Graham Leddie
From the Head of College, Graham Leddie
In this very busy week the College marks both the “National Action Day Against Bullying” and the Leukaemia Foundation’s “World’s Greatest Shave” campaigns, which have built into significant events at the College over the last few years, and 2018 is no exception.
National Day of Action Against Bullying
We have Brainstorm Productions presenting to our Years 7, 8, 9 and 10 students this week. Each presentation covers a variety of activities with respect to their developmental years and aims to teach the boys appropriate responses and support mechanisms to beat bullying. All boys from Years 5 to 12 will be involved in a collaborative artwork that rejects violence and bullying in all its forms.
We also have renowned Psychologist and Author Dr Michael Carr-Gregg presenting to parents tonight in the Cosgrove Centre at 7pm. The topics covered in this presentation will include how to spot bullying, cyberbullying, how to respond if your child is the victim of bullying and how to respond if your child is bullying others. Michael is a dynamic speaker and one of Australia’s most respected experts on adolescent psychology. My thanks go to the Waverley College Parent Association for supporting this event.
World’s Greatest Shave
Thank you to the many boys and parents who have donated to the Leukaemia Foundation’s ‘World’s Greatest Shave’ event this week to help find a cure for brain cancer. Thank you also to the many students that have donated and had their heads shaved in support of the cause. Total money raised at this point is just over $14000 … a great result. If you would still like to donate, the link is:
https://my.leukaemiafoundation.org.au/waverleycollege.
NAPLAN Online Testing
Students in Year 5, 7 and 9 will undergo a mandatory NAPLAN online practice test next week. This is part of the preparation for schools that are conducting NAPLAN online later in the year. While the test run is a little inconvenient from a school point of view, it should serve as a good practice run for the students involved.
Matthew Talbot Hostel
I received a letter of thanks to the Waverley College Community this week from the Matthew Talbot Hostel:
Thank you to the teachers and students who always attend their duties reliably, enthusiastically and energetically and are respectful, courteous and show a caring manner towards the men.
Thank you kindly for donating once again to our Christmas hampers for 2017. Please be assured your donation items go directly to our clients for free and bring joy to men of the Talbot on what can be a difficult and lonely day. The Talbot survives through the generous support of the community and your teachers and students are a wonderful example of this support.
Yours sincerely
Marty Nezval
Volunteer Manager
Matthew Talbot Hostel
The school has a longstanding relationship with the hostel and is proud to work with the Matthew Talbot clients.
Flu and Colds
As we change seasons, it is timely to remind boys to wash their hands throughout the day. Getting into good hygiene habits is the best way of avoiding the transfer of flu and other illnesses.
Meningococcal
NSW Health works with Waverley College to offer the Meningococcal ACWY vaccine (Menactra) to all boys in Year 10 and 11. Please complete the consent forms and return them as soon as possible so your son can be vaccinated against this deadly condition. Having worked in a previous school that lost two boys to meningococcal in the space of six weeks, I recommend supporting this public health program.
Headspace
I attended a Principals’ forum this week at Headspace Bondi Junction and was updated on their clinic’s operations over the last 12 months. One of the alarming statistics presented was that, on average, most adolescents were hanging on to concerns or issues for six months before seeking assistance. Encourage your sons to seek early intervention, either through talking with yourselves, a College psychologist or the team at Headspace. The peak age for referrals was Year 11 and 12 as commitments and study pressures rose. Headspace offer support in physical health (sleep and exercise), mental health (anxiety and depression), sexual health and alcohol and drug use.
Sailing
Congratulations to Will Cooley who recently qualified for the 2018 Australian Sailing Youth Team who will compete at the 2018 Youth Olympic Games. He achieved this through his performances in the 2018 Australian Nacra15 Championships (1st) and the 2018 Australian Youth Championships Nacra15 (1st).
Will Cooley racing
NSW Surf Lifesaving
Congratulations to all students who competed at the recent NSW Surf Life Saving Championships. It is pleasing to see so many of our boys are community minded and many give up their time to carry out surf beach patrol along with honing their skills in competition.
Congratulations to Noah Harvard who won the U17 Single Ski, U19 Double Ski and U19 Ski Relay. He also came second in the U17 Taplin Relay, U17 Ski Relay and the Open Male Rescue Tube Rescue.
Congratulations also to boys that competed:
Jonathon Schacht, Freddie Felix, Oliver Hayes, James Bodkin, Ned Wieland, Duke Wieland, Jake Lewis, Oliver Hackers, James Bodkin, Will Davison, Makenzie Palmer, Kai Jones, Jake Walker, Max Court, Zac Bloch, Cater Hjorring, Ben Leet, Luca Whitaker, Campbell Groves, Wylie Durrans, Ben Finegan, Max Leedham, Charles Winkelmeier, Leo Astridge, Oliver Elliott, Liam Davis, Jimmy Ashbridge, Toby Unsworth, Zach Wilde, Jay Palm, Evan Athanassiou, Nick Quinn, Harrison Palmer, Baxter Flynn, Jude Sedley, Hugh Clothier, Tom Clothier.
I am sure this is not a complete list, please inform the College via the Director of Co-curricular Mr Steve O’Donnell or the Assistant Director of Co-curricular Ms Stephanie Floyd about activities that your sons are involved in outside of the College. We want to have a complete picture of their commitments and would love to be able to recognise their achievements. I apologise to those not listed.
