On 24, 25 and 26 May, Waverley College entered teams from Years 5-11 into the annual da Vinci Decathlon competition. This year, the event was conducted via Zoom.
All students showed great enthusiasm for the duration of the day, and participated in 10 challenges across each team in:
All teams displayed passion, dedication and awesome team work.
We would like to congratulate all students for their hard work and participation in this valuable event:
Thank you to our dedicated teachers who provided assistance over these days: Mr William Roberts, Ms Melanie Stephens, Mr Richard Chen, Ms Margaret Fitzgerald and Mrs Deanne Edwards.
Mr William Roberts
Head of Library and English Teacher
E: wroberts@waverley.nsw.edu.au
Ms Melanie Stephens
English Teacher
E: mstephens@waverley.nsw.edu.au
Mr Richard Chen
Science Teacher
E: rchen@waverley.nsw.edu.au
On 25 May, the Senior library joined with our Junior School colleagues to participate in and celebrate National Simultaneous Storytime.
Our Junior school Innovation student helpers’ team joined in with over 1 million other students around Australia to listen to Family Tree, written by talented singer-songwriter and children’s author Josh Pyke, illustrated by Ronojoy Ghosh.
We thank Ms Pearce for her assistance organising the morning, Mr Robert Tall our literacy coordinator for attending, and Ms Zivanovic for preparing the Junior School Innovation Hub for what was a very special morning.
Keep reading, kids!
Mr William Roberts
Head of Library and English Teacher
E: wroberts@waverley.nsw.edu.au
A year on from our uniform donation to Fiji, we are privileged to see the results of your incredible generosity.
The school held its Graduation last week, and provided us with these beautiful photos of their students proudly wearing our Waverley blazers.
We look forward to continuing our relationship with these students and the school, when we are allowed to once again take Immersions.
Ms Suzanne Walsh
Director of Identity & Student Formation
E: swalsh@waverley.nsw.edu.au
Last week, 70 students from Years 11 and 12, and 10 teachers, went on our Kairos #4 Retreat. This is a very special student-led retreat, open to all Year 12 students and to those in Year 11 who wish to lead these retreats in Year 12.
Kairos was held at two venues: Mount Schoenstatt and Mount Carmel. We would especially like to thank Fr Bernie who led one of the retreats, and all the teachers who helped facilitate this wonderful formation experience for our students.
Congratulations to all attending students on your enthusiastic participation throughout the experience. As our retreat program grows, we look forward to welcoming more retreatants in the coming year.
Ms Suzanne Walsh
Director of Identity & Student Formation
E: swalsh@waverley.nsw.edu.au
This term, Year 10 History students have been studying the role of Australians in WWI and WWII. In examining and reading through primary sources from my grandfather’s time in WWII, Korea, Vietnam, and New Guinea, students in my class were able to draw connections between people, places, and events of the past.
In history, primary sources are defined as firsthand evidence of an event that took place in the past. They are a powerful learning tool to really help students sharpen their critical-thinking skills.
Ms Emma Halpin
English and History teacher
E: ehalpin@waverley.nsw.edu.au
Year 11 Business Studies students have been actively working on developing their business plans for their upcoming Shark Tank-style business pitch. To help create an entrepreneurial mindset, Waverley College was fortunate enough to secure James Peebles from TRUE Projects as a guest speaker.
TRUE Projects’ point of difference is based around full disclosure, and an open-book pricing method. James discussed the skills required to successfully start up and run a business, providing invaluable insights and advice around developing a business concept.
Thanks, James!
Mr Adam Wallington
Head of HSIE
E: awallington2@waverley.nsw.edu.au
Wearing very thick wetsuits and big smiles, Year 12 Marine Studies students successfully completed their PADI Open Water Diving Certification last Thursday and Friday under the instruction of Abyss Scuba Diving.
Students were required to complete 10 hours of coursework, demonstrate a large number of diving skills in the pool and the ocean, and then complete four open water dives. This required a lot of focus and resilience as COVID-19 has pushed our course back to the colder months!
Practising the confined water skills
During our dives at Camp Cove and around Bare Island, we saw wobbegongs, an angel shark, octopuses, stingrays, a seahorse and a very friendly grouper.
Congratulations to the following students for achieving this award, which has opened up their eyes to a whole new world under the sea!
AJ Preketes, Aodan Byrne, Charlie Elmes, Dylan McCulloch, Gabriel Portolan, Gabriel Woodward, Gus Oliver, Henry Kopsiaftis, James Garrop, Leo Astridge, Owen Punch, Thomas Gillespie, Thomas Kenny and Toby Ryan.
Tom Kenny
Ms Gemma Brown
Head of Science
E: gbrown@waverley.nsw.edu.au
On Wednesday, 4 May, Waverley College’s Students of the World Ecology Group were invited to a Design Thinking Workshop at St Clare’s College, run by Netnada, a company that measures carbon footprinting.
Upon arriving at St Clare’s and after a few flights of stairs (something the Waverley boys are very comfortable with), we entered a room filled with whiteboards. There were two very friendly instructors from Netnada, who would be helping us through this brainstorming process, and 10 St Clare’s students from their Environmental Group.
We were divided into four groups, each with a mix of St Clare’s and Waverley students. After a few thinking exercises and enlightening conversations, it was time to draw and write out our ideas.
The instructors guided us through a step-by-step process of how to create strategies to tackle both College’s waste issues. This involved timed responses, creative construction of who our ‘customers’ are, and how they think, to help us to pinpoint the best way(s) forward. The interesting discovery was the realisation that both boys and girls have more in common when it comes to waste – and what to do with it – than we thought.
It was an amazing experience and some incredible ideas were put on the table – both literally and metaphorically. Thanks to this workshop, both Colleges now have a firm idea about what to do next, in the battle to educate and change the behaviour of students and staff in our own war on waste.
The future is bright for the ecological situation at both St Clare’s and Waverley College. We are so thankful for the experiences we had.
Lachlan Isaac (Year 9) and Ms Rebecca Sutcliffe
Ecology Coordinator
E: rsutcliffe@waverley.nsw.edu.au
A terrific group of Year 11 students ably represented Waverley College at an Interfaith Dialogue gathering on Wednesday, 11 May. They met at the Great Synagogue in the city to join with representatives from other schools including Emanuel School, Moriah College and Stella Maris College, Manly.
There they engaged in dialogue and activities on current issues pertinent to their lives. They demonstrated how Catholics pray, and showed the Waverley College rosary beads and a presentation on the May Procession.
Mr JP Boumelhem and Mr David Edwards accompanied the students, and said that they were excellent ambassadors for Waverley College in terms of uniform, enthusiasm and engagement.
Ms Martina Cooper
Head of Religion
E: mcooper@waverley.nsw.edu.au
On Friday, 13 May, Waverley College participated in the Ethics Olympiad via Zoom. The students who participated, displayed incredible passion and teamwork. An independent adjudicator mentored and assisted the students.
Whilst not winning, the following team members received honourable mentions from the judges. Congratulations to: James Medland, Lachlan Miranda, Deuchar Dezarnaulds, Ewan McDonald and Anton Svensson.
Over five hours, the boys explored and developed philosophical argument skills on the topics below, which were explored together with one other school per case, in a collaborative venture to develop deeper understandings of topics.
The other students from Waverley who participated as a team were: Declan McAuliffe, James Birbas, Oliver Malzard, Campbell Porteus and Charlie Murphy.
The NSW Ethics Olympiad is so valuable, because it brings together students to collaborate from diverse schools across the state. One of the benefits of diversity is that it encourages the search for novel perspectives. Have a look at the range of teams!
Well done boys.
Mr W Roberts
Ethics Olympiad coach, Head of Library, and Years 9 and 10 Applied Philosophy Teacher
E: wroberts@waverley.nsw.edu.au
On 29 April, Christian Kitas represented Waverley College at the illustrious public speaking competition: the Lawrence Campbell Oratory Competition. Held at Sydney Grammar, representatives from thirteen high schools were given fifteen minutes to prepare an eight-minute speech on an unseen topic.
The topics for 2022 were: “I have ever hated all nations, professions and communities, and all my love is toward individuals”, “Some praise at morning what they blame at night, but always think the last opinion right”, and the most popular of the evening, “There’s a crack, a crack in everything, that’s how the light gets in.”
Congratulations to Christian Kitas for his oratory skills and confidence
Arguably, the most difficult of the public speaking competitions for students, the adjudicators look for intelligence, humour, expression, relevance to topic, and elocution in the students’ speeches. Whilst not placing, Christian represented both himself and the College proudly. He spoke about key concerns many teenagers face today, including the pressures of social media and the need to look beyond the superficial.
Thank you to Miss Halpin for her organisation of the evening, and Miss Stephens for working with Christian to prepare for the competition. Congratulations to Christian for his oratory skills and confidence.
Miss Melanie Stephens
English Teacher
E: mstephens@waverley.nsw.edu.au
Waverley is proud of its cross-curricular offerings. For many years now, the Geography and Religion departments join together, align their content, and undertake a stimulating day of exploration with Year 7 at Centennial Parklands. This edifies their understanding of ‘Water in the World’ and ‘Stewards of Creation.’
The weather may have been overcast, but spirits were high as Year 7 participated in a joint Year 7 Geography and Religion Excursion. Students learnt navigation skills, studied water quality, met ducks, wrote prayers, reflected and solidified friendships – all whilst trying to stay as dry as possible.
The weather was kind to us, even though the walk to and from the College drew some complaints such as “the hill is too steep!” All in all, a thoroughly enjoyable day. Thank you to our energetic teachers who gave up their time to be part of this cross-curricular event, and to our enthusiastic students for participating in the day.
Mr Nicholas Sposari
Teacher of HSIE and Religion
E: nsposari@waverley.nsw.edu.au
We would like to acknowledge the Gadigal people of the Eora nation who are the traditional Custodians of the land on which Waverley College is located. We pay our respects to Elders past, present and emerging. We are committed to honouring Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples’ unique cultural and spiritual connections to the land, waters, seas and sky and their rich contribution to society.
Watch our video
