Principals Report

Principal's Report

And just like that we come to the end of Term 3! It has been 9 action-packed weeks of learning and educational experiences at Sacred Heart, and I would like to say a heartfelt thank you to all staff, students and families who have helped make it such a successful term. My highlights this term include (but are not limited to): NAIDOC week, Bridge Walks, Grandparent’s day, Staff Spirituality Day, Feast of Mary MacKillop, Lions Club Public Speaking, Feast of the Assumption, author visit from Andrew McDonald, Lightning Premiership, Book Week Parade, Father’s day activities, R U Okay/Sacred Heart Family Breakfast and our Athletics Carnival – to name a few!

I would like to specifically thank Marly Fountain, Bree Schutt and Sharon Powell who led our preparations for the Sacred Heart Breakfast, and Tim O’Dwyer and Jensen Hargreaves who planned our Athletics Carnival, last week. Both were great events!

At mass on Sunday, Fr Junjun unpacked perhaps the most well-known gospel verse of all, in John3:16: ‘Yes, God loved the world so much that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not be lost but may have eternal life.’ Sunday’s feast was ‘The exaltation of the Holy Cross’ and Fr Junjun spoke of how, to Christians, the cross is seen as the ultimate symbol of love. The cross is where Jesus, sent by God, bore our sins, redeemed us, and in the resurrection, showed us the way back to communion with God and to eternal life in God’s presence. The cross reminds us of God’s endless outpouring of love for us.

Last week Sharon and I met with Paul Diffey from the Moira Shire to work together on improving the traffic flow around our school, particularly at ‘pick up time.’ Paul has gathered data (first hand)and agrees changes need to be made. I will continue to update you with our progress in this area.

Thank you for arriving at pick up time after 3:10pm, it has made a real difference in the flow along Woods Rd and Orr St.

Last night (Tuesday night) we celebrated the Holy Sacrament of Reconciliation with our Yr3students and their families. Fr Junjun and Fr Vijay (from St Joseph’s Benalla) led a beautiful ceremony where our young people were able to reflect on some poor choices they have made and ask God’s forgiveness in order to grow closer to Him. 

Thank you to Meegan McInness who leads our school community in this area, Bec Bridgeman who helped prepare the students and families along with Meegan at our Parent Faith Formation nights, and our Yr3 staff who continue to provide our children with Christian role models.

Good luck to our Senior School Netball Team who are playing at the State Finals today – they have done themselves, and our school, proud.

Just a reminder that our second Parent Information Session with Jared Cooney Horvath will beheld online and at school tonight - Wednesday 17th September. Tonight’s session will focus on ‘Surviving Study’ – how we can help students study when they are doing their learning at home. In this session, Jared will share his tools, tips and techniques to help improve students' memory. This session will again be offered online (via Microsoft Teams) and in person at school. Following this session, a link will be provided to all families to access Jared’s third (and final) session - ‘A tour through your child's brain.’ Parents can watch this session at their leisure.

Thank you to the families who completed our Orima school survey. The data we receive from this survey is invaluable and will be used for school improvement.

Attached to this email is our Term 4 Term Ahead document. Please make special note of our pupil free day on Monday 3rd November (day before Melbourne Cup public holiday). 

We have booked our end of year Christmas Concert on Friday 28th November at 6:30pm (time to be confirmed). 

The students finish the year on Tuesday 16th December @ 3:15pm.

And lastly, we conclude the term on Friday with our Footy Colours Day. On this day, students are encouraged to wear their favourite sporting team colours. Students can wear footy tops (house points will be awarded to any student in Saints colours!!), basketball jerseys, soccer tops, netball dresses, rugby guernseys, NFL tops etc. Students are able to celebrate the team they follow! Students will be dismissed at 2:15pm on this day.

I wish everyone a wonderful and safe holiday break. Rest up because Term 4 is shaping up as another fantastic term of learning experiences.

Take care and God Bless,

Jarrod