Principal News 

WEEK 7 - TERM 2

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It's the sum of these small pieces that make an extraordinary big picture.  

Dear Families,

Something a little different this week as I've walked the school grounds, visited the classrooms and reflected upon the various school encounters and observational pieces on my travels. Just like a puzzle, schools are made up of many unique pieces; no two pieces are same, yet all are equally important to the big picture. 

Day-by-day, piece-by-piece, it continues to be such a joy to watch 'our unique' puzzle take shape as we collectively create something quite special at Sacred Heart. 

Below are just some of the observation pieces that shape our wonderful puzzle - a master piece. As co-creators, keep up the amazing work, students, staff and families!

OBSERVATIONS FROM AFAR

• Some students simply don’t feel the cold.
• The full winter uniform looks stunning.
• Daily exchanges and manners on the gate are first class. Manners cost nothing, but the rewards are great. Thank you families, this is such a highlight of my day. 
• Art installations in our walkways continue to make our school pop. 

• The Respectful Relationships program is resonating within our community as we continue to receive wonderful feedback from our families referencing various exchanges at home. Thank you families for the positive email feedback.
• The picture below was sent to me from Mrs Stroud our phenomenal MSL and intervention teacher. A beautiful reminder of the importance of reading to your child.

• We have loved watching the students present at assembly. Articulate, confident and always doing their best - what more can we ask? Well done 3/4LF for your poetry presentation.
• Great work Yr.1/2 team, your displays look amazing.

• Braving the elements. Despite the colder evenings, this certainly has not deterred our basketballers or netballers from their training schedules. 
• The new external light sensor security lighting has certainly been well received and helped 'a little' with some later training sessions. 
• We love the displays and creativity from our graduate teacher, Miss Healey.  From an interactive maths display with Ms Kehoe, to a 'brain' and the smick walls in her classroom, Miss Healey's passion and attention to detail is outstanding.  We are so excited to be part of her journey at Sacred Heart. 

• Our consistent focus on the delivery of literacy across the entire school has been most affirming. Well done staff! More recently showing a prospective family around, they noted the exceptional and explicit delivery of phonics. 

• Yr.5/6 are truly loving their shared novel, We Are Wolves. The discussions, provocations and breadth of learning being drawn from this novel is outstanding. Great work 5/6! What an experience dropping into Mr Blake's class throughout the week as he regularly takes his students on a beautiful journey through history and geography reading the novel. So many teachable moments across 5/6. #shapingworldlystudents

• Daily visual schedules are best practice. These look fantastic across all classrooms and set the students up the day ahead. 

• Nice to also see the ‘learning intentions’ across the rooms. More best ‘visual’ practice in action at Sacred Heart. 

• A wet day program didn’t stop our Performing Arts program. With PE moving to the hall, the adaptable Miss Bryce moved her program to the library area. 

• Character strength walls are up and in action in the senior school. The students align a character strength that represents or is acknowledged by their peers during the week. Building character!

• We think Yr. 3/4LF have more than one super power. 

• Congratulations middle school on finally finishing your biome projects. After many weeks of research and scaffolding on how to best present their work, these projects look fabulous in the walkways. You must be so proud of your efforts. 

• Poetry has been the writing focus across the school, and it has been so delightful to see all our students embrace this writing style. Perhaps one of the harder genres to construct and express, many of our students have just thrived being exposed to the range of poetic forms.

• We politely request families to ensure the correct footwear is worn in accordance with our uniform policy. Remarkably some students can find their sneakers, yet cannot locate their school shoes. Our uniform policy aligns with ‘all’ secondary settings and your support with these expectations is appreciated. 

• The juniors students have thrived during their hands-on chemical science topic this term. We can see why after their latest investigation using pop corn.

• Explicit teaching and hands-on learning and clear visual representations for the students = best practice & outcomes.  

• A picture of concentration.

• Getting down with the students. Best teaching 101. 

• Thanks Dr. Branson for dropping in to talk to our senior students about concussion and how this is now being identified and addressed across various sporting codes. As the head doctor at the Collingwood Football Club, we could not have had a more accomplished and expert speaker in this field. This tied in perfectly with the Yr.5/6 unit of work on the brain.

• Getting ready for Grandparents Day with these special medals. All part of the Yr.1/2 procedure writing task. 

GRANDPARENTS 

& 

SPECIAL FRIENDS' DAY

THE HIGHLIGHT OF THE SCHOOL YEAR

Wow! What a spectacular morning we had on Friday as we welcomed and celebrated our most precious grandparents and special friends back into our community. We were just overwhelmed by the numbers in attendance (hall & classrooms), the welcoming atmosphere and significance of this day.  It was wonderful to see our middle school share a special grandparents song and our beautiful choir led by Ms Mckay and Mr T perform, One Day. It was indeed 'One gorgeous Day.' 

We sincerely thank those familiy members who travelled considerable distances to share in this gorgeous celebration with their grandchildren. Be assured, it meant the world. 

I also thank you for allowing me to share a little bit of my family's story in showcasing the chest built by my grandfather before his family immigrated to Australia. Whilst this remains a symbolic reference for my story, the message told over many years now remains the strongest - share and pass on your stories. 

You have 'one job' students to sit with your grandparents and have them share their remarkable story. Pass it on! In time, we look forward to hearing these stories. 

Such a fabulous 'call out' to our extraordinary P&F for their generous support and hospitality on this treasured day. Their efforts once again reflect the exceptional nature of our flourishing community and parent body. From 'too many' cups of tea, to the fine touches on the tables, we cannot thank you enough. 

Whilst not expected, the positive feedback over the course of the morning was so greatly appreciated. Grandparents and special friends, you are ALWAYS welcome. 

CLUB NEWS

Word on the street is we have another couple of lunchtime clubs on the way. Mrs Brown is generously opening a 'Reading Club' in the library that will focus on books aligning with the Respectful Relationships program. Miss Rafferty and Miss Healey are about to seek expressions of interest for a Coding & STEM Club. Whilst we anticipate much interest in the above clubs,  we are limiting the numbers in these clubs. Thank you again to our dedicated staff who continue to offer up their precious break time to provide these rich and diverse opportunities for our students.

• Fitness Club
• Stretching Club
• Art Club
• Environment Club
• Running Club
• Mindfulness Club
• Coding Club
• Reading Club

IT'S A W-RAP

SACRED HEART KIDS DISCO

Many thanks to Sarah Davoren and her almighty team of ‘brave’ volunteers for organizing and supervising the fabulous disco last Friday. It is just wonderful to see these ‘student focused’ activities back on the agenda in recent months and our children are afforded these opportunities. We are blessed to have such generous parents offering up their evening and ensuring our students finished the week on a high. 

STAFFING NEWS

It is with mixed emotions that we announce Mrs Lisa Biffin will finish her Thursday (much greater than one day/week) role at Sacred Heart at the end of this term. Lisa has accepted a position at St Mary’s for Semester 2, and this is an exciting and wonderful opportunity to have her ‘own’ class for an extended period. An exceptional educator, St Mary’s have indeed struck gold and we simply could not wish her more success! We remain truly indebted for her significant contributions and adaptability across our school in recent months and hope to see Mrs Biffin back at Sacred Heart in 2023.  In light of this change, we are blessed to have Ms Meg Kehoe extend her hours and take this important Thursday role in 5/6B - a great and seamless addition to the senior team. We sincerely thank Ms Kehoe, along with all our part-time staff who continue to be so flexible and accommodating throughout this year. 

BEACHSIDE CROSS COUNTRY CHAMPIONSHIPS

We congratulate Harry Hopgood who has progressed from the Beachside Cross Country to the South Metro Regional Cross Country. Not a bad effort progressing through three carnivals/competitions along the way.

 Make sure you catch up with all the latest sporting news via Mr T's page. 

Little Gems

The students in 3/4 were able to make models for their biome projects and Audrey, Ciara & Gemma's not surprisingly caught my eye. Wow girls, what an exceptional model red panda, salmon and dolphin. 

We also have the loved the impressive effort that has gone into the biome dioramas. 

Congratulations Yr.3/4, you must be very proud of your efforts. Just very small example below.

Look out, there is new coach on the block. Although Mr Brown has an impressive winning streak, he has an assistant in waiting, should that come to an abrupt end this Friday. It's a brutal industry Mr Brown, and Jasper looks set to pounce.

New Calendar 

Many thanks to Karen for linking our school Google calendar to the school website. In addition to key dates in the newsletter, this additional live calendar platform reflects all key events in moving forward. We are updating this regularly.

Key Dates and Reminders for Term 2

• 13th June - Queen's Birthday
• 15th June - Soccer lightning Premiership
• 16th June - Netball Lightning Premiership
• 17th June - AFL Lightning Premiership
• 17th June Prep Assembly 
• 18th June - Year 5/6 Familiy Mass 
• 19th June - Sandy Saints Fun Day
• 20th June - School Closure - Whole Staff Berry Street Training 
• 24th June - End of Term, Reports Home and Feast of Sacred Heart
• 10th July  - Working Bee t.b.c
• 11th July - Term 3 

And finally...

As we batten down the hatches for the colder months ahead, maybe it is fitting opportunity to encourage our parents to drop into the classrooms during our Literacy Block to support the students and staff. Should parents or grandparents have some precious minutes throughout the week, you are ALWAYS welcome to pop into the classrooms.

Thanks again for making Grandparents and Special Friends' Day so special. 

Enjoy the long-weekend and stay warm families,

Simon Collis

Principal