Pastors' News
Hey School family,
As chaplains we have been excited to see all of our students slowly coming back to our campus - We have missed you guys!
If you have not been able to tell, we have had a lot of fun creating online chapel videos and it seems that we have added a new member to our chaplaincy team by the name of Pastor Chicken!
We are so looking forward to the day when we can all be together in one chapel program, but until then we will continue to reach out with videos, phone calls and post outs.
This weekend, people who have never been here, and those who don't have any students attending our School will be given the opportunity to donate to the School during our online church services. Seventh-day Adventist Churches from Wollongong in the south, Blue Mountains in the west, to the Islands of Lord Howe & Norfolk and every suburb where our churches are located here in Sydney, will take up a special offering for Wahroonga Adventist School Scholarship Fund (done online while live-streaming our church services via Egiving). This provides our School with the ability to offer families help that may be struggling financially, and lacking confidence that they can keep their children at our school in times of trouble or be given the opportunity to enrol their children in Christian Education. The Seventh-day Adventist Church members have always held the belief that their schools should always be available to everybody looking for great Christian Education regardless of their financial situations.
To understand the commitment of our churches to this Scholarship Fund and to see the video Wahroonga School made for this weekends church services please see below.
There is no obligation for you to give, but you may also feel that you would like to give to this scholarship fund. Please follow the links to give in the video or contact the school office.
Blessings
The Chaplaincy Team
Whole School News
Our new multi-sport courts are now complete and the approvals will be through soon... we're looking forward to having the students enjoy this new facility!
Whole School Wellbeing
The transition to remote learning and then progressive return back to face-to-face learning has been challenging for many students and families. Uncertainty is often accompanied by heightened anxieties, and it’s common for parents to feel the brunt of children’s distress because families are typically the primary safe-harbours for children. While increased difficulties are…well, just more difficult… please know that you are not alone, that increased difficulties are somewhat expected and normal at a time like this, and that most children are naturally very resilient!
To help with the transition back to school, the wellbeing team have been visiting each class to facilitate conversations about the differences and difficulties students have experienced with COVID-19, social distancing, remote learning and now transitioning back to school. Acknowledging things that are different and/or difficult is the first part of an ongoing conversation to help students recalibrate and clarify goals, strengths and values, and place this experience into a personal and collective narrative that is hopeful and meaningful.
With restrictions beginning to ease, we are cautiously starting to plan for camps and experiential learning opportunities in Term 3 and 4. These events are often the highlight of students school experience, and they form an integral part of the schools’ Wellbeing strategy. We don’t want any students to miss out on these enriching experiences, and subject to ongoing health advice and availabilities, we are working to reschedule the Term 1 and 2 events that were postponed into Terms 3 and 4.
New SchoolTV Special Reports have been released focussing on:
• Primary Student Wellbeing: https://wahroonga-adventist.schooltv.me/wellbeing_news/special-report-wellbeing-checklist-primary
• Secondary Student Wellbeing: https://wahroonga-adventist.schooltv.me/wellbeing_news/special-report-wellbeing-checklist-secondary
• Transitioning back to School: https://wahroonga-adventist.schooltv.me/wellbeing_news/special-report-coronavirus-transition-back
These SchoolTV resources provide excellent information and advice to parents on supporting your children’s emotional and psychological development.
A wide range of other wellbeing and support resources for primary students, secondary students, and parents is available on the Wahroonga Adventist School Wellbeing webpage, including referral and consent forms for school counselling: https://www.wahroonga-adventist.com/wellbeing
Junior School News
A Note from Mrs Deppeler...
It has been wonderful to see all the students start to come back to school this week. There were lots of happy faces and students eager to see their teachers and friends. The school grounds have been a very different place without all the students over the past few weeks and months. I hope those who are still learning remotely are enjoying the experience and the extra time that you have with your parents. We miss you all and look forward to seeing you back at school in week 5.
As many of you know, I have been providing a weekly challenge for the students in their seesaw account. The responses from the students have been outstanding. A big thank you to all the parents who have provided assistance for the students in creating some amazing work for the Challenges.
I will be continuing to post a new challenge each week into your child’s learning journals in seesaw. These challenges are not compulsory and are additional to any work set by your child’s teacher. Once completed, I ask that you please upload and post to Mrs Deppeler's Weekly Challenge folder on your child’s class homeroom page.
“It’s not a box” Challenge
This week’s challenge requires you to find an empty box at home (big or small). You need to think about what the box could be for example a robot, a car or a treasure chest. Use pencils, textas or other craft items to complete your creation. I look forward to seeing what you come up with. See your learning journal in Seesaw for more details.
Seesaw
Seesaw has been an amazing way for teachers and students to connect over the past few weeks and months. We would like to continue to use Seesaw as a tool for students to share their learning at school with you at home. Over the next few weeks your child’s teacher will be sending you an invite to connect as a family member to your child’s learning journal. If you do not receive an invitation after a few weeks, please contact your child’s teacher. As a parent, you will be able to see what they have been learning at school and communicate with your child’s teacher. You will only be able to view your child’s account. Multiple student accounts can also be added to your family account.
Kindy - Helping our Year 11 Business Study Students!
The 11 Business Studies class recently formed Paper Plane Businesses, integrating their skills of management and production. Each business unit then took their product to the Kindy class to survey customer opinion and for testing.
Here’s what the consumers had to say:
I liked the red paper plane best because it was fast – Elke
I liked the purple paper plane because it went the “far-est” two times – Evie
I liked the green paper plane because it went the furthest and flew straight – Alex
Written by Jax R
Year 2 - The Students Point of View
With online learning, slowly finishing and classrooms filling again, I thought I would ask the students what they liked about online learning and school learning.
Eliza said “I like school learning more than home learning because I get to see my friends and teachers. I do like home learning, because I get to see my family”.
Sam said “I love home learning because my little brother had to get up before me to go to his Teams Meeting!”
Harper thought that home learning was great because she got to be with her mum, but she liked school because she got to see her friends!
Elijah recalled that he didn’t need to get up early when he was online learning, but he loved coming to school to spend time with his friends.
Charlie liked that he could go on to the next thing, by himself, when he did online learning, but he didn’t like it that his friends were at home and he couldn’t see them.
Here’s to online learning and school learning! There’s a silver lining in every cloud and a rainbow after every shower.
Mrs Mowbray - 2M
Bonjour!
It is fantastique to have so many beautiful children back at school! I missed you all! French lessons were so quiet without the fun and frivolity of our lovely little learners! We got straight back into it yesterday with revising our body parts in french. Hilarious!
It was magnifique to see everyone enjoying the labelling task! Merci for your enthusiasm and pure joy at finally being able to learn face to face.
Looking forward to next week as we continue to discover together! I hope you enjoy the photos!
❤️Madame Spencer
Upcoming Junior School Events
Years 1 to 4 - Combined Schools Day of Worship
We are excited to advise that we are still moving forward with the Combined Schools Day of Worship on Wednesday, 3 June 2020 for Stages 1 & 2 (Years 1-4). Given our current global situation, the Chaplains have arranged for the program to be uploaded for each school to view.
Semester 1 Reports
Due to the COVID-19 Pandemic, Junior School reports for Semester 1 will be sent home by the end of week 1, term 3. This decision was made to enable teachers to have the opportunity to complete assessments for each child, once students return to school in week 5. Please keep in mind the following;
“Due to the Covid-19 Pandemic, Semester 1 reports may not be a true reflection of your child’s skills and abilities at this time but will provide you with an indication as to your child’s strengths and potential areas for future growth.”
Remote Learning
Junior School teachers will continue to provide remote learning opportunities for students who are required to stay at home due to COVID-19, however our focus will need to return to face to face learning now that the majority of our students are back at school in week 5.
Junior School Challenge Photos
Over the past few weeks Junior School students have had the opportunity to participate in a variety of challenges. Below are some of the photos from the challenges.
Newspaper Challenge: Students had to use 6 sheets of newspaper to create a tower that would hold a beanie toy.
Art Challenge: Create a picture of a place they would like to go for a holiday.
Middle & Senior School News
Thank you Miss Carter - Year 5 Work Placement
Miss Marlie Carter has been working in 5K in fulfilment of her final year placement. Year 5 has thoroughly enjoyed seeing her face on our Teams video meetings and receiving constructive comments on their work during their online learning last term and the first week of Term 2. Her positivity and dedication to the learning of our Year 5 students has been uplifting during the challenges of online learning. This week, we have enjoyed her face-to-face lessons, shared our thanks and said goodbye to Miss Carter. We wish her all the best for her teaching career and future aspirations.
Year 10 Career Testing
Year 10 students participated in initial career profiling, which took place at School on Wednesday 19th May. Students spent 4 hours completing 10 different tasks.
Students who missed the session can complete their profiling online.
The tests assessed a variety of areas which are important in Career selection including:
• Abstract Reasoning
• Verbal Reasoning
• Numerical Reasoning
• Attention to Detail
• Physical Reasoning
• Spatial Reasoning
Following testing, each student’s results will be scored and analysed. An individualised, full-colour report will be prepared for each student. It will present the student's results in each area and give a list of career areas in which they are interested and for which the results indicate they are suited.
Students & Parents are invited to participate in a 30-minute individual interview with a Career Avenues Counsellor, to review the results from the Career Profiling and discuss the possible subject choices for both the Preliminary and HSC courses. This interview is strongly encouraged.
Families choosing to participate will be required to complete the Expression of Interest form online and make payment of $50 to the office before 5 June.
Interviews: Monday 22 June – Wednesday 24 June
Expression of Interest Closing Date: Friday 5 June
Year 11 Business Studies - Paper Plane Business
The 11 Business Studies class recently formed Paper Plane Businesses, integrating their skills of management and production. Each business unit then took their product to the Kindy class to survey customer opinion and for testing.
“This was an insightful experience learning about target markets, engaging with a younger demographic and managing inputs to maximise outputs and thus consumer satisfaction”. – Joshua Taylor, Michael Mospan and Lachlan Willis (Year 11 students)
Here’s what the consumers had to say:
I liked the red paper plane best because it was fast – Elke
I liked the purple paper plane because it went the “far-est” two times – Evie
I liked the green paper plane because it went the furthest and flew straight – Alex
Upcoming Middle & Senior School Events
Invictus Welcome/Serve Breakfast - Years 7 & 10
Our Year 7 and 10 Invictus Memory Event – the Welcome/Serve Breakfast will be taking place on Monday 1st to Wednesday 3rd June. Each year our Year 10 students host a breakfast at school for the Year 7 students to officially welcome them into the Invictus Wellbeing Program. Across three days, the Year 7 homeroom classes will be served a delicious hot breakfast during homeroom period, and be gifted a special journal with a personalised reflection from a Year 10 student about highlights from their journey though the Invictus Wellbeing Program over the last 4 years. Particular details of this event will be sent out to parents of students in Years 7 and 10 next week.
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Term Dates for 2020
- Term 1- Tuesday 28th January 2020 - Thursday 9th April 2020
- Term 2 - Monday 27th April 2020 - Friday 3rd July 2020
- Term 3 -Thursday 23rd July 2020 - Friday 25th September 2020
- Term 4 - Monday 12th October 2020 - Thursday 10th December 2020
Calendar of Upcoming Events
Please click on the link below to access our calendar of upcoming events.
Library News
Premier’s Reading Challenge
Congratulations to Emma D (4R), Evie B (KA), Madeline B (2B), Harry A (KA), Hugo B (KA), Lilly S (1L), Jemima S (3K), Samarth P (4R), Rhea K (5C), David L (5C), Katie M (8W), Callum P (4R), Jessica S (9A), Sophia S (9A), Madeline P (6J), Peyton S (7A), and Sean P (1L) who have all finished the Premier’s Reading Challenge. Awesome effort!
The Premier’s Reading Challenge team have made some minor changes for this year’s challenge to ensure all participants are able to finish despite the Covid-19 interruption. Students can now enter 10 free choice books (use the codes on the PRC home page to enter the bonus 5 books); books that are read collaboratively can be entered across all levels – ie. books read by a parent/teacher either face to face or online can be added; and, if students are unable to complete the challenge this year their cumulative awards will not be affected.
The Premier’s Reading Challenge does not finish until the end of August so there is still plenty of time to complete it. Happy Reading!!
Overdue Books
We currently have many overdue library books due to students being offsite and therefore not having the opportunity to return them. Many of the High School students also still have their Term 1 English novels to return as well. Now that students are returning to school it would be greatly appreciated if these books could be returned as soon as possible. To check and see if your children have books to return please log on to their library records by going to the library WebApp (bit.ly/waslibrary) and following the instructions on the home page to access your child’s records. Our library does not charge fees for overdue books, however a replacement fee of $25 per book is required if books are lost or irreparably damage.
Enchanted Forest Book Fair and Colouring-in Winners
A big thank you to those who supported our Enchanted Forest Book Fair that took place in Week 9 of Term 1. Even though the Covid-19 lockdown did hamper the running of our Book Fair, and parents were unfortunately unable to visit, we still managed to sell almost $2,500 worth of stock giving us a commission of $665 which was spent on new books and resources for our library.
Thank you also to all those wonderful students who entered our Enchanted Forest Colouring-in Competition. The winners for each are category are:
P/K: Annabelle J (KA)
Yr 1/2: Jordan Stephenson (2B)
Yr 3/4: Jaz Burgoyne (4R)
Yr 5/6: Joshua N (5K) and Ella Russell (5C)
Please see Mrs Savage in the library to choose your prize. There is a small prize for all other entries too, so if you participated please see Mrs Savage in the library to collect your prize.
Home and School News
Welcome to term 2, it is not the beginning to 2020 we had hoped for or even remotely anticipated. The events we had planned have understandably been put on hold due to the current restrictions in place with Covid 19. We hope to either undertake some of these social events or parent master classes later in the year.
We are working on some ideas to support and connect our WAS community while still abiding by current social restriction laws......so watch this space.
At the end of term 1 the Home and School Committee organised on behalf of the School community some fruit baskets, Easter Eggs and some free coffees at the local Cafes to support our hard working teachers, administrative staff and chaplaincy team. They have been doing an outstanding job to educate our children on line and ensure the transition back to school campus goes smoothly and with reduced risk. Thank you Wahroonga Adventist School staff.
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Canteen
Bits and Pieces