Principal News 

Term 1 2025

OPEN DAYS 2025

Final Open Day

Tuesday 11th March

Dear Families and Friends,

We sincerely thank you for your understanding as our staff attended their invaluable annual staff conference and live-in this week. This targeted professional opportunity served two key purposes: engaging in purposeful professional learning and strengthening our staff culture—fostering relationships, shared values, and connectedness, all essential ingredients for a successful school.

While we acknowledge this may not be ideal for all families, the benefits of this extended weekend are significant. It provides both students and staff with a valuable opportunity to reset and recharge after what is typically a fast-paced start to the school year ensuring we all finish the term on a high! Thank you, families, for your ongoing support!

A Truly Special Start to the Day – Shrove Tuesday & Ash Wednesday

What a wonderful way to begin the day and celebrate Shrove Tuesday with a delicious pancake breakfast for our community! A huge thank you to Miss Maloney for coordinating this fantastic morning for our students and families. The atmosphere was simply beautiful, and as many commented, "we couldn’t have had a better start to the day," such was the energy around the playground. Let's not forget to mention we raised a remarkable $1000 for Caritas. 

A special thank you to our incredible parent helpers and staff, who showed 100% participation from 7:30am—cooking, setting up, and serving. We have such a fabulous and dedicated team at Sacred Heart!

It was equally special to come together as a whole school community for our Ash Wednesday Mass, marking the beginning of Lent. We are so fortunate to have Fr. Martin as our parish priest—his meaningful interactions with our students are deeply appreciated. It was also beautiful to hear such lovely compliments from our parishioners about our students and the general feel - Miss Maloney is thriving in this role setting such a wonderful tone.

A Wonderful Success – Sacred Heart Open Days!

We were thrilled to welcome so many prospective families to our two fantastic Open Days (one more to follow), where they had the opportunity to experience firsthand the calm and vibrant learning community that makes Sacred Heart so special.

Visitors were blown away by our students in action, particularly our evidence-based Structured Literacy approach, which continues to lead the way in the bayside and build a strong foundation for our students i.e. best practice. Many also commented on our stunning, newly refurbished facilities, further enhancing our exceptional learning environment. While much has been completed, we look forward to the final touches, including our corridor, STEM space, admin building, and the remaining three classrooms, which are still to be finished and handed over in the coming weeks. I can confirm 88% completed!

With an overwhelming number of Prep applications for 2026, we are pleased to confirm that we will have two full-capacity Prep classes for the new school year. Offers will go out after our final open day on Tuesday. 

A huge thank you to our current families for sharing the good word and advocating for Sacred Heart. Your support and word of mouth remain our greatest endorsement, and we are truly grateful for your role in making our school such a wonderful place to learn and grow.

A special shout-out to Fergus, one of our wonderful Year 6 leaders, who did a stunning job leading tours. A family even circled back to the office to commend Fergus for his exceptional and informative tour, suggesting he should have run every tour—he simply couldn’t have done a better job! Well done, Fergus!

Running Club - Session 1

Last Friday, 85 Yr.3-6 students laced up their sneakers and hit the streets of Sandy for their first Sacred Heart Running Club session for 2025. Joined by an incredible group of parents and teachers who came along to support, we had such a brilliant turnout!

It was fantastic to see so many students embracing the challenge, staying active, and importantly having fun together. A huge thank you to our dedicated parent volunteers, in particular Matt Hodder and staff for making the morning such a success—your enthusiasm and encouragement undoubtedly made a difference! Let's just say we had a few weary students (and staff) on Friday afternoon. 

We can’t wait to see even more runners at the next session: Friday 21st March 

Staff Professional Development - School Closure

Prioritising Student Wellbeing & Safety at Sacred Heart

At Sacred Heart, we are committed to fostering a safe and supportive learning environment where every child can thrive. As part of our ongoing professional development, our staff recently participated in a workshop led by Brendan Murray & Tahnee Walker, focusing on strategies to support students facing social, emotional, and behavioural challenges.

The session provided valuable insights into the consistent behaviours that help young people feel safe, engaged, and ready to learn. By equipping our teachers with these tools, we continue to strengthen our ability to support every student’s wellbeing and success.

We are grateful for the expertise shared by Brendan and Tahnee and look forward to implementing these strategies to further enhance our school community and, most importantly, the wellbeing of our students.

Upholding Our Commitment to Child Safety

The safety, wellbeing, and protection of our students are at the heart of everything we do. As part of our ongoing commitment to a positive and supportive environment, staff have recently completed training on the updated MACS Code of Conduct and mandatory reporting requirements.

The MACS Code of Conduct sets clear expectations for behaviour, ensuring that every member of our school community upholds these expectations while demonstrating responsible and ethical conduct. This Code serves as a vital guide in fostering a culture of integrity, respect, and care, where staff act as role models for students and the wider community.

Additionally, staff have undertaken mandatory reporting training, reinforcing their responsibility to identify and respond to concerns about child safety. This essential training ensures we remain vigilant in our duty to protect and support every student in our care. By embracing these responsibilities, we continue to strengthen Sacred Heart as a safe, inclusive, and nurturing place for all.

Staffing News 2025

A huge congratulations to Ms. Tench and her partner Phoebe on the joyous and safe arrival of their precious daughter, Wilhemina Rose Tench, on Thursday. We are absolutely thrilled with this wonderful news and cannot wait for a special visit!

Welcome to the Sacred Heart family, Wilhemina!

Athletics Carnival

Please refer to Mr Jayne's section. Some key information regarding the upcoming carnival.

Spread the Good Word

Keep spreading the good word, families! We have just one more Open Day remaining on Tuesday, 11th March—so don’t miss out!

As mentioned above, we will definitely have two full-capacity Prep classes for 2026, and all offers will be sent out shortly. Thank you for your continued support in sharing what makes Sacred Heart such a special place!

Calm Club News

Organised by our passionate Wellbeing Leader, Miss Wood, Calm Club continues to provide students with a valuable opportunity to step away from the playground and engage in a range of mindful and creative activities each day.

Reintroduced in 2025, the STEM session has been an overwhelming success, with capacity numbers attending each week. Recently, students have been exploring Scratch coding—a beginner-friendly programming language designed to teach the fundamentals of coding in a fun and interactive way. Using a visual interface, students can drag and drop blocks of code to create animations, games, stories, and interactive projects.

Needless to say, they love it! We can’t wait for our brand-new STEM learning space to be completed in the coming weeks, offering even more exciting opportunities for hands-on exploration and discovery.

Building Update - It's coming together!

Key Milestones:

• 88% complete!
• 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💎

After receiving his ashes on Wednesday, Hudson did an amazing drawing of his experience in the church, including an incredible picture of Fr.Martin. 

What a fantastic weekend for our Sacred Heart students at the Sandringham Little Athletics Club Championships! 🏅🏃‍♂️🏃‍♀️

We are so proud of the incredible effort with many medals won. A huge congratulations to all —you should be extremely proud of your achievements!  Well done, team 'Sacred Heart'!

So much to celebrate as these champions visited my makeshift office in the staffroom!

One of the unexpected joys of this temporary setup has been sharing space with our teachers during their planning time. It means they, too, get to witness and celebrate these special moments as students proudly showcase their efforts. A particular highlight was seeing Eve’s very proud teacher, Mrs McGrath from last year light up with excitement—perhaps the sneaky best moment of all!

These are the moments that make our school so special. Keep shining, champions! ✨

Love capturing these special moments of our preps. A picture tells a thousand stories

A passionate Hawthorn supporter, Elliott enjoyed some quite time after a hot recess. Clearly he understands the rivalry of these two clubs. Let's just say it starts at a very early age! 

And finally...

Have a truly wonderful long weekend, everyone!

With the AFL season kicking off, it’s fair to say we’re thrilled to be kicking some goals of our own at Sacred Heart! 🏉✨

A friendly reminder that our Athletics Carnival is next Friday—always a highlight on the school calendar. This year, we’re excited to have a coffee van on-site, so be sure to grab a brew while cheering on our students!

Enjoy the break, and we’ll see you all next week!

A very proud principal,

Simon