Headmaster's Message

As 2022 comes to a close, I am humbled to be flooded with lovely messages of appreciation from our families. Stories of lives enriched and even transformed since arriving at Mosman Prep were heart-warming. Some from faraway countries and others from close to home. There is no better confirmation for a school than the appreciative insights shared from within its community. Some examples of the encouraging messages I have received...

“Mosman Prep is an outstanding school! We came from a high performing school overseas and have found Prep to be amazing in comparison. We have been incredibly impressed with the strong values. The way the values are messaged to the boys is very special. It is part of the fabric – evident in the teachers and administration staff. The ‘values culture’ is so clear. The boys’ grandparents cannot believe the standard Prep has achieved as a school. Mosman Prep has set the benchmark.”

“I would like to write an email simply to say how much we as a family appreciate the opportunity to commence at Mosman Prep in the middle of Year 5. Our son has grown to become a strong, confident, happy boy and the transformation of his growth has come from the environment, friends around him as well as the parents’ network.”

“The Learning Celebration held earlier in the year was a triumph and we thoroughly enjoyed being part of the school community. Our son has had a wonderful year, participating in the Model UN program, Sydney Writers’ Festival and the da Vinci Academic Decathlon. There were so many outstanding opportunities for the boys to extend their learning horizons and I appreciate and acknowledge the excellence of the school throughout this year.”

During the year, it was once again fabulous to showcase the rich learning and wellbeing provision at the School during our ‘Learning Celebration’. We were also thankful to continue our support of parents through our ‘Empowering Parents’ events, while significantly developing our engagement with programs such as ‘Aboriginal Education’ (including our inaugural Year 5 Coffs Harbour Camp), ‘Sustainability’, and ‘Secondary School Connections’.

I would like to thank all our parents and extended families for your support of our staff and the Prep Community during this very challenging year. Your positive engagement in partnership with us has been incredibly empowering. A special thank you to our P&F Committee, Class Parents and Canteen staff for their contribution.

Thank you, also to the Council Chair Ms Jennifer Lambert, the Council, and the Old Boys Union Committee for their ongoing support of the School. Thank you to Mr Greg McDonald, Ms Liza Campbell, Ms Alex Fentoullis, and Reverend Daryl Diener, and all the Prep Staff, including the administration, ground staff and peripatetic music staff. This has been another particularly busy year, as in their usual way, they have sought to ‘doubly bless’ the boys in this year of newfound freedom. Their professionalism, enthusiasm, ‘can do’ attitude and dedication to the boys and families of the School has been exceptional.

I think the words below from a much-loved retiring teacher at Prep, highlight the quality of the Prep Staff: “The team at Prep is very special and strong, hard, dedicated educators and humble beings who hold the boys’ interests in mind and heart all the time....I see it every time I am with you or reading/ following online events and emails. Congratulations everyone on a great year and in fact a great few years dealing with so many COVID related changes.”

Amidst the outstanding everyday job that the staff have done, I would like to recognise their passionate engagement with our Strategic Planning over the past year. It is a rare feature for a staff to be so fully immersed in strategic planning. Sadly, often it is a top-down process, perhaps done for the purposes of fundraising or to ‘tick a box’, not seen by staff and therefore not actioned. In respect to our Strategic Plan, all the staff and the School Council have been engaged, and our parents and Old Boys were all invited to contribute. Thank you to all who have shared this task.

‘Strategic Direction: Towards 2028’ is a living document, with a comprehensive spreadsheet of priorities, goals, initiatives, timeframes and success measures sitting behind it. It is exciting that many of the initiatives mentioned have commenced over the past year thanks to the enthusiasm of our staff team and School Council. Plans are well underway for redevelopment of the basketball court area and development of a Creative Arts Music Facility, as we commit to our strategic priority – ‘Enhancing learning spaces and facilities so that they support our Learning Model’. This year we farewell Mr Paul Dawson and Mrs Nicole Gillespie who are looking forward to reducing their workload and having more time for family and friends. We are also farewelling Miss Annie Hope and Mr Domenic Lespierre as they look to develop their career paths in different schools. We wish Mrs Jo Browne and Mrs Holly Barton every blessing for the anticipated birth of their babies. All these teachers have been important members of our staff team who will be missed greatly. We thank them for their significant contribution and wish them and their families all the best for the future.

I won’t say goodbye to our Year 6 boys and those families finishing up at Prep, rather, we look forward to seeing you soon, as lifetime members of the Mosman Prep family. You are always welcome to visit!

In closing, the Staff and Council are thankful for the support of our community during 2022, and excited about actioning further our ‘Strategic Direction: Towards 2028’ in 2023, as we endeavour to provide an exceptional education for boys during the critical early years, empowering them to thrive.

Mr Peter Grimes Headmaster