Ms Gaby Bransby, Director of the Junior School
Diary Dates
Please find below some reminders about upcoming events. For all of Term 3 events, please refer to the College calendar.
- 19 – 21 August – Year 6 Camp
- 20 August – Year 5 Writing Workshop
- 22 August – Year 6 Writing Workshop
- 22 August – ICAS Science – selected students – 7:30 – 8:30 am
- 23 August – Book Week Author Visit
- 27 August – Year 5 Musica Viva Performance
- 28 August – Year 6 Musica Viva Performance
- 28 August – ICAS Mathematics – selected students – 8 – 9 am
- 30 August – Wear it Purple Day
- 30 August – Father’s Day Mass – 12 pm
- 6 September – Year 6 Reflection Day
- 10 September – The Great Big Science Show Incursion – PAC
- 12 September – RUOK? Day
- 16 September – Allwell Testing Year 6
- 17 September – Year 6 Kinder World Experience (3 classes)
- 18 September – Year 6 Kinder World Experience (3 classes)
- 25 September – Junior School Fun Run
- 26 September – Classes conclude
Matthew Talbot Appeal
Matthew Talbot Hostel helps over 40,000 Sydney men each year in providing accommodation, health, counselling and employment assistance. Waverley has had a long history of boys volunteering in their kiosk in Woolloomooloo.
Matthew Talbot Winter Appeal – Donation item list:
Toiletry pack Items – small traveller size for items is best
- toothpaste/ toothbrush
- soap / body wash
- razor/ shaving foam/ shaving gel
- deodorant (small roll on variety)
- Combs, nail clippers
- tissues (small packets), Q tips (cotton buds)
Home Starter Kit Items: these are prepared and distributed to the men when they move out of the Hostel into more settled accommodation. New items are ideal, but used/clean items in good condition are also fine.
- Cooking Wooden Spoon, Spatula, Grater, Can Opener
- Small Chopping Board, Saucepans, Frypan/s
- Cutlery, Crockery – eg plates and bowls of various sizes
Clothing
Items desired as new, or very good condition: Warm Winter Jackets, Mens Tracksuit Pants, Long Sleeve Polo shirts or Long Sleeve T-shirts;
Items required to be new: Gloves , Underpants (Large or XL size), Socks (calf / mid-length in white sports or any colour)
All items can be brought to either the Senior School Wellbeing Centre or Junior school reception in weeks 3-6 between August 5-29.
Father’s Day Mass & BBQ
Fathers, step-dads, uncles, grandfathers and special men who are like fathers in the lives of Waverley College students, are invited to accompany their boys to a special Father’s Day Mass in honour of fathers everywhere.
This will be held on Friday 30th August, beginning at 12:00pm. A BBQ Lunch will follow, which will be held in the Junior School.
Please click HERE to RSVP or for more information click HERE.
Fathers Day Mass – Friday 30 August 2024 – Mary Immaculate Church – Request for Photos
Part of the Father’s Day celebration will include a slideshow. Can I please ask that you send through a photo of your son(s) with their fathers/grandfathers if you would like a photo included in this presentation.
This needs to be emailed no later than Monday 26th August. Please send through all photos to liturgy@waverley.nsw.edu.au
Mr Steve Ghattas
Assistant Director of Junior School / Identity & Student Formation
sghattas@waverley.nsw.edu.au
Junior Sport Fixtures, Training Schedules, Maps and Venues
Click HERE.
Winter Sport Wrap
Well done to every Junior School student on their efforts over the weather-interrupted winter season.
The boys managed to get 6/10 rounds in (AFL squeezing in 7) despite rain showing up with the worst timing after a teaser of a sunny Friday.
Players showed grit and determination to do their best each game, making our Waves community proud.
Our amazing coaches have done a wonderful job at developing the skills and character of each player, and we are grateful to them.
Thank you to all the families for helping your sons make the most of the season, driving in the rain, braving the cold and managing the early morning cancellations. And especially for sharing beautiful team photos with me each week. Keep them coming!
The Mighty U11C Rugby Team
I look forward to Summer Sport recommencing in Term 4, where we pick up where we left off in Term 1, beginning with Round 7 on Saturday, 19 October.
FunRun
Congratulations to the entire Junior School, who have raised well over $20,000 in the first week of launching our FunRun! This is a phenomenal achievement and I am so excited to smash our goal over the remaining six weeks for our four special charities:
Educating the Future
Indigenous Literacy Foundation
RUOK
Edmund Rice Camps
All of the boys have been lit up by this initiative and have taken it upon themselves to raise as many funds as possible for our charities. Keep it up boys!
Rosario Squadrito and Aleks Peric (Year 5) set up a lemonade stand raising money for their FunRun. They raised $150 each which is amazing!
Year 6 Camp
We are fast approaching our exciting Year 6 Camp! Please read through the attachment sent on the App for all the details. Boys will be told their cabin and activity groups on their bus on Monday. We have planned a wonderful 3 days and look forward to spending some quality time with the students outside of the classroom.
A friendly reminder to drop off any medication to Ms Sanchez at Reception as soon as possible, clearly labelled with your son’s name and dosage.
Please let your son’s classroom teacher know if you have any questions or concerns.
Ms Jade Sparks
Assistant Director of Co-curricular (Junior School)
jsparks@waverley.nsw.edu.au
Home Learning
We offer all students in Year 5 and Year 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 until 4pm – Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays – during school term unless there is a scheduled Professional Development meeting and the club will be closed.
Procedures
Register your son via the link https://homelearningclub.youcanbook.me
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’s signature will be required.
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, Tuesday & Wednesday
Mrs Natasha Zivanovic
Thursday
Mr Steve Ghattas
If you require any further information, feel free to contact us.
nzivanovic@waverley.nsw.edu.au
An important note to remember, if afternoon training sessions are cancelled, unfortunately, you cannot send your son to Home Learning as an alternative plan, students are registered for the afternoon sessions in advance and the capacity is always reached.
Avoid messaging your son during this period, unless it is urgent.
EXAM TIMETABLE TERM 3
All ICAS exams will be sat before school in the Learning Hub. Please ensure that your son has a charged laptop and he is on time for each ICAS exam.
| WEEK | START TIME | DATE | ICAS EXAM |
| 5A | 7:30 am | Thursday 22 August | Science |
| 6B | 8:00 am | Wednesday 28 August | Mathematics |
Book Week Guest Author – Reece Carter
Reece Carter will be Waverley’s guest author for Book Week on Friday, 23 August.
Reece is an up-and-coming author who fell in love with writing stories when he was a young reader himself, Reece wants to help the next generation of storytellers reach into the quirkiest corners of their imaginations, so they might dream up characters and larger-than-life stories of their own.
Reece’s visit aims to inspire students to grow their imaginations – and to think big!
Debating Kambala v Waverley
Both Waverley teams put forward strong arguments and presented their cases clearly and firmly rebutting the Kambala team’s cases on the topic ‘That we should ban takeaway food.’
Debating develops essential skills that are transferable to other areas: exploring ideas, developing arguments, articulating opinions, building confidence, being able to think on one’s feet, collaborating, critical thinking, connecting and communicating
I would like to express my gratitude to the parents for their support in transporting the boys to and from their debates and for their encouragement throughout the season. Special thanks to Dante Fearn for his ongoing mentorship of the boys. The boys and I feel very fortunate to have this support.
Book Week Competitions
Thank you to all students who entered the Book Week competitions.
Mr. William Roberts, Head of Library Services and Applied Philosophy Teacher, will face a challenging task in judging the Poetry submissions, While, Ms. Jenna Turnbull, Innovation Coordinator and Visual Arts Teacher, along with Mrs. Natalie Oats, Head of Visual Arts, will also have a tough role in judging the creative art pieces that interpret the theme ‘Reading Is Magic.’
Winners will be announced in Week 6. Good luck to all the students who entered.
Pre-loved, Pop-up Bookshop
A huge thank you to all the families who donated books for the pre-loved, pop-up bookshop.
It was a very busy & successful initiative, with many happy customers!
Ms Natasha Zivanovic
Teacher of Literacy & Innovation
nzivanovic@waverley.nsw.edu.au
6 Gold
The students in 6 Gold have had an amazing start to Term 3. They have settled into their learning routines and are thoroughly enjoying the subject content across the different Key Learning Areas.
Our focus in English is, ‘Make Yourself Heard’. Students have been reading various stories of refugees and asylum seekers that have sought a safer place, after conditions in their home country have become unliveable. In one of the tasks, students were asked to put themselves in the shoes of one of the characters and describe what the journey would have been like. Here are a couple of examples:
“We waited in suspense for the next few minutes. Mom’s eyes were watering with tears and I could see the struggle in her. She had lived in Afghanistan for over 50 years and now she had to make a decision; whether to leave all her loved ones and precious belongings behind to go to Australia, or to stay but possibly die. Eventually, Mom spoke. “We’ll go.”
“Welcome aboard,” said the captain as he stuck a hand out pointing to the boat. Slowly but surely, we trudged over to the boat still unsure if this was the right decision. The boat looked far from safe with paint and wood falling off the sides. On board another crew member greeted us and showed us to our quarters below deck. It was a small, cramped space crowded with people all the way from babies to seniors. My mind still couldn’t get around how we were doing this. The boat reeked of vomit and stinky, unshowered people. I wandered my way around the boat, weaving in and out of many other refugees, and eventually I found the sleeping quarters. I lay down on my hammock and let my heavy eyelids close.
When I awoke I could heard the soft sound of rain pattering on the walls outside. I clambered out of the ripped, soggy hammock and made my way upstairs. I was stilled amazed at the mass of refugees onboard. “Mom?!” I cried out. She was nowhere to be seen. “MOM!!!” This time I said it with a tinge of anger in my voice. my head started spinning. My senses overloaded. The rocking boat was making me sick and even worse was the smell of baby vomit in the air. This boat was quite literally a living hell. Had we made the right choice?”
Finn Constable – 6 Gold
Mum sat on the beach while the captain was waiting, she had a drop of sweat roll down her cheek. We all waited silently. I started to think about what would happen if we stayed, we might get hurt or trapped somewhere. I also thought about what would happen if we got on the boat, it could sink, we could get hijacked or we could even make it to the country that dad made sound so good. The captain was about to leave when mum stood up and said “said we are going”. We all got up and got onto the creaky boat, I was scared but I knew my mum would always make the right decision. Crowded, hungry and hopeful, mum looked like she was making friends as me and Hussien hid under her dress waiting for some sort of food to end up in front of us.
Mum was talking to another woman who looked about the same age as her, she had brown eyes and black hair, she was quite tall. We were about two days into the long journey. I hadn’t eaten and Mum had made good friends with a lady. Her name is Arwa and she is from a place near where i’m from. She is really nice and brought some bread with her that she shared between our empty stomachs. “Land ahead!” A man shouted, waking up almost everyone. I stood up and over the edge of the boat I could see land and a dock in the distance. With the smell of of a welcoming home I knew we had made it.
Ted Jones – 6 Gold
Mr Steve Ghattas
Assistant Director of the Junior School / Identity & Student Formation
sghattas@waverley.nsw.edu.au
