Principal's Report

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 

Facilities Update

Thank you to the numerous parents who have commented about our new shade sails over the Year Prep to Two Adventure Playground. They certainly look fantastic and provide much-needed protection from the sun, allowing our younger students to enjoy their playtime safely and comfortably throughout the warmer months for many years to come.

Unfortunately the adjacent shade sails were taken down then the tradespeople realised that the new ones were manufactured incorrectly. We hope the new (and correctly sized) sails will be installed in the next week or so. 

Chess Team Update

Our school chess teams have been competing in two major competitions this year, with outstanding results so far:

Chess Victoria Championships:

• I am delighted to share that our Girls Chess Team qualified for the Victorian Championships and achieved an exceptional 2nd place finish – a phenomenal accomplishment! As this year’s National Championships are being held in Victoria, the host state has traditionally been permitted to field two teams. We are hopeful this continues so that our students have the opportunity to compete at the national level.

   

• Our Open Team (Boys and Girls) also performed brilliantly, placing 1st in the State Semi-Finals and earning a place in the Victorian Championships, which will be held early next month.

Northern Star Chess Championships:

• Girls Team: Placed 1st in the State Final – an incredible achievement! Well done and congratulations girls!
• Open Team: Placed 1st in the State Semi-Final and will compete in the State Final next month.

It is clear that our students continue to perform exceptionally well, and I look forward to sharing further updates in the school newsletter.

Once again, well done and congratulations everyone!

Congratulations to the Year 4 Students and Staff

It was certainly fabulous to hear the many highlights the Year 4 children shared after returning from their camp. Congratulations to everyone involved and a sincere thank you to the Year 4 Team for their exemplary organisation and to all the staff who attended as your efforts are appreciated immensely. Well done and thank you everyone. 

Below are snippets taken from some of the children’s reflections:

Kivain: at camp I enjoyed the GIANT LADDER. When I first saw it I was scared to death because it was so tall, but I had a go and the instructor told me to step outside my comfort zone. Sunny was pulling the rope attached to my harness and I started climbing. The first 5 logs was easy, however the higher I went the tricker it became, however I kept climbing all the way to the top!

Nivashna: the second day of camp I had canoeing – I was so excited! We put on our life jackets and then chose a canoe – we got the green one. I was excited and nervous at the same time. A few seconds later Parvika and I crashed into leaves, seaweed and frogs, the instructors came over to help us. 

Sam: I went to the start of the low rope course and did the first part easily, but the second part was really hard because there were two ropes and they were really thin. The next part was even more impossible, a tight rope with wobbly boards that kept moving! I kept falling down and I had to restart and then I managed to finish. 

Manuth: During hut building we gathered wood and started to make a plan to decide what we should do. We stacked wooden logs on top of each other and made sure they aligned. We also made the floor out of wooden logs too.

Thehan: At camp we had heaps and heaps of fun. One of the activities was canoeing and I was with Reyansh. It was a challenging activity, but I really enjoyed it.

Japnoor: Canoeing – I wore my life jacket and got a paddle. Sunny and I sat on the boat, it was a bit wobbly, and I was worried we would fall into the lake. As we rowed the boat the coaches gave us some instructions on how to play the game which involved catching rubber ducks and putting them in our boat. 

Pragaya: the Giant Ladder is a humungous ladder and the gaps between the logs got a bigger and bigger. We had to put on a safety harness, there was a rope with a carabiner that was attached to our harness. The instructor would say, “Go” and our friends would start pulling on the rope and we would start climbing the ladder. It was a very fun activity for people who love heights! 

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

Iman (Year 3) loves art and recently she was awarded 3rd prize an art competition held at the Noble Park Community Centre. This achievement is particularly meaningful, as she has been participating in this competition for the past three years, and this is her first success.

Iman is very proud of this accomplishment and dutifully shared her artwork at last Monday’s assembly. Well done Iman and keep it up!

Klarissa (Year 4) continues to keep herself very busy as per the following:

• Chess – a member of our school’s team and received a silver medal recently. 
• Altar Server – has completed her training.
• Competed in a Skate Victoria supported promotional skills competition (friendly between two clubs) and was rated 2nd in her section (intermediate skills) - next year she will go into learning a routine for her first junior elementary state competition.
• Scale modelling – continues to compete in various competitions and is looking forward to a forthcoming one!
• Australian Air League – she has been working very hard and is hoping to win the prestigious, “Best in Education’ award.
• Ballroom dancing – is continuing to learn new dances and compete in various competitions!
• Taekwondo Grading – recently received her solid blue and will attempt to get her red belt at the end of this term 
• Piano grading – this is occurring next week (best of luck to you) and
• Competed in the Wyndham scratch coding competition.

Wow, Klarissa, you have certainly been extremely busy and I look forward to sharing what you achieve in the near future. 

Tevin (Year 5) is also an incredibly talented young person and loves spending time challenging his thinking and engineering skills. To demonstrate this, recently he worked on attaching a lawnmower to a bike, as you pedal, it rotates the lawnmower, and it cuts the lawn – how ingenious! 

He also found a billy cart on the road, modified it, and then discovered a broken edge trimmer, which he repaired and repurposed. With his continuous improvement mindset and love for the sound of JDM cars, he combined the engine from the trimmer with his billy cart, creating his own unique version. He then created a video of this invention which can be accessed by clicking on the following link:

Billy Cart conversion by Tevin

Tevin, you have an amazing analytical and creative spirit and mindset, thank you for sharing this with everyone and we look forward to seeing your future creations!

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

Year Prep 

• Samira and Ruvan for learning about our internal and external body parts 
• Aekarsh, Viraj, Kriyansh, Sohum, Reyan and Denis for making excellent progress with their learning 
• Deniz and Thinel for working so hard to improve their writing, reading and drawing skills 
• Yenaya and Thinara for working very hard to show how much they have grown and developed 
• Thinel, Deniz, Thinara, Diviyna and Niwan for making a beautiful card for my office
• Ruvan for making excellent progress with his drawing skills 
• Myra, Ishi, Oneki, Mehtu and Yenaya also for making a beautiful card for my office
• Dhiana, Paige and Delwin for being really responsible members of our school community 
• Vandan, Yenaya, Ivy for being fantastic friends
• Deniz for being very kind and sharing 

Year 1

• Tanisha and Dinaya for being really responsible members of our school community 
• Sohana and Ashley also for being really responsible members of our school community 
• Tanisha, Tiana, Sheya and Anaira for showing empathy and initiative 
• Seyara for receiving a certificate from her swimming school

• Shammikka, Coral, Ethan and Ruhani for taking the time to ensure our playground is neat and tidy 
• Awal for working very hard to improve his drawing skills 
• Awal and Aveer for drawing and writing a very detailed project about space which outlines the number of days it takes for the moon to spin around Earth and how 24 hours is impacted. 

Year 2

• Shammikka, Abhi, Atiya and Ruhani also for being really responsible members of our school community 
• Shammikka, Abhi, Atiya and Ethan for working very hard on their learning 

Year 3

• Shivane, Onalee, Sithev and Keonna for working exceptionally hard during STEAM innovation sessions to produce an eco friendly house and then create a 3D print of it using the 3D printers 
• Ananya, Alex, Rishaan and Jian for being very kind and considerate 
• Satvi, Adeline, Ryleigh, Samiksha, Sansa and Vedanshi for learning the importance of reducing our carbon footprint by making sensible choices such as putting on a jumper rather than turning on the heater 
• Mahi and Jathy for working exceptionally hard on their writing skills! 
• Sarayu and Nethuli for writing excellent procedural texts 
• Ved and Jaydan for writing excellent procedural texts about how to travel from their class to my office 

Year 4

• Evelyn, Farhan, Harshmaan and Aarav for learning how to use tempered (time ordered) and cause (cause and effect) connectives to enhance their writing 

• Vivan for being a great friend 

   

Year 6

• Hailey and Fyn for writing and presenting a very entertaining rap sone about friendship with the chorus being:
  • Don’t think twice, say something nice
    • You can’t pretend, if you wanna be a friend!

Wishing everyone a safe and happy fortnight, 

Frank Catalano

Principal