Principal News 

TERM 3

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Dear Families & Friends,

This week, I want to give a special shout-out to the leadership team and staff who have been most proactive and supportive throughout the week. In the absence of some staff and subsequent adjustments, they have taken on numerous extra responsibilities and tasks across the school ensuring these changes have not impacted the students and general school operations. Whether it's covering additional duties, managing the office (LSOs) during Karen's jury duty, filling in for classes, or simply offering assistance whenever needed, these efforts have been truly appreciated and have not gone unnoticed. Thank you for your dedication!

Whilst it has been another typically big and productive week, below is a very small snapshot highlighting the wonderful week at the best school in the bayside. 

100 Days of Prep

With hearts warmed and beaming smiles, we joyously celebrated on Thursday a wonderful 100 days of school for our beloved Preps! These past months have unfolded as a journey of growth, exploration, and celebration for our youngest students. From the very first moment these precious learners entered the school gates, they have embraced and adapted to school life with such ease, guided superbly by their amazing teacher, Miss Maloney. 

As we acknowledge this special occasion, we believe that this strong foundation laid during these 100 days will pave the path for future achievements and fill them with enthusiasm and readiness for the boundless opportunities that await as they progress through the school in the years to come. Here's to 100 days of Prep School and the promise of an even brighter tomorrow! Well done Preps, we have loved watching you flourish at Sacred Heart. 

Crucial to their journey, we extend our heartfelt gratitude to our families for their unwavering support and dedication during these transitional months of school life. Building these positive partnerships and trusting relationships are vital elements in these formative years.

We owe a great deal of thanks to Miss Maloney for the incredible effort she puts into her Prep class every day, establishing an exceptional foundation for the students in their first year of schooling. Additionally, we extend our gratitude to Miss Maloney for generously dedicating all of her valuable planning time this week to coordinate the highly anticipated 100 Days of Prep celebration. We can see why her students adore her. 

Hoop Time 3/4 & 5/6

Congratulations once more to our successful Yr.5&6 Hoop Time basketball champions - the All Star Girls & Boys teams, and the numerous participating teams and dedicated staff and parent volunteers who made last Friday's event such a terrific day.

In addition to the 5&6 champs the Year 3/4 girls All star team are also through to the next round after winning the final by one point on Thursday.  It is evident that Sacred Heart boasts an unparalleled passion and participation rate for basketball, and it is wonderful to see this acknowledged in this capacity. Importantly, let us not forget that the true highlights of these carnivals lie in the collective efforts, teamwork, sportsmanship, and the positive representation of Sacred Heart. To our outstanding students, your manner on these occasions must again be applauded as this has certainly not wavered since I joined Sacred Heart . As our All Star teams move forward to the next carnival, we wish them every success in the coming weeks.

Many thanks to Mr T for coordinating the 3-6 Hoop Time program for our students. 

Another Sneaky Literacy Snapshot

If you're wondering why your child might be arriving home tired each afternoon, the reason lies in our tightly structured literacy program. On Wednesday, I observed our juniors smoothly transitioning through various activities (a series of 5 & 10 sessions), including Heggerty, MSL Sound Pack, Encoding, Decoding, Morphology, Skills Practice, Fluency Exercises, Handwriting, Big Book (Vocabulary), and The Writing Revolution (TWR). Miss Rafferty shared the precise time allocation (a laminated timetable) that all teachers adhere to, and she mentioned that the program has since been updated with even more activities. Undoubtedly, this is the BEST literacy program you'll find in any school setting. Congratulations to the team for flawlessly implementing this every day; you all are truly phenomenal!

Literacy Goals Yr.2

As part of our staff's teaching and learning approach, we engage in guiding our students towards setting goals. This involves helping them identify specific areas that require improvement and working together to make progress in those areas. During a recent visit to Year 2, it was affirming to see literacy goals placed on the students' desks, serving as helpful reminders and focal points as they tackle their writing tasks.

Once again, perhaps one of the many privileges and joys of my role is having a steady stream of visitors proudly showcase their wonderful work throughout the week. The growth and pride in their work samples is reflected beautifully during these exchanges and smiles. Time to increase the annual sticker budget! 

Visual Timetables

At Sacred Heart, all our classes from Prep - Yr.6 use visual timetables. These serve as an essential tool in supporting students' learning, organization, time management, and emotional well-being (predicatbility, routine, structure, supports transitions, readiness/awareness of the learning plan). By incorporating visual aids into the daily routine, our teachers create a more inclusive and effective learning environment for their students. More importantly, our students love these visual cues in setting up their day. 

Maths Week

Many thanks again to Mr Blake and our teaching staff for actively promoting Maths across our classrooms last week. This culminated in a fabulous celebration and acknowledgement of these efforts at the Friday assembly. Maths remains one of our pillars of our academic program and we are thrilled to see the increased focus and commitment we place upon this core subject area. Along with our daily two hour Literacy Block, Maths is taught daily across all grade levels. These are our non-negotiable subject areas at Sacred Heart.

Congratulations to our Maths Award winners on Friday, a lovely acknowledgement of your efforts. 

Little Hearts of Sandy Playgroup

Next Sessions:

• 28th July 10am
• 18th August 10am
• 8th September 10am

Family and friends are most welcome to attend. No age limit on toddlers or pre-schoolers.  Typically we have over 20 children attend these initmate and friendly sessions

Little Gems

I wonder what the sport of choice is in Yr.4T, or for that matter, at Sacred Heart. 

We are loving seeing and hearing our Peter Pan production steadily taking shape with Mr Coutts and the occasional visits from Miss Robertson on Tuesday.  Our children sound beautiful! 

We have quite the gallery shaping down our corridor with the incredible student art work from Ms Hyslop's classes.

A MUST READ SECTION

Respectful Relationships & Wellbeing News

Be sure to read the great work our staff are doing with the Respectful Relationships and general wellbeing practices across our school. Championed by Mr Brown, we are so proud of these collective achievements. 

LOCK’EM IN

SWIMMING & CAMP DATES

And finally....

During this week, I had a meeting with the architects and representatives from MACS to make significant progress towards finalising our building plans. These plans will be submitted for review by the MACS building authority in the coming weeks. We are optimistic that after refining the final costings and plans, they will be approved in September, allowing us to begin the refurbishment program in late Term 1, 2024. The exact timelines will be established and confirmed once we settled on a construction company.

This program is set to bring about a transformative change for our community, complementing our exceptional teaching and learning practices. Undoubtedly, our community deserves this long overdue upgrade!

Go the Blues,

Simon Collis

Principal

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