Message from the School Principal

Dear Families & Friends,

Today you will be receiving your child's report for Semester One, 2023.  The written report is a summary of what your child has been learning about and how they are progressing in their learning journey. 

When discussing your child's school report, it's important to approach the conversation with a positive and supportive attitude.  You might start the conversation by acknowledging your child's efforts and highlighting the positive aspects of their report. Praise them for specific achievements or improvements they have made. Encourage your child to focus on their progress rather than solely on their achievement levels attained, emphasising the importance of learning and personal growth.  You might also talk about their 'where to next', regardless of the level they are currently working at. 

 By approaching the conversation with empathy and focusing on their progress, you can help them develop a healthy attitude towards their education.

Reminder for Learning Conferences - Monday, 19th June (Class free day)

Bookings

Bookings for Learning Conferences can be made via School Interviews on the following link or using the QR code shown here. 

Or click here to book a Learning Conference for your child/ren.

If you have any questions or need to make an alternate time, please contact your child's teacher.

Camp Australia are operating for families who require the service.

MACS Executive Team and MACS Board Visit to Sacred Heart

Over two years ago, Sacred Heart was selected to host one of the Melbourne Archdiocese Catholic Schools Board and Executive Team meetings that occur throughout the year. The purpose of the visits to schools is to ensure those who make significant decisions about Catholic Education and issues that impact our schools have an opportunity to learn more about what is happening at the grassroots level. 

 On Wednesday this week, after many weeks of careful planning, a group of approximately 25 people spent the day at our school. Guests included Dr Ed Simons (Executive Director of Catholic Education MACS), Gerard Dalbosco (Chair MACS Board), Dr Mary Oski ( MACS Director Learning & Regional Services), Juliette Cox (MACS Western Region General Manager) and many others. 

As School Principal, I was invited to prepare a presentation about Sacred Heart Primary School & arrange a tour of the school for the Board and Executive team. Along with the leadership team at Sacred Heart, I saw this as a wonderful opportunity to showcase the many aspects of our school that make it such a wonderful place to be for our students, families and educators. 

It was a unique opportunity for those who come from diverse professional backgrounds (and often not a educational one) to experience first hand a contemporary Year Prep Literacy lesson, a Year 1 Discovery lesson and a Year 5 Maths lesson. Kirstyn Morgan, Breanna Formosa, Nicole Harbach & Caitlin La Rosa did an outstanding job in designing and implementing rich learning experiences for the students and adults to engage in. 

I would also like to thank Hamish George (Sacred Heart School Advisory Council Chair) & Marlene Monahan (Fr Binh's Parish representative) for attending the Morning Tea and building connections with others in Catholic education.

Finally, I would like to share with you all an email I received from Dr Ed Simons 

Congratulations to you and the whole school community on hosting such a great day today. Thank you for all the extra effort that I know must have gone into preparing for and organising the day - including the school tour where the board and executive team witnessed rich teaching and learning experiences in engaging Faith filled classrooms. The catering and hospitality were excellent - and the leadership team presentation was informative and showcased all the hard work and dedication that you and your staff have led. 

Thank you very much and on behalf of us all at the MACS office - well done!

Best wishes,  Ed. 

Bus Safety & Seatbelts

With recent accidents involving buses, sadly leading to serious injuries and loss of life, our school seeks to reassure parents/carers that we only book buses that have enough seatbelts for each person travelling on the bus. 

Supervising teachers remind children to put their seatbelts on and check to ensure this has occurred. 

The safety and wellbeing of our students is a priority when planning camps, excursions, interschool sports etc and will remain so. 

School Advisory Council - where are we at?

Over recent meetings, the Sacred Heart School Advisory Council have been working together to formulate a clear mission and goals to guide our work moving forward. 

After much discussion, the following statements have been identified by the group:

At our next meeting on Tuesday, 20th June we will continue to identify ways in which we can continue to strengthen family engagement and community partnerships with specific strategies over Term 3 & 4. As always, you are invited to share your thoughts and ideas through the School Advisory Council email address at sac@shnewport.catholic.edu.au

Child Safety Online

Child Safety is a key priority of all schools. This includes children being safe online. As parents, we all have a key role to play in ensuring our children are protected in the digital world which can permeate our homes and the lives of our children all too easily. This week, Lyndal writes on this topic further in the Ways of Being Together & Learning Diversity section of our newsletter. I encourage you to take the time to read it and consider the tips suggested. 

New enterprise agreement for Schools - Time in Lieu arrangements

A new enterprise agreement covering teachers across most of the Catholic schools in Victoria, including ours, has been approved and is in effect. The new agreement delivers several positive changes for both our dedicated staff and the overall functioning of our school, including improved pay and employment conditions. 

One key aspect of this agreement is the inclusion of new time-in-lieu provisions, which will enable our teachers and support staff to accumulate additional time off when they are required to work more than their regular 38 hours per week which might include overnight camps and supervision at evening and weekend activities. This change is a recognition of the considerable extra work our teachers are asked to do and will enhance their work-life balance and well-being.

However, implementing these changes will mean a slight adjustment to the number of days allocated to closure days, with those at the end of the school year set aside to offset accrued time in lieu hours for out of school hours events including school camps and after hours school events.

 By prioritising the well-being and work-life balance of our dedicated staff, we are fostering an environment that promotes excellence in teaching and learning. If you have any questions or concerns about the new enterprise agreement , please do not hesitate to reach out to us. Thank you for your continued partnership as we strive to provide an outstanding education for our students.This year, Andrea and Michael have been working together as Family & Community Engagement team to explore ways in which we build on family school partnerships.

As this is the final newsletter for Term 2,  I would like to take this opportunity to wish everyone a restful and reinvigorating school holiday break and look forward to seeing all of our children back for the first day of Term 3 on Monday, 10th July.  We hope to see as many families as possible at the Feast Day of the Sacred Heart Mass on Sunday at 10am.

Warm regards,

Kaylene Carlin

SCHOOL PRINCIPAL

PS A huge congrats to our softball team for winning their final today. Well done!!