Completing 120 Years in Style!
What a special 120th Mosman Prep year 2024 has been!
Thank you to our parents and their extended families for your support of our staff and the Prep Community. Your positive engagement in partnership, built on trust and respect, has been incredibly empowering, and has helped make Mosman Prep the very special community that it is.
Thank you especially to our 2024 Class Parents, Canteen Managers, and the P&F Committee for your incredible engagement with the School and the support you provided to parents, boys, staff, and to me. I am extremely grateful. I would like to acknowledge the outstanding commitment of Liz Fifield who has been on the committee since 2017, including for a time as President.
Thank you also to the School Council for their invaluable time, wisdom and passionate engagement in support of the School and me, which is greatly appreciated. Special acknowledgement to the Council Chair, Amanda Robertson for her outstanding leadership, impressively supported by Murray Chatfield.
It has been exciting to see 19 new boys joining Mosman Prep after the commencement of the school year. We welcome all our new boys and new families to the community.
2024 has been an impressive year as we have once again delivered on our Strategic Initiatives and commitment to being…An exceptional boys’ primary school igniting a love of learning and life, as we prepare young boys for their future.
With Christian faith as our foundation, we have aimed to develop and strengthen:
- positive relationships
- honourable character
- pursuit of excellence
- commitment to contribute to the lives of others
Outstanding Staff
We have outstanding staff, who are the backbone of our school, this year welcoming impressive new members including class teachers Kath Gresson, Caitlin Hayman, and Ainsley Carlow. We thank Emma Reimer and Charissa Roberts for the significant contribution they have made supporting maternity leave and staff retirement positions for the past 6 months.
I am very thankful for the wisdom and hard work of our Executive team, Greg McDonald (Deputy Head for Semester 1), and Alex Fentoullis (Deputy of Learning and Innovation), Rev. Daryl Diener (Chaplain and Deputy of Pastoral Care), Brendan Frost (Deputy of Student Opportunities and School Operations) for Semester 2, and also to other leadership staff, including: Liza Campbell (Business Manager), Juliana Zatz (Director of Creative Arts), Steve Riddett (Director of Sport), Colleen Elkins (Director of Gifted and Talented), Helen Dallas (Director of Learning Support), Matt Blackband (Director of Technology), Sonya Hemsley (Marketing and Communications Manager), Anne-Maree Pastega (Director of Admissions), and Julie Shortland (Headmaster’s Executive Assistant).
Thank you to all our Prep Staff, including the teaching staff, administration, ground staff, peripatetic music staff, and Allied Health Staff. Their professionalism, enthusiasm, ‘can do attitude’ and dedication to the boys and families of the School has, once again, been exceptional.
A school is only as good as its staff, and we have a very impressive team, evidenced by the work they do positively changing lives, our MMG Survey results, and other parent feedback. This has been another particularly busy year as we have continued to enact our Strategic Initiatives. In their usual way, they have gone above and beyond to bless the boys and parents.
As previously mentioned in greater detail in the Messenger, life is an adventure, and it’s time for some of our beloved staff to commence a new season of adventure! Dora Kazamias, Chris O’Loan, Nicola Bray, and Caitlin Hayman, will be leaving at the end of 2025, and Rev. Daryl Diener at the end of Term 1 2025. While there is sadness at losing special people from our community, there is an excitement that we can hold for them.
Although these staff members have been thanked this week in several ways, I would like to once again acknowledge their considerable contribution to our community, their passion, professionalism, collegiality, and sacrificial service.
Greg McDonald has dedicated a large part of the past 28 years to serving the boys, staff, parents, old boys and extended families of Mosman Prep. He is a much loved and admired member of our community. While we have held a significant assembly, dinner and young Old Boy event this year to honour Greg, on behalf of all Old Boys, Past and Present families, current families and staff, and the School Council, we again thank Greg and Meegan for their outstanding service to Mosman Prep.
With change comes opportunity, and we were blessed to have close to 90 applicants for our new positions, confirming the success of our Strategic Initiative of being ‘An Employer of Choice’ has been met. Having completed the employment process, we have an outstanding team in place for 2025.
Priority Project Growth
Under the impressive leadership of Ellie Mackay, this year we achieved the significant milestone of having our Aboriginal Reconciliation Action Plan endorsed by Reconciliation Australia and placed on their website. This is something many schools have not yet achieved.
Extra-curricular programs have been expanded impressively, such as:
- Student Leadership has been strengthened this year under the dedicated guidance of Serena Hannon, with inclusion of leadership development days for Year 5 and 6 alongside girls from Queenwood, consolidation of our Lunchtime clubs program, led by Year 6 boys, and structured leadership opportunities for all Year 6 boys.
- Our partnership with Queenwood has been nurtured, including our combined athletics carnival, trips to Terrey Hills, sporting days, shared exhibitions of learning, and of course the Year 6 disco.
- Powerful engagement with sustainability initiatives has occurred, spearheaded by Brendan Frost, and in 2025 taken over by Kath Gresson.
- Next year we will be working with Sports Coaching Manuals developed (for our context) by Steve Riddett, Eddie Johnston, and other key staff. These manuals and the associated implementation will support our commitment to a consistently exceptional sporting experience.
- The additional extra-curricular support provided by Brendan Frost during Semester 2 has resulted in significant positive change.
Teaching and Learning, and Pastoral Care
Teaching and Learning at Mosman Prep, led superbly by Alex Fentoullis is cutting edge, focusing on foundational and future proofing skills and dispositions, and evidence based data informed practice. Tim Hudson has, once again, done an excellent job supporting Alex as our data coordinator.
Pastoral Care and Wellbeing is the foundation of any community. Boys need to be happy and feel they are connected, that they belong, and are valued before they can truly engage in learning. Staff and parents also need such an experience. Our Pastoral Care Committee, led by Daryl Diener, has done a superb job in supporting boys, staff, and parents.
Events
One of our Strategic Pillars is Community – Harnessing the strength of community and deepening our shared sense of belonging.
Amongst our traditional highly successful events in 2024, we held outstanding events including the Winter Ball, Prep Family Fun Day, Father and Son Golf Day, and Back to School Old Boys event which saw approximately 80 Old Boys from Years 7-12 return to Prep for a BBQ, old time games, and reminiscing.
I am deeply grateful to all the P&F and Capital Appeal members, parents and staff involved in the success of these special community events.
Property
The School Council has been working with Mosman Village Church over the past period on the lease extension for the Hall, Basketball Court, and connected spaces. As we have awaited, our focus has been on improving the functionality and aesthetics of the Mosman and Terrey Hills properties, this year including, amongst other things:
- New carefully researched learning space furniture which is supporting our Learning Model
- Improved air-conditioning in the CLS
- New carpeting
- Internal and external painting
- Increasing sound absorbing internal roofing
- A new Shadforth St fence
- Embedded entry floor mats
- Teacher wireless access to display screens
- Additional outdoor and indoor pot plants
- And, at Terrey Hills, a new cricket pitch, improved turf and BBQ.
Other Property Projects are progressing well in the design and compliance stages, as we await finalisation of the Church lease. Thank you for your generous contributions to fundraising for these projects in 2024.
Prep Graduates
It is our goal that on Graduating from Mosman Prep at the end of Year 6, each boy will be:
- Compassionate, Principled, Globally Aware, Adaptable, Relational (Character Attributes)
- Collaborative, Curious, Autonomous, Prepared, Innovative (Learning Attributes)
We are committed to providing an exceptional education for boys, empowering them to thrive.
This week, we farewelled our Year 6 cohort during a special graduation dinner at Manly Golf Club, where each boy spoke about his journey at Mosman Prep. It was extremely stirring. There is really something quite unique about the way Year 6 finishes at Mosman Prep, and I believe those who graduate here are better prepared for their secondary school transition; something which has been confirmed often by parents whose sons have transitioned to Year 7.
For those families who still have a significant degree of uncertainty about a secondary pathway, I encourage you to email me. After visiting many secondary schools and speaking to their Headmasters, it would be a pleasure to meet with you to discuss possibilities for your son. It is worth noting that our boys have priority placements available at The King’s School and Scots College, and our connection with Shore School continues to strengthen.
In closing, the Staff and Council are thankful for the support of our community during 2024 and excited about the opportunities 2025 holds for Mosman Prep.
I would like to wish you a very Merry Christmas and New Year. Stay safe and enjoy special time with your family and friends over the holiday period. We look forward to seeing you in 2025!
Peter Grimes | Headmaster
