Principal's Report

By Frank Catalano

Dear Members of the Glen Waverley Primary School Community,

I trust all is well with you and your family and welcome to this fortnight’s newsletter where so much is shared about our wonderful school.

As per usual, if you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me on 9802 9938 or via email at frank.catalano@education.vic.gov.au.

Congratulations to Ms. Kelly

I am also thrilled to report that Ms. Kelly and her partner Chris recently welcome their second child, Beau to the world on the 5th of August. Everyone is doing well and below are some photos of Beau with his big brother and dad.

Intra-school Athletics Sports

Congratulations to all the Year 4, 5 and 6 students who participated in our intra-school athletics sports on Friday 9th August as it was a day filled with excitement, challenge and lots of comradery. From this point Ms. Lawlor and Mr. Yousef will select our school team which will participate in the District Athletics Sports on Monday 26th August. I look forward to sharing more exciting news after this event.

Naturally such an event could not take place if it were not for the leadership and organisation by Ms. Lawlor and Mr. Yousef, the commitment from the staff and support from families. Well done and thank you everyone as all your collective efforts have been instrumental in ensuring the event was successful.

Congratulations to the following children for their fabulous achievements outside of school.

Calisthenic - Congratulations to Aneel and Chloe (Year 3), who recently participated in the Waverley Calisthenic Competition and achieved an impressive 2nd place. This was no easy feat, as they were up against some very strong competition from four other teams and faced very tough judging. This accomplishment reflects the dedication and hard work they’ve put into their training.

Well done Aneel and Chloe and keep up the fabulous attitude and effort towards your chosen sport!

Singing - Ishika has discovered a passion for singing and finds joy in showcasing her talent through performances. In the last 6 months, she has confidently showcased her talent at a couple of events organized by her singing school. She has performed "Gorgeous" by Taylor Swift at a live event and last week, she performed "From the Start" by Laufey at Sofias Camberwell.

Well done and congratulations Ishika, we all look forward to hearing how your singing continues to develop and you performing at a school assembly.

Congratulations to Veer

Veer (Year 4) participated in the state, karate Forms championships and I am very proud to report that he placed first and has now qualified for the national championships which are being held in Queensland later in the year. Wow, what a fabulous achievement Veer, well done and we look forward to hearing how you go at the nationals!

Learning with the children in our sister-schools

As an international school, it is imperative that we provide the children with learning opportunities that enable them to learn and experience global perspectives in class and when possible by collaborating with peers in other countries. It is with this in mind that our school collaborates with our sister schools in New Zealand and Nepal. Below is an overview of what some of the children have been learning.

The Year 3’s completed a series of online meetings with children at our sister school, the Jhapa Model English School, in Nepal. Through these connections they shared what a day/week/year at school looks like at both schools. The children were amazed at the similarities such as subjects, class routines, times, play areas but also found the differences interesting such as in Nepal, they have weekly martial arts lessons for everyone.

The Year 4 students have been learning with their peers from Araria Springs Primary School, New Zealand. Our children have written ‘identity poems’ as a means of introducing themselves to their peers. At the time of writing this piece, we are waiting to receive the other children’s poems and look forward to sharing these as soon as possible.

Below are some of the poems our children have written:

Don’t give up - By Boyan

I won’t give up, even in the darkness,

I won’t give up, through the hard times,

I won’t give up, challenges that many fail,

I won’t give up, no matter how many times you fail,

Don’t give up, find a way to get up,

The only two keys to success are hope and determination,

Don’t give up.

Me-Poem – Oliver.

My name is Oliver,

I am Sri Lankan

I am unique in my very own ways.

When others laugh, I do to,

I have many bright hobbies that nobody can count,

they are all stars for me in many ways.

I care about others and try to help them.

Well, I like to be active.

And also lay on the couch.

As the sky moon follows me, I think of who I am, a very gentle gentlemen

I like the way I am,

nobody is like me.

I never give up even in my darknesses.

I love my family who helps me in my journey.

Congratulations to two of our alumni Esme and Foebe.

Esme and Foebe have been committed table tennis players for many years and I am thrilled to report that they continue to make significant inroads and achieve at an extremely high level. During the previous school holidays, they competed in the national championships with Esme placing 1st in the Under 17’s and Phoebe 2nd in the Under 19’s.

As a result, Esme will now go on, to represent Australia in the under 15s Oceania championships in September and, for the 3rd time, to represent Australia in the world Table Tennis youth championships in October. The tournament will be held in Darwin and I look forward to sharing how Esme goes.

Please join me in congratulation Esme and Foebe on their outstanding achievements – well done girls, I cannot express how proud we all are of you!

Funky Feet Fundraising Event

A reminder that tomorrow we have our inaugural Funky Feet fundraising event where we ask the children, their extended family and staff to wear whatever socks and shoes they wish. For instance the children may like to wear a yellow sock with a blue shoe and a red sock with a green shoe or they can let their imagination run wild! I look forward to seeing lots of funky feet in our school tomorrow!

CONGRATULATIONS TO THE FOLLOWING STUDENTS WHO RECEIVED A PRINCIPAL’S AWARD RECENTLY:

Prep A

⁃ Ashley and Sohana for making outstanding progress with their understanding and implementation of addition equations

⁃ Milan for being the best helper in the whole school

⁃ Abir for making a very interesting robot from his Lego pieces.

Prep B

⁃ Ali for receiving a trophy from his karate club

Prep C

⁃ Gavindu, Siya, Deena, Johanna and Charlotte for making outstanding progress with their writing skills. The children wrote a reflective piece about gorillas

⁃ Anastasia and Bavitran for learning so much about addition

⁃ Aura and Aansh for learning all about resilience and mindfulness

⁃ Kiyan, Deena, Aura and Gavindu for writing about Edward the Emu and how silly he was

⁃ Ray and Charles for writing very creative diamanté poems that were engaging to read

⁃ Megan and Lyneta for learning and writing all about the importance of being a proactive and supportive upstanding person

⁃ Ananya and Thidas for writing the most descriptive diamonde poems about tigers and kittens

⁃ Mahoor for completing amazing home learning and for having a terrific attitude towards his learning

⁃ Kevin for being a wonderful friend

⁃ Nivan, Reyansh, Poohan, Aadhavan and Shivaan for writing songs to express their mindfulness

⁃ Pavika for making excellent progress with her art and drawing skills

⁃ Vidhi and Gowri for drawing the most amazing and very influential poster about our wonderful school that is now in the wall in my office

⁃ Priyanka and Shanaya for continuing to make excellent progress with their writing skills

⁃ Ashley and Evelyn for writing very creative and entertaining shape poems about cupcakes

⁃ Sophie and Reyansh for writing very descriptive and entertaining pieces about Silly Socks

⁃ Hasiru for writing a very creative shape poem about Big Ben circling a picture of Big Ben

⁃ Aliyan and Shayana for working extremely hard on producing outstanding and very informative projects about the Global Sustainability Goals no. 1 No Poverty and 14. Life Below Water

⁃ Sarvang for continuing to develop his robotics skills by participating in various tournaments. Recently he competed in 2 and received 2 Robot Skills Challenge awards and 1 Tournament Champion award and 2 Excellence awards.

Wishing everyone a safe and happy fortnight,

Frank Catalano

Principal