Principal's Message

Good afternoon everyone!

Our school really has commenced the year in a very positive way. As I walk around our school, I am very impressed at the learning which is occurring within our learning spaces. The students have adapted well to the new furniture and the routines established which support students to learn best. You may hear your children speak to you about the campfire, watering hole or cave. The learning spaces have been set up so that students learn within each of these environments. Each space mimics the type of learning that occurs in ‘real life’ in each of these environments. The campfire is the semi-circle place usually at the front of the learning space where seats form a semi-circle. This enables the students to have direct instruction with minimal distractions and gives them the ability to focus closely on the board or screen which is often used at this time. Questions and clarifications are encouraged when students sit within this space. It’s great to see this at work with our students. The other spaces support the ‘we do’ and ‘you do’ learning approach. This is central to the ‘science of learning’ which is the focus of the programs which we are utilising at Sacred Heart and across the diocese. The refurbished spaces really suit these approaches to learning and we are very much looking forward to seeing how this can enhance student learning and outcomes.

I’d like to acknowledge, the hard work of our staff who are managing the adaptation to our new learning spaces, new technology and the new programs initiated through Magnify Sandhurst. These are all positive changes which have occurred through the hard work and dedication of our staff team at Sacred Heart. I am also grateful for the support our educators have received and continue to receive from our leadership and administration teams. They have been an incredible support to our educators as they navigate the changes which have occurred this year.

We celebrated our Opening Mass on Friday, February 7th at 9:15am. This was a lovely occasion where students learnt more about the theme for our diocese this year ‘Pilgrims of Hope’. There is a song which accompanies this theme, and I am sure that we will be using this throughout the year. It was lovely to hear our students join in singing so joyfully. A key feature of the Mass was the presentation of shirts to our Year 6 students. A number of parents were able to join us and see the presentation of the shirts to their children which was wonderful.

Naplan for 2025 will occur for our students in Year 3 and Year 5. The dates for this testing will be from 12th – 24th March. There will be more information provided on

Naplan as we get closer to this time. If you would like some general information on Naplan, you may find this link helpful.

You may have noticed that we have been posting more on our Socials! We are noticing that we have more followers, and more people are engaging with our posts. We hope that you have enjoyed seeing more pictures and brief messages highlighting the learning opportunities for our students so far at Sacred Heart. We are working hard to ensure that there is a spread of exposure across the grade levels. We will be discussing the use of communication forums at our first Advisory council meeting for 2025 which is tonight. We are looking forward to working with our team of parents and staff to ensure that our school continues to meet the needs of our students in the best way possible.

In closing, I would like to share a prayer with you that speaks to our 2025 theme Pilgrims of Hope in this a Jubilee year. This prayer was used as part of one of the 36 events which will be held as part of the 2025 Jubilee Year this year.

Heavenly Father,

Through the gentle spirit of St Francis de Sales,

inspire us to communicate with love and hope.

Help us to speak truthfully, listen attentively, and respond with compassion.

May our words reflect Your grace and bring peace to our hearts and those around us. Strengthen our resolve to build bridges of understanding and to spread Your love through our words and deeds.

Through Christ our Lord.

Amen

Blessings,

Carolyn Goode

Principal