Please see me if you require any further assistance or information.
Ms Kath Knowles
Senior Studies & Careers Coordinator
kknowles@waverley.nsw.edu.au
We are excited about our upcoming Year 8 Parent/Carer Get-Together. It will be a relaxed lunch, where you purchase your own food and drinks at the bar at your leisure.
Come for as little or as long as suits your schedule! This is popular annual event often sells out, so please ensure you book your seat/RSVP by clicking the button below.
We look forward to seeing those who can make it.
Camille (Year 8 Parent Rep)
0412 006 475
The Model United Nations (MUN) provides an opportunity for students from various schools to emulate the role of delegates, to explore the complexities of international diplomacy and the intricacies of navigating issues pertaining to the global community.
Students are tasked with presenting and furthering the interests of their nations, whilst seeking to establish diplomatic relationships with others. Several Waverley students were invited to participate at the recent MUN event, hosted by Cranbrook on Friday, 4 November.
Representing India, Switzerland, the People’s Republic of China, Australia, France, South Korea, Micronesia, Ukraine, and Israel, all students who attended demonstrated strong skills in negotiation and awareness of global issues. Whilst presenting some rather unique solutions to current global concerns, both the junior and senior delegates demonstrated a flair for diplomacy.
I thank the following students for their engagement and enthusiasm: Matt Woods, Tom Hughes, Hugh McDonald, Harrison Rimmel, Jack Preller, Jock Edwards, Ricardo Zanapalis, Lachlan Miranda, James Peate, Lachlan Hoy, Nicholas Zanapalis, Charlie Murphy, and Ewan McDonald.
When asked to reflect on the day, Nick (Year 9) found that “the Model UN allowed me to grasp the idea of how politics works in regard to solving world issues, whilst also conveying this understanding in a fun, friendly and competitive format.”
Ricardo (Year 10) felt that MUN was “extremely enriching and overall, a fun experience to be a part of. The day was exciting and challenged me to come up with ethical solutions to solve global issues. It was enjoyable to be able to work with and against students from different schools.”
Thanks to Ms Emma Halpin for organising our participation, and Ms Alice Curtis for assisting the junior team on the day.
St Clare’s College Waverley will host a Year 7 and 8 Dance on Friday, 25 November 2022.
Tickets to the Glow Disco are $15 and there will be a BBQ and other items for purchase.
Waverley College staff will assist with supervision, and the highest standards of behaviour are expected at all times.
Please book using the QR code on the poster.
The time of exams is upon us, which means that the Year 10 textbooks are now due.
As we are aware, there is a tight window between the exams and Service Week, therefore if you can please ensure that all textbooks are returned to the Book Hire room or Library, before or straight after the exams, that would be greatly appreciated.
The Book Hire room is open Monday-Thursday, 8am-4pm.
Best of luck to all in the exams and thank you for all your help!
Please find below key event dates you need to be aware of for the Junior School in Term 4. For all of the College events, please refer to the College calendar.
Ms Gabrielle Smith
Director of the Junior School
gsmith@waverley.nsw.edu.au
Christmas time can be a lonely and difficult time for many people throughout Sydney, therefore we are collecting donations this year, in the hope of supporting the homeless men and women of Sydney.
The Matthew Talbot Hostel provides accommodation and specialised support to people who are homeless or at risk of homelessness. The service aims to provide immediate support and accommodation for people at the time of crisis, as well as facilitate access to other essential services and more permanent housing.
Click here for more information
Donations Needed
Artwork courtesy Matthew Talbot Hostel
‘Kids Giving Back’ is a NFP – DGR-status charity who offer meaningful volunteering opportunities to people 6-18 years old. Our mission is to create the next generation of generosity. Our philosophy embraces the triple impact of volunteering: creating empathic and responsible kids, supporting charities, and improving the society in which we live by creating a civic-minded population.
‘Kids Giving Back’ partners with over 50 charities, and would love the support of the Waverley community in appealing our students to bring in the following essential items for Essential Care Packs.
With these donations, we enable children in the school holidays to create care packages, which are then donated to victims of domestic violence and the homeless community.
Can You Help Provide These Items For Essential Care Packs?
Thank you for your support!
Thank you to Noah Nunn (5 Indigo) for bringing this charity to our attention.
Donations for both of these charities can be handed to Mrs Coupe at the Junior School front office. We will be collecting donations up until Friday Week 7 (25 November). Your generosity and support is very much appreciated.
Mr Steve Ghattas
Assistant Director of Identity & Student Formation
sghattas@waverley.nsw.edu.au
There have been some amazing team results this season, with minimal to no disruptions to Saturday sport. I know that will continue this weekend for Round 10, best of luck to all teams and please remember to remain committed.
If your son is unable to attend, I need an email sent, or there may be consequences for unexplained absences for training and games.
Please click the button below to ensure you are up to date with fixtures and venue maps for Round 10 (Saturday, 5 November). Please keep a close eye on the Waverley College app for any further adjustments due to weather conditions or ground closures.
A small group of Waverley Junior School AFL students were invited to attend the AFL NSW/ACT launch of the Schools Strategy Tuesday, 1 November at UNSW. The launch was focused on setting the platform for an exciting 2023 and beyond in AFL in the education sector.
The event involved The Hon. Sarah Mitchell (Minister of Education), AFLW player Alyce Parker (GIANTS), and many other AFL and education people of influence.
As a key partner school and great advocate for the AFL, Geoffrey Gibbons, Jake Tobin and Marcus Strbac were given opportunities to ask questions to the panel of people mentioned, related to the new schools program. A few free AFL prizes sweetened the deal for our students to be involved.
AFL Schools Launch Event – Geoffrey Gibbons, The Hon. Sarah Mitchell, Jake Tobin, Marcus Strbac and Alyce Parker (GIANTS – WAFL)
Mr Jack Wachtel
Assistant Director of Co-curricular (Years 5-8)
jwachtel@waverley.nsw.edu.au
Click here to register your son
If your son is unable to attend, please email the College at nzivanovic@waverley.nsw.edu.au or call Reception.
Not every design and print is a success!
Over the last few weeks, Waverley students have been challenged with the 3D printer – some prints have failed and some have been highly successful. The failure depends on the design and possibly the status of the printer itself.
Designing is not an easy task. Going through the process of modifying a design takes a lot of patience and persistence. The students have discovered that going back to the drawing board and problem-solving is a must when completing any type of design task.
Beau Matheson-Rayner
Dash McDonough
Thomas Ingham
Franklin Pyke
Failed design and print
I love the enthusiasm the students bring to their weekly Drawing Club session. This week, the students focused on ‘Still Life.’ Using the Learning Hub Fiddle-Leaf Fig as inspiration, they produced the most incredible drawings. Some even opted to use watercolour paints for their drawings.
Back Row: Harvey Smith, James Ganson, Boyd Haslam, Jake Thompson, Aiden Avenell.
Front Row: Jeremy Pounder
I would like to take this opportunity to wish Cormac Maher (Year 5) and Byron Thomas (Year 6) all the best for their Public Speaking Competition next week. I would also like to thank James Peate (Year 9) for taking the time to work with the boys on their speaking skills, working on their pace, stance and voice. Both students have worked very hard to write a speech exploring the topic: When the going gets tough…
L-R: Cormac Maher, Byron Thomas and James Peate
Ms Natasha Zivanovic
Literacy & Innovation Teacher
nzivanovic@waverley.nsw.edu.au
Welcome to this week’s Junior Schools Nurrunga. In English these past few weeks, 5 Blue have been learning about humour, for example, slapstick satire and different types of irony. In writing, we are learning about genre and creating our very own version of the doctor text from Exploding Endings by Tim Harris.
In Geography, we have been developing our knowledge of topography. Did you know that by learning about the elevation of the area your house is in, it can help you to prepare for a bushfire? At the Junior School, a local fire department taught us that for every 10° angle that a fire travels up a hill, the fire speed doubles. Below you can see an example of some of our topography work.
In Religion, 5 Blue has been learning all about ‘All Hallows’ Eve’ and its Irish and Scottish origins, where people remember saints and people who have passed away throughout the year.
Waverley has a diversity of elevations that range between 10-90m above sea level. It has features of beaches and shops as well as a vast number of hills.
Palm Springs is a very contrasting area to Waverley because the suburb’s elevation is around 899m above sea level. It’s surrounded by a number of mountains that are a whopping 1,870m above sea level. It’s also near lots of famous deserts, including my personal favourite, Joshua Tree National Park.
Lane Cove has a very similar topography to Waverley. Surprisingly, the topography only gets up to about 122 m above sea level which is crazy to me because there seems to be a lot more large hills.
Kangaroo Valley is dissimilar to Waverley’s topography because it is surrounded by mountains that are 678m above sea level and there are also areas that are only 164 m above sea level.
Huntington Beach is very dissimilar to Waverley’s topography because it is a gradual incline that eventually reaches 118m above sea level.
Byron Bay is a very flat area that is only 20m above sea level and there are lots of greenery and farm areas.
Topography 1
Topography 2
Topography 3
Topography 4
Topography 5
Topography 6
Ms Tanya Buttling
Year 5 Blue Classroom Teacher
tbuttling@waverley.nsw.edu.au
Dear Parents and Carers
The Year 6 Academic Assessment Services (Allwell) Summary Report is now available for you to view and download on the Parent Lounge in TASS.
Warm regards,
Ms Lynsey Porter
Director of Curriculum
E: lporter@waverley.nsw.edu.au
Today is the last day of HSC ATAR exams for our Year 12s. Each day for the past four weeks, they have attended both morning and afternoon examinations for their respective subjects. We wish them all the very best as they now wait for their results and take the opportunity for a well-earned break, and perhaps a Christmas holiday job before starting their respective course next year.
We were honoured to have Christian Brother Frank O’Shea speak to the students at Assembly this week, and talk about his life’s work. From setting up Edmund Rice Camps for struggling Australian children 40 years ago, to working in Tonga, South Sudan, Rwanda, Tanzania, and finally to Kenya where he was the Director of the Ruben Centre for 10 years. Frank has sought to make a difference in each community, learning their language and assisting with education and health programs.
The Ruben Centre is a non-profit, faith-based organisation striving for an empowered and just Mukuru community, by providing quality education, health, financial and social services to children and families in the area.
Run by the Christian Brothers African Province, it is one of eight Christian Brothers project sites across Africa, and offers a vital source of community development programs to the residents of one of the largest slums in Nairobi.
Frank’s stories were inspirational and certainly touched many of the boys’ hearts within the room.
On Tuesday night, I attended the inaugural Choral and Chamber Music Concert in the War Memorial Chapel, featuring the College Choir, Chamber Choir, Cantores, Jazz Band A, Saxophone Ensemble, Clarinet Ensemble, Brass Ensemble, String Ensemble, Guitar Ensembles and soloists.
The evening was a great success showcasing the amazing musical talent of our students to their parents, carers and friends. Congratulations to everyone involved, the quality of music was very impressive.
Special thanks goes to Ms Jaz Dolso, Mr Chris Balkizas, Ms Michelle Rollins, Mr Daniel Williams, Ms Keiran Kossenberg and our peripatetic staff.
We hope parents/carers gained some good insights from drug and alcohol expert Paul Dillon this week. Paul is the founder of Drug and Alcohol Research Training Australia (DARTA) and has worked in drug education for over 25 years.
Paul gave some great insights on adolescent usage of drugs and alcohol, and in particular the current state of vaping in schools around Australia. Paul was also impressive in his delivery of effective strategies for parents/carers in managing their sons with appropriate conversations and seeking support.
His knowledge of the range of issues facing young people today is strongly evidence based and well-researched. We will be inviting Paul back again in 2023, and would encourage as many parents/carers as possible to be a part of his vital presentations, that are critical to young people’s wellbeing.
For any parents/carers who missed this presentation, Paul has a number of presentations and podcasts on his website.
Click here to view the website of Paul Dillon
I congratulate Year 9 student Constantine Iatrou on his letter to the Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese.
Subject: Antibiotic Resistance
The Honourable Anthony Albanese MP. Prime Minister
Dear Sir,
The problem of antibiotic resistance worldwide has become urgent and dire.
Please massively fund our CSIRO to research and develop a new generation of powerful antibiotics.
This would alleviate the great suffering of humanity, as did the original development of Penicillin by the research team of the renowned Australian Nobel Laureate, Howard Florey.
Yours sincerely,
Constantine Iatrou (Year 9 Student)
Congratulations to Year 10 student Lachlan Miranda, who was chosen to attend the inaugural Civics and Citizenship Convention at NSW Parliament House on Thursday (27 October), as one of 30 students from across all of NSW. He represented the College with distinction.
During the day, Lachlan listened to guest speakers from universities across Australia, arguing the nuances of Australian voting and how the voting system can be improved. The day concluded with the student communique (declaration) affirmed by the President of the Australian Senate (Canberra) Senator the Hon. Sue Lines live from Canberra.
The following three Waverley Old Boys send their best wishes to the College from their Wallaby Training base in France whilst on the spring tour – Sam Talakai: Tighthead Prop (Class of 2010), Jed Hollaway: Lock (Class of 2010) and Ben Donaldson: Fly Half (Class of 2017).
Wallabies Spring Tour in France – Sam Talakai, Jed Holloway, Ben Donaldson
Tuesday, 8 November will be the last day of class for Year 10 students.
There will be visitors on our campus next week. If you see them, do make them feel welcome.
From Monday, 7 November, there will be a Student-Based Tutoring (SBT) Program in the Senior School Library.
The senior students will run this Program, which will operate from Monday – Thursday, 3:30pm – 4:30pm.
The goal of SBT is to create a space where students excel, and can meet their academic goals with the assistance of senior students. This program is free of charge and runs out of the generous hearts of the senior students.
From now on, the Library will be students’ one-stop-shop for academic aid. Furthermore, it will be an environment where they can focus and reach their academic potential.
SBT is here to stay, so students, take full advantage of this opportunity! We hope to see some of you in the Library in the future.
Please note:
Jack Preller (Year 12)
Ms Elizabeth Watson
Deputy Principal, Teaching & Learning
ewatson@waverley.nsw.edu.au
We’re excited to announce that Elevate Education’s next free webinar will take place on Wednesday, 9 November.
Elevate Education works with our students, delivering high-impact workshops on study skills, motivation, wellbeing, and exam preparation.
By tuning into their webinar series, you will learn how you can help better support your children at home, through reinforcing the skills they learn at school:
In this webinar, Elevate will show parents and carers:
Current Parents/Carers and Students of Years 9 and 10, are invited to an Immersion Information Night on Tuesday, 15 November in the PAC, starting at 6pm, if they are interested in participating in any Immersions in 2023.
At the moment, we are currently organising immersions for Timor-Leste, Fiji and Red Earth Cape York. All information regarding costing and expected itineraries, will be discussed on the night.
These wonderful formation opportunities are a privilege to be part of, as we work to build relationships with the communities we visit. As such, places will be limited, and students will need to undergo an interview process for selection.
I look forward to having students take up these life-changing experiences and hope to see you there.
Ms Sue Walsh
Director of Identity & Student Formation
swalsh@waverley.nsw.edu.au
Early this week Waverley was privileged to hear Christian Brother Frank O’Shea from the Ruben Centre in Kenya, speak at our Senior School assembly. His engaging presentation was based on his life’s journey over the past 50 years.
During this time, he has served with marginalised children and adults in Tonga, South Sudan, Rwanda, Tanzania and Kenya, particularly in the areas of healthcare, education and infrastructure.
At its conclusion, he strongly encouraged Waverley students to consider the “power of one.” Noting that anything is possible, if they seek to be “men for others” and strive throughout their lives to make a difference.
We thank brother Frank for his inspirational example, and hope that all the young men of Waverley will aspire to this mission.
Christian Brother Frank O’Shea, Jason Bongers (School Engagement Officer, Edmund Rice Foundation), School Captain, Lachlan Grant
Ms Sue Walsh
Director of Identity & Student Formation
swalsh@waverley.nsw.edu.au
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
