Week 1, Term 4 | 14 October 2022

I have such fond memories of the time spent with my grandparents. Prawning in the early hours of the morning on Wallis Lake under the stars, learning how to work with wood in my grandpa’s furniture factory in Lavender Bay, being danced around the kitchen by my grandma while standing on her feet, or just being wrapped up in their loving arms.

One of the critical messages of boys’ education researchers and authors is the importance of positive role models in the lives of boys. To my mind, with their life experience, wisdom, and unconditional love, there are few role models and mentors more significant than grandparents. 

Our Grandparents and Special Friends Day (held this morning) is one of the real highlights of our calendar. There is something really quite wonderful about watching children excitedly sharing their learning and school with these treasured guests. 

Community, relationship and partnership are central at Mosman Prep, and grandparents and special friends are part of the village that raises each child.

We started the day with a special Chapel Service, which included two beautiful reflections about grandparents from our Year 6 students, Oscar Hart and Michael Dickason. Mr McDonald then spoke about the increase in provision and opportunity at Mosman Prep over his 27 years at the School, highlighting that at the heart of the School has always been our special community. Having all our boys sing in a choir is something quite unique and powerful. Our Junior Primary, Senior Primary, and Canrobert Choirs performed three stirring songs.

The boys then guided their special guests through the learning spaces, before enjoying morning tea together, perusing the bookstall and purchasing literature for their grandson or the School Library (Thank you to our Year 2 parents and other helpers for their assistance with the morning tea and bookstall).  

Early Entry served baked treats they had made the day before, shared their grandparents portrait gallery and involved their guests in learning activities.

Kindergarten engaged in collaborative painting, played maths games, decorated cookies, and enjoyed a ‘Kindy vs Grandparent/Special Friends’ dance-off!

Year 1 interviewed grandparents about their childhood and how the use of materials has changed over time (such as plastic vs glass milk bottles), designed a plastic free toy, and used virtual reality goggles to explore waste on Mt Everest.

Year 2 presented their Persuasion texts and maths games to their grandparents.

Year 3 played maths games, interviewed their grandparents, and together explored Science ‘Night and Day’ using virtual reality goggles.

Year 4 students and grandparents jointly constructed haiku poems about each other and a favourite past time together, and played maths games focused on thinking mathematically.

Year 5 drew to scale their grandparents’ first names and converted the length of the line using different units of measurement, as well as displaying a slide presentation showcasing their work and events throughout the year.

Year 6 engaged their guests with a questionnaire looking at the generational changes in teaching and learning, shared class assignments and activities, and conducted guided tours of the school.

I loved the warmth of the day, the celebration of relationship and learning, and the opportunity to let our grandparents and other guests know how important they are. As parents and teachers, it is our responsibility to ensure our boys understand the gift that grandparents are to us and help them make the most of opportunities available to spend time with them.

Thank you to our grandparents and special friends for all you do to nurture our boys - for the example, patience and love you provide unconditionally. We look forward to seeing you again soon!

Peter Grimes | Headmaster 

This week I was greeted with a sea of smiles and heard all about the wonderful holiday adventures from the boys. The beginning of a term always provides a wonderful opportunity for the boys to reconnect and share their stories with one another.

This week concluded with a very special combined service where we celebrated 118 years of boys education at Mosman Prep and gave thanks to God for our Grandparents and Special people in our lives. During the service I unpacked Psalm 34:8 where the psalmist invites us to “Taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the one who takes refuge in him.”

May we seize the opportunity this term to take hold of God’s promise and experience for ourselves the goodness of God!

During the Month of October Year 5 will be championing our very special shoebox collection as part of their GoodCHAP Service Learning. We only have until the end of Week 3 to bring in our boxes to build a tower of shoeboxes. To find out more please watch the video below and click the link to see how to pack a shoebox.

How to pack a shoebox

On the last day of Term 3, Mosman Prep entered 3 Chess teams into the annual Scots Chess Challenge. There were 24 teams competing – less than usual – due to the slow resurgence of face-to-face games after COVID.

Each team (student) played a total of 7 Chess matches, using the Swiss-system, meaning teams are pitted against teams in consecutive rounds, according to their results in the previous one.

All of our boys played well and came out after each match to analyse their game with the coach (the fastest way to improve).

Our overall result was excellent, and the boys should be commended on their focus as well as their outstanding representation of Mosman Prep. They enjoyed the company of students from the other schools, between rounds, which was lovely to see.

Thank you to Mr McDonald who drove us to the competition and to Michael Todd, the chess coach, for support the boys on the day.

Colleen Elkins | Director of K - 6 Gifted & Talented Education

Calling on families that may have a pre-loved iPhone in their drawer that is now gathering dust.

We would love them for our Virtual Reality Classroom Kits. Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality tours are becoming increasingly relevant in our teaching units as more content becomes available. The experience with VR provides an immersive experience. With more handsets, we can provide greater access to the boys.

We would welcome any iPhone that is a 6S model or newer. We would also happily adopt a working phone with a cracked screen.

If you have one to donate could you please remove any passcode, Apple ID and SIM card so we can wipe it. You can either give it to your son's classroom teacher or hand it to reception.

Your donation would be greatly appreciated.

We are encouraging Mosman Prep families to enrol their boys into After School Care. This allows your child to attend in case of an emergency one day, or in case of late pick-up, so that your child can be safely supervised by our ASC educators if you are running late. While there is a fee for attendance at ASC, enrolling is a simple, free process and provides you with the option should an emergency occur.  

Here is the link to enrol into ASC: https://mosmanchurchprep.hubworks.com.au/

Once you have completed the enrolment form, you will be emailed a username and password via Hubworks. Please use this to keep your details up-to-date. 

Further information on After School Care is available on the School’s website (link below). This includes the booking form for permanent bookings for each term. You can make a casual booking through email school@mosmanprep.nsw.edu.au

https://www.mosmanprep.nsw.edu.au/community/after-school-care

Leonie Westenberg | Director After School Care & Vacation Care Programs

2023 school travel applications are now open. Please see the link below.

2022 Term4Parentinformationnewsletter

Congratulations to Henry Crookes (6M), who during the school holidays represented NSW in the National Junior Rugby Union Championships, held on the Gold Coast, Queensland. During the tournament, Henry was chosen as captain for a selection of the games. 

Henry played 12 games for NSW during the interstate carnival and was also asked to play for Western Australia when their prop was injured. Some of the games were against boys who were in the age group above Henry and his team, highlighting his incredible achievement.

The NSW team played well against very tough competition and came third overall.

Henry’s journey began earlier this year when he was chosen as starting prop in the 2022 NSWCIS Rugby Team. He was also Captain of the CIS team.

Best of luck to Eddie Godfrey (6H) who next week will represent the School and NSWCIS at the State (NSWPSSA) Athletics Championships in the 12 Years High Jump. Go Eddie!

The basketball and cricket holiday clinics held at the end of the school holidays were a huge success! We had over (50) children from Mosman Prep and other schools attend across both clinics.

A big thank you to all who came along and to our parents for supporting this initiative. Many thanks also to all the coaches for their tireless efforts in making the clinics so fun and beneficial for all the kids.    

Please find below links to further information regarding Term 4 Sport.  

Link: Term 4 Summer Sport Information

As part of the School‘s physical education program, all Year 5/6 classes will take part in a six week sailing program at Balmoral Sailing School this term.

Clothing:- The boys will come to school in PE uniform and then change into their sailing clothes. Clothes for sailing will get wet and should be warm to avert wind chill. Wetsuits and rash shirts are ideal, but not compulsory. White soled or non-marking shoes must be worn at all times, both on the boats and on land. “Crocs” or similar and / or thongs are not permitted on board boats. Thongs can be worn to and from the sailing club to speed up the changing of clothes before and after.  A broad brimmed hat and sunscreen are compulsory. Drink bottles should also be taken.

Term 4

• Saturday, 15 October: IPSHA Summer Sport (Rd 7) commences for basketball and cricket teams.
• Monday 7 November: Year 5 Surf Education - Dee Why Beach.
• Tuesday 15 November: MCEPS v Pittwater House Shield Cricket (Y6 only)- Balmoral Oval, 1:00pm.
• Wednesday 16 November: Year 6 Surf Education- Manly Beach.
• Tuesday 15, Wednesday 16 & Thursday 17 November: After-School Sports Training concludes for all Year 3-6.
• Saturday, 19 November: IPSHA Summer Sport (Rd 12) concludes for basketball & cricket teams.
• Tuesday, 22 November: Sailing Program concludes for 5G and 6M.
• Thursday, 24 November: Sailing Program concludes for 5H and 6H.

Saturdays: On Saturdays the MCEPS Information Line will be updated between 6:30am and 7:00am. This number has the most up-to-date information the School can provide regarding matters of sport and excursions. Parents are to call this number and not the School Office. After heavy rain Mosman Council often closes its grounds, so please check with this number for all school sport and excursion cancellations.

Weekdays: In case of inclement weather, please ring the Prep Information Line, which will be updated from 1.00pm. Ovals might be closed by Mosman Council on fine days, if the preceding days have been wet. It is therefore advised that parents should ring the School’s Information Line on training days if there has been rain. 

PLEASE NOTE:  if the message has not been updated, Sport is ON as scheduled.

For the schedule of school events, please refer to the online calendar, which can be found HERE. Government decisions due to COVID restrictions may require us to alter our scheduled events at short notice. The calendar will be updated accordingly. 

If you have any questions for the P&F or would like to volunteer please do not hesitate to get in touch at pandf@mosman.prep.nsw.edu.au.

The Secondhand Uniform Shop is only open on Tuesdays between 7:45-8:30am. 

Online ordering is still paused. The P&F cannot guarantee the availability of items (especially larger sizes) but will fulfil orders twice a week, with delivery via the School Office. 

Payment is via bank transfer on receipt.