From the Head of the Preparatory School
Remembrance Day
On Friday we commemorated Remembrance Day as a community. We were joined by the Trinity Catafalque Party to honour the service men and women who have fought for our freedom. This service is always a memorable one and serves a valuable role in helping our young men to understand from an early age the importance of respect and honouring those that have come before and have acted in a way to make our lives better.
Walkathon
Tuesday’s Prep Walkathon was a brilliant success! We were blessed with a mostly fine morning for the boys to enjoy the walk around the block. Some classes chose to make it more of a wander, but all enjoyed the chance to do something a little different than a usual school day. It was also great to exert a bit of energy and get our steps up. The surprise of an ice-block at the end was welcomed by all!
My sincere thanks to the Auxiliary for their organisation of this event! Click HERE for the highlights of the event.
Christmas Service
On Monday 28th November at 6:00pm, this year’s Christmas Service will be held outdoors at the Prep School, taking advantage of the beautiful backdrop of the Llandilo Building. The Christmas Service will be a contemporary service that celebrates the good news of Jesus’ birth as well as being an opportunity to meet together as a community. The Trinity Singers and the grade choirs will lead our worship throughout the service. There will also be a highly engaging drama. We hope to see many of you on the evening as we celebrate the year together, bring in the festive season and remember God’s gift to the world.
Orientation Day
Orientation Day will be held on Friday, 25th November. On this day, all boys will move into their 2023 class groupings and have the opportunity to get to know their new teacher and their new classmates. Today the process of orientation began for our Kindergarten students as they spent the morning in their new learning environment. We also had the chance to meet with Kindergarten parents to share some ideas about parenting boys and helping them as they begin to transition through the Prep School. This will continue next week for our Kindergarten boys and families as they engage in the second session of orientation before joining all of the students in the whole school Orientation Day in Week 7.
Orientation and Class Lists
We appreciate that the process of transitioning to a new grade, new class and new teacher is significant. Equally, we have a strong sense of the big picture which will involve many more of these changes in years to come. All of this is taken into consideration, along with the needs, friendships and personalities of the boys when class lists are constructed. This is a very detailed process that has taken place over the course of this term. I encourage parents to trust us as we share your concern for ensuring that all students will be supported and thrive in the year ahead. Class lists will not be shared before Orientation Day and changes are not made following.
Studio Concerts
Over the last two weeks our budding young musicians have had a wonderful opportunity to perform in front of an audience and to apply the skills they have been developing across the semester. There is an incredible number of boys learning instruments across the Prep School which highlights the strength of our Music programme. Thank you to all of the Music Tutors for their hard work and support of the boys.
Concerto Competition
On Tuesday night the Concerto Competition Finals were held at Summer Hill. The following students were selected to perform at this event:
Infants Section – Raphael Ma (1Hi)
Junior Section – Eason Wang (5Hi), Cayden Tsang (4He), Jude Kim (6He) and Jack Ng (4Hi)
It is also worth noting that of the Middle and Senior School Sections, 5 out of the 6 finalists were ex Prep boys.
Congratulations to all of the boys but especially Cayden Tsang who won the Junior Section!
Stage 3 Father and Son Breakfast
Next Friday we will be holding a Father and Son Breakfast for Stage 3 students. This event was originally planned for earlier in the year but we were unable to go ahead due to restrictions at the time. It is great that we can find a time for this to take place despite the very busy schedule of Term 4. I hope lots of dads and boys can join us for the morning to enjoy an egg and bacon roll, and time with one another. Bookings can be made at this link.
iPad Programme in 2023
As communicated earlier in the year, the School has made the decision to support student learning by adopting a 1:1 iPad program from Kindergarten to Year 6. After a thorough process of consideration, the iPad was chosen as the preferred device for the future as it offers students a learning tool that balances productivity, inquiry, skill development and creativity. We have seen some great results throughout this year as we have begun the transition from Chromebooks to iPads.
Next year all students in Kindergarten to Year 6 will have access to a personalised iPad. Students in Year 6 will continue to make use of their Chromebooks, most notably as a learning device at home, although there may be occasions when they are also expected to have it at school.
Year 6 v Year 7 Summer Sport fixtures
On Wednesday 23rd November, some of the Year 6 boys will be taking part in the annual combined Cricket and Basketball matches against the Year 7 teams at Summer Hill. Good luck to the boys for these encounters.
End of Year Events
A Year 3-6 Awards Assembly is being held at Strathfield on Monday 28th November. During this Assembly all summer and winter sports awards will be presented as well as additional class awards and co-curricular awards that are not a part of the Annual Prize Giving (on Friday 2nd December) programme. Parents are welcome to attend the Assembly, which will begin at 8:45am.
On Wednesday 30th November, we will be holding the Year 6 Valedictory Service which will begin shortly after 8:30am and will be held in the Prep School Gym. Year 6 parents are encouraged to join us for this event which will be followed by a Morning Tea. Later in the day Year 5 will join Year 6 for their Farewell Luncheon.
On Wednesday 23rd November our Pre-Kindergarten boys will perform their Nativity Play before sharing in lunch with their parents. The Play will be held in the Mozart Room beginning at 12:00pm. Families are invited to share lunch with their boys in the Pre-K playground. Boys can be taken home following lunch.
On Tuesday 29th November, the final Pre-K to Year 6 Chapel Service for the year will be held at 2:00pm in the Prep Gym. Parents are welcome to join us for this occasion.
On Thursday 1st December, the boys in Years 3-6 will attend their Picnic Day. Years 3 and 4 will have their picnic at Peter Depena Reserve and Years 5 and 6 will have their picnic at Carss Park.
Further information will be sent out in the coming weeks about the arrangements for the Preparatory School Annual Prize Giving for all boys in Years 3-6 which will take place on Friday 2nd December at 11:30am. This event is compulsory for all boys in Years 3-6. OSHClub will not be open on Friday 2nd December but will open for Vacation Care on Monday 5th December.
| Approved Incursion | Excursions | Events | |||
| Week | Date | Description | Time |
| 6 | 18 November | Stage 3 Father and Son Breakfast | 7.30 – 8.30am |
| 7 | 21 November | PYP Exhibition | 5.30pm |
| 7 | 23 November | PreK Christmas Service | 12.30pm |
| 7 | 23 November | Y6 vs Y7 Basketball & Cricket | 12.50 – 3.00pm |
| 7 | 24 November | Year 6 Graduation Dinner | 5.30pm |
| 7 | 25 November | 2023 PreK Parents Orientation | 9.00 – 10.30am |
| 8 | 28 November | Sports & Co-Curricular Awards Assembly | 8.45am |
| 8 | 28 November | Community Christmas Service | 5.00pm |
| 8 | 29 November | Infants Annual Concert | 9.00 – 10.30am |
| 8 | 29 November | End-Of-Year Chapel Service | 2.00pm |
| 8 | 30 November | Year 6 Valedictory Service | 8.45am |
| 8 | 30 November | Year 6 Farewell Luncheon | 12.30pm |
| 8 | 1 December | Years 3-6 Picnic Day | All Day Event |
| 8 | 2 December | Annual Prize Giving | 11.30am |
Chris Wyatt | Head of the Preparatory School
Praise the Lord, all nations! Extol him, all peoples! For great is his steadfast love toward us, and the faithfulness of the Lord endures forever. Praise the Lord!
Psalm 117:1-2
