Principal News 

TERM 3

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The countdown begins...

Dear Families & Friends,

What an incredible celebration of our community we witnessed on Saturday at the annual Dad's Footy Match. We want to express our sincere gratitude to Anthony McCabe and his team for orchestrating this remarkable day for the Sacred Heart and Sandringham East communities. The match, held at Chisholm Reserve and played in front of a packed crowd, was nothing short of spectacular, and it showcased the tremendous spirit of camaraderie between our two school communities. It's worth noting the teams trained together leading up to this game, under the 'boot camp' guidance of Ged Beven, such is the valued relationship these teams have forged over the years. 

While the day was filled with numerous memorable moments, including Damien Lynch's 3 goals and Ged Beven winding back the clock with hisinspiring game and 60-meter goal as the siren sounded at half-time, perhaps one of the most entertaining exchanges occurred when Phil Welch summed up the day on the final siren. He humorously remarked, "This is the fittest I've ever been; it's literally the first time I've run in six years, so surely I must be fitter now." Brendan Tudor also noted that the number of casualties had dropped from 8 in 2022 to just 3 this year, suggesting that was good indicator of the success of the day. I must say, it was a relief to see this decline in injuries this year.

With a sneaky photo making the social media rounds, it is a joy to see the coveted trophy return to us after an extended absence of five years in Sandringham East. 

Once again, we extend our thanks and congratulations to our families for their unwavering support throughout the day. Whether it was manning the BBQ, tending the bar, running the canteen, selling raffle tickets, or participating in various social activities, your dedication was instrumental in making this day so special.

Congratulations to all the dads involved, we are immensely proud of your efforts and trust you had a fantastic, albeit gentle day of recovery on Sunday.

Father's Day at Sacred Heart

Not quite the pre AFL Grand Final (Dad's Game) parade, but nevertheless we had an incredible turnout of fathers and extended family members at our assembly, followed by their visits to our classrooms. Many remarked that this was the largest turnout they had witnessed for this event, once again highlighting the regard our families place on their child's journey at Sacred Heart. Supported by research, we cannot underestimate the impact this involvement has on our children - it affirms you value their education. This level of involvement has 20-30% impact on the way children view their schooling experience. 

A big shout-out to the senior students for their fabulous assembly performance from the upcoming Peter Pan production - the families absolutely loved it! On Friday afternoon, I received over a dozen emails from dads across the school community expressing their gratitude for the precious opportunity to spend quality time with their children in the classroom after the assembly.

Many thanks to our wonderfully dedicated mums for organising the 'top secret' Father's Day stall last Thursday. It was quite amusing to see students leaving the grounds in the afternoon, eagerly and prematurely handing over their carefully selected gifts.

Peter Pan

Dress Rehearsal #1

It's all about the children...

There is no denying that we've intensified our preparations for the upcoming Peter Pan production next Wednesday and Thursday. In recent weeks, every available minute has been meticulously scheduled to bring the cast together for rehearsals. Despite this heightened focus on the production, we commend our dedicated staff and students for their efforts in maintaining our regular learning schedule, ensuring that our daily literacy and numeracy programs continue as planned.

Once again, we want to express our appreciation to our most passionate music teacher, Mr. Coutts. He continues to rise to the challenge, managing his work demands across other school settings to come in and rehearse with the students outside his usual workdays at Sacred Heart. Mr. Coutts' dedication is nothing short of extraordinary, and we are profoundly grateful for his unwavering commitment to our students. 

We also extend our thanks to Mrs. Pennington, Miss Rafferty, Mr. T (digital backdrops), Mrs. Collins, and Ms. Hyslop (props) for their invaluable contributions. They have been working alongside Mr. Coutts while also juggling their already busy work schedules and daily commitments.

The smiles say it all. Our students have just loved the Peter Pan adventure. 

Our 'first' dress rehearsal on Wednesday was nothing short of spectacular. It's safe to say that I was truly amazed at how everything seamlessly came together. With a few more rehearsals to go, I'm confident that our families will be equally delighted and awestruck by our talented students during the evening performances. Bravo to our students!

Mrs. Bunn, who joined our school in 2023 and has over 25 years of experience in school productions, was so impressed by the rehearsal. She noted that she had never worked in a school where every effort was made to maintain a full academic program throughout the term while simultaneously rehearsing for a full-blown school production involving every class and student. In some settings, the learning program can be put on hold for a term or more while the school focuses solely on the production. What's perhaps even more remarkable is that Mr. Coutts joined our community halfway through the year and, with the support of Mrs. Pennington and Miss Robertson quietly working in the background, managed to pull together this entire spectacular production in just 8-10 weeks. The quality of singing is the best I have witnessed in many years of education, undoubtedly reflecting Mr. Coutts' passion.

And finally, we want to extend our sincerest thanks to our parent reps and families for their generous support in sourcing costumes for various arrangements and classes. The students look absolutely amazing, and we have no doubt that your hearts will melt when you see the children on stage.

A gentle reminder...

Whilst we have an exciting few days ahead of us, we continue to encourage our families to carefully manage additional commitments outside of school hours as we have MANY very tired students leading into our final week of Term 3 and the much anticipated production. As a keen observer, some students and staff are just hanging on by a thread.

Grant Confirmation

We are thrilled to acknowledge we finally received an official letter to confirm the significant financial support from the State Government for our scheduled refurbishment program to commence early in 2024. Please see attached. Such exciting times ahead with some first class facilities on the way for our students at Sacred Heart.

Art Program

I know I mention it regularly, but I truly believe that our art program is outrageously good. Having worked across many schools on my journey, the level of work produced by our students in Ms. Hyslop's art classes surpasses anything you'll find in any school. To our talented and creative students, keep up the excellent work, and I hope our families consider framing your creations when they come home. #masterpieces

Footy Colours Day 2023

What can I say? It was truly a beautiful sight to see the sea of colorful jerseys, beanies, caps and scarves filling our grounds on Thursday.

Dendy Athletics Carnival

Congratulations to the following superstars for progressing through to the Beachside Championships in October. In addition, we had a number of students 'break' long-standing district records at the Dendy carnival. This is quite an achievement competing against 8 other schools in our network. 

• 9/10 Boys – Long Jump – Remy P
• 9/10 Girls – 1500m – Emily H
• 9/10 Girls – 200m – Maddison R-N
• 9/10 Girls – High Jump – Maddison R-N
• 9/10 Girls – Hurdles – Micaela P
• 11 Boy – 100m – Johnny S
• 11 Boys – Discus – Johnny S
• 11 Girls – 800m – Tilly M
• 12/13 Boys – 1500m – Harry H & Benji S
• 12/13 Boys – 200m – Harrison L – C
• 12/13 Boys – 4x100 Relay - Harrison L-C, Harry H, Eden M, Liam P
• 12/13 Boys – 800m – Benji S
• 12/13 Boys – Triple Jump – Harry H

District Records:

• 9/10 Girls – High Jump – Maddison R-N 1.05m
• 11 Boys – Discus – Johnny S 22.14m
• 12/13 Boys – 1500m – Harry H 5:11.39
• 12/13 Boys – 200m – Harrison L-C 29.27
• 12/13 Boys – 4x100 – Harrison L-C, Harry H, Eden M Liam P 59.64

Staffing News

We wish Miss McKay, Mrs Tucker and Mrs Harper safe and happy travels next week as they will be taking long-service leave for the last week of term to chase some much needed sunshine.  Along with Mr Blake, all staff will be back on deck for the commencement of Term 4. 

School Improvement Surveys 2023

At the end of the month, students, families and staff were invited to participate in the Catholic Education Melbourne School Improvement Surveys (CEMSIS). Parents (random selection - have been emailed) can complete the survey anytime over the three-week window between  Monday 28th August and Friday 15th September via an emailed link and password that has been sent out. The surveys can be completed on a range of mobile devices and different web browsers. 

Our community’s perspectives are critical to understanding how our school is performing – CEMSIS is a key data source for guiding the ongoing work to improve our school. All participation is invited, welcomed and 100% voluntary. The surveys are an inclusive way to guide the work we are already doing to improve our school. 

Little Hearts of Sandy Playgroup

Next Sessions:

• 27th October 10am
• 24th Nov. 10am
• 8th Dec. 10am

Family and friends are most welcome to attend. No age limit on toddlers or pre-schoolers. Last session we had over 20 pre-schoolers and toddlers and it has been fabulous to see lots of new faces at these sessions. 

Little Gems

The below phenomenal sample of writing was written completely 'independently' by Sadie in Yr.2. Her expansive vocabulary blew me away. 

Prep Writing - Our youngest students have made significant progress in their writing skills since we implemented the 'The Writing Revolution' method. We take great pride in their efforts and their growth during these crucial formative years.

Certainly not to be outdone, Fintan & Ella in Yr.1 are also flying with their writing. We certainly have a Writing Revolution happening at Sacred Heart.

Even though we lost the power across the school with a blackout, our junior classes still managed to proudly do their Literacy Block.

We just loved our annual Footy Colours Day. 

LOCK’EM IN

SWIMMING & CAMP DATES

And finally....

Watching our students 'fly', soar and thrive in confidence during our Peter Pan production has most definitely been my highlight this year to date. To that end, we simply cannot put a price on how valuable this experience has been for our students. 

A fingers & toes crossed Blue,

Simon Collis

Principal

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