Weekes' Weekly News

Dear Sacred Heart Kew Families,

Over the last couple of weeks we have thrown open our gates as many prospective parents toured our beautiful school. People always ask what are the benefits of keeping their child at Sacred Heart Kew until the end of Year Six? It’s a really good and relevant question that requires a little thought and consideration. Below is a cross section of responses from our school community (student, staff and parents) outlining a few reasons as to why keeping your child at Sacred Heart Kew until the end of Year Six is worthwhile. 

• Smaller class sizes and straight year levels (P - 6)
• Greater opportunities for children to develop their Leadership skills and confidence within a smaller class/year level setting
• Opportunity for mixing with male/female friendships - graduate with peers
• Interactions with children from all year levels - Year Six and Prep Buddy program, Year Five and Four Year old children (Petit Early Learning Journey Kinder) Buddy program and leading House/Wellbeing activities
• Extensive Camp Program (Prep - Year Six) with a trip to Canberra every second year
• Year Six Leadership program and events e.g. Sailing and Public Speaking program
• Positive and supportive school community where everyone is known
• High educational standards - Targeted personalised learning (tracked from P - 6)
• Academic growth acknowledged and celebrated within the one school community
• School fees are much more affordable
• One school uniform for 7 years!

As you may know, we have a number of families who elect to leave Sacred Heart Kew at the conclusion of Year 4 to continue their child’s academic journey, by attending any one of a few local private schools. There are varying reasons for this and many schools where this occurs. Xavier College is just one of these schools. Late last year, Mr William Doherty (Principal) and Ms Kathleen Upfold (Director of Connection) from Xavier College visited our school to discuss this issue. Xavier has identified the impact existing students leaving can have on the local Catholic Parish Primary Schools. Mr Doherty informed us that Xavier was shifting their college structures and redefining their campuses. This has now occurred. 

I urge all of our current parents that are considering Xavier College as an option for future schooling to speak to Xavier directly and inquire about this new direction. Essentially, Xavier has moved away from their middle school model and instead, now offers Prep - Year 6 Primary School, followed by Years 7-12 Secondary Education. With Xavier indicating that it will be now possible to secure their main intake in Year 7 instead of Year 5, this will now allow many of our students to complete their primary schooling at their local Catholic Parish Primary School with their peers, and familiar school community, concluding these important formative years in the place where it all began. 

It goes without saying that we would love to see all our children who begin at our school in Prep graduate from Sacred Heart Kew with their peers in Year Six. We are most grateful to our current Year Five and Six parents who have kept their children here, for their child’s senior primary school years. Thank you for the faith and support you have shown us as we educate your child(ren) all the way through to Year Six. 

With this in mind, an Operoo form will be shared with families next week asking for Enrolment information intentions for 2024. As we plan for the future we would greatly appreciate your assistance in knowing whether your child(ren) will be attending Sacred Heart Kew next year (2024). The information you provide will certainly not be 'locked in', families will not be bound by this information. We simply wish to gauge approximate numbers for next year. As we come to understand our approximate enrolment numbers in 2024, we will then be better placed to plan and budget for possible class structures and sizes that may be in place in 2024. Thank you in advance for providing us with the most 'current' information for next year.

We genuinely believe that our school and community is a rich and supportive environment where every child can reach their full potential, all the way through to Year Six. We look forward to celebrating your child’s Year Six graduation with their full set of classmates, seven years after they took their first small steps through the grounds of Sacred Heart Kew. 

Wishing everyone a lovely weekend. 

Kind Regards,

Ed Weekes

School Principal