Principal News 

WEEK 6 - TERM 1

ASH WEDNESDAY

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Dear Families & Friends,

Wednesday marked the beginning of the Season of Lent as we acknowledge Ash Wednesday. This is the solemn 40 day period before Easter, commemorating Christ’s 40 days in the wilderness.  Christ’s 40 day fast took place before he began his teaching and healing. Lent was a time when meat, eggs and dairy produce were not eaten, hence the reason for ‘eating up’ on the eve of the start of Lent - Shrove or Pancake Tuesday.  Christians sometimes give up some food or activity during Lent as a way of disciplining their minds, and in memory of Christ’s fast.

It is the season of penance and reflection which prepares us for Christ’s Resurrection on Easter Sunday, through which we attain redemption.  Ashes are a symbol of penance made sacramental by the blessing of the Church, and they help us develop a spirit of humility and sacrifice. 

Well done students for your exceptional manner during the recent Ash Wednesday Mass.  It was pleasing to see a number of families in attendance and hear our lovely choir led by Miss McKay and Mr Thiessens set the tone for this celebration to signify the start of Lenten Season. I must say, it’s been most affirming to discover the many talents of our staff and students in my early days at Sacred Heart. 

IN THE BLINK OF AN EYE

As we close out our fifth week for our students, it’s hard to believe we have hit the mid-way point of Term 1 - the hump! Although a number of students have had a short period of isolation in recent weeks, we remain hopeful they will have a smooth and uninterrupted journey from here on in as they settle back onsite. 

This week also marked the first ‘full’ week for our most junior students, the Preps. With a passion for learning, these students have certainly shone and had a truly remarkable entry to school life, not skipping a beat and embracing all before them. We again congratulate our Preps and commend Miss Maloney for her exceptional manner and our families for so ably supporting the children as they manage this increasing cognitive load (capacity to take in new information while also containing their emotions = big load).  Our beautiful Preps now commence full weeks of school and we ask that you monitor this closely and use your discretion if they appear fatigued and would perhaps benefit from the odd early pick-up.  

With a full year onsite firmly in our sights, it’s perhaps timely to encourage all families to also carefully monitor the out of school routines and demands over the coming months as all students readjust and steadily build their learning stamina. A noted observation in my travels throughout the school has been overhearing the children talk about how 'late' they are staying up throughout the week i.e. school night. Lack of sleep = lack of learning.

Typically our students waver in the later half of the term, so be assured, after two very disruptive years you will notice when they have been stretched as this will ‘play out’ in the comforts of home after holding it all together at school. Please note there will be periods in the later half of this term where staff will gently pull back on their program to ensure the students are in the best place to engage with their learning.  Again, we ask for your support with these matters and request you notify the teacher or Brigid and I on the gate should you note some struggles. 

YEAR 1 & 2 MASS 

Many thanks to our Yr.1&2 students, staff and families for attending the lovely family mass on Saturday; our first for 2022. It was wonderful to see the church at capacity and hear the students close out the service with their beautiful song (I even think Miss Rafferty may have heard her class singing all the way from Ireland). We look forward to seeing our various classes attend these special services throughout the year and thank our families for their ongoing support in promoting the faith formation of their children. 

Pancake Tuesday - Shrove Tuesday

It’s been a big week for Mr Blake, our Religious Education Leader. He has done a superb job in coordinating the Pancake Day (Shrove Tuesday) with our student leaders, prepared the Ash Wednesday Mass, ran professional development for staff and all the while managing his senior classroom responsibilities. We thank Mr Blake, our student leaders, parent helpers and staff for your efforts on Tuesday making over 200 pancakes with all proceeds going to the Caritas appeal.  

 BIKE EDUCATION Yr.3&4

It’s been terrific to see our middle school fine-tune their riding skills and road safety in recent days with this impressive program. Whilst the extended periods of lockdown have provided opportunities for our families to cycle, we are confident these intensive sessions have importantly sharpened the students' traffic awareness and cycling safety. This program culminated in a big bike ride to Ricketts Point on Thursday. 

Yr.1&2 Bee Bot Time

How wonderful to see our junior students having so much fun with their learning. The students were doing some coding, coordinates and ticking-off on directional concepts for maths using programmable robots; Bee-Bots.

SCHOOL CLUBS

In addition to the wellbeing clubs run by Miss McKay and Miss Healey, it was fabulous to see the  Art and Running Clubs commence last week. We sincerely thank Mrs Hyslop, Mr Blake and Mr Brown for supporting these terrific programs and rich opportunities for our students. The Thursday after next Mrs Collins will start the Gardening Club and we look forward to seeing this program flourish across our garden beds in the coming months. Please sign up on Operoo if your child (Yr 3-6) would like to attend on Thursday mornings at 8am. 

Once again, a big thanks to all staff  for generously offering up your break-time and organizing these special and diverse school clubs for our students. 

Open Days 2022 - 15th & 16th March

Spread the Good Word

We again ask that you spread the good word about our amazing school community.  We rely heavily on word of mouth and many prospective families speak fondly and positively of these conversations.  Arguably our biggest selling point is our children.  The feedback on these days will always be about the students and the manner in which they speak passionately and honestly about their school.  No better advocates.  We’re immensely proud of our students and I look forward to watching them showcase ‘their’ school in the coming weeks. Don’t forget sibling enrolment papers as places are filling. 

• Tuesday 15th 9:30am - 12:30pm
• Wednesday 16th 12:30pm - 3:30pm

Staffing News

This week Mrs Drummond announced her retirement, effective upon completion of her current period of long service leave. On behalf of all members of the Sacred Heart community we thank Mrs Drummond for her dedication and service to Catholic Education and Sacred Heart over the past 30 years. We wish her every success and much happiness as she embraces this new and exciting chapter with her family. 

We are pleased to announce the impressive Miss Levy will continue her 4 consecutive days until the end of the year. This welcomed stability and continuity is a great outcome for our students and families. Mrs Fahey will split her duties between the junior and middle school on Thursday and Friday and we remain indebted for her adaptability and understanding. 

STAFF CONFERENCE 10th-11th March

Next Thursday, the staff will be offsite excitedly attending a workshop facilitated by Anna Box (a psychologist and psychophysiologist who specialises in the psychology of thriving, in people + brands) a parent at Sacred Heart. We are blessed to have such quality professionals within our community and I look forward to spending this time with my new team as we continue to build the capacity of our staff through these rich experiences. 

We are please to confirm ourBEFORE & AFTER CAREprovider will be offering a full two day program for our families should this be required over this closure period. Note, this will be subject to numbers and feesibility i.e. enough stundent numbers. More information to follow shortly. 

Mandatory Report Requirements

We are pleased to confirm all staff have now completed their annual Mandatory Reporting requirements. The staff at Sacred Heart must listen and respond to the concerns about child abuse. If we suspect abuse of any child or young person, we have the responsibility to report it, even if we are unsure. Everyone has the right to feel safe and be protected from abuse. 

Later in the school year we will celebrate a Day for Daniel (Morcombe).  This the largest child safety education and awareness day in Australia. The staff will work with all children to raise awareness of child safety issues. 

• Prep to Yr.3 students will work on developing skills in understanding empathy and respect and how to recognise, react and report.
• Year 4 to 6 will focus on understanding feelings of others and online safety and how to recognise, react and report.
• Our aim is to help educate young people about their personal safety, as well as providing adults with the tools to talk about safety with children.

School Advisory Council

Expressions of Interest

Last week the School Advisory Council met for the first time for 2022. This was an opportunity to meet the members and present the priorities and agenda for 2022-23. This valuable parent body acts in an advisory capacity (sounding board) to discuss ways to practically improve the school and to work on strategies and projects. The Council are now calling for new Member nominations to fill current vacancies. We encourage all parents to consider nominating for one of these important posts. Please note Council Membership is purely voluntary and is for a two (2) year term. 

See attached the School Advisory Council Membership Nomination Request

Friday Assembly

Congratulations once again to all (so many) our Class Award winners this week. We are so proud of our students and look forward to celebrating these achievements each week. 

Don't forget the new time for assembly is Friday morning, commencing at 9am. It was great see our families finally join us last week and we look forward to building on these numbers in the weeks to follow.

Nice to see Adam and Max step up without notice today to support with the assembly. The boys were naturals. 

The following classes will be presenting at assembly:

• 25th March - Yr.3/4CM
• 8th April - Yr.5/6B

Key Dates & Changes

Please note the following key dates for Term 1&2 have now been confirmed:

• 18th March Parent Helper's course 10am 
• 19th March - Kids Movie Night
• 2nd April - P&F Cocktail Evening 
• 5th April - SCHOOL PHOTO DAY
• 8th April - Easter Raffle
• 24th April - Working Bee (t.b.c)
• 6th May - Mother's Day Assembly
• 27th May - Kid's Disco
• 10th June - Grandparent's Day Assembly

Little Gems

Capturing these precious moments across the school certainly makes my job the greatest privilege. 

From a little bit of quiet reading in the middle-school, to some mindfulness in Prep, this is a pretty amazing place to be. 

And finally...

Thank you once again for the lovely exchanges on the gate and in and around the school grounds in recent weeks. Mrs Pennington and I are loving this time, and long may it continue.

This sense of welcome and affirming feedback has certainly not been lost in the busyness of the day.

Have a safe and joyous weekend, and importantly, let's keep enjoying this ride,

Simon Collis

Principal

One practice match doesn't make a season, but this proud Blue will take any win.