Last week, we celebrated Mission Week, which focuses on raising awareness and funds for our House Partners through the Good Samaritan Foundation.

Mr Hume, Heads of House and House Captains did a fabulous job coordinating activities every lunchtime.

We had Subiaco and Arcadia selling recycled clothes in support not only of The Good Samaritan Inn but also as a Stewardship initiative.  Montserrat and Stanbrook provided information on the Ltyentye Apurte (Santa Teresa) Community whilst decorating crosses inspired by the artists' work at the Spirituality Centre. Our new houses, Jamberoo and Scholastica, whilst only newly established, ran a hugely successful Spider/Ice-cream Drink Sale.  Every cup had information about Timor Leste glued to it, and close to $700 was raised.  New Norcia and Maredsous invited students to write prayers for the Kinder School in Bacolad, The Philippines, creating a beautiful display. Finally, the week ended with an amazing installation by Monte Cassino and Terracina on the effects of climate change in Kiribati.  It was wonderful to see all of the Student Leaders' planning and work come to fruition.

Our creation of hampers for House of Welcome is well underway. The House of Welcome provides vital services to refugees and asylum seekers, offering them much-needed assistance and a sense of community. Each year Homerooms are allocated a family to provide a Christmas Hamper for.  This year, with our new Homerooms, we will be creating 70 hampers.  I encourage our Bennies families to pop something into your trolley this weekend to donate to your daughter's Homeroom hamper and to sign up to assist with the delivery.  Delivery will take place on the Saturday 30 November in the morning.

Sign up to deliver a hamper here: https://benniesnet.msb.nsw.edu.au/d2l/le/news/10140/9665/view

Delivering hampers is a great way to give back, a practical demonstration of our value of Hospitality, and a wonderful experience.  Please feel free to make this a family affair.

We are delighted to have our friends from St Edmund's College, Wahroonga, visiting us next Friday.  The Year 11 Eddies students will join our Year 9 Ministry class to share in a special Christmas craft session. This is an opportunity to create some festive decorations, reflect on the meaning of Christmas and enjoy each other’s company.  As well as a morning crafting together, both classes will share lunch.  I’m sure it will be a great deal of fun for both schools.

There is still much to be involved in and celebrate as we move into the last two weeks of school.  I encourage you to watch the College Socials to share in the joy.

Mrs Kerry Bailey
Dean of Mission

As part of our commitment to your daughter’s education, the College will implement Progressive Achievement Testing in Numeracy (PAT-N) and Reading (PAT-R). Australian Council of Educational Research (ACER) developed the tests to provide and validate student achievement and understanding as they progress through their educational journey.

The Australian Maths Competition is an engaging 30-problem competition that demonstrates the importance and relevance of mathematics in everyday lives of students. Students from Years 7 to 11 were selected to compete by demonstrating their deep understanding on solving challenging problems.

Congratulations to all students with the following achievements:

The Australian Geography Competition is a contest for Australian secondary school students, assessing their geographical knowledge and skills. The Competition aims to encourage student interest in geography and to reward student excellence. A small group of Year 9 and Year 10 Elective Geography students participated in the competition.

On Thursday 28 November at 6pm in the Hildegard Theatre. Tickets are free, please book here: https://www.trybooking.com/CXGBA

Year 9 and 10 Dance and Drama students are excited to showcase some of their assessment work from this year.

We are pleased to announce that the new College portal, BenniesLink is now 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.

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

Link to log in for the first time: CLICK HERE
Access this one-time link to log in for the first time and reset your password.

Subsequent log-in link: https://bennieslink.msb.nsw.edu.au/

Please refer to the email sent to all parents and carers on Thursday 21 November for further details.

The functionality of the portal will continue to grow as further enhancements are progressively rolled out.

Mrs Kylie Gray
Director of Marketing

*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.

Our annual Presentation Day will be held on Wednesday 4 December. This is also the final day of Term Four.

For those unable to join us in person, we will also be streaming the Presentation Day Assembly (please note the event will not be recorded).

The timing of the day will be as follows:

End of Year Eucharist (Hall)                            9.15am-10.15am (seated by 9.05am)

Parent Morning Tea (Hildegard Centre)           10.15am-11.00am

Presentation Day Assembly (Hall)                    11.15am-12.45pm – live-streamed

We would like to welcome parents and caregivers to these events. For our planning purposes, we would be grateful if you could RSVP for these events in advance by Wednesday 27 November.

Cick here to RSVP for Presentation Day:

Parking: There is no parking available on the College grounds for this event, as all school staff will be onsite on this day. As we are expecting many guests, please allow ample time to park and walk in. Parking suggestions include the top of Beecroft Road adjacent to Observatory Park or Loftus Road and Wilson Road on the opposite side of Pennant Hills Road, where the College can be accessed via the overhead pedestrian bridge. A College map is available for your convenience, as well as parking options (shown in pink).

Please email mblackman@msb.nsw.edu.au should you require an accessible parking space for this event.

Your daughter will be informed via email the week prior to this event if she will be receiving an award. Families can adjust their RSVP at this time.

The school day will officially conclude after the Presentation Day Assembly, and students are able to commence their summer holiday at this time. We ask for your support in ensuring that MSB students do not attend shopping centres in College uniform after school has concluded on this day.

Supervision is available from 12.45pm-3.15pm for students who are unable to be collected at 12.45pm. If you require supervision for your daughter, please let us know by emailing admin@msb.nsw.edu.au by Friday 29 November.

The Bennies Private Buses (only for students whose families have paid for a seat on the bus) and the Bennies Shuttle Service to Cherrybrook Metro (free shuttle service available to all MSB students) will be operational at the conclusion of the Presentation Day Assembly. Bennies Private Buses will not operate at 3.15pm on this day. Three Bennies Cherrybrook Metro Shuttles will operate from Gate D (at the Hull Road end of the campus) on loops from 12.45pm onwards until all students have boarded.

Please refer to the email sent to all Parents and Carers on 19 November.

Tickets are now on sale for the Academy of Drama showcase.

Click here to book.

Registrations for Cocurricular Sports Programs are now open for Term One, 2025! The College will have the following Sports Programs on offer:

Interschool :

Physical Activity :

Social Sport :

Registrations close Friday 8 November.

For more information about these programs, and to learn how to register, please read the emails from Miss Martin and Miss Kelleway, sent to students and parents in Week Three (Wednesday 30 October).

There are a number of trips coming up in the December school holidays that we would like to recognise and wish all the best to these students.

On Friday 15 November, our Opens Volleyball Representative Team attended the Broken Bay Volleyball Championships at Niagara Park Stadium, Central Coast. The team consisted of nine students, from Years 9 – 11, who finished the day with some excellent results.

The team went through the carnival undefeated, winning 12 out of 12 sets throughout the day, resulting in being presented as gold medallists and Broken Bay Champions. Amazing job!

Congratulations to all students that participated for competing with great sportsmanship, spirit, and support for their teammates. A big thank you to Coach Sheilah for all her efforts.

Recently our Under 13s Touch Football team attended the Broken Bay Championships at Doyalson on the Central Coast. In what were very tiring conditions with temps up around the 30 degree mark, the team went through four round games without a loss. We came up against a determined Mater Maria Catholic College team in the semi final, winning a close game 4-3. In the final, we faced St Brigid’s Catholic College and finished the day undefeated with a 3-1 victory. Congratulations to all players involved.

Mount St Benedict College has a dedicated careers website to assist students with their career research and post-school planning. In addition to the main website, students have their own secure area to create and store their personalised career documents.

The site is also designed with parents/carers in mind, so you can access information to help your child with their career planning and post-school decisions. The site can be accessed via the Careers and Post School Options icon in the BenniesLink dashboard (Our new parent portal).

Whilst exploring the site, you may find it benificial to familiarise yourself with the following sections:

School Careers Newsletters

Calendar of Events

Information About Institutions/Courses

TAFENSW

Appointment booking with Careers Advisor

Please note that the College Shop will be closed for its bi-yearly stock take on 27 and 28 November.

Any orders placed for collection over this time can be collected on 3 December.

Mrs Nikki Horbach
College Shop Manager

To download Mental Health Resources click here.

Registrations are open for Northwest Lightning Girls AFL in 2025.

Click here to download details.