From the Principal, Mr Graham Leddie

St Patrick’s Day 

Today we celebrate St. Patrick, the fifth-century bishop and patron of Ireland, whose life of holiness set the example for many of the Church’s future saints.

St. Patrick was able to use his knowledge of Irish culture and the traditions and symbols of the Celtic people, to help explain Christianity in a way that made sense to the Irish and was thus very successful in converting the pagan people of the time. 

The shamrock, which St. Patrick used to explain the Holy Trinity, is a symbol that has become synonymous with Irish Catholic culture. St. Patrick is most revered for bringing Christianity to Ireland, and the foundation he built for the generations of Christians who followed him. 

With the College’s founder, Edmund Rice being Irish, the day holds an obvious connection to Waverley along with St Patrick’s life of sacrifice, resilience, and prayer being very relevant for a Catholic community in the 21st century. 

Thank you to the many parents/carers who baked cakes and sweets for sale at the St. Patrick’s Day cake stall organised by Ms Sue Walsh and the Identity and Mission Team, along with Year 12 prefects. All money raised will go to the following charities;

• Caring Kids https://caringkids.org.au/
• Ignite Food Store Jesuit Social Services – Western Sydney Program
• St. Canice’s Kitchen https://www.stcanice.org.au/canice-kitchen/

NAPLAN Years 7 and 9 (Year 5 – see Junior School article by Ms Charlotte Stephens) 

Congratulations on such a positive start to the NAPLAN testing period on Wednesday with the Writing component.

The remainder that the test sessions are scheduled for next Monday, 20 March to Wednesday, 22 March, as per the testing timetable which is available in the link below.

>>> Click here to view the Senior School NAPLAN timetable.

Students are reminded to bring their charged laptops, headphones and a pen.

CAS Swimming and Diving

Congratulations to both our swimmers and divers who both took out fourth position in last evening’s CAS competition. Both teams performed with great spirit and enthusiasm. Thank you to Ms Nicola Silsby (Swimming convenor), Ms Kath Knowles (Diving Convenor) and Mr Nick Nezval (Head Swimming Coach) and their respective coaching teams for all of their hard work throughout the season. We congratulate Knox (Swimming) and Trinity (Diving) on their respective wins.

Leadership 

We hosted young leaders from around the Eastern Suburbs last week, and welcomed Independent Member for the Electorate of Wentworth, Ms Allegra Spender MP. Ms Spender encouraged the young leaders to be authentic, values based leaders who call and empower others to make meaningful change.

Year 9 Ballroom Dancing

As part of our PDHPE program and student wellbeing program, every Year 9 student participated in a short program of Ballroom Dancing under instruction from the Joan Carmody Dance Academy.

Along with students from St Clare’s College, our students participated in lessons in preparation for an evening of dance on Wednesday evening. I would like to congratulate our Year 9 cohort on their dress, manners and spirit to participate in such a positive way.

I received many comments of praise from parents and staff who witnessed the evening. Thank you to Mr Patrick Darvill for coordinating the evening and to the staff who assisted in supervising this great program.

Harmony Day – Tuesday, 21 March

Prefect Matthew Woods delivered an excellent speech at the College Assembly regarding Harmony Day, which the College will celebrate next week. Matthew unpacked the celebration that recognises our diversity and brings together Australians from all different cultural backgrounds. 

View the video below that he used to support his impactful message. 

 

Next Tuesday, all senior students and staff are invited to a lunchtime Picnic in the Centenary Quad. Students are asked to bring their favourite cultural foods to share with their friends or mentor groups. Some picnic blankets will be available and students may like to bring their own.

World’s Greatest Shave – 15-19 March 

Prefect Jack Preller spoke at the College Assembly about the World Greatest Shave, and delivered the poignant message that 53 Aussies are diagnosed daily with blood cancer and 16 will lose their life.

He challenged us all to donate to the Leukaemia Foundation who support crucial research, and to screening programs that can change the lives of the 135,000 Australians living with Leukaemia today. The World’s Greatest Shave goal is zero lives lost to blood cancer by 2035, but they can only do it with your help. 

At the end of the Term, the five top donors will have their heads shaved, so if you start fundraising, maybe you’ll make the cut. You can help by donating here 

Touch Football Champions 

Congratulations to the 1sts Touch Football team who won the  Independent schools grand final – defeating a previously unbeaten St Ignatius’ College, Riverview.

Payton Tarau, Cruz Clarkin, Joseph Vonwiller, Asher Thomasyu, Cooper Taylor, Sam Johnson (Captain), Louis Johns, Vidar Sundkvist, King Manu, Keeyan Abrahams, Lachlan Algie, Darcy Standfield, Riley Donohoe, Judah Miller – Coach – Mr Tom Steel.

Ocean Lovers Festival at Bondi Beach – 18 and 19 March

The Volvo Ocean Lovers Festival taps into Australians’ love of their ocean lifestyle, with the largest dedicated ocean science and cultural celebration in Australia. Their accessible and interactive festival invites all-ages to dive into an informative and relaxed entertainment-rich environment, that harnesses the power of innovation, science, technology, art and entertainment, to accelerate positive change for our blue planet.

The schedule for this weekend can be found here: program