Principal, Mr Graham Leddie
Service to Country
The world has seen in the last week, the passing of two significant world leaders in Queen Elizabeth II (1926-2022) and Mikhail Gorbachev (1931-2022). Both certainly left their mark on their respective countries and the rest of the world.
Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth the Second, was the monarch for 56 nations and 2.5 Billion people. She exemplified devotion to duty and service above self, leading with grace and dignity across her historic seven-decade reign. Queen Elizabeth was steady in the face of constant change. She is credited in bringing stability to the monarch, steering the British Empire to a mostly peaceful orderly end, modernising the monarchy, assisting in the breakdown process of ‘apartheid’, reducing tension between Ireland and the United Kingdom, her tireless service and love for the people within her country and within the Commonwealth, and above all, her significant charity work throughout her life (600 charities).
Mikhail Gorbachev, the President of the Soviet Union in 1990 – 91 and the general secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1985 to 1991. Gorbachev was the single most important initiator of a series of events in late 1989 and 1990 that transformed the political fabric of Europe and marked the beginning of the end of the Cold War. By the summer of 1990 he had agreed to the reunification of East with West Germany. Mikhail Gorbachev was awarded the Nobel Prize for Peace in 1990.
Year 12 Leadership Term 4 2022 and 2023
After an extensive Prefect and Captain selection leadership process that included House, peers, and staff, it is my pleasure to announce that the four College Captains for Term 4 2022 and 2023 are:
- Lachlan Grant – College Captain
- Connor Andrews – College Vice Captain
- Bert Cottell – College Vice Captain
- Sam Stewart – College Vice Captain
Each of these students articulated their genuine desire to serve the community and seek improvement across the spiritual, cognitive, social, emotional, and physical dimensions for all students. The College Leadership look forward to working with this new student leadership team. The House Prefects positions will be announced post-Year 11 examinations.
2023 College Captains
Archbishop’s Award
Congratulations, Jay Palm (Year 12), who received the prestigious Archbishop’s Award for Excellence for his service work today (Friday, 9 September). The annual awards were started in 1999 by Cardinal Edward Clancy, to honour leadership qualities and service to school and parish communities.
Congratulations, Jay Palm
R U OK? Day
Yesterday was R U OK? Day, a day and cause with an extremely close connection to Waverley College. This year’s theme ‘Ask R U OK? No Qualifications Needed,’ emphasises that everyone regardless of job, qualification, training and position, can play a vital role in supporting the people in each of our worlds with the four simple steps of an R U OK? conversation:
- Ask R U OK?
- Listen
- Encourage action
- Check-in
Thank you to parents and students who contributed to the R U OK? bake sale with funds being donated to the charity. A focus on R U OK? will continue in next week’s College assembly.
Parents’ Association Annual General Meeting – Save the Date – Tuesday, 1 November
The next Parents’ Association meeting and AGM will take place on Tuesday, 1 November 2022, where a number of office bearers for 2023 will be elected.
I’m grateful to Jade Stapleton for her tireless work as President for the past two years. She will be stepping down from this role at the AGM. Thank you also to Treasurer, Deb Johnson and Secretary, Stephanie van Dam, who have made sterling contributions to the Parents’ Association for many years, and will also be retiring from their roles.
Consider getting involved in the Parents’ Association, a vital part of the Waverley College community. With our ‘120 Year’ celebrations happening in 2023, there will be numerous exciting events throughout next year, and your ideas and energy are very welcome.
Please submit expressions of interest for the following positions for 2023 and beyond to Ms Emma Laurence – Marketing & Development Manager elaurence@waverley.nsw.edu.au
- President
- Secretary
- Treasurer
National Child Protection Week 2022 – “Every child needs a fair go”
Sunday, 4 September 2022 marked the beginning of National Child Protection Week 2022. As you are aware, National Child Protection Week is an Australia-wide initiative that draws particular attention to the importance of the safeguarding and protection of all children and young people.
The National Association for the Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect (NAPCAN) have facilitated National Child Protection Week for over 30 years, and in that time EREA schools and the National Office have worked closely with NAPCAN to promote the safety and wellbeing of children. Most recently, we were fortunate to receive a keynote address from Dr Brenda Dobia at our 2022 Safeguarding Conference regarding respectful relationships, and the work Dr Dobia does with NAPCAN in this important space.
National Child Protection Week culminates on Sunday, 11 September 2022 with Safeguarding Sunday, an initiative of the Australia Catholic Bishops Conference (ACBC); further information and resources regarding Safeguarding Sunday can also be found on the EREA public website below.
>>> Click here to view this website.
Farewell to Ms Tina Pasfield on Reception
Farewell to Ms Tina Pasfield, who finished up on Wednesday, 7 September at the College. I would like to thank Tina for 15 years of service to the College in the fast-paced world at the front of College reception. She has assisted parents, carers, staff, students, visitors and contractors. With every possible issue, she has assisted them all with great efficiency and care.
COVID-19 Update
Last week, National Cabinet announced that the isolation period for positive COVID-19 cases would be reduced from 7 days to 5 days from Friday, 9 September with the following caveats:
- this would apply to people with no symptoms at 5 days
- 7 days of isolation would remain for workers in high-risk settings including aged care, disability care and those providing care in the home
- It is important to note NSW Health is currently updating the NSW Public Health Order (PHO) to reflect National Cabinet’s announcement, and once it is published, we will advise you of any further changes
- In line with the decision by National Cabinet, and reflecting the changes to community settings, the current advice is that school students, staff and visitors who have tested positive to COVID-19 must:
- complete 5 days of isolation from the date they tested positive
- be symptom-free before returning to school, if symptoms remain after day 5 they must continue following NSW Health guidelines to self-isolate and undertake a rapid antigen test (RAT)
- complete a rapid antigen test (RAT) and return a negative result before attending school on days 6 and 7 after testing positive to COVID-19
- wear a mask on days 6 and 7 when attending school (for all staff and those students 12 years and older).
All staff, students and visitors who test positive to COVID-19 should continue to follow the NSW Health guidelines.
Thank you for your ongoing understanding.
