Acting Dean of Waterford | Mr Luke Gribble

At this stage of the term, the key message delivered to the boys at Waterford Place is to ensure they make a quick transition from an assignment focus to an exam focus. With English and History assignments due next week and exams not far away, this transition needs to be well planned. There is great evidence to support the correlation between an early start to the revision process with positive outcomes from the upcoming exam block. If the boys start the revision process too late and then try to ‘cram’ for exams, this can become quite stressful and often produces frustration and disappointing results. Every Year 10 boy was given a ‘Checklist’ booklet that highlights what will be assessed and this allows them to work through every learning goal across each of the subjects being examined at the end of the term. This will be a very busy period for the Year 10s as we are only a few weeks away from the Easter break.  Students need to maintain the momentum before enjoying the holidays.

Outside the classroom, the boys continue to be actively involved in the Term 1 co-curricular programs. I would like to thank the many Year 10 boys who supported the GPS Swimming team at Chandler last Friday night. With success in both the first and last races and plenty of action in between, the boys had plenty to cheer for and did a wonderful job of encouraging and supporting our swimmers. I would also like to thank Jake Laherty, Oliver Casey-Ryan, Callum Fitzgerald and Luca Cavallucci for leading the Years 5 and 6 Terrace boys through the Junior program in the morning and then backing up for the Senior event well into the night.

This weekend brings another championship event, with the culmination of the rowing season at the Head of the River. Best wishes to all of our rowers.

We are encouraging the boys to show initiative and one of the early start ups this year at Waterford is our own version of the Kolega Café. Tobias Mohr, Thomas Davis, Byron Jackson, Oliver Ryan, Sacha Rapchuk and Jonathan Gooch have got the Café up and running on Fridays where the iced coffees have been a big hit with the cohort as well as raising much needed funds for our friends in Timor-Leste.