From Director of Junior School, Ms Gabrielle Bransby

A big welcome back to 2021 and a very warm welcome to our new families who have joined Waverley this year. I am very excited to continue in the position of Acting Director of the Junior School for 2021. We have already had such a busy start to the year!

It was so lovely welcoming our new Year 5 students and parents last Thursday. You could feel the excitement in the air and see it on the boys’ faces. This week the boys were involved in Sports Trials for the upcoming summer season. This is always a highlight of the year for the boys as they meet new friends and enjoy being active. 

We welcome three new classroom teachers to the Junior School this year. Ms Chloe-Jane Tweedie as a Year 5 classroom teacher, and Mr Matthew Johnston and Thomas Olds as Year 6 classroom teachers. Ms Tracie Ryan will be working two days a week in an Executive release role. 

We also welcome back Ms Katia Iturrieta who will be working three days a week, taking on the full-time role as the Spanish teacher and executive release, as well as Jack Wachtel who is our Assistant Director of Co-Curricular (Years 5 -8). 

Canteen

Thank you to all the parents who offered to volunteer in our canteen for Term 1. It is very much appreciated as we rely so heavily on our families to continue this service. If you haven’t signed up and would like to volunteer please follow this link: canteen

Diary Dates

Please find below some reminders about upcoming events. For all of Term 1 events please refer to the College Calendar.

• 4 February – Year 5 Laptop Deployment. Computers will be given to students during school and a pre-recorded online session will be provided to support parents in the coming week. More information to follow. 
• 12 February – Swimming Carnival – Waverley College Swimming Pool. Unfortunately no parents will be able to attend due to COVID-19 restrictions. 
• 15 February – Years 5 and 6 Parent Information. This will be online due to COVID-19 restrictions. Information to follow this week. 
• 17 – 19 February – Year 5 Camp – YMCA Yarramundi.

Junior School Communication

All communication regarding news, updates, events and social information will be delivered through the fortnightly newsletter Nurrunga (Junior School section), and SkoolBag app. 

Nurrunga Newsletter

Nurrunga is the fortnightly College newsletter. It provides information and dates for important events around the school, and a weekly update from the Principal and College Leadership Team, including myself. Parents are recommended to check Nurrunga when the link is emailed to them on Thursdays, fortnightly, during term time. The link will also be shared via the Skoolbag app. 

SkoolBag App

SkoolBag is a school mobile app that communicates directly with iPhone and Android devices. It provides all school users with instant “push” notifications and alerts to their mobile devices. The SkoolBag app is free to download and can easily be installed from the Apple Apps store or Google Play by searching for ‘Waverley College’ and installing. For information about SkoolBag and how to download the app visit this link

We use SkoolBag app in the Junior School on a regular basis to inform you of:

• Upcoming events
• Changes to the regular school day
• Canteen rosters
• Sport changes

Email

Parents are requested to provide an email address upon enrolment and to always keep this up to date by informing the Junior School Reception whenever there is a change. Email is an important means of communicating with teachers and administration. Most email addresses you will need can be found on the College website on the tab ‘Contact Us’. Class teachers will use email regularly to contact you and it is also used for the College newsletter and for alerts and notices. 

College Website

The College website provides a great deal of information about the school such as news, events, contacts, subject information, policy documents, cyber safety, sports fixtures and the college calendar. Please follow this link to visit the College website

Parent/Teacher Interviews

Formal Parent/Teacher interviews will be held on Tuesday 15th July after you have received your son’s Semester One school report. This week, you will receive a parent questionnaire via email. Please fill this out in order to inform the classroom teacher on how to best support your son this year. If you have information you feel would be beneficial to discuss with your teacher in person please do not hesitate to contact them to arrange a meeting. You will find all Junior school contacts in the link below:

Please follow this link to see Junior School Staff.

News from the Learning Hub – Natasha Zivanovic

Home Learning Club

We offer all students in Years 5 and 6 the opportunity to receive free additional support after school for the completion of home learning tasks. The afternoon sessions also provide a quiet, supervised study space for students who want to complete their assigned tasks.

Home Learning Club operates in the Learning Hub from 3pm-4pm – Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays – during school term, unless there is a scheduled Staff Meeting that all staff members are required to attend.  

For more information regarding the Home Learning Policy refer to pages 45-48  in the student diary. 

Procedures

Register your son via the Skoolbag app and follow this link. The Home Learning Club will begin in Week 3 on Tuesday.  The link is activated at the end of each week. 

Only register his name once to allow other students the opportunity to attend. The session is limited to 20 spots.

There will be a roll call to ensure attendance.

Students are required to stay for the full session unless there is a message in the student diary requesting early leave, a parent signature will be required.

Try to avoid calling or messaging your son during this period, unless it is urgent.

Behaviour

As it is important to respect the rights of others to learn and work, all students are expected to settle to work in the Learning Hub and not cause a disturbance for others.

Teachers

Monday & Wednesday

Ms Natasha Zivanovic

Tuesday & Thursday

Mr Matt Ryan 

Jack Wachtel Assistant Director of Co-Curricular (Years 5 -8)

Sports and Swimming Trials

This week our students in both Years 5 and 6 have actively participated in Sports and Swimming Trials. Students were given the opportunity to try out for the sports that most interest them according to their selected preferences. It also allowed students to test their swimming skills in the 50m freestyle stroke before the Swimming Carnival in Week 3A on Friday 12 February.

Teachers and Coaches worked extremely hard to organise and deliver engaging sessions for our boys on Monday and Tuesday this week. Managing 311 students across five sports has made selections for teams challenging and also rewarding. It has been fantastic to see students’ level of enthusiasm and desire to try their absolute best across all sports for both days. Some students were not selected in their first or second preference for this Summer Season, and unfortunately this was unavoidable. Students are reminded that regardless of the team they’re placed in or if they miss their preference, there is always room to grow and improve throughout the season and years ahead. 

The Swimming Trials were successfully undertaken on Tuesday morning, thankfully with the weather looking after us. The trials allow us to see students’ swimming abilities before the Swimming Carnival. The results will enable us to place students in even swimming groups for the carnival, allowing them to participate in multiple events throughout the day.