Deputy News 

Dear Parents and families, 

I can't quite believe we have come to the close of term 1 of 2024. Whilst it's been  a short term we have managed to squeeze in a lot of amzing academic work and have a lot to celebrate and be grateful for this term . I have had a wonderful time getting to know all our new preps this year and all our new students right across the school and their families. For those famiies that have moved from other schools, the transition has been almost seamless. We have the incredible staff to thank for this. They are fully invested and give of themselves every single day in every single way. One of our staff members stepped in to do gate duty this week and she really enjoyed making connections with families and siblings. I am delighted that I get to do this everyday in our beautiful community, working with our students, staff and families. 

Program Support Group Meetings 

Over the last few weeks I have been busy running PSG meetings with classroom teachers for many students across our school. I thank all stakeholders for their investment and care of the students in our school.

For many families and students the most effective and collaborative planning vehicle is the Program Support Group (PSG). The PSG, and its components, represent a formalised process to ensure that those with the most knowledge of, and responsibility for, the student, work together to establish shared goals and adjustments for the student’s education. The PSG and its components do not stand alone; they exemplify a structure situated more broadly within an understanding of multi-tiered systems of support for all students. In Catholic schools the Intervention Framework embodies multi-tiered systems of support (MTSS). It articulates a five-part process where the systematic implementation of screening for early identification of needs, strategic support, scaffolded learning, and evaluation of progress against articulated goals are seen as critical to success for all learners and particularly those identified with diverse learning needs. 

The intervention process is shown as a cyclical and iterative process, involving: 

• the identification of a learning need 

• targeted assessment 

• data analysis 

• learning and teaching 

• evaluation.

Catholic education is a partnership between family and school, each with the shared privilege and responsibility for children and young peoples’ formation, learning and wellbeing. The child is held at the centre of this partnership, for, as taught and modelled by Jesus, ‘children are at the heart of the Kingdom of God’ (Luke 18: 16). 

CECV Catholic Education Commision of Victoria 

Multisensory Language  Education Course

Last week I was priviledged to attended the MSL online 5 day intensive course with Bronagh Maloney, one of our prep teachers. It was the first phase of the MSL learning and will assist me working with students right across the school in my Learning Diversity role. MSL is based on bridging scientific research to educational practice. We have been fortunate to have introduced MSL to Sacred Heart from prep to Year 2 over the past few years with Kate Stroud our Literacy leader and Intervention teacher being instrumental in leading our team. 

Doing the course has given me greater insight into the Science of Reading and learning about the 5 domains of language incorporating Speech, Language and Literacy

Phonology: the sounds of words

Morphology: the way the morphemes connect to make words

Semantics: the meanings of words and relationships between words

Syntax: the sttucture of words in a sentence

Pragmatcs and discourse: The rules that occur in social situations

I look forward to using my newly acquired knowledge of this course over the next 12 months to ultimately be an accredited MSL teacher. I thank Simon Collis for this wonderful opportunity to continue to be a life long learner, a trait we like to instil in our students. 

EASTER BONNET PARADE & COLOUR RUN

What a way to end our term on a high with the Easter bonnet parade, Easter raffle and Colour Run! Thanks to all the parents and staff involved to make this happen to benefit Sacred Heart. A huge thanks to all staff and parents for making this happen, especially Kate Shawcross, Pam Moore and Mr Dara Blake. 

LITTLE HEARTS PLAYGROUP

Last week our Little Hearts playgroup returned and it was  a busy morning for our pre schoolers parents and carers. As our Yr 6's were away on camp our year 5 students were delighted to help out. Thanks to Carol our talented LSO for singing some Easter songs with the children and to Sarah Raffery and Kate Stroud for stepping in during my absence. We look forward to welcoming new families to playgroup next month. We'd love to see you there at 10am after our Friday morning assemblies.

• 19th April
• 31st May
• 21st June
• 26th July
• 30th August
• 18th October
• 22nd November
• 6th December

Wishing you all a wonderful and well deserved Easter break and stay safe over the holidays wherever you may be travelling. I look forward to welcoming you back to another exciting term of learning at Sacred Heart, 

Brigid Pennington 

Deputy Principal & Learning Diversity Leader