Principal's Message
It is said that a school is like a village – busy, complex and people focused where it takes many people to educate a child. This is certainly true of Wahroonga Adventist School where students participate in a wide range of learning experiences and community is valued. Last week I had the opportunity to accompany the Year 5 students on the annual Bathurst Camp. Several staff at the goldfields commented that students were the best school group they had seen. The Year 5’s kindness, enjoyment and collective participation in activities made our students a standout in their eyes. A proud representation of our school values.
Today the Primary students had a wonderful day at their Year 2-6 Athletics Carnival. Thank you to the Year 6 parents who ran the canteen to raise funds. The Secondary Oz Tag teams competed in the CSSA State Gala Day this week with the girls team going undefeated unto the semi-finals, where they did their best, but lost. Students were involved in the National Tree Planting Day adding to the foliage in Wahroonga Waterways. Year 12 have now completed their trial HSC exams and are on the homeward run. The Primary SRC students have started a Wellbeing Wednesday where they run fun games during primary recess. We can be proud of the leadership of our students, and the staff who support them.
Your partnership in educating your child is valued and the Home and School have been tireless in their support of community. The Bush Dance on Saturday evening was a fun evening with families coming together to chat, eat and dance. $870 was raised for the Year 11 Fiji Service-Learning Trip materials and $200 for the COLA which will be built at the end of this term. Fox Valley Community Church made a very generous donation of $1000 towards the Fiji building materials of which we are very grateful.
There are a number of key events coming up in the school from the Secondary CAPA Showcase next week to the Father’s Day Breakfast and Parent Masterclass and I encourage you to be part of these events.
God bless.
Mrs Julia Heise - Principal
Chaplains' Message
Wired - Friday Night Program
Last week we had many students attend Wired, a school youth group that is held once a term for an evening. We had loads of fun out in the open on the oval, listening to the message from Mr Starrett who visited both wired and our morning chapel service, all the way from Queensland. It was great to see students reconnecting with Mr Starrett as he shared his wisdom and funny stories. Wired is the perfect opportunity for students to explore God and connect with other students across cohorts, outside of school. Special thanks to Miss Chapman for sharing her wise words in our new interview segment for our new term theme – Wisdom.
Darcy L - Year 11 - (Student Chaplain)
Primary Chapel
Our Primary school students are exploring the theme of “God Is __” in chapel this term and will be focusing on a different aspect of who God is every chapel. Our primary school students can opt in for bible studies and this program has commenced for Years 5 and 6. We hope that there will be an opportunity for Year 3 and 4 soon! Bible studies are an awesome environment for our Primary schoolers and they have been engaging well and having fun.
Darcy L - Yera 11 - (Student Chaplain)
Upcoming Events
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
Year 11 Students who will be participating in an Outreach Trip to a Fijian school have been busily working to fundraise money to purchase building materials which will refurbish the Boys Dormitory. There have been sales of hot chocolates in the morning as well as catering for the recent Bush Dance with lots of yummy food. Donations are very welcome and can be made at the link below. All funds raised will be donated for materials. Travel expenses for the students are self funded.
Cambridge Summer School
At the beginning of the year I won a scholarship from Immerse Education to attend a summer school at Cambridge studying English literature. Over the holidays I took part in this program and had a really wonderful time. I thoroughly enjoyed studying literature with my friends and tutor as well as being immersed in the Cambridge experience. This was truly a life changing experience that I will never forget!
Katie M - Year 11 Student
National Tree Planting Day
Thank you to all the students who took part in National Tree Day. We were able to join Jayden Streatfeild from Wahroonga Waterways and plant up 500 trees in the local Coups Creek ecosystem.
National Tree Day is a great opportunity to maintain and enhance our beautiful environment for our local wildlife as well as ensuring the region continues to be a great place to live and getting all the benefits that come from spending time outdoors.
Primary School News
Stage Assemblies
Congratulations to our Stage 1 students who have received awards this week at the Primary School Chapel. Well done!
Prep Chapel
Last Friday Prep hosted chapel and what a fun program it was. Pr Renee made an appearance as a blue blob! The students had special t-shirts printed with God Loves Me (a heart and handprint replaced Loves and Me). Very cute and fun. They really enjoyed singing along to the music and leading out during the Chapel in prayer and announcements.
Kindy - 100 Days of Learning
Last week Kindy celebrated their 100th day of learning by dressing up in their best Age 100 clothes! There were some fabulous costumes! They also enjoyed counting activities that centred around the number 100 including eating 100 little snacks! Yum!
Year 2A Happenings
Bible - This term in Bible, 2A are looking at the miracles of Jesus. To start off our unit we learnt about the story of ‘Jesus calming the storm’. What better way to learn a story than to create an edible craft, with Jesus and Peter in a sea of jelly! Yum!
Mathematics - 2A have been learning about estimating, measuring and ordering the internal volume of different containers in Mathematics. We have experimented using blocks, spoons of sand, cups and even jugs of water. We have had fun guessing, checking and comparing internal volumes to find out which ones hold the most!
Georgia Ah-You - Year 2 Teacher
Primary SRC ‘Wellbeing Wednesday'
This term the Primary SRC students have decided to focus on Wellbeing. This week saw the launch of our ‘Wellbeing Wednesday’ games for all primary students to come along and enjoy! This included some games of ‘Stuck in the mud’. We had a great turn out and our SRC students enjoyed leading these games and encouraging everyone to get in and have a go! Stay tuned for some more fun games every Wednesday recess.
SRC Coordinators - Mrs Georgia Ah-You & Miss Brittany Andrews
.
Primary School Sport
Primary Athletics Carnival
What an amazing day of beautiful weather for our students to compete in the Primary Athletics Carnival. Sportsmanship, cheering and encouragement of one another were highlights of the day. Records were broken, muscles given a good work out and a fun day of sport had by all.
Mr Jack Fulton - Primary Sports Coordinator
Secondary School News
Year 10 Visual Arts
Our Year 10 Visual Arts students have delved into a new unit on Still life. Students used various photography techniques to capture the essence of everyday objects and delicious snacks to explore different perspectives and the impact of light and shadows in photography. Using these images as references for inspiration, students will now practice tonal and watercolour drawings where they must pay close attention to proportion and composition. We are looking forward to seeing how these final artworks turn out when resolved!
Miss Caitlin McCartney - Visual Arts and English Teacher
High School Sports
CSSA State Oztag Gala Day
Over 2 days, our Junior Girls, Junior Boys and Senior Boys Oztag teams competed in the CSSA State Oztag Gala Day. The two days were filled with fantastic team plays which led to some amazing try-scoring efforts and relentless defence from our teams. All 3 teams experienced wins however special mention must go to our Junior Girls team.
The U15s girls OZtag team competed at a high level, dominating their pool with three wins, to progress to the semi finals. It was a tough game in the semis with the girls unfortunately loosing. The student displayed fantastic game sense, moved the ball well and set up a number tries throughout the gala day. Well done! Looking forward to the touch football gala day in Term 4!
Mr Ignatius Ah-You - Secondary Sports Coordinator
Library News
Premier’s Reading Challenge
Congratulations to Lily N (KD), Kiara S (KW), Isaac B (1C), Vihaan S (3K), Harvey B (3L), Brody L (3L), Madison E (4K), Shourya M (4K), Jackson R (4K), Sean P (4R) and Benjamin W (6A) who have all finished the Premier’s Reading Challenge. Great effort!
PLEASE NOTE: Student access to the Premier’s Reading Challenge website ends on August 18, so if you haven’t entered your books online there is only 1 week 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:
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
Term 3 has started with a massive turn out for the school Bush Dance with Peter Dixon and his band.
A fun night surrounded by hanging pontoon lights, hay bales, fresh corn on the cob - the night had it all. Students, parents, and teachers trying their skills at bush dancing. Thank you to those who could join us for the evening.
We also raised about $200 for the COLA and approximately about $870 to go towards building supplies for the Year 11's service trip to Fiji.
It takes effort to create events like this, and many people. But a special shout out to Ms Missy from the canteen who helped sort the food for the night and Pr Marcus who opened up his church for us to come together and gather as a community.
Our next event is next week, FREE Parent Masterclass, anyone is welcome. Please arrive at 6.45, ready for a prompt start at 7.00pm. Light refreshments will be serviced. Upcoming is also a Working Bee, bring your green thumb along! Keep your eyes peeled for details about the Father's Day Big Breakfast and Dad's Campout!