On Friday, 7 February, we gathered for our Opening Eucharist to mark the commencement of our academic year and formally welcome our new students and staff. We are grateful to Fr Raphael Kimaro AJ, who Presided, and the choir, who beautifully led us in singing.  During the course of our Liturgy, we had a special rite of welcome for our new students and staff who were all presented with a medal of St Benedict, the patron of our College.  This year, as a community, we will spend time developing our understanding and practice of the Benedictine value of Hospitality, connecting it to the Pope’s call for us to be Pilgrims of Hope during the Jubilee Year.

Last week, Wrap With Love started back on a Monday in the College Library.  Wrap with Love supplies blankets to those in need and people suffering the effects of cold and trauma in Australia and worldwide.  Students crochet or knit squares that are sewn together to make blankets.  It is wonderful to see students using their talent to help others.  We are lucky to have some wonderful grandparents assisting us too.  Our crocheters and knitters were busy over the holidays and we now have a cupboard full of blankets awaiting delivery.  If you have any wool you would like to donate we would be most grateful.

There will be much to be involved in over Term One and I look forward to sharing news of these with you.

Kerry Bailey
Dean of Mission

Wrap with Love returns for 2025 every Monday at lunchtime. Sessions are held in the Library and students are welcome to bring their lunch and water bottles to these sessions. Students work to knit, crochet and sew beautiful handmade blankets that can be donated to those in need. Wrap with Love is a non profit organisation, so relies on the generous blankets made by students throughout the year. By contributing to Wrap with Love, our students embody Hospitality and Stewardship, recognising that that their skills are a gift from God and sharing in those gifts is an act of graciousness, service and compassion. Resources are provided, however, students may like to bring their own 4mm knitting needles or crochet hooks and yarn. For more information, please feel free to contact Mrs Jacinta Wells at jwells@msb.nsw.edu.au.

The High Achievers Assembly this week was a wonderful opportunity for us to reconnect and celebrate with our 2024 graduates and hear about their successes as well as their strategies for success. One enduring theme as the girls spoke was the concept of balance. No matter what subject pathway they explored, or home learning strategies they employed, a key overlap between our most academically successful students was their continued commitment to cocurricular pursuits which brought them a sense of purpose, passion and joy and a much needed circuit break from their academic work. This messaging was a clear sign that our work as a College in supporting their wellbeing and encouraging the development of the whole girl is working.

Cocurricular involvement is at the essence of the Bennies experience. Whether within or outside of school, it allows girls to pursue things that bring them joy and develop themselves holistically. A 2024 survey by EY Women Athletes Business Network and espnW showed that 94% of the female executives surveyed played sport when they were younger with all outlining that the sense of camaraderie, grit and commitment that sport offered them had, and continued to have, a positive impact on their personal and professional lives. But these benefits are not siloed to sport. Whether it be in an Ensemble, Choir, Debating Team or Minecraft Club, the sense of connectedness and purpose these activities bring has long lasting and research-based benefits for young women.

If your daughter is looking to extend her skills or friendships, information about our cocurricular suite of offerings can be found here . Our Heads of House, Assistant Heads of House, Mrs Hickey and I are also happy to work with your daughter to help her identify areas of interest and find ‘her tribe’ to help her thrive during and beyond her time at Bennies and allow her to experience the sense of connectedness, success and balance her ‘older sisters’ in the Graduating Class of 2024 have achieved.

Sheri Upasiri
Dean of Wellbeing

In 2025 the following vaccines will be offered:

Year 7 - students are offered free vaccines for diphtheria-tetanus-pertussis (whooping cough), (dTpa) and human papillomavirus (HPV).

Year 10 - students are offered the meningococcal ACWY vaccine.

If your child is in Year 7 or Year 10, you can give consent online for these routine school vaccinations.

Vaccination will only be provided at school if consent has been received.

How to Provide Consent:

Save the Date - Bennies is holding our annual Open Day on Sunday 2 March from 10.00am - 2.00pm.

Tell your friends with daughters currently in Year 5 that enrolments for Year 7 2027 are now open.  Prospective families can register to attend: https://enquiry.msb.nsw.edu.au/events , and lodge an online Expression of Interest to reserve your daughter's position on our database. Click here to see our Open Day promotional video.

If you have a daughter, or know someone who has a daughter commencing Year 5 this year, now is the time to submit your Expression of Interest (EOI). This is easily accomplished by visting the College website and selecting Enrolments where you will find "How To Enrol". You can also book for the College Open Day on Sunday 2 March. All families who have lodged their EOI will receive the link inviting them to complete their Application for Enrolment in the week commencing Monday 3 March. If you have any questions, please email registrar@msb.nsw.edu.au or call 9980.0406

Have you moved or changed your phone number?

Please update your change of contact details within BenniesLink (Parent Portal) .

Absentee Procedure

If a student is absent and will not be attending school on that day, a text message needs to be sent to 0407 461 087 notifying the College of this with a reason.

College Communication

To keep up to date with what's happening at the College, please like our Facebook page here , follow our Instagram page here and read the College Newsletter and Bennies Updates, which are delivered via email each Friday afternoon.

We are pleased to share two updates about our free Bennies Bus Cherrybrook Metro service:

1.    Transition to Electric Buses
Through our charter partnership with North Sydney Bus Charters, the Bennies Bus fleet will be transitioning to electric vehicles over the course of 2025. This initiative reflects our commitment to our College value of Stewardship.

2.    Additional Shuttle Service
Starting from the beginning of the 2025 school year, an additional Bennies Metro Shuttle will operate between Cherrybrook Metro and Mount St Benedict College. This means there will now be two 55-seat shuttles running every 10 minutes during the morning service.

Mount St Benedict College is well serviced by buses which drop and pick up students in Beecroft Road before the start and at the end of the College day. Parents should make their own enquiries to TRANSPORT INFOLINE if train or bus travel is required.

Students must have a valid Opal Card to travel on school buses and they are required to tap on and off both morning and afternoon. The School OPAL card gives eligible students free or discounted travel between home and school, using the train, bus and ferry services you nominate in your application. For further information go to transportnsw.info/school-students

It is very important that students use their Opal card to tap on and off the Government bus services provided. If students do not have an Opal card for the Government bus, parents are asked to order a replacement card online.

https://transportnsw.info/tickets-opal/ticket-elig...

Tapping on and off with your Opal card is vital as College Bus services are provided by Transport NSW in response to the needs of the community. The need is determined by the data collected from students using their Opal card to tap on and off the bus. If students do not have an Opal card or do not use their Opal card to tap on and off, this leads to inaccurate data being collected, and the need is not addressed or known by Transport NSW. This leads to full buses and transport needs are not met as a result.

The new College portal, BenniesLink was launched in November 2024 and is available for parents to access. BenniesLink is a centralised platform to help you efficiently manage your daughter’s education at the College. The portal is also used by staff and students at the College. This portal will give you easy access to College learning platforms, parent information, newsletters, student timetables, and the College calendar.

The BenniesLink portal is available through your desktop browser and the mobile app.

Year 7 Parents and New 2025 Families
An email has been sent with instructions for logging into BenniesLink for the first time.

BenniesLink Parent Portal User Guide: CLICK HERE
This comprehensive guide will help you navigate and utilise the features of the portal.

Year 8 -12 Parents
If you have yet to log into BenniesLink, please refer to the user guide linked above.

Link to log in for the first time:

https://bennieslink.msb.nsw.edu.au/

Access this link to log in for the first time and click the Forgot Password link.

Subsequent log-in link: https://bennieslink.msb.nsw.edu.au/
The functionality of the portal will continue to grow as further enhancements are progressively rolled out.

Mrs Kylie Gray
Director of Marketing

We are excited to announce that the renovation of A Block is now complete. This upgrade includes three additional TAS multi-purpose learning spaces, a dedicated Health Clinic, and improved offices for Student Services and the Wellbeing Team.

To help you navigate this change, please refer to the access details below:

Collection of Students During the School Day
(e.g., attending an appointment or due to illness)

In 2025, Mount St Benedict College has partnered with a new canteen provider.

Introduction from Vanilla Blue

Vanilla Blue are excited to be your new canteen provider at Mount St Benedict College. As finalists in 2023 and 2024 for “Education Site Caterer of the Year”, we focus on wholesome lunches and snacks that will be freshly prepared on-site each day by our dedicated and friendly canteen team including your Canteen Manager- Migumi, Chef- Josh and Canteen Assistants- Kym, Sharon and Prin.

If you have any questions or would like to speak to our team, please call 1300 556 086 or msbcanteen@vanillablue.com.au .

Menu

Please view our menu here.
There are Daily deals, click here.

Student Opening specials will begin on Monday 3 February, Click here.

Students are not permitted to order hot drinks including coffee, except for Year 11 and 12 students, who are permitted to order hot chocolates before school or during study periods.

Payment information
Orders can be placed up to 8am on the day via the Flexischools app, or over the counter by Student ID card (linked to the Flexischools account) or physical bank/ATM cards.

Vanilla Blue supports the College’s policy on mobile phone usage, so we are unable to accept payment by mobile tap-and-go.

Your student Flexischools account should already be linked to the new canteen menu.

Sign up to Flexischools here.

Your 2025 school fees are now due. If paying by instalment, Term One is due Friday 7 February.

Pre-authorised automatic deductions commence 7 February for payment by term, weekly and fortnight B.  Fortnight A instalments will commence 14 February. Monthly instalments will commence 17 February.

If you have any queries regarding your fees account, please contact Fiona Barnett or Monica Seto on 9980 0445 or fees@msb.nsw.edu.au

Term Two fees are due 2 May 2025

Term Three fees are due 25 July 2025

Term Four fees are due 17 October 2025.

To Access the schedule of events for 2025 log in to BenniesLink (Parent Portal) Calendar.

*College Assemblies For Parents

College Assemblies are livestreamed for the MSB parent community at 9:40-10:45am on the dates specified in the schedule above. The live stream link is here.

During the summer break many of our students were hard at work participating in their Adventurous Journeys or Gold Residential Experiences for their Duke of Edinburgh Award.

GOLD Adventures

For the Gold Award level, Miss Semple accompanied 10 of our Year 10 students to Kosciuszko National Park to complete their seven day Gold Adventurous Journey (AJ). This trip was a school-run trip organised by Youth Advance. A big congratulations to the following students for their tenacity and hard work whilst having a lot of fun, to successfully complete their AJ.

Sophia A, Samantha B, Sanvi B, Emilie C, Giverny D, Eva F, Eimear K, Ishana K, Natalie M and Tiffany R.

Excitingly, we also had five Year 11 students travel to Fiji for eight days with Infuse Travel to fulfill their Residential Project requirements. These students participated in a range of service opportunities and experienced some Fijian hospitality and way of life. The service opportunities consisted of building pathways, cooking food for the Women's shelter and helping out at the Kid's club.

Below is an extract from one of the students:

Who: Ex-students of MSB
Why: To keep Ex-students up-to-date with the initiatives of the Committee in the past and future.
Hear the stories from ex-students who have received a grant from MSBESA.
When: Monday 10 February 2025
Where: Click here [to join the zoom meeting]
Time: 6.30pm

College Uniform Shop

The College Shop is open Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday during Term Time between 8.00am-12.00pm and 1.00pm-4.00pm, and is located near the Hall Courtyard.
Click here to see the 2025 College Shop price list

This Saturday, Quest Orienteering is on at the College. It is open to all Bennies students.

Students can arrive any time between 9:30am and 11am to try out a course.  Pre-registration is preferred, however it is possible to enter on the day.

Event details and registration:

https://raceroster.com/events/2025/93899/sos-3d-mount-st-benedict-college-pennant-hills