Principal News

Dear Sacred Heart School Community

I hope the image above is taken in the right context. I am certainly not trying to be flippant about the situation we again find ourselves in. I am very aware of the stresses imposed on you all, as a result of our schools being closed for the sixth period. My motivation for the above is to remind us all, that even though we wish we were not in the current position, we have endured, grown and in some instances thrived despite the challenges.

I was at a Principal's meeting on Thursday, when word started to filter through of the very real possibility of another lockdown. As you can imagine, the agenda was forgotten as we turned our attention to the ramifications of lockdown 6. We all started to speak about our own community and how each had faced the challenges imposed. Like our Sacred Heart School community, the majority of Principal's spoke about their good fortune having a resilient community, and how their community had been prepared to work with teachers to continue their student's learning. The other constant in the group was an awareness of remaining vigilant as to our community's wellbeing.

Last Friday or over the weekend, you will have received an email from your child's teacher, outlining their program for the week. Depending on the class, their will be a combination of teacher directed online tasks and independent offline tasks. Each class will start the day with a class gathering and end the day with a check in. It is most important that your child is part of these meetings. Our wellbeing coordinator Kate has also asked all teachers to monitor their student's wellbeing. This will be achieved with questionnaires, surveys and direct contact depending on the age of the student.

Can I remind all parents and guardians, we have a small number of students at school whose parents are permitted workers and cannot work from home. These students need to be supervised by teachers and these teachers will not be able to be online on the day they are supervising.

Finally I would like to reinforce, on behalf of our staff, our thoughts and prayers are with you all, as you embark on this week of learning from home. Be kind to yourselves and remember, that despite what you think, your children will still continue to learn. We pray that we can be back together as a connected community very soon.

Year Three  First Reconciliation 

Unfortunately tomorrow evenings First Reconciliation celebration will have to be postponed to a later date.

Can I reinforce the need for all families to download the skoolbag app as a means of communication and information.

Regards

Mark Tierney

Principal

Student Wellbeing Information

As we enter our 6th lockdown, all the staff are keeping the wellbeing of our students at the forefront of their minds. All children will have an opportunity to answer a confidential google form twice next week so that we can check in with students individually and they can share how they are feeling.

It is a challenging time for everyone in our community and I know in my household, the little things can make a big difference to helping feel a little better.Some ideas could be: going for a family walk, playing a game outside together, having a family movie night, playing cards or board games as a family, can all be simple ways to  help us keep connected and lift our spirits. 

I am including the website links from our last newsletter that provide ideas and resources that may be helpful as we enter lockdown again. 

https://andrewfuller.com.au  This website is from Dr. Andrew Fuller who is a psychologist who has free resources, talks and books about resilience, psychology, brains and learning. 

Parents website:Staying calm and carrying on The Parent’s website has a broad range of helpful advice and topics. This link is a family survival guide during lockdown. 

https://www.berrystreet.org.au/news/parents-and-carers-be-kind-to-yourself  This is an article that provides tips and ideas for parents and carers to remember to be kind to themselves.

https://schooltv.me/launch SchoolTV is a new online resource for parents on a wide range of topics providing information with practical ongoing support strategies.

Take Care,

Kate 

Student Wellbeing Leader