Update: Newington Tradition Supporters Fund
Important legal update
Dear Newington Community,
We are providing a general update in relation to recent events and also to keep the fire burning whilst we eagerly await the response from the Attorney-General.
On Wednesday night the ONU held their AGM and whilst the Save Newington College nominees were not successful in their ambition to gain control of the ONU, we applaud the fact that democracy was finally able to play out, and that, the election again brought to light:
The Newington community & alumni are deeply divided, a division not caused by us (the parents and students) or the SNC, but by the strategic decisions that the current College Council have chosen to implement;
The parents and Old Boys who oppose the current strategic direction of the College are not a small discrete group as some in positions of power and influence would try and have us all believe; we are substantial in numbers and sound in our resolve;
The newly elected ONU President appears to have made public comments which actually agree with our legal challenge position - see attached letter and attachments that was sent to Edward Miller last Friday;
We applaud the time, effort, energy and love that the SNC Old Boys have put into this campaign, knowing that they were always facing an uphill battle, having to deal with the full force of the Newington machine who had clearly backed the YOUR ONU nominees, including public statements of support from the immediate past President, Alexander Pagonis, to emails from the Headmaster and Chairman to parents and Old Boys.
To keep you updated as to the progress that we have been making, please find attached the following correspondence:
BWS (our lawyers) letter to Mills Oakley
Mills Oakley (Synods & Moderators lawyers) letter to BWS 29 May 2024
BWS further letter to Mills Oakley 26.06.24
BWS letter to Attorney General seeking approval to commence proceedings against the Council of Newington College
BWS letter to ONU President - Mr. Edward Miller
(Click here to download these documents)
You will note, that since we have begun questioning the corporate governance of the College and make-up of the College Council, the Uniting Church (at least that who it should be), have recently elected no fewer than three new Councillors onto the Council of Newington College (during the 2024 year), four if you take into account Rev 'Oto Faiva who was elected in 2023. Now call us a cynic, however when the Headmaster sends an update to the parents and greater Newington community stating that 'the Governance is strong - fifty-eight percent of current Council Members have been on the Council for three years or less', he is playing in the 'grey'. Four out of the now 20 strong College Councillors have been appointed/elected since we began writing to the College, questioning their corporate governance or lack thereof. If one were to remove those four most recent appointments, then 43% of current Council Members have been on Council for three years or less, and the very scary number is that 31% of the Council have been there for nine years or longer or a whopping 44% for Councillors serving eight years or more. There is only one Councillor with any education experience and exactly zero with any experience in the type of institutional change that is proposed to occur at Newington from what we can extract from their bios on the College website. Most comparable schools, including MLC, PLC, KNOX and other similar charities have all moved to impose maximum terms on directors/trustees not exceeding nine years and it is precisely for this reason that we now have a divided Newington Community.
As we wait to hear back from the Attorney-General, I would like to share with you an extract from an email that we received from a supporter, whose family connection dates back and is synonymous with Newington itself:
May you keep strong. On behalf of my late father, John (Digger) Buchanan in particular, thank you for protecting Newington's heritage and all she stands for : "A school for the making of 'Cultured' young men".
What started as an ill-conceived decision by the College Council to attempt to move Newington from an all-Boys education institution into a co-education system, has developed into something much larger. It is no longer just a fight over co-education, but is indeed a fight over the people entrusted to continue the tradition of old, whilst steering Newington into the future.
As always, as this matter progresses, we will endeavour to keep all of our supporters updated and informed.
Yours sincerely,
Newington Tradition Supporters Fund