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. 

• Monday, 7 March – Staff Professional Learning Day (Years 5-12) – Pupil-Free Day
• Tuesday, 8 March – Open Day
• Wednesday, 9 March – Class/Individual/Summer Sport Photos
• Friday, 11 March – Years 5 and 10, Little Brother/Big Brother gathering, Bondi Beach
• Wednesday, 23 March – Friday, 25 March – Year 5 Camp, Stanwell Tops
• Monday, 28 March – Wednesday, 30 March – Year 6 Camp, The Collaroy Centre

6 Gold’s Online Assembly 

Last week, 6 Gold had the technical task of presenting all their learnings to the Junior School via an online assembly. They were extremely creative with their ideas and made it as fun and lively as possible.

Three reporters moved around to different corners of the classroom to showcase the talent in 6 Gold. They visited the Respect, History, English and Spanish corner.

The Junior School learnt about the first Core Value – Respect, and how to live this out at school, the importance of democracy, myths and legends in English, and created some fabulous superhero dance moves.

A stand out in the assembly was hearing from Dylan Duque-Llorente who is unbelievably talented at speaking Spanish.

Years 5 and 10 Little Brother / Big Brother Gathering – Friday, 11 March

Years 5 and 10 will be taking part in a Little Brother / Big Brother gathering on Friday, 11 March from period 4 until period 6.

Students will first meet at 12:05pm for a BBQ lunch in the Braidwood area, and will then be transported by bus from Carrington Road to Bondi Beach.

Students will travel in House groups with their buddies, and will then participate in activities whilst at the beach.

There will be a House anti-bullying photograph competition as well.

Year 5 students will then return to the College by bus, along with attending Cadets.

The remainder of the Year 10 students will be dismissed from Bondi Beach at approximately 2:30pm.

Heads of House and Year 5 teachers will be in attendance.

Please complete the permission slip below to enable your son to attend.

>>> Click here to view and complete the permission slip.

ALL students should wear their PE uniform and bring a water bottle please. There will be no swimming on the day.

Ms Sue Walsh

Director of Identity & Student Formation

E: swalsh@waverley.nsw.edu.au

 

Mrs Gabrielle Smith

Director of Junior School

E: gsmith@waverley.nsw.edu.au

 

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Lent

This week, the Junior School gathered together in a special Prayer Service for Ash Wednesday, which marked the beginning of the Church’s season of Lent. The marking of the ashes on this day is a public expression of our faith and repentance.

During Lent, we focus on three pillars: prayer, fasting and almsgiving, which help us in this journey to reach a closeness to God, and deeper understanding and relationship with God.

Prayer is a conscious relationship with God. Just as we spend time with friends because we love them, we spend time in prayer because we love God, and we know that God loves us. When we are in tune with God, we cannot help but experience deep wellbeing.

Fasting can be a time to eat less and give up some nice treats, however, could it also be a time for us to be more mindful of our purchases? Can we make ethical choices in what we buy, or even not buy at all?

The third pillar, almsgiving, is donating money or goods to the poor and less fortunate, and performing acts of charity. Caritas launch Project Compassion every year during Lent. Through Project Compassion, Caritas partners with people in the Asia-Pacific to develop their independence, and support the human dignity of every person. Our donation to Project Compassion is an encounter with God through the face of the poor. 

The first of several fund-raising and awareness-raising initiatives began with the sale of pancakes on Shrove Tuesday, the day before Ash Wednesday. We are happy to announce that we managed to raise approximately $850, a great way to begin our fundraising initiatives this year.

Special thanks to Mrs Smith, Mrs Coupe and Ms Bransby for assisting in the organisation and distribution of the pancakes. The boys thoroughly enjoyed indulging in these delicious treats.

Year 5 Student Leaders

I am pleased to announce the Year 5 Class Captains and Class Vice-Captains for Semester 1, 2022. As the students are just getting to know one another, we are giving the following students the opportunity to lead their classes in Semester 1.

I look forward to working with them over the next couple of terms, and hope that they can be good role models to the rest of their peers.

Captains

5 Blue – Zack Stewart

5 Gold – James Draper

5 Indigo – Dario Leyton

5 Orange – Boyd Haslam

5 Red – Hooper Dyke-Miller

5 White – Sam Peate

Vice-Captains

5 Blue – Fletcher Stanton

5 Gold – William Carter

5 Indigo – Pascal South

5 Orange – Jack Burrows

5 Red – Dash McDonough

5 White – Cormac Maher

Mother’s Day Mass – Friday, 6 May 2022, Mary Immaculate Church

The celebration of mothers, grandmothers and significant others in the lives of our Waverley College students, will be celebrated on Friday, 6 May at 12pm (Week 2, Term 2).

This will be held at Mary Immaculate Church, followed by a light lunch at the Junior School.  

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

 

Mr Stephen Ghattas

Assistant Director – Mission and Identity

E: sghattas@waverley.nsw.edu.au

 

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Elephant Ed Information Session

The Junior School was fortunate enough to have the team from Elephant Ed present an online information evening for all of our parents last Thursday, 24 February. This program began for all of our Year 6 classes this week, which is a great opportunity for our students to learn about the following topics as a part of our aligned Health unit ‘Exploring Change’:

1. Puberty
2. Embracing change
3. Introducing sex and consent (base line level – control of our bodies)
4. Identity

Although we have experienced classroom teachers, they’re not all equipped to teach such sensitive health topics in detail, which our students require. This is why Elephant Ed is the most appropriate external company to teach this content to our Year 6 students, ensuring this information is taught effectively and with impact.

We believe that although this isn’t being taught to Year 5 students, it was really important for our Year 5 parents to be at the session, to help them prepare for what will be taught next year. Overall, the session was informative, interactive and engaging for all parents in attendance, and we look forward to seeing how students respond.

BPSSA and IPSHA Swimming Carnival

BPSSA

After such a great two days completing the Junior School swimming carnival, we have entered the next stage of swimming events. Due to the State Nippers event, we had reduced numbers for this year’s warm up event for the IPSHA carnival, the annual BPSSA Swim Carnival hosted by Saint Ignatius College Riverview on Friday, 25 February. 

Although we were undermanned in our squad, we placed 1st, 2nd or 3rd in every single event of the carnival. This was a huge achievement for our students, who all competed at an extremely high level.

In total we achieved 24 (first placings), eight (second placings) and five (third placings).

IPSHA

Everything has been leading up to the main event, the IPSHA Swimming Carnival, which took place on Tuesday, 1 March. This is a special event for our Junior School swim squad, who make their way to the Sydney Olympic Aquatic Centre to compete against Sydney’s best swimmers in their age group. It is an honour for our students to represent Waverley College Junior School at the highest level.

This year, we’re very fortunate to have a strong group of swimmers in all age divisions. This means that we had some special achievements by the following swimmers who made it into CIS:

U8-10 Relay Team (2 min 38.14 sec)

1. Charles Carrano
2. Hugo Bindner
3. Ben Kostic
4. Jaden Truscott

U11-13 Relay Team (2 min 14.03 sec)

1. Roman Szabo
2. Jacob Roorda
3. Ngakua Hiroti
4. Rowan Metzl

A large number of our students placed in their swim heats with amazing achievements, including:

Freestyle

• U10 – Hugo Bindner (3rd)
• U11 – Roman Szabo (3rd), Loui Coleman (4th)
• U12 – Ngakau Hiroti (2nd), Lukas Pendleton (3rd)
• Multiclass – Ryan Desousa (1st)

Backstroke

• U10 – Charles Carrano (3rd)
• Multiclass – Ryan Desousa (1st)

Breaststroke

• U10 – Ben Kostic (4th)
• U12 – Ngakau Hiroti (2nd)
• Multiclass – Ryan Desousa (1st)

Butterfly

• U10 – Charles Carrano (4th)
• U11 – Roman Szabo (4th)
• U12 – Aidan McNee (4th)

The College is unbelievably proud of our entire competing squad, but we want to congratulate the relay swimmers mentioned above, who will now be moving onto the NSWCIS Swimming Carnival, where they will be swimming against the best swimmers in NSW. This is a special achievement, and something these students will never forget.

External Sporting Achievements

Junior Australian Oztag National Championships

Jackson MacAskill and Hugo Cummins in Year 5 recently represented the East Coast Orcas at the Junior Australian Oztag National Championships in Coffs Harbour.

Their U/10s team played seven games over three days, and made it through to the finals.

Both students have been selected to represent Easts at the Junior State cup in June. What a big achievement, and we’re so proud of them.

State Nippers

Waverley Junior School had a large number of students representing their local Surf Lifesaving Club and competing at the State Nippers across three days (24-26 February) at Manly Beach. This is a significant event for our students, who have a massive involvement in a variety of SLSCs around Sydney. 

I have received some results from parents so far, but if your son competed and had some great achievements, please send them through so I can share these with all families.

Some of the results include:

• Hunter Leondis – final in flags for under 11 boys, 7th in the state, and mixed relay final, 6th in the state
• Roman Szabo – silver in individual boards, silver in swim relay, bronze in board team, 7th in state in ironman after a shaky start, and 5th in relay
• Freddie Goldrich – final in individual boards for his age group
• Jaden Newrick – medaled in mixed relay (gold), Cameron relay (silver), 4th in the sprint, his team finishing 3rd overall

Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Australian Nationals

Luca Bessera won the silver medal in his division at the Australian Nationals in Melbourne last weekend. What a significant achievement for Luca! We look forward to hearing more about his endeavours with Brazilian jiu jitsu while he’s at the Junior School. Congratulations and well done.

 

Mr Jack Wachtel 

Assistant Director – Co-Curricular

E: jwachtel@waverley.nsw.edu.au

 

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News From 6 Red

In 6 Red this week, we have been exploring plants. As a class we have been discussing what plants need to grow, the certain functions they have to survive, and the different shapes, sizes and characteristics that change the way that they survive in different environments.

As a class, we conducted an experiment to find out which leaves had the best water retention. After placing the leaves in plastic bags, we will now observe and note in a scientific table, the amount of condensation that builds up over a one to two week period. Results are to come!

 

Mr Matthew Johnston

Class Teacher 6 Red

E: mjohnston@waverley.nsw.edu.au

 

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Home Learning Club – 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 then the club will be closed. 

NOTE: NO Home Learning on Monday, 7 March – Pupil-Free Day 

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.

If your son is not present at roll call, a phone call will be made to check on his whereabouts. If your plans change, and you decide he is unable to attend, please contact the school via email at nzivanovic@waverley.nsw.edu.au or call reception. 

Students are required to stay for the full session unless there is a message in the student diary requesting early leave, a parent 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 – Mrs Natasha Zivanovic

Tuesday and Thursday – Ms Gaby Bransby 

If you require any further information, feel free to email us.

E: nzivanovic@waverley.nsw.edu.au

E: gbransby@waverley.nsw.edu.au 

Drawing Club 

The Drawing Club has begun! Our avid artists will meet weekly to talk about all things art. Our first session was on Friday, 25 March, and our theme for the session was getting to know what each student enjoys drawing. 

Debating Tryouts 

A reminder that the Junior School debating tryouts are on Tuesday, 15 March (Week 8) in the Learning Hub. If your son would like to try out for the IPSHA team, he will need to:

• Choose one of the below topics:
• That parents should not give their children mobile phones
• That books are better than TV
• That technology is harmful to our friendship

 

• Write a 1-2 minute speech taking the side of the affirmative or negative.

 

• On the day he will rebut the student speaking before him. Then he will continue with his own speech.

 

Mrs Natasha Zivanovich

Literacy & Innovation Teacher

E: nzivanovich@waverley.nsw.edu.au