Principals Report

Welcome to the penultimate (second last) week of the term! I hope as parents you have enjoyed the first term as much as I have here at school. My highlights have included meeting all the students (whose manners and behaviour continues to impress me), meeting lots of parents and grandparents (thank you for introducing yourselves) and working with our amazing staff. I have also enjoyed school events such as our swimming carnival, celebrating our opening school mass at the MPB, and our parents meet and greet breakfast.

Thank you to those families who were able to attend Sunday’s Children’s Mass. The feedback I have received from Fr Junjun and the parishioners has been overwhelmingly positive. They want more of them!! I found Sunday’s Gospel (Lk 13:1-9) really challenging. Jesus tells his followers that those that strive to do the right thing suffer just as much as those who frequently sin. What I took from this is that just because someone makes the right choices, treats others fairly and with dignity, doesn’t mean that this person won’t suffer at some point in their life. We are therefore challenged by our faith to continue to be Christ-like in our actions knowing full well this doesn’t guarantee safety from harm. Jesus asks are we prepared to follow in His (and Mary’s) ways because it's the right thing to do and will benefit others, or because we expect some sort of external reward?

A huge congratulations to our Yr3 and Yr5 students who have completed this year’s NAPLAN testing. It can be a pretty intense set of tests, and our students are to be commended for their efforts. The teachers look forward to receiving the results from these tests to better inform our teaching.

Thank you to the trust placed in us from our families as we begin to implement some of the elements of Magnify Sandhurst (our evidence-informed science of learning school improvement initiative). We know that whilst many students are enjoying the challenge of learning through our low variance, knowledge rich curriculum delivery, there are students who are struggling to engage with this new approach. Staff are constantly reviewing the way we deliver the teaching of literacy, numeracy and religious education (in particular) to ensure we are delivering the appropriate curriculum in a consistent, accessible manner. We are currently focusing on the ways we differentiate the learning so that all students’ needs are being met. We have students who are below the expected standard, at the standard and above the standard and our challenge is to provide point of need learning for each of these groups of students. We will continue to refine this approach as the year progresses. We welcome feedback from parents, both positive and constructive as we work in partnership with families to ensure maximum student growth.

Yesterday we held our first emergency drill of the year. Students and staff were evacuated as we simulated a fire in the Yr6 space, much to the excitement of the kids! We hold an emergency drill at least once per term. Other types of drills include

‘lockdown’ and ‘hide in place’ and we rehearse to be ready for any type of emergency situation.

Thank you to our Prep teaching staff who hosted a ‘Handy Hints Night’ last night for Prep parents. It was a great opportunity to celebrate the successful start our Preps have made to their schooling careers and ensure we are working together to achieve maximum growth for our youngest students!

Next Monday the other end of the school – our Yr6’s - will get a taste of what secondary school is like when they attend Sacred Heart College’s Open Day. They will spend 2hrs experiencing how high school operates and gain an insight into what the next 6 years of their lives might look like!

Just a reminder that next Wednesday 2nd April is a pupil free day. Staff will travel to Wodonga to attend a Classroom Mastery professional development day where we will be upskilled on how to explicitly teach appropriate student behaviour. This element of Magnify Sandhurst focuses on creating calm, predictable and repeatable classrooms where learning can flourish.

As this is our last newsletter before the term break, I want to personally thank the staff of Sacred Heart for supporting my family and I in the beginning of our time at school. I would like to thank the many mums, dads, grandparents, aunties etc. who have introduced themselves to Georgia and me and helped us feel at home in Yarrawonga. And most importantly, thank you for working in partnership with our staff as we find daily joy in educating your children. Have a wonderful, safe and refreshing holiday break. If you get the chance, take time to reflect on the passion, death and resurrection of Jesus on the true message of Easter.

Take care and God bless,

Jarrod