Ned Wieland and Quinn House Prefects
From the Head of College, Graham Leddie
Congratulations Ned!
Not only has Ned Wieland raised over $28,000 and continued to raise awareness for the charity RUOK, but he has become the youngest Australian male to swim the famous English channel. A few days after his 16th birthday, Ned achieved what most of us would think is near impossible. He swam the Channel in 9 hours and 45 minutes on Tuesday this week. What an amazing achievement! We can all be very proud of his efforts, his tenacity and the way he has gone about the business of achieving something quite remarkable with poise and grace.
Band Success
Last Sunday 23 July, the Waverley College Matthew Coorey Concert Band and the Cliff Goodchild Concert Band performed on stage at the NSW School Band Festival. The Festival was held at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music. The students worked hard last term preparing themselves for these performances.
Congratulations to the Matthew Coorey Concert Band who were awarded a Bronze Award in the Graham Lloyd Event for Secondary School Concert Bands. The competition was tough across the day and our music students did extremely well.
The Matthew Coorey Concert Band at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music
NAPLAN
All State Education Ministers have agreed NAPLAN will move online by 2019 and that there will be readiness activities held this year. The activities are an opportunity for schools to become familiar with the NAPLAN Online test platform and identify any technical issues schools may have in the administration of testing.
The readiness test is not an assessment of student ability but is an opportunity for students and schools to experience an online testing environment.
The College has progressed through the first 2 of 4 stages set out by the state government to prepare schools for final implementation in 2019.
Stage 1 – Technical readiness
Stage 2 – Training for schools
Stage 3 – School Readiness Test
Stage 4 – Review and planning for 2018
Our students are about to undergo Stage 3 which is the readiness test and these will be held on:
Year 5 – 22 August Period 1 & 2
Year 7 – 25 August Period 1 & 2
Year 9 – 24 August Period 1 & 2
I would like to thank Mr David Parnell, Head of Learning Support and Mr Simon Potter, IT Manager for all of their hard work in ensuring we are well prepared for this change. If you would like to know more about this process or the thinking behind it, please visit the ACARA and NESA websites respectively.
Parent Teacher Interviews
Thank you to all the parents that were able to make it to parent/teacher conferences on Tuesday this week.
The partnership between teacher and parent is an important one. There is a growing body of evidence that suggests that parent/carer engagement matters for student success. Research shows that family engagement improves school readiness, student achievement and social skills.
I hope the feedback and conversation with your son’s teacher proved fruitful. Be sure to keep in touch with your teacher to follow up on any agreed plans you have made, and make time to talk with your son about what the teacher/s had to say and how you can work together to improve his learning.
The way you talk to your son about these interviews is very important. Even if you are disappointed, try to concentrate on the positives and keep the lines of communication open. He’s probably disappointed too. It is okay to not be happy, but how you express this will have a big impact, so try something like, ‘I’m really not happy with this but let’s both take a little time to think about what your teachers had to say, then we can talk about some strategies we can use to improve things.” Keep your response practical and goal oriented rather than punitive. Don’t cancel his phone contract, but do ask him to put it aside for a couple of hours each night while homework gets done. Don’t ground him for the whole term, but do make attendance at a key social event contingent on an important assignment being completed. Be sure to recognise and acknowledge the positive behaviours and attitudes he demonstrates, and make a point of celebrating together when things go well!
Applying for tertiary study in 2018 (2017 Year 12 students)
Applications for tertiary study in 2018 will open on Wednesday 2 August 2017.
All NSW Year 12 students will receive an email with their four-digit UAC PIN on Monday 31 July 2017. UAC will use the email addresses listed with the NSW Education Standards Authority (NESA) to send students their PIN, so it’s important that students have provided a current email address to the relevant authority, and that they have allowed emails from the @uac.edu.au domain in their spam filter settings.
Students will need their UAC PIN and Year 12 student number to apply for tertiary study through UAC. Once students have entered their contact details into their online application, they’ll receive a UAC Application Number. They’ll need this number and their UAC PIN to make changes to their application and access their offers.
Students will also need their UAC PIN to access their ATAR later in the year, so it’s important that students keep their PIN in a secure place.
Could parents and carers please check with your son that he has this all in hand.
I wish you all a good end to the week and an enjoyable weekend ahead.
