From Olivia Kite, Head of House Quinn
Farewell to Year 12, Class of 2018
Term 3 sees the end of an extraordinary journey for Year 12 Quinn students. Each journey has been shaped differently by challenges, resilience, success, friendship, maturity and leadership. However, despite the different journey each student took to get to graduation, their contributions to the College and to Quinn House have been outstanding.
Thank you to Quinn House mentors for all their support of our Year 12 students throughout their final year at the College. Your support, guidance and encouragement has not gone unnoticed and is invaluable to each boy’s success.
Quinn House would like to wish all of our Year 12 students every success in their HSC Examinations and the best of luck in all their future endeavours.
Red Earth
For many Year 9 and Year 10 students, the first week of Term 3 was spent exploring, discovering and appreciating Aboriginal culture. 19 students travelled to Far North Queensland and 20 students travelled Northern Territory to immerse themselves in remote Aboriginal communities. Students took the opportunity to sit down with community Elders to hear their stories, learn about their history and hopes for the future, and the challenges associated with ensuring their culture and way of life is passed down to the next generation in an ever evolving and modern world.
Thank you to Richard Bryant, Gemma Brown and Mr Leddie who lead groups to these remote communities and contributed to such an enjoyable and rewarding experience for our students.
Year 9 Camp
In Week 7 of the term, Year 9 travelled to Camp Somerset to immerse themselves in an outdoor learning experience. This year, Waverley aligned the outdoor program with each House group. Students carried House flags and wore bandanas to represent their House spirit and pride. The camp was both physically and mentally challenging and required the boys to work together as a team. Thank you to all the teachers who volunteered their time away from their families to attend the camp and help make it such a great success.
On the back of Year 9 Camp, Waverley College hosted their first Father-Son Camp at Somerset. This was a wonderful opportunity for fathers and son’s to spend quality time together bonding over physical activities, around campfires and shared meals cooked by the boys.
Year 10 Dinner Dance
Friday 31st of August, saw Year 10 students put on their best suits and dust off their dancing shoes for the Year 10 Dinner Dance. The night was a wonderful success with both students and their partners dancing the night away while cruising around Sydney Harbour.
CAS Athletics
2018 was the year of the 89th Annual CAS Athletics Competition. Students from all year groups threw, ran and jumped their way onto the CAS team who competed at the Sydney Olympic Athletics Centre last Thursday night. Congratulations to every boy who competed on the night and a special mention to the following Quinn House students who placed in their events:
Xavier Schofield: U13’s Hurdles
Riley Vidulich: 1st 14’s High Jump (team result with Dane Towns)
Aaron Dimovitch: 3rd 15’s 100m Championship
Kurt Kress: 3rd 14’s 800m Championship, 3rd, 1500m Championship
Finn McLean: 3rd 16’s 800m Championship
Jack Hardwick-Owen: 1st Open’s Long Jump, 1st Opens 100m, 1st Opens 200m, 3rd Open’s High Jump (team result)
Well done to the following Quinn students who were also a part of the CAS Team:
Kiva Gwynne, Michael Browning, Tom Clothier, Hugh Clothier, Ryan Harper, Jackson Cunningham and William Baker.
Upcoming Walgett Immersion
Waverley’s annual Walgett Immersion will take place in Week 3 with Year 10 Quinn students travelling to Walgett in North Western NSW to take part in a cultural immersion experience. The main purpose of the trip is to visit and assist students at St Joseph’s Catholic Primary School whilst also exploring the culture and history of the surrounding area of Lightning Ridge.
Exchange Student
Quinn House hosted Grant Graze from Kearsney College, South Africa. Below is Grant’s speech detailing his time in Australia and at the College.
“I arrived in Australia unsure of what my time here would be like, as a 16 year-old boy traveling to a foreign country alone, It seemed very daunting. After a 11- hour flight to Perth, I was then told my plane to Sydney would be delayed for 14 hours. The time I had at Perth gave me time to prepare myself for the Journey I had here. After a tough first week due to various reasons, like the Jetlag and just trying to get used to the School’s routine, I soon settled in to the life of a Waverley College boy.
Making mates and trying to get involved in every aspect the school offered was a highlight of my time here. Playing a few rugby games with the boys was particularly enjoyable. Staying at a host family at first was a bit unfamiliar to me. After being a boarder all my years at High school being a day boy was a bit weird to me and took some time to get used to. Not waking up at school and heading straight to the showers at 6 am in the morning felt a bit different, although waking up at 7:30 isn’t too bad.
I soon realised the schooling in Australia is a little different to ours back home. Over here the schools rely on technology whereas back home we do everything in books and don’t even have Laptops. I came here thinking I was quite good with technology, this proved to be false when I saw what some boys were doing with their computers.
The subjects Waverley offers are also a bit different to the ones my school offers. For example we do not have PE as a subject nor Food tech or Wood Tech as they are seen as unacademic subjects back home. I decided to explore a bit and take subjects I wouldn’t have the opportunity to take back home. I decided on Food Tech and Wood tech, and it’s safe to say I’m the worst cook Waverley has ever seen.
Being able to explore Sydney on the weekends was a favourite of mine. Seeing such iconic things like the Opera house, Harbour Bridge, Bondi beach and others. Another enjoyable moment was doing the Sydney bridge Climb, seeing the city from up there was unreal. I also had the privilege of visiting the SCG, although I was a bit surprised not to see any sandpaper in them. Experiencing a different culture and getting to know the life of an Australian was unreal, you guys are definitely lucky to live in such a beautiful place.
After a term here at Waverley college I’ve had the opportunity to see what the life of an Australian is like. To experience a unique way of life that is second to none. To experience such a diverse and unique culture that really made me realise how special this place is. It’s given me the opportunity to see what life away from home can be like and how different each part of the world is. I’ve made some life-long mates while I’ve been here and I look forward to coming back here one day.
My time here in the place you call home has been amazing, experiencing a new environment and seeing how differently you guys live here has been eye-opening experience. I’ve been able to grow as a person and it’s made me realise how unique this experience is. Being able to walk everywhere knowing you’re safe and not worrying about anything has been quite different to me. Being able to take public transport like buses and trains was a new experience for me and I’ve cherished every moment I’ve had here. Its been the best experience of my life.
I would like to thank all the teachers like Mr Kennedy who helped me with my Science and Ms Dee with my English. Also a big thanks to Waverley for giving me this experience, I look forward to seeing the boy who comes to Kearsney next year, and lastly thank you to all the year 10 boys who made me feel welcomed and accepted.”
If you or your son is interested in the Exchange Program to South Africa, please contact Mr. Steve O’Donnell.
Finally, good luck to all of Year 12 in their upcoming HSC and wishing you and your loved ones an enjoyable and restful break.
