Newman News – Ms Kate Berger

Newman Symposium 

“Every project is an opportunity to learn, to figure out problems and challenges, to invent and reinvent”

– David Rockwell 

Students in our Newman classes have been working extra hard over the last few weeks, producing a project for our 2025 Newman Symposium which was held on Monday 11th August. 

The mood in the Catherine Centre and Baggot Place was electric – lots of students were excitedly showcasing their learning for parents, students and teachers. We had people interacting with exhibitions by attending screenings, playing sports to practice communication and using new technologies to communicate. 

The theme for 2025 was ‘messages’, which prompted students to consider what messages are most important in our society, how we can communicate clearly and whose messages are being left unheard in today’s world. We had projects that highlighted different forms of communication, developed new ways of refining our communication through apps and even a Virtual Reality (VR) museum which communicated messages about the past using today’s technologies. 

We had some outstanding projects this year, which really encouraged our audience to reach for even higher learning goals. It was a fantastic opportunity for students to receive authentic feedback on their work and to apply what they have learned in the classroom this year to real-world problems. 

A big congratulations to all of our Newman students who participated in our Symposium this year. It was so special to see you go into the ‘pit of learning’ and emerge with a fully-realised, totally original reflection of your studies. It was an exercise in curiosity, in trouble-shooting and in collaboration. We cannot wait to see how some of these projects are translated into the ‘real world’ outside of the classroom! 

Newman Facilitators 

Miss Romberg, Mrs Bernie and Ms Berger