From Director of Junior School, Ms Gabrielle Smith

We are all very excited to welcome the boys back next week, to hear their laughter in the corridors and their interactions, in which they have missed so much.

A reminder that, beginning in Week 3, your son will have two face-to-face days at the Junior School. I have outlined the timetable below:

Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday
Year 5	Year 5	Year 6	Year 6	Online

Important points to note upon return:

• Boys will return in the academic uniform for face-to-face days. Year 5 in the new academic uniform and Year 6 in the full winter uniform.
• The Junior School canteen will operate Monday – Thursday as of Week 3. The canteen will be closed for counter service and breakfast will not be available. Boys will need to order through Flexischools for recess and lunch. The reduced menu can be viewed on Flexischools when you log in – orders are on a weekly basis at the moment.
• The bubblers will not be working during school hours. Boys will need to bring a water bottle that they can refill at stations around the school.
• All students and visitors will have their temperatures checked upon entering the school grounds.

I would like to take this opportunity to wish all of the mothers, grandmothers, aunties, godmothers and those who are like mothers to the boys of Waverley College, a very Happy Mother’s Day on Sunday. Thank you for the positive influence you have on the children, particularly during such challenging and uncertain times.

Remote Music Activity – From Ms Michelle Rollins

I would like to share two excellent examples from an online Year 5 Music task called Two Programs into One! The boys were asked to compose a loop in a music program called Songmaker. They had to start from scratch and create a short piece of music that could be played and then repeated as needed. Once that was done, they had to import their loop into a second program called Garage Band, which already has its own library of loops. The challenge for the boys was to combine their loop with those already in Garage Band and compose a piece of music that sounds great!

Henry Goldrich:

Rafael Kupershteyn:

 

Year 6 History  – Australia as a Nation – From Ms Jennifer Hoare

Throughout Term One, Year 6 studied a unit of work called Australia as a Nation, where they explored the factors that led to Federation and traced the experiences of democracy and citizenship over time. The inquiry-based assessment task gave them the opportunity to research a significant person, group or an event that shaped Australia as a democratic nation. 

The plan was for each boy to deliver their research to the class as a speech, highlighting the impact of this person, group or event on Australia as a nation. Due to the commencement of remote learning, the boys have recorded and shared impressive videos of their speeches. It was wonderful to see the creative ways in which they chose to video their speeches.

Part of the assessment also included the creation of a poster, model, diorama or artwork capturing a snapshot of their chosen person or event. The boys are to be commended for their impressive research, analysis, creativity and articulate delivery of their topic.

World War II Diorama by Liam Crowe | Class 6 Gold

Learning Hub – From Ms Natasha Zivanovic

Activities to promote thinking in critical and creative ways using the non-fiction text Australian Sea Life.

Over the past 5 weeks of remote teaching and learning, I have been impressed with the boys’ attitude towards working remotely and submitting work that demonstrates high levels of self-directed learning.  

My activities were inspired by the stunning non-fiction text, Australian Sea Life by Matt Chun, and Tony Ryan’s Thinkers Keys. Thinkers keys are powerful tools that can be used to help unlock critical and creative thinking abilities that all learners have.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading all responses and wish I could showcase all of the activities. Here are a two examples:

Question Key by Blake Taylor | Class 5 Indigo

Alphabet Key by Archie Goulding | Class 5 Blue

2020 Writing Competition

Thank you to all Junior School students who entered the 2020 Writing Competition, which we launched at the beginning of our online learning journey.

To participate in the competition, the boys needed to compose an imaginative text of up to 500 words in length, using a single image of an elf tree as their inspiration.

We would like to congratulate the following boys, 1st – Jethro Jensen, 2nd – Tom Madden, 3rd – Richard Nestor, and 4th – Hugh Godby. Below are some snippets taken from the winning pieces, for you to enjoy reading.

1st Place

The Forest by Jethro Jensen | Class 6 Gold 

Oh how I would have loved to go into that forest, but now my views have changed drastically. Forests, much like people, have two sides. There is both good and bad, but what side you choose to see is up to you. A bit like licorice. It’s bittersweet. Some would say that the dense gooey substance was delicious, that they loved getting the disgusting black gunk stuck between their teeth and that there was something pleasant about having such a pungent taste flood your mouth leaving nothing but cavities behind. But anyone who had even a little sense, would say that licorice was disgusting and that the creation of it was one of the biggest mistakes in the world.

2nd Place
Poem by Tom Madden | Class 6 Indigo

They went through the woods
in worn out shoes
to pick a life no one should,
to make a choice no other’d choose:
In the enchanted forest.
To defend the trees,
their roots, their spires –
even the leaves
were deeply admired,
In the enchanted forest.
In fear they stood,
with hundreds of years of history,
get past them, no one could,
for they would not end in misery,
In the enchanted forest.
I open my eyes and see
A pair of eyes staring back at me.
I am not afraid for I know
I’m in the presence of a little man,
In the enchanted forest.

3rd Place
Adventures in Surivanoroc by Richard Nestor | Class 5 Gold 

The four fairies trembled in fear wondering what they were going to do to get the werewolf to go away. Then Aoife remembered! Jeffrey, her pet griffin was on the tree branch! She whistled loudly and Jeffrey swooped down in front of her. Aoife whispered to Jeffrey in Griffin language so that he would understand her. Jeffrey leaped in front of the werewolf, lifted up its front legs and scared the werewolf back into the dark side of the forest. The four fairies and Jeffrey tiptoed back to their treehouse and because Bob had forgotten the keys, Jeffrey opened the door with his beak. They were all so shattered that they were asleep in no time.

4th Place
Story by Hugh Godby | Class 5 White

It was a cold evening on a wistful Thursday, as the little elves scattered around the Weeping Willow Palace, looked for scraps that the wealthy did not fancy. The poor little elves found this night like every other, looking for a place to live, a place to eat and a place to have a family.

Today, they had lost all hope and thought it was their last night for eternity. At least, that’s what they thought. Underneath their tree they used as shelter, was a whole Elf City, which one little elf had stumbled upon while looking for food.

They rushed in and heard elves playing and eating all over the palace, until silence – not once had any lost elves come into the city without a saviour.