Over the last fortnight we have seen the strength of our school community in a variety of ways from secondary students completing exams to welcoming incoming students and parents on orientation days.

A big thank you to our families for your incredible generosity in supporting the collection of goods for 170 Christmas hampers, which will be delivered to Hornsby Fusion. We are very grateful for the efforts of Jodie, a primary parent, who has been instrumental in coordinating this initiative alongside our Student Representative Council (SRC) Coordinators.

Our Primary students have been busy showcasing their musical talents in another concert held this week. Thank you, Mrs Stanwell and your team of tutors, for a wonderful event that highlighted the artistic talents of our young learners.

Our Year 10 students have recently completed two days of Peer Support leadership training in preparation to become mentors for Year 7 students in 2025. These sessions are crucial in building confidence, empathy, and resilience in our young leaders. Programs like this provide invaluable opportunities for personal development, and we look forward to seeing our students flourish as role models for their younger peers.

I look forward to seeing you at the Presentation events on 9 December.

God bless

Julia Heise

As we approach the end of another year, it's a perfect time to reflect on God's unwavering faithfulness to us and our school. Throughout the highs and lows, He has been our constant companion, guiding us on the right path all year long. The journey may have been challenging at times, but we can look back and see His hand in every moment as a chaplaincy team. We can see how God has looked after our school.

In this home stretch, let's remember the words of Isaiah 41:10: "So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand." This verse reassures us that no matter what lies ahead, we are not alone. God's strength and support are with us, giving us the courage to face the future with hope and confidence.

As we prepare to step into a new year, let's carry this confidence with us as a community. Trust in God's promises, and let His faithfulness inspire us to finish this year strong, knowing that He will continue to guide us in the days to come.

Was Chaplaincy team

170 amazing Christmas Hampers were packed from your generous donations, Wahroonga Adventist School community, THANK YOU!

We were also supported by donations from staff at the Sydney Adventist Hospital and South Pacific Division. Sanitarium donated 160 Weetbix and So Good varieties, along with Woolworths Hornsby, St Ives and Thornleigh donating 160 Christmas Puddings and Mince Pies. Coles Hornsby, Asquith and Turramurra contributed towards providing the Christmas themed bags to add the festive cheer.

The primary children did a wonderful job sorting their donations and the Yr 10’s were dedicated and zealous in sorting and packing the hampers. We were able to provide Fusion’s regular pantry with the extra food that didn’t fit in the 170 bags.

A big thank you to the SRC and teachers for encouraging the kids. The high school home rooms brought in a huge increase on last year’s donations. The winners of our giving competition were the Prep and Kindy stage and 7W. Thank you for letting your children raid your pantry or add to your shopping list. These festive and fun food gifts will brighten many celebrations this Christmas.

Thank you for looking beyond our school yard to the Fusion Sydney North food charity. They are so grateful. Look out for the email about your opportunity to help transport the Hampers to Fusion next Wednesday afternoon the 27th. Your generosity is a huge blessing at this time of year.

Jodie

Congratulations to the following students who were selected to play representative basketball in 2025.

Abigail, Eli, Hugh, Violet, Callum, Aiden, Ayrik, Dia, Annabelle, Leighton, Annabelle and Joshua

Liam recently competed in his second kayaking sprint regatta at the Sydney International Regatta Centre, representing the Manly Warringah kayak club. Liam was one of the youngest competitors at the regatta and participated in all the events (approximately 10 races ranging from 250m to 1000m sprints in both K1 and K2 events and a K1 relay event). Liam and his K2 partner from Avoca Beach Kayak club came away with a first in the 250m sprint in the 12yrs and under division. Very proud of all the hard work Liam puts into everything he does.

The below image was provided by a professional photographer and if used please credit JGRimages.

‘ Image credit to JGRimages who also owns copyright’ .

This week, we had our prep orientation. They followed rainbow fishes which led them to the prep room. We sang some fun songs with chaplain Renee, had a story then did some fun crafts.  We can’t wait to have our new preppies!

Miss Yap

“Lest we Forget”. Our Primary Leaders presented a Remembrance Day service for our Primary students. It was a great reminder of the importance of the day and remembering the soldiers who fought and lost their lives.

Our Primary Captains, Mia Mylott and Rafael Sequeira, had the honor of attending a morning tea at Parliament House with their parents, hosted by our local Member of Parliament.

This event provided an excellent opportunity for our local MP to acknowledge the important contributions of student leaders in our Primary Schools. The students also received a guided tour of Parliament House and enjoyed a selection of delightful refreshments.

Students in Years 3-6 presented a performance for their parents and families on Tuesday, November 29, to showcase the Instrumental Music Program. I continue to be impressed by the progress our students make on their instruments each year.

Our instrumental program provides an excellent opportunity for our students to develop their musical abilities and appreciate the expressive qualities of music as they learn to play a band or orchestral instrument.

I would like to extend my sincere gratitude to our music tutors and Felicity Stanwell for their dedication and hard work in ensuring that our students sound amazing.

We have had the opportunity to be recipients of 3 PRS guitars. Mr and Mrs Lau have a deep interest in guitars and have generously donated them to the school. The guitar students are eagerly playing these guitars along with our guitar tutor who utilises them for our senior students. Darcy, Ben and Ishan have been enjoying these guitars in a variety of setting. Thank you to the Lau family!

Year 11 pianist, Kenneth P, has been awarded the Licentiate Diploma in Performance (LMusA) with Distinction, the highest qualification attainable from the Australian Music Examinations Board.

The AMEB’s qualifications are recognised as a national benchmark in music education across Australia. The Licentiate Diploma is awarded to just ten percent of candidates who attempt the qualification.

Wahroonga Adventist student Kenneth said he was driven to sit for the LMusA after being awarded the Associate in Music Diploma (AMusA) with Distinction, but there was a demanding workload involved in seeking the higher qualification.

“One of the challenging things for me was the repertoire I had to practise and perform,” Kenneth said.

“However, the most challenging part of doing my LMusA was balancing my schoolwork and my piano practice. In the end, it was great to meet another goal that I had set for myself and worked very hard for.”

And work hard, he did. Kenneth practised, and continues to practise, piano daily for two-to-three hours on school days and for four-to-five hours per day on weekends and holidays.

Kenneth has been playing violin since a very young age and also plays the violin. He said the appeal of the instrument is in its beauty and its challenges.

Wahroonga Adventist head of CAPA, Mrs Kristina Vuceski, said the School was extremely proud of Kenneth’s musical achievements thus far.

“It is wonderful that Kenneth has achieved this award with Distinction at such a young age,” she said.

“Kenneth is a member of our Music Program, a program that nurtures our hard-working and dedicated high-level musicians. We look forward to continuing to support him musically and academically to allow his to approach music in a holistic manner. Kenneth should be very proud of his consistent determination and dedicated hours of practice.”

In PDHPE, Year 10 students have been learning about the impact of screen time and sedentary lifestyles on their health. In one class, students looked at their phone screen time usage and the following class results were discovered.

Want to know your or your child’s screen time? Go to your phone’s settings and search for “Screen time”.

Students wrote articles in response to this information.

SCREENTIME OR SCREAMTIME? HOW YOUTH PHONE SCREENTIMES ARE DAMAGING CHILDRENS BRAINS.

By Caitlin Eden, Lucinda Petrasek and Cassie Dela Paz

As the world matures faster than ever, so does our knowledge and reliance on technology. But do you know what doesn’t mature faster than ever? Our brains. But are our brains even growing at the “standard” pace?

Everybody’s brain matures at a different rate because no human is the same. But the average for brain maturity time is rapidly declining. Children today are 2 years below where their learning should be, compared to 30 years ago. So, what’s changed? The technology. As years go by, children are accessing devices such as phones at a younger age. While this change in the world and today’s society is now uncontrollable due to how much we rely on phones, there are some aspects we can control. But what can we control?

Screen-time. The amount of time we spend on that box with a screen that consumes so much of our time a day. Not time and effort, just time. Us humans are lazy, we don’t invent and create to work more, we invent and create to work less, which is why phones are so useful. Our entire world trusted in one box, where we can sit and look at it for hours… until the battery runs out. With children accessing phones at younger ages, the ability to understand self-control is becoming a stranger. How is a 9-year-old child going to have the initiative to get off their phones when they’ve had an hour?

Statistics from 10W show that it’s not just young primary students who are getting sucked into this whirlpool of screen. The average time spent on phones for 15-16 years old was 5 hours and 30 minutes per day. That’s almost a whole school day! When people are on their phones, they aren’t doing physical activities either, they’re sitting there doing nothing but moving their fingers. This high statistic is also answering questions about the increase in obesity, the decrease in education and learning abilities and most importantly the lack of social skills. The ability to be social without talking through the phone, but in person. Being able to run around on the field while being social with all your friends used to be the norm, however that’s now changing. But how can we help to minimise these problems from screen time?

We can start by staying away of our screen time every day. By setting hourly alarms to know how long you’ve been online, setting screen time restrictions for yourself, so you can be notified about your online activity. But most importantly you can arrange days to go out with your friends. Go on walks, go on runs, go do something social or physically active that doesn’t involve your phone. Although this problem may seem unsolvable, the hardest part of making a change is to start. Because as Mark Twain once said: “The secret to getting ahead is getting started.”

SCREEN TIME: FINDING A HEALTHIER BALANCE

By Bella Virk, Eve Jameson, and Alessandra Price

With screens being a part of almost everything we do, it is pretty easy to lose track of just how much time we really spend on them. Students report an average of 5 hours per day on screens in Year 10 alone, a long way over the 2 hours max daily recommended amount of recreational screen time for teenagers. While the devices are necessary both for schoolwork and staying in contact, excessive screen time creates serious health risks. These include chronic neck and back pain, poor sleep, and increased obesity due to sedentary habits. High screen time has also been linked to anxiety and depression, with reports of even lower academic performance due to the constant buzzing of notifications and late-night use disrupting their sleeping and concentration.

Equally disturbing is the associated sedentary lifestyle—one that follows heavy screen use. Besides its contribution to a number of serious health risks-heart disease, diabetes, and some cancers, it also weakens muscles and bones. The guideline is to have at least 60 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity daily for youth, which benefits both body and mind. Fortunately, there are simple ways to balance screen time with activity. Talking to family members about realistic limits can help ensure everyone is on the same page, keeping bedrooms no-screen zones helps improve sleep, taking regular breaks-even just a little stretch every 30 minutes during screen time-can prevent neck and back strain, and we can turn that excess screen time into active time, doing some light exercises or following workout videos to keep us moving.

Small changes in life like these add up to make a huge difference, not only with screen use but also in our general health. A balance of screen time with physical activity and boundaries to that time prove we can make the most of technology while continuing to take care of our bodies and minds. Let's start building healthier habits together to ensure our screen time serves us and not the other way round.

Over the past two days, our Year 10 students participated in Peer Support Training, equipping them with skills to foster inclusivity, build connections, and be empathetic leaders within our school community.

The training focused on three key areas:

Empathetic Leadership: Students explored the importance of understanding others' perspectives, practicing active listening, and showing compassion as cornerstones of good leadership.

Responsibility as Leaders: Through engaging discussions, students reflected on the role of a leader and the positive influence they can have on their peers.

Facilitating Games: Practical sessions emphasized how to effectively run group games, ensuring everyone feels included and engaged.

A special highlight of the event was a visit from Mrs Jess Metz, who generously shared her expertise and demonstrated dynamic and positive ways to facilitate group activities. Her enthusiasm and practical tips inspired our students and gave them a clear example of leadership in action. Thank you, Jess, for your time and dedication!

We’re incredibly proud of the students who participated and can’t wait to see them apply these skills to create a more connected and supportive environment at school. Together, we’re shaping confident, caring leaders for the future!

Year 7 students this week have been exploring the process of working with clay. Students learnt about the different stages of malleable, leather-hard and then firing in the kiln. Year 7 enjoyed being creative when designing their own morphed animal. Think teacup turtles, lamp lizards and hotdog dogs. This project helped students develop skills like shaping and attaching clay. It was a fun and messy way to end the day!

Visit the Library WebAPP to listen to the Stage 3 ‘Library Bag’ Podcasts :

Please remember to continue visiting the 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 students.

Library Book Returns :

Library borrowing for the year has finished and all books should now be returned to the library.

Please note that a replacement fee of $25 per book will be charged for all lost or outstanding loans. Alternatively, a replacement copy of the lost book can be provided as a replacement.

If you are unsure if your child still has outstanding loans, 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. Physical reminder notices are also handed out each week to the students.

Textbook Returns :

All Year 10 hired textbooks were due back to the library today, November 22. Students have been emailed and given physical current loans lists with instructions for cleaning to prepare for this textbook return. Please note that in line with our textbook policy a fee of $35 for textbooks, and $25 for English novels/library books will be charged for any outstanding loans.

This process will also take place for our Year 7-9 students in the last week of school, so please encourage your children to make sure all their hire textbooks are accounted for and ready to return. Current loans lists will be emailed and given out in Week 7 along with cleaning instructions.

Please note that only hired textbooks need to be returned to the library, so, as the Maths and Science textbooks this year were self-purchased, they do not get handed back in.