ClickView Movies + TV is a dashboard that contains relevant and appropriate content handpicked for students.
This feature includes:
The interactive items include questions, which students are asked along the way so they are engaged rather than viewing passively.
ClickView is accessible from the intranet, Powerschool and selected Google classrooms. Your son will need to use his College login details and the navigation bar at the top of the screen to access these resources.
Last week, we were reminded that we are in times of uncertainty, and we need to be agile and responsive to situations as they emerge. Over the past week, the College Leadership Team have been evaluating our Critical Management Plan and have made some changes to our lockdown and evacuation procedures.
The safety of students and staff will continue to be our number one priority and the following steps will be taken in the instance that we need to enact our Critical Management Plan:
Parents will be notified that there has been a community member with a positive test result. This would be a brief message issued through SchoolBag App, email and SMS.
Please do not attend or contact the College at this stage, we will provide further information via SchoolBag and SMS.
At this stage, we will be acting under the direction of Public Health who will assist us to manage the incident.
At this point, the College would initiate its Lockdown procedures whilst we wait on advice from Public Health before allowing students to leave the Campus.
You will receive communication via SchoolBag App and SMS advising when your son will be ready to be collected.
Students will be collected from the Henrietta Street entrance. The pickup process will take some time as we only have one entrance to the campus. We kindly ask for your patience as we get students off campus safely.
If you give permission for your son to walk home, please fill out this form. We will not allow any student to leave the school grounds without permission.
Students are not to take public transport and are not to visit shopping centres or gather in groups. They are to go straight home.
Each Year group has a designated pickup point. These locations are detailed on the map below.
Where students have siblings from the same campus they can both be collected from the designated pickup point for the youngest sibling.
If your son can walk home from the Senior School he will be able to do so.
If you can not pick up your son during school hours, please fill in this form so we can arrange for him to be transported home via a private bus organised by the College.
Students are not to take public transport and are not to visit shopping centres or gather in groups. They are to go straight home.
Please pick up your son from the location of the red circle that indicates his year level. Download the map.
As schools grapple with the return of students and staff following off-campus learning, teachers are doing their best to ensure the wellbeing of their school communities.
Some schools are lucky enough to have vast campuses that allow for social distancing, while others – particularly in city areas – have high numbers of students in more confined spaces. Many of these students are using public transport on their journeys to and from school. Schools are therefore employing strategies that best fit their needs. These are determined by a number of variables: student age, school population, COVID-19 morbidity levels in the area, modes of transport and boarding.
Because of the situation last week, Waverley College COVID-19 policies and practices were in the spotlight.
We have around 1,500 students across two campuses in one of the most densely populated areas of Sydney, deemed a virus hotspot. Our students use multiple modes of public transport to come to school. They live as far as Cronulla in the South, Pymble in the North and Summer Hill in the West. Boys’ adherence to social distancing is also a different challenge compared to girls’ adherence to social distancing.
Staff are rotating to carry out daily temperature tests
The press focused heavily on the College’s daily temperature tests. Nobody has suggested that temperature testing will ensure zero transmission at a school. In fact, apart from closing the school totally, there would be no strategy that would guarantee this outcome. However, the fact remains that a fever is associated with nearly 80% of COVID-19 cases (World Health Organisation).
While there are positive cases where the patient is asymptomatic, or where they have presented with symptoms other than a fever, students are not to attend school if they have any of the main symptoms. There is a notification to remind students of this when they log in to the College network every morning.
The main symptoms include:
We are issuing frequent hygiene reminders during the school day – in wellbeing classes and during online assemblies. Other steps we have taken include disabling bubblers and allowing students who have the COVIDSafe app to have their mobile phones in class, as this allows for more accurate contact tracing.
We have also invested in additional signage; additional water basins; new social distancing floor markers in high volume areas; and hand sanitiser and sanitiser wipes, which are in every classroom. Our PDHPE lessons have been modified and large group activities such as assemblies have been cancelled and replaced with virtual alternatives.
The College’s multi-faceted approach to the emergency is designed to raise awareness and to empower students to practice safe behaviour. Practicing safe behaviour helps to protect our school community and the wider Sydney community – particularly the elderly and vulnerable – from transmission.
Our approach is also there to reassure our community that we are doing everything possible to make the campus a safe place for all.
1. Be gentle with expectations
Everyone – parents, teachers and students – will be affected differently by the experiences this year, and for different periods of time. We need to remember that this anxiety can manifest in many ways and therefore be gentle for quite some time. We are better off erring on the side of being uber-supportive this year. If you’re concerned about your student’s level of anxiety, do reach out and seek help from a professional.
2. Keep lines of communication open
Students who are anxious will often bottle up their worries and concerns. Without being annoying – and it is a fine line – we need to let students know that they can talk about what’s worrying them. Both parents and teachers need to create opportunities that give students permission to share in a non-threatening environment.
3. Minimise news consumption and focus on encouraging statistics
If students are anxious, being overexposed to negative news can wear them down. Highlighting the positive and encouraging news and statistics can help students to focus their thoughts in a constructive direction. Make positive plans together for the future so students have good things to focus on instead, and focus on what they can control rather than what they can’t.
4. Focus on the pillars of health: exercise, sleep and healthy eating
Even though we are no longer in complete lockdown, students are still unable to participate in all of their usual activities. We need to ensure that students are still exercising in some way and perhaps snacking a bit less, with more of a focus on healthy eating. Good sleep has been proven to contribute to happiness, health and academic success time and time again.
5. Allow students to reconnect
We need to be generous in allowing students to spend time with friends and extended family members for the rest of this year. Students may find the school day overwhelming and exhausting at the moment. After so much ‘family’ time, don’t be hurt if they aren’t that keen to socialise when they get home and just want to go to their rooms. Don’t let your student be a complete hermit, but do let them have time to themselves to decompress from the day. Many will need to renegotiate dynamics with their peers and this readjustment may be stressful.
6. Reset the routine
Routine creates certainty in an uncertain world. Having established routines and guidelines to follow is reassuring. Giving students a chance to contribute to decisions about the new routine (such as bedtime) is also important. This will include starting to dial back screen time if it was increased during the last few months. In line with our ‘take it slow’ approach, you won’t be going back to how things were earlier this year just yet. It’s more about reducing the screen time to make way for the schoolwork that needs to be done.
7. Look for ways to support studies
After your student has been back at school for a week or so, ask them if there’s anything that they’ve fallen behind in or need help with. If they don’t tell you and you have concerns, contact the school and speak to a member of staff directly. While we want students to start getting into good work habits again, there needs to be a ‘gently gently’ approach. They may not be doing as much work at home as they did earlier this year and that’s okay for now.
The exception here is our senior students. We want these students to get back into their regular study patterns as soon as they are able to. If this means that parents are making extra snacks for Year 12 or googling to find a study guide for them, then so be it.
Students can learn how to improve their results and efficiency by working through the units on www.studyskillshandbook.com.au.
Username: forwaverleycollegeonly
Password: 94results
This week, Waverley College continues to recognise Reconciliation Week and its theme, ‘In this Together’.
In 2020, Reconciliation Australia marks 20 years of shaping Australia’s journey towards a more just, equitable and reconciled nation. Our week began with a visit From Mrs Fran Grant, who read a picture book – Stories for Simon – to the entire school via a Google Meet. We continued to participate in activities throughout the week, as well as celebrating the family history of our First Nations boys each day.
Reconciliation Week resources in the Learning Hub
Congratulations to the following students on their leadership roles. Badges will be presented on Monday.
Jethro Jenson
Thomas Madden
James Austin, 5 Blue
Ashton Briffa, 5 Gold
Xavier Emblin, 5 Indigo
Henry Goldrich, 5 Red
Oscar Karhan, 5 White
Ben Zanetich, 6 Blue
Angus Skeed, 6 Gold
Marcel Fernandes, 6 Indigo
Max McGarry, 6 Red
Finnian McCarthy, 6 White
Charlie Easson, 6 Orange
Congratulations, also, to Noah Bowler from Class 5 White. Noah won the Sydney Surf Life Saving Award of Excellence in his age group over the weekend – a huge achievement for him and his club.
Last Sunday, we celebrated Pentecost. Class 6 Gold have been learning about the importance of this great celebration and its relevance today.
Pentecost Sunday occurs 50 days after Easter Sunday and is known as the birthday of the church. Typically, priests will wear red vestments on Pentecost, to symbolise the burning fire of God’s love and the tongues of fire that descended on the Apostles.
When the day of Pentecost came, the Apostles were all together in one place. It was ten days after Jesus had gone back to heaven. Suddenly, a noise like a strong wind filled the whole house and the followers saw something that looked like flames of fire, falling on each person there. They were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and they began to speak different languages. That day, about 3,000 people became followers of Jesus and were baptised. The Apostles continued to meet together to pray and to break bread.
Today, Pentecost Sunday is still a very important day. It is celebrated to recognise the gifts of the Holy Spirit, realising that God’s very life, breath and energy live in believers.
Pentecost Sunday at the Junior School
Congratulations to our 2020 Learning Hub Assistants, listed above. I look forward to working with you all.
Students have been exploring the very important theme of reconciliation. Rich literature has been used to promote valuable discussion on the cultural heritage of Australia’s Indigenous people.
The boys have highlighted many important facts and we are extremely lucky to have students who represent a number of different tribes, as they were able to assist with extra information.
This is an ideal time for families to join their sons in the reconciliation conversation.
As part of Reconciliation Week, junior students took part in an activity called Ten Leaves of Culture. This involved drawing the murnong yam with ten leaves sprouting from it. The boys successfully completed a thinking routine, ‘Think-Pair-Share’, where they took time to think and make note of up to 10 aspects of Indigenous culture. These were from the past and the present, and they added one item to each leaf.
The boys’ creative and critical thinking flair was impressive.
Ten Leaves of Culture by Evan Service, Class 5 White
Please click here for this issue’s Careers News.
Please click here for this issue’s Careers News.
Staff and students have access to excellent information via the PowerSchool Library Pages. Today I am highlighting the EBSCOHOST databases, which provide articles, books, magazines and many other reliable resources.
Databases are different to the open internet; only subscribed users can access them. We subscribe to provide access for our users.
Articles are great for students as they are concise, up-to-date and written by specialists who know their field. All articles accessed via EBSCO also offer the option for the article to be read out to the boys – a great tool to help with new words and to build confidence with reading. They can be sorted by reading level, which is a good way to further develop confidence in students as they can filter results to retrieve articles at their reading level.
You will find a series of tutorials on how to use these databases here: PowerSchool page. If you or your son have any questions, we can be reached at librarystaff@waverley.nsw.edu.au or in person.
Welcome back to all students. It was great to see so many happy and enthusiastic smiling faces back at school this week.
We are launching our House Points Challenge website this week, to allow all students in Years 5 to 12 to participate in a range of activities at home and obtain points for their House. These activities are based on positive wellbeing and there will be individual prizes each term, as well as a prize for the champion House. There will also be weekly challenges posted and a regular updated score on the website.
This week we also commenced some modified small group training for some of our winter activities, based on guidelines and directives for training and exercise. We have also implemented appropriate hygiene practices, with all equipment regularly sanitised and no contact between students training in groups of nine. From next week, we will start to look at implementing training for more students with field space, hygiene and disinfecting practices being implemented. Training will be in small groups and may involve only one session per week until further restrictions are lifted, to allow us to implement social distancing on the fields and courts. Basic fitness and skills will be the base type of training. However, all students are also encouraged to keep working on their individual physical exercise for their own health and wellbeing.
At this time we are still organising staff, field/court space and timetables. Further details will be communicated as soon as we have them.
I was talking to some friends over the weekend about the days when we used to travel Europe without a smartphone, Google Maps or online bookings while living in the United Kingdom. We always had a copy of the London A to Z close at hand.
Part of the fun of the journeys to the Continent was arriving early in the morning, or late at night, in the middle of summer, without any accommodation or knowing where to go. Nowadays, our phones can book the accommodation in advance and guide us every step of the way to the hotel door, saving us time, money and stress. We can argue, however, that some of the most memorable travels were the ones with lessons learned getting from city to city with little or no digital assistance.
Some of those friends I spoke to have since resisted using Google Maps because they know that the safety net of the phone would tempt them too much. They would stop paying attention and eventually become dependent on it, with no idea how to navigate any city themselves. Simply being in the passenger seat has the same effect: we know the driver is responsible for getting us there and back, so we tune out. So it is with our children. Since executive function is a vital but finite resource, we are wired to use it only where necessary. In other words, we’ll avoid thinking about things if we can. This helps us to understand how deliberate rationing of our mental resources is key to high performance. It also helps us understand why we have a tendency towards irresponsibility if, like the passenger in the car, we can get away with it.
This is where parents and teachers come in. It is our duty to shape circumstances so they demand personal responsibility of our children. If handled correctly, these situations will help them to develop grit and resilience, thus putting them in a great position to overcome future challenges.
Dr Judith Locke has written and presented extensively on this topic. In an article in 2019, she gave some practical advice on how to avoid over-parenting. At Waverley College, the Reception staff and Heads of House experience young people’s tendency to shift responsibility onto their parents, so I asked them about where our boys seek unnecessary help because these are perfect opportunities to teach our children independence and personal responsibility. Forgotten lunches or items of uniform (academic and sport) are the most frequent examples. What’s the worst-case scenario if a boy forgets his lunch or doesn’t have his tie? The ‘Worst Possible Outcome’ is that he will get a plain sandwich provided by the College, have to obtain a uniform pass from their Head of House, or receive a three-hour detention.
Supporting the boys at school is a good thing. But, tempting as it is, reflexively leaping into action to deliver a forgotten lunch or tie can be a sign of over-parenting. What does it teach?
What could our students learn from these instances? They could learn that it’s worth paying attention to their timetable and packing their bags the night before. They could learn that everybody makes a mistake now and then, but that tomorrow is a new day and life will go on, even if he does get into (minor) trouble today. They could learn that wearing uniform correctly and with pride sends a message to others about commitment to learning and the College.
We reinforce to the boys that their school lives are their responsibility. We teach them friendship skills, and while we would always expect parents to tell us if they think there is a substantial case of bullying, we also ask that boys should generally be given the time and space to learn to resolve relationships for themselves.
Boys are given repeated reminders – to return permission slips, to clean their shoes or adjust their ties; to submit their homework; and to bring their equipment. No boy deliberately ignores these in order to make trouble for himself, and, like all parents, I am tempted to rescue a tearful boy who has made a simple mistake. But, the reality is that these kinds of mistakes are perfect learning opportunities because the ‘Worst Possible Outcomes’ are, in the scheme of things, trivial. If we respond as if these outcomes are catastrophes, we reinforce needless anxieties and entrench helplessness.
No single action by us will determine our son’s future, but our habits become theirs. In the current Zeitgeist, the tendency on the part of all adults (not just parents) is towards over-intervention in the lives of children. I’m not saying that anyone who has ever delivered a lunch is a bad parent. I am saying that we all need to stop, think and generally do much less of the day-to-day for our son. In addition, it’s important to support the Wellbeing team when a consequence is put into place. In the long run, it will be for your son’s benefit.
The opportunities for our son to learn are endless, and the thing to remember is that the stakes are low while they are at school. In the moment, it’s tempting to step in, but personal responsibility is a habit – and habits must be practised to take root. Over time, his habits will tend towards independence and responsibility, or towards calling home for help. When he’s 18 and heading off for a gap year in South East Asia, what habits do you want him to adopt?
Just 5 more days until the Isolation Poetry Challenge closes – get your entries in!
Students must write a poem in 30 lines or LESS related to the theme of LOCKDOWN. The winner receives a $200 JBHIFI gift card and their poem will be performed by professional actors on social media!
If interested, please email Ms Buchan or go to this website for details.
As with all Co-Curricular activities, Cadets has shifted to the online environment in Term 2 – and I must say, our cadets are doing a sterling job.
Cadets is designed to extend our students and develop essential life skills in resilience, fortitude, initiative, leadership and service. The COVID-19 environment has really tested our seniors, who could not have envisaged that their leadership would need to take such an extraordinary turn. I am so proud of our Cadet Under Officers (CUOs), Warrant Officers and Sergeants, who have really risen to the challenge and adapted to lead in unexpected ways.
Lessons have been videoed, Google quizzes devised, innovative ways to assess content considered, and our recruits and Junior Non-Commissioned Officers (JNCOs) are reaping the rewards. Under the guidance of our Training Officers, LT(AAC) Addison and CUO Korpar, we are ensuring our cadets are continuing to be developed into capable, responsible leaders and citizens.
Various Google Classrooms have been set up according to the levels of training required. Some interesting interpretations of the online assessments have kept us on our toes! I have been thrilled to see so many recruits donning their uniform from week to week and engaging in the lessons their rank have devised.
As soon as we are able to, we will reconvene on the parade ground. In the meantime, lessons will continue to be posted each week in preparation for the day that we can come together again as the Waverley College Cadet Unit (WCCU).
Some excellent demonstrations of saluting by our recruits
We would like to acknowledge the Gadigal people of the Eora nation who are the traditional Custodians of the land on which Waverley College is located. We pay our respects to Elders past, present and emerging. We are committed to honouring Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples’ unique cultural and spiritual connections to the land, waters, seas and sky and their rich contribution to society.
Watch our video
