What an eventful couple of weeks we have had in the Junior School. Our buzz this week has definitely focused around Book Week. On Monday, we held our fabulous Pop-Up Bookshop which proved to be very popular among the boys. We were also lucky enough to have a wonderful presentation from Allison Tait who is the author of the children’s adventure series The Mapmaker Chronicles. In this session, Allison shared her experiences of being an author with the boys. On Wednesday, we heard from Dylan Loulli, Heath Jackson, Charlie Silva and Anthony Vigliante (Year 11 Visual Arts students) who presented their illustrating techniques and other forms of artwork with the boys.
I am very excited to finish the Book Week celebrations with our parade tomorrow. A reminder that the theme this year is ‘Reading is my Superpower’. All parents are warmly welcome to attend. The parade will be held on the playground at 1:30pm – 3:00pm.
We also welcomed many new families to the school this week for Year 5 2021 enrolment interviews. It was lovely to meet so many siblings as well as old boys and welcome new families to our Waverley community.
Open Classrooms – Next week!
Assistant Director of Curriculum, Gabrielle Bransby
On Tuesday 27th August, the Junior School will be opening our classrooms to showcase what our students have been learning this year.
Year 5 have just finished a wonderful STEM unit called Put a Spark in it! This STEM unit has integrated 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. We have also integrated a piece of music that accompanies their story. This was created with Mrs Rollins in their Music Technology class. Many boys have attached this music to their story on Scratch and incorporated the use of Makey Makey’s.
Year 6 have also just finished a STEM unit called Designing the Future. This unit focused on developing areas around Waverley College Junior School that are in need of refurbishment, unused or poorly maintained. The boys have created dioramas to show the area they wish to develop and investigated concepts of sustainable design, the characteristics of materials, scaled drawings and devised a budget based on their design and materials chosen.
We are excited to open up our Learning Hub that has been newly refurbished to cater for the needs of our 21st century learners. Mrs Rollins will also be showcasing in the Auditorium some of the great work the boys have been involved in this year.
Please come and join us between 1pm – 2pm next Tuesday. We look forward to seeing you and bringing you along on our learning journey this year.
Please note you are welcome to take your sons home after the event concludes at 2pm.
Sport News
Assistant Director of Co-curricular, Matthew Ryan
The Junior School Winter season has now concluded and we are moving into our Athletics Season. The squad will compete at four different carnivals throughout the season. Brothers Carnival at SIC Riverview, Newington Invitational, Barker Invitational and the IPSHA Carnival on Monday 26 August. I would like to wish the boys all the very best of luck for a short but tough season.
2019 Athletics Squad:
Julian Minto
Felix Kelly
Charlie Coutts
Bailey Gosbell
Darcy Parkes
Jack Johnson
Liam McMaster
Angus Sundkvist
Sonny Patane
Sam Lennon
Ben Pignaterlli
Ari Wernet
Henry Parkes
Charles Coughlan
Oliver Stynes
Rick Meyrick
Fred Carmody
Luke Newrick
CIS Golf
A big congratulations to Sam Frain and Alfie Frain who have both been selected into the NSWCIS Golf team to compete late this term. A fantastic result and we wish you both all the best for the competition.
Coaching Achievement Milestone
From Greg Harris
Another Winter season has concluded with all its joys and sorrows; victories and defeats; teamwork and friendship that a season can muster. Behind all of the joy our boys get from their sporting pursuits during this time is the hard work of the coaches who put their hands up to guide and direct them as they try to get the best from their teams in hoping for special moments and the achievement of team and individual milestones.
Some of our coaches also achieve great things from their season and involvement with the boys. One of our Junior School coaches achieved a special personal milestone herself with the conclusion of the 2019 season. It would have passed quietly and unnoticed but for a quiet conversation on the sidelines of the final round of rugby in a moment of shared personal reflection.
With that said, we would like to acknowledge and congratulate Jenny Hoare on 30 years of uninterrupted coaching of rugby across three different private schools. Jenny is a rare breed of energy and passion as she guides her boys through their rugby season. She has had many successful years in this time with a number of undefeated teams. She always brings a great love and knowledge of the game to her boys. She is much loved and admired by both her boys and parents. She has been an integral part of our Armidale Rugby Tours over the past few years and is always willing to get involved. We appreciate her tireless contribution to the game.
Well done Jenny on this amazing achievement and thank you for your dedication to our boys and the game of rugby.
Learning Hub Report
From Natasha Zivanovic
IPSHA Debating Waverley v SCEGGS Darlinghurst
Round 6 was held on Friday 16 August at SCEGGS. The topic for debate was “Parents should not give pocket money to their children“. Both Waverley teams put forward strong arguments and presented their cases clearly, engaging the audience and firmly rebutting the SCEGGS team’s cases. The boys did themselves and Waverley very proud with one win and one loss.
Pop-Up Bookshop
The Pop-Up Bookshop brought to us by The Children’s Bookshop, Beecroft was a success on Monday morning! Hearing the boys talk about their favourite books and authors, while shopping was a healthy way to start the week. Thank you for supporting such a special initiative. Happy Reading Boys!
Important Information
From Assistant Director of Identity and Student Formation, Stephen Ghattas
Fathers & Grandfathers Mass
Thursday 29th August 2019 – 9am to 11am
Fathers, Grandfathers and significant men are invited to attend a special Mass and BBQ for Father’s Day with their sons and grandsons. Please follow the link on the College website to RSVP.
Fathers, Grandfathers and significant males in the lives of Waverley College students in Years 5 to 12 are invited to accompany their sons to a special Father’s Day Mass at 9am in honour of fathers everywhere. The Mass will be followed by a BBQ for the guests and their sons. Boys will return to class following the BBQ.
A slideshow presentation will be shown during the reflection song, after communion. If you are going to be in attendance at our liturgy and would like a photo (fathers and sons, or grandfather(s) and sons) included in this presentation could you please forward it through to liturgy@waverley.nsw.edu.au (Unfortunately, any photographs that are submitted after the deadline of Tuesday 27th August will not be able to be included in this years’ presentation.)
All Junior School students will be in attendance on the day however, only the Senior School students who have fathers/grandfathers in attendance will be exempt from class.
R U OK? Day – Thursday 12th September
Thursday 12th September is National R U OK? Day. This is a national day of action dedicated to reminding people to ask family, friends and colleagues the question, “R U OK?”, in a meaningful way, because connecting regularly and meaningfully is one thing everyone can do to make a difference to those who may be at risk.
Waverley College has a very close connection with R U OK? Day and we would like to continue to support and raise awareness for this charity in 2019.
The boys at Waterford will be encouraged to wear mufti clothes (something yellow) on Thursday 12th September (Week 8) for a $5 donation. This will also entitle them to a sausage sandwich and a drink at lunchtime (courtesy of the Old Boys). In addition to this, there will be a cake stall on Wednesday 11th September. Boys from Lacey, O’Connor and Tevlin will be encouraged to bring either a slice, cupcakes, cookies, muffins or bite-size snacks to sell on the day. These can be dropped on to Ms King’s room on the morning of the cake stall.
We truly appreciate all your support.
Wakakirri – An interview with Michelle Rollins
From our iLeader Charlotte Stephens
The students of Waterford have the opportunity to be taught by a number of specialist teachers, these teachers are passionate about their subject areas. None more so than our Creative Arts teacher, Michelle Rollins. Since her first year at the College, Michelle has created and directed 23 entries into the Wakakirri Competition, engaging thousands of our students in a wonderful performance opportunity. Her creativity and ability to come up with fun, interesting, original and thoughtful stories is truly inspiring. On Tuesday 13th August Michelle took almost 100 of our students to NIDA to compete in the 2019 Wakakirri competition. I sat down with Michelle to learn a little more about what goes on behind the scenes to put together a successful entry and gain an insight into the theme of this year’s piece.
What is Wakakirri and why does Waverley College take part?
Wakakirri is a National Competition where schools are allocated seven minutes to tell a story that has a positive impact on the world without using words. Students are encouraged to use Dance and Drama to convey meaning. In my first year here, 23 years ago, I got Waverley involved in Wakakirri and we have been participating every year ever since. I believe we are still the only all-boys Primary School that competes in this event. It is a competition that is particularly close to my heart as I have never come across an event that has such a positive impact on young performers.
What was the theme for Wakakirri 2019?
Our theme grew out of a quote I had read, ‘the opposite of a hero is not a villain but a bystander’. In our piece, we explored how even a simple act of kindness can make you a hero in somebody’s eyes. We also highlighted the idea that small acts can grow into much larger things and ultimately have a huge impact. Our title was ‘Bye Bye Bystander’. As part of our wellbeing program here at Waverley, we encourage the boys to act when they see a need, to be an upstander instead of a bystander, the story of our Wakakirri performance reflects this important lesson.
Did you have to consider anything else while preparing for this year’s performance?
Apart from the obvious which is making it a fun experience for the boys, Wakakirri encourages sustainability when preparing performance items. Waverley tries to support this initiative in a number of ways. We recycle props from past performances, use everyday clothes and school uniforms instead of costumes and overall we keep our message clear and simple.
How did the performance go on the night?
The boys performed very well on the night, both their behaviour and their onstage performances were outstanding. We won the award for ‘best teamwork’, a very well deserved accolade considering we had almost 100 students on the stage at once! Our performance was unusual as it had seven lead characters. In our story, Fox Stapleton, Oscar Wilson and Lachlan Isaac showed kindness to Harry Ballestry, Jamie Vanderjkemp and Joshua Tsokalas. When they needed extra help Harry Bowcock was there to make their vision come to life. It can be very daunting to take the stage at a venue as prestigious as NIDA, the boys and in particular our seven lead actors more than rose occasion. I could not have been more proud of their performance. We are eagerly awaiting news as to whether we get into the Grand Final, we should find this out by the first week in September.
Is there anything you would like to say to the people that participated this year?
Thank you to all the boys who were involved in Wakakirri 2019, they committed their time and a huge amount of effort to this activity. Thank you to the staff for their patience through rehearsals and in particular to Jennifer Hoare, Tracie Ryan, and Matthew Ryan for supporting the boys on the night. Thank you to our Director, Gabrielle Smith, for giving the students and staff the opportunity to be creative and develop a love of the arts. Thank you to the parents for their loud cheering and allowing their sons to be part of this experience.
