Principal's Message
School life has been varied and vibrant over the last two weeks. From the colour of the Visual Arts Showcase to the fun of the Year 10 Commerce Market Day, students have been very active in their learning.
Our Primary musicians entertained us in the Music Showcase and it is wonderful to see the progress that they are making in their chosen instruments and choirs. Thank you to Mrs Miller, Mrs Vuceski and the Music Tutors for your leadership. Likewise, the Visual Arts Exhibition of Years 5-9 demonstrated their creativity across several mediums including ceramics, digital media, paint and pencil. Mrs Trappitt and Ms McCartney have been inspirational in their teaching and one of the Year 12 students has been nominated for the NSW ArtExpress exhibitions, which is a great accomplishment.
The collection of goods for 148 Christmas Hampers for families in need was made possible due to the energy of one of our parents, Jodie, who is the Beyond our School Yard Co-ordinator. A big thank you Jodie, the SRC Coordinators, students and families who supported this initiative and to Year 10’s who packed the Hampers as part of the Invictus Service opportunity.
Another of our parents, Brenden and his wife Suzanne, have worked diligently with our Year 5 and 6 students to create and publish podcasts about a favourite book. Thank you for your vision and creativity in supporting student literacy and voice.
Our Year 12 students were treated to a beautiful vista of Sydney Harbour at their formal in celebration of having completed their HSC year. Thank you to Mrs Stanculescu for coordinating this special memory.
While academic work continues in the classroom there has been quite a variety of learning outside the classroom. From the Secondary Chapel Team leading out in chapel at another school to Year 3 visiting the Ku-ring-gai Wildflower Garden, from Touch Football Gala Days to Business Studies Excursions, the richness of learning at our school is obvious.
As we come towards the end of the year, keep the various presentation ceremonies in your calendar. The Yearbook will be distributed on December 5 at the Primary Presentation Morning and Secondary Presentation Evening, so be sure to prioritise these two events where we celebrate student learning. May God bless you and your family.
Mrs Julia Heise - Principal
Upcoming Events
Christmas Door Competition
As we head into the Christmas period each class will be decorating their door with a Christmas theme and be in with a chance to win a prize for their efforts. We look forward to seeing all of the interesting Christmas creations!
Calendar of Upcoming School Events
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
Christmas Hampers for Fusion
One hundred and forty eight bursting Christmas Hampers are packed and waiting to be delivered to Fusion Sydney North food programs. An enormous thank you to all the families that donated food and allowed your children to raid the pantry. The mammoth task of sorting donations was made simple with so many student helpers organising their own contributions. Donations from The South Pacific Division Office and the Sydney Adventist Hospital were generously added to ours and together we have created hampers that will bless and brighten many homes at Christmas time.
Thank you to the SRC for promoting this event and to the Year 10 students, whilst completing their service component for Invictus, sorted the extra food collections and packed the hampers beautifully. Thank you to all the families, students and staff involved in the collection of the Christmas Hampers. It brings such joy to see our value of compassion come alive. The Littlest members of our community, our Prep students, brought in the most bags followed by our Kindy year group.
Fusion extends their thanks to the school community on behalf of the families receiving these hampers.
Jodie L - a collaboration between Beyond our School Yard (Home & School) and the Student Representative Council (SRC)
CAPA Visual Arts Exhibition
On Tuesday night the CAPA department showcased talent from Primary Music students, as well as artworks from Visual Arts students from Year 5 to Year 9. Students were proud to exhibit their work, with Year 5 and 6 displaying their recent mythical creature sculptures and Vivid Sydney landscapes. Year 7 displayed their one-point perspective landscapes and graffiti collages. Year 8 displayed their recent lino reduction prints and Archibald portraits of their teachers and Year 8 Digital Media displayed their recent logo and branding design. Year 9 were proud to exhibit their recent ceramics art pieces as well as their Visual Arts Process Diaries, showing their work throughout the year. It was so exciting to see the works displayed together in the exhibition gallery. Well done to all of the students involved!
Mrs Emmeline Trappitt - Visual Arts & Digital Media Teacher & Miss Caitlin McCartney - Visual Arts & English Teacher
Commerce Students Market Day
Today Year 10 Commerce students held a market day with students setting up their own 'business' selling products such as hot chips, desserts, a hair colouring service and toffees. This activity offered the students a real life application for their unit on Business and gives them the practical experience of owning a business. With music creating a festive vibe all the students enjoyed the novelty of buying food, colouring their hair and buying from the market stalls.
In addition to learning about business the students are beginning their fundraising for the 2024 Year 11 Service trip with 10% of their profits being donated.
Nikki McTernan - Commerce Teacher
Primary School News
Primary Music Evening
Last Tuesday evening we held our annual Primary Music Night. The evening showcased the musical talents of students from Prep to Year 6. We were treated to a variety of musical performances, from our Prep to Year 2 choir reminding us to be thankful for God's goodness to our string orchestra performing Vivaldi and our concert band playing famous tunes by Queen. It was a wonderful to have our students come and work together to share the joy of music!
Speeches for 2024 Captains and Prefects
Today, the Year 5 applicants for the positions of Primary Captain and Prefects for 2024, presented their speeches. Each applicant spoke about the importance of responsibility in being an effective leader. All of the applicants would make an excellent leader and demonstrate our school values. I wish to thank them for being willing to take on the challenge of a leadership role. The Primary Captains and Prefects will be announced at the Primary Presentation Morning.
Year 2 Science
This term in Science, Year 2 have been learning about forces and motion. This week, we designed and created our own parachutes based on the original ideas of inventor and artist Leonardo Da Vinci. We had fun testing them off the balcony and recording our results. It was wonderful to see all the designs students came up with.
Georgia Ah-You - Year 2 Teacher
Year 3 Excursion to Ku-ring-gai National Park
Year 3 students have been learning about National Parks and their significant importance in protecting native wildlife and native plants went on an excursion to Ku-ring-gai National Park. We are . We got to experience nature up close and personal, learnt so much and it was a wonderful day!
Mrs Adele Lorentz, Mrs Coralee Kemp, Miss Hannah Lonsdale and Mrs Hayley Carnie - Year 3 Teachers
NSW ICAS Spelling Bee
Designed to recognise and reward academic excellence, every year over 10 million students from around the globe participate in ICAS Assessments. This year Ryan Liang from Year 5 placed first in NSW in the ICAS Spelling Bee, receiving a gold medal for his efforts. The competition tests a variety of different words organised by the four types of spelling knowledge and contexts. Ryan’s advice is to look out for those silent letters, they can be tricky. Well done Ryan for your great achievement!
Secondary School News
Chosen for Art Express
In exciting news one of our Year 12 HSC Visual Art Students, Charlotte H, has been nominated for ArtExpress. While this is not a guarantee that her body of work will be exhibited in ArtExpress, it is a high honour to be nominated. Congratulations also to Miss Caitlin McCartney who has mentored Charlotte as she created and worked on her major work.
Year 12 Formal
A stunning harbour view in the early evening was the backdrop for our Year 12 students to celebrate their achievements and the end of their school journey. They took photos in the beautiful light of early evening, enjoyed some beautiful food along with speeches at their last formal event. You all looked stunning on your special night.
Biodiversity Month
During Biodiversity Month, our Year 9 students participated in real-world citizen science, assisting iNaturalist in recording as many species in our local ecosystem as possible. Our school achieved second place for the most observations, with one of our Year 9 students winning an award. Congratulations to Charlie Harrison, who was awarded the 'Pretty as a Picture' award for his stunning photo of a Fairy Primrose (Primila malacoides). His prize was a brand-new Samsung Galaxy mobile phone! We look forward to seeing all the great science photos you will take with your new phone.
Year 7 Art
This week Year 7 were introduced to technical still life drawings. They have progressed over this term to learn about perspective, shading and shapes which have allowed them to create realistic drawings. The students were very proud of the work they have done so far.
Mrs Emmeline Trappitt - Visual Arts & Digital Media Teacher & Miss Caitlin McCartney - Visual Arts & English Teacher
Year 11 Business Studies Excursion
Year 11 Business Studies students recently visited Sanitarium Health Foods where they gained firsthand knowledge of the inner workings of producing Australia’s favourite breakfast foods! Next was The Chocolate Factory where they enjoyed samples of the products while touring the boutique manufacturing facilities as well as making their own personalised chocolate bar! These hands-on experiences foster a deeper understanding of business operations, large and small.
Mrs Nikki McTernan - HSIE Teacher
Invitation only Piano Masterclass
Our Year 7 students, Summer and Sunny, were invited to join renowned Australian pianist and music educator, Professor Gerard Willems AM, for his piano masterclass. Gerard is the first Australian pianist to record the complete series of Beethoven's piano sonatas, which was the largest classical music recording project ever undertaken in Australia. Well done Summer and Sunny on your achievement and prestigious invitation to participate in this class.
High School Sports
CSSA Zone Touch Football Gala Day
On Tuesday 14 of November, our touch footballs teams competed in the CSSA North Met Zone Gala Day. The teams have been training during morning and sport sessions leading up to this day, and were rewarded with some great experiences.
Our Junior Boys and Junior Girls teams were full of new students to the game and displayed amazing energy and camaraderie throughout the day. Although they did not achieve the result we hoped for, they still competed to the best of their ability.
The Open Girls team came up against high-quality and experienced touch teams and fell short of the victory in a few of the games. They were able to secure a draw against Pacific Hills and continued to display quality teamwork skills.
Our Senior boys were highly competitive and tied with both Oxford Falls and Northern Beaches. They were able to secure a win against Pacific Hills but fell short against Covenant Christian. They qualified for the 3rd place game and were able to come out victorious.
All our touch teams should be very proud of their efforts today as we continue to show big improvements in the sporting competitions against our Zone schools!
Honourable Mentions
On the 12th of November Tiffany L (7S) attended the Women's Gymnastics State Levels Championships 2023. She competed Vault, Bars, Beam and Floor and achieved a Gold banding. Congratulations Tiffany on this amazing achievement!
Mr Ignatius Ah-You - Secondary Sports Coordinator
Library News
Borrowing has now finished
Please note that borrowing from the library has now finished for this year. If your child has overdue loans or lost library books it is now time to either return these copies or provide a replacement copy of the missing book. A replacement fee of $25 per book will be added to school accounts for all unresolved loans at the end of the year.
If you are unsure whether your child has any overdue books, please log on to the Library WebApp via the link below or web address, bit.ly/waslibrary, and follow the instructions on the home page to access your child’s library records.
‘Library Bag’ Podcasts
Years 5 and 6 have now finished editing their ‘Library Bag’ podcasts using the BandLab App and the podcasts are having their final professional edit before being broadcast. We look forward to hearing the finished podcasts very soon on the Library WebApp.
Thank you to Brenden and Suzanne Lovett for the massive amount of work that has gone into providing this wonderful opportunity for our students.
High School textbook returns
The Year 7-10 hire textbook return will take place in the last week of school. Students will shortly receive lists of the books they need to find, clean, and return to receive a clearance signature. Lost copies will incur a replacement fee of $35 for textbooks and $25 for novels which will be added to their school account.
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.
If your student needs new uniforms before the beginning of next year and you are unable to visit the shop, please order the items you need via Flexischools before the 30 November 2023. Students are expected to return to school in Term 1, 2023 in full summer uniform.
Mrs Kelly Oldfield- Uniform Shop Manager
Home and School
Fusion Christmas Hampers
Home & School would like to sincerely thank Jodie L for her generous contribution of time and effort in facilitating the Christmas Hampers for Fusion. She not only co-ordinated the students on the day along with the SRC teachers but also organised the bags that Coles generously donated to the cause. Thankyou Jodie for your dedication to this project and supporting the SRC in their outreach endeavours.
Join us in 2024
Our meetings have ended for the year however we extend a very warm welcome for next year. Volunteers are the heart of the Home and School and any involvement from our community, small or large, is valued and appreciated. At the commencement of 2024 there will be an opportunity to find out more on what the Home and School both offers the school and how you may like to be involved using the skills that you enjoy using.
Mrs Michelle Roberts - Home and School President (homeandschool@wahroonga.adventist.edu)