Talk:Newington College/Archive 1

message: This article certainly has a POV issue in place, is anyone prepared to clean it up? I mean, really, it sounds more like an advertisement for the school than a neutral collection of factual information.. Nice of someone to mention Wade Frankum in the article though. Mwhale 15:30, 30 December 2005 (UTC)
replies: text: Indeed it does, after reading through the wikipedia NPOV section, I'm tagging this as a neutrality disputed article. I'll list several examples later.Nebuchanezzar 11:52, 16 February 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: I agree, I think you are likely to find this sort of perspective on the pages of many other educational institutions, particularly Australian independent schools (eg. Sydney Grammar, The King's School etc.). I think you'll find that people have simply copied and pasted huge bodies of text from these schools websites and pasted them into wikipedia articles, the school's websites are not likely to have a NPOV so if you want NPOV information then I suggest looking to sources other than the school's websites. The fault is with whoever copied the information from the schools websites onto wikipedia.58.164.46.131 07:54, 26 February 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: yes...i completely agree. the neutrality of this article is clearly not in existance at all. i move for the content of the article which has been copied from the school website and is clearly biassed to be removed permanantly. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 203.191.181.45 (talk • contribs) 03:10, 8 March 2006.
The article has been cleared up to adhere to POV standards, and there are now fair points on what Newington offers exclusively, and what other schools offer. I believe POV has been cleared up.Nebuchanezzar 13:29, 24 March 2006 (UTC)

text: POV was cleared up a bit, but reintroduced. I pruned the most obvious silly commentery, but I don't know much about the validity of the comments; I may be wrong, so somebody with more knowledge about the subject should probably proofread it. _-M o P-_ 08:29, 6 April 2006 (UTC)

text: Once again, most of it has been cleared up by me again. Most could be found in that stupid arts section at Newington, and also in the HSC articles. I've braned it with a bunch of "" marks, as there's simply no evidence to back up a lot of the things in the article. It read like an advertisement, and it still does. None the less, it will have to do for now. Nebuchanezzar 12:52, 26 October 2006 (UTC)

text: I think POV is back. The section titled "The Arts at Newington", for example, contains lines like "very proud tradition" (without citing any results or evidence for this) and even says "we ... deploy teams", ie. it's written from the perspective of someone at the school. 220.239.26.129 06:56, 7 July 2006 (UTC)
thread_title:  NPOV? 

message: Any developments should be added. Jpeob 05:25, 28 May 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: Exactly what is the dispute?  The section is entirely too long but it appears to be well-sourced.  --ElKevbo 04:00, 19 September 2006 (UTC)
thread_title:  IR Controversy 

message: The AFD notice placed in the Industrial Relations section was removed (a) as the article was not listed on the AFD page, (b) the link to the supposed-discussion of the AFD nomination was for a completely different article, and (c) it's (to the best of my knowledge) inappropriate and just incorrect to nominate a section of an article for deletion via the AFD process.  You use the AFD process to nominate an ARTICLE for deletion.  --ElKevbo 15:09, 5 September 2006 (UTC)
thread_title:  AFD 

message: Hey everyone after looking at some other private schools wikipedia pages i noticed that newington's page is missing sister schools. as my editing skills are quite bad i thought i would just post here and who ever wants to can add it. the sister schools are MLC School, Burwood and Presbyterian Ladies College Sydney. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Harrisony (talk • contribs) 02:59, 14 December 2006 (UTC)
thread_title:  Sister schools 

message: From the article:
:In 2004, the results were again impressive
Comment: Clearly not NPOV.
From the article:
:It is worth mentioning that simply enrolling in a high fee paying school does not ensure a good UAI, and hard work and determination are of more importance than the school attended.
Comment: I'm wondering why exactly this is termed "worth mentioning"? Wikipedia is meant to be an encyclopaedia, with encyclopaedic content. Its purpose is surely not to give advice about what is someone's opinion about how to attain a good UAI.
From the article:
:Students who score 90 or above in a subject and hence receive the highest band are placed on the merit list. In 2004, 58 boys achieved a total of 176 ‘top bands’ [citation needed], another outstanding effort.
Comment: The wording at the end, "another outstanding effort" is not neutral point of view.
From the article:
:In 2005, however, the results were overwhelmingly dissapointing.
Comment: Disappointing from whose point of view? This should go. Again, it is not the role of Wikipedia to say whether the school's HSC results were good or poor, as this becomes extremely subjective. If this is to stay in, it needs to be a quote from a verifiable external source. Alternatively, the statistics can be reported without the biased commentary on them.
From the article:
:Only one student gained a Premier's Award, and Newington was placed outside the top 100 schools in the state.
Comment: The context of this comment and the way that it uses the word "only" again fails the NPOV test.
From the article:
:Considering that the fees of this school approach $20 000 a year, and Newington's success in other areas is very limited, these results are made even worse.
Comment: This is just opinion. It is not for Wikipedia to be making judgements about the fees a school charges. Nor subjective judgements about a school's results or achievements. This section is clearly some kind of battleground for advocates and critics of the school. Personally, I couldn't care less about Newington but I don't believe that this kind of bias should be brought to Wikipedia. It needs cleaning up so I'm tagging the article as not neutral. Alexxx1 (talk/contribs) 12:11, 7 January 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: Fixed DXRAW 12:27, 7 January 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  The Higher School Certificate 

message: This entirely speculative and is unfounded among the academic / administration staff. Some explanation will be needed by 169.229.207.217. Trace route shows the I.P comes from Berkeley College, which is a tad odd itself considering the I.P has no servers associated with it. Can anyone help? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 60.225.149.219 (talk) 00:30, 4 March 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  John McVicar To be appointed headmaster? 

message: There are many Single Purpose Accounts adding unsouced quotes & changing quotes from newspapers to suit most there & most likely the schools administration Point of view. Per Wikipedia:Attribution policy Material in Wikipedia must be attributable to a reliable, published source & The burden of evidence lies with the editor wishing to add or retain the material. DXRAW 04:55, 3 April 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  [[WP:SPA]] Adding POV 

message: * 2006 Staff dispute has been reverted to 2006 Industrial Relations dispute because that is the correct title in a dispute like this. See Industrial Relations
This is a dispute between the Headmaster and staff about staffing not pay and conditions.Sbrandons 06:25, 17 April 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: "restructure that would also reduce their holidays." & "...negotiate collective arrangements covering salary and working conditions for staff"  & 
Those comments are by a Union and a newspaper not from the Headmaster or staff and so are disputable.Sbrandons 07:05, 17 April 2007 (UTC)

text: And comments from them are not disputable? Not a valid point.
* The quotes from Greens MLC Lee Rhiannon that were removed have been reverted cause it shows how much publicly the Industrial Relations dispute.
Publicity stunts by political parties come and go. Appropriate for this stunt to have come and gone.Sbrandons 06:25, 17 April 2007 (UTC)

text: Thats no reason to remove it.
It is every reason to remove it - it is a stunt and of no relevance to the dispute.Sbrandons 07:05, 17 April 2007 (UTC)

text: It shows the publicly of the dispute.
*The IEU statement that was removed has been reverted as it shows results between the two parties involved.
Slanted material from one side of the dispute.Sbrandons 06:25, 17 April 2007 (UTC)

text: Explain further, I see no POV only facts in that source.
If any of the material needs to remain, source it from the free press not the Union which was a party to a dispute that ended months ago.Sbrandons 07:05, 17 April 2007 (UTC)

text: It is also sourced in a paragraph that you removed.
*The removal of the teachers quotes of the moral after the agreement between the IEU & the school has been reverted as it shows the feeling among the staff towards the school.
Anonymous comments in a newspaper carry no weight.Sbrandons 06:25, 17 April 2007 (UTC)

text: If they had no weight then they would not be there in the first place but they are. Have you thought about why they are Anonymous.
Of course we know why you think they are anonymous but the point still stands that they are and are of dubious value to this article.Sbrandons 07:05, 17 April 2007 (UTC)

text: Incorrect.
*The removal of the survey results have been reverted as it is sourced and shows the school moral and the headmasters response. DXRAW 06:01, 17 April 2007 (UTC)

text: No incorrect statments there just two differing views. Also this sentence has been removed "contrasting with 75 per cent who reported low or very low morale." DXRAW 06:33, 17 April 2007 (UTC)

text: That does not make it a non issue. Yes we need both sentences as they are quoted. Also with the wide range of people editing the article it also shows that it is trying to be hidden. DXRAW 07:23, 17 April 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  IR Edits 

message: Can y'all please stop replying to one another inside one another's previous edits?  At this point, I have no idea who wrote what and when in the above conversation.  --ElKevbo 11:50, 17 April 2007 (UTC)
thread_title: Request

message: Article is now fully protected due to persistent revert-warring amongst numerous editors. Can you guys please try to come to some consensus here? - Alison? 00:59, 18 April 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: Because this page was protected due to disputes, it wouldn't be appropriate for anyone to make significant content chagnes until it is unprotected. Protection is not an endorsement of the current version, only a way to prevent edit warring. CMummert � talk 12:59, 19 April 2007 (UTC)

text: By your reasoning anything that happens in the past is not worth reporting. Its a part of the whole dispute. Also can you explain the number of other non resisted users that side with you, I'm seeing alot of WP:SOCK With WP:COI DXRAW 08:32, 20 April 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  Protected 

message: This is the material as presented by Waterdanks after editing the existing material. Waterdanks removed material that has remained without references since February 2007 and other repetitive material.
"Newington's has a non-selective admission policy. The school teaches the core curriculum outlined by the NSW Board of Studies (BOS) between K-8. In addition to this curriculum, the students study one major language other than English. Competent students at Newington during years 7-8 (and onwards if a student decides to) study Latin. From years 9-12, students adhere to the Board of Studies curriculum standards that all NSW schools follow. To ensure the interests of all students are catered for, be they academic, commercial, creative, sporting, technological or otherwise, the College offers a wide range of courses. The curriculum, in tandem with cocurricular and pastoral care programs, attempts to provide a rounded liberal education designed to equip students with the skills, knowledge and understanding they will need to face the challenges of the years ahead. Newington comes under jurisdiction of the Board of Studies and follows the same set of rules, and offers from the same list of courses, as other NSW schools. It prepares students for the School Certificate and Higher School Certificate. The IB will be introduced at Newington in 2008."
This is ExtraDry/DXRAW's evidence for copyright breach:-
'Newington College has a proud academic record. In 2006 eight Newington boys received Premier's Awards. (This prize is awarded to students who achieve over 90 in each of 10 units or more. In 2002 and 2003, Newington boys received 10 and 12 awards, more than any other non-selective boys' school in NSW. In 2004, 11 Newington boys received awards.) for All-Round Excellence in the NSW Higher School Certificate, with three boys appearing in the HSC showcases Exemplar, Encore and DesignTech. For further details go to the HSC page. To ensure the interests of all students are catered for, be they academic, creative, sporting, technical, commercial or otherwise, the College dedicates considerable resources to offering a wide range of courses. In tandem with our extensive co-curricular and pastoral care programs, this broad curriculum provides a rounded liberal education designed to equip students with the skills, knowledge and understanding they will need to face the challenges of the years ahead. Please refer to the Academic Guide, on the Subjects Info page, for detailed information about courses offered at our secondary school. The Newington Homework Policy and study guidelines are printed in the Student Diary. Free homework help is offered locally by Marrickville Library. Download this flyer for full details PDF 99KB. Curriculum details for our preparatory schools can be found under 'Lindfield Prep' and 'Wyvern House' under 'K-6 Preps' in the main menu. For further enquiries, please contact Julia Shea, our Head of Curriculum."
 
Is there a copright problem? I don't think so, but I'm not prepared to alter it until we have some other opinions on the matter. Please help.Archifile 02:28, 22 July 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: You fail to mention that infomation was taken off the schools website so yes there is a copyright problem. ExtraDry 10:02, 22 July 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  Academic 

message: Should we be worried about this section as a copyright violation?
From the Newington College website:
"Support for the concept was fostered by the Rev John Manton, who successfully put a motion before the Methodist Conference of 1862. Manton was later appointed Principal-elect of the new school and is rightly regarded as the founder of the College.
At the Conference it was decided that the institution should be "decidedly Wesleyan in character" and at the very start it was expected to "be open to the sons of parents of all religious denominations" – a philosophy which remains an essential ethos of the College 140 years on.
There being no suitable buildings in Sydney Town, a property was leased at Silverwater on the Parramatta River. Formerly belonging to the pioneer Blaxland family, 'Newington House' was the centrepiece of a 1200 acre estate of the same name.
 
On Thursday 16 July, 1863, 16 "miserable boys" – as one of their number later described them – gathered together in the gloomy winter twilight at the old mansion. Newington had begun.
The College prospered and during its time at Silverwater – known as 'the River Days' – it made a significant impact on the education scene in the colony, as well as on the sports field. It was the first school to play rugby football, the first school in Australia to hold an athletics carnival, it was virtually undefeated at rifle shooting – often in contests against mature army and marine teams – and it contributed to the membership of early Australian cricket teams. 
With these successes came expanding numbers, and it soon became clear that Newington House was not to be a suitable home into the future. More extensive premises closer to the city were sought and a bequest of land – the Stanmore Estate, from which the suburb gains its name – provided the opportunity. And so, in 1880, the River Days came to an end.
Then began the enormous task of raising funds to erect a suitable building for the provision of accommodation for theological students, an essential part of the scheme from the outset. One of several entrants in a competition to design the new College buildings, a young colonial architect named Thomas Rowe was selected and works began in 1876. Rowe later designed several significant buildings including Sydney Hospital and The Great Synagogue. By 1880, the now heritage-listed sandstone building, known today as the Founders' Wing, was completed and the great migration from Silverwater to Stanmore began, taking with it the name Newington; by resolution of the College Council, the name was to be perpetuated on the new site.
The College has remained at Stanmore. From 70 students at the time of the move, it now has about 1600 with an additional Preparatory School on the North Shore, first at Killara but now at Lindfield.
In latter years, particularly since World War II, the College buildings and facilities have improved and expanded significantly – the latest of which are the Physical Education Centre (on a site where there has been a gymnasium since 1890 and a swimming pool since 1894) a new boatshed at Abbotsford and new Library and Design & Technology facilities.
The Stanmore-based Preparatory School at Wyvern House relocated in 1998 to new premises in Cambridge Street. There are Boarding facilities catering for boys from Years 7 to 12.
Over the decades, the College has seen the services of a number of distinguished Headmasters. The Rev Dr C J Prescott [1900 to 1931] is the school's longest serving Headmaster – Prescott was the most influential educator of his day in Australia – and Mr P R Le Couteur (1931–1948) who guided the College through the recovery from the Great Depression and through World War II. Mr L R D Pyke [1952 to 60] initiated the post-war building programme and Mr A J Rae (1972 to 1993) developed an academic, sporting and extracurricular balance which is the envy of other institutions.
Mr Rae was succeeded by Mr Michael Smee in mid-1993. Mr Smee spent a decade at the helm, overseeing major building projects including the relocation of Wyvern House Preparatory School to new premises in Cambridge St, Stanmore.
The current Headmaster, Mr David G Scott, took over in mid-2003."
From Wikipedia:-
"Support for the concept of Newington College was fostered by the Rev John Manton, who successfully put a motion before the Methodist Conference of 1862. Manton was later appointed Principal-elect of the new school and is rightly regarded as the founder of the College.
At the Conference it was decided that the institution should be "decidedly Wesleyan in character" and at the very start it was expected to "be open to the sons of parents of all religious denominations" – a philosophy which remains an essential ethos of the College 140 years on.
There being no suitable buildings in Sydney Town, a property was leased at Silverwater on the Parramatta River. Formerly belonging to the pioneer Blaxland family, 'Newington House' was the centrepiece of a 1200 acre estate of the same name.
The River Days at Newington, where the first students gathered at Silverwater.With the successes of Newington College came expanding numbers, and it soon became clear that Newington House was not to be a suitable home into the future. More extensive premises closer to the city were sought and a bequest of land – the Stanmore Estate, from which the suburb gains its name – provided the opportunity and the school relocated in 1880.
Then began the real funding task of raising funds to erect a suitable building for the provision of accommodation for theological students, an essential part of the scheme from the outset. One of several entrants in a competition to design the new College buildings, a young colonial architect named Thomas Rowe was selected and works began in 1876. Rowe later designed several significant buildings including Sydney Hospital and The Great Synagogue. By 1880, the now heritage-listed sandstone building, known today as the Founders' Wing, was completed and the school moved to Stanmore. The College Council decided that the name Newington College should be continue to be used despite the move to the new site.
The College has remained at Stanmore. From 70 students at the time of the move, it now has about 1600 with an additional Preparatory School on the North Shore, first at Killara but now at Lindfield.
In latter years, particularly since World War II, the College buildings and facilities have improved and expanded significantly – the latest of which are the Physical Education Centre (on a site where there has been a gymnasium since 1890 and a swimming pool since 1894) a new boatshed at Abbotsford and new Library and Design & Technology facilities.
The Stanmore-based Preparatory School at Wyvern House relocated in 1998 to new premises in Cambridge Street. There are Boarding facilities catering for students from Years 7 to 12.
Over the decades, the College has seen the services of a number of headmasters, including particularly, The Rev Dr Charles Prescott (1900 to 1931), the school's longest serving headmaster and Tony Rae AM (1972 to 1993) who sought to develop an academic, sporting and extracurricular balance.
Mr Rae was succeeded by Michael Smee in mid 1993 whose term as headmaster saw major building projects undertaken including the relocation of Wyvern House Preparatory School to new premises in Cambridge St, Stanmore. The current headmaster is David Scott who commenced in mid 2003."
Should the history section be removed until it is rewritten?
:Definitely.  --ElKevbo 03:58, 22 July 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  History 

message: The following para re-inserted by ExtraDry/DXRAW is nonsense and should be removed.
"Participation in sport is an important part of a student's progress through school. Not only is sport deemed to be important, it is also compulsory, and the limited number of positions available in all sports other than Rugby has lead to the creation of such promising teams as the Under 14 G's. This is a guideline set out by the Board of Studies to which all schools must adhere. Through properly staffed and controlled games and activities, a student will reach the goals set out by the Board of Studies PD/H/PE program that all public and private schools must reach."Archifile 05:38, 22 July 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: Be WP:BOLD then ExtraDry 10:03, 22 July 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  Sport 

message: An editor as pasted an advert tag on the Old Newingtonians' Union section but has left nothing on this page to help understand their action. This is in no way an advertisement but a history and description of the Union. I have removed the tag. Archifile 02:44, 12 August 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: I have reverted the impropper removal of the tag, No chages had been made to that section. It might not be an advertisement but reads like an advertisement and thus needs to be rewritten. ExtraDry 10:33, 12 August 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: Rewritten ExtraDry 10:39, 12 August 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: This section appears to be well written and referenced, covers activities of interest and some aspects of the ONU's 112 year history and is shorter that the preceeding article on an inductrial dispute that lasted for only months and has been over for months. Why does it need to be changed? Mitchplusone 08:00, 22 August 2007 (UTC)

text: Per Wikipedia is not an indiscriminate collection of information this section does not need to list every event that the union does. Also listing other jobs of past Presidents is not on par with WP:MOS ExtraDry 08:55, 22 August 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  Old Newingtons' Union 

message: I have written the following as a history of Newington and it has been removed for a supposed copyright violation:
:At the Methodist Conference of 1862 the Rev John Manton proposed that a collegiate institute, "decidedly Wesleyan in character", be founded in Sydney. It was expected that the school would "be open to the sons of parents of all religious denominations" and on Thursday 16 July 1863 the Wesleyan Collegiate Institute opened with 16 boys and a small number of theological students. As no suitable buildings were available in Sydney at the time Newington House, the centrepiece of the 1200 acre Blaxland family estate at Silverwater, was leased. Newington College, as the school soon became known, prospered during its time on the Parramatta River and in 1869 was the first Australian school to play rugby football (against the University of Sydney) and soon after was the first school in Australia to hold an athletics carnival. The Newington College Cadet Unit is the oldest corps in the Australian Army Cadets. Expanding student numbers meant that more extensive premises closer to the city were required. A bequest, by John Jones, of land at Stanmore saw the College move to the newly fashionable inner-city suburbs in 1880. Seventy school and theological students migrated from Silverwater to Stanmore and took residence in the grand stone ediface, designed by Thomas Rowe, that is still the centrepiece of Newington. By resolution of the College Council, the name Newington College was perpetuated on the new site and Newington has remained at Stanmore ever since. A gymnasium was built in 1890 and a swimming pool was opened 1894. Newington ceased to be a Methodist theological training school in 1913 when Leigh College was founded at Enfield. In 1921 a stone War Memorial, designed by Old Newingtonian William Hardy Wilson, was opened in memory of those old boys who had paid the supreme sacrifice in World War I. A seperate preparatory school was first opened in 1921 after a bequest by Sir Samuel McCaughey and it became known as Wyvern House when a new building was opened by Old Newingtonian Sir Percival Halse Rogers in 1938. In 1925 a rowing facility was built at Abbotsford and in 1957 an additional preparatory school was founded on the North Shore - first at Killara but now at Lindfield. Since World War II, the College buildings and facilities have expanded significantly. A new Physical Education Centre and a new boatshed at Abbotsford are two of the most recent additions. In 1998, Wyvern House moved to a seperate campus in Cambridge Street, Stnmore. A Short History of the College Retrieved 25.9.2007 
This is the website history that I took it from and cited as the source with additional information from the College histories listed in the bibliography. In reading it do others see a copyright violation:
Click here for history 
::I would appreciate advice and will re-write the section if others think it is neccessary. Mitchplusone 12:37, 25 September 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: (i have removed the text of that website from the talk page, that is a copyright violation. I have replaced it with a link to the text).Twenty Years 13:24, 25 September 2007 (UTC)

text: After looking at the history section, and the website in question, i have come to the conclusion, that whilst the article is sourced from that website, it is in no way a copyright violation. What must be remembered here is that we must use sources that are external from the school (eg. not by the school or its sub branches: alumni etc). Twenty Years 13:22, 25 September 2007 (UTC)
replies: text:  So should the enlarged history be re-instated or not? This will also help determine if the section on the Headmaster, removed at the same time, should be re-instated. Mitchplusone 13:27, 25 September 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: The headmaster section should be removed or a parrgraph written about all headmasters. ExtraDry 20:44, 25 September 2007 (UTC)

text: According to WikiProject Schools, a list of headmasters is fine, so that shouldnt be deleted. It makes it even better if theyre notable too (in many of the cases on Newington). Twenty Years 08:02, 26 September 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: I'm not talking about the list of headmasters im talking about the parragraph about david scott. One thing that the sockpuppets should think about before wriiting any article about anybody is if that person passes WP:NOTE ExtraDry 10:49, 26 September 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: Please assume good faith, comments such as those (unless proven to be true), are unhelpful. Remember: comment on the text, not the contributor. Ill have a look at the section now. Twenty Years 11:12, 26 September 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: Deleted the section on the current headmaster, it is pure cruft. If hes notable, put it into an article. If hes not, his info isnt going here. Twenty Years 11:28, 26 September 2007 (UTC)

text: Unless this exact user is proven to be a sockpuppet, then he is not a sock, and you need to AGF. Please dont make accusations, its hard enough with alledged SPA's on both sides of the equation here. Twenty Years 12:54, 26 September 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: Please read WP:DUCK ExtraDry 20:43, 26 September 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: Please read WP:KETTLE Loopla 21:04, 26 September 2007 (UTC)

text: Extra, thats nice to know youre not a sockpuppet. I think Loopla's comments are 100% fine, taking into consideration of course, your comments. Thank you. Twenty Years 09:07, 27 September 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  History of Newington 

message: I think the answer here is for Mitch to place an outdated tag on the section, as it may appear to be outdated. The section needs to be comprehesive and cover all angles of the dispute, so shortening it probably isnt too much of an option, maybe lengthening all other parts of the article is a better option. Twenty Years 15:18, 4 October 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  IR Disupte 

message: I am assessing this article for WikiProject Schools after a request. This was quite a difficult assessment, but for now giving B / High. Article clearly covers a lot with plenty of references and pictures, with no series problems I can see. This article could well become GA in the future, especially if this dispute is fully resolved; a peer review would be good to help achieve this. I am giving this article High importance for now, has a important history and no shortage of alumni, giving Top importance should also be considered. Camaron1 | Chris 11:53, 20 October 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: I am now giving this article Top importance, making it the second top importance school article in Australia, seems to be in the position to be so. Camaron1 | Chris 18:57, 20 October 2007 (UTC)
replies: text:  I think its worth a "Top Importance" - all of the headmasters are notable, because the school is so notable. Twenty Years 11:09, 22 October 2007 (UTC)
replies: text:  Your right a lot of headmasters have their own article, which convinces me. With a mandate of another opinion I will re-give the article top importance now. Camaron1 | Chris 13:33, 22 October 2007 (UTC)
replies: text:  I have changed this assessment to High importance, the school is very notable, but it isnt like the top 2 or 3 schools in Australia notable. Your original downgrade was correct. Twenty Years 05:07, 30 October 2007 (UTC)

text: I should add that most of the headmasters and presidents seem to have pages because they served here, rather than other notable achievements. I'm not criticising, merely a passing judgment. Jame§ugrono 13:00, 13 November 2007 (UTC)

text: Please see my comments on this at WT:WPSCH/A. Camaron1 | Chris 19:09, 15 November 2007 (UTC)

text: That seems an odd assessment of the careers of the headmasters and presidents when you consider that this is a list of some of the other posistions they held:-
* Founding Principal Wesley College, Auckland
* President Australasian Wesleyan Methodist Church
* Founding Headmaster Tupou College
* Founding Headmaster Wesleyan Ladies College
* Founding Headmaster Galt Grammar School
* Professor of Classics University of Toronto
* Founding Headmaster Sydney Boys' High School
* Professor of Classics & English Literature University of Tasmania
* Headmaster Sydney Grammar School
* Professor of Mathematics University of Tasmania
* Professor of Classics and Ancient History University of Western Australia
* Dean of Graduate Studies University of Melbourne
* Professor of Mathematics Rutgers University
I wonder sometimes when I read such comments if people exactly read articles. Waterdanks (talk) 06:26, 24 November 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  Assessment 

message: This section details a significant event in the recent history of Newington. However, given the dispute is now more than a year old and the report to the Council was made in April 2007, it is appropriate to reduce the length of the section to avoid placing undue weight on it in the context of the article. It is also important that it be updated to reflect the final report having been received - the previous version was written prior to April 2007 and was out of date as discussed above.
I make these comments because I note that a minor edit war seems to be under way to restore the pre-April 07 text. I consider this text to be both outdated and overly detailed, and have restored the newer version to the article. There appears to be a consensus for this, as three editors have now restored the new text vs the one IP (associated with an indefinitely blocked user) who prefers the earlier one.
As always, disagreements and other opinions are welcome. Let's discuss here before continuing to revert the article.  Euryalus (talk) 05:26, 30 January 2008 (UTC)
replies: text: I completely agree. Loopla (talk) 09:32, 30 January 2008 (UTC)
replies: text: I have made some minor changes to include some of the removed infomation and shortned it. Did any body else notice that the IP 218.214.39.38 who removed alot of infomation with the edit summary of "edit"  which could be called vandlism also editied the David Scott (headmaster) page and removed the IR infoamtion from that page with the edit summary of "removing pov"  but that was restored.  59.167.238.146 (talk) 00:41, 6 February 2008 (UTC)
thread_title:  2006 Industrial Dispute 

message: In my opinion the long list of ONU Presidents is not really suitable for a wikipedia article, especially since most of them are not notable. Its quite similar to a list of past school captains which is usually not deemed encyclopedic (e.g. see the discussion at Talk:Patrician Brothers' College, Fairfield). I don't want to remove the list without consensus, especially after the Patrician Brother's College debacle, so would appreciate some thoughts/opinions. Cheers. Loopla (talk) 12:52, 19 March 2008 (UTC)
replies: text: If an article is made on the ONU, then the information should be placed there. The information in the list format doesnt belong on this page, what could happen is the list could be converted to prose, eg; Notable former ONU presidents include; Person X, who later became a member of parliament. Other than possibly making them into prose, the list has no real place on wikipedia. Twenty Years 14:01, 19 March 2008 (UTC)
replies: text: Yes, I agree, and it just occured to me that being ONU Presidents, they would also be Newington alumni, and therefore the notable ONU Presidents would be listed at List of Old Newingtonians. So maybe something along the lines of "ONU President year-year" could be added to those who are both notable and Presidents. Just another option. I hope that made some sense. Loopla (talk) 14:13, 19 March 2008 (UTC)
replies: text:  Yep, agree with above. Twenty Years 14:17, 19 March 2008 (UTC)

text: OK, I,ve been equally bold and added the notable Presidents back into the article and will remove the references to their terms of office from the List of Old Newingtonians as they clutter that list. I will endeavour to write articles on the red inked Presidents that appear notable. This may take a little while so I trust we can be patient about this. Castlemate (talk) 01:11, 26 June 2008 (UTC)
thread_title:  ONU Presidents