School News
Staffing Update
CatholicCare School Counsellor
Elise Saunders-Dow
Elise has completed her time here at Sacred Heart Kew and won't be returning in 2025. We thank Elise for all the work that she has done, supporting our children in the School Counsellor role this year. We wish her well for her future endeavours.
In 2025, Alex Young (CatholicCare) will be our School Counsellor. Please see below for some information about Alex. We look forward to Alex joining Sacred Heart Kew next year.
Alex Young
Hello everyone! My name is Alex and I am very excited to be joining the Sacred Heart Kew community as your new school counsellor in 2025. I'm currently completing a Master of Clinical Psychology at RMIT and am looking forward to contributing to a community that supports young people to grow, overcome challenges, and build skills for life. My role is to work alongside families and teachers to ensure that students feel safe and competent in addressing any challenges that they may face - big or small. Please don't hesitate to reach out and I will see you in the new year!
All our Staffing (including Teacher placements for 2025) will be shared with all families after our Transition Morning (Monday 16 December).
Traffic Management Plan
We continue to review all our procedures and protocols regarding safety, in particular, traffic and pedestrian safety, in and around our school and boundary. This was an item of discussion at our last School Advisory Council meeting, last week and will continue to be discussed and reviewed.
The following changes have been made to our drop off and pick up procedures and protocols at Sacred Heart Kew:
Kiss and Drop (afternoon)
- Prep - Year Two children are instructed to remain seated on the wooden seats underneath the shade sail (Prep classroom end of basketball courts).
- Year Three - Six children are instructed to remain seated on the wooden seats underneath the shade sail (Church wall end of basketball courts).
- All children are supervised by a staff member who will call each family out to stand with them, ready to be directed to one of our other two staff members, standing at the cones, ready to open up the car doors, for children to enter safely.
Front Car Park - Staff Car Park ONLY
A reminder to all parents that the front car park (Cotham Road) is for Staff Car Parking only.
This Car Park is only to be used by parents who are dropping off or picking up their children from Before/After School Care (after school hours). Parents are kindly asked to park in the surrounding streets if wanting to walk into our school grounds. We ask that you pass this information on to any person who picks up or drops off your child(ren).
We will continue to monitor and make any other neccessary safety adjustments that might be required, ensuring that we do everything we possibly can to ensure the safety of all school community members.
Thanks for your ongoing support and cooperation.
Year 6 Leaders 2025
Congratulations to all the Year 5 students who presented their Leadership Speech to staff, parents and students last Tuesday. All candidates spoke confidently and provided excellent examples of how they would conduct themselves in the various roles they applied for, and some changes that they would make to improve our school.
We are proud to announce our 2025 Year 6 Leaders (please see below)
School Captains
Emily Lai
Freddie Gilbert
Green House Captains
Eli D'Intini
Felix Nadminty
William Tobias
Blue House Captains
Lucas Jameson
Lucy Johnstone
Gold House Captains
William Watt
Charlotte O'Donnell
James Leydon
Silver House Captains
Eirini Samartzis
Olivia Baillie
Arts Captains
Priya Clifford
Lucie Delcoigne
Abigail Leydon
Peter Cobban
Frankie Howard
Library/IT Captains
Bill Cobban
Chelsea Sin
Heidi Nath
Dejion Gerald
We look forward to working with our 2025 School Leaders next year.
Prep Breakfast
Yesterday the Prep children enjoyed breakfast at school as part of the Camp Program.The children came to school dressed in their pyjamas and ate breakfast together. They also celebrated Christmas with Christmas craft activities and a special Christmas incursion. A big thank you to Miss Wirth and Miss Bilney for organising this special day for the children, and to all the staff who helped set up and serve breakfast.
Year 1 Experience
Last Friday the Year 1 children enjoyed their 'Fun at the Fair' experience which consisted of a magic show, balloon twisting workshop, and a scrumptious pizza lunch. Thank you to Mrs Edmonds, Mrs Mulhall, Miss Cameron for organising the day, and to Mrs Toomey and Miss Pigatto for assisting.
Year 6 News
Year 6 Treetops
What a wonderful time the students have had in Year 6 this year. It has been super busy inside and outside the classroom, filled with rich experiences to enhance student learning. The Treetops excursion was no different and a great way to end their year.
On Monday, the Year 6's had their final outing together at Treetops Adventure in Belgrave.
They moved through tree branches on an array of ziplines, tight ropes and tunnels.
It certainly was a memorable way to end their primary school journey and enjoy the company of each other one last time.
Year 6 Graduation
On Monday 16 December, we will celebrate our graduating class of 2024 at our Graduation Ceremony. The evening will commence at 6.30pm in the MPR for staff, students and their parents/guardians.
A reminder of the following:
- 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.
- The Year 6 End of Year Assembly will be on Tueday 17 December at 11.15am in the MPR.
2025 School Musical
We are excited to announce that in 2025, Sacred Heart Kew Primary School will be bringing the magic of Disney Frozen Jr. to the stage! This will be an incredible opportunity for our students to showcase their talents, work together, and experience the joy of live theatre.
Auditions for Frozen Jr. will take place in early Term 1, 2025. Children in Years 4, 5, and 6 are invited to audition for main roles. (There may be opportunities for some Year 3's to be invited to audition). We want to emphasise that this is a gentle and supportive audition process, designed to help all students feel comfortable and confident. Audition materials and music have been uploaded to Google Classroom, and we encourage students to rehearse their audition parts over the holidays. This is a wonderful chance for children to prepare at their own pace.
A staff panel will evaluate each student's audition, and all Sacred Heart Kew children will be involved in the production, either on stage or behind the scenes. Whether your child is interested in acting, singing, dancing, or supporting the production team, there is a role for everyone! We encourage you to support your child in auditioning, even if they only have a passing interest in participating. This is a fantastic learning experience and an opportunity to build confidence, teamwork, and creativity. We can’t wait to see the talent our students bring to the stage, as we embark on this exciting journey to bring Disney Frozen Jr. to life!
Please see below the list of characters that your child might be interested in auditioning for.
2025 Creative Music Instrumental Lessons
Instrumental Music Lessons for keyboard, piano, guitar or violin will continue next year for students interested in Years 2-6. Small group classes or one-to-one lessons of up to 30 minutes give children an excellent grounding in music where they will learn to read music and play their chosen instrument.
Enrolments are now being accepted for limited places in Term 1, 2025.
To enrol your child/ren, contact Nicholas during Office hours on 98182333 or via email nicholas@creativemusic.com.au. Once enrolments are confirmed, timetabling will be arranged by Creative Music.
For more information about Creative Music, go to www.creativemusic.com.au
Outside School Hours Care Update
As previously mentioned, Camp Australia will not continue to provide OSHC to Sacred Heart Kew next year. Instead, our new OSHC provider will be MACSEYE (Melbourne Archdiocese Catholic Schools Early Years Education). MACSEYE is a newly approved provider, set up by MACS to offer a range of early childhood and school aged care programs.
Please see below for further information, including the MACSEYE Booking Link.
Religious Education News
End of Year Thanksgiving Mass: Tuesday 17 December at 9.15am
Please save the date for our end of year celebration at our beautiful Parish Church. To be immediately followed by our Light of Leadership ceremony.
Advent Program
As previously shared...
Please note the following dates below detailing the Whole School Advent paraliturgies.
Each year level will take a turn to lead us through this special time.
School Fee Payments
Thank you to all families who have finalised their accounts for 2024. There are still a number of outstanding accounts. Unless prior arrangements are in place, it would be appreciated if all accounts could be finalised by the end of term. Thank you for your cooperation. We greatly appreciate this!
2025 School Fees
As was shared with families in our last school newsletter, please read the document below which outlines School Fees and Student Levies for 2025.
Assemblies
There is no Assembly on Friday 13 December due to the Swimming Program taking place.
A final Assembly will be held on Tuesday 17 December at 11:15am hosted by Year 6.
2025 Term Dates
Term 1
Fri 31 January (Students begin) – Fri 4 April
Term 2
Tues 22 April – Fri 4 July
Term 3
Mon 21 July – Fri 19 September
Term 4
Tue 7 October - Tues 16 December
2025 School Closure Days
As was communicated to families last year...
* Time in Lieu (TIL)
The new Catholic Education Multi-Enterprise Agreement 2022 (the Agreement) introduces a formal time in lieu (TIL) process for teachers. The Agreement provides that a principal may require a teacher to undertake work and attend a school activity outside the normal hours of attendance (i.e., in excess of the 38 hours or normal hours for a part-time teacher) and when this occurs, it will attract TIL.
Principals should prepare for the accrual and acquittal of TIL through their annual planning process. The timing of the acquittal of TIL is at the discretion of the principal, having regard to the operational needs of the school and causing the least disruption to the educational program of the school.
Principals may elect to acquit TIL through designating days during the year on which all staff and students are not required to attend school.
2025 SCHOOL DATES
Tuesday 28 January (staff return)
2025 Testing Dates
Wednesday 29 & Thursday 30 January
First day of School 2025
Friday 31 January All children (Prep - Year Six)
Prep children attend 8.45am - 12.45pm
School Closure Days 2025
Term 1
Thursday 6 March (Staff Professional Learning)
Friday 7 March (Staff Professional Learning)
Monday 10 March (Labour Day Public Holiday)
Term 2
Friday 25 April (ANZAC Day Public Holiday)
Monday 9 June (King’s Birthday Public Holiday)
Term 3
N/A
Term 4
Monday 6 October (Move back to School Hall Classrooms) TO BE CONFIRMED!
Tuesday 14 October (TIL day for staff) TO BE CONFIRMED!
Monday 3 November (TIL day for staff)
Tuesday 4 November (Melbourne Cup Day Public Holiday)
Friday 5 December (Staff Planning for 2025)
Children finish on Tuesday 16 December at 12.45pm (Earliest date children can finish)
Please note that no primary school students should be dismissed from schools prior to Tuesday 16 December 2025 – this is their earliest finish date