Dear Parents and Carers of Newtown High School of the Performing Arts,

Once again we are reminded of the incredible talent and hardwork of our Year 12 cohort as we reflect on all they have accomplished over the last two weeks in their artistic and literary submisions for the practical component, or Major Work of Higher School Certificate.

Continuing on from the Textiles and Visual Arts exhibitions earlier in the term, last week on Tuesday we were inspired by the Design and Technology submissions on display in the school's workshops, followed by an evening of performance by our Music 1, Music 2 and Music Extension at the HSC Musical Soiree in St George's Hall. On Wednesday, the students from Extension 2 English showcased their Major Work submission by presenting a small part of their work and taking questions from prospective Year 11 E2 students.

The HSC Drama performance examinations also concluded last week with many students feeling that their performances went well.  We wish our Music students all the best as they complete their practical examinations in this week. 

Whilst the education of our Year 12 students is fully focused now on maximising class time and honing skills for the Higher School Certificate examinations, our Year 11 students have sat one week of their HSC Preliminary exams and will continue with exams and performances for Dance Drama and Music in Week 9. The Year 11 students will return to class in Week 10 for valuable feedback and guidance in preparing for the commencement of their Higher School Certificate Studies.

Year 11 will then have the holiday period to reflect upon their work in each subject before making a decision in Week 1 Term 4 about their pattern of study for Year 12. We encourage Year 11 to talk to their parents and teachers, the Career's Advisor, Ms George, and their Deputy, Ms Scanlan, before the end of Week 1.

Going through the school calendar, for the weeks ahead, the assessment period for all Years from 7-10 continues until the end of the term. 

Students should be spending time revising for examinations, reviewing work for hand-in tasks and ensuring adequate time for performance rehearsals. All assessment calendars are available on the school website.  

https://newtown-h.schools.nsw.gov.au/learning-at-our-school/assessment-booklets.html

Thursday 11 September was RUOK Day. The Year 12 S.E.E.D. Team, supported by the S.E.E.D. members of other years held a cheese toastie event before school with the aim of creating awareness of checking in with your friends, colleagues, sports team members and classmates. 

Share a toastie - and share a conversation.  

In Year Meeting time, Year Advisors discussed the importance of connectedness through short lessons provided by the RUOK? charity. Some students were involved in Conversation Bingo whilst others explored Listening in to reflect upon their own listening skills.

Although we held the day on Thursday 11 September, Year 12 S.E.E.D. members and Year Advisors reminded all students that a check-in can be any day. Start a Conversation 

A big thank you to Newtown Bourke Street Bakery for supplying all the sourdough bread for the delicious cheese toasties and the S.E.E.D. Team for organising this event that reminds us all to meaningfully connect and lend support to our friends and colleagues. 

This NSW School Vaccination Program portal allows parents/guardians to provide online consent for their child to receive the routine vaccinations. Your child’s school will provide you with a link to the portal, Vaccination portal, where you can log in using your Service NSW account on any device with an internet connection. To meet online security requirements, you will need to provide both your and your child’s Medicare card number to proceed online. If you or your child do not have a Medicare card, consent can be still provided by requesting a paper-based consent form directly from your child’s school. Please contact Jane Gray for a paper-based consent form.

Vaccination Day, 23 October 2025 

for Year 7 and 10 students

A reminder that NHSPA will have a catch-up Vaccination Day, 23 October 2025 for Year 7 and 10 students who missed the vaccination days earlier in Term 2 and Term 3. 

Our Year 10 Production students have recently completed an exciting assessment task exploring the unit of Stage Design. 

Each student created both a digital design using the Sketchup software and replicated it within a physical model, showcasing their creativity while also applying practical considerations such as safety requirements and real-world staging scenarios. 

The results from this task highlighted not only imaginative thinking but also the technical problem-solving skills essential in theatre production. These projects truly reflect the students’ ability to merge artistry with industry-standard practices. 

Well done Year 10!

Thomas Parrington (Year 10) presented his work on The Beths, taking inspiration for his design from their album cover. Not only did Thomas present a highly detailed and structurally sound design, but it also featured a makeshift projector.

Eva Luna Austin (Year 10) presented her work, taking inspiration from David Bowie and his iconic lightning bolt. This design not only reflected two of his specific albums but was also based on the Roundhouse Theatre in London. Eva considered key safety features such as railings on the seating banks, as well as incorporating fairy lights into her design.

Caspar Vernon (Year 10) presented his work on Windhand, an American metal band. He drew inspiration from the film 'This is Spinal Tap' and created a design on a reference of Stonehenge, the historic site in England that was seen within the movie. Caspar demonstrated great consideration of production elements, combining a creative concept with technical features such as a lighting rig to accompany his design.

Twig Weaving with Daryle Newman (all ages)

Sunday 28 September 2025 11:00 AM - 2:00 PM

Join Daryle Newman for a meditative, nature-based creative experience. In this workshop, participants will create sculptural twig weavings using found and natural materials. The session is a reflection on place, pattern, and the rhythms of nature, rooted in Daryle’s belief in the power of art as connection and transformation.

WE LIVE IN YOUR HOUSE, BUT WE DON’T LIVE IN YOUR WORLD

Hey fans of STRANGER THINGS and all things 80s!

NHSPA students are taking the stage this Sydney Fringe Festival to bring STRANGER SINGS! THE PARODY MUSICAL (Winner of BEST NEW MUSICAL) to life for its Sydney premiere at the Off Broadway Hub, Eternity Playhouse September 23 - 27. 

Production company Epiphany Arts has assembled an exciting young cast of emerging musical theatre stars, featuring 8 x NHSPA drama and music students in principal roles in STRANGER SINGS! AND ’SHE KILLS MONSTERS’, their second offering, playing in FRINGE COMEDY  at the Factory Theatre, September 13 - 19. 

Director Annie Macarthur jokes that the company are the unofficial ‘BRAT PACK’ of teen geek theatre presenting two plays that share the same coming of age themes, a Dungeons and Dragons framing device and scenes set to some of the best retro pop of the 80s and 90s.  

The whole NHSPA school community is invited to come along to join Mike, Eleven, Lucas, Dustin and the whole Hawkins gang for a night of adventure, thrills, pubescent angst, heavy synth, convoluted love triangles, cheap effects and a dancing Demogorgon who promises to put the Thriller back into Horror. And maybe, just maybe...there’ll be justice for everyone’s favourite missing ginger - the legend of season 1 that is Barb Holland! 

Packed with 80s nostalgia, poor parenting and more hairspray than a Year 10 formal, STRANGER SINGS! The Parody Musical is perfect for fans of STRANGER THINGS, the Netflix phenomenon, teenagers, young adults and nostalgic Gen X audiences.

NHSPA exclusive promo code to receive 40% off tickets to ALL shows for under 25s is ELEVEN

https://sydneyfringe.com/events/strangers-sings-the-musical-parody/

On Saturday 23 August at around 8.30am, a group of 51 intrepid Year 10 students and 5 selfless teachers, set off for the Snowy Mountains in southern NSW. After extensive planning and growing anticipation amongst the highly enthusiastic students, the much-loved Alpine Excursion was back underway for another year. 

Day 1 was a travel and preparation day – lunch at Goulburn and a quick stretch of the legs in Cooma, before arriving at our home base for the next few days at the beautiful, mountainous setting of Bungarra Alpine Centre, about a 5-minute drive outside Jindabyne. Here, students and teachers were kitted out in their various equipment - skis and snowboards, ski poles, boots and helmets. The remainder of the day was spent settling into the lodge, eating a very tasty dinner and briefing the students on what was to come the next day.  

Day 2 began around 5.30am (although even earlier for some of the more enthusiastic students) with everyone up and about, organising and packing for the first day on the slopes. Students demonstrated a wonderful attitude at this largely unfamiliar hour for many of them, an attitude that would remain consistent throughout the whole trip. 

A magnificent sunrise, another tasty feed in our bellies and we were on our way to Perisher – well Smiggins actually, the beginner slopes just down the road. Snowboarders, already ‘pre-booted’, unpacked the coach and then skiers made the change into their ski boots and readied themselves for the snow. Students were in 2-hour ski/ snowboard lessons both morning and afternoon, with some free time in the middle of the day for them to work on the skills they had been learning and to explore different parts of the resort. After some sketchy conditions the previous year, thankfully we were treated to pretty magic ‘bluebird’ days for the entirety of this year’s trip. 

Having established the daily routine, day 3 was another picture of organised harmony as the students rose, ate, packed the bus, travelled to Perisher, unpacked, prepared for more lessons and hit the slopes once again. Another full day (8.30am -4.30pm) of snow time, with some groups advancing to Perisher proper, a bigger mountain with many more runs to choose from, whilst our beginner groups progressed to more challenging runs at Smiggins. The confidence was growing, the turns were more parallel, and the stacks were fewer and further between (for most of the students at least!). Both roll calls ran smoothly at the end of their first lesson and before their second lesson, and in between students munched the somewhat expensive mountain fare and went out again to explore the vast playing field they had been training on. The enthusiasm to maximise their time on snow even meant some students prioritised the exhilaration of gravity over the grumbling of their bellies. Exhausted from another full day of action, we spent Monday evening again amongst the comfort and serenity of the mountain lodge.  

All too quickly, the final day was upon us. Like clockwork, the students again did all that was asked of them to leave the lodge as tidy as possible and pack their bags ready for the afternoon’s departure. Before that would occur though there was more skiing and snowboarding to be done. A cooler morning awaited us up at Perisher, but the students got stuck in with very little complaining. You could tell they were really loving the snow lifestyle by this point, and it was a shame they could not have another full day and night to indulge further. Once again, the students were outstanding ambassadors for our school and approached the day with pure joy and enthusiasm. Some were now mastering their jumps and spins, while others were super-stoked just to be making it down the ‘big’ runs without falling – everyone improving with every run. The morning lesson done, a bit more free time on the slopes and it was time to head back to the reality of life in Sydney.  

At this point, I would just like to say a huge, huge thank you to the wonderful staff that came on the trip and helped make it such a success. Rachael Holland, Aisling Mulaney, Maddi Smith and Nick Newport were the ultimate professionals when it came to managing the students in all that they had to do throughout the time away and it truly could not have happened without their fabulous support – even giving up their weekend in the process! 

Last Wednesday, English Extension 2 students presented their final major works to a live audience in the NHSPA Library – the culmination of a year of research, crafting and editing under the mentorship of Dr Brooks. The pieces covered a broad array of topics and mediums, and reflected the depth of creativity and skill of these students.

A huge Congratulations to Willa Belsham, Darcy Brennan, Phaedra Carantinos, Hannah Cvetanovski, Isabella Dal Pozzo, Yofy Dolev, Rose Graham-Hilliard, Genevieve Jackson, Dylan Kamaralli-Wilson, Claudette King, Bonnie Kirgan, Imogen Linklater, Matthew Pieri, Rosanna Ramsay and
Miller Sargeant. 

Our Stage 5 Debating Team Newtown A has won the statewide knockout round against Killara High School! The team were negative on the topic: Single sex schools should be banned. 

Congratulations to Freya Mossman, Luke Kelly, 
Naomi Nogawa-Lewy and Bec Walker. 

On the first day of Spring eight students from the NHSPA Book Club celebrated the publication of their novel “Man’s Best Friend" before an appreciative library audience of invited guests. After tucking into cakes and chips, four of the writers treated their audience to readings from the book. 

We take this opportunity to express our sincere thanks for the support of our Admin staff Leonie Watts and Lucinda Nube who printed and bound a copy of the book for each student with customary grace and efficiency. 

The library collection has also been enriched with a copy of “Man’s Best Friend” which will be accessioned and barcoded like all the other books in our library.

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

St George’s Hall Trust Fund  

• $70,000 has been contributed to air-conditioning in St George’s Hall and two classrooms within H Block.   

• This Trust Fund provides extra funding each year to the Dance, Drama, Music and Visual Arts faculties. This extra funding assists with student scholarships, awards and master class practitioners to enable extension opportunities and to develop the talent of creative and performing arts students. In 2024 the funding enabled the following:   

• Dance – Paul Knobloch, from the Australian Ballet, to teach and choreograph with Year 10, 11 & 12 Dancers.  

• Drama – A Series of Public Apologies collaboration with award winning director, Warwick Doddrell 

• Music – purchase of resources for ensembles and repairs to music equipment  

• Visual Arts – Scott Owen workshop, HSC Material Worlds – Contemporary Asian Art presentation, installing of a hanging system in the St George’s Gallery and the purchase of camera equipment. 

Library Fund 

The Library Fund is a new tax-deductible fund established this year. 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 School Library Fund or the St George’s Hall Trust Fund are fully tax-deductible as charitable contributions under the ATO provisions. 

Tax deductible donations can be made using our online payment portal or by visiting the school office during school hours (8.30am – 3.00pm). For assistance making payments online, please visit: How to make a payment online – School Bytes 

For further information on donating funds please contact, Mr Adam Oliver, Business Manager on 9519 1544 or email the school at newtown-h.school@det.nsw.edu.au