From Cathy O’Sullivan, Conlon Head of House
It has been another busy and vibrant term for the young men of Conlon. As has become our tradition, the poem by Nancye Sims titled ‘Winners are People like you’ was read at our last House assembly with Year 12. One of the verses states that ‘Winners are positive thinkers who see good in all things. From the ordinary, they make the extraordinary.’ In Term 3 our young men from Conlon House once again continued to make some positive and extraordinary contributions to the rich and varied fabric of College life.
This term Conlon led a very successful food drive for Foodbank. Hunger is a hidden crisis in Australia, with over 3.6 million people experiencing food insecurity at some point every year, 33% of which are children. Foodbank is Australia’s largest food relief organisation providing 60 million meals a year to over 2,400 charities and 1,000 schools around the country. With the very generous assistance of all eight House groups, including extraordinary support from our junior school we were able to deliver a jeep full of staple food items to Food Bank. This food will provide assistance to many families and individuals in need. It was an amazing effort by all members of the Waverley College community.
Many boys have taken the opportunity this term to participate in a wide variety of Inter-House competitions. This term we have experienced a considerable level of success with Conlon currently leading the Inter-House leader table. One of the outstanding characteristics of the Conlon boys is their willingness and enthusiasm to participate and encourage each other for the pure joy of having a go. Lachlan Manastrovski, Oliver Ruse Ash Backlund 2nd, 3rd & 5th in the first ever Yr 11 Spelling Bee; Anthony Roydhouse winning the History Debate, our mixed team of Trivia players who came equal first in the Trivia Competition, Yr 12 dodgeball team and Junior Indoor soccer teams who both reached the semi finals.
Our weekly House assemblies have continued to be opportunities for our boys to lead as well as to learn from each other. Our Wellbeing focus this term has been; ‘Be the best version of me’, contribute to the common good and try and make a positive difference to the lives of others.
Term 3 has been a busy term for all year groups. The Year 9 cohort went on a four day outward- bound style camp to the beautiful Colo Valley. The camp provided the boys with a series of challenging physical and mental activities, which are designed to develop self-reliance and promote personal confidence. The Year 10 boys attended a very successful formal dinner cruise on Sydney Harbour; all looking very mature and handsome, Years 7, 9 and 12 travelled to Homebush to support our athletes at the CAS Athletics carnival. Year 8 boys participated in the Waverley College Cadet Unit Ceremonial Parade at Queens Park. There were some outstanding performances by our Yr 12 boys in both the HSC drama and music practical exams, and some exceptional final works completed for TAS and VA projects. Yr 11 have now completed their final examinations for their preliminary HSC courses. From the commencement of next term they will be in their final year of schooling and will be the new leaders of the College.
Term 3 is also a busy term for our Yr 5 and 6 boys who have their Athletics carnival, Blitz day and Walkathon.
Congratulations to all the Conlon boys who received Gold Awards this term and to the following boys who received Semester One Academic Awards;
Year 7: Campbell Groves, Liam Wood, Lachlan Grant
Year 8: Jared Garwood, Max Barber, Finbar Moss, Benjamin Sweeney, Jacob Mulberry, Oliver Elliot, Thomas Martin.
Year 9: Patrick Hoggett
Year 10: Eliot Vincent-Hull, Peter Cassimatis
Year 11: Flynn Gordon, Lachlan Manastrovski, Finn Warren, Mats Lea
Year 12: Filip Mencevski, Jonathan Schacht
Long Tan award for Leadership – Samuel King, Yr 12
Congratulations to the following boys who attended the Red Earth and Timor-Leste Immersions:
Red Earth: Joshua Cornelius, James Breachley,Jesse Sonego, Cooper O’Donnell, Patrick Hoggett, James Hoggett
Timor-Leste: Hugh Marshall, Cooper Flynn
Co-Curriculum
Daniel Gandy- NSW Cycling
Max D’Agostino – 1st AFL Best & Fairest, AFL All stars, NSW U17’s AFL
Miles Amatosero – NSW U16 Rugby, 16yrs Athletics, Best performance
Oliver Ruse – 1st 1V Best & Fairest, 17yrs Athletics, Best team man
Luca Wilson – Most consistent in Debating, 14 yrs Athletics, Best team man
Lang Curren – Yr 7/8 AFL Best & Fairest, AFL All stars
Finn Nebauer – Most improved, Table Tennis
Sebastien Van De Hoek – Best & Fairest, 2nds Volley ball
Lachlan Grant – 13 yrs Athletics, Best team man
We welcome back Callum Baird, Yr 10 to the College and Conlon House. Callum has spent the past 18 months living in The Hague, Netherlands.
Thank-you again to the wonderful Conlon mentors who continue to support and guide our boys. Finally I would like to thank our Year 12 students and on behalf of Conlon House sincerely wish them well for their HSC and beyond. In our final assembly with Year 12, Mrs Jones once again read the Irish blessing and Ms Kaitlyn Downey read the poem ‘Winners are People like You’. Mentors or students then spoke about each Yr 12 boy from their mentor group. The words were all very heartfelt, very meaningful and very special to each boy. Mr Anthony Gill and our Year 5 & 6 boys had made each Year 12 boy a beautiful inspirational card.The boys left the assembly to the sound of rousing applause. It was a special moment for each of the boys.
I would like to take this opportunity to thank each and everyone of our young men from Yr 12.. As a group, they have shown sensitivity, compassion, focus, determination, leadership and above all, are all fine young men who have been extraordinary role models and leaders for us all. We sincerely wish them well for whatever path they take in life.
Ryan Bakels
Ryan Connolly
Daniel Gandy
Oliver Heys
Luc Johnson
Samuel King
Erwan Le Perchoux
Luca Martin
Filip Mencevski
Daniel Nezval
George Pantazis
Anthony Roydhouse
Jonathan Schacht
Flynn Schulz
Anthony Vassallo
