Junior School – Week 6

Diary Dates

Please find below some reminders about upcoming events. For all of Term 1 events, please refer to the College calendar. 

March

• 9 March – Summer Sport – Round 5
• 13 March – Winter Sport Trials 
• 16 March – Summer Sport – Round 6
• 13 – 25 March – NAPLAN Testing Window 
• 21 March – Winter Sport Trials 
• 26 March – Final Winter Sport Trials
• 28 March – Holy Thursday – Pupil-Free Day
• 29 March – Good Friday – Pupil-Free Day

April

• 1 April – Easter Monday – Pupil-Free Day
• 4 April – Lacey House Mass and Supper, Chapel, 6pm
• 5 April – Open Classrooms – Time TBC
• 12 April – Classes Conclude

NAPLAN Timetable 

As you aware, our school will be participating in NAPLAN Online between 13 and 22 March 2024. Please see the timetable below.

National Young Leaders Day

On Monday 4 March, Mr Ghattas and myself had the privilege of accompanying the Year 6 Class Captains and Vice-Captains to the National Young Leaders Day at the ICC in Darling Harbour. It was an energising, fun and inspiring day for our students. They danced, met other students and  listened to a range of different presenters (Anatasia Woolmer, Bryson Klein, Eva Amores, Matt Cosgrove and Stephen O’Keefe).

These inspiring people shared their personal stories and the journey they have travelled in order to reach their true potential and find their purpose. The main messages were around building resilience, the need for perseverance and what it takes to be a leader.

One of the highlights from the day was when Tio Norman was selected to ask Steve O’Keefe a question. 

Tio Norman’s Reflection on the Day

What did you enjoy most about the day? That I was able to ask Steve O’Keefe a question about what kept him motivated to pursue his cricket career. His reply was, “When he did not get selected for his team when he was younger, it made him want it more.”

What speaker did you enjoy the most and why? “The people who created the series The Worst Week Ever. I liked how they even put their own embarrassing stories into it.”

What’s one thing that you learnt after today? “That it is a lot more complex to become a leader and it takes perseverance. Also that there is a sport called Memory Games.”

 

Ms Gaby Bransby

Director of the Junior School

gbransby@waverley.nsw.edu.au

 

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St Patrick’s Day Sale

To celebrate the Feast of St Patrick, on Friday, 15 March, the Junior School will hold a sale at recess time. Cupcakes (with green icing), green jelly, lolly bags and a few other items will be on sale for a gold coin donation.

All money raised will go towards our Lenten Appeal. We are asking for donations of these items from Conlon and Green Houses as well as our Class-Captains and Vice-Captains, who will also assist on the day.

All students are able to come to school dressed in their PE uniform on the day, wearing a touch of green to support the day (ribbon, socks, hat).

Night Patrol Donations

Once a month, as part of the Social Justice program, our Year 11 students will hit the streets to feed the homeless men and women of Sydney. This initiative is run by the St Vincent de Paul Society and gives the students an insight into the vast array of people (children, teens and adults from varying backgrounds) who are homeless and the journey that each of them are on.

As this face-to-face experience is not suitable for our Junior School students, we will ask the senior boys to come down and talk to the juniors about their experiences.

One way that we can assist is by offering donations throughout the year. We are asking 5 Blue and 6 Blue students for the following donation for the first Night Patrol on Monday, 18 March 2024:

• Fresh Fruit – bananas, apples, oranges (to be brought in on Monday, 18 March)
• Muesli bars – nut free (to be brought in any time before Monday, 18 March).

Second Step Wellbeing Program

This week we recommence teaching the Second Step Wellbeing program in the Junior School. Research has shown that a whole-school, evidence-based approach to Wellbeing will improve the socio-emotional skills of students which will positively affect their spiritual, emotional and academic life at Waverley.

The program focuses on skills that will help your son succeed in school and in life. These skills include:

• Empathy
• Skills for learning
• Emotion management
  • Calming down
  • Managing anxiety
  • Managing frustration
  • Avoiding assumptions
• Problem solving
• Communication
• Perspective taking
• Respectful disagreements
• Assertiveness.

You play a vital role in helping your student develop strong social skills. During these next few weeks, the focus of the lessons will be empathy and communication.

Ask questions about the skills your student is learning, such as:

• “How do you show someone you’re actively listening to them?”
• “What are some ways you can calm down?”
• “Why should you try to understand other people’s perspectives?”

If you have any questions about the curriculum, please do not hesitate to contact Mr Stephen Ghattas or Ms Jade Sparks for more information. Thank you for supporting your son in learning the skills that lead to success in school and in life.

Make sure to join www.secondstep.org with the activation key SSP5FAMILY75 to watch videos about the Second Step program and get information about what your student is learning. 

Sacrament of Confirmation – Our Lady of the Rosary, Kensington

For students who are part of Our Lady of the Rosary Parish in Kensington, the Sacrament of Confirmation will be administered at the Church by Bishop Umbers on Wednesday, 12 June 2024.

The parent enrolment night is Wednesday, 20 March at 6:30pm in Our Lady of the Rosary Church, 4 Roma Avenue, Kensington.

Parents will need to bring information about the child’s Baptism: date, name of the Church and Parish of Baptism.

Please note: Waverley College assists in preparing only the students who are part of Mary Immaculate Church or live within the parish boundaries for the Sacrament of Confirmation.

Please ensure that you reach out to your local parish to check the dates of this Sacrament to ensure that you don’t miss out.

 

Mr Steve Ghattas

Assistant Director of Junior School/Identity & Student Formation

sghattas@waverley.nsw.edu.au

 

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Co-curricular Sport

IPSHA Swimming

I enjoyed accompanying 11 students at the IPSHA Swimming Carnival at Sydney Olympic Park on Tuesday, 5 March. These boys swam extremely well for Waverley, even breaking some personal best times! A special mention to Kai Hess (Year 5) and Jack Forde (Year 5) who will both be representing Waverley at CIS for a combined total of seven individual races.

Furthermore, both our Senior Relay Team (U11/U12) and our Junior Relay Team (U10) made it in the top five fastest times against the competing schools, which means they also get to compete at CIS later this month.

Congratulations to all our swimmers and thanks to your families for supporting such a successful day.

Cricket

Our 6A Cricket boys showed great resilience on Saturday, after needing 71 runs to win! They were 2/0 and then 3/8 however went on to win 3/72!

Thank you to all the parents who attend, support and even help out with scoring at their son’s sporting commitments. I am proud of our Waverley community and the benefit of community engagement on student success and enjoyment is unparalleled. We are so grateful.

Winter Sport Trials

Junior School Winter Sport Trials will begin next Wednesday, 13 March 2024. Please read the following information and prepare your son/s:

Dates/Times:

• Trial 1 (Wednesday, 13 March), 1pm – 3pm (afternoon training cancelled)
• Trial 2 (Thursday, 21 March), 1pm – 3pm (afternoon training cancelled)
• Trial 3 (Tuesday, 26 March), 1pm – 3pm.

Location: Queens Park

Uniform: Students arrive at school in full PE uniform. It is a normal school day until 1pm.

Pack: Water bottle, sunscreen, and sport-specific gear for both preferences as below:

• AFL – Waverley jersey or personal jersey, football boots, mouth guard
• Football – Football boots, shin guards
• Rugby Union – Waverley jersey or personal jersey, football boots, mouth guard, (headgear is optional).

Your son will be reminded of his Winter Sport preferences by his class teacher and there will be no changes, as the numbers have already been used to create the Winter Sport Draw.

Teams will be announced on Wednesday, 27 March.

Please indicate permission for your son to be dismissed from Queens Park at the conclusion of each trial through the Parent Lounge Event “JS: Winter Sport Trials Dismissal”. Ensure you make a plan with your son for each trial date. 

Please review the Sport Trials Policy HERE to understand the purpose and procedures of these trials.

 

Ms Jade Sparks

Assistant Director of Co-curricular (Junior School)

jsparks@waverley.nsw.edu.au

 

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Home Learning Week 7 

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

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: Ms Natasha Zivanovic nzivanovic@waverley.nsw.edu.au
• Tuesday and Wednesday: Ms Gaby Bransby gbransby@waverley.nsw.edu.au 
• Thursday: Mr Steve Ghattas sghattas@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.  

Avoid messaging your son during this period, unless it is urgent.

Lunchtime Talks 

I’m thrilled to announce the upcoming Term 1 Lunchtime Guest Speakers. 

The purpose of this initiative is to inspire young people to dream big, persevere through challenges, and never give up on their dreams.

 

Ms Natasha Zivanovic

Teacher of Literacy & Innovation

nzivanovic@waverley.nsw.edu.au

 

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News From 6 Indigo and Mr Robinson

We have been enjoying getting to know each other in 6 Indigo and learning more about ourselves along the way.

In Visual Arts, we designed our own personal symbol/s. The symbol/s could represent yourself, your family, a story, or something you love doing e.g. playing footy, spending time with friends.

We also completed some self-portraits that represented the mood we were in through the use of colour. 

 

Mr Kendall Robinson

Teacher of 6 Indigo

krobinson@waverley.nsw.edu.au