Deputy News 

Dear Sacred Heart families, 

There has been  a lot of Love in the air this week where we celebrated Valentine's day and many classes enjoyed showing love to their families with beautiful home made cards. I had the great pleasure of reading a book called 'The Great Valentine's surprise' to the prep and all the 1/2 classes. The classes have had such a great few weeks of school and are certainly settling into some solid learning tasks. It was  a delight to see the Yr 1 and 2 students visiting Mr Collis' and my office showing off their writing this week. 

It is also exciting that 'Take home books' have gone home this week for the 1/2 children and these books should be easy for children to read to you  at home. 

The SMART spelling approach has started again in the 3/4 area and explicit teaching of weekly spelling words and sounds is critical to learning and will be part of homework tasks.

The 5/6 students have started their literacy rotations and have been looking at the Adam Goodes's story and Closing  the gap in Inquiry.  I look forward to seeing what other insights our senior students get from more complex literature. 

I know by now we are into the swing of the school routine and after school activities but don't be surprised if the meltdowns start at the end of the school day. I read an interesting article recently that resonated with me and I thought I'd share it with you so you understand why those meltdowns occur and it's all very normal. The mental load is real. Understanding children and what they are experiencing is imperative to good teaching  learning and parenting.

Reference- The Perth Children's Occupational therapy. 

It was wonderful to welcome parents into our building for face to face Parent teacher chats in the classrooms this week. This is a wonderful opportunity for you to celebrate your children and all their successes with their new teacher. It has been a great way for parents and teachers to meet and connect and all  be on the same page with the children's learning. That partnership between home and school is so important.

Andrew Fuller's article on 'Raising resilient children' endorses this too. 

Children also need to develop a strong sense of connection to their school.

To foster this, parents can establish contact with school teachers, attend excursions whenever possible and generally involve the family and the child in the life of the school. Parents should also give their children positive messages about teachers and the school. By doing this, they are giving their child permission to establish connections.

For the full article please sit back, pour a cuppa and have a read. (in your spare time).

Ref-Raising resilient children, Andrew Fuller

A highlight of my job is that I look forward to seeing your children and you on the gate every morning and every afternoon. The manners are impeccable. Keep it up students!

'Good manners and kindness are always in fashion'

Have  a wonderful weekend,

Brigid Pennington

Deputy Principal , Learning Diversity & 

English Leader