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.
- 25 September – Junior School Fun Run
- 26 September – Classes conclude
A Kinder Word Experience
This week, the Year 6 students were invited to ‘A Kinder World Experience’, an excursion encouraging everyone to speak and always act with kindness. Here is an insight into the excursion from two of the 6 Gold students:
“My experience at the kinder world excursion was fantastic. We got to hear about Rivkys life and how she dealt with Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis. Listening to her story and what she went through made me realise that everyone is going through their own problems. So we should always be kind to one another. Then we participated in many activities like creating an edible smiley face, playing kindness bingo, working together in ball games, playing in the kindness lounge, and decorating gifts and bags for the Sydney Children’s Hospital.
My favourite activity was decorating bags for children in hospitals. I liked this becuase we could decorate the bag however we wanted to and write kind and encouraging things on the bag. Then we got to put gifts in the bag. Each bag got a Lego set, pencils and pens, a bubble wand, and a book. We also got to write cards to the doctors and nurses who work so hard 24/7. Overall this was a very valuable experience to learn about teamwork and kindness.”
– Hugo Cuschieri
“This week, Year 6 went to the “A Kinder World” experience. After walking down Flood Street we arrived at Yeshiva College. After being greeted by the staff members we went inside where Rivky, the host, welcomed us and split us into three teams correlating with our classes. She then told us an unfortunate story about her life, how a disease a disease called jjuvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis made her have to take medicine, which in turn, made her feel self-conscious about the medicine’s side effects. She told how all the kids made fun of her, and how she began to lie and steal making the biggest mistake of her life, not taking her medicine, which left her fingers bent and crooked. Even though she suffered so much she said that her fingers are a reminder of her struggles and her life.
After that we split up, the first activity for Team Blue, my team was to make an edible smiley face to support positivity. We then played some fun bingo with positive words. The second activity was the ball pattern game outside.We had to stand in a circle and pass the ball to everyone, but we could only pass to someone who hadn’t had the ball. When we did that we would pass the ball to the leader and continue the cycle, except we added more balls into the mix for an extra challenge.
Everyone’s favourite activity, the kindness lounge, was next. After watching a video on kindness we were allowed to chill out. I played some air hockey with my friend Thomas and then some Super Smash Bros. Returning to the starting area we did the final activity, packing gift bags for sick children. We decorated a bag with stickers and wrote encouraging messages for the kids and then filled the bags with Lego, bubbles, a set of pencils, and a writing book. We also wrote handwritten letters to doctors thanking them for their work. After finishing all the activities we returned to the starting area where Rivky talked to use about kindness.
This was easily one of my favourite excursions and an experience that we will never forget.”
– Joey Oultram
Junior Sport
Click on the link under ‘Training’ heading for the Term 4 Training Schedule.
Click on the link under ‘Games’ heading for the Term 4 Draw.
Please keep an eye on the weekly fixtures which will be sent out from Week 1 Term 4.
FunRun
The FunRun ‘Big Show’ event is now less than a week away (Wednesday, 25 September) and we are so excited to have all students at Waverley Park to celebrate the fundraising with our Colour Run.
The Colour Run will be taking place between 10am and 12pm at Waverley Park. It will involve students running around the marked track through colour spraying sections and giant inflatables.
There will be an awards ceremony and staff members will be slimed at the end of the event. Parents are warmly welcome to attend and we look forward to seeing you there.
Once the event concludes, teachers will walk their class back to school for a sausage sizzle lunch catered for by the Junior School. Parents may take their sons home following the lunch by signing out with the students’ classroom teacher.
All other students will be dismissed from the Junior School at 3pm.
Please help your sons prepare for the day by:
- Encouraging more fundraising
- We have raised just over $36,000 of our $50,000 target
- Find or purchase plain white shirt to wear on the day (cotton shirts will stain; alternatively, polyester shirts will wash out the powder that students are sprayed with)
We are looking forward to celebrating our incredible efforts in fundraising for our four special charities:
- Educating the Future
- RUOK?
- Indigenous Literacy Foundation
- Edmund Rice Camps
Thank you for all your support thus far!
Ms Jade Sparks
Assistant Director of Co-curricular (Junior School)
jsparks@waverley.nsw.edu.au
Home Learning
Home Learning only on Monday 23 September
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 3:00 pm until 4:00 pm – 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 HERE
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.
Write a Book in a Day
The Junior School boys participated in the “Write a Book in a Day” competition.
This engaging event invites teams of students to unleash their creativity and teamwork skills by writing and illustrating a complete book in a day.
With unique parameters and specific words to incorporate into their stories, the boys collaborated closely, transforming their imaginative ideas into a finished product that will be donated to children in hospitals across Australia.
This initiative fosters creativity and supports a great cause, as all funds raised will contribute to vital cancer research through The Kids’ Cancer Project.
The Junior School boys learnt valuable lessons in collaboration, problem-solving, and the power of storytelling, all while making a meaningful impact in the lives of others.
A huge shout out to Asher Thomasyu (Year 12) studying Advanced English || and preparing for the HSC who popped in to give the boys some words of wisdom and Mr William Roberts for facilitating the day.
Year 6 Team L-R Alex O’Brien, Sam Fisher, Sam Garrett, Thomas Taylor, Luke Haddock & Finn Constable.
Year 5 Team L-R Jack Bird, Leo Petit, Hugo Lehmann, Samuel Loughrey, Toby Pounder, Freddie Saville and Silas Murphy
Ms Natasha Zivanovic
Teacher of Literacy & Innovation
nzivanovic@waverley.nsw.edu.au
Science
This term Year 5 and 6 students have been immersed in scientific exploration.
Year 5 students have honed their scientific inquiry skills through hands-on experiments, while also delving into the fascinating world of Mars rovers in their science tech lessons.
Meanwhile, Year 6 students have been experimenting with materials and reactions, culminating in the creation of borax crystals. They have also challenged their creativity and problem-solving abilities by designing a sustainable ocean cleanup device in their science tech class. Term 3 has also seen students collaborate in co-educational lessons with St. Catherines students, conducting experiments in the Junior School science lab and attending an upcoming coding competition at St. Catherine’s Junior School.
Finally, Science Week came to a close with a celebration of our young talents, as the winners of the coding and colouring competitions were announced and honoured.
Mr Max Mancinelli
Science Teacher
mmancinelli@waverley.nsw.edu.au
