Deputy Principal

Swimming Program

The Swimming Program at MLC commences next Monday 9 December. A reminder that students will need to wear their sports uniform each day to school (and can wear their bathers underneath). They will need to bring a separate bag to school with them each day.

Items Required

Towel

Goggles

Bathers (or change of underwear if wearing bathers to school under their uniform).

Please ensure all items are clearly labelled along with their sports uniform worn on the day.

Your child’s swimming classes will be held each day from:

Each day, all children will walk to and from the venue with their classroom teacher.

** Note ** Classes depart school and walk to MLC prior to start of lesson and have changing time available. Students will be in the water for 45 minutes and change after. Please notify the Classroom teacher if you can longer assist on the day.

Parent Helpers at Swimming

As with any school activity/event, we greatly appreciate our parent helpers. Thank you to the many parents who have volunteered to help out next week. Classroom Teachers requiring assistance have shared the parent helper timetable via Audiri.

We encourage parents to please stick to your alotted day on the timetable, as the MLC Swimming Pool space is quite small and seating is limited. Thanks for your support with this request. 

2025 Transition Morning

On Monday 16 December, students in Prep to Year 5 will transition to their 2025 class. The children will find out which class they will be in next year, on this day. They will meet and work with the students and teacher from 9:15-10:30am. All new students commencing at Sacred Heart next year will attend the session. 

Below are some tips to help your child manage this change in their school journey.

Managing change

Dealing with changes can be tough for children, and it’s normal for them to feel a bit scared or anxious. Some children handle change with excitement, while others might find it worrisome. Children like things to stay the same because it makes them feel safe. So, when they switch grades, get a new teacher, or change classrooms, it can be a bit scary for them.

Here are some simple ways you can help your child during these changes:

1. Listen to them: Take the time to listen to their questions and worries. Help them understand their feelings and let them know it’s okay to feel the way they do. Don’t brush off their concerns by saying 'It’s not a big deal’.

2. Be there for them: Reassure your child that your love and support for them are always there, no matter what changes. Give them a hug or put your arm around them. Ask them how you can help and support them.

3. Give them time to get ready: Whenever it is possible tell them about the changes beforehand, so that they have time to get used to the idea. Focus on the good things that might happen.

4. Let them make choices: Sometimes, children feel like they have no control over their lives during changes. Let them make small choices, like what to pack for lunch or what to have for dinner on the first day of school.

5. Talk about past changes: Remind them of other times they handled changes well, like moving up a grade, starting school, or making new friends.

Remember, your child looks to you for guidance. Stay positive, be there for them, and stay calm during the changes. If you or your child need more help to navigate changes, please reach out to their classroom teacher, Courtney Drough (Learning Diversity Leader) or the School Counsellor. We are all here to support you both.

Some helpful resouces:

https://biglifejournal.com/

https://www.verywellfamily.com/

Assessment days to begin 2025 school year

As was the case this year, to help minimise interruptions to the beginning of the school year, all assessment of children will occur in 1 hour time slots (Year 1 - 6) or 30 minute time slots (Prep), on either Wednesday 29 January or Thursday 30 January, before ALL children begin together on Friday 31 January. Over these first two days, each child will come into school for their relevant assessment time slot, with a small group of other children from their class. Please note, that Prep children will be required to attend an additional 30 minute assessment time slot, on a Wednesday (Prep free day), early in Term One. 

During this time, children will meet their new classroom teacher and participate in the usual literacy/numeracy assessment that occurs at the start of each school year. Parents will be able to book their child(ren) in for a relevant time slot that is convenient for your family situation (via the usual School Interviews online booking site). This link will be provided to parents in the final week of the school year. 

The following assessments will form part of our planned assessment day(s). 

• Mathematics Online Interview (MOI) - Prep and Year 1 students complete the Mathematics Online Interview assessment in Term 1 each year. The Mathematics Online Interview (MOI) is an online tool for assessing the mathematical understanding of students in the early years of schooling. The Interview assesses students’ knowledge, skills and strategies in relation to key ‘growth points’ in the strands of Number and Algebra.
• DIBELS (Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills) - DIBELS is a set of procedures and measures for assessing literacy skills such as phonemic awareness, alphabetic knowledge, accuracy, fluency, and comprehension. By giving students a number of quick tests, this will allow teachers to have data to identify students who need additional assistance and later monitor the effectiveness of intervention strategies. All Prep-6 students will complete this assessment.
• BURT Word Test - This is a standardised reading test that is widely used to determine a child's reading skills. The test provides a list of 110 words, and a child attempts to read as many words as possible. The words increase in difficulty as you progress. All Year 2-6 students will complete this assessment.
• TORCH (Tests of Reading Comprehension) - is a set of twelve reading tests designed to assist teachers of students from Year 3-6 in their assessment of students’ reading comrpehesnion skills. TORCH provides an estimate of a student’s level of reading comprehension achievement. That is, information about the student’s performance on the sets of comprehsenion tasks from the TORCH tests.
• Reading Running Records - ​A Running Record is an assessment tool which provides an insight into a student’s reading as it is happening. A Running Record provides information on the following:

-a score of word reading accuracy

-an analysis of a reader's errors and self-corrections

-an analysis of the reading strategies used

Using a series of established conventions, the teacher can quickly and accurately record what the reader says as they read a text or section of a text aloud. After the reading, the teacher completes an analysis. All Year 2-6 students will complete this assessment.

• Essential Assesment - Students will be assigned individual assessment tasks and activities throughout the year that aim to support their mathematical knowledge and key understandings of concepts taught. Literacy and Reading activities are also accessed for teachers and students to work through systematically. All students in Year 1-6 will complete assessments in Literacy and Numeracy.

nForma Parent Portal

nForma have updated the Parent Portal which has been designed to be more user-friendly. The portal gives parents access to a platform that allows access to Student Reports at any time, and also view student absence details. Below are the instructions for:

• Logging in and Downloading the app to view Student Reports.

Please note that you will be able to access Semester 2 Reports via the nForma Parent Portal on your desktop or the installed app.  When the Semester 2 Reports are made available later this term, you will be notified to access them through the nForma Parent Portal. In the meantime, if you need to view previous Reports, please read through the attached instructions.

Christmas Giving Tree

End of Year Mass

Families leaving Sacred Heart at the end of 2024 will be farewelled by the community on Tuesday 17 December at the conclusion of the 9.15am Mass in the Church. All families are welcome to join us as we celebrate the end of another school year!