Message From Our
Principal
Dear Parents and Caregivers,
It is wonderful to be back at school with the children and staff for the second half of the year. We have much to look forward to once again, both in and out of the learning spaces. Learning Conversations, Grandparents’ Mass, Athletics Carnivals, Father’s Day Breakfast, Book Week,100 Days of School for Foundation, along with various incursions and excursions to name just a few exciting things that are happening this term. Children in Year 3 have commenced their preparation for their Sacrament of Reconciliation to be held later in the term and we have already celebrated NAIDOC Week. And of course, one of my favourite times of the year – meeting our new Foundation children. I encourage parents and carers to come along and participate in the many opportunities to support your child’s learning and be involved in Sacred Heart. All of the upcoming dates can be found on our calendar.
We had a big celebration for the Feast of the Sacred Heart late last term. Thank you to Fr John for the lovely Mass we celebrated with our parish. Sr Eileen and Sr Pam [Mercy Sisters] told children about the history of the Sisters of Mercy at Sacred Heart, Year 5/6 visited the old Mercy convent [currently the CES offices], Marli Kelly spoke to 3/4s about the Society of SVDP and the work they do and Early Years investigated the Sacred Heart of Jesus and ways we can show our love to others. Tabloid Sports and a disco were also enjoyed on our special feast day.
Thank you to everyone who so generously donated to our Winter Appeal. Many much-needed items were donated to St Vinnies to be distributed amongst our local community. In the true spirit of the Sacred Heart and our Mercy Values we were able to help others most in need. Thank you for your generosity.
It’s great to see our children arriving at school each morning with plenty of time to get themselves organised and be ready for the day ahead. Thank you to parents for establishing these vitally important routines. It is essential that a smooth start to the day is established so that children are given every opportunity to participate fully in their learning. We ask that you continue to ensure that the children arrive on time ready to start their day before the music begins playing at 8:55am. It is interesting to note that even arriving 10 minutes late a day adds up to 50 minutes a week which is equivalent to one and a half weeks of valuable learning time each year. If you do have difficulty getting your child to school at any time, please discuss this with their teachers and we can support you with this.
Learning Conversations have been taking place this week. These conversations are an important opportunity for you to sit with your child and their teacher and discuss the achievements and challenges of the first semester and set goals and actions for the remaining terms. Everything tells us that positive, supportive relationships between the learner, parents and school has strong benefits for your child. Thank you for taking this opportunity. Please contact your child’s teacher if you were unable to attend these Learning Conversations.
Our major raffle will take place this term and we have some wonderful prizes again. All money raised will go towards our classroom libraries, an essential component of our reading program. There is further information of the benefits of classroom libraries in the 'School News' page of the newsletter. Raffle books will be sent home tomorrow with each child and we hope you are able to support this fundraiser.
We have twelve very special children preparing for their Sacrament of Reconciliation which will take place on Wednesday, August 23rd. They will be presented to Sacred Heart Parish during the 10:30 Mass on Sunday July 30th. This is a very important time for each of them and we remember them and their families in our prayers.
It was wonderful to have over twenty students in Years 3-6 recently enter the Lions Junior Public Speaking Competition. Grace McKinnon, Japneet Kaur, Olivia Talarico and Simranjeet Saini were selected to go on to represent Sacred Heart at the club level competition. Dom and I proudly attended the local evening and were blown away listening to all the participants stand up and deliver their speeches. Congratulations and well done to you all. You were amazing! Olivia won her section and Japneet was runner up in hers. Thank you to Tatura Lions Club for providing such a valuable opportunity for our students to build their public speaking skills.
A very important event on our school calendar is always Grandparents Day. We are looking forward to welcoming grandparents and special visitors on Friday 28th July. The morning will begin with Mass at 9.15am, followed by time to visit classrooms and morning tea. Everyone is most welcome. Children, please make sure your grandparents have this special date marked in their calendars.
May the Sacred Heart of Jesus continue to watch over our school community and bless us always.
Pauline Hindson
Principal
