Principal's News
Dear Parents and Carers,
This week, I am happy to report that The Diocese of Ballarat has agreed to support our new building program in the form of a financial donation to ensure the program goes ahead. This project will see the construction of a new classroom on the western end of our junior/middle wing as well as new toilet facilities for both children and staff in this area. Our school is, of course, very grateful to the Diocese for their support and look forward to delivering further improvements to our school’s infrastructure for the children and families of our school community.
FOUNDATION 2023 BBQ We are looking forward to hosting our 2023 Foundation students and their families this Thursday evening, November 17th. Let’s hope the weather is a bit better than the 12 degrees forecast for today!
Thursday evening will begin with a brief Information session in the Multipurpose Room while our staff cook a BBQ Tea for families and supervise children playing. Our staff will also provide salads. Families may like to bring their own drinks (there will be cordial on hand for the children), to the evening which will conclude around 8:00pm.
This is the first “Foundation BBQ” since 2019 - its aim is to provide an informal gathering for families to meet each other and our staff where these relationships can begin or strengthen to support our student’s educational journey at Sacred Heart.
GRADUATION At the other end of the school journey our Grade 6 class is preparing to Graduate from primary school and continue their educational journeys in secondary school in 2023.
Parents and carers should please note that the Graduation Ceremony will be held at 6:00pm on Thursday, December 8th at the Jubilee Centre at Trinity College.
I understand this event was previously advertised for 7:30pm - this was an error.
My apologies.
CASUAL CLOTHES This Thursday, 17th Nov, we will be having a casual day fundraiser to raise money for past student, James Carew. Many people may have read the newspaper article about James and know that he had a skiing accident a few months ago and he is now preparing for life in a wheelchair. James loves to help out the community and we can support him by bringing a gold coin donation to help him live an independent life.
Sybella, Shelby and Mia - Class 5KE
F - 4 ACTIVITY DAY Parents and Carers are welcome to join us this coming Friday, November 18th for our “Foundation to 4 Activity Day”. Children in Grades Foundation to Grade 4 will spend the morning with all other children from Colac Primary schools in a series of physical games and activities hosted by the different schools. A timetable explaining which school is hosting which grade level is included in today's Sports page.
S.H.S. MOBILE PHONE AND PERSONAL DEVICE POLICY With Christmas just over the horizon it is prudent to remind parents and carers of our school’s policy regarding Mobile Phones and Personal Devices such as watches that have the capacity to send and receive messages and take photographs. I would direct all parents to the school policy that is published on our website (Parent Information - School Policies) entitled “Mobile Phone & Personal Device Policy”.
Our policy was written with the School Council in 2019 and in consultation with the Department of Education’s directive that neither mobile phones or other personal devices are permitted at school.
The School Council does understand that in some cases a device of this nature may be desirable for after school contact or where students are living in dual custody arrangements. However in this case the device should be placed in the child’s school bag and should not come out during the school day.
“The school believes that it is crucial that communication between home and school is consistent and controlled. That is, our school staff need “first hand” information to exercise their duty of care to our students.
The school also holds concerns about the misuse of mobile phones and personal electronic devices in a school environment e.g. bullying, interruptions in class, distraction, children substituting phones for real life interactions with their school friends, inappropriate photography etc.” S.H. Mobile Phone & Personal Device Policy 2019.