Principal News
Dear Families,
It was wonderful having a packed house last Friday at assembly. We loved having so many of our Dads, uncles, grandparents and special friends join us for morning tea and our special assembly. Our senior students brought a tear to many eyes with their original version of ‘Sweet Dad of Mine’ to the tune of Neil Diamond's ‘Sweet Caroline’. A huge thank you to Hee for organising the Father’s Day stall last Wednesday, with many items for sale. Each child really enjoyed choosing the perfect gift. Thank you to many from the P & F who helped with the morning tea. There was a great energy in our Mackillop Hall.
This theme rolled into Saturday with the Bayside Dad’s Footy Festival. This was a new experience for me and it was so much fun. To see so many of our students having fun on the jumping castle, face painting, biting into a bbq sausage or hamburger and of course cheering our Sacred Heart Dads on. A big shout out to Ant for organising this fantastic day. Several of the Dads were a bit ginger on Monday morning, dropping their children at school and I believe a few scans needed to be had…..
Dads Footy Carnival 5th Sept 2026
Was an incredible day that saw 6 Bayside school communities come together to cheer on the Dads playing in 3 friendly, but willing games of AFL at the home of the East Sandringham Junior Football Club at Shane Warne oval:
Beaumaris vs. Beaumaris Nth - Beaumaris Won
East Sandringham vs. Sandringham - East Sandringham Won
Sacred Heart vs. Black Rock - Sacred Heart Won (by 1 point!)
Over the course of the day, several hundred families enjoyed the festivities that included a Jumping castle, DJ, facepainting and a raffle with all proceeds going towards our Playground project. Each game was played with a competitive and fun spirit that saw plenty of kisses and cuddles from the kids afterwards.
A big thank you to all those that attended to make the day a success and to the organising committee from each school that has brought them all closer together and now a regular event in the Bayside sporting calendar.
Ant
Dance Workshop
This week all our students started learning their dance routines for our performance next Friday at 12.00pm. Dean brings so much energy and high-octane to each session. It is great to see how quickly the children follow his moves. We can’t wait to see the end product next week. All families are warmly invited to be part of the audience.
Blessing of the Playground
Yesterday was such a community celebration. There are so many people to thank and we are so appreciative of each of you for contributing to the Adventure Playground. In addition to this, Sacred Heart had their very own Brunetti’s, with Laura leading our Bake Sale. So many of you contributed to this and to see so many items for sale was amazing. At the heart of this celebration was gathering in prayer to bless and celebrate our playground; thank you for your part in this. A huge shout out to Adele for organising the sausage sizzle crew, and to Andy for collecting the bread from Baker's Delight Hampton. The students led our liturgy so proudly and confidently and it was great to have our VIP guests join us. To see the playground full of children, families and staff was wonderful. To have the sun shining made it even better!
Learning Support Officers
Last week was Learning Support Officers (LSOs) week. We are blessed to have the team that we have at Sacred Heart. The work they do each day with their students is nothing short of marvelous. Each LSO brings, warmth, care, compassion, wisdom and expertise to them every day. They lead in extraordinary and ordinary ways each day. Some of our LSOs were absent for this photo, but appreciated all the same. We wish Ashleigh, one of the LSO team, all the best for her family leave with the arrival of number five imminent. We can’t wait to share the exciting news with the community. Ash will be missed and we can’t wait to see her join us later next year. Our prayers and thoughts are also with Mary B, another member of the team, as she supports her primary school aged daughter who is undergoing treatment for a serious medical condition. These are some of our amazing LSOs below.
School Improvement Surveys (MACSSIS)
Sacred Heart School Sandringham is participating in the 2026 Melbourne Archdiocese Catholic Schools – School Improvement Surveys (MACSSIS).
MACSSIS provides students, families and staff with an opportunity to share their thoughts and experiences of our school. This valuable feedback helps guide our ongoing improvement and supports us in creating the best possible learning environment for our students.
We kindly ask families to complete the online survey by Friday 18 September 2026. The survey can only be completed once and is available at:
A unique family PIN has been emailed to each family.
Our current family response rate is 11%, and we would love to see this increase. Thank you to the families who have already completed the survey. We greatly appreciate your time, feedback and continued support of our Sacred Heart community.
Sacred Heart Athletics Update
Mr Jaynes proudly announced at assembly last week the records that several of our students broke at the Dendy Athletics last week.
On Friday August 28, 92 of our Year 3-6 students participated at the Dendy Athletics Carnival at Duncan McKinnon Athletics Track. It was fantastic to see students competing, encouraging one another and demonstrating the Sacred Heart values in the competitive environment that is Athletics.
As a result of our efforts, we finished in 2nd place in the percentage and overall shields which is a true reflection of the hard work and enthusiasm our students demonstrated on the day.
A special congratulations to those students who broke school records on the day. Breaking a record is a fantastic achievement and reflects the effort and preparation that has gone into their athletics.
Record Breakers:
- Noah - 1500m record
- Isabelle - 800m/1500m record
- Amelia - 800m/1500m record
- Nate - 200m/100m record
- Ari - Long Jump/Triple Jump record
- Jake , Noah , Ari, Nate - 11 Year Old 4 x 100m Relay
Finally, a big thank you to all the staff and parents who helped make the carnival such a successful day.
Mr Jaynes
Sport Playing Tops - Please Return
A reminder to all students who have borrowed a school playing top for a sporting event or competition to please return as soon as possible. We rely on these tops for our upcoming teams and events so your help in returning them promptly is greatly appreciated. Thank you!
Dendy Basketball Lightning Cup
Congratulations to both our teams for trying their best.
Today we took two Year 6 teams to the Dendy Basketball Lightning Cup at Stonnington Sports Centre. Both teams represented Sacred Heart with fantastic spirit, effort and sportsmanship. While the results didn’t quite go our way, the students had a great time and should be proud of how they represented the school.
A big thank you to Jules Vauntin for coaching the boys’ team, Kate Newey for coaching the girls’ team, and to all the parents who volunteered their time to help on the score bench. We really appreciate your support!
Mr Jaynes
Young People of Bayside Art Exhibition
Two of our Year Six student's work was selected (out of ten submissions) to be exhibited in the Young People of Bayside Art Exhibition (10 -25 year olds) which is on now until the 24th of September at the Bayside City Council Corporate Centre, 76 Royal Ave, Sandringham. Open Monday – Friday, 8:30am-5:00pm
Lucy's 'Winged Giraffe Dog' sculpture, and Logan's 'Croc Fish Duck' are on display! Congratulations to these two students. The theme this year is 'Under the Neon Lights' , and so appropriate as we had lots of artwork that fitted this theme!
Ms Gray
Timor Leste
Today at assembly, Heather McGrath from our parish spoke to us about the important work that our parish does to support university students in Timor Leste.
Timor Leste is NW of Darwin and 725 km from Darwin. Over 40% of the population lives below the poverty line. Sacred Heart Social Justice Group has been visiting since 2010. They helped refurbish many buildings, church, schools, homes, water supplies and recently scholarships to students from Year 10 to university. We have five excellent students from very poor subsistence families who have dreams of helping Timor Leste and their families.
The Raffle with great prizes is $5 a ticket or $20 a book of 5 tickets. Place cash in an envelope and clearly label and return to school. Parish banking details are on the back of each book - do not use the school bank account.
Please support this great project. Return Books sold or unsold by Wednesday September 16th next week. The raffle will be drawn on Sunday October 4th at afternoon tea. Thank you for your support.
Footy Parade and Dance Performance
In the Sacred Heart tradition students may wear footy colours of their favourite AFL, AFLW, or soccer team, next Friday. The parade is always so much fun and regardless of the ladder this year, we celebrate each team. The parade is at 9:00am and families are welcome to join us and brothers and sisters can wear their team colours too.
The day will then conclude with our exciting whole school Dance performance. This starts at 12pm and will be held in the hall. Please join us for this.
Junior Champions League
We congratulate Sebastian, and his team Sandringham U9 Warriors for coming second in the Junior Champions League Final last night in Caroline Springs. The JCL tournament started back in May, with games played all over the state once per month in the lead up to the finals. Sebastian was very proud of his team to make it this far, in this high quality and fast paced tournament with some of the best teams in his age group.
Summer Uniform
For the first two weeks students will be able to wear full summer or full winter uniform, as we transition to our summer uniform on Monday 19th October. Summer hats will also be required from this time to, for lunch and recess. Excitedly our Year 5s are trying on the sample sizes for their 2027 Sacred Heart Rubgy Jumpers. Thank you so much to Tarn and Kate for organising this.
Clash of the Courts & Dad's Camp – Save the Dates!
Bayside school communities are coming together for Clash of the Courts, a fun and family-friendly netball fundraiser featuring more than 200 players across two competitions.
Come along to watch Bayside’s women in action while supporting Team Sports 4 All, an organisation that helps children from disadvantaged families participate in community sport.
Sunday 15 November, from 1:00pm
Bayside District Netball Association
Holloway Road, Sandringham
Player registrations will open in the first week of Term Four. Please see the attached flyer for further information and updates.
Dad's Camp - Friday 23rd - Sunday 25th October 2026
We’re heading away for a relaxed weekend by the Yarra River and would love you to join us! Families are welcome to arrive straight after school on Friday or make their way there on Saturday. If the weather is warm, we’ll spend time floating down the river and enjoying the beautiful countryside. If it’s cooler, we’ll gather around the fire with a cup of tea. Either way, it promises to be a wonderful weekend of fun and connection.
A group booking has already been made with the campsite, and families from all year levels are welcome. Children must be accompanied and supervised by their dad, grandfather or another special adult. We’ve enjoyed this weekend several times before, and it is always a fantastic experience. For further information or details about booking a site, please contact one of our dads, Tom—well known across Years 1 and 2—who will be happy to assist!
New garden bed
Thank you to Jo, of Zara fame for transforming our over grown garden bed into a showcase succulent garden.
Celebrate learning
This is our last newsletter for Term Three. We wish everyone a great last week of term, and then a happy and safe holiday. We look forward to seeing everyone on Monday 5th October.
Take care and wishing God's blessings and peace upon each of you.
Mrs Cathy Ferrari
