Principal News 

Dear Families,

Autumn is well and truly upon us, with crisp mornings and evenings growing darker earlier. Of course, the change in seasons also brings footy fever, and many of our conversations are filled with weekend highlights (and lowlights!), along with the ever-present hope that our team will redeem itself the following week.

Red and blue run through my veins, and what an exciting match it was for St Kilda—it truly could have gone either way. Let's see how we go with Freo.... We have also been enjoying the AFC 2026 Women’s Asian Cup. What a match on Tuesday night, and we look forward to cheering on Australia as they take on Japan tomorrow evening. These athletes are wonderful role models for our students, and we wish them every success.

We also congratulate our Sacred Heart athletes: Annabelle, Noah, and Isabelle.

Annabelle has nerves of steel as she competes in the 1m and 3m springboard events. She recently competed in the Victorian Age Championships, where her scores in both events qualified her for the national competition. In the upcoming school holidays, she will represent Victoria in the Under 11 Girls division at the Australian Age National Championships in Adelaide. We wish her all the best and look forward to hearing about her experience.

Isabelle and Noah competed in the State Athletics Championships a fortnight ago. We congratulate Noah on placing 5th in the state in both the 800m and 1500m events. Isabelle gave her family a wonderful surprise, winning the 800m and placing 3rd in the 400m. We congratulate both students and their proud families.

Celebrating Harmony Day at Our School

Harmony Day this week was a wonderful celebration across our school, bringing students and staff together to recognise and embrace the rich diversity of our community. There was a vibrant sense of belonging in every classroom, with students proudly sharing their cultures, engaging in meaningful activities, and, of course, wearing orange to show their support for inclusiveness and respect.

A special acknowledgement must go to our exceptional Wellbeing Leader, Miss Wood. We are incredibly lucky and grateful to have her leading these important events within our community. Her passion, care, and dedication to fostering a culture of belonging are evident in everything she does. Harmony Day was no exception, with the day thoughtfully planned and full of opportunities for students to connect, learn, and celebrate one another.

Miss Wood’s leadership continues to strengthen our school community, ensuring that every child feels seen, valued, and included. Events like Harmony Day are a reflection of her commitment to wellbeing and inclusion, and we thank her for the positive impact she makes each and every day.

We absolutely loved the effort everyone put in—especially Miss Wood in her Norwegian Bunard.

Dendy Swimming Carnival

Twenty-seven of our Year 3–6 students participated in the Dendy Swimming Carnival on 4 March at Oakleigh Swimming Pool. It was wonderful to see such strong effort, enthusiasm, and sportsmanship across all events, with many impressive results achieved.

Congratulations to all swimmers for their efforts. 

A special mention to the following students who have qualified to represent Sacred Heart at the Beachside Swimming Carnival at Carnegie Pool:

Ivan (9/10 age group) – 50m butterfly

Noah (11-year-old) – 50m freestyle

Annabelle (11-year-old) – 50m backstroke and breaststroke

Maya (11-year-old) – 50m breaststroke

Athletics Carnival

Our School Athletics Carnival was a fantastic day filled with energy, enthusiasm and great sportsmanship from all students. A big congratulations to our students for such a successful day, in particular our Prep students who did an amazing job at their first carnival - we may have some future track and field Olympians on our hands! It was wonderful to see such high levels of participation across all events, with students giving their best in both track and field activities. The results were extremely close with Marian (Blue House) coming out on top, closely followed by Vinnary (Green), Nagle (Gold) and Xavier (Red).

A big thank you to all staff and parents for their support in running events and ensuring the day ran smoothly, the day could not have happened without you.  A special mention to our amazing students and sports leaders for their positive attitude and encouragement of one another. The house spirit on display was outstanding, making it an enjoyable and memorable day for everyone involved. We also congratulate Mr Jaynes for leading the day. His attention to detail and preparation ensured it was the success it was. 

Dendy Cricket Gala Day

A total of 41 of our Year 5/6 students participated in the Dendy Cricket Carnival yesterday  at Dendy Park. It was a fantastic day filled with great sportsmanship, teamwork and enthusiasm from all involved. A big thank you to Mr Jaynes, Mr Homer, Byron and Della for their support and assistance with our students throughout the day.

Learning & Teaching at Sacred Heart

Each week, our staff participate in two professional development sessions focused on upskilling and reinforcing evidence-based practices across key curriculum areas—namely literacy and mathematics—along with best pedagogical approaches. Led by our school leaders, these sessions are closely aligned with our annual action plan goals, continuously enhancing the way we do things at Sacred Heart. Importantly, they foster a shared understanding and ensure a consistent approach to teaching and learning from Prep-6.

In addition, we dedicate time each week to student wellbeing, focusing on identifying, supporting, and reviewing social, emotional, and academic needs. This whole-school commitment to both professional growth and student welfare remains an integral part of our culture at Sacred Heart.

We take immense pride in this collective investment, which has been a key driver of our successes and strong enrolment trends in recent years. Our current and prospective families clearly recognise and deeply value this professional commitment from our staff.

Please take a moment to read the Literacy and Maths page in the newsletter.

Well done, team, and a special thanks to Miss Prosser, Miss Bulte & Mrs Stroud for driving these positive changes!

Multi Sensory Language (MSL) Training 

We are proud to share that Sacred Heart has been selected to host the Associate IMSLE course—recognition of the exceptional teaching practices within our school and our leadership in Multisensory Structured Language (MSL) across the Bayside network next week.

This specialised course is designed for educators seeking to refine their practice, strengthen student outcomes, and deepen their expertise in Structured Literacy, with a particular focus on supporting students with dyslexia and related learning challenges. MSL is a highly structured, evidence-based approach that is also responsive and flexible, enabling teachers to tailor learning to meet the needs of every student.

Through this training, teachers further develop their ability to deliver lessons that are systematic, explicit, and engaging, promoting active learning and strong knowledge retention. Importantly, MSL is an inclusive approach that benefits all learners, ensuring support across every tier of the classroom.

Being chosen to host this course reflects the strength of our practice and our ongoing commitment to excellence in teaching and learning at Sacred Heart. We are very fortunate to have another member of our staff completing this training. Mrs O'Brien will be busy next week learning all things MSL, however not too far away from her Year Two class to keep an eye on them!

2026 Staff Conference 

Thank you for supporting our student-free days, allowing our staff to attend our annual conference. This time together is crucial in strengthening professional learning to improve outcomes in both learning and wellbeing for each of our students, as well as promoting collegial wellbeing.

On Thursday, we participated in an action-packed day led by Katherine Squires and Lesley Berrill from Melbourne Archdiocese Catholic Schools. This approach focuses on Positive Behaviour Support training, designed to equip individuals and teams to respond effectively to challenging situations and behaviours, using the latest research in the psychology of behaviour and biomechanics.

Many Australian and international education sectors have adopted Team Teach as a balanced approach to reducing risk, restraint, and restriction.

The program provides:

• A values-based approach that maintains the dignity of all involved
• An understanding of the causes and functions of emotions and behaviours of concern
• A toolbox of positive behavioural strategies to prevent the escalation of unsafe behaviour
• Strategies to promote personal safety through understanding body language, recognising circles of danger, using calm stances, and applying help scripts

On Friday, Father Martin led an engaging, informative, and deeply personal session on the Eucharist. The highlight of this session was our shared Mass, where Father Martin explained each part as we broke bread and prayed together.

We are blessed to work in partnership with Father Martin and value all that he brings to our community.

Catholic Education Week 2026 

This week is an important one, where Catholic Education 2026 is celebrated. On Tuesday we celebrated St Patrick’s Day. Lots of fun was had and Miss Maloney had us all entertained sharing lots of information about Ireland and the Irish, after a beautifully prepared and presented liturgy led by Grace, Taj and Max, our RE and Social Justice Captains. Please read Miss Maloney’s page in the newsletter to learn about the St Patrick’s Day mass and celebration that the school leaders, myself and Miss Maloney attended this morning. It is always awe inspiring to sit in the cathedral filled to the rafters with clergy, students and staff from our MACS parish schools. The bagpipes are magnificent. Last night Helen Mertin attended the Archbishop’s Celebration Dinner for Chairs of the School Advisory Council dinner. We look forward to hearing all about it and thank her for attending on behalf of our community. 

Please keep Wednesday 1st April free for our Year 6 student led Stations of the cross 9:30am  and Thursday 2nd April our Junior Easter Bonnet parade at 9am. 

2026 Victorian Association Catholic Primary School Principals Inc (VACPSP) Principal Conference 

Next week I will be attending this conference, where the four dioceses - Diocese of Ballarat, MACS, Diocese of Sale & Diocese of Sandhurst. 

Our theme is;  Nourish Your Purpose 

The conference is an enriching, educative and nourishing experience for primary principals, in knowledge, faith and collegiality. Day One - Nourishing the Principal personal and professional growth, Day Two - Nourishing the Student, understanding and inclusion and Day Three Nourishing The Team growth and collaboration. The guest speakers include a combination of faith leaders, business leaders from various sectors outside education and sporting leaders. The keynote speaker is  Peter Merrett. He is a mulit-award- winning luxury hotelier, Australia’s 2024 Keynote speaker of the Year, and the visionary founder of The House of Wonderful. Adam Spencer is our host and is always engaging, informative and challenging and sometimes all of these at the same time. On the first evening, you would be amazed at the noise level of three hundred principals all in the same space! I thank Mrs Stroud and Miss Maloney for leading in my absence, knowing we are in execellent hands.

Year 5 Camp Rumbug 

Next week our Year Five students will be attending Camp Rumbug. This camp allows the students to experience outdoor education activities, whilst having fun and the food is delicious. The hill back to base camp is loads of fun.  We thank Mrs Tench for leading this camp, and the organisation that this entails. We thank our staff; Mrs Tench, Miss  Moloney, Mr Jaynes, Miss Prosser & Oscar for supporting our students. We acknowledge and appreciate that you leave your families at home to look after our beautiful children. 

School Uniform Update 

Please note that for the first two weeks of next term the students may wear their full summer or full winter uniform. On Monday 4th May full winter uniform is required. Boys may wear their navy shorts with their long sleeve shirts.

We thank Kate and Tarn for their work with the Uniform Shop and orders can be online or on  Friday mornings 8:30-8:55am in the back of the hall.    

Staff Uniform

You may notice some stunning fluoro pink vests on our staff. These high-visibility vests have been introduced to help students and families easily identify staff members in the yard, particularly during busy times such as before and after school, as well as during recess and lunch.

Staff Updates 2026

Next term, Mr Coutts will be working at a primary school closer to his home. We thank him for all that he has contributed to Sacred Heart, particularly his work on our productions and Christmas concerts.

We wish him all the very best and hope he enjoys a few extra sleep-ins with the shorter commute. We will make sure we all keep an eye out for another appearance at the Boxing Day Test for 2026!

Dad’s Weekend

Last weekend the Balnarring Father and child/children’s camp was a huge success. By all accounts everyone had an amazing time. Those at home also enjoyed some relaxing time! 

Playground Update 

We are really excited to have the tan bark soft fall going in on Saturday. All being well our students will be able to experience their new playground next week. You must agree it looks amazing. We will celebrate the opening of our new playground early next term. 

Upholding Our Commitment to Child Safety

As part of our ongoing commitment to fostering a safe, positive, and supportive environment, staff have recently undertaken training on the updated MACS Code of Conduct and mandatory reporting responsibilities. The MACS Code of Conduct provides clear guidelines for professional behaviour, ensuring that all staff uphold these standards while acting with integrity, responsibility, and care in their roles within our school community.

This year, each month we will be focusing on one of the 11 Child Safe Standards. In February, we explored Standard 1 as a staff and with our students, building a shared understanding that child safety and wellbeing is embedded in our school leadership, governance, and culture.

In March, our focus is on Child Safe Standard 2: Child safety and wellbeing is embedded in organisational leadership, governance, and culture.

This standard emphasises the importance of creating a school environment where child safety is not just a policy, but a lived and visible priority. At Sacred Heart, this means that:

• Student safety and wellbeing are central to all decision-making processes
• Leaders actively promote a culture of openness, accountability, and care
• Staff consistently model respectful, safe, and inclusive behaviours
• Students feel empowered to speak up and know they will be heard

Please save the dates:

School Open Days & Tours for Enrolments 2027

Enrolments for Prep 2027 are now open and we encourage all families to submit their applications as soon as possible. The enrolment application is to be completed via our School Website.  Applications close on MARCH 27TH - if you have a child starting school in 2027 please ensure your application is submitted online by this date. We’re grateful to our families for continuing to share the positive stories of our school within the community.

Little Gems

Congratulations to the Likukuma family 

The final newsletter for the term will be published on Holy Thursday. 

Take care and wishing God's blessings and peace upon each of you. 

Mrs Cathy Ferrari