Director of Junior School, Ms Gabrielle Bransby
Diary Dates
Please find below some reminders about upcoming events. For all of Term 4 events, please refer to the College calendar.
- 28 October – Round 9 Summer Sport
- 2 November – Junior School Cyber Safety presentation for parents/carers, live, 6pm (but will also be recorded)
- 3 November – Year 6 Retreat Day
- 4 November – Round 10 Summer Sport
- 7 November – Year 7 2024 Orientation Day
- 11 November – Round 11 Summer Sport
- 15 November – Junior School Music Festival, PAC, 6pm
- 18 November – Round 12 Summer Sport
- 27 November – Semester 2 reports published on Parent Lounge
- 28 November – Year 6 laptops return
- 1 December – Year 6 excursion to Raging Waters
- 4 December – Year 6 Graduation Mass, Mary Immaculate Church, 1pm
- 5 December – Presentation Day
Drawing Club People’s Choice Award Winner
A huge congratulations to Junior School Drawing Club People’s Choice Winner – Dash McDonough!
At the HSC Showcase Art and Design show, the Visual Arts faculty in collaboration with the Junior School Drawing club and Book Week ran a competition for a People’s Choice Award. There were so many talented entrants and artworks that demonstrated the Book Week theme ‘Read, Grow, Inspire’.
For first place, this was only won by one point! Congratulations to Dash for sculpting his artwork. Dash has received a wonderful art prize pack that will help him to continue to create some very remarkable artworks!
Waverley College Receives a Highly Commended in National Wakakirri Festival
After winning a NSW Story-Dance award and progressing through to the national competition, Waverley College has now received a Highly Commended award for their performance “The Right to Dream” as part of the 2023 National Wakakirri Story-Dance Festival.
Wakakirri is Australia’s largest performing arts event for schools with 200 taking part in 2023. Participating schools are inspired by the Wakakirri ethos ‘great stories inspire change’ to create and perform story-dances that reflect students’ thoughts, ideas and aspirations.
Wakakirri Festival Director Adam Loxley praised the outstanding performance and storytelling of schools this year, stating, “The standard this year was exceptional, so Waverley College should be very proud of their award.” This acknowledgment reflects the high quality and creativity that Waverley College brought to their participation in the Wakakirri Festival.
We are so proud of our students and we thank Ms Michelle Rollins for her incredible work and vision.
Cyber Safety Online Parent Information Session – 2 November, 6pm
Protecting children in their digital worlds is an ever-evolving task for Australian families. Now more than ever, parents are looking for guidance in how to manage screen time and navigate the world of games and social media.
We warmly invite our Waverley College Junior School parent community to a crucial and engaging education webinar with ySafe, Australia’s leading provider of online safety education. This practical, strategy-rich session will cover the most important points that all families need to know about online safety, covering key information about social media and gaming, screen time recommendations, and step-by-step instructions on how to set up a cyber safe home for children of all ages.
If you’ve ever struggled with getting your children off their games and into bed, worried about the content of the games that they are playing, or felt concerned that your child was spending too much time in the digital world, this workshop is for you!
Register now.
Supervision
A reminder that supervision in the mornings doesn’t begin until 8:15 am or 7am if your son has training. This is also for the afternoon. Students aren’t allowed on school grounds after 3pm unless they have school sports. Once they have finished their training, school grounds are closed. We appreciate your assistance in the matter.
Ms Gaby Bransby
Director of the Junior School
gbransby@waverley.nsw.edu.au
Year 6 Graduation – Monday, 4 December 2023
Dear Parents and Carers,
You are all invited to the Year 6 Graduation on Monday, 4 December to acknowledge the end of your son’s primary school years. Please see the invitation below.
Year 6 Graduation – Request for Photos
As part of the Year 6 Graduation, I will be putting together a slideshow presentation. I would be very appreciative if you could send through a photo of your son’s Kindergarten photo (or their first day of Kindergarten, or similar), as this will form part of the presentation.
If you could please send a labelled photo through to liturgy@waverley.nsw.edu.au by no later than Friday Week 5. Picture format as a jpeg or png file would be preferred. Please do not send through pdf files.
Year 6 Retreat Day – Friday, 3 November 2023
On Friday, 3 November, Year 6 students will be involved in their annual retreat day at the Senior School. This will focus on the importance of friendship, inclusiveness and leadership. Students are expected to arrive at the Junior School at normal time in their PE Uniform.
A BBQ lunch (sausage and drink) will be provided, however the students will need to bring their own recess. Flexischools will still be available to the students if needed.
If you have any questions or concerns regarding dietary requirements, can I please ask you to contact your son’s class teacher.
Kids Giving Back Donation Drive
‘Kids Giving Back’ is a NFP – DGR status charity who offer meaningful volunteering opportunities to young people 6-18yrs. Their mission is to create the next generation of generosity. Their philosophy embraces the triple impact of volunteering: creating empathic and responsible kids, supporting charities, and improving the society in which they live by creating a civic-minded population.
Kids Giving Back partners with over 50 charities and would love the support of our school community in appealing to our students to bring in the following essential items. With these donations, Kids Giving Back enables children in the school holidays to create care packages which are then donated to victims of domestic violence and the homeless community.
Essential Care Packs – Items Needed Please
- Wet wipes – small packs
- Lip balms
- Sunscreen – small roll-on
- Bandaids
- Emery boards
- Pocket tissues
- Hand Sanitiser – small bottles
- Travel size shampoos and conditioners
- Men’s combs.
Thank you to Noah Nunn (6 Indigo) for bringing this charity to our attention once again this year.
Donations for this charity can be handed in to Ms Sanchez at the Junior School front office. We will be collecting donations up until Friday Week 8 (1 December). Your generosity and support is very much appreciated.
Mr Steve Ghattas
Assistant Director of the Junior School / Identity & Student Formation
sghattas@waverley.nsw.edu.au
Open Classroom
On Monday morning the Junior School opened our classrooms up to parents/carers to come and have a look at all of the incredible work that the boys have been doing. It was wonderful to see so many parents and carers in attendance.
The whole school was buzzing with the sound of our students proudly showing off their amazing pieces of work, which included writing and maths samples, creative artworks and ongoing projects. Thank you to everyone who came and made it such a special event for our students.
Ms Charlotte Stephens
Assistant Director of Curriculum
cstephens@waverley.nsw.edu.au
Summer Co-Curricular Sport
Round 9 Sport (Saturday, 28 October 2023)
Another great round of Summer Sport we experienced last weekend, with some amazing team results and nail-biting finishes. The weather has been consistently good on Saturdays, and we look forward to that continuing this weekend.
Please refer to the link below to access the sports fixture for Round 9 this Saturday, 28 October. All adjustments to times and venues have been noted in red, please take note carefully.
College Website: Junior School Sports Fixtures and Season Draw
Best of luck to all teams this weekend.
Year 5 Parents Only – 2024 Summer and Winter Sport Selections
In preparation for Summer and Winter Co-Curricular Sport in 2024, I am seeking your son’s sport selection for the summer and winter sports that he will be choosing to trial for at the beginning of next year and at the end of Term 1.
This will allow me to nominate the appropriate amount of teams based on how many students nominate for each sport.
Summer Sports include: Basketball, Cricket, Tennis, Touch Football and Water Polo
Winter Sports include: AFL, Football (Soccer), Rugby Union and Rugby 7s
I ask that you please discuss this with your son, and complete the form by Monday, 30 October 2023.
Please be aware of the following prior to your son making his selection:
- Tennis and Water Polo only have two teams. Please only nominate your son if he has had experience playing tennis and water polo. This is due to the limited spots available with two teams.
- All sports have a Saturday morning game commitment.
- A small portion of students may miss out on their first sport selection due to team sizes, but this process endeavours to ensure your son gets his second choice.
- Your son will most definitely make his first preference for Winter sport
- This will be the only opportunity to complete the form, so if any changes need to be made to your son’s selection please contact me via email shown below.
Form Due – Monday, 30 October 2023.
E: jwachtel@waverley.nsw.edu.au
Year 5 Parents to Complete Only:
2024 Summer and Winter Sport Selections (Click & Complete)
External Sporting Achievements
During the Term 3 holidays, Charlie Carrano represented Waverley at the NSW Primary Schools Challenge (Athletics).
He came 8th in the 200m Finals, 8th in the 100m Finals and 1st in the Long Jump.
Further to this, Louis Coleman came 4th at State for high jump, with a personal best of 1.55m. He said he’s looking forward to training with the Senior School Athletics program next year.
Well done for your achievements Charlie and Louis, Waverley is very proud.
Mr Jack Wachtel
Assistant Director of Co-curricular Years 5-8
jwachtel@waverley.nsw.edu.au
Term 4 Week 4 – 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 – 4pm – Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays – during school term unless there is a scheduled Professional Development meeting and the club will be closed.
Procedures
Click here to register your son
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 and Wednesday: Ms Natasha Zivanovic nzivanovic@waverley.nsw.edu.au
- Tuesday and Thursday: Ms Gaby Bransby gbransby@waverley.nsw.edu.au
If you require any further information, feel free to contact us.
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.
Try to avoid messaging your son during this period, unless it is urgent.
Drawing Club
Sketch Art
I love the enthusiasm the students bring to their weekly Drawing Club session. This week the students focused on ‘Sketch Art.’ The students’ focus on Sketch Art shows their dedication to improving their skills and exploring different techniques. It’s inspiring to see them taking an interest in different forms of art and pushing themselves to learn and grow.
3D Printing
The Learning Hub’s 3D printers provide students the opportunity to develop while using the 4Cs—Creativity, Critical and Creative Thinking, Collaboration, and Communication—to increase engagement.
Thank you very much to Noah Nunn (6 Indigo) for managing the 3D printers.
IPSHA Speakers’ Challenge
I would like to thank James Peate, Captain of Public Speaking, for giving up his time to mentor Toby and Ceilim for their upcoming IPSHA Public Speaking Competition.
His mentoring was extremely valuable with excellent feedback to the boys. We appreciate James’ continued support of the Junior School students.
Ms Natasha Zivanovic
Literacy & Innovation Teacher
nzivanovic@waverley.nsw.edu.au
News From 5 Blue and Ms Hunt
Drama Performance – Vulga the Vampire!
This week, 5 Blue performed a whole class cast play titled ‘Vulga the Vampire!’ where they learnt to convey dramatic meaning by using the elements of drama and to use a range of movement and voice skills. During the Term, the boys rehearsed the performance and refined their performance styles.
Taj, the narrator, articulately set the scene and revealed the plot of the story which revolved around the main character, Vulga (Jack G). Vulga, the vampire, had a series of bad days where nothing would go right! Thomas, the sign holder, cleverly made his way across the stage to signify changes of character and scenery.
In the dead of night, when trying to find a tasty meal, Vulga comes across a series of interesting characters. The boys created stage effects such as mist, torches for light flickering, and sound effects such as howling to create atmosphere.
Firstly, he came across a blood donor (Jude) who thought he was in fancy dress, then a happy couple (played by Arlo and Oscar) who got spooked and ran away, and a professor named Joey, who confused him about different blood types.
In the final scenes, Vulga pounces on a committed dentist (Harry) who studies his teeth and tells him he’s in need of urgent dental attention. He tries his luck with Mr Stone and his dog (Rufus and Blake), who cleverly tells him “you can’t get blood out of a Stone!”
The play ends with the dog biting Vulga, who gets a taste of his own blood. The boys in 5 Blue did a stellar job and it was evident that they enjoyed the learning process.
Here are some reviews from the boys on how they thought they performed in the final performance:
Rufus Nicholson, 5 Blue
It was very fun to learn this play as we learnt many skills along the way including teamwork, communication skills, improvisation and the ability to not laugh when acting! We had to practice during all drama lessons with Ms Rollins. I would practice my part after school and on weekends and it took a long time to get right but I eventually was up and running knowing my whole script off by heart! Picking my costume at home was exciting because I could see myself on stage wearing all of my options. When we heard about the play we all erupted with excitement. I feel we were very lucky to do this play!
Jack Gibson, 5 Blue
This performance was super fun for the whole class, and especially for me, because I was the main character. The play was a comedy and was extremely entertaining as there were lots of different characters that I; Vulga the Vampire could not suck blood from. Miss Hunt and Miss Rollins were our audience, and we performed amazingly. All our costumes were true to the characters and there were no mistakes made during the performance. Miss Rollins taught us how to improvise, not laugh while performing, and to work as a team. Overall, the experience was marvelous.
Ms Elise Hunt
Classroom Teacher 5 Blue
ehunt@waverley.nsw.edu.au
