Principal, Mr Graham Leddie
Dear Parents and Carers,
All of our programs in the first few weeks of Term 1 are designed to help achieve a few main objectives for all of our boys. For them to:
- Get settled into good habits and routines around their academic programs (Elevate – study skills, home learning policy, assessment schedules shared, SMART goals)
- Feel safe, connected, and engaged in the community (Mentor Groups, House Groups, Year 5 camp, Year 7 camp, Commencement Assembly, co-curricular, Big Brother, SRC, prefect engagement)
- Have a sense of purpose in their lives and the wider global community (Lent, Fiji, High Achievers Assembly, Career education Year 10, Year13 program, Ash Wednesday Liturgy)
- Build or extend upon his moral code and decision making (A-Z Wellbeing, examples of upstanders shared, Assembly speeches, guest speakers, social justice programs, traditions of the College)
I hope your son has had a good start to the year and is making progress in each of the above objectives. If your son is struggling in any of these areas, please engage with his Wellbeing Mentor, Core Teacher (Years 5 and 6) or Head of House or for specific subject questions with the respective teacher. Working in partnership with you will certainly assist to change habits and attain desired outcomes.
We were blessed last week at our High Achievers Assembly to have so many great examples of ambitious, goal-focused and self-disciplined 2020 Year 12 students return, who are driven by a strong personal desire to accomplish meaningful and important goals.
We want all students to be high achievers, but in the words of Ralph Waldo Emerson, ‘we want them to leave the world a better place, for them to know even one life has breathed easier because they have lived’.
The very reason this school exists goes back to the motivations of our Founder, Edmund Rice where he saw a need for the poor boys hanging around the docks in Ireland. By providing them with an education, he could liberate them from their circumstances and also assist others.
All of the people quoted in the College Calendar this year are high achievers, but they also have that extra key ingredient in their makeup. They seek to make life easier for others, to take others along for the journey, to inspire change and to make the world a better place.
- Mahatma Gandhi – inspired movements for civil rights and freedom across the world
- Martin Luther King – leader in the Civil Rights Movement
- Albert Einstein – influenced the way we saw the world through his scientific discoveries
- Sr. Irene McCormack – taught in Australia for several decades before becoming a missionary in South America (could be Australia’s next Saint?)
- Sir Ken Robinson – challenged educators to value creativity and the Arts
- Sir David Attenborough – challenged our thinking about life on earth and the value of biodiversity
- Simon Sinek – helped many find their purpose and meaning in their lives
- Nelson Mandela – fought against apartheid
- Mother Teresa – served to the poorest of the poor
- Shirley Smith – a humanitarian activist committed to justice and welfare of Aboriginal Australians
- Chiune Sugihara – helped thousands of Jews flee Europe from Nazi Germany
- Shirin Ebadi – fought for women’s rights in Iran
When I think about some of our great high achieving Old Boys, the ones that stand out were just not hard workers, they had vision and drive. They sought to make others’ lives better.
- Sir Peter Cosgrove – Commander of Australian Forces that freed Timor Leste & Governor General of Australia
- Peter Collins – leader of the NSW state opposition and Captain Australian Army
- Patrick McClure – CEO Mission Australia and St Vincent de Paul
- Dr Wal Jarvis – Director of the Master of Management at UTS Business School
HSC High Achievers Congratulations
I would like to congratulate all of our High Achievers on their fine results. I thanked them at last week’s High Achievers Assembly for finding the time to come back. I believe it says a lot about who they are, because I do not believe they came back for themselves. They came back to recognise some of their teachers who helped them along their journey, and they came back to inspire the younger students. This desire to give back, to care for others, give others a helping hand and inspire excellence, is what we want of every graduate that goes through the College.
Please take a moment to read the High Achievers article by Ms Gabrielle Smith.
Lent
On Wednesday morning, we gathered for the solemn ritual of Ash Wednesday. A ritual that marks the start of our Lenten journey as a Christian community to Easter Sunday. This is a hope-filled journey that is characterised by the three traditional pillars of Lent – prayer, fasting and almsgiving. These three actions help us to follow in the footsteps of Jesus and remind us of the ultimate sacrifice that he made on behalf of all humankind. In our prayers on Wednesday, we sought God’s help to make this season a time when we make choices that bring us closer to God. To amend our lives in even the smallest of ways, finding time to pray is a choice that we can make that draws us nearer to God.
In the words of Pope Francis reflecting on Lent during his Ash Wednesday Mass:
‘It is a time to reconsider the path we are taking to find the route that leads us home and to rediscover our profound relationship with God, on whom everything depends.’
Read more about the meaning of Lent and our Lent Liturgy in the Around Campus article below.
Waverley Uniforms Arrived Safely in Fiji
Waverley uniforms were safely delivered to the Navosa Central College last Wednesday, to a very excited student body. The trucks were unloaded in minutes.
Thank you to the school community given the enormity of work, support and effort that has enabled this great outcome. The positive social and environmental benefits derived from this project are incredible.
Uniform Update
We are experiencing significant delays getting some items into the uniform shop because of issues with freight. The uniform shop will continue to provide yellow wrist bands and write in the diaries of students who are unable to pick up items.
The below replenishment deliveries have been delayed:
- Backpacks – ETA 3-4 weeks
- Core PE polos M, L and XL hoping for next week
- Jammers (a couple of sizes) – ETA end March (we have board shorts and racers in stock)
- Years 7-10 ties – ETA end March
- Touch Football (a couple of sizes) – ETA end March
Running for Lymphatic Cancer
On Saturday, 20 February Joseph Simonella, Class of 2020, will attempt to run a 117.8km ultra-marathon raising awareness and funds for lymphatic cancer. Joe will be running in honour of Gary Kennedy’s wife, Isabella Kennedy, who sadly passed away in 2020.
Joe will be setting off from Bondi at 2am, running to Palm Beach and back again! You may have seen this on the Waverley Instagram account.
He is hoping to have a group to support and run with him in the final stretch of the run from Hyde Park back to Bondi, and he assures me that at this stage it will not be a fast pace (7:30min/km). If you would like to join, he is estimating that he will be back at Hyde Park fountain between 4pm and 5pm on Saturday (he will update as he makes his way back). Ms Pace is planning to be there to accompany him on this final stretch along with a few students and other teachers.
Joe has so far raised an impressive $2,415 of his $3,000 goal. You can find his story and donation page at this website if you feel you would like to support him: https://www.mycause.com.au/page/243539/joes-long-run
