Last Friday, our Senior Debate team competed against Loreto, Kirribilli in Round 1 of the 2022 CSDA competition.
They debated topics ranging from Australian politics on a local and federal level, to the role of television in an increasingly digitised world.
Each team presented their arguments and rebuttals with aptitude and poise and, I am thrilled to say, we came away with deserved wins in each of our 7 – 12 teams.
I congratulate all teams on their success, and look forward to Round 2.
Ms Emma Halpin
Convenor of Debating and Public Speaking
E: ehalpin@waverley.nsw.edu.au
The Year 11 Hospitality students undertook their first official service period as part of their Certificate II qualification on 6 May.
They whipped, whisked, piped, baked and decorated to produce lovely cupcakes for the Waverley Junior School Mother’s Day Event.
Thank you, gentlemen!
Mrs Bev McCarthy
VET/TAS Teacher
E: bmccarthy@waverley.nsw.edu.au
This week, both Brennan and O’Connor Houses celebrated their House Mass and Suppers. After two years of COVID-19 preventing our Waverley families from joining us, it was wonderful to see the chapel full of all our families.
A special thank you to all those who made these wonderful celebrations possible. Fr Bernie for celebrating the masses, our wonderful musicians Mr Balkizas and Ms Dolzo, the fabulous choirs from each of the Houses, our Prefects and of course our Heads of House, Ms Downey and Mr Barr for coordinating such wonderful celebrations.
Quinn House Mass is next Thursday, and we look forward to welcoming all our Quinn families then.
Ms Sue Walsh
Director of Identity & Student Formation
E: swalsh@waverley.nsw.edu.au
This week, Green and Lacey Houses celebrated their first House Mass and Suppers in two years.
It was so lovely to have all our families present to celebrate such a special occasion and to especially welcome our new Year 5 students to each House.
We also paid special tribute to our Year 12 students as they begin the final stage of their journey here at Waverley.
Thanks to all those who helped make these special celebrations happen. From Fr Bernie, our chaplain, to our musicians, choir, readers, mentors and Heads of House.
Our charismatic music teacher, Ms Jaz Dolso, led our singing
Our talented choristers led our hymns
Head of Music, Mr Chris Balkizas, played some beautiful passages on guitar
It is wonderful to have our Waverley family joining together again to share such important formation experiences.
Our caring mentors
Brennan and O’Connor Houses will celebrate their Mass and suppers next week and we look forward to seeing everyone there.
Ms Suzanne Walsh
Director of Identity & Student Formation
E: swalsh@waverley.nsw.edu.au
Last Friday, the Old Boys’ Union generously donated Rosary bracelets to our Year 5 and Year 7 students in time for our annual May procession.
These beautiful wooden bead bracelets and ‘How to Say the Rosary’ cards, replaced the usual rosary beads, and were made by one of our Waverley parents, Rita Di Napoli, from Rita Palma Candles and Gifts. The Old Boys Union and Rita’s generosity in helping facilitate this, was greatly appreciated.
Each of these students will be able to wear these at school and beyond the Waverley gates, as a reminder that God is always close, and as a special devotion to Mary, just like our founder Blessed Edmund Rice.
The Year 7s were also treated to a BBQ by the Old Boys, and greatly enjoyed their afternoon.
Many thanks to everyone who made this possible.
Ms Sue Walsh
Director of Identity & Student Formation
E: swalsh@waverley.nsw.edu.au
We are slowly rebuilding stock levels and are pleased to be able to offer lots more items for sale. Email us to check on stock and size availability.
Unfortunately, currently we don’t have any rain jackets in stock.
Email us to check size and stock availability. clothingpool@waverley.nsw.edu.au
If your son has outgrown his uniform, please consider donating it to the Secondhand Clothing Pool. This provides someone else with the opportunity to purchase a secondhand uniform well below the new price, whilst at the same time, raising funds for the College through the Parents’ Association.
The Secondhand Clothing Pool will gladly accept the donation of all clean and wearable current uniform items for resale. There is a $30 ‘buy back scheme’ for the donation of Blazers and All Weather Jackets in excellent condition.
Email us for more information or visit us on Monday mornings or Wednesday afternoons.
At the Senior School campus reception in the blue Secondhand Clothing Pool donation box. (If leaving Blazers and All Weather Jackets, please include name and phone number inside the bag, and we will contact you to arrange ‘buy-back.’)
For this term we will be open both Mondays 8:30-9:30am and Wednesdays 2:30-3:30pm.
For more information on stock availability or to make an appointment, please email the Secondhand Clothing Pool.
E: clothingpool@waverley.nsw.edu.au
P: (02) 9369 0703 — please leave a voicemail, and one of our volunteers will get back to you.
You will find us in the main building on Birrell Street. Enter via the Senior School campus reception, and take the lift to Level 3. The Secondhand Clothing Pool is next door to the Uniform Shop.
Mondays, 8:30am-9:30am and Wednesdays, 2:30-3:30pm.
Camille and Kirsten
Secondhand Clothing Pool Coordinators
E: clothingpool@waverley.nsw.edu.au
This is the blue Secondhand Clothing Pool donation box located in Senior School Reception
Last week, our Year 12 students were privileged to participate in a wonderful formation experience during their House retreats. These retreats took place at four different venues across New South Wales:
Below you can read variety of reflections on these retreats from both staff and students.
A retreat experience at Waverley draws on the four EREA touchstones, as such was witnessed on Year 12 Retreat 2022: liberating the minds of young men through deep reflection, bridging life stories with the Gospel, ensuring inclusivity and respect for every young man in attendance, and educating about the importance of justice and solidarity that is learnt through lived experience.
As a new teacher at Waverley, I was privileged to attend the Year 12 Retreat. It was vital I built a strong foundation early on with the students, in which I earned trust by sharing my own story, listening to their stories, offering a safe place for open and honest dialogue, and ensuring there were plenty of laughs.
Highlights included small group discussions, affirmations, +3 – 3, warm-ups involving balloons, and the highly-competitive ping pong championships during free time. And who could forget mud footy. Witnessing the boys in action, harnessing their gifts and sharing these with everyone else, was incredibly powerful.
This unique retreat experience offers all students in their final year, the opportunity to strengthen existing relationships, and make new ones, with a focus on the individual and their life story – i.e. who am I? Who makes me who I am? Who do I want to be? I won’t forget my first Year 12 retreat at Waverley – what a truly awesome experience it was!
As a group, we reflected on the year ahead, as well as the plans for our future. Some activities that Tevlin and Brennan were involved in were affirmations of our peers and ‘ice breakers.’ These experiences broke down the social walls for both classmates and teachers, which inevitably brought us closer together throughout our time.
I also was able to reflect on my years of schooling and the goals I wish to achieve throughout my last year at Waverley. Overall, I personally created stronger friendships with both students and teachers, solidifying bonds for years to come.
During the retreat, we completed a wide range of activities within our small and larger groups, which encouraged me to talk and form relationships with people that I hadn’t connected with before.
In addition, it made me explore my existing relationships and further develop my understanding of my relationship with God and others. All in all, I had a wonderful time away, and enjoyed getting to understand myself and my year group more deeply.
Thank you to all the staff who made this experience possible, and to all the students for their enthusiastic participation. It was indeed a pleasure to see all our Year 12s so authentically engaged.
Ms Suzanne Walsh
Director of Identity & Student Formation
E: swalsh@waverley.nsw.edu.au
Our Year 11 students have been keeping busy this term actively engaged in their Community Service placements. The students volunteer to attend a number of not-for-profit organisations in our local community, as part of the College’s Social Justice initiatives. The Year 11 program runs from Term 1 through to the end of Term 3.
Currently, our Year 11 students work in two community volunteer placements per year for a period of three weeks each. It is wonderful to see so many students willing to get involved, with many students opting to attend more than their requirement.
COVID-19 restrictions have limited the number of organisations involved this year, and we are grateful for the organisations below that have been able to accept our students:
Community Service Learning at Windgap Manhattan Bowling
Community Service Learning at Windgap Manhattan Bowling
Community Service Learning at Windgap Manhattan Bowling
A special thank you also to the Waverley staff who assist with this program throughout the year; Mrs Cooper, Ms Walsh, Mrs Metros and Ms Toscano.
If you would like any further information about our Social Justice initiatives, have further ideas, or would like to share your thoughts, please feel free to email Ms Maakrun.
Ms Marie-Anne Maakrun
Assistant Director Identity & Student Formation
E: mmaakrun@waverley.nsw.edu.au
This week, Year 11 Hospitality students enjoyed a fun prac creating ‘monster milkshakes.’
The emphasis was on creativity, presentation, safety and hygiene.
The students had a year’s worth of sugar in one drink!
Fynn Weston and Xavier Quinn
Hamish Kelly, Zion Poitaha, Oscar Stanton-Green
Ms Bev McCarthy
TAS/VET Teacher
E: bmccarthy@waverley.nsw.edu.au
On Tuesday, 29 March, myself and five members of the Students of the World Ecology Group (SOTWEG) were accompanied by Ms Sutcliffe to St Clare’s College to meet their Environmental Committee.
Inspired by Mr Brennan’s desire for increased collaboration between Waverley and the local girls’ schools, I reached out to St Clare’s a few weeks ago to see if they:
Fortunately for us, the answers to both these questions was “yes.” I was put in contact with Mr Burden, their head of Ecology, and, after a quick phone call, made plans to meet up in person.
Once we arrived at St Clare’s, it was clear that everyone involved was really enthusiastic. After we gave each other a brief rundown on who we were, such as how long SOTWEG has been running (since 2020), and the current and future projects we are working on, it became apparent that we had the similar objective of reducing the amount of waste and litter at our schools.
2021 Waste Management Audit – Waverley’s Students of the World Ecology Group
At the end of the meeting, we finished with plans to meet up again and to hopefully attend a workshop in Term 2 hosted by NetNada – a sustainability company St Clare’s are currently working with.
This was a fabulous opportunity for myself, members of SOTWEG, and Ms Sutcliffe to gain new perspectives, ideas and plans on how to improve the waste management situation at our College. It was great to meet and talk with people who are just as interested in Ecology as we are, and the girls’ insight was greatly appreciated.
Finally, a massive thank you to St Clare’s for hosting us and for giving us a room with really nice chairs!
P.S Just a friendly reminder: please put your rubbish in the (correct) bin.
Student author James Peate (Year 9)
Member of the Students of the World Ecology Group (SOWEG)
Ms Rebecca Sutcliffe
Ecology Coordinator and Geography Teacher
E: rsutcliffe@waverley.nsw.edu.au
*Please wear a mask when coming into the shop as per current College policy.
A big thank you to all parents who have generously donated their sons’ outgrown uniforms to the Secondhand Clothing Pool.
This provides someone else with the opportunity to purchase a secondhand uniform well below the new price, whilst at the same time, raising funds for the College through the Parents’ Association.
We are steadily rebuilding stock levels and are so pleased to be able to offer some more items for sale. These are mostly academic uniform items with very few co-curricular uniforms yet.
Email us to check on stock or pop in Monday morning.
The Secondhand Clothing Pool will gladly accept the donation of all clean and wearable current uniform items for resale. There is a $30 ‘buy back scheme’ for the donation of Blazers and All Weather Jackets in excellent condition.
At the Senior School campus reception in the designated Secondhand Clothing Pool donation box (courtesy of our fabulous Campus Maintenance Team).
If leaving Blazers and All Weather Jackets, you may include name and phone number inside the bag, and we can contact you to arrange “buy-back” if appropriate.
Unfortunately, we don’t have any rain jackets in stock.
We do have a range of good quality academic shirts available, and in addition, we have:
For more information on stock availability or to make an appointment, please email the Secondhand Clothing Pool: clothingpool@waverley.nsw.edu.au
Phone: (02) 9369 0703 — please leave a voicemail, and one of our volunteers will get back to you.
You will find us in the main building on Birrell Street. Enter via the Senior School campus reception, and take the lift to Level 3. The Secondhand Clothing Pool is next door to the Uniform Shop (turn right when stepping out of the lift on the uniform shop side).
Kirsten and Camille
Secondhand Clothing Pool Coordinators
E: clothingpool@waverley.nsw.edu.au
P: (02) 9369 0703
Last Friday, we enjoyed our Big Brother Little Brother Gathering with Years 5 and 10. It was great to see the interaction of the students right from the start.
We had a BBQ first and then moved onto Bondi Beach for games and anti-bullying photos.
The conversations and enjoyment that followed were wonderful to see and I would especially like to thank all the Heads of House and Year 5 teachers for helping facilitate this event.
These students will have a range of opportunities throughout the remainder of the year to foster this valuable relationship.
Ms Suzanne Walsh
Director of Identity and Student Formation
E: swalsh@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.
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