Principal’s Message

Dear Parents and Carers,

Welcome to Week 9's newsletter.

Term 3 is quickly coming to a close, and I want to express my sincere gratitude to our dedicated teachers and staff members for their unwavering commitment to providing a nurturing learning environment. Your hard work and passion are the foundation of our school's success.

Throughout this term, the staff at Sacred Heart School have shown exceptional dedication to enhancing each student's faith, learning, and well-being outcomes. This success stems from our staff's collaboration as a cohesive team of educators who firmly believe in every child's potential to learn, given the appropriate time and support.

To parents and carers, thank you for your continued support and involvement in your child's education. Your partnership is invaluable; together, we can inspire our students to reach their full potential.

School Satisfaction Survey

Thank you to the staff and parents who took the time to complete the annual satisfaction survey. The survey is designed to gather feedback from parents, staff, and students about our school and will be used to inform school improvement. Responses are confidential, and individuals can not be identified. The collated data will be sent to our school in the coming weeks to support our planning for the remainder of the year and future strategic direction for 2025.

INCLUSION SUPPORT TEACHER (IST) PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT WORKSHOPS

During Week 7, I attended a two-day workshop in Armidale with other ISTs from across the Diocese. We had a tight focus over both days on a number of areas related to students with disabilities with a lens of inclusion. A number of ISTs and Subject Matter Experts shared experiences and learnings in regards to the Living Well, Learning Well Framework, Personal Plan Meetings, Case Management Meetings, the role of AI in Inclusion and the NCCD Audit process. I took away many new learnings that I will continue to introduce and implement at Sacred Heart to further enhance the processes we already have in place.

LATE ARRIVAL STUDENTS

This is a reminder to parents and caregivers who drop their child/ren off late to school in the morning: Please ensure that the adult who drops the child/ren off at school takes a moment to come into the office to sign-in the child/ren. We have a Duty of Care to ensure that children are being signed in by an adult with a genuine reason provided for their late arrival.

LYN SHARRATT PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT WORKSHOPS

The teaching staff from our school will join me on Tuesday and Wednesday of this week for a two-day professional workshop with Dr. Lyn Sharratt. These workshops align with the strategic agenda of our 2024 Annual Improvement Plan and build upon what we learned from the previous workshops we engaged with at the beginning of the year. 

Mrs Heidi Hardaker from the Armidale Catholic Schools Office will replace me both days, and Mrs Darley and Mrs Fenton will teach both classes with the support of Mrs Mitchell and Mrs Payne.

UPCOMING LONG SERVICE LEAVE

I will take long service leave on the last two days of this term and Week 1 of Term 4. During this time, Mrs Katie Goddard will replace me as Acting Principal.

PUPIL FREE DAY ~ 14TH OCTOBER

This is a reminder that we have a Pupil-Free Day scheduled for the first day of Term 4. Our staff will work together to further familiarise themselves with the newest curriculum documents and co-design quality Writing Units of Work aligned with Lyn Sharratt's Assessment Waterfall Chart.

Enrolments for 2025

We have opened enrolments for 2025. If you know of families in our community who want their children to attend Sacred Heart school, please don't hesitate to ask them to contact our school office so they can collect an enrolment form.

As we approach the end of term, let's continue to encourage each other and embrace every opportunity for growth. Let's stay focused on our goals, support one another, and finish the term strong.

Wishing everyone a productive and rewarding Week 9 and 10!

Please do not hesitate to reach out if you have any further questions or concerns.

Warm regards,

Claire Ryan

Principal