is tax deductible through our St George’s Hall Trust Fund. Each year donations provide funding for technical equipment, musical instruments and professional industry workshops for students which enrich our programs and extend students’ opportunities.  Donation(s) may be made on the School Bytes statement or Parent Portal.

2. Library Fund Donation

The Library Fund is a new tax-deductible fund established in 2025. Library Fund donations will be used for the following:

• new books

• computer/software and hardware

• library furniture such as bookshelves, booth seating, library displays and archival preservation

Donations made to the St George’s Hall Trust Fund or the school Library Fund are fully tax-deductible as charitable contributions under the ATO provisions.

OTHER DONATIONS

1.   School Donation

If you would like to make a general donation to the school, please include the amount you wish to donate at the designated section via the School Bytes statement which will be emailed to you in the beginning of Term 1. Please note, this donation is not tax deductible. Donation(s) may be made on the School Bytes statement or Parent Portal.

2.  NHSPA P&C Donation

The P&C relies on voluntary fundraising donations as their primary means of fundraising.  We suggest a donation of $50.00 per year per family. Funds collected are allocated to fund items or projects in consultation with the school. P&C members support the school to ensure our children have the very best educational opportunities possible and our aim, when allocating funds, is to have whole of school impact. 

The P&C works with the school to identify and implement specific funding for a variety of initiatives.  One such initiative was the purchase of mega decking, consisting of stage legs and braces, which were used for the 2023 production of the Musical ‘Sweeney Todd’ and ‘Legally Blonde’ in 2025.  In 2025 a laser cutter for the TAS faculty was partially funded through the P&C. Other items purchased in the past include the new school bell, PA security system and large fan in the gym.