Dear Parents and Carers,

This Friday, we will stop for prayer and reflection to commemorate Remembrance Day. Remembrance Day marks the end of fighting on the Western Front on November 11, 1918. At the time, the anniversary was known as Armistice Day, in reference to the formal agreement the

German leaders signed to end the war. The name was changed to Remembrance Day after World War II ended in 1945. It has since become a day to remember the service and sacrifice of those who have died since World War I. Thank you Miss Jackson, Year 4 teachers and students for leading us in prayer this week.

I would like to congratulate Ms Kate Monckton on securing the Diverse Learning Teacher role for 2024 at Sacred Heart, Mosman. Kate is currently the Year 2 classroom teacher and Mathematics Coordinator. Kate has shown exemplary leadership in her current role and is a well respected member of our community. She has played an integral part in the implementation of the new curriculum and achieved a ‘Highly Accomplished’ level in Mathematical Excellence and Expertise. She has worked alongside our Diverse Learning Team as a teacher and has undertaken a number of courses in ‘Understanding Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder’ and ‘Understanding Autism’. Ms Monckton will work with Mrs Miller and the Diverse Learning Team throughout this term to ensure a smooth transition for our children and families going forward. Kate, this appointment is a testament to your hard work and dedication and we wish you all the very best on this next step in your journey.

The P&F have created an email address and drive folder. The email account will be checked weekly so please email any questions/queries direct to the P&F, if P&F-related. The drive will be used to store handover documents for events. This should support class groups when planning and preparing events going forward. The email address is : shmosman.pandf@gmail.com

In preparation for 2024, I am providing you with the calendar of Term Dates and Staff Development Days. You will also see a snapshot of dates for Term 1, 2024 below and I will send one of these out before each term next year.

Please note, the dates for the year are locked in, including P&F events, these are now available to be viewed on the ‘public’ calendar.

TERM DATES, 2024

STAFF DEVELOPMENT DAYS, 2024 *some of these are mandated so please accept my apologies for any inconvenience

Day 1:Tuesday 30 January

Day 2: Tuesday 2 April

Day 3: Monday 29 April

Day 4: Friday 5 July

Day 5: Monday 22 July

Day 6: Friday, 18 October

Day 7: Monday 18 November

Day 8: Thursday 19 December

TERM 1 SNAPSHOT, 2024

May God bless all our families.

Leanne Meehan

Executive Principal

NAPLAN

Further to the information last term regarding our excellent NAPLAN results, Sydney Catholic Schools have now released information on the Top 15 Sydney Catholic Schools relative to the NSW State average.  We are so proud of the efforts of our students and teachers and excited to be in the top 15 list in a number of areas:

Year 3 Reading - Sacred Heart Mosman - 9th place

Year 3 Writing - Sacred Heart Mosman - 14th place

Year 3 Numeracy - Sacred Heart Mosman - 13th place

Year 5 Grammar & Punctuation - Sacred Heart Mosman - 6th place

Year 5 Writing - Sacred Heart Mosman - 12th place

What an amazing achievement for our students to rank so highly amongst the other 149 Sydney Catholic Schools. 

The Christmas Story - Art Exhibition and Opening

Thank you to Miss Jackson and Mrs Conroy who worked over many afternoons with our students to design and paint artworks related to the Christmas story.  We had two successful entries of students’ artwork in Sydney Catholic Schools ‘The Christmas Story Art Exhibition and Competition 2023’. The following students have had their artworks selected for the exhibition and we want to acknowledge how proud we are of them for all of their hard work.

Arabella Crone

Caitlin Swain

The students and their families are now invited to celebrate Mass on the first Sunday of Advent at St Benedict’s Catholic Church, Chippendale and to view the exhibition.  

Swimming Carnival - Program 

Our swimming carnival for Years 2-6 is being held next week and Miss Calizar has put together a program overview based on the races that parents have entered their child into.  We have attached the proposed run sheet for the day.  The  100 metre and 50 metre races are run first so that we can record times to identify if any of our students qualify for the Sydney Catholic Schools events next year.  This means that our races for non swimmers are not held until approximately 12:00pm.  These will be races with props including kick boards and swim noodles.  By their nature, swimming carnivals are different to sports carnivals, given we only have access to one pool.  This means that the students are watching others swim for much of the day.  Our House Captains will lead cheers and we hope that all students will support those racing by watching and cheering them on.  

PROGRAM OVERVIEW

Please note that times are approximate and may be subject to change depending on the length of each event

Just a reminder that I sent a note home on Monday regarding the process of organising our class groupings for 2024.  There is much thought that goes into placing a child in a class.  We consider a child’s academic and well-being needs, who each child works well with, if there is anyone who they do not work well with, friendship groups and children’s preferences, the number of girls and boys in each year level, social and emotional needs, information from parents, teaachers and other individual circumstances.  

If you wish us to consider any information related to your child, please email the office by Friday 10th November,  info@shmosman.catholic.edu.au with your child's name and current class in the subject line. 

When taking into consideration all of the requests, it is not always possible to ensure perfect outcomes for everyone.  Getting class selection ‘right’ is important to us and we ask that parents trust in the process.  Once classes are organised, there are no changes as you can imagine that changing one child would have a follow on impact on the whole process above. Parents can not choose or request a particular teacher and our classes and staffing are announced in the last week of term.  We look forward to Tuesday 12th December, when all students will have an opportunity to meet their class members and new teacher/ teachers for 2024. 

Shine and Share

‘Shine and Share’ sessions are an opportunity for all students to shine as you share in your child’s learning and give thanks to our wonderful teachers and learning year.  The classrooms are open during the times below so please feel free to join, even if for a small amount of time.  

Wishing you God’s Blessings, 

Jane Taylor

Assistant Principal

Family Mass and Pizza evening this Saturday

If you are part of our school community and will be attending the Vigil Mass this Saturday evening, 11th November at 6pm, you are more than welcome to join in

the Parish Hall for pizza after Mass. Please fill in this google form for the purpose of catering, thank you.                   

St Francis of Assisi 

Blessing of the Animals

It was truly lovely to see our Sacred Heart community gather for the Blessing of the Animals on Sunday, 29th of October. We started with a beautiful Kinder Family Mass,  followed by lots of happy furry friends! A very big thank you to Kinder parent Rad Kenig, for dressing up as our PAWS Pup! Thank you to Father Phil for such a lovely blessing to bring the community together.

It was truly lovely to see our Sacred Heart community gather for the Blessing of the Animals on Sunday, 29th of October. We started with a beautiful Kinder Family Mass, followed by lots of happy furry friends! A very big thank you to Kinder parent Rad Kenig, for dressing up as our PAWS Pup! Thank you to Father Phil for such a lovely blessing to bring the community together. 

Unfortunately John Burland has had to postpone our Faith Celebration day until next year. Apologies to those of you who were going to join us. 

Upcoming Family Masses

Saturday 11th November, 6.15pm: Year 6 Mass & pizza (anyone attending Mass from Sacred Heart is welcome for pizza after Mass- fill in the google form for catering!)

Sunday 19th November, 5pm: Year 5 Mass & pizza

Sunday 26th November, 9am: Year 2 Mass & morning tea

Sunday 3rd Dec, 5pm: Year 4 Mass & pizza

Sunday 10th December, 9am: Year 3 Mass & morning tea 

We have already reached half way for the term, how quickly time goes by!

Today’s Reading of the day- 8th November 2023

Wednesday of the Thirty-first Week in Ordinary Time

A reading from the 

Letter of St. Paul to the Roman 

Rom 13:8-10

Brothers and sisters:

Owe nothing to anyone, except to love one another;

for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law. 

The commandments, You shall not commit adultery;

you shall not kill;

you shall not steal;

you shall not covet,

and whatever other commandment there may be, 

are summed up in this saying, namely,

You shall love your neighbor as yourself. 

Love does no evil to the neighbor;

hence, love is the fulfillment of the law

If you or anyone you know is interested in being a carer or helping out where needed, this workshop will be very insightful and rewarding.

Knowing our local church.

Holy Family Catholic Parish is a welcoming, supportive community of believers inspired by the life of Jesus. We are called to make Christ present in our parish, in our local community and in our world.

Some questions that sometimes get asked about the church & the answer is sometimes unsure. 

Did you know? 

The 1st collection is for our priests and the running of the Presbytery. The residue goes to the central fund in the Archdiocese for sick, retired priests and for poor parishes.

The second collection is to run our parish.

November Mass offering envelopes will be available from the church foyer or parish office, for repose of the souls of loved ones. Take an envelope and place a donation and write the name or names of those you would like to offer a Mass for. Wonderful way to pay homage to those not with us anymore.

Sometimes we would like to attend Mass but can’t remember the Mass times.                                     

I have added them in the newsletter for easy reference.

SACRED HEART PARISH, MOSMAN - Mass times:

Saturday Vigil: 6.15pm - Mass

Sunday: 9am, 11am, 5pm - Morning tea after the 9am Mass each Sunday. All are welcome

Monday: 9.15am

Tuesday: 9.15am

Wednesday: 9.15am

Thursday: 9.15am

Friday: 9.15am & Midday - An anointing Mass is held on the first Friday of each month (except in January) 12 noon Mass at Sacred Heart, Mosman.

Eat, Pray & Laugh is also still continuing on Tuesdays beginning with 9:15am Mass then Coffee. Such a lovely way to take a little time out for yourself & meditate with your thoughts and give thanks for the good things in our life. Only 2 more playgroup dates for this year. Please come along and join us.

With many blessings,

Anna Macri

Family Educator

Congratulations to our Mathematics Competitors!

We are thrilled to extend our warmest congratulations to our young maths enthusiasts who have demonstrated remarkable dedication and skill in the world of mathematics. This year, we introduced the "Fibonacci Club" for students with a deep passion for mathematics, and we are excited to share their achievements. 

Maths Olympiads Champions

Last week, we gathered to celebrate the exceptional efforts of our students who participated in the highly challenging Maths Olympiads. These dedicated students willingly sacrificed their lunch breaks to hone their problem-solving skills and numerical acumen.

What is the Maths Olympiad?

The Maths Olympiad is a prestigious competition held across Australian schools, where students put their mathematical prowess and reasoning abilities to the test, tackling complex problems that truly challenge intellect and creativity. This year, our school proudly entered teams in not one but two divisions: "Maths Explorers" for years 3-4 and "Maths Olympiads" for years 5-6.

Recognition for Year-round Dedication

Our students have worked tirelessly throughout the year, participating in a total of four challenging competitions. Their unwavering dedication and hard work have not only enriched their mathematical skills but also honed their problem-solving abilities, and growth mindset.

Thank you to the students, parents, and teachers who have supported and encouraged these motivated students on their journey. Your dedication has been instrumental in their success.

Congratulations to all of our students who entered the Junior Olympiad Division for Yrs 5 and 6.

Congratulations to all of our students who entered the Maths Explorers division for Years 3 and 4.

Maths Stars award

Mrs. Petersen

Year 6 Teacher and Deep Learning Co-ordinator