Over Term 3, 20 students in the Waverley College Sustainability Group completed the ECObrick garden project. This involved collecting staff milk bottles and stuffing them with the soft plastics collected at recess and lunch around the school.
The project was inspired by Timor-Leste Immersion and creating awareness around single-use plastics. It was a great effort by all of the students and teachers involved.
Well done to all teams and activities for a positive start to the Summer Co-Curricular season. Congratulations also to the following students who were selected as leaders for the Summer Co-Curricular season:
We also presented the Senior Management Team for the 2020 Cadet Unit and congratulations to the following students:
Last Saturday, I watched a great calm and measured performance by our 1st V Basketball to come back and beat a very good Trinity team at home after closing a significant deficit at half time to win by one. This was a wonderful performance and displays a really positive culture amongst this group of players. It was also great to see us hosting Tennis at the College for the first time and I am sure our boys and parents appreciated the work that went into us being able to do this.
A reminder to all Year 12 students in that you need to attend your co-curricular commitments this weekend, including the St Aloysius Invitational Swimming Carnival on Friday night following on from the Year 12 Retreat. All co-curricular activities and training remain on as scheduled for all other students.
Well done to our two Intermediate Triathlon Teams at the CIS All schools Triathlon this week with Team A securing 4th place and Team B 6th place.
Just a reminder also to all parents and spectators of CAS Codes of Conduct when it comes to positive and appropriate supporting as well as respecting referees and officials at all times. A reminder to all students also that if you are at any venue, whether it is home or away, that you must be correctly attired in full Waverley sporting attire or College Summer uniform at all times.
Best wishes to all teams and activities this weekend.
It is vital that parents and the College understand that body image and eating disorders are developing and increasing in boys and men. Understanding these issues in females has largely been the focus of body image and eating disorder research studies and treatment programs to date, due to the greater prevalence of these issues amongst girls and women. Research now confirms that eating disorders and negative body image in males are increasing. The relationship a young person has with their body is a complex one. In our image-obsessed society, where young people are bombarded with narrow, stereotypical appearance and beauty ideals at every turn, the pressures on body image are more intense than ever before.
While there are many similarities when it comes to how body image concerns develop in girls and boys, research suggests there are a few differences including the appearance ideal that is being pursued. For girls, the drive is mostly for ‘thinness’ and for boys, mostly the lean, muscular ideal. The increased drive for muscularity is contributing to body concerns in boys and negatively influencing the exercise and eating behaviours they engage in. It is important that when considering boys and their body image that the role of masculinity is also considered. Physical strength and muscularity (muscle size) is too often celebrated in a man and this is problematic. With an increase in adolescent males overusing supplements and turning to steroids, it is important that muscular-masculine ideals are challenged.
Sydney Light Rail will be Arriving Soon The Sydney Light Rail will commence services between Circular Quay and Randwick in December 2019 followed by services between Kingsford and Circular Quay in March 2020. Many Waverley College students and their families will benefit from this significant infrastructure investment in the area.
It is important to remind our boys about staying safe around trams and the new light rail environment. Trams are quiet and cannot stop quickly. We remind students and their families when walking near light rail to look both ways before stepping out, checking twice for trams, use designated crossings points and avoid distractions, such as mobile phones.
Student and Concession Travel in relation to light rail services is as follows:
Existing students
When the Sydney Light Rail opens in December 2019, students travelling on a School Opal card under the School Student Transport Scheme (SSTS) will be able to tap on and tap off to travel on any mode of transport to get to or from school, or college. Students do not need to update their entitlement to include Light Rail as it will be automatically applied.
New student applications
Any school students making a new SSTS application for free travel to and from school, or updating an existing entitlement, will be eligible to travel on the new Sydney Light Rail, as well as other transport modes, as long as they meet the usual eligibility requirements. Applications for student travel in 2020 are now open. Students or parents should go to the SSTS online application form at apps.transport.nsw.gov.au/ssts.
Will school bus pass holders be impacted?
Transport for NSW is designing a new light rail and bus network for the southeast, however, these changes will not occur until after the services are bedded between Kingsford and Circular Quay in March 2020. More information will be provided after March 2020 once the detailed bus plan is finalised.
There is the potential for some school students to be affected if their bus service is replaced by Light Rail services in 2020. These children use the School Term Bus Pass to travel, and therefore won’t be able to use this ticket on Light Rail. If they wish to use the Light Rail to travel to school, they will need to use a Child/Youth Opal card.
For more information on the School Student Transport Scheme visit apps.transport.nsw.gov.au/ssts
For more information about Sydney Light Rail visit https://sydneylightrail.transport.nsw.gov.au
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On Wednesday 23 October, Waverley College’s STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) Team travelled to the University of Newcastle to compete in the StarLAB Mars Rover Challenge.
The challenge saw 18 High Schools teams from all areas of NSW, create code for a Mars Rover to autonomously navigate the “Martian Terrain” whilst collecting data including light and moisture levels. Not an easy task!
With an early morning departure and some heavy traffic, the students ranging from Year 7 to 12 were eager to get off the bus and get amongst the action. Once set up, the team was informed their Rover run would be just after lunch, so time was of the essence to write and test their code.
Unfortunately, under the pressure of competition and coding being the fickle beast that it is, the Rover didn’t navigate as well as first hoped. Luckily, however, the students had written a remote control code to manually navigate the robot to complete the course.
Whilst Waverley may not have won the competition, I was impressed with Patrick Hogetts enthusiasm, Aidan Korpar’s ambition and the strong teamwork of Lachlan Foley and Harjot Mand. Also a special mention to Lachlan Korpar as the only Year 7 and first-time competitor, he mixed it with the best of them.
Thanks to Mr James Spargo for his behind the scenes organisation and Mr Perry Stanbrook for driving and assistance throughout the day.
We’ve secured our own Waverley College bay at Sydney Cricket Ground, for the semi-final double header as Australia aim to defend their T20 crown, with 2 games from 3pm on Thursday 5 March, 2020. Click on the following link http://bit.ly/2P3eTTv to get your tickets.
Kids/students tickets only $5 and adults $20!
Tickets available in this private section in the O’Reilly stand so get in quick, with tickets becoming available in this bay to the general public on Tuesday 5 November.
All Waverley students and families are welcome to book tickets and be a part of the largest crowd Sydney has ever staged for a women’s sporting event, leading into International Women’s Day on Sunday 8 March, 2020. The theme for International Women’s Day in 2020 is “Each for Equal”, representing our aims for increased equality in opportunities for girls and women in education, society and culture – and celebrating the talents and achievements of men including our World champion female cricketers.
Thursday, 24 October, saw the start of the Water Polo and Swimming seasons, with an incredibly successful open night. It was a great chance to bring to the two sports together and celebrate the start of the 2020 season. We’d like to say a huge thank you to the supporters group, without who we could not have put on such a successful evening. We’re also incredibly grateful for the generosity of everyone who bought along donations for the evening. All the money raised will help to buy new equipment for both Swimming and Water Polo.
Some of the main points from the Water Polo and Swimming convenors from the evening:
The welcome night was followed with a time trials at Waverley Pool on the Friday evening. Students have already started achieving new personal bests, and look promising for the upcoming invitational next week.
The first round of Water Polo was played against Shore on Saturday 26th, hosted at Newington. We played 5 games and saw two wins on the day. Each team fought hard in the water against strong opposition.
Thank you to all those parents, family and friends who cheered Waverley on from the sidelines, your positive support and encouragement of the boys, is always appreciated.
The new Cricket season has begun with great promise and enthusiasm from Waverley’s cricketers, with positive signs already emerging. It is great to see the trial process and first games underway in such a positive fashion, with boys sharing roles, encouraging each other and developing great team relationships. This itself is the core goal of our sport, while the skill development has been impressive in our early weeks of training, with coaches and boys identifying their strengths and weaknesses in order to take further steps forward.
A new generation of talented Cricketers are emerging, showcasing some fantastic batting already in early matches, including:
The Cricket program for this year aims to give boys great opportunities to develop their games and includes:
Best of luck to all teams this weekend, with Waves to Win!
Last week our 2020 Year 12 cohort were fortunate to participate in a Servant Leadership presentation with the team from Character Builders. There were a variety of engaging sessions throughout the day. These interactive activities provided our students with many important insights into their leadership potential as Year 12 students. One section was called the “Big Up” and involved our young men giving positive affirmations to one another. The participation in this activity and the openness and honesty displayed was impressive.
I look forward to the outstanding leadership of this Year 12 cohort throughout the coming year with great expectations.
Congratulations on a great start to your Year 12 journey.
The 2019 HSC Drama class have every reason to be proud. The class received four individual nominations and one group nomination for OnStage, the annual showcase of the best HSC Drama performances in the state! To be nominated indicates outstanding achievement in the subject. Roman Koteczky, Pedram Biazar, Andrew Badger and Ethan Vella received a group nomination for, ‘The Happy, Happy, Fun Time Show’. This wickedly funny piece revolves around kid’s TV show hosts who argue and pursue solo careers, only to experience disappointment. They offer acute insights into our modern fascinations with fame and what really matters in life.
Andrew Badger took on the infamous role of Richard the Third. Richard, bitter at the world’s response to his physical deformity, hatches a dastardly plan to wed the wife of the prince he has just killed. Andrew created a highly physicalised, compelling and complex character, that was wonderful to watch.
Ethan Vella packed a huge emotional punch in his compelling portrayal of Christopher from, ‘The Curious Incident of the Dog at Night Time’. The young autistic boy sets out to solve the murder of Wellington the Dog but discovers far more than he bargained for. Ethan delivered an extraordinarily detailed and nuanced performance.
Nickita Hatjinikitas brought the character of Eugene to life, from Neil Simon’s, ‘Brighton Beach Memoirs’. Fourteen-year-old Eugene is trying to make sense of his fracturing family while dealing with the end of puberty and his sudden urgent interest in girls. Nickita has created a charming and touching coming-of-age piece.
Roman Koteczky tackled Shakespeare’s, ‘Henry V’. Roman concentrated on finding the psychological complexities and self-doubt of the character. In owning his own fears, Henry finds the courage to ask his outnumbered army to face up to their foe and defeat them. Roman delivered a compelling Shakespearian performance, based on psychological realism.
Let’s celebrate the talent and hard work of the whole HSC Drama cohort of 2019.
Welcome back to Term 4 and the start of the 2019-20 Summer season for co-curricular. All training has commenced this week and all activities have fixtures or trials this weekend.
We had many activities over the break and a huge thank you to those staff and coaches who gave up their holiday time to facilitate these activities. I would also like to thank the students and staff that were on the cadets promotions course.
Our 1sts and A’s Basketball teams all competed in the annual Knox tournament and we had some impressive results. Particularly the 8A’s who lost the final to a very strong Trinity team. All other teams had some good wins during the event. We also played fixtures in Cricket against St Bede’s Christchurch who were very grateful for the opportunity.
Next Thursday, 24 October, we have our Summer 1sts and Captains assembly in the College Gymnasium from 12 pm. All parents are welcome and we will be also recognising our students selected for SRC positions for each House Group.
We do have a number of students competing in the NSW Oz-Tag Championships this weekend and I want to wish them well. I also want to wish all of our teams and activities the very best with their fixtures and trials this coming weekend.
Just a reminder for any student requiring leave, the request needs to be in writing two weeks ahead of time where possible and that students are only entitled to two exemptions in the calendar year.
The Waverley College Cadet Unit (WCCU) has a long and proud history, being first raised in 1911 with Captain Holborrow and Sergeant-Major Clayfield as the first instructors.
Disbanded in 1929, it was reformed in 1941 with Lt N Monoghan as the Commander of 55 young recruits. Under the influential leadership of Captain T C McMahon (1942 – 47) the numbers grew to 345, and ‘Chapman Canes’ were awarded for the first time to A. Chapman, K. Coleman and L. Goodchild. In those days, training was concentrated on military techniques and weaponry formed a large part of the syllabus.
Preparing for the Friday afternoon parade in the quadrangle
Before 1947, the Brothers were not members of the Unit. The first Brother to command the Unit was Major F D Marzorini between 1948–56. Other Brothers followed his lead, but Major Marzorini was posted back to the school in 1973 for a further 2 years. Brother Corbett succeeded him as OC in 1975, but the Federal Government under Mr Whitlam announced its decision to disband the Cadet Corps. The final ceremonial of that year witnessed the Unpiking of the Unit Flags and the Beating of Retreat at Queens Park.
Waverley College Cadet Unit Ceremonial Parade. Queens Park
The present Unit was reformed in 1977, with a strength of 250. The Commanding Officer since 1977 has been Lt. Colonel (AAC) PR Frost, the current Assistant Headmaster. He has served with the Unit since 1960 and was the joint recipient of the Chapman Cane in 1964 with General Peter Cosgrove. The Unit strength is now approximately 400 with all boys in Year 8 serving one year with the Unit.
Waverley College Cadet Unit Ceremonial Parade. Queens Park
In 1980, the Cadet Old Boys Association (COBA) was created to encourage a continuing interest among Old Boys in the activities of the Unit. Members of the Association assist the Unit in a wide range of activities, as well as providing a training resource for future Officers of Cadets (OOCs). Many OOCs currently on the Unit roll are Old Boys of the Unit. Several are members of the College Staff, while the remainder contribute their time whenever their employment allows.
Training in the 21st century bears little resemblance to that of the earlier Units, although the traditions of the Unit are maintained by the two major Ceremonials conducted each year: the ANZAC Commemoration and Mass and the Passing-Out Parade. Cadet Under Officers (CUOs), Warrant Officers in Year 12 and all OOCs are members of the Unit Mess which conducts three major social functions each year, The Reveille Dining-In Night in February, the Queen’s Birthday Dinner Dance in June and the Valedictory Mess in October.
Meals are prepared by the boys
The culmination of all Unit training is the Annual Field Exercise held in March. In the days when the Unit could attend the Army Camps at Singleton, the Unit’s efficiency was recognised by the Award of the AMP Shield in 1982 and 1983. At camp, the Year 9 cadets now carry out a one-day trek in parties of four in the Belanglo State Forest, where the Unit establishes a forward base separate from the main campsite.
Canoeing at the Annual Camp
The main camp at Douglas Park now forms part of a College residential program for 200 Year 8 boys, with the Unit providing support and services during their introduction to living in the field. Abseiling, Canoeing, Fieldcraft, Medics and Signals are the mainstays of the modern instructional program, but great emphasis is also placed on the ability of the senior ranks in running the camp administration.
Camp teaches the boys management skills
The framework for the comprehensive leadership training provided in the Unit is laid down at annual Promotion Courses for Years, 9, 10 and 11 held each year in October at a residential location, while Specialists in Years 10, 11 and 12 receive their training in the July school holidays. The first-year cadets complete their training at a voluntary Recruit Progression Course in the first week of the Christmas holidays at the end of Year 8, resulting in promotion to Lance Corporal.
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.
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