Principal's Message
It was a special moment. She touched the wall, turned and smiled having just set a new world record. He sat on the lane ropes, arms held aloft, winning a gold medal. Both winning moments of our Australian swimming team in the current World Aquatics Championships. Our students this week have likewise had some ‘winning moments’.
The Year 5 DaVinci Decathlon Team came 3rd in the Engineering section with hundreds of schools competing. The Primary School Championship Chess Team has made it to the finals and play Sydney Grammar today.
Year 9 and 10 students have qualified for the NSW State Final of the Science and Engineering Challenge. A Year 9 girl won gold in the NSW Metro Short Course Swimming Championship 100m backstroke and a Year 11 student won an essay competition which resulted in a sponsored 2-week residential summer school in Cambridge University studying English Literature.
All of our students are ‘winners’. Not just in the sense of coming first, but in the broader context of stretching themselves and learning. As one of the FIFA World Cup commentators stated after Matilda’s loss to Nigeria, ‘To do well you have to be well’. This applies not just to physical wellness but to emotional wellness and working together to support each other and reach goals. To be ‘life winners’ our vision for each student is that they thrive and grow to serve their community using their unique God-given talents.
Our Year 11 students are doing just that, working together to reach the goal of raising $10 000 to fund the refurbishment of a remote school in Fiji. If you are able to contribute by bringing in cans and bottles for recycling, donating through the GoFundMe page or coming to the Bush Dance on Aug 5 and buying food, that would be appreciated. It would in fact be a ‘winning’ gesture of support for our school community.
May you and your family have a ‘winning’ weekend and I look forward to seeing you at the Bush Dance. God bless.
Mrs Julia Heise - Principal
Upcoming Events
Bush Dance with Peter Dixon & his Band
The Bush Dance is a whole school event so join us for a fun filled evening of laughter, family fun and bush dancing on Saturday the 5th August. Don't miss out on a yummy dinner book your tickets soon! Details below:
We look forward to seeing you at this fun community event.
Kindy Open Morning
If you have a child who is nearly ready for school or know of someone who does then we extend a warm invitation to register for our Kindy Open Morning. All are welcome whether you are a family already in our school or someone who is thinking of enrolling. Invite someone you know!
Bring your child and enjoy morning tea, fun activities led by the Kindy teachers and a presentation covering details of our Kindy program. Please follow link to register.
School Calendar
You can access the list of upcoming School events via the link below. The School Calendar is also available under the Parent Information tab on the School website.
Term Dates for 2023
Please click on the link below to view the school term dates and public holiday information for 2023.
Whole School News
Fundraising for the Year 11 Service Trip to Fiji
Year 11 students have an awesome opportunity to change lives in a remote Adventist Fijian school. We need your help to raise money for building supplies to repair a boys dormitory and other buildings. Every dollar you contribute will directly fund the building costs. Your support will provide a safe environment for students to learn, grow, and thrive.
There will be a number of opportunities during the next few months to participate in fundraising events such as purchasing food at the Barn Dance and buying toasties at school. Look out for details in the newsletter or follow the link below to donate directly.
Congratulations Science and EngineeringTeam!
Wahroonga Adventist School has qualified for the NSW State Final of the Science and Engineering Challenge. The secondary student team will be competing on 24 August at the University of Newcastle. This is a wonderful achievement for the students to be progressing to the state competition. Congrats to the STEM Teachers for supporting the students in their learning!
What is the Science and Engineering Challenge?
The Science and Engineering Challenge (SEC) is a nationwide STEM* outreach program presented by the University of Newcastle in partnership with communities, Rotary clubs, universities and sponsors. Through the SEC, students experience aspects of science and engineering which they would not usually see in their school environment.
da Vinci Decathlon Year 5 & 6
Our Year 5 to Year 11 students teams have done well being challenged with some tricky tasks across the 10 disciplines of: English, Mathematics, Code Breaking, Art & Poetry, Science, Ideation Creative Producers, Cartography and Legacy (General Knowledge) as well as competing against many other schools from across the state. They enjoyed the day and demonstrated excellent team work and integrity.
For the Year 9, 10 and 11 student group there were 800 students participating! What a great event for them to be involved in! Our Year 5 team came third in Engineering! What an achievement!
Primary School News
Primary School Sport
The Women's World Cup has inspired us to start the new term off in a great way with our soccer skill challenge week during our lunch time. We have had 4 days of activities with juggling, shooting, dribbling and passing. It was a great week with the students showing off their skills and learning new drills.
Primary Athletics Carnival
Reminder of our athletics carnival coming up Friday 11th of August. All parents are welcome to come along and cheer on students. A cake stall as a fundraiser for the Year 6 Gift will be available on the day.
Mr Jack Fulton - Primary Sports Coordinator
Secondary School News
Olympic Triathlete visits Year 9
Emma Jeffcoat, an Olympic triathlete visited Yr 9 to speak about her Olympic journey. She talked to the students about how to build resilience, the importance of setting goals and how to find what they are passionate about.
Emma participated in the Women’s Individual Triathlon and placed 26th as well as the inaugural Mixed Team Relay Triathlon where her team placed 9th in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. She is currently injured with a broken ankle, but is hoping to qualify for the 2024 Paris Olympics. Students learnt how they can "Dare to Dream" and were encouraged to get out of their comfort zones and to reach their potential.
High School Sports
Welcome back to Term 3! Another busy term of sport to look forward to for our Wahroonga athletes. Starting with the past week, our primary and secondary students competed in a variety of football (soccer) challenges at lunchtimes in celebration of the FIFA Womens Football World Cup.
A big term for basketball as Coach Jeremiah and our basketball teams prepare and train for a range of competitions, including our CSSA Zone Basketball Gala Day.
Special Mentions
Salani S (Year 9) is one of our superb swimmers who continues to demonstrate a high-level of skill and determination. She has been training rigorously for the upcoming National and International competitions and it showed at the NSW Metro Short Course Championships over the holiday break. She achieved a PB and 1st place in the Women’s 15, 100m Backstroke
Upcoming Events
Mr Ignatius Ah-You - Secondary Sports Coordinator
Library News
Premier’s Reading Challenge
Congratulations to Chloe A (KD), Ishika K (1C), Hosana K (1C), Harry A (3K), Porsha C (3K), Jamie L (3K), Amrit Ghai (4R), Zachary Atkinson (6A), Yugh B (6A), Ava D (6A), Sophia F (6A), Kathleen L (6A), Jordi O (6C), Oliver L (7A), Caitlin M (7A) and Simarjeet G (7W) who have all finished the Premier’s Reading Challenge. Great reading!
PLEASE NOTE: Student access to the Premier’s Reading Challenge website ends on Friday, August 18, so if you haven’t entered your books online there is only 3 weeks left to do so!! As PRC coordinator Mrs Savage has an extra two weeks of access, so if you miss this deadline, please send her a list of the books your child has read, and she can enter them for you (library@wahroonga.adventist.edu.au).
Book Week 2023 ‘Read, Grow, Inspire’
Term Three is an exciting time in the library due to Book Week which runs from August 21 – August 25 (Week 6). This term we will be delving into the Children’s Book Council of Australia (CBCA) Shortlisted Books during our library classes, but our main Book Week events will occur during Weeks 5 and 6. Please note the dates below:
Upcoming Library Events
Mrs Leonie Savage - Librarian
Uniform Shop
Uniform Shop Hours
The uniform Shop is open Thursdays during the school term from 8:30am – 12pm during the school term.
Mrs Meagan Sullivan - Uniform Shop Manager
Home and School
You can find further details about this event at the top our newsletter under Upcoming Events or via the link below. To book tickets simply follow the link below.
Meals with Love
Term 3 Events
Next Meeting
Tuesday 8th August at 7.30pm. All are welcome.
Mrs Michelle Roberts - Home and School President (homeandschool@wahroonga.adventist.edu)