Dear Parents and Carers

We have all returned to school and settled back into our new normal. This means the words “staggered” and “cohort” have become the new normal. We are currently, until further notice, having staggered morning teas and lunches and staggered dismissals. The children are still adapting to not mixing. We are a school that has many cross grade friendships and children that love to play together especially in the morning and so that can be difficult for the children to understand but with a number of  schools closed we will have to abide by these rules for some time into the future in order to keep the children safe and at school.

Next week we will have our Book Character day but not the formal parade. Please see the details in this newsletter. 

We have given each grade a week to settle into class and have begun individual testing of mathematics and english. The following week each grade’s teachers will have a planning day with members of the leadership team (Kinder and Year One this week) and they will plan targeted teaching for the remainder of the year. If there are children who are falling below our benchmarks they will get extra support over the coming weeks; especially our early readers. I am looking forward to spending time back in class over the coming weeks to lend a hand supporting our teachers so they can support interventions.

Thanks to the generosity of the Sport Club the children are able to have expert assistance in their Physical Education lessons over the next five weeks. In Term 4 the curriculum skills for basketball are usually taught by Mr DeVilliers. Over the next five weeks he will be joined by Brendan Matthes our basketball coach and together they will teach, motivate and extend the children’s basketball skills in order to build their fitness and improve or extend their basketball and general ball skills.

Today the children will join in a faith celebration with John Burland from Sydney Catholic Schools. These sessions will be via Zoom and will have a particular focus on celebrating two hundred years of Catholic Education in Australia.

In Term Two you will have received a letter from SCS outlining the new Amadeus music program. This is an extensive program that will be rolled out to all SCS schools. Our program will begin in 2022. Each student from Years 3-6 will receive three music sessions a week.

Session 1 will be with Ms Conroy which will teach the music curriculum.

Session 2 will be in small ensemble groups with a music tutor and their chosen instrument.

Session 3 will be with their class in a Concert Band format where they will learn to combine their individual skills in a band format.

Musical instruments for the Amadeus program have been delivered to the school and will be allocated to students before the end of the term. There will be a small cost to parents for the program. So far we have had $80 000 worth of brass instruments delivered to the school and will have a further similar amount of stringed instruments delivered in the coming weeks. More information will be forthcoming over the next few weeks and early next year.

Dismissal - car line 

Could our Year 3-6 families please not make their way to the carline until 3pm as we have a large volume of cars for the earlier pick up and they are blocking the surrounding streets. If you do encounter any residents please make way for them and give them right of way. We are currently checking the volume of traffic and may make some changes to classes and timing next week.

Enjoy your week.

Regards

Julie Caldwell

Fun Faith Day 

This year is the Bicentenary of Catholic Education and to help us celebrate, John Burland joined us in a live streamed ‘Fun Faith Day’ celebration today. The students were engaged in Scriptural Storytelling and movement to the music of John Burland. The session for Years K to 2 focused on God’s love, God’s Creation and the Holy Family. The session for Years 3 to 6 was centered around the celebration of the Eucharist, the Sacrament of First Holy Communion and raising our hands for justice. John also shared some of his special memories and experiences of Catholic Education. Tomorrow, each student will receive a special gift to commemorate the Bicentenary of Catholic Education. The gift is a necklace with a pendant of the Saint Benedict Cross. Please ensure that your child keeps their gift at home and if you could monitor your child’s wearing of the necklace, as the neck piece is a thin leather strap. 

All Saints Day live streamed Mass this Friday, 29th October @ 9:30am

This Friday, 29th October we will celebrate the All Saints Feast Day Mass via live stream. Parents are welcome to view the Mass using the following link:

Link: https://scscatholic.zoom.us/j/98459089469

Password: church

NB... CLICK AT THE TOP OF THE PDF.  IT WILL OPEN THE PDF FOR YOU SO YOU CAN ACCESS ALL THE LINKS PROVIDED.

Open to all ages and all abilities so lace up, get running or walking and join the fun!

One of Sydney’s much-loved community fun runs, it traditionally features 2km, 5km and 10km courses through the streets of Mosman and a family fun fair.

In 2021 Mini-Mos will again run as a virtual event from the 1^st – 28^th November 2021.

The 5km and 10km virtual Mini-Mos courses are largely unchanged from the traditional street course. The 2km course will again be run on the path around Rawson Oval, Mosman - sign posted along the course.

Everyone is welcome to register and participate.  Participants can run or walk any of the Mini-Mos courses as many times as they like over the month of November. Times will be logged and there will be live leaderboards with prizes for various categories.

New to 2021 is the 60km Challenge, open to adults only (but you can always do this as a family). All you need to do is walk or run a total of 60km during the event window (1-28 November), then send in social media proof of your efforts to go in the draw to win some awesome prizes. 

Poppy O’Brien Sacred Heart Mosman's School Captain is our Mini-Mos 2021 Youth Ambassador for 2021.  Poppy says, "I’m so proud to be part of an event that hasn’t let COVID get in the way.  We all get challenges in life and the real strength comes if we can turn challenges into opportunities’. I’ve already started training and my goal is to break my PB in the 5km and beat my Mum in the 10km! I hope you set yourself a challenge and join me."

Joining Poppy as Mini-Mos Ambassadors in 2021 are Owain Matthews (Triathlete), Ed Goddard (long distance runner) and Rowena Meredith (Olympian).

We hope Mini-Mos 2021 can help inspire everyone not only to get fit, but also reconnect back with their friends, family and community. So we hope you’ll join Poppy!

For more information you can watch our 2021 Launch Video or visit our website www.mini-mos.com for further information & to register for the event.

COMPASS: