St Clare's band day at Waverley
From the Head of College, Graham Leddie
A sad loss
I would ask all members of the Waverley College community to keep the Champagnat College and Kogarah Marist communities in your thoughts and prayers. Sadly, a boy from each College passed away this week. May both boys rest in peace.
Don’t miss your Mentor/Parent Meeting
Every staff member at the College has a responsibility for student wellbeing and every teacher, including me, has their own Wellbeing Group, which they mentor by meeting each school morning. The college provides an opportunity for parents/carers to meet with their child’s Wellbeing Mentor at the start of each year. I strongly encourage you to take up this opportunity.
Mentor/Parent meetings are being held on 26 February from 1:30pm – 4:30pm in the Gymnasium and are a great opportunity to share your son’s journey with his Wellbeing Mentor so that we can cater to his needs. Strong relationships are at the core of a good wellbeing program and provide a good platform for academic success. Parent connection to the learning journey is also vital. Our Heads of House and our Student Counsellors will also be available at this time, to meet any students and families who may require additional support and assistance; please email them directly if you wish to pre-book an appointment.
Bookings need to be made through the parent portal – please use the link below.
Waverley College Parent Portal
Music Morning with St Clare’s
This morning students from Years 7 and 8 from St Clare’s College visited our Music Faculty for an introduction to our concert band and concert band instruments. Some of the St Clare’s students became guest conductors and all were introduced to the different ‘families’ of instruments in our band. A great morning was had by all and the St Clare’s students were a wonderfully receptive audience, according to our Head of Music, Chris Balkizas. Music students from St Clare’s often join our ensembles and musical productions and this was a great introduction to Waverley College for these young students.
Ballroom Dancing
Under the instruction of the Joan Carmody Dance Academy, all Year 9 students participated in ballroom dancing lessons with St Clare’s College students over the past week, culminating in 420 bodies dancing in our gymnasium on Wednesday 21 February.
It was an impressive sight to see the boys participating in this way, many out of their comfort zone. I was impressed with their manners, attentiveness and desire to participate in a positive way. I have heard much positive feedback from the St Clare’s community regarding our students. At a time where many schools are withdrawing from such activities, I will certainly be encouraging our wellbeing team to look for similar opportunities to develop and challenge our boys.
Thank you to the St Clare’s staff that assisted on the evening, and thank you to the following Waverley staff: Mr Matthew Porter, Ms Karen Jones, Mr Kyle Newbury, Mr Lachlan Hillman, Ms Katia Iturrieta, Ms Cassie Perry, Mr David New, Ms Sherri Falkinder, Mr James Horrocks, Ms Kaitlyn Downey, Mr Stephen Wilmot, Mr David McCormack, Ms Rebecca Gair and Mr Patrick Darvill who coordinated the evening.
Cyber safety protection for your child at home
The College is proud to be introducing a new cybersafety package for our families which we will be providing free of charge in 2018. Family Zone is a complete, comprehensive cyber safety system that really works. With Family Zone, parents can opt to provide their children with the same protection they receive during school hours – at home and everywhere in between.
The College will stage a cyber safety evening in conjunction with Family Zone on Wednesday 28 February at 6pm in the Gymnasium. I encourage all parents to attend this event, where we will explain how to sign up and operate your account.
We have also teamed up with leading Cyber Expert Yasmin London from ySafe for the evening, to present a parent workshop on current trends in social media. Informative and practical, the workshop will arm parents with constructive strategies for managing online behaviour.
Please REGISTER HERE to attend the Family Zone Cyber Safety event.
Board Deputy Chair Appointed: Pasquale Guerrera
I would like to congratulate Mr Pasquale Guerrera on his appointment to position of Deputy Chair of the Waverley College Board.
Pasquale Guerrera is the Chief Financial Officer of Toyota Finance Australia Limited. Prior to this, Pasquale had more than 20 years’ experience in investment banking in Australia and Asia. He holds a Bachelor of Economics from Sydney University, a Diploma of Applied Finance from Finsia, is a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Australia and NZ and a member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors. Pasquale is an Old Boy (Class of 1987), as is his son, Nicholas, who graduated from Waverley College in 2016.
I look forward to working with Pasquale during 2018, alongside the Board Chair, Assoc Prof Mark Davies OAM and the rest of our excellent Board.
Pasquale Guerrera
Year 11 Study Skills Evening
A successful evening was held earlier this week when Dr Prue Salter presented a study skills evening for our Year 11 students and their parents, outlining tools and techniques for students to achieve their personal academic best.
Dr Salter is an expert in the area of study skills. She has conducted over 4000 study skills seminars across Australia and Asia, has written 20 study skills resource kits for schools and is the creator of the online and interactive study skills website used by more than 120,000 students. Waverley College students are provided with access to these excellent resources.
Read more about this event in the Head of Teaching and Learning’s story later in the newsletter.
Sports Photographs Change
You may have noticed the College has changed when cocurricular photographs are being taken. We have moved photographs to be taken at training or prior to games. The simple reason, it gives back time to learning and teaching which is our core business. Boys are being given plenty of reminders of what to wear and where to be to fulfill their obligations. Please support your son in meeting these changes.
Welcome Cocktails
I very much look forward to seeing many of our parents and carers for the Welcome Cocktails in the Br J P Lacey Gymnasium at 6.30pm on Saturday. As usual, we’re expecting a great turnout and an extremely enjoyable evening.
