Enjoy the winter break

From Head of College, Graham Leddie

End of Term 2

Term 2 has been a very productive term for the College and I wish all boys and families a safe and restful winter break. Good luck to our Year 12 students as they prepare for their upcoming trial examinations and I thank in advance the staff that will be running tutorials, opening workshops for major work completion, checking drafts and responding to students over this time. The College Library will be open to students everyday of the holidays from 8.00am to 4.00pm.

 

Head of College Awards

Congratulations to the following boys who have accumulated 3 Gold Awards over this Semester.

• Year 7 – Jack Crotty, Lang Curran, Kai Jones, Jay Briggs
• Year 8 – Vin Torsellini, Cooper Stynes, Leo Morgan, Christian Kitas, Harry Gippel, James Byrd.
• Year 9 – Brad Wilson, Perri Quirk, Baxter Flynn, Charlie Worthington, Alexander De Barros.

 

Inaugural Trade Careers Evening

Last week the College held the inaugural Trade Careers evening for parents and students. Ms Knowles the Senior Studies and Careers Co-ordinator organised some very impressive Old Boys to address the audience about their experiences post schooling and their pathway at school. Thank you to the following Old Boys for giving up their time and sharing their journey and expertise:

• Mr Charles Stapley – East Coast Air & Electrical
• Mr James Wright – J Wright Electrical
• Mr Stephen Cantor – Cantor Real Estate
• Mr James Mott – Coastal Construction Group (James is opening his own company in 2019 ‘One Build Construction’)

Thank you also to Mr Terry Murphy who delivered a parents’ perspective on the non-ATAR pathway, covering the advantages and opportunities it can open up.

Far too often, we as parents get caught up in a system that drives us to thinking that an ATAR pathway is the only choice. Often when a parent carefully considers their son’s strengths, interests and future job prospects, a more practical, non-ATAR pathway is a better choice. For the men who spoke to our students at this event, their choices allowed them to develop their strengths and set themselves up well for the future.

 

Subject Selection

An important evening held earlier this week was our subject selection evening, particularly for our Year 10 students. Thank you to the large number of parents that came along to support their sons with this very important decision. I encourage all parents to make informed decisions regarding the subjects selected and pathways chosen. It is very hard to make changes further down the track, if at all possible. Ms Kath Knowles is a wealth of knowledge should you still be undecided about the right choices.

 

Year 7 Dance

Congratulations to our Year 7 students, who hosted girls from St Clare’s, Brigidine and St Catherine’s at the College Dance this week. As expected, the boys behaviour was very good and all seem to have an enjoyable evening. Thank you to the staff that supervised and coordinated the evening.

 

Cross Country 

Congratulations to the following boys on their excellent performances at the NSW XC Championships held recently at Nowra. Thank you to all the hard work that their coaches put in ththe their coaches who put in many hours of training throughout the year – Mr Nick Brophy and Mr Jeremy Roff

• U18 Boys 6km, Charles McGrath (Y12) came 6th in 20mins 20sec
• U16 Boys 4km, Kurt Kress (Y9) came 15th in 14mins 39sec

 

Football

Congratulations to Mario Rebollo (Y10) who has been selected for NSW u16 All Schools football.

 

Year 8 Debating

Our Year 8 debaters have made it through all of the elimination rounds of Catholic Schools Debating Association competition. They have now made the quarter finals – Congratulations to: Mackenzie Flitcroft, Conor Ryan, Daniel McSweeney, Achilles Zanapalis, Angus Anthony, Nicholas Kimber, Felix Gardan, Ben Schrijvers (Coach Ms Alice Walker and convenor Ms Cassie Foster).

 

CAS AFL Team

Congratulations to the following boys who played in the inaugural CAS 1sts Team against the President’s 18 GPS this week and won – Harry Whitaker (Y11), Ash Backlund (Y11), Isaac Bartholomaeus (Y12), Max D’Agostino (Y11) who was Vice Captain and voted Best on Ground, and Noah Burgess (Y11). Assistant Coach – Mr Matt Porter.

CAS Opens Rugby

Congratulations to the following boys who played for the CAS teams this week. The firsts had a win and the seconds a loss.

1sts – Luca Moretti (Y12) & Conor Molloy (Y12) (Coach – Mr Scott Coleman)

2nds – Daniel Andrews (Y12), Harry Whiteman (Y12) and Luca Martin (Y12)  (Levi Milford (Y11) has also been called into the team this week)

 

CAS U16s

The following students and staff have been selected for CAS U16s Rugby: Aisea Alohelei (Y11), Ronald Volkman (Y10), Will Baker (Y10), Zac Smith-Karim (Y10), Miles Amasotero (Y10), Jordan Swann (Y10), Oliver Ferguson (Y11), Emmanuel Di Bartolo (Y10) (Coaches – Steve O’Donnell and Kyle Newbury)

 

Staffing Update

 

Staff Farewells

Mr Brian Roberts

Mr Brian Roberts, has announced his retirement. Brian has been the EREA Regional Director for the past two years, prior to that Brian was Principal of St Patrick’s College Strathfield and Christian Brothers Lewisham. We wish Brian all the best in his retirement and thank him for his support of Waverley throughout his time with EREA. Mr Chris Smith who has already been Acting Regional Director during Term 2 will remain in this position for the duration of 2018.

Mr David McCormack

After 2.5 years of service to the College teaching Mathematics David will return to his birthplace of Ireland. David has good rapport with his students and worked hard to instill a love of mathematics. David has contributed extensively to the College’s co-curricular program as Convenor of Cycling and Coach of 10A Football.

He has also been an integral member of Aungier House and built good relations with his wellbeing group Aungier 6. David has recently announced his engagement and we wish him all the best in his future endeavours.

 Mr Aaron Egan

After 1.5 years service to the College teaching both Science and Religious Education Aaron has taken up a position at a school in Shanghai as Head of House before he returns to Ireland. Aaron is a passionate teacher whose positive energy is infectious and he gets the best out of the students. Aaron has contributed extensively to the College’s Co-curricular program in both Football and Track and Field. Aaron has been a valued member of O’Connor House and the boys in his wellbeing group will miss him greatly. We wish Aaron all the best with his new position and future endeavours.

Welcome New Staff

Ms Bridey Hawley (Science) joins the College taking over from Mr Egan. Bridey has a Post Graduate Diploma in Education with Major in Science (Chemistry) and Health & Physical Education. Bridey has previously held the role of Science Co-ordinator at Pacific Coast Christian School (NSW)

Ms Nicola Silsby (Mathematics) joins the College taking over from Mr McCormack.

Nicola has previously taught Mathematics at the Hills Grammar School and holds a Mathematics PGCE and BA Hons.

Mr Matthew Ryan (Learning Support) joins us from Coal Point Public School and holds a Bachelor of Teaching (Primary) Honours. He has previously been a learning support teacher at Erina High School and has extensive basketball coaching skills.

Acting Positions Term 2

Thank you to the following staff who have acted in positions of responsibility throughout Term 2.

Mr Greg Harris – Acting Director of Waterford

Mr Matt Ryan – Assistant Director of Waterford

Mr Ben Meadley – Acting Head of Waterford Sport

Mr Anthony Gill – Acting Assistant Director of Mission

Ms Kaitlyn Downey – Acting Head of PDHPE

 

Immersions

We wish all of our staff and students heading out in week 3 of the holidays a safe and rewarding experience. They will return at the start of Week 2. Staff attending will be:

• Timor Leste – Mr Phil Davis & Ms Cathy O’Sullivan
• Cape York – Ms Olivia Kite & Mr Richard Bryant
• Arnhem Land – Ms Gemma Brown & Mr Graham Leddie