Week 8, Term 2 | 20 June 2025

In last week’s Messenger, I highlighted the power of kindness in supporting mental health, moral emotions and human flourishing.

From Early Entry through to Year 6, all students at Mosman Prep engage in our GoodCHAP Service Learning Program. CHAP stands for Community Helpers Assisting People. It’s all about making a difference together.

The program is an integral part of our School Community as it encourages us to live out our School motto ‘Non Nobis Solum’, Not For Ourselves Alone.

GoodCHAP is more than just fundraising and community events, although these are important. GoodCHAP is about a genuine gift of our own time and energy, as we seek ways to give to others in an authentic manner. GoodCHAP helps develop our initiative, respectfulness and an increased sense of our personal and social responsibility. It helps us grow in compassion and care for others.

We have two arms to our GoodCHAP program as seen below.

Year Group Service Learning Initiatives
Each Year group is involved in at least one significant service learning project during the year. As well as raising money, the focus is on developing a deep understanding of the cause.

Year Group Service Learning examples:
Even from a young age, boys are encouraged to cultivate a heart of service and seek to bless others. In 2024, Early Entry boys collected 10c bottles to raise money for the Terrey Hills Rural Fire Brigade. To further boost their fundraising events, they then came up with the idea of holding a cake stall. After a hugely successful day selling cakes and receiving a few extra generous donations for their fundraising efforts, Early Entry raised a total of $831.60. This amount was then presented to the Fire Brigade who visited Early Entry when they went to Terrey Hills.

The boys also participated in harvesting produce from our school gardens, with the fresh fruits and vegetables carefully packaged and sent to The Link Community Food Care program. This outreach initiative, affiliated with The Link Church in Narrabeen, provides essential groceries, fruits, and vegetables to individuals and families in need. Additionally, our students baked cookies, which were packaged and delivered to spread some joy within our community.

Small Group Service Learning (Years 4-6) - Parent support required

Being a Good Chap is a personal response to serving others. It consists of 10 hours of service learning activities outside of school time, where the focus is on serving others together (student initiated and managed, but encouraged and supported by parents and teachers).

Small Group Initiative examples:
“Felix and I did a bake sale at Memory Park to raise money for the Starlight Children’s Foundation. I felt joyful that I had the opportunity to help those who deserve it. Additionally, working together to achieve a goal was so fun and Felix and I were so grateful that we could support sick children as we raised $236.10. Although it was difficult to make the products to sell, the entire process was wonderful to do.” - AJ Sharp

“Jack, Archie, Hugh and I decided to collect rugby and soccer boots and clothes for young Fijian primary school kids. Jack and I were responsible for recruiting church mates and families as well as poster production. Archie was responsible for recruiting club rugby mates and families and Hugh was responsible for collecting, pre-sorting of received goods, and delivery to St Augustine’s. As a result of our initiative, 22 bags containing boots, shin-guards and sports clothes for boys and girls were hand delivered to two different primary schools and a community centre in the poorest parts of Fiji.” - Sebastian Vacy-Lyle

Additional examples of Service Learning initiatives from 2024 included:

• Engage in the ‘One Meal’ project which is a not-for-profit, community organisation that helps to feed, clothe and support the homeless, disenfranchised, vulnerable and at-risk members of our local communities
• Participating in Local Beach Clean up days
• Cleaning and donating toys to Vinnies and Lifeline
• Helping elderly neighbours by collecting their mail
• Volunteering for the ‘Kids Giving Back’ program by cooking meals and creating care packages for those experiencing homelessness and then delivering them to shelters for distribution 
• Connecting with and visiting local nursing homes.
  

We are proud of our students’ dedication to living a life beyond themselves by serving others, and encourage parents to support all the boys each year in their engagement with social action.

Peter Grimes | Headmaster

Join us for a rip-roaring Barn Dance on Saturday 21 June from 2:00-5:00pm, featuring a live band, line dancing, and friendly farm animals—perfect for all ages!

Booking now via the LINK

Ticket prices are as follows: Adults- $20; Children- $15 (Children under 3 free); Family- $60 (2 adults + 2 children)

We look forward to celebrating with you! 

P&F Committee and Year 4 Class Parents

All families will be briefly logged out while two new features are installed. You’ll simply need to sign back into the app.

As part of our ongoing commitment to enhancing the parent app experience, we will be installing a new Student Recognition tile (labelled Pastoral Care) over the holiday break.

From the start of next term, this feature will allow us to notify parents when students receive positive mentions, such as recognition for demonstrating school values or contributing positively to the school community.

We will also use this time to install the eDiary tile on your app. Once active, this feature will include your son’s daily timetable, helping you stay across what’s happening each day. We’ll let you know as soon as timetables are available.

Parent Orbit Support: it@mosmanprep.nsw.edu.au

We live in a society with a strong focus on being physically fit and healthy. Of course, this is an important aspect of life if we are to function well.

Mosman is famous for its Beach Club and swimming at Mosman. Hundreds are faithfully braving the cold winter currents in the pursuit of physical well-being. Others prefer the gym, while still others prefer the agonies of a bike ride or early morning jog. I myself I have always been a jogger.

Medical research shows that physical health is very important to our mental health as well. Being physically fit does hold off the demons of mental health issues for many of us.

Research also indicates that being spiritually healthy is the forgotten aspect of our pursuit of wellbeing. We are physical, mental and spiritual beings yet most of us do nothing to feed or grow our spiritual health. That’s surprising don’t you think?

The Bible tells us this: ‘For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come.’ 1 Tim. 4.8

Perhaps we don’t think about our spiritual health because we don’t think about the life to come. When this life ends our sculptured bodies will pass away but our spirit will go on. Will we be ready for that reality?

Spiritual health doesn’t happen by accident. It takes time. For Christians it begins with recognising our brokenness and our need of a saviour. Jesus Christ is the answer.

Through his death and resurrection, he offers forgiveness of sin and restoration of our relationship with God and puts us on the pathway to spiritual health where we experience a new peace and joy that brings confidence and rest to our souls.

Christians generally find heading to church helps them stay spiritually fit as they are refreshed in hearing God’s word and focussing on God and his great love for them.

If you realise you are not spiritually fit, why not do something about it? Grab a friend and head to church, you might be surprised how spiritually refreshing it can be.

Rev. Michael Crichton | Mosman Village Church

During Term 1 2025, a group of Year 5 students took part in the 9th “Hello Mandarin” Australian Recitation Competition. They proudly submitted two fantastic group videos as part of their entry, and we received some wonderful news this week.

Gold Award – School Group (Mandarin Background) participants:

5S: Allen Ji, Jayden Tian

5B: Alex Cai, Joe Xu, Lucas Li, Marcus Mao, Ryan Xu

Silver Award – School Group (Non-Mandarin Background) participants:

5S: Cathan Arendse, Jonathan Ng, Maxwell Goldie

5B: Khaled Alassaf

Additionally, Win Huang (Year 4) signed up for the individual category, and delivered an exceptional performance that passionately captured the essence of his chosen poem, resonating with both the judges and the audience. His outstanding recital earned him a gold award in his age group. He was also selected as the image spokesman for the competition.

This annual competition celebrates the Mandarin language, its rich heritage, and the art of poetic recitation. It recognises the talent of participants from across NSW and underscores the importance of preserving the language for future generations. We sincerely thank all participants and their families for their dedication and support in nurturing language learning.

Sherry Chen | Mandarin Teacher

On Thursday last week, Year 5 walked to Queenwood to attend the Kindness Convention with a number of other schools. We had a really fun time. We began by introducing ourselves to the other students from the other schools. The Year 6 Captains, Lachlan Gole and AJ Sharp, inspired us to think of acts of kindness by sharing how they had performed their own acts of kindness. At recess, we played many fun games on the tennis courts with all the schools together, discussing our interests and learning more about each other.

During the middle session, we split up into small groups to work on our kindness projects, where we thought of ways to be kind and show kindness. We worked really hard on these projects and the winners received a certificate. When everyone was finished we viewed all of the projects and made a vote on who would win. This was a really good opportunity to discuss problems within our world and how we can make them better by showing some kindness. At lunch, we played on the playground and everyone was rushing to the slide which was exciting. It was fun to play with equipment we don’t often get to play with.

In our final session we met an interesting author called Deborah Abela. She told us about her books, how she became an author and many stories about her childhood. She was very interesting and made storytelling sound fun. We then got the opportunity to buy some of her books. At the end of the day we had a raffle and found out which group won the project from the middle session. Everyone who came to the convention also got a handball to remember this special occasion.

After the day had finished, we had learnt much more about kindness, such as the values associated with kindness and the acts of kindness that we could do. Overall we had a great time, we learnt so much more about kindness and we were inspired to act.

Ed Wicks - 5B

The Upcycling Competition exhibition was held on Tuesday afternoon. Well done to all the boys who entered and demonstrated how we can care for our environment by transforming unwanted products into something new.

Congratulations to the following first place recipients:

EE to Year 2- George Alexander
Years 3 to 4- Elijah Kok
Years 5 to 6- George Sun
Overall winner- Charlie Ill

Kath Gresson | Year 2 Teacher | Sustainability Coordinator

On Wednesday, Year 4 enjoyed learning about and playing some Indigenous games at Terrey Hills.

The first game was called Jumpinpin. It is a game based on spearfishing. This game involves a square that people (fish) run around inside and a fisherman who throws balls at the fish. It is similar to dodgeball. The skills you need are accuracy, strength and speed. It prepared the young boys for hunting. We thought that this game was great fun and quite easy to play. 
Rupert B, Leon B and Oscar C

The next game we played was called Tarnambai. It is inspired by Indigenous children running after and catching the spinifex grass rolling on the beach. This game improves your speed. We used two tennis balls to represent the two spinifex grass balls, two teams, a stopwatch and some lines on the ground. To play Tarnambai, split into two teams and give each person in front of the teams a ball. You need one judge to hold the stopwatch and keep track of the score. To score points you roll the spinifex grass/ball and run after it. If the ball goes over the line, you get the ball and come back to the start to score a point. But if you roll the ball and it doesn’t reach the line, you have to roll it again from the starting line until you are successful. This costs you time in the race to score the most points. 
Nikko M and Eric S

Another of the indigenous games was called Gitja. It was based on someone accidentally taking Gitja’s (the moon’s) food. Gitja would chase the thief to tell him off. The skills we needed for this game were speed, reaction and agility. We played this by getting oz tag belts and the chasing person (Gitja) had to rip the velcro of the belt off the ‘thief’. The other players made a circle and linked hands. To help the ‘thief’, they would raise their arms. To slow Gitja down, they would lower their hands, making it harder for him to get in or out of the circle.
Barnaby R, Lucas C and Jakob S

Gitja is an Aboriginal game that was played by Aboriginal boys. The origin of Gitja was that a thief stole the moon’s (Gitja’s) food supplies. In this game you need to be fast, aware and quick moving. To play you choose one person to be the thief and one to be Gitja. The other people form a circle holding hands and help the thief by raising their hands when he wants to go in or out of the circle as he tries to escape Gitja. They lowered their hands so Gitja couldn’t follow so easily. Although this game was hard, it was still lots of fun and very enjoyable. This game was used to develop speed and agility for boys when they went out hunting.
Jack B and Hugo D

Before the white settlers came, First Nations People played many games, one of which was Woomera (woo-ma-ra). Many First Nations boys played this game to practise spear throwing and hunting. The First Nations People had a device that let them throw spears further and with more power. At Terry Hills we used a ball thrower to act like the spear throwing device, to try to hit a bin with a tennis ball. We had a stationary target and we couldn't even hit it! But the First Nations People could hit moving targets with their spears. We found this game very hard but it was a good way to experience First Nations culture.
Aria H, Hugo B and Charlie E-W

As the end of the School term quickly approaches, it's time for our Semester 1 library book roundup! We've had a wonderful time sharing so many fantastic stories and incredible information with you all this year, and we're excited to get all our literary treasures back on the shelves for next term.

Just a friendly reminder that all library books are due back by the last day of this school term. Please take a moment to look under beds, behind couches, and in those mysterious corners of your backpack to ensure all library books find their way home. Reminders will be sent home with boys this week.

Returning books on time helps us keep our collection fresh and available for everyone to enjoy. It also ensures a smooth start to borrowing in the new term!

We understand that sometimes books go astray, but please be aware that any outstanding books after the due date will be charged to families. If you have any concerns about returning a book, please don't hesitate to pop into the library or email us – we're always happy to help.

Thank you for being such enthusiastic readers and for helping us keep our library a vibrant and welcoming space. We can't wait to see what adventures you'll discover in our next collection. Happy reading!

Lisa Maiden | Teacher Librarian

Chatswood Coach is open for Term 3 bookings via the school website and can be made at School Transport | Private Coaches | Mosman Preparatory School

Additional Stop on Chatswood Coach Route
The new stop has been added at Miller St (opp. Abbott St) Cammeray. Please see the link below:2025 School Coach Bookings - Chatswood Route

I am very grateful that Mosman Prep and The King’s School enjoy a shared heritage and common values, and that Mosman Prep boys are usually able to secure a position in Year 7 at King’s.

My personal history at King’s as a student, teacher and Deputy Head allows me to recommend, with great confidence, the educational offering and pastoral care at King’s. Personal stories from current parents and Mosman Prep Council members have confirmed my opinion that King’s is an outstanding secondary school.

Our upcoming Mosman Prep specific tour of King’s on Monday 23 June, including meeting the Headmaster, Mr Tony George, will offer an excellent opportunity to see the school in action and to meet King’s students and staff.

Please find further details about the tour linked. For those parents (and Prep boys) planning to attend, I look forward to your company.

Peter Grimes | Headmaster

We're offering a fun-filled Vacation Care program during the June/July school holidays, for children aged 4-12. See below for all the details:

Program Details:

Dates:    Monday 30 June - Friday 4 July 2025
Time:     8:00am - 4:00pm
Age:      4-12 years old

Who can attend: Current Mosman Prep students (Early Entry & Primary) and children from other schools (boys & girls) within the age range.

Activities:

• Workshops: Each workshop morning features engaging workshops. Afternoons are for organised sports, games, cooking, and free play.
• Excursions: Full-day programs are also planned for our excursion days.

Booking & Enrolment:

• Limited spots available, so book early!
• Booking: Trybooking Link here
• Enrolment: If your child is not already enrolled in ASC through HubWorks, complete the form here: 

Cancellation Policy:

• All bookings are final due to workshop planning.
• Please contact Leonie Westenberg lwestenberg@mosmanprep.nsw.edu.au for further information regarding cancellations.

We can't wait to make your child's school holidays unforgettable!

Contact us: Leonie Westenberg | Director ASC & Vacation Care lwestenberg@mosmanprep.nsw.edu.au Phone during Vacation Care & ASC: 0412 229 164

Travel Arrangements & Forgotten Items

As previously communicated, at Mosman Prep, we are incredibly proud of the wide range of opportunities available to our boys, from academic enrichment to co-curricular activities. With such a busy and dynamic school environment, we kindly ask for your support in two key areas to help things run smoothly:

1. Clear and Early Communication of Travel Arrangements

With so much happening each day, late changes to travel arrangements can be challenging for both teaching and office staff. While we always do our best to pass on messages, we cannot guarantee that late changes will reach your son in time. We ask for your support in ensuring that your son knows his afternoon travel plans before he leaves home each morning.

• Any changes to regular travel arrangements must be emailed to school@mosmanprep.nsw.edu.au by 12:00pm.
• For emergencies or urgent changes after 12:00pm, please call the school office on 9968 4044.

Of course, we understand that exceptional circumstances and emergencies do arise, and we will always be here to assist. However, keeping last-minute changes to a minimum allows us to ensure all boys are where they need to be at the end of the day.

2. Encouraging Responsibility – Forgotten Items

One of the most valuable skills we can teach our boys is organisation and personal responsibility. We strongly encourage students to pack their bags the night before and check that they have everything they need for the day ahead.

We ask parents to avoid bringing forgotten items to school, including:

• Homework
• Hats
• Water bottles
• iPads
• PE uniforms
• Even lunch boxes!

If a student forgets their lunch, we have a recess and lunch slip system to ensure they are looked after. Our goal is not to penalise students but rather to guide them in developing independence and responsibility. Even when mistakes happen, these are valuable learning moments that help build resilience.

In specific situations, we do understand that some events may require special arrangements. If a student forgets essential items for a one-off event, such as swimmers for a swimming carnival, or a musical instrument required for a music concert, then parents may contact the school office and deliver items.

We greatly appreciate your cooperation and support in these areas. By working together, we can continue to foster independence in our boys and ensure that school operations run as smoothly as possible.

Thank you for your understanding.

Mr Brendan Frost | Deputy Headmaster of Student Opportunities and School Operations

As part of our commitment to student safety and well-being, Mosman Prep adheres to the Child Safe Standards set by the Office of the Children's Guardian. To comply with these standards, all parent volunteers wishing to assist with the Canteen, Terrey Hills, or Excursions must complete the attached Volunteer Information Form.

The form requests the following details:

• Working With Children Check (WWC) number: For verification purposes only.
• Date of Birth (DOB): Required for WWC verification.

Please note:

The form includes references to relevant Mosman Prep policies, accessible on our website.

How to submit the form:

• Email address to send the completed form to volunteer@mosmanprep.nsw.edu.au

Thank you for your time and cooperation in ensuring a safe and supportive environment for all our students.

Julie Shortland | EA to the Headmaster

Congratulations to our tennis team on a fantastic Term 2 NSTA Primary School Challenge! We're incredibly proud of how well they played and represented the School. A special shout-out to Joshua Steinberg and Luke Yates for their impressive 2nd place finish in their division, and to Valerio Iacovelli and Aidan Wong for securing 3rd place in theirs.

NSTA Term 2 Participants: Valerio Iacovelli, Aidan Wong, Joshua Steinberg, Luke Yates, Ben Brown, Eric Zhou, Max Cameron & Charlie Ill.

Keep an eye out for Term 3 registration details next term!

Steve Riddett | Director of Sport

Congratulations to all the boys (and parents) who took part in the MINI-MOS Fun Run last Sunday. We entered Mosman Prep teams in the 2km Primary Inter-school Challenge (PISC) with a large number of boys from Early Entry – Year 6 taking part. Well done also to the many boys, parents and teachers challenging themselves in the 5km and 10km races.

Strong performances: 

• Valerio Iacovelli (3rd) and Luke Yates (5th) in the 2km race.
• Sebastian Deane (Year 4) running a time of 22min 35s in the 5km race.
• Mrs Kath Gresson (2G Class Teacher) finished first in the womens 5km race!

Steve Riddett | Director of Sport

Although this weekend is the last round of Saturday Sport for Term 2, after-school training will continue on Wednesday and Thursday next week.

After-school training and Round 8 (Saturday 26 July) recommences in the first week of Term 3.

Winter Sport Saturday fixtures conclude with Round 10 on August 9 and after-school training concludes with House Competitions on Wednesday 13 August (Year 3/4) and Thursday 14 August (Year 5/6).

Please note Summer Sport (basketball and cricket) after-school training and Saturday Fixtures do not recommence until Term 4.

Steve Riddett | Director of Sport

Congratulations to our boys who have been selected in the 2025 Athletics Squad. The boys are set to represent MCEPS in one or more of the following inter-school athletics carnivals next term. Squad training will begin next term before school.

Barker Invitational Athletics Carnival- Saturday 16 August

Shore Invitational Athletics Carnival- Saturday 23 August

IPSHA Athletics Carnival- Wednesday 27 August

Athletics team Link: 2025 Mosman Prep Athletics Team

Steve Riddett | Sports Director

Saturdays: On Saturdays the MCEPS Information Line will be updated between 6:30 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 recent rain. 

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

Steve Riddett | Director of Sport

Dear Parents 

Canteen Volunteer Opportunity: Daily volunteers are essential to the School maintaining a cost-effective and smooth-running canteen service. As a parent volunteer, you'll work alongside canteen staff and serve the boys during busy recess periods, 10:20-11:20am. No kitchen or cooking experience required. Use this link to sign up for a 1-hour shift any day(s) during school term. Any questions about canteen volunteering, contact Jeff Brown @ 0400 410 737. 

As a matter of compliance, school volunteers must complete the Volunteer Form below, and have a current NSW Working with Children Check (WWCC). Send completed forms to volunteer@mosmanprep.nsw.edu.au

LINK - Volunteer Signup Form

Jeff Brown | P&F Committee, Canteen

Mosman Prep prides itself on its service to community, guided by our motto, Non Nobis Solum – Not for Ourselves Alone. In this spirit, in 2024 in partnership with the P&F, a school community initiative called ‘Meals with Love’ was launched.

This service provides home cooked evening meals for Mosman Prep families in times of need. All meals are cooked by parent and teacher volunteers and are available for as many evenings as required. This service is anonymous, so meals cooked by volunteers will be delivered to the office for collection by the family as coordinated by the School. 

If your family has a need for this service, please contact Julie Shortland at the School Office at ea@mosmanprep.nsw.edu.au.

If you are also interested in being a volunteer and cooking the occasional meal for a family in need, please contact our new Meals with Love Coordinator, Georgina Ridhalgh at GRidhalgh@hlbnsw.com.au. 

I'd like to thank Georgina for taking up the Coordinator role and also all the wonderful volunteers who have cooked meals this year. It has been a pleasure to create this service for the Mosman Prep community and have it continue.

Meals with Love Coordinator

For the schedule of school events, please refer to the online calendar, which can be found HERE.