Principal News

Dear Sacred Heart Community, 

Prayer

As we reflect upon our Daffodil Day walkathon's success, we pray for those people who are fighting cancer:

Foundation Class 2024 - Transition Session One

Our 2025 Foundation Class students had their first of four transition sessions on Monday. Again they promise to be another great group of students in our school.

Daffodil Day Fundraiser

"I would like to thank Bhavin and Isaac and the mums who helped with the walkathon. I would like to thank Rose Lee, my mum Tania and my Nonna Anna for helping me cut out the medals and for getting the water-bottles. We will let you know how much we raised in the following weeks" -Alex

Frequently I am reminded of the special nature of our Sacred Heart School community. Tuesday was another example of how our community comes together with a common purpose. Under the leadership of our Year Six student Alex and his family, our students, staff and parent volunteers had a great time raising much needed funds for the Olivia Newton John Foundation. Thank you to all our families for your kind support by sponsoring your child. Alex and Tania will take all money raised into the hospital next week. Hopefully we can give you the total raised before the term ends.

LSO (Learning Support Officer ) Appreciation Day

A great initiative by Terri, celebrating our unheralded learning supportive officers who do such an important job in our school.

Swimming Program

Our swimming program for our students in Years Foundation to Year Four takes place next week, Monday to Thursday. Parents of these students will have received relevant notification about the program.

MACSSIS - Letter of Informed Consent 

Melbourne Archdiocese Catholic Schools School Improvement Surveys (MACSSIS): 2-20 September 2024

Throughout each year, we pause to listen to our students, families and staff to gauge how our learning community is travelling. This feedback is invaluable to our progress as effective school communities and is backed by evidence-based research and best practices. One of the more important formal ways we engage and gather data is through MACSSIS, Melbourne Archdiocese Catholic Schools  School Improvement Surveys. 

MACSSIS is a set of surveys that have been built specifically for Catholic Schools in Melbourne by Learning Services teams at MACS  in partnership with researchers at Learning First and in wide consultation with Principals in our schools. In 2024 students, families and staff are invited to participate in MACSSIS.

The online platform is where our school leaders will access the summary reports that visualise the results of the student, family and staff surveys. The MACSIS survey platform is operated by an independent supplier, ORIMA Research Pty Ltd. The platform meets with the very high security and privacy standards for handling student and school data. 

Students at our school from Year Four to Year Six will be provided with supervised sessions where teachers are on hand to help and answer any questions. Families and staff can complete the survey anytime over the three-week window via an emailed link and password. 

Our community’s opinions are critical to understanding how our school is performing – MACSSIS  is a key data source for guiding the ongoing work to improve our school. All participation is invited, welcomed and 100% voluntary. The surveys are not a test; they are an inclusive way to feed the work we are already doing to improve our school. Everyone has the right to refuse to participate, or withdraw from the survey at any point before, during, or after completion of the survey. Please notify the school if your child does not wish to participate.

Grilled Northland - Donation to Sacred Heart

As mentioned in previous newsletters, Grilled Northland have chosen our school as a community partner for the month of September. During September all customers are given a token to place in the jar of the community partner they would most like to support. The community partner with the most tokens is given a valuable financial reward. As someone who likes his burgers, I can recommend the Grilled Zen Hen!

Some Scenes from this Week at Sacred Heart

Exhibition of Learning

Save the Date

After School Cricket Clinics

The after school cricket clinics will again take place over 4 Mondays in Term Four. The clinic is open to all students in Years Two to Six. To enrol please see the flyer below for details.

Mission Mass - Talent Show (after Mass in the school MPR)

Sunday 20th October - keep the date with details to follow

Principal Conference

Please be aware that Antoinette will be Acting Principal for the last two weeks of this term. I am attending my first overseas principal's conference (actually my first trip overseas!). Our pilgrimage comprises six days in Rome and another six in Assisi.

Yours Sincerely

Mark