Junior School Week 5

Welcome to Week 5! We started the week with 5 Indigo’s class assembly. They focused mainly on one of the core values here at the Junior School – resilience. My favourite part of the assembly was when 5 Indigo gave practical resilience tips for our students’ use:

1. Break your task up into smaller, more achievable pieces
2. Find people who are going to support you
3. Put your mind to it and don’t back down
4. Always get back up and try again
5. Fight for what you can achieve, not what the people around you want you to do

Year 6 Camp

Year 6 had an amazing time at camp last week. It was wonderful watching the students take risks, show resilience, build stronger relationships and simply have fun. The behaviour of the students was exemplary and they represented Waverley brilliantly. 

Elephant Ed Inspires Students to Embrace Change

Our Year 6 students also participated in their second session with Elephant Ed on Monday. This session focused on embracing change. The feedback from the students was very positive again.

The statistics are as follows:

• 98% of students gave this workshop a thumbs up
• 99% of students want Elephant Ed to return to deliver more workshops
• 96% of students found it useful having a young facilitator

There are two more sessions this year and we know from their feedback that they have been very successful and educational.

 

Ms Gabrielle Bransby

Director of Junior School

E: gbransby@waverley.nsw.edu.au

 

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Year 6 Strengthen Relationships at the Great Aussie Bush Camp

Last Wednesday, 12 May, our Year 6 students and teachers headed off to The Great Aussie Bush Camp located in Kincumber on the NSW Central Coast. As expected, there was noticeable excitement and some nervous energy in the air. This was the first camp these students had experienced at Waverley College due to COVID-19 restrictions in 2020 forcing the cancellation of all school camps.

Once they arrived, students were given a welcome briefing by camp staff about the campsite, where they would be sleeping and all the fun activities planned for them over the next three days. The camp activities included:

• Lost Island (commando mud course)
• Tree Climb
• High Ropes
• Power Fan (leap of faith)
• Canoeing
• Orienteering
• Giant Swing

Students were given time to unpack, get to know who their roommates were, and change ready for the first lot of activities for the day. Before beginning, we headed down to the camp’s sports field on the riverfront, where students could enjoy free time before activities beginning. This time was mostly made up of sport, with big games of AFL, Rugby and Cricket taking place. Waverley staff couldn’t help but involve themselves in the action.

Students enjoyed their first lot of activities for camp and were slowly fading from tiredness. 

The plan for night one activities included Commando Night, a flashlight game not far from the campsite. Unfortunately, the weather didn’t work in our favour, and we made alternative arrangements to have a group challenge night indoors, which the students made the most of and thoroughly enjoyed.

Day two began with breakfast at 6:30am and was then jam-packed with ongoing daytime activities. Students underwent four lots of activities throughout the day and displayed plenty of laughter, smiles and entertainment. A large portion of activities encouraged students to face their fear of heights and the unknown to achieve endless amounts of accomplishment and satisfaction for having challenged themselves to try something new and scary. This quickly became the theme of the camp, with students supporting each other to build resilience and accomplish new experiences that once would’ve been too frightening to face by themselves. 

Night-time activities for night two included Commando Night, marshmallows by the campfire and a movie to settle the students before bedtime. It definitely worked, as the majority of students were fast asleep by 9pm. Students savoured the last two lots of activities on the last day before having to pack up their belongings and get on that bus to return to their families. This was something all students were excited about, but also remained grateful for the experiences and good times over the three days.

Round 5 Sports Fixture / IPSHA Touch Football and Rugby Trials

The Round 5 weekly fixture and Round 4 results have now been uploaded on the Waverley College website. Please click here for the Round 5 fixture and Round 3 results. I wish all teams the best of luck for Round 5 and encourage students to continue representing Waverley College with pride and respect as we do week after week.

Waverley College Junior School has had many representatives at the majority of IPSHA sporting trials so far this year. On Friday 7 May (Week 3) and Friday 14 May (Week 4), we sent six to seven students to participate in the Touch Football and Rugby trials at Barker College and Shore Playing Fields at Northbridge. Mr Lavorato supported the Touch Football and Mr Gill the Rugby trials, both as official CIS trial selectors. 

Touch Football selected trialists included: Riley Kolster, Jacob Sheehan, James Tucker, Hunter Leondis, Cooper Misson and Riley Carr. 

Rugby selected trialists included: Jude Maher, Riley Kolster, Stirling Quinn, Tyden Hennessey, Tom Burke, Patrick Palmer and Tom Maxwell.

All reports suggested that all of our students performed exceptionally well. We were fortunate enough to have had four students selected to trial at CIS Touch Football Trials and all six selected for CIS Rugby Trials. This is a massive accomplishment for Waverley College, and we wish the students chosen all the best for the upcoming trials. 

Selected CIS Trialists

Touch Football – Riley Kolster, Jacob Sheehan, Hunter Leondis and Cooper Misson.

Rugby Union – Jude Maher, Riley Kolster, Stirling Quinn, Tyden Hennessey, Tom Burke and Patrick Palmer.

 

Mr Jack Wachtel

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

E: jwachtel@waverley.nsw.edu.au

 

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A Double Win for Waverley in Debating!

The debating season has kicked off this term with a double win for Waverley. The students had their first debate against Coogee Boys’ Preparatory. The debate topic was ‘Technology is harmful to our friendship.’ Both teams had strong arguments with supporting examples and worked together to put forward a strong case. Debating develops important skills that are transferable into other areas: exploring ideas, developing arguments, articulating opinions, building confidence, being able to think on one’s feet, and becoming a good public speaker.

Congratulations on your first debate!

News from the Learning Hub – Book Recommendations

Over the past few weeks,  I have had many conversations with students on ‘What should they read next?’ This sparked an idea to get the boys sharing book recommendations via their CANVAS page. This allows students to have an online platform where they can see what their friends are reading. I can proudly say that I have noticed more students asking for books to borrow that were recommended by their peers. 

If your son is having trouble picking his next read, guide him to the ‘What Should I Read Next?’ under the tile Learning Hub News.

What are the Student Recommendations?

• From an Idea to Google – author Lowey Bundy Sichol and illustrator C S Jennings

From an Idea to Google is a book about two friends who make one of the biggest companies in the world. They quit university to start a business in their garage. It’s a great book about a company that never gave up. From an Idea to Google is a short book which will give you an insight of the wonderful world of Google. 

Student book reviewer: Aiden Reay Year 5 

• The Science Book – author DK

The Science Book is quite an intriguing book. It is a book for readers who are interested in the different sciences and their histories. It supplies the reader with a large amount of knowledge and facts that are sure to make you seem like one of the smartest people in the room. The Science Book talks about basic physics, geography, geology, biology and so on. If you can think of a science, it will almost certainly be in the book. I highly recommend this book for study, or if you just overall enjoy reading about science and the different facts and history inside.

Student book reviewer: Patrick Palmer Year 6

• The World’s Worst Children – author David Walliams and illustrator Tony Ross

The World’s Worst Children is a humorous fiction book written by David Walliams and illustrated by Tony Ross. Tony Ross’s cartoonish artistic style provides an idea of the character’s characteristics and features. Even the fonts in this book are exaggerated and over the top, giving the reader an idea of what’s happening and how the characters are feeling. This book is about children that are disgusting, loud, and annoying. I would recommend this book to anyone wanting to have a laugh and an overall good book. I would give this book a 4 out of 5.

Student book reviewer: Henry Halden Year 6

National Volunteer Week 

This week is National Volunteer Week (17-23 May). I would like to say a thank you and recognise the commitment of our three amazing volunteers and what they do to help the Learning Hub ensure that our students have books covered and ready for borrowing.

Home Learning Club – will not operate on Tuesday this week (Week 6)

• Monday – ON
• Tuesday – NOT ON (as teachers are participating in a Professional Development Staff Meeting on Tuesday afternoon)
• Wednesday – ON
• Thursday – ON

Register your son via the Skoolbag app and click on this link.

 

Ms Natasha Zivanovic

Primary Literacy and Innovation Teacher

E: nzivanovic@waverley.nsw.edu.au 

 

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Da Vinci Decathlon 2021 Wrap Up – Year 5 Takes 15th Place in Cartography

On 4, 5 and 6 May, Waverley College entered teams in Years 5-10 into the annual Da Vinci Decathlon. This year’s theme was ‘Legacy’, and the competition ran online for the first time in its history – very different from previous years. All students showed great enthusiasm for the duration of the day and participated in 10 challenges across each team ranging from: Art and Poetry, Creative Producers and Cartography to Code Breaking, Science, Mathematics and Engineering.

I would like to congratulate all students for their hard work and participation in the event:

William Frinsdorf; Aiden McNee; Samuel Ireland; Jack McCallum; Dylan Crewe; Hendrix Brown; Thomas Stillone; Liam Madden; Jeff Saxler; Augie Gibson; William Bayly; Sonny Campbell; Alex Avdalis; Daniel Morrow; Evan Service; Joshua Du Toit.

I would also like to congratulate the Year 5 team on coming in the top 15 categories for their respective challenges. Each year level had approximately 75 schools participating, so this is an outstanding achievement:

Year 5: 15th Place – Cartography

Well done to all teams!

 

Ms Stephanie Boyce

Academic Enrichment Coordinator

E: sboyce@waverley.nsw.edu.au