From the Director of Waterford, Gabrielle Smith
A Vision for Liberation – EREA Conference
Last week I was fortunate enough to attend a three-day residential program at Mary MacKillop House, Sydney. The program brought together colleagues from across the EREA community, providing opportunities for personal reflection, dialogue with other leaders, and exploration of the stories that shape the way we understand our identity and mission. It was wonderful to share our current practices and also look at the many initiatives in place in our fellow EREA schools, which I have been able to bring back to the Waverley community.
2019 International Boys School Coalition Conference (IBSC)
Next week I will be attending the 2019 IBSC Conference at Selwyn House School, Montreal, Canada. I will be given the opportunity to work alongside educators from across the world to explore the latest research on boys education.
We have a responsibility as educators of boys to help our students become empathic, aware, solid, respectful, open-hearted, and responsible people. The conference theme focuses on the need for boys to learn to share themselves emotionally for their own mental wellness. It will also look at the vital roles parents, educators, and administrators play in the emotional wellbeing of the boys in our care.
I look forward to sharing the many takeaways from this experience with the staff, students and community upon my return.
Reports and Parent/Teacher Interviews
Over the last few weeks, our teachers have been involved in writing Semester 1 student reports, that will go home to parents on Friday 21st June.
Teachers put in an enormous amount of effort to provide accurate and meaningful student reports. They have continued to assess and evaluate student progress throughout the year, in order to provide parents with the most accurate account of student abilities.
Each student’ report will continue to have an A-E rating scale to evaluate a child’s achievement against the statewide standards, not against other students in your child’s class.
Parent/Student Interviews will take place on Monday 29th July. This is an opportunity to discuss your son’s report and work with the class teacher on his strengths and weaknesses. You will receive an email on Friday on how to book in for your interview.
New Science and Technology K-6 Syllabus
Gaby Bransby (Assistant Director of Curriculum)
This year the new Science and Technology K-6 Syllabus is now mandatory across schools in NSW. This has been a wonderful opportunity for the Junior School to have a close look at our current programs and practices and look at how we can best equip our students with the educational needs they require for the future.
The Science and Technology syllabus continues to get students to explore their understanding of the world through scientific investigations and technological concepts. However, this new syllabus now also incorporates four different types of thinking to further develop and challenge how students see and interact with the world around them. Another exciting component of the syllabus is the Digital Technologies content strand. This strand provides students with opportunities to investigate existing technologies and create digital solutions, whilst giving them the chance to interact, understand and become critical consumers of information.
We have also taken the opportunity to integrate our new Science programs with other subject areas. We have focused on creating STEM units this term in both Year 5 and Year 6. Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) are identified as essential areas of study for Australia to maintain a high quality of life. Research has told us that students will benefit from STEM by learning about innovation and further developing their problem-solving skills. Through our STEM units we hope to give students experiences that will enable them to contribute to the world as active global citizens both now and in the future.
Yr 5 – Put a Spark in it!
This STEM unit has been integrated with a wide range of skills from different subject areas to create a 3D Diorama that lights up. This piece is an illustration of a collaborative story that students have written in English. Students have learnt how to code through Scratch and CS First. They have created animated versions of their stories on Scratch to supplement their final product. Through this unit students will investigate the Scientific concepts of forces, electricity, safety around electricity and conduct scientific experiments. They will use their mathematical skills to compare results, record data and formulate conclusions.
Their final products will be showcased in an open afternoon for parents and members of our school community to attend and celebrate their learning.
Yr 6 – Designing the Future
This STEM unit is focused on developing areas around Waverley College Junior School that are in need of refurbishment, unused or poorly maintained. The aim of this unit is to give students agency in the development of this area. Within this STEM unit students investigate the concepts of sustainable design, the characteristics of materials, create design solutions, work-out measurements, used data to inform decision making, devise a budget based on their design and material and use technology to sketch and print a 3D prototype using a 3D printer.
This is an exciting opportunity for an authentic learning experience and a chance for students to see their designs and ideas implemented throughout the College. Their final products will be showcased in an open afternoon for parents and members of our school community to attend and celebrate their learning.
Sports News – Mr Matt Ryan
Cross Country: Last week we had 4 of our students attend the NSWCIS Cross Country Carnival out at Eastern Creek Raceway. Jack J, Maddox W, Sam L and Oliver E all attended the carnival and ran a challenging 3km race. The boys were placed 2nd as a team of 4 and Jack was placed 4th overall. A fantastic result for these boys and we wish Jack all the best as he advances to the NSWPSSA Carnival next term.
Touch Football: Last Tuesday the following students Lachlan A, Monty A, Hamish P, Cruz C, Felix K and Jack J attended the NSWCIS Touch Football trials at Penrith. After a tough day of trials and effort, unfortunately, none of the boys were selected into the 12 man squad. The boys represented the College with pride and should be proud of their efforts to achieve at such a high level.
Sustainability Update – Miss Charlotte Stephens (ileader)
Congratulations to our newly elected Junior School Sustainability Leaders, Marcel Fernandes, George Ellis, Charlie Couts, Charlie Scott-Terrie, Kirby Foltman, Liam McMaster, Constantine Iatrou, Charlie Grant, Liam Sexton, and Orlando Maisenbacher. These students will be leading sustainability initiatives at Waterford and working closely with the Senior School Sustainability group.
This term, the Sustainability Leaders have been helping to run our Junior School ‘Return and Earn’ initiative. The aim of this initiative is to encourage us all to recycle where we can while earning money to go towards fun resources for our playground. Students have been ‘voting’ with their recycling between outdoor art supplies, a giant Jenga set or gardening equipment. Each bottle or can is worth $0.10 when taken to a ‘Return and Earn’ collection point. The clear winner so far is a giant Jenga set so we will continue with our recycling efforts until we have raised enough to purchase. So far, we have raised $27.00. Remember to recycle your bottles and cans so we can reach our goal!
Year 5 Visual Arts Incursion – Miss Charlotte Stephens (ileader)
Our Year 5 students have been taking part in an exciting Visual Arts incursion this term. Every Wednesday afternoon, a different Year 5 class has had the opportunity to visit the Art Room in the High School to work with Miss Natalie Oates, the Head of Art. In this session, the students used a variety of techniques to build an image of their favourite electronic object. They each worked in one colour, learning about tonal shading and monochromatic scale. Each class has created a panel with a collage of their design for display in their classroom.
In Term Three, Year 6 will have the opportunity to work with the High School TAS department and Mr Kyle Newbury. These incursions are a wonderful opportunity for the Waterford students to access the specialist teachers and resources of the High School.
Thank you so much to Miss Natalie Oates and Miss Kaitlyn Downey for facilitating this fantastic experience for our students.
Edmund Rice Day – Mr Stephen Ghattas (Assistant Director of Mission and Identity)
On Thursday 6th June, the Waterford Campus held their Annual Edmund Rice Activity Day in honour of Blessed Edmund Rice. The day was filled with lots of different activities both in and out of the classroom. Apart from learning about the life of Edmund, the boys also participated in a range of fundraising activities at recess and lunchtime. All money raised on the day, will be donated to Edmund Rice Camps. We were lucky enough to have Emily Banks from the organisation, as well as Matthew Dalghiranis, a Waverley College Old Boy and camp volunteer, attend our morning assembly. Both of our guests spoke to the boys about the role of Edmund Rice Camps as well as their own experiences. We thank them for giving us an insight into the wonderful work that they do to help the lives of others. Overall, the boys managed to raise approximately $850, a truly magnificent effort for one days’ work.
Special mention to James Peate and fellow cast members, Lachlan Marzol, Yannick Hott, Xavier Miconi, Lachlan Rowney and Max Sheehy for presenting the play on Edmund Rice during our assembly. James wrote, directed and acted in the play. Thanks again James.
