Principal's Message
As the sun shone, sponges of water were thrown and baked goods purchased, all in support of the school wide ADRA Fundraising initiative. It is not every day that you enjoy getting wet at school, but it was a lot of fun and the efforts of the students, parents and staff in running the mufti day stalls and activities was fabulous. A very big thank you to Mrs Jodie Landstra and her team from Beyond the School Yard who worked in collaboration with the SRC Coordinators Miss Kohama, Miss Andrews and Mr Starrett, and the SRC students to make it a wonderful day. The targets have been reached and communities around the world will benefit from the funds raised.
Home and School also ran some fun school community events over the last two weeks – ice skating and dad’s campout. While dad’s campout ending up being an evening due to the very wet weather, it was a great night and I thank Mr Michael Behrens and his team for their leadership. Ice skating last weekend proved to be entertaining with students and gave parents the opportunity to sit and chat. Thank you to Mrs Raelean Goodacre and the Home and School Team for hosting the event.
Celebrations of faith have been a highlight this week for Years 5 to 8 students as they attended the Sydney-wide Day of Worship with fellow students from other Adventist Schools in Sydney. Next week our Year 1 to 4 students will participate in exciting days of worship hosted by the Wahroonga School Chaplains.
Today was the final of the HSC Examinations for our students. I commend each of them for their hard work in completing what is often a stressful period of their lives. We wish them all a relaxing break now and look forward to seeing them at their formal on Monday evening. A very warm thank you to the Year 12 Homeroom teachers, Mrs Stanculescu and Mr Starrett, and all the Year 12 teachers who have dedicated so much of their time and care to this cohort.
Some individual students have made outstanding achievements recently including Katie M who recently competed in the United Nations Voice public speaking competition as a Year 10 student, making it to the semi-final round which will be held at UTS. Tiffany L, Year 6, performed excellently in a Level 4 Gymnastics competition, and Victor K, Year 5, won a Bronze at the NSW Fencing Championships for under 12.
Students throughout the school are busy consolidating learning as secondary students have exams and primary students demonstrate their learning in daily tasks and assessments. We look forward to acknowledging the learning on the presentation morning of 9 December for K-6 and the presentation evening for 7 to 11 on 8 December.
Enjoy reading the highlights of school below and God bless you and your family.
Mrs Julia Heise - Principal
Chaplains' Message
New Life
There's nothing quite like the loving reality that screams joy and wonderment to a new parent than that of starring at a newborn child. I can recall this wonder, as I sat eyes fixed and wondering how on earth do I love this child so much and feel so responsible for the safety, care, and future of this child and yet we have just met! How much more precious to God is this beautiful child, I am in awe, we are humbled, what an amazing honour is new birth!
For God and for people of faith in Jesus, this experience extends to another time, that is through the baptism of a young person or an adult recognising the need for God. This choice and acceptance of new life in Jesus, the joy of new life as the Bible refers to it through baptism, the journey of those who are born of faith in Jesus and baptised in Jesus - this is also a miracle and significant life moment worth celebrating and being in awe of!
Recently students and family from school chose new life through faith in Jesus and were baptised. It brings newness of life and hope to experience this and see it also! Matt 16:16 Jesus said that "Whoever believes and is baptised will be saved" and 2 Corinthians 5:17 "Therefore if anyone is in Christ, they are a new creature." What joy and hope it is to see a newborn child, what hope and joy it brings to have faith in Jesus and new life! If you would like to talk to the chaplains about faith and life, know that we look forward to connecting. In the meantime, we recognise the treasure we have in our young people, they are greatly valued, together we are a blessed school family!
Pr Andy and Pr Daron
Whole School News
Child Safe Program
Over the last 18 months a representative team of staff from Adventist Schools across NSW have met regularly to discuss and develop a suite of Child Safe policy and practice in response to the findings of the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse and the NSW Child Safe Standards. In consultation with AdSafe and the Office of the Children’s Guardian, we are pleased to announce the launch of our new Adventist Schools NSW Child Safe Program.
The following six public facing documents introduce and are core to our transparent Child Safe Program. These documents can be accessed on our school website under ’Parent Information > Policies’.
- Child Safe Policy
- Child Safe Adult Code of Conduct
- Professional Boundaries of Staff
- Student Code of Conduct
- Responding to and Reporting Child Safety Incidents or Concerns
- Child Safe Complaints Management
In addition to these documents, you will also find:
- Reporting Child Safe Incidents/Concerns: - for reporting professional misconduct and reportable conduct incidents (Child Safe Adult Code of Conduct & Professional Boundaries of Staff).
These documents are readily available to the whole school community as all of us are responsible for child safety.
Wahroonga Adventist School’s Child Safe Commitment
Wahroonga Adventist School is committed to providing education and care to children and young people to assist them for a useful and joy-filled life, fostering friendship with God, whole person development, Bible-based values and selfless service to the communities in which they live. As such, we are committed to ensuring the safety, welfare and wellbeing of all children and young people at school and protecting them from abuse and harm.
We have zero tolerance for child abuse. The School regards its child protection responsibilities with the utmost importance, and as such is committed to providing the necessary resources to ensure compliance with all relevant child protection laws and regulations and to maintain safe and supportive School physical and online environments for all children and young people.
For further enquiries about our Child Safe Program, please contact the school’s Child Safe Advocate/s, Mr Daron Pratt (Primary School CSA), Mr Ben Stewart (High School CSA) or Mrs Julia Heise (Senior CSA).
Wahroonga Mountain Bike Ride - Term 4
The first Wahroonga Mountain Bike ride for the term was a huge success! A great group of students and parents took to the Hornsby Old Man's Valley trails on Sunday 30 October. It is great to see how much the skills and fitness of our riding group have developed recently. Mountain biking is also back on for Tuesday afternoon sport during Term 4. Keep your eye out for information about more Sunday rides in Term 4. Contact Mr Starrett for any further information.
Creative and Performing Arts
Our Harp students have started lessons utilising our new harp. Our wonderful teacher Kaela comes to our school and works with our students. It has been a wonderful start with Michaela starting her journey playing this instrument.
If you are interested in music lessons for next year please do not hesitate to contact Kristina.Vuceski@wahroonga.adventist.edu.au
School Uniform
As some of you may remember there was a notice in the school newsletter earlier in the year about a proposal to review our school uniform in light of the restructure from Junior, Middle and Senior to Primary and Secondary school this year. The aim is to retain the distinct uniform of our school which engenders pride, provide opportunity of choice where appropriate, and potentially streamline some items of uniform across the school while balancing the needs of students.
The fit of the girls’ dresses and boys’ trousers have the potential for some very minor updates to provide greater comfort while retaining the same look and feel. We also have the opportunity to potentially expand the female students’ uniform. While keeping the traditional dress, we could potentially add an extra uniform option of shorts and pants for girls to assist with freedom of movement, modesty and comfort. If we do add this option to the uniform, a short sleeve blouse option will be added to the pre-existing long sleeve blouse.
Other items that are being considered are a soft-shell jacket for Prep to Year 4 to add a warmer layer in the winter months.
The uniform committee, comprised of a variety of staff, parents and the captains from both primary and high schools, will continue to explore uniform options. Samples have been made and we will soon be opening up for feedback from the wider school community.
The introduction of the updated sport uniform for Prep to Year 12 in 2021 was very well received and we look forward to your feedback about potential uniform adjustments in the formal school uniform.
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 2022 and 2023
Please click on the link below to view the school term dates and public holiday information for 2022 and 2023.
Primary School News
Reminder - Term 4 Sport Days
Please note that sport uniform will need to be worn on the following days for Term 4;
• Weeks 1-6: Years 3 to 6 – Tuesday, Years K to 2 – Friday
• Weeks 7-8: Years 3 to 6 - Friday, K to 2 – Mon, Wed, Thurs, Fri
• Weeks 9-10: K to 6 – Friday
Primary Leaders Morning Tea
Our Primary School Leaders were privileged to be invited to a morning tea at Parliament House on Thursday 3 November. The Captains were taken on a private tour of Parliament House and enjoyed morning tea with our Local MP Mr Alister Henskens. A certificate of appreciation was presented to each of the student leaders to commemorate their time in Primary Leadership.
Prep Excursion
Last week, the Preps went to the Ku-ring-gai Wildflower Garden for their first excursion! It was a huge day of walking, dip net fishing, bug hunting and bus riding! The Preps found lots of mini beasts with their magnifying glasses and learnt about the different plants in their environment. We spotted lots of wildlife from afar learning to keep a safe and respectful distance from the wallabies, and even a redbelly black snake! We learnt how to dip fish and found lots of water spiders, tadpoles, and frogs and spotted some turtles swimming by. We ended the trip by visiting the education centre where we met Mr and Mrs Quack, Tod the turtle and bandit the blue tongue lizard and finally we made some animals and/or plants we saw out of clay! It was a huge day that left some Preps laying on the mat in the aircon when we got back to school!
Primary School Sport
Gymnastics
Tiffany L (Year 6) is in Level 4 Artistic Gymnastics and she attended the Level 1-4 Invitational on Sunday 23 October. She did Vault, Bars, Beam and Floor. Tiffany scored above 9.0 on Beam and overall Silver banding.
Congratulations Tiffany- what an amazing effort!
Fencing Championships
On 23 October, Victor K (Year 5) took part in the NSW Fencing 2022 Norse Beach Sabre Championships.
Victor won the Bronze Medal - U12 Boys Sabre and is currently ranked 3rd in NSW - U12 Boys Sabre.
Congratulations Victor! This is sensational!
Infant Swimming - Term 4
We will also be running an intensive 2 week swim programme for our Kindy to Year 2’s during weeks 7 and 8 of Term 4. This will allow our younger students to gain swim confidence and improved stroke development as a result of daily practice. If your son or daughter is NOT confident in the water please inform the class teacher ASAP.
Infant End of Year Dance concert: Prep, Kindy and Year 1
Announcements
Please return your washed WAS Sports singlet to Mrs Gilbert ASAP if you have borrowed one during last term.
At Wahroonga, we are very proud of our students’ achievements across the sporting fields. So, we encourage you to share any sporting achievements that your child accomplishes with us.
Upcoming Events
- Thursday 10 November- SDA Cricket Gala Day (Years 3 and 4)
- Monday 21 November- First day of Infant Intensive Swim Program
Mrs Chloe Gilbert - Primary Sports Coordinator
Secondary School News
Year 7 Orientation Day
A sea of bright, slightly anxious but very excited faces was what we were presented with on Thursday, 27 October. Around 75 Year 6 students arrived, ready for their first taste of High School, beginning their secondary journey with us in 2023. Buzzing with excitement, the students were ready to begin the Orientation Day.
The Orientation Day aimed to provide students with the opportunity to experience what it is like to learn in a secondary school classroom by secondary teachers. Students were divided into groups and were eager to be involved in the Science and TAS activities, where they were able to make a candle holder and devour some of their baking. The Year 11 student leaders assisted the students and teachers throughout the day.
Students were provided with a delicious lunch before concluding the day with games on the basketball courts.
The day takes many hours and days, organising students into groups, preparing the gift bag, designing an engaging timetable for the day, teachers who prepared and delivered the activities and aligning the student helpers who supported the students throughout the day. So a big thank you to you all.
I am also very thankful to all the parents and guardians who came for the information session and stayed for a hot drink. Without your support, our ability to build a strong, healthy, and purposeful community is impossible.
We look forward to welcoming all the fresh faces to Wahroonga Adventist School in 2023.
Mr Michael St Mart - Head of Secondary
Year 9 Camp - Royal & Heathcote National Parks Expedition
Year 9 students bravely ventured through the Royal and Heathcote National Parks on a self-sufficient 4-day 3-night expedition involving both hiking and kayaking. Groups navigated their way between Hornsby Station and a variety of remote campsites within the parks, all while carrying their packs with 4 days worth of supplies and equipment.
Confidence and excitement amongst the students were high as they set off. This was an opportunity for students to test their spirits, teamwork and resolve, as well as their cooking abilities with preparing all their own meals. The sun shone most of the week, all the waterholes and waterfalls were full, and the experience lived up to the expectations of previous cohorts – this camp is one of the highlight experiences of being a student at Wahroonga Adventist School!
From paddling down South-West Arm and catching waves in Simpson Bay, shin-deep muddy tracks with leeches to pristine waterfalls and swimming holes, the students struggled, laughed, played and supported each other through four amazing days of learning about themselves, their friends and peers, the local environment and God.
Year 9 & 12 - Museum of Contemporary Art Excursion
Last Thursday, Visual Art Students across Years 9 and 12 visited the Museum of Contemporary Art. It was a gorgeous day where students participated in a guided workshop, wandered the gallery, and enjoyed a delicious lunch. The workshop educators were helpful in deepening students understanding of the importance of place, especially Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander connection to land. The artworks represented the social and physical aspects of place, and how our land has been affected by environmental change and geopolitics.
Students were asked to think of a significant place in their lives to symbolise this through a collage. Many students explored their own connection to water and bushland, especially as the studio room that they were working in faced the harbour and Circular Quay. Our Art Educator shared the word Giligili from the language of the Gadigal people, which refers to how the sun glitters and flicks off the water. Students were grateful for the opportunity to connect to Indigenous culture through both artworks and the site of the MCA.
Miss Caitlin McCartney & Mrs Emmeline Trappitt - Visual Arts Teachers
Earth and Environmental Science Excursion
Earth and Environmental Science students voyaged to Longneck lagoon to explore and analyse human impact in the area. Longneck lagoon makes up part of the endangered Cumberland Plain Woodland ecosystem. Students evaluated and analysed human activity in the area and completed environmental science fieldwork. They completed vegetative site studies, soil analysis, flora and fauna research, erosion assessment and waterway tests including dissolved oxygen, salinity and turbidity.
UN Youth Australia Voice Competition
Congratulations to Year 10 student, Katie M who has made it through to the semi-final rounds of the UN Voice public speaking competition. The UN Voice competition invites students to solve real issues affecting our community, our country and our world. In the preliminary round Katie spoke about issues impacting our aged population, offering convincing solutions to the issue of neglect and abuse of the older members of our population. There were some very talented speakers at the preliminary level so we are very excited that Katie has been selected to speak in the semi-final rounds. This next round will be held at UTS on 18 November. We wish her every success at this level!
Secondary School Sport
CSSA Cricket Knockout
On Monday 31 October, our Open Boys Cricket Team competed in a knockout game of cricket against our zone school Pacific Hills Christian School. It was a competitive game with both teams showing great skill through bowling, batting and fielding. Unfortunately, our Open Boys Cricket team was unable to hold off their highly skilled bowlers and lost the match. Well done boys and great effort!
CSSA State Tennis Gala Day
On Tuesday 25 October, the CSSA State Tennis Gala Day was held at the Blacktown Tennis Centre. Wahroonga had 4 students participate: Alex M (Year 10, Sophie M (Year 8), Rushabh M (Year 10) & Nathan R (Year 10). Our students represented our school with great sportsmanship and competed in tough games with each of them obtaining at least 1 win in their pool matches. A special mention goes to Alex and Rushabh who both qualified for the quarter-finals with Alex advancing to the semi-final where he fell short of a victory. Congratulations and well done on a successful day!
Upcoming Events
- Thursday 17 November - CSSA Zone Touch Football Gala Day (Venue: Terry Hills Oval)
Mr Ignatius Ah-You - Secondary Sports Coordinator
Library News
Visit the Library WebAPP and listen to our ‘Library Bag’ podcasts
Don’t forget to keep on visiting our Library WebAPP for more episodes of our Year 5 and 6 ‘Library Bag’ podcasts, where our students are asking each other the all-important question – ‘So, what are you reading?’
To listen to these fantastic podcasts check out the Library WebAPP - now being broadcast at bit.ly/waslibrary.
Thank you so much Brenden and Suzanne Lovett for the massive amount of work that has gone into providing this wonderful opportunity for our Stage 3 students.
Year 11 Textbook Return
Year 11, please return your Year 11 textbooks to the Library as soon as you are no longer needing them for class.
Last Week of Borrowing
Next week (Week 5) will be our last week of borrowing in order to ensure all books are returned before our annual end of year stock take. If all books can be returned promptly by the end of Week 7 it would be much appreciated.
If your child has outstanding loans or lost library books it is time to either return these copies, pay the replacement fee of $25 per book at the school office, or provide a replacement copy of the missing book.
If you are unsure of what books your child has out and when they are due back, please log on to the library WebApp at bit.ly/waslibrary and follow the instructions on the home page to access your child’s library records.
Mrs Leonie Savage - Librarian
Co-curricular Program
Chess
The NSW Junior Chess League holds a number of junior tournaments during the school holidays. During the Spring holidays, Ryan L (Yr 4) participated in the Sydney Spring 1 day Tournament, which requires quick thinking as each competitor only has 15 minutes for their entire game. Ryan, who began chess last year, won 4 out of 9 games, a fantastic result! At the time of writing, Ryan is ranked 93th for the under 10s age group and 2120th for under 18s in NSW.
Benjamin T (Yr 4) participated in the Under 12s City of Sydney Junior Championships, comprising 11 games over 3 days. Benjamin won 8.5 games out of 11 and placed 3rd out of 50 competitors. At the time of writing, Benjamin is ranked 9th for the under 12s age group and 47th for under 18s in NSW. Benjamin also participated in the 2022 Ryde Eastwood Open (a combination of adult and under 18 competitors) and won 4 out of 7 games. This resulted in Benjamin sharing first place with 5 other competitors for the highest number of wins in his division (U1400).
Well done Ryan and Benjamin on your achievements!
Running Training
Running training is back for term 4 - Tuesday morning for high school and Friday morning for Primary School. Missy and the canteen are providing an excellent breakfast as always, this Tuesday students enjoyed yoghurt, granola and berries after a great 5km run.
Home and School
Term 4 is coming to end quickly but we still have a few events to go for the 2022 calendar year.
GINGERBREAD HOUSES are ready to be picked up from the office should you have ordered one through our trybooking.
We are running a competition for Prep/Kindy, Year 1/2, Year 3/4, Year 5/6, Year 7/8, Year 9/10 and Year 11/12 for the “Most Creative Gingerbread House”. Should you have not ordered a Gingerbread House – no stress you can go and purchase one or try cooking your own. Please send your entries to the Home and School email account: homeandschool@wahroonga.adventist.edu.au noting your students name and year.
We will then print them and place them up outside the office for all students to see under the Great Wall of Gingerbread Houses. If your child’s is not up on the wall please let us know so we can ensure it is part of the competition.
Competition ends on Wednesday 30 November – so start sending in your entries.
Beyond our School Yard
The Home and School has been working closely with some leading teachers and the SRC to create an eventful day last Friday. A massive THANK YOU to those involved, a lot of work goes into ensuring a successful event. A special mention and acknowledgement of Jodie Landstra who has worked extremely hard to build up the portfolio of our Beyond Our School Yard.
The day was focused on ADRA projects with high school students collectively raising $1000 for a treadle water pump to assist Zambian farmers and the primary school classes raising funds for different projects. Prep $172, 19 kids have meals for a month in Cambodia; Kindy $291, school supplies for 29 kids in Lebanon; Year 1 $261, seeds for 8 families in Timor Leste; Year 2 $500, 25 chickens for Timor Leste; Year 3, $800, 8 goats for Nepal; Year 4 $468, 31 water filters for Cambodia; Year 5 $450, 6 worm farms for Australia and Year 6 $480, 4 toilets for Cambodia. The day was full of fun activities and food, all of which served to raise more money for these worthy causes. Both the Primary and High School students enjoyed the opportunity to donate a gold coin for the chance to throw soaking wet sponges at their peers, teachers and even Mrs Heise and Mr St Mart who bravely stood behind the splash board!
There was a real buzz in the air, with lots of laugher, wet students/ teachers, and sugar surges from the baked items. However, the real joy was seeing students learning about gratitude and the gift of giving – giving Beyond Our School Yard.
We have one more Beyond our School Yard event coming closer to the Christmas period so stay tuned.
Dad's Campout
We had a lot of fun at the annual Dad’s Campout a couple of weeks ago with students and dads coming together for a night of great food, awesome friends and piles of games including giant connect 4, bowling, skipping, soccer, obstacle course and many more. The kids versus dad’s tug-of-was was particularly exciting with an upset with to the kids. They must have been eating their weetbix!
Even though an extreme storm warning meant that we couldn’t camp overnight, the students did a great job of adapting to a new plan and we’re all looking forward to next year when we can do it all again.
Thank you to Michael B and his team for organising such a successful event.
Ice Skating
The ice skating on Saturday night was a fun night with lots of student and parents taking to the ice. Even Mrs Heise was whizzing around on some skates and was having a great time. Thankyou to all for coming out and making it a fun Saturday evening.
Two events to go for the Home and School in Term 4 – The Gingerbread House Competition and the Christmas Appeal for Beyond Our School Yard and then it is all over for 2022.
There is some exciting planning happening for 2023.
Mrs Michelle Roberts - Home and School President (homeandschool@wahroonga.adventist.edu)
Meals With Love
This term our wonderful Year 9 Food Technology students and Mrs Zuze have been busy preparing delicious Macaroni & Cheese for our freezer. We greatly appreciate your contribution to our school community.
We also welcome our families to be involved. We would gratefully accept freezable meals or lunchbox snacks for our ongoing needs. These meals and snacks are packaged up with fresh salads provided by the Canteen. Please attach a list of ingredients and the date the meal was made to aid in distribution. We do request no pork or shellfish ingredients please. If you require storage containers, please see the Canteen. If you have any questions or would like us to arrange a meal for a school family in need, then please send us an email. We thank you for your continued support.
Mealswithlove@wahroonga.adventist.edu.au
Bits and Pieces
Sing Noel - 26 November 2022
Christmas is just around the corner! Usher in the season singing your favourite carols with soaring strings, majestic brass and magnificent vocalists (including our very own Wahroonga Adventist School Choir). Buy a ticket and support Aussies in need through the work of ADRA Australia.