Waverley, Author at Waverley College

Congratulations to our Year 7 Footballers who finished a close second at the inaugural EREA Rice Cup at Valentine Sports Park on Tuesday.

With the EREA schools from NSW all making the trip including Edmund Rice College Wollongong, St Edmund’s College Gosford, St Patrick’s College Strathfield, St Pius X College Chatswood and St Dominics College Kingswood; The Year 7s had a great day of football and finished second in their pool to make the semi-final. The results from their pool games were;

Game 1 v St Dominic’s College, Kingswood: 0-0 draw
Game 2 v Edmund Rice College Wollongong (Black team): 2-2
Game 3 v St Pius X College, Chatswood: 3-0 win

With a short lunch break the boys were straight back into it getting a 3-0 win over Edmund Rice College Wollongong (Red team) to make the grand final.

With all the EREA schools staying to watch the final game of Waverley College vs St Patrick’s College, Strathfield the atmosphere was alive with the students cheering on for the teams for who they had only just met.

The grand final was a competitive game that finished 0-0 with both teams showing their fatigue after a full day of football in the sun. As a winner had to be decided for the day the match went into penalties.

Waverley was able to find the back of the net on the first two penalties taken. Unfortunately, the penalties finished 2-4 with St Patrick’s College Strathfield taking the win.

Congratulations to St Pats on winning the inaugural event and to the staff from Edmund Rice College Wollongong for organising a great initiative to bring the EREA schools together through sport.

Lastly thank you to Mr Charlton and Mr Darvill who coached the boys for the day.

Studios of Ms Cindy Sims, Mr William Endicott and Mr Timothy Walsh

The Waverley College Music Department started off Term 4 with a stunning Brass Music Recital on Thursday, 17 October. Held in the Recital Room of the Performing Arts Centre, the event showcased the exceptional talents of the College’s young musicians.

A diverse and appreciative audience, including parents, staff, and students, enjoyed an evening of captivating brass music. The recital featured a variety of performances from soloists and duos to the Waverley College Brass Ensemble.

Students under the guidance of Ms Cindy Sims, Mr William Endicott, and Mr Timothy Walsh delighted the audience with a beautiful selection of pieces, ranging from Baroque to contemporary compositions.

One particular highlight of the evening was the performance of “Abendsegen” from Engelbert Humperdinck’s opera, “Hansel and Gretel,” by Thomas and Max Sheehy. Their rendition of this classic piece was both moving and inspiring.

The Music Department would like to extend a heartfelt thank you to Mr Thomas Azoury for his exceptional accompaniment of all the soloists and the duo. His musical expertise and support was invaluable to the success of the recital.

The evening concluded on a triumphant note with the performance of “The Prince of Denmark,” a composition by Jeremiah Clarke, organist at St Paul’s Cathedral, dating back to 1700. This timeless piece provided a fitting end to a truly memorable evening of brass music.

The Brass Music Recital was a testament to the dedication and talent of the Waverley College Music Department’s students. The event showcased the versatility and beauty of brass instruments, leaving the audience inspired and entertained.

My goodness, I cannot believe that we have already reached Term 4 and the HSC exams are already well underway!

As such, all outstanding textbooks will need to be returned by Friday, 8 November 2024, especially since we start issuing those books to the 2025 cohort right upon return.

Ideally, students are required to drop off their textbooks to Book Hire where textbooks will be checked and returned/removed from their loan record, with the opening hours noted below:

Worth noting is that there will also be marked crates with signage Textbook Returns with one sitting in reception and one in the senior library from next week, where boys are welcome to drop off their textbooks for return as well.

Cadets is an inclusive and varied co-curricular activity providing many different experiences and opportunities in which our cadets can develop leadership, initiative, service and excellence.

This term provides a number of occasions in which our cadets can develop their skills in servant leadership.

On Saturday 2 November, some of our RHQ team will attend an AAC Cadet Leadership Conference where they will hear from esteemed military leaders and liaise with compatriots from other school-based Units on leadership in the modern world.

On Monday 11 November, we commemorate Remembrance Day with two Ceremonial Parades – one at Waverley College, and one at St Catherine’s School.

On Friday 22 November, we welcome the Cadet leaders from St Aloysius’ Cadet Unit to our Parade, as we share ideas in preparation for the Year 7 2025 cohort commencing their Cadet journey.

On Friday 15 November, the Unit welcomes our Year 6 boys for a fun afternoon of Cadet activities to support their transition into the Unit in 2025. And from 7-9 December, some of our most skilled cadets will compete for the coveted WEC Trek Award on a three-day extension camp at Douglas Park designed to really test field skills, leadership and teamwork.

Cadets is about opportunity – opportunity for growth, opportunity for development, opportunity for servant leadership, opportunity for becoming the best person you can be.

Please find below some reminders about upcoming events. For all of Term 4 events, please refer to the College calendar.

The Lion King Musical

A huge thank you to the whole Waverley College community for supporting us in what was a spectacular Musical.

Mr Jonathon Bowden did an incredible job of including and preparing each student in The Lion King.

We are so grateful for the collaboration with St Catherine’s and for allowing our students to have a co-education experience in the Arts.

Year 6 Graduation – Wednesday 27 November 2024

You are all invited to the Year 6 Graduation on Wednesday 27 November to acknowledge the end of your son’s primary school years. Please see the invitation below.

Year 6 Graduation – Request for Photos

As part of the Year 6 Graduation, we will be putting together a slideshow presentation. It would be appreciated if you could send through a photo of your son’s Kindergarten photo (or their first day of Kindergarten, or similar), as this will form part of the presentation. (Please just one photo only)

If you could please send a labelled photo through to liturgy@waverley.nsw.edu.au by no later than Friday Week 5. Picture format as a JPEG or PNG file would be preferred. Please do not send through pdf files.

Year 6 Cadet Orientation

We are so excited to welcome Year 7 2025 students to the Cadet program in Term 3 2025.

In preparation, and to give our boys a taste of the exciting activities they can look forward to, our Support Company Commander and RHQ members are hosting a Cadet Orientation afternoon for all year 6 boys from 3pm – 5.30pm on Friday, 15 November.

You will get to see our senior cadets in action as they demonstrate their skills in the field and on the Parade Ground.

You’ll get to have a play with some of the specialist equipment cadets are trained in for camps.

You’ll be provided with afternoon tea and you’ll have the opportunity to ask lots of questions! Further information will be sent out this week.

Sport

Jacob Coleman’s (Year 6) team the Southern Rebels are now the Under 13 National Youth Touch Champions. They completed in Coffs Harbour in Week 10 of last term in some pretty challenging conditions. Well done to Jacob and his team on this amazing achievement!

Congratulations also to Liam Morrissey (Year 5) who competed in the national OzTag competition representing his team, the Orcas.

Home Learning Term 4, Week 3

We offer all students in Year 5 and Year 6 the opportunity to receive free additional support after school to complete home learning tasks. The afternoon sessions also provide a quiet, supervised study space for students who want to complete their assigned tasks.

Home Learning Club operates in the Learning Hub from 3pm until 4pm – Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays – during school term unless there is a scheduled Professional Development meeting and the club will be closed.

Only register his name once to allow other students the opportunity to attend. The session is limited to 20 spots. There will be a roll call to ensure attendance.

Students are required to stay for the full session unless there is a message in the student diary requesting early leave, a parent’s signature will be required.

As it is important to respect the rights of others to learn and work, all students are expected to settle to work in the Learning Hub and not disturb others.

An important note to remember, if afternoon training sessions are cancelled, unfortunately, you cannot send your son to Home Learning as an alternative plan, students are registered for the afternoon sessions in advance and the capacity is always reached.

Lunchtime Talk

A sincere thank you to Jagger Michael from Year 5 for organising last week’s inspiring Lunchtime Talk with his father, Dr Jake Michael, a high-performance sports coach, and Dylan Littlehales, a para-canoe athlete who recently won a silver medal at the 2024 Paris Paralympics and has represented Australia in both Tokyo and Rio.

Dylan shared his remarkable journey, detailing his experiences growing up with a congenital disability and the challenges he faced along the way.

Dylan delivered a powerful message about the importance of leveraging support from those around you, pushing your limits, seizing every opportunity, and persevering step by step without giving up. His story is a motivating reminder that determination and resilience can lead to incredible achievements.

5 Indigo

5 Indigo had a fantastic time immersing themselves in the creative process of the Lion King Jr Musical.

They practised their song, “They Live in You,” during music lessons and learned choreography to bring their performance to life. Some students were even given the exciting opportunity to take part in an additional scene.

In Visual Arts, they showcased their artistic talents by creating impressive lion masks by cutting and taping manes, applying base paint coats, and painting intricate designs. It was a memorable and rewarding experience for everyone involved!

Here’s what a few of the 5 Indigo boys had to say when asked about their experience:

“The whole experience has been extraordinary. My favourite part was definitely the dress rehearsal” – Hugo Lehmann

“It’s been really fun to be able to be a part of a wonderful musical and it’s been great to watch the stage and characters come to life” – Sam Jarrett

“It was good to practise and perform using our new acting skills which we learnt in our combined Music and drama lessons” – Atticus Boyle

“The experience was sublime. To experience this an extra co-curricular has been exhilarating” – Samuel Loughrey

This is a reminder that the South East Sydney Local Health District (SESLHD) Immunisation Team is due to attend Waverley College next week on Wednesday, 30 October, 2024.

The team will be vaccinating Year 7 and 10 students for their catch up doses of Diphtheria, Tetanus and Pertussis (dTpa) & Human Papillomavirus (HPV) or Meningococcal ACWY.

If you have any questions or concerns please don’t hesitate to email the Waverley Nursing staff at nurse@waverley.nsw.edu.au.

Congratulations to Archie Godby in our Year 12 2025 cohort who has been selected to participate in the 2024 NSW Schools Constitutional Convention at NSW Parliament House on Tuesday 5 November. As a part of the selection process, Archie was required to submit a detailed and well-researched expression of interest outlining his interest in the program and a piece of legislation that he would like to introduce in NSW. There was an excellent response to the program with a large number of students from across NSW submitting entries of the highest calibre.

As we settle into the final stretch of the year, it’s crucial to reflect on our learning journeys and set our SMART goals for Term 4. In our assembly this week, I made reference to James Clear’s work on building effective habits for life. He says that, ‘every action you take is a vote for the type of person you wish to become.’ James Clear, Atomic Habits.

We encourage all our students to consider the actions they can take to become the learners they aspire to be. This term presents a valuable opportunity to solidify knowledge, refine skills, and make significant academic progress. I challenged our students to remember that every class, every day, is a chance to vote for the type of person you wish to become.

Tech-Free Week

In the spirit of continuous improvement, yesterday we commenced our Tech-Free Week which continues through to next Wednesday for Years 5-12. This initiative aims to reset our learning habits and promote the benefits of handwritten notes and focused study techniques. Whilst technology has many benefits, there is substantial research literature that supports the benefits of taking handwritten notes to improve conceptual understanding.

One example is Mueller and Oppenheimer’s 2014 research that found, ‘students who took notes on laptops performed worse on conceptual questions than students who took [handwritten] notes.’

We understand that this resetting of habits may be challenging, but we are confident that everyone will embrace this opportunity to step up and support our school community with this learning experience and make this Tech-Free Week a resounding success!

Staff Professional Learning Days

‘Ensuring that teachers are provided with high quality PD is… crucial in improving student outcomes.’ (Colin, Smith, Sholefeel, Rosenbrock, & Toon, 2022). This underpins our mapping of professional learning for our staff throughout the year, including the sessions that we delivered on 27 September and 14 October.

Our overarching focus at the end of Term 3 was to support our staff to contribute to an inclusive and safe environment for all members of our community. Our sessions addressed the national teaching AITSL Standards 4.1: to support student participation and 4.4 to maintain student safety.

We were firstly delighted to invite Dr Victoria Rawlings, Senior Lecturer at the University of Sydney to deliver an engaging and interactive session with all of our staff on creating LGBTQIA+ inclusive classrooms and spaces in our school. Dr Rawlings has been awarded an Australian Research Council DECRA fellowship to conduct research into understanding how schools can positively and proactively include all students. Her insights into language and its nuances were really practical and useful. Also, we ran sessions on ensuring that our staff are up-to-date with relevant First Aid qualifications and Fire Safety where applicable.

The theme for our professional learning day this term on 14 October was around strategy for the future. Working with the Association of Independent Schools (AIS) our first session focused on engaging all of our staff in the important work of making a case for change and contributing to our mission and vision as we build our strategic plan for the future.

One of our current strategic priorities is our important work with the AIS on Designing for Deep Learning where our students learn to develop the Six Global Competencies: Character, Citizenship, Creativity, Collaboration, Communication and Critical Thinking. Focusing on the work that our teaching teams have already achieved in their purposeful design of Deep Learning experiences in teaching and learning programs, our second session celebrated the stories of success that were having a positive impact on student learning outcomes.

This dynamic session gave our teachers the opportunity to hear about what is working really well in our context with our students and consider what they might implement in their own classrooms. The sessions included examples from a wide range of Key Learning Areas and learning stages including: Critical Thinking in Year 7 Poetry, Year 5 History and Year 10 History, Communication in Year 6 English, Collaboration in Visual Arts, English and History, Citizenship in Year 7 Mathematics and Literacy and in a Cross Curricular unit in Year 9 PDHPE and Science, and Collaboration in Year 7 PDHPE.

At the conclusion of the interactive story sharing sessions, our teachers considered our Teaching & Learning Framework through the lens of these stories. We collated data on which elements of the framework Deep Learning is addressing and which areas should be our focus on the future.

Student and Parent Literary Evening and Book Club

We are incredibly excited to launch the inaugural Waverley College Book Club at Waverley College Library, open to students, parents, carers, and staff alike! We will also be joined by guest speaker, Paul MacDonald. Owner of the award-winning ‘The Children’s Bookshop’ and winner of numerous awards such as a Quality Teacher Award, The Premier’s English Scholarship, the inaugural Maurice Saxby Award and the 2016 Lady Cutler award for services to children’s literature and literacy in Australia, Paul is a passionate proponent of the value of quality Australian books. Paul is the current CBCA president.

Our first novel is the captivating Before the Coffee Gets Cold by Toshikazu Kawaguchi. This heartwarming story, set in a small Tokyo café, explores themes of time travel, love, and second chances. It’s the perfect conversation starter for our first gathering!

The Book Club is not just about reading—it’s about building community through great stories, delicious food, and meaningful conversation.

Reading together helps strengthen our critical thinking, encourages empathy, and offers a wonderful escape from the everyday hustle. According to the International Boys’ School Coalition (IBSC), family time reading at home can encourage boys to develop as readers and develop a love for books. Perhaps there is no better way to celebrate this shared reading experience than to discuss the book together with other families and friends in a beautiful literary space at the College.

Whether you’re an avid reader or just looking to try something new, we welcome you to join us for this enriching experience. Food will be provided!

In anticipation of our Term 4 Reading initiative across both Junior and Senior schools, we are also excited to announce our Poster/ Bookmark Competition for all students from Years 5-12. Thank you to Ms Jenna Turnbull for her assistance with both posters.

We will be holding our Year 12 2025 Parent and Student Information Evening on Tuesday, 29 October. Please note that this has been rescheduled from Wednesday 23 October.

The evening’s presentation will provide you with an overview of what to expect during your son’s HSC year, including important course information, expectations, policies and procedures.

The presentation will be held in the Lacey Gymnasium between 6pm – 7:30pm.

Student attendance is compulsory and we ask that full school uniform be worn on the night.

The HSC Assessment Information Booklet that we will go through in the session is also emailed to all students, parents and carers. It is also available on the College Website in the Curriculum Section.

Please be assured that we are here to support your son on his HSC journey so contact the Curriculum or Wellbeing Teams, Heads of Department or Heads of House if you have any questions or concerns.

Welcome back to Term 4 and we have already commenced our new summer season. This Saturday we have a number of fixtures as well as our final round of summer trials. All students should have now started their new summer program and please note that year Groups for co-curricular are labelled by their 2025 cohorts as the Summer season continues into Term 1.

Over the holidays we had a number of activities and students performing at high levels. Our Manchester City Camps were well attended and included a community camp for some of the girls in the local area. Our 1st XI had trials as well as playing the first day of their Round 1 match against Trinity at Queens Park. We also had a number of Basketball players and coaches give up a lot of their holidays for camps and tournaments. A huge thank you to those staff, coaches, players and parents for their efforts and commitments during the holiday period.

Next Thursday we will recognise our new Summer 1sts teams and captains and parents are welcome to attend. We will have special guest speaker Waverley Old Boy Noah Havard who recently won silver at the Paris Olympics.

NSW All Schools Athletics Championships

As many of our Track & Field athletes took a well earned rest after the CAS Track & Field Championships during the holidays, several took the opportunity to test their athleticism against the best in the state at The NSW All Schools Athletics Championships from 28 September – 2 October at Sydney Olympic Park.

After a successful 6-week season Waverley took a strong contingent of 14 athletes to test their abilities at these Championships. These athletes were rewarded with several season bests, personal bests and achieving up to 10 podium individual medals across a variety of both Track & Field disciplines – with yet another two school records were broken, this time in the 14 years age group by Evan Rowbotham (1500m – 4:09.83) and Rory Muldowney (100m Hurdles – 14.11sec).

Despite so many outstanding performances only the Top 2 in each age group are selected to compete for NSW at the Australian All Schools Athletics Championships. Waverley will be proudly represented by Evan Rowbotham (14 years – 1500m), Rory Muldowney (14 years – 100m Hurdles), and Filtomas Finekifolau (15 years – Shot Put, Discus & Pole Vault). These Championships will be held in Brisbane, QLD at QEII Stadium from 6-8 December.

We would like to congratulate all our athletes on a very successful Championships and we look forward to many more great performances as the club season continues through to April 2025.

Congratulations Ollie Moclair

Congratulations to Ollie Moclair who put in an outstanding performance at the Australian Short Course Swimming Championships.

Ollie won both the 50 and 100 freestyle Age Final in a personal best time, putting him in the 17yr old top ten rankings in the history of Australian short course rankings!

This is a wonderful achievement and I wish Ollie all the best in the long course season ahead.

Over the six Fridays of Home Training left in 2024, every cadet has to be swim tested in their Cadet uniform, every cadet will go on the Archery excursion, and every cadet will learn how to play the drums!

Dress Code for recruits is 4B Summer Field Dress which means the DPCU shirt with shirt sleeves down, DPCU trousers bloused and the field hat. In warmer weather, recruits may choose not to wear an undershirt but the DPCU shirt must always be worn. Under no circumstances should the undershirt be worn alone. Field hats must be worn as they leave the house in the morning.

Please keep an eye on the Waverley App and the Routine Orders from week to week to know what to bring for your Company activities.

IMPORTANT DATES IN 2025

CAS MILSKILLS COMPETITION 2024

Tomorrow, Saturday 19 October, our CAS Milskills Team will compete against Barker, Knox, St Aloysius and Trinity for the coveted Military Skills Trophy. Under the guidance of CUO Lachlan Hoy, the team has been diligently training for weeks to bring their skills up to speed and we are very proud of their dedication and teamwork. We wish the Team all the best for the competition.

The pre-season for the upcoming CAS competition has had its fair share of challenges. A new Head of Basketball, a new 1sts coach, introducing a new style of play, new concepts and a new culture, all in the space of four week.
That being said, the preseason has shown that when we play our fast paced, disruptive style of play we can beat any of the teams we have faced so far, both the firsts and the seconds.

Our Firsts have had preseason win over Shore by 10, Riverview by 18, Scots by 15, St Aloys by 20 plus, Kings School by 10 and my personal favourite, beating Knox at the Knox Invitational in overtime by 2 points.

The Seconds, after getting beat by Scots by 30 on our home court in a friendly, matched up against the same Scots College in the first game of the Knox Invitational. After one week in between the matches, our 2nds defeated Scots by 2 points and then went on to win four
straight matches by 20 points, just falling short in the finals to finish second in the tournament.

Credit to all the coaches, players and staff who put in the effort over the school holidays to make a strong showing at the preseason tournaments at the Knox Invitational and Barker Showdown.
A great start to an exciting season of basketball.

Finding the best writers in Randwick City

We wish the following students well as they wait to see if they are winners in the 2024 Lionel Bowen Young Writers’ Award Writing Competition.

The Lionel Bowen Young Writers’ Award, named in honour of former Mayor of Randwick and former Deputy Prime Minister Lionel Bowen AC, seeks to uncover the writing talents of young people in Randwick City.

It is a joint program in partnership with Randwick City Library, Randwick City Council’s Sustainability Department, UNSW and Juvenilia Press.

To make it this far is a great effort as this event is open to a large range of schools in Randwick city and adjoining areas. Well done boys.

Studios of Ms Cindy Sims, Mr William Endicott and Mr Timothy Walsh

The Lion King Musical

Year 6 Graduation – Wednesday 27 November 2024

Year 6 Graduation – Request for Photos

Year 6 Cadet Orientation

Sport

Home Learning Term 4, Week 3

Lunchtime Talk

5 Indigo

Tech-Free Week

Staff Professional Learning Days

Student and Parent Literary Evening and Book Club

NSW All Schools Athletics Championships

Congratulations Ollie Moclair

IMPORTANT DATES IN 2025

CAS MILSKILLS COMPETITION 2024

Finding the best writers in Randwick City

Senior Campus

Junior Campus

Studios of Ms Cindy Sims, Mr William Endicott and Mr Timothy Walsh

The Lion King Musical

Year 6 Graduation – Wednesday 27 November 2024

Year 6 Graduation – Request for Photos

Year 6 Cadet Orientation

Sport

Home Learning Term 4, Week 3

Lunchtime Talk

5 Indigo

Tech-Free Week

Staff Professional Learning Days

Student and Parent Literary Evening and Book Club

NSW All Schools Athletics Championships

Congratulations Ollie Moclair

IMPORTANT DATES IN 2025

CAS MILSKILLS COMPETITION 2024

Finding the best writers in Randwick City

Senior Campus

Junior Campus

A Catholic School for boys inthe tradition of Edmund Rice

A Catholic School for boys in
the tradition of Edmund Rice