Junior School – Week 11

I would like to take the opportunity to thank the staff, students and families of the Junior School for a wonderful start to 2022. We have a dedicated team, consisting of teaching staff, support staff, students and families who work collaboratively to ensure our students receive a quality education. It’s a recipe for an enjoyable school experience and a pleasurable environment to work in. I wish you all a safe and happy Easter and school holiday.

Diary Dates

Please find below some reminders about key events you need to be aware of for the Junior School in Term 2. For all of the College events, please refer to the College calendar. 

Term 2 

April

• Monday, 25 April – ANZAC Day (Public Holiday)
• Tuesday, 26 April – Staff Professional Learning Day (Pupil-Free Day)
• Wednesday, 27 April – Junior School Classes Resume
• Thursday, 28 April – Years 5-12 Assembly (students need to be at school by 8:15am)
• Saturday, 30 April – Junior School Round 1 Winter Sport Commences

May

• Friday, 6 May – Mother’s Day Mass and Lunch – 12pm 
• Tuesday, 10 May – Friday, 13 May – Year 5 NAPLAN
• Tuesday, 17 May – Parents’ Association Meeting – 6pm

June

• Thursday, 9 June – Junior School Edmund Rice Day
• Friday, 10 June – Founders’ Day Holiday (Pupil-Free Day)
• Monday, 13 June – Queen’s Birthday (Public Holiday)
• Tuesday, 14 June – Junior School Parent/Teacher/Student Conferences (Pupil- Free Day)
• Saturday, 18 June – Final round of Junior School Winter Sport
• Friday, 24 June – House Athletics Carnival and Last Day of Term 2

WriteOn Competition 2022

If your son is looking for some extra inspiration over the holiday period, please direct him to this competition. 

WriteOn is an annual writing competition open to all NSW primary students in Years 1 to 6. Students compose an imaginative text of up to 500 words, using an image as the stimulus.

>>> Click here to view further information about the WriteOn Competition 2022.

Mothers’ Day Mass

Please see below your invitation to our very special Mother’s Day Mass coming up on Friday, 6 May in Term 2. Be sure not to miss out and please book as soon as possible.

>>> Click here to view your invitation and to RSVP to the Mother’s Day Mass.

Part of the celebration will include a slideshow. Can I please ask that you send through a photo of your son(s) with their mothers/grandmothers if you would like a photo included in this presentation.

Please send through all photos to liturgy@waverley.nsw.edu.au

Mothers’ Day Gifts

Our wonderful Parents’ Association has put together a bundle of Mothers’ Day gift ideas for your son to purchase. Your son can also view these gifts outside Mrs Coupe’s office.

>>> Click here to view and purchase our Mother’s Day gift ideas.

 

Mrs Gabrielle Smith

Director of Junior School

E: gsmith@waverley.nsw.edu.au

 

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Sacrament of Confirmation – Mary Immaculate Church

For parents seeking information regarding the Sacrament of Confirmation, it is important that you contact your local parish to find out the details regarding when the Sacrament will be celebrated, and when the preparation classes will be held.

For students who are part of St Charles Borromeo Parish (Mary Immaculate Church), and attend Waverley College, the Sacrament of Confirmation will be celebrated on Sunday, 19 June at 2pm.

Please be aware that the Sacrament of Confirmation is celebrated each year, therefore only Year 6 students will be enrolled to receive the Sacrament.

If you wish for your son to be a part of this Sacrament, and you are part of St Charles Borromeo Parish (Mary Immaculate Church), please email Mr Stephen Ghattas at sghattas@waverley.nsw.edu.au so that a registration form and other important information can be forwarded to you.

 

Mr Stephen Ghattas

Assistant Director of Identity & Student Formation

E: sghattas@waverley.nsw.edu.au

 

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Meet the 2022 Learning Hub Assistants 

I am thrilled to be working with a new group of boys who will help make the Learning Hub even more exciting, with new initiatives this year.

There were 64 students who completed the online application to be considered for a Learning Hub Assistant position. Reading the responses was overwhelmingly positive, and I wish I could have added more students. I strongly believe that ‘Student Voice,’ is an important part of education. 

I have added a new department called the 3D printing room, and these students will assist with 3D design and printing each term. 

Tip To Encourage Reading at Home

The holidays are here, and it is important to continue to encourage your sons to read at home. Modelling reading at home is so important!

Carve out time every day for family reading time. This can be a short amount of time (15-20 minutes) where everyone in the family stops what they are doing and reads. It can be anything from a book, newspaper article, magazine to a cookbook.

When children see the important people in their lives reading, they will want to read even more. 

Home Learning Club Term 2, Week 2 

Home Learning club will begin in Week 2.  

>>> Click here to register your son.

Should your son be unable to attend, please email the College at nzivanovic@waverley.nsw.edu.au or call Reception.

 

Mrs Natasha Zivanovic

Literacy & Innovation Teacher

E: nzivanovic@waverley.nsw.edu.au

 

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Year 6 Camp (The Collaroy Centre)

There was an exciting energy from all of our Year 6 students leading into the camp at The Collaroy Centre. Located on the Northern Beaches, we didn’t need to travel too far to enjoy the experiences of camp.

Once arriving, it was obvious to see the students wanted to get stuck into the activities and burn off some of that energy and excitement.

The boys quickly settled into camp life, getting stuck into the wide range of activities on offer, in such a close proximity to the campsite:

• Abseiling
• Rock Climbing
• High Ropes
• Orienteering
• Challenge
• Oval Games
• Flying Fox
• Laser Tag
• Archery
• Giant Swing

In spite of the rainy weather on the second day, the boys embraced all the adventures and activities that pushed them out of their comfort zone each day.

Staff were very impressed with the students’ involvement, engagement and support for one another. 

The overall experience of Year 6 Camp gave all students every opportunity to create new memories, step out of their comfort zone to face challenges, and conquer fears along the way.

It taught our boys about resilience, compassion and genuine mateship for one another. It was an experience the boys will hopefully never forget, and one that they can take with them as they say goodbye to the Junior School at the end of 2022.

I would like to acknowledge all the Waverley staff who donated their time to be a part of the experience, and to The Collaroy Centre staff who made every day enjoyable and memorable for our students.

Announcement of Winter Co-Curricular Teams

Please be advised that due to the significant number of students that have been away across the three Winter Sports Trials and the closure of Queens Park due to weather, we cannot announce teams this week.

The teams cannot be finalised at this stage, as staff and coaches strongly believe they haven’t been able to fairly place students into teams that best represent their skill level and overall character. This is out of respect for the large number of students who have missed trials due to COVID-19, injuries and personal reasons.

It has been decided that we will cancel all training for Week 1, Term 2, and have another trial on Thursday, 28 April at Queens Park during Periods 1 and 2. This will allow all students to attend and offer more space at Queens Park, helping to make any final decisions about the selection of teams for the Winter Season.

All coaches for the Winter Season will attend the trial, and will have a chance to connect with their team prior to the first game. Teams will be announced at the trial, and staff will give students a slip, letting them know the team in which they’ve been placed.

Sports meetings will occur on Friday, 29 April to help students know where they will be playing for Round 1 and any other team-related information.

I fully empathise and understand that this does create some initial dilemmas, with families not knowing their training days and their game location on Saturday, 30 April for Round 1. However, we believe this to be the best and fairest situation to ensure that students aren’t randomly placed in teams without adequate observation of all students’ skill level and a proper assessment. 

Please refer to the app announcement sent out on Wednesday, which included the draft Training Schedule for the Winter Season. The final updated copy will be sent out with the season draw via the app at the beginning of Term 2.

Thank you for your understanding around this adjustment, it is greatly appreciated.

NSWPSSA Swimming Carnival 

A massive congratulations again to Ryan Desousa who competed at the NSWPSSA Swimming Carnival (State Finals) on both Monday and Tuesday this week in the multiclass backstroke and freestyle events.

Ryan did amazingly well, finishing 3rd overall in both events. This now means he will be competing at the National Championships in Brisbane. What a significant achievement for Ryan, and as a College, we continue to be very proud of him.

Independent Schools Gala Day (AFL) – Primary Competition

Waverley AFL continues to go from strength to strength, especially in the Junior School. We were fortunate to have our team in 2021 go on and became the Regional Final Champions for the annual Paul Kelly Cup AFL Carnival.

This year, we weren’t going to miss the opportunity to include another Waverley Junior School team for the event. The boys hadn’t yet had any chances to train together, but considering how well they played, you would not have realised!

The team won the first game against Knox and Cranbrook reasonably comfortably. They tried their hearts out against Shore, but fell short by two points.

Due to a high percentage as a result of the previous two games, the team went through to the semi final and eventually made it through to the grand final. 

Two years in a row, our team has made it through and won the regional grand final. What an experience for our boys, who will now go on to play at the Giants AFL Stadium later in the year to compete for the state championship.

We’re so proud of this team, and wish them the best of luck for later in the year.

Congratulations to Marcus Strbac, who won the all round best player for the gala day.

It was a team effort, but we also can’t go past the coaching from Ms Buttling and Hugo Steilick on the day. Thank you to the coaches, and parents who came down to cheer them on.

Extra Co-Curricular Trials and External Sporting Achievements

It has been great to see the trial period for three of the Extra Co-Curricular Activities take place this week. The three activities included:

• Innovation Club
• Judo
• Hip Hop Dance

It was clear to see every student enjoying themselves in these activities, and evidently excited for the opportunity to begin them again in Term 2. 

If you signed up your son for the trial, you will have received an email yesterday (Thursday, 7 April) with all relevant information about the program, the cost involved (Innovation/ Hip Hop), and also a link to sign your son up for Term 2.

*It is very important you complete this promptly, as some of the activities have very limited availability.

>>> Click here to view the timetable for 2022 Extra Co-Curricular Activities.

State Baseball Champions

Congratulations to Owen Posada (5 Indigo), Leo Vigil (5 Blue), Aidan Rowley (5 Blue) and Franklin Pyke (5 White), whose Baseball state representative team, Cronulla Sharks White, won the Laura Neads bracket of the 2022 State Rookies Baseball Cup, on Sunday, 13 March 2022.

22 representative teams from across the State turned up to play across four brackets. Congratulations again to our boys for taking home the Cup!

 

Mr Jack Wachtel

Assistant Director of Co-Curricular (Years 5-8)

E: jwachtel@waverley.nsw.edu.au

 

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Welcome to 6 Blue

This term, 6 Blue have been working hard on their ‘Myths and Legends’ creative writing. We have explored the Writing Process which consists of planning, draft writing, reviewing, self-editing, peer-editing and publishing.

Before writing, we built the field, by reading various myths and legends, summarising different written myths and legends, and watching short video texts of famous Greek myths.

We decided that a well written myth or legend includes:

• Characters clearly identified, including a protagonist and antagonist
• Setting explained with detail
• A clear problem that needs to be solved
• Rising tension building up in the story
• A clear climax in the complication
• A range of complex sentences that will add detail

6 Blue students understood the brief, and met it with incredible creativity and language features that added such depth to their writing.

Myths and Legends by 6 Blue Student Authors

The Adventures of Sir Bilby by Alex Kingma

Sir Bilby sighed as the thought of his father’s death danced through his head, reminding him of the fateful day that occurred not so long ago. A sword slicing through his father’s flesh like a knife through butter, blood trickling from his chest, it was aggravating. The king had to pay, the endless fields would fall, and revenge would be sweet, he did kill him after all.

On his weekly walk to the market, he couldn’t stop thinking about it, his body was overflowing with anger, eyes fixed to the massive castle cast its shadow down onto the bustling village below. Without thought, he began yelling some extremely unfaithful and cruel things, that no other would ever mouth, let alone speak, to such a powerful being. He couldn’t hold it in, and after hours of yelling, he continued on with his day like normal, as if nothing had happened at all, but deep down, way down, a plan was forming.

The door burst open as a muscular man stomped in, steam rising from his head. This was the king and he expressed his anger in a cold, hard yell “kill him, kill him NOW!” as he looked across the kingdom that was around those thousands of years ago. He called upon the dark worms, a massive, now extinct species, and told them to kill Sir Bilby at all cost. 

The sun a golden coin glimmering with light, sharing its warm rays down on Sir Bilby, but he wasn’t happy no, no, not at all, he had found out about his sentence and he was furious, his veins bulging through his neck and face turning redder by the second, now not only did he kill his father but now he was going to kill him too, he wasn’t going to allow this, soon after his plan went into motion, this plan was to fight. Sir Bilby wasn’t foolish; he would need a team, a group of renegades, loyal friends who would not give up and support Sir Bilby at all cost, even in the darkest of times. They too will need armour, the strongest armour they could possibly find, the strongest armour in the kingdom. They would need weapons, the strongest weapons they could find, the strongest weapons in the kingdom. He was ready to finish what he started, as every knight should, as everybody should.

While on a mission to map out the weak spots of the castle, a deafening rumble came from behind him and his men and the floor below, their now shaking feet began to tremble. It could only be one thing: the army of the dark worms. Sure enough, one by one, giant worms thrusted their heads from beneath the ground, destroying all wildlife in the area. Sir Bilby and his men gripped their sword tightly, removed it with great strength from its leather strap, and swung it around violently.

Sir Bilby was ready to defend his dignity with all the might he could muster, and with that, he began to fight. Sir Bilby and his good friend Sir Theodore cut one of the many worms in half, its clear blood becoming what is now known as the arctic ocean, one down, thousands more to go. All the others suffered a similar fate, everyone making a new part of the world’s oceans, but the last two weren’t as easy. These two, presumably the leaders, took hours to defeat, they only died when Sir Bilby all joined together, and did a massive attack and cut both of their heads clean off, like cutting an apple.

A deathening smash rattled the furniture of the tall castle, as in the bedroom, the king’s angry face became one of worry and despair. It was obvious who this was, he should have known if you are furious at someone, would you fight their followers or them themselves? The king locked himself in the sturdiest drawer in the domain, but somehow he knew, it wouldn’t be enough. Footsteps echoed through the empty corridors, people screaming at the sight of such a sharp sword. Some joined him, realising the king’s terrible rulings, and gave into the fact that he was a bad king. Finally, the door squeaked open, they smashed open the cupboard, and saw the weak ruler shrivelled up into a ball. The king took one last breath, and realised his mistakes, he was ready to finish it and walk into the light, “I’m sorry.” With that, Sir Bilby thrusted his sword into his chest, ending a life. He had finished what he started, he took responsibility. He walked in a rebel and walked out a hero.

Sam Summer And The Titan Of Snakes by Thomas Stillone

Greece, A Cave In Mount Olympus           

“Long ago, there was nothing, then three gods called Zeus, Hades and Poseidon. Zeus created the world, Hades created death and Poseidon created land and sea. To help them they created Titans, mythical beasts capable of changing the world, but the Titans wanted more power and provoked the gods. They started the war but lost after the battle. Zeus told  Hades to lock them up in Tartarus, a mythical hell for demonic creatures. Hades obeyed and they have been locked in there till this day, but the Oracle of the gods mentioned that one day Serpens, the strongest of the Titans, would come out and take over. Only one soul, a master of fire can banish them back to Tartarus.” Amanda stated.

“ Amanda, when can we leave and explore the world?” he asked.

“When the time comes, Summer,” Amanda replies. She sat back on her hind legs and began cleaning her thick, grey fur. A wolf’s coat can be difficult to maintain.

Years pass by and Summer gets older. He grows longer brown hair. He stays skinny and still only remembers his family by his trusty old compass. Amanda grows a larger fur coat, sharper teeth, but she is getting old. Later that night when they were eating, Summer announced to Amanda, “Delicious food, where’d you find the fish?” 

“Oh just down by the river. These ones are very rare so eat up,” replied Amanda. She then began to pant. “What’s wrong Amanda?” 

“Serpens, he’s here. My child, run! You need to escape to the Amazon Rainforest. Use your compass. It will tell you the way.” Amanda announced.

“But-” Summer was cut off by Amanda.

“Go!” Ten minutes later, Serpens arrived and turned to Amanda. 

“Hello, Amanda.” he expressed with a cunning voice.

“What do you want, Serpens?” Amanda replied.

“You know what I want, now where is he?” Serpens says with a serious voice.

“I won’t tell you,” Amanda replied. Shing! 

“Pity, pity. Find him.” 

“Yes, master.” Some Titans reply.

 

Six months later, “Finally I have reached the Amazon. Ahhh.” Thunk! “Why did I even have to come here anyway?” Roar! “What was that?” 

“I see you chosen one!”

“Ahhhhhhhhh! What are you, you large piece of rock, why are you chasing me and how are you ALIVE!”

A giant rock monster covered in moss appears out of nowhere and looks unhappy. 

“Just die already!” the monster said.

“Get out of the way!” a mysterious figure shouted as it shot beams of ice out of its hand.

“Who, who are you?” Summer asked.

The figure spoke in a calm voice “Hi I’m Winter.” Winter had blue eyes, she was dressed in clothes you would wear in a city, she was as beautiful as a waterfall and had a perfect voice.

“C’mon we got to get you to camp.”

 

The camp had an invisible force field to keep the monsters away.

 “Welcome to Camp Titanus. Here we take care of Titan blood. Titan bloods are people who have the blood type of Titans. These people have the ability to use the element of their blood type. The elements consist of Earth, Fire, Wind, Ice and Electricity. We separate the people with certain elements into a cabin with other people with that element, unless you are a master, then you go into the master cabin which is the same but nicer,” Winter explained. 

“Okay so now I have powers, whoa this day is almost as weird as when an apparent Titan attacked me,” Summer replied.

“But the titan did attack you today?” she stated with confusion.

“No, no, no, six months ago I had to leave Greece to get here, because this guy called Serpens was coming,” he said.

“Wait, did you say Serpens?!” Winter shouted with astonishment.

“Yes, do you have like a hearing disorder or something?”

“We need to go tell Procellae at the master cabin!”

 

Bang! Winter kicked the door so hard it slammed into a door waking up Procellae.

“Procellae, I need to tell you something,” Winter yelled.

“What is it, my child?” says a man who looks 1,000 years old, has great posture for his age, and sounds wise.

“Procellae, I have found a traveller that has been searching for us, his name is Summer. I found him outside our base looking for us and worst comes to worst Serpens has escaped!”

“What?! We need to get ready for war! Alert everyone to get to their battle positions. Also, where did he come from?”

“I came from Greece,” replied Summer.

“So let me do the math real quick, hm, ah, oh, uhh, AHA got it, we have about a week.”

“What!” Summer and Winter gasped with astonishment.

“Don’t what me, get training before he comes.”

 

“C’mon just show us your element child,” Procellae, spoke in a tired voice. The sun was coming down, it was so late.

“I’m trying!” Shing!

“My boy looks like whatever you had in your pocket can turn into a sword when you want it to.”

“Huh? This is the pocket I kept my compass in. This means I could’ve used a sword before.” 

“Yes my child, but now we return to training.” Fwoom! Crackle! Crackle! Crackle! “Oh my Zeus we should’ve just tried to get the sword out before but now you summon fire! Welp back to training.”

A week passed and Summer could control his fire and his sword, he could even light his sword on fire, but one week ago Procellae told everyone that Serpens would come in a week and he did. Thunk! Thunk! Thunk!

Procellae heard the thumping and said, “It seems like the war has begun. Everyone to your battle stations.”

 

“Ah, Procellae how delightful is it to see you here,” Serpens announced with a calm voice.

“Serpens why do you provoke war upon us?” Procellae asked. Serpens stretches his neck, smoothens his scaly face and says, “Well you know why, the only one who can stop me is in your army, so I’ll kill him before he gets to full power. How about we make it easier, my army versus your army.”

“What army? I don’t see any,” says Procellae with suspicion.

“This army!” Rumble! Rumble! Rumble! Hundreds of every type of Titan come out of the ground, and one earth Titan bigger than the rest, lifts Serpens and puts him on his head.

“What is that?” says Procellae with astonishment. 

“This is just my little creation, I call it Behemoth. It is a rock Titan with stronger telekinesis powers. Show them what you can do.” Behemoth raises his arm and the clouds part.

Winter says “Is this the power of a god?”

 

Shhhhhhhhh! “How did he do that?” shouts Summer. A huge meteor destroys all the trees in a 100 metre radius and turns a massive circle of the Amazon into a wasteland. 

“I will stop it.” Procellae says, as he uses his wind magic to hold the meteor up. He succeeds and everyone cheers.

“Bravo, bravo really you saved everyone from the meteor but what about the second?!” Serpens says with a psychopathic voice. Suddenly a second meteor falls out of the sky. Boom! shatters both of the meteors but then. Fwoom!

“He’s fast!” says Procellae, as Serpens jumps and lands a hard hit on Procellae.

“Let the war begin!” shouts Serpens. Rahhhhhh! Everyone shouts as they run into battle, but the Behemoth is destroying Camp Titanus’ army, and while Procellae is fighting Serpens, he can’t help.

Summer shouts, “Everyone, use your magic all at once so we can land a hard hit on the Behemoth!” 

Everyone shouts, “Okay.” They all jump use their powers and… Boom! The Behemoth shatters and crumbles into little pieces of rubble.

“How dare you destroy my creation chosen one, now I will destroy you!” says Serpens, as he leaps and grabs Summer along the way.

“No Summer,” says Winter.

Procellae replies. “Let him be, the result may end up well.”

 

“Chosen one, you will be the first one to die to my hands, but doing so will not be so easy, since you are full power, so let me show you my full power. Meet Asmodeus,” Serpens shouts as he jumps up, and a giant snake leaps out of the ground, and Serpens lands on its head. Asmodeus goes straight for the attack. Summer dodges and slices the tail off.

“Yes!” Summer exclaims. “What’s happening?” The tail starts to move and a snake regenerates from the end of the tail and a tail regenerates from the other snake’s body.

“Did I mention she can multiply?” Serpens psychopathically says. Summer keeps on slicing up the Asmodeus, but they keep multiplying and multiplying and multiplying.

“Now Asmodeus go for the attack!” All of them leap, but Shing! Summer cuts off a fang, turns his sword into a compass, throws it into Serpens mouth then… Shing! Flick! Flick! Flick! Boom! Summer turns his compass into a sword, then ignites it on fire, and the poison ignites and explodes.

Suddenly all of the Titans fade into dust.

“Well, it seems like Serpens strength was also his weakness.” Summer says before fainting.

 

Two days later, Summer woke up outside on a mattress, to everyone standing around him.

“Summer, you’re awake,” announced Winter.

Some kids muttered, “Is this the kid that saved us?”

“How is he alive?”

“Hey isn’t he new?”

“Procellae, come quickly,” shouted Winter. Procellae emerged from the crowd and said, “Well, my boy, you are very wise, when we were losing you did one smart thing, and saved us all.”

“Oh, Procellae, how long is it going to take us to repair everything?” asked Summer.

“We already have, it took around an hour but we did it, and now we have saved mankind and the gods want to tell you something”, replied Procellae.

“Sam Summer. For the good you have done, we claim you as the Titan god, so you could either live up here with us, or stay there?” Zeus asked.

“I think I’ll stay here because the Titan bloods are my people”, replied Summer.

“Wise choice,” Zeus replied as he disappeared into the clouds.

Moral: When you are losing, one smart move can even the playing field.

 

Would You Like to Read the Full Collection of 6 Blue’s Book of Myths and Legends?

>>> Click here to read the collection.

 

Ms Jade Sparks

Teacher 6 Blue

E: jsparks@waverley.nsw.edu.au