School News

School Closure Days

A reminder that next Thursday 6 March and Friday 7 March are School Closure Days. Staff will be working offsite both days, engaging in professional development sessions related to Mental Health and Wellbeing and annual OH&S compliance (First Aid/CPR and Anaphylaxis training).

District Swimming

Well done to the following students who represented Sacred Heart at the North Balwyn District Swimming Carnival yesterday.

Isla A (4MD)

Isabel B (4MD)

Raf D (4MD)

Thomas M (4MD)

Evan N (4MD)

Sophia R (4MD)

Allegra S (4MD)

Liza S (4MD)

Felix T (4MD)

Lucinda V (4EO)

Lewis W (4EO)

Sienna C (4EO)

Will D (4EO)

Lila D (4EO)

Billy O (4EO)

Olivia B (Senior AP)

Emily L (Senior AP)

Felix N (Senior AP)

Priya C (Senior AP)

Peter C (Senior AP)

Will T (Senior AP)

Will W (Senior AP)

Will C (Senior CH)

Eli D (Senior CH)

Freddie G (Senior CH)

Lucy J (Senior CH)

Annabelle R (Senior CH)

Polly S (Senior CH)

Lent at Sacred Heart

Shrove Tuesday - Tuesday 4 March

Next Tuesday 4 March is Shrove Tuesday. As has occurred in past years, children will be enjoying pancakes at school. Everything will be provided by the teachers. As it will be a very small portion students will still need their regular recess and lunch.

For any children who have food allergies, please organise a small alternative snack for these children to enjoy. 

Ash Wednesday - Wednesday 5 March

As mentioned earlier, next Wednesday we mark the beginning of the Season of Lent, when we will all attend our morning Parish Mass at 9.15am for Ash Wednesday. This will be our first official Mass with Father Michael. All families and parents are welcome to attend if available. 

St Patrick's Day 

As previously communicated, on Monday 17 March we will celebrate St Patrick’s Day with all children and staff wearing a touch of green for the day. The Year 3's will be selling some goodies on St Patrick's Day (50 cents a bag) and also handing out specially made St Patrick’s bookmarks. All proceeds will go towards Project Compassion.

Lenten Program

As we enter the first week of Lent, we are excited by a number of upcoming activities to support Project Compassion. 

See the full posters of both Lenten activities we are undertaking.

Huge Easter Egg Guess - 11-21 March (lunchtime)

Hot Cross Bun Day - 27 March (Parents' Association)

The Parents' Association will beorganising Hot Cross Bun day on Thrusday 27 March. More information about the ordering process will be communicated soon.

Easter Bonnet Parade - 4 April 8:45am in MPR

Social Justice Program

Pre-Loved Toy Drive

During Lent Sacred Heart School and Community are collecting pre-loved toys for the benefit of our local Childcare Centre Little Assets. If you have any items at home that you no longer need that can help others, it would be greatly appreciated.

Dates: Term 1 Week 7 11th March - 4 April (collected by the Year 2's)

Toys Needed Include:

Musical Instruments, Wooden Toys, blocks,stacking cups etc

Toy vehicles (Cars, Aeroplanes, Boats, tractors etc)

Doll Houses

Role play equipment (eg kitchens, appliances, cookware etc)

Puzzels (upto 100 pieces)

Duplo but no lego

Please note all toys must be complete and in good condition.

Soft toys in good condition only, no lego or matchbox or hotwheel cars.

Thank you for your genorosity!

Parliament and Civics Education Rebate (PACER)

As everyone knows, our Senior students recently undertook an education tour of the national capital. Students were given the opportunity to participate in a variety of educational programs with a focus on Australia’s history, culture, heritage and democracy.

The Australian Government recognises the importance of all young Australians being able

to visit the national capital as part of their Civics and Citizenship education. To assist

the school and families in meeting the cost of the excursion the Australian Government is contributing funding of $45 per student under the Parliament and Civics Education Rebate program towards those costs. The rebate is paid directly to the school upon completion of the excursion and was factored into the Camp levy figure paid by parents for this particular activity. 

National Gallery of Victoria Excursions

As part of the Visual Art program the Year 3 - 6 classes will vist the National Gallery of Victoria (NGV) to experience the artworks of Yayoi Kusama. They will participate in a talk with a curator, a guided art making workshop and visit the exhibition. Yayoi Kusama is a Japanese contemporary artist who works primarily in sculpture and installation, and she is also active in painting, performance, video art, fashion, poetry, fiction, and other arts.

Year 3/4 students will be visiting the NGV on Monday 3 March and Senior students will be visiting on Monday 17 March. 

Parent/Teacher Chats - 26 March

Parent/Teacher Chats will take place later in the term on Wednesday 26 March. On this day, the children will finish school at 12.45pm and the first interviews will commence at 1.30pm, finishing at 7.30pm.  If you are unable to pick your children up there will be supervision provided by staff not engaged in the Parent Teacher Chats until 3.15pm.  After School Care will be provided as usual from 3.15pm onwards.  More information will be communicated later in the term.

Garden Club 

All children are invited to Garden Club on a Wednesday (each week this term) from 7.50am. Please remember to drop your children around 7.50am as the Glenferrie Rd pedestrian gate will be closed by 8am. Mrs Mulhall and Miss Olney look forward to seeing everyone in the Veggie Garden next Wednesday. 

Running Club 

SHK Running Club occurs each Friday morning from 7.45am. All children from Years 3 - 6 are welcome to attend with Mr O'Shea as they develop their health and fitness each week. 

Here's what you need to know......

• Children will need to bring their own water bottle and perhaps a small towel
• They will need to enter from the Glenferrie Road pedestrian gate 
• All fitness levels are welcome
• Along with running, there will be some fitness circuits and health-related learning involved including: stretching, breathing, tempo running, warm up and cool down (process), making use of smart watches and fitbit's

Friday Afternoon School Assemblies at 2.30pm

Assemblies for the remainder of Term 1:

Week 6 (7 Mar): No Assembly - School Closure Day

Week 7 (14 Mar): Assembly

Week 8 (21 Mar): No Assembly - Wellbeing Groups

Week 9 (28 Mar): Assembly

Week 10 (4 Apr): No Assembly - End of Term 1 12:45pm finish

School Photos

School photos will take place on Wednesday 2 April. All students need to wear the full Summer Uniform. Your child can bring their runners in a separate bag if they have their weekly PE lesson.

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 Assessment Days

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!

Thursday 16 October (TIL day for staff) 

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

CSEF (Camps, Sports, Excursions Fund) Application Form

The Camps, Sports and Excursions Fund (CSEF) provides payments for eligible students to attend activities like:

• school camps or trips
• swimming and school-organised sport programs
• outdoor education programs
• excursions and incursions.

Families holding a valid means-tested concession card or temporary foster parents are eligible to apply. A Special Consideration category also exists. Schools can receive applications from families over term one and two. Families can list more than one student in the one application form if they are attending the same school.

If the above applies to your family, please complete the CSEF Application Form and email it to admin@shkew.catholic.edu.au 

School Saving Bonus (SSB) & MACS Concessional School Fees

Please see below for information regarding the Victorian Government's $400 School Saving Bonus that was reported late last year. 

The School Saving Bonus (SSB) is only eligible for students who applied for and received Camps, Sports and Excursion Funding (CSEF) in 2024.

MACS Concessional School Fees are available for families who hold a valid Health Care Card (HCC), Dept’ of Veteran Affairs (DVA) Gold Card card or ImmiCard. Please contact the School Office for further information if this applies to your family. 

MACSEYE - Outside School Hours Care 

As we all know this year we have partnered with MACSEYE (Melbourne Archdiocese Catholic Schools Early Years Education) as our OSHC provider. 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. 

MACSEYE OSHC Provider Update

Many thanks to those families who communicated to the school their initial experiences with our new OSHC provider MACSEYE. 

As mentioned in our last newsletter, our OSHC Coordinator Di has returned from her placement and MACSEYE continue to work behind the scenes to improve their booking system for parents.

We continue to regularly liaise with our MACS Area Manager (Claire Weiseenfeld), to ensure that our OSHC service operates at the high level we all expect, so our children are comfortable, confident and engaged when attending this service. 

As a school, we once again apologise for the early 'hiccups' that some families are experiencing, and greatly appreciate your patience, support and understanding. We also still very much welcome any feedback that you may have regarding MACSEYE, as the weeks progress. 

We will also pass on any further information that we may receive from MACSEYE, regarding an improved updated booking system or any other improvements/modifications that may be made.