Principal News 

Term 1 2025

OPEN DAYS 2025

Monday 24th Feb  

Monday 3rd March

Tuesday 11th March

THIS IS HOW WE DO IT!

Dear Families and Friends,

As we close out another incredible fortnight at Sacred Heart, I want to commend our students, staff, and families for their collective efforts. We continue to raise the bar and grow stronger across every aspect of our school community, and I could not be more proud of how our year has started.

Our staff laid a strong foundation from day one by setting high expectations for how we do things at Sacred Heart. Underpinned by research and best practices, central to this is our staff Playbook—a dynamic resource developed over the past 18 months by our team. This Playbook highlights our core practices and beliefs, ensuring that all students achieve academic, emotional, and spiritual enrichment during their time at Sacred Heart.

Our Playbook outlines Six Givens (non-negotiable) for Every Learning Environment:

1. Strong Relationships
2. High Expectations
3. Appealing Classroom Displays
4. Effective, Immediate Feedback
5. Positive Classroom Management
6. Excellent Presentation

Below is a snippet from High Expectations, a key driver in how we approach each day and set the tone for our school year.

We are thrilled to see this working document in action and coming to life in our classrooms. Driven by our staff, it’s a testament to everyone’s hard work and dedication over the past few weeks. Although I am not surprised, our students have responded exceptionally well—long may it continue!

This has indeed been the best start to a school year!

Love seeing this in action. Evidence-based and introduced across all classrooms over the past two years, the use of mini whiteboards has become a non-negotiable teaching practice at Sacred Heart. This key feature is integral to our daily literacy and numeracy blocks, enhancing student engagement and providing valuable formative assessment opportunities and feedback i.e. checking for understanding. 

A MUST READ

I strongly encourage all families and friends to read the leaders' pages in the newsletter. The quality of these entries is exceptional, and I challenge anyone to find more comprehensive, celebratory, insightful and helpful pieces across our system.

From a professional perspective, watching our new 2025 leaders excel has been an absolute career highlight. They are soaring in every sense of the word. Although still early in their respective leadership journey, their confidence and capabilities are already highly influential, driving a significant cultural shift and improvement across our classrooms, community, and teaching practices.

I feel incredibly blessed to work alongside such inspiring educators!

Congratulations and thanks to: 

Mrs Stroud 

Miss Maloney 

Miss Wood

Miss Bulte

Miss Prosser

Miss McGrath

Ms Tench

Mini Working Bee🌿🌸

Not to be outdone by our students and staff, our parent community has gotten off to a flying start, sneakily tending to our gardens over the weekend. We’ve all been blown away by their energy, ownership, and desire to build our community in 2025. A huge thank you to our families for so generously giving up your precious time to improve and maintain the grounds for our students. All plants have been kindly sponsored by the P&F. Your support makes a world of difference! 

First Assembly 2025

What a turn out! Wow, we were all blown away by the attendance at our first assembly for 2025! Our students proudly presented their class mottos and Mission Statements—important anchors that will guide and inspire them throughout the school year.

Perhaps the highlight of the assembly was the exceptional behaviour of all the students, especially our Preps during their very first assembly at Sacred Heart. They did an incredible job, and we couldn’t be prouder!

Dendy Swimming

We are chuffed for our Sacred Heart team for placing 3rd overall this year, a fantastic improvement from 6th place in 2024. Look out 2025! 🎉 Congratulations to the following swimmers who have advanced to the Beachside Division: 

Individual event - Micaela P, Noah J, Harrison J, 

Boys in 9-10 Freestyle Relay - Harrison J, Xavier Mc, Connor C & Noah J 

Girls in 12-12 Freestyle Relay - Cassandra & Maddison R-N, Lucinda M & Micaela P

A very special shout-out to Mr. Jaynes for running his first successful carnival at Sacred Heart—what a great outcome!  A huge thank you as well to our staff (Ms Newey & Oscar) and parent helpers who supported the students. This level of commitment and teamwork is always greatly appreciated!

Coach Nate!

How delightful to receiv this email from one of parents referring to Nate's inspiring speech to our swimming team: If there is an award to go out from a parent to a child (don’t even think this is a thing, but if there is!!!) To me he encompassed a beautiful team spirit, displayed confidence and demonstrated empowerment and inclusivity. It was honestly so great to watch. Had to pass it on….

Prep 2025

We are all continuing to melt at how well our youngest students have settled into school life. They have responded superbly—and beyond expectations—to our daily routines. Dare we say, they are built for school! 🌟 Their enthusiasm and adaptability have been such a joy to witness.

Staffing News 2025🎉

We are delighted to share the wonderful news of the safe and happy arrival of Miss Donnelly’s beautiful baby boy, Beauden! Congratulations to Louise and Mark—we wish you both endless joy and happiness as you embark on this precious and exciting new chapter. Let’s just say your 2024 Year 2 class was absolutely over the moon with the news! 

What a truly glorious Friday we had with some VERY special visitors! Ms. Donnelly finally dropped by to introduce her precious baby boy, Beauden, along with partner Mark and her delightful mum visiting all the way from Ireland. To say we were thrilled is an understatement!

Adding to the excitement, we had a visit from a beaming Phoebe, Ms. Tench’s partner, who stopped in to say hello to staff—on her due date, no less!

We absolutely love being part of their extended family here at Sacred Heart. It’s moments like these that make our community so special. 💕

Stepping up into middle leadership this year as our Junior School Leader, the impressive Sophie Prosser has been a joy to watch in action. Her gentle support and thoughtful mentoring of her team have been nothing short of inspiring. An outstanding teacher in her own right, Sophie is truly excelling in this new capacity, and we are so fortunate to have her leading the way with her new team!

Below is a photo of Miss Maloney’s beloved pooch, Lenny. We had a very special visit from Miss Maloney’s parents last week, all the way from Ireland, as they took Lenny out for a walk. You might be led to believe that Lenny is the ‘top dog’—and you wouldn’t be wrong! 😊

Four out of six staff wearing blue and white striped shirts on the same day—I’m convinced our amazing team has a secret dress code group chat! 😆👕 Looking sharp and coordinated as always!

Spread the Good Word

Building Update

Key Milestones:

• Remaining three classroom refurbishment handover March 14 (ahead of schedule), although the builders are pushing for an earlier date. 
• Admin offices and STEM facilities set for completion by Easter weekend
• Builders scheduled to be off-site by Easter weekend

A MUST ATTEND!

Please don't forget to register for the must attend seminar. Thank you to those families who have already enrolled. 

School Advisory

As a key aspect of MACS Schools Governance, we are actively seeking nominations to join the School Advisory Council—a vital parent forum that plays a significant role in shaping our school’s future. This advisory board typically meets once per term to review essential areas such as school improvement initiatives, MACS policies, finances (including school fees), capital projects, and any arising school matters e.g. school communication platforms. Serving on the council offers a valuable opportunity to be a positive community voice and provide meaningful input toward the school’s ongoing development. Please email principal@shsandringham.catholic.edu.au for expressions of interest. 

P&F News

Don't miss out!

LITTLE GEMS💎

A few Sacred Heart students competed in the Regional Athletics competition over the weekend, representing the Sandringham Little Athletics Club, and aiming to qualify for the State Championships in a few weeks.

One standout performance came from Amelia, who typically takes her achievements in stride without making a fuss—an endearing trait that reflects her humble character.

That being said, I’m thrilled to share that Amelia placed 2nd (Silver) in the U10 Girls 800m event, and it looks like she ranked 5th overall in the State, just by small margins. This super result will hopefully see her qualify for the upcoming State Championships—a remarkable achievement!

Congratulations to Amelia and all our Sacred Heart competitors!

Every little bit counts

At the start of the term, the builders handed back a little more of our playground as they transitioned into Stage 2. This precious bit of ‘real estate,’ especially with the growth of 20 new students, has been eagerly welcomed by our students, who wasted no time reclaiming it for their beloved 4 Square games.

Our creative students have even taken the initiative to draw their own court lines with chalk, as the painted lines have faded due to construction traffic. Perhaps it’s time for some fresh paint in the coming weeks to properly restore their play space!

Loved having these superstars proudly showcasing their incredible literacy work! Well done, Alexia, Liv, Iszac and Beau—you’ve both done an amazing job, and your hard work is paying off!

It's Back in 2025

It was fantastic to see our R&R Wellbeing Leaders collaborating with Miss Wood on Friday! Our Year 6 leaders are truly flourishing in their roles, and it’s exciting to hear their strong student voices driving positive change. Stay tuned for several new initiatives set to roll out in the coming weeks!

Our senior leaders are truly soaring at assembly, with no fewer than 10 Year 6 students presenting this week. Seeing their confidence grow during these large weekly gatherings has been such a highlight and a reflection of their hard work and leadership development!

I’m not sure if we should be celebrating this, but we are so grateful to Madeline and Rosie for giving the yard a quick clean-up on Friday. Their efforts show a genuine respect for our environment and set a great example for everyone. Thank you both!

And finally...

Don’t forget, our first Open Day is on Monday! We encourage all families to continue spreading the good word. We’re excited to showcase the terrific happenings across our classrooms, with our Year 6 students sharing their authentic experiences through student-led tours.

Importantly, a reminder to all current families: sibling enrolment papers are due and required as soon as possible. With numbers expected to be very tight in 2026, timely submissions are imperative.

Looking forward to another great week at Sacred Heart, the best school in the bayside!

A very proud principal,

Simon C