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

Chess Team Update

Our school chess team continue to train hard and do their best to prepare for a number of tournaments. Recently the children participated in the Northern Star tournament at Park Orchards PS and I am extremely proud to report that they performed exceptionally well and placed second. Congratulations, well done and thank you to all the children who represented our school. Those who received an award are:

Sarvang (Year 6): High Distinction and Grade 5 and 6 Silver Medal
Aadyah (Year 5): Distinction
Lucas (Year 4): Distinction and Grade 3 and 4 Silver Medal
Thehan (Year 4): Distinction and Grade 3 and 4 Bronze Medal
Yehara (Year 6): Distinction and Grade 5 and 6 Gold Medal
Saheli (Year 5): Distinction and Grade and 6 Silver Medal
Reyan (Year 6): Distinction
Swara (Year 6): Distinction and Grade 5 and 6 Bronze Medal
Reyansh (Year 4): Credit
Agastya (Year 4): Credit
Daiwik (Year 6): Credit
Sithev (Year 3): Credit and
Yenuk (Year 5): Credit

Some of the children also participated in the Chess Ideas tournament, Reyan, Swara and Yehara’s have written the following report:

On Wednesday 4th of June, the GWPS chess team went to Brandon Park Community Centre. The tournament was hosted by Chess Ideas. Our school came first place in the tournament with 25 points. Mount view and Essex heights tied, they each have 24.5. Glendal came third with 24 points.

There were many strong chess players and there were over 150 players in the tournament. The chess team all had a great time and scored lots of points.

By Reyan, Swara and Yehara.

Well done and congratulations everyone, keep up the amazing attitude and commitment! I look forward to sharing how you go at the next tournament and a sincere thank you to all the parents who assisted the children as your efforts are appreciated immensely

Stand Up Project

On Thursday 29th May, our school hosted a special event that was a real highlight for me as it involved our Year 6 Stand Up Project (SUP) ambassadors presenting to an audience of parents. The children shared what it means to be a SUP ambassador and some of the key facts they have learnt throughout the process. For more information, please see Mr Lewis’ piece in this newsletter.

Congratulations to the following children for their achievements outside of school

Rubik’s Cube:

Max (Year 3) is an avid player of the Rubik’s Cube and recently he competed in the 2025 Victorian State Championship, which featured over 300 participants. Max has been practicing for approx. a year, and this has resulted in the following amazing achievements and personal records:
- 3x3 Cube: Average solve time of 11.35 seconds, with a best single solve of 9.98 seconds
- 2x2 Cube: Average solve time of 4.08 seconds, with a best single solve of 2.95 seconds
- 4x4 Cube: Average solve time of 1 minute, with a best single solve of 58.19 seconds

It is very evident that Max has progressed significantly which is due to his persistence, focus, perseverance, and pattern recognition. Well done and congratulations Max as everyone is so proud of you and look forward to hearing what you achieve in the future!

Daham (Year 5)

Recently Daham also participated in the Victorian Open Rubik’s Cube competition at the Belgrave Heights Convention Centre. Daham took part in the Pyraminx, 3x3, 3x3 one handed, 2x2, 4x4 and Skewb events.
Daham proceeded to the next round in the Pyraminx, 3x3, 2x2 & Skewb events. For those who may not be aware, the Skewb (originally named the Pyraminx Cube) is a twistable puzzle in the shape of a cube that is cut diagonally 2 times along each of 4 axes.
In terms of results, Daham achieved a PR (Personal Record) in the following events:
- 3x3 - 13.9 seconds
- 2x2 - 4.55 seconds
- 4x4 - 1:14:11 seconds
- 3 x3 one handed - 39.38 seconds
- Pyraminx - 8.3 seconds
- Skewb - 9.19 seconds

Well done and congratulations Daham as it is wonderful to see how much your ‘cubing’ skills have progressed over the last few years. I cannot wait to see, how much they continue to progress in the future – please keep up the amazing attitude, perseverance and commitment!

Klarissa (Year 5) really enjoys building scale models, and recently she sent me the following message:

Dear Mr. Catalano,

On Friday the 6th of June to the Monday the 9th of June I entered my 1/72 Air-fix Hurricane scale model in the Australian Open Plastic & Scale Model Championships. I got second place, for my Hurricane for juniors under 13 planes category. My friend and I also built a Ferrari car which got 3rd place.

For participating, we received some presents; I got two which was a book and a car scale model to build. My friend got a scale model as well.

When I got my trophy, I also got a very big spitfire to build. Its length is 28.5 cm and width is 35cm – that’s pretty big, and it is apparently worth over $150.

On the Saturday when me and my mum visited there, I did a lucky dip and got a mini spitfire!

The Scale Model Championships was part of the Australian Model Expo which is the biggest plastic and scale model expo in all of Australia, and its home is at the Sandown Racecourse held every Kings Birthday long weekend annually.

Well done and congratulations Klarissa as it is wonderful to see you continue to develop your passion for scale models. I look forward to seeing the finished Spitfire!

School Policies

As a proactive organisation, we implement a cyclical process of reviewing school policies, which is conducted by the staff and the Education sub-committee of School Council. May I take this opportunity to remind everyone that our policies can be found on our website and if you have any questions, please do not hesitate to see or contact one of the Assistant Principals or me.

The polices can be found under the “ABOUT” tab or by clicking here.

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

1A

-Hannah for making terrific progress with her English and braille learning

2C

-Oliver, Panav, Gia, Anissa, Myra, Sasavi, Riya, Sihas and Ashan for working very hard to learn how to say various emotions in Mandarin

2E

-Aadya, Rivini and Emily for creating very artistic pieces from recycled products as part of their inquiry learning

3C

-Sithev and Tyler for creating a very detailed plan of their day in Mandarin

3D

-Vedanshi and Ryleigh for writing fabulous reports about koalas and snakes

-Charlie for making amazing progress with his writing

-Chloe for being a wonderful friend

4A

-Evelyn for creating a very informative and interesting science project about the 3 states of matter - liquid, gas and solids

-Nethmi for being a wonderful friend

-Manuth, Krishna, Kiyan, Evelyn, Sehansa, Aneel, Dylan, Sam and Thehan for working very hard on projects demonstrating the importance of recycling and the possible impact on sea life

4B

-Advait, Arjun, Theo and Annora for creating the most advanced and comprehensive hydroelectric power plant that is also fish friendly

4C

-Sineysha for creating a stop motion clip about some people that order a pizza then a monster comes along, and bad things happen

5F

-Alexa, Radinsa, Prisha, Kalana, Parmin, Vivaan and Zavier for working extremely hard on developing their ability to write engaging and thought provoking narratives that enable the reader to visualise what is occurring in the text whilst waiting for the next enthralling part to unfold

6E

-Akaine for developing an innovative spinning Sri Lankan lantern called a Spinning Kudu as part of his home learning

-Evin for being a wonderful friend

-The whole class for working exceptionally hard to produce a class book that contains their scientific reflections!

Wishing everyone a safe and happy fortnight,

Frank Catalano

Principal

Birthdays