Principal News 

WEEK 10 - TERM 4

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MERRY CHRISTMAS SACRED HEART

During the Christmas season, our thoughts turn to the source of joy and hope born in a humble manger on a holy night more than 2,000 years ago. Each year, Christians everywhere celebrate this single life that changed the world and continues to change hearts today. The simple and inspiring story of the birth of Jesus fills our souls with gratitude for the many blessings in our lives and promises that God's purpose is justice and his plan is peace.

At this special time of year, we give thanks for Christ's message of love and mercy, and we are reminded of our responsibility to serve and live this message. Christmas is a time to rejoice and remember the birth of Jesus Christ. 

On behalf of all staff at Sacred Heart, we dearly wish all our families a safe, joyous and restful Christmas in readiness for an even BIGGER year of celebration and growth ahead. 

WE MADE IT!

Dear Families,

I have struggled in recent days to find the words (and sadly the necessary time to sit at length) to write our final newsletter piece for 2022.  I apologize if my words unfortunately do not fully encapsulate my first year and cover the whirlwind that I have profoundly enjoyed in this beautiful school community.  I also sincerely hope I am able to acknowledge and thank you all for your warm welcome, positivity, embrace and acceptance of my leadership and some small changes introduced since joining Sacred Heart this year. 

As mentioned briefly on Thursday evening at the stunning carols and play, and again at the assembly on Friday last week, I have been simply overwhelmed by your ‘open arms,’ kind words, smile and wave at the gate, honesty, trust and warm embrace since day 1. In this busy transition and the complexities of my leadership role, please be assured not a day has gone by where this level of care has not been valued and quietly acknowledged. 

It will always remain the greatest privilege to have the opportunity to be a School Principal and walk and work alongside the children, teachers, staff and families at Sacred Heart.  

In 2022, we have positively introduced, and will reinforce next year:

• a targeted evidence-based ‘teaching and learning’ agenda,
• worked towards an improved rhythm and consistent approach to curriculum delivery,
• introduced MSL P-2  thanks to Mrs Stroud, 
• embedded a structured literacy program in P-2,
• adapted some communication channels and
• hopefully provided a clear and  transparent direction for the years to follow e.g. straighten classes, reviewed curriculum entitlements, started our transition away from a 1:1 iPad program and commenced planning for a much anticipated building and refurbishment program to start in 2023. 

There is no doubt we are in for an exciting ride ahead and this collective support (and buy-in) from our staff and families has been so greatly appreciated and will ultimately ensure the best outcomes for our students in the years to follow. 

THANK YOU

I am indebted to the leadership team (Mrs Pennington, Mr Blake, Mrs Collins, Miss Rafferty and Mr Brown) for their dedication and have been blessed to have such a welcoming and responsive staff who are so supportive of our future direction. Perhaps the most notable strength and celebratory trait of our team since joining Sacred Heart has been their prioritization of student wellbeing (inc. Respectful Relationships & Berry St) and the relationships forged with our students - this has been faultless and held in the highest regard. What a wonderful place to be with such dedicated educators who invest so heavily in this critical space and care for their students.  

A special mention to Brigid Pennington for her leadership, gentle guidance and care for all members of our community. In addition to her key roles (DP, Learning Diversity & Literacy 3-6), Brigid’s presence and joy on the gate each day has not been lost on our students and families. To Karen, our ‘front of house’ and source of much information, I (we) remain eternally grateful for her unwavering support of our families and staff; namely myself in my first year at Sacred Heart.

Our community steadily came back to life after two very challenging years prior and I must say it has been pretty special to see our families reconnect and gather in greater numbers throughout the year at various times e.g. Weekly Assemblies, Mother’s Day, Grandparent’s Day, Dad’s Footy Day, Mum’s Charity Netball, Movie Night and more recently the stunning Christmas Carols and play celebration.  The P&F have a big agenda next year and your support and involvement in this capacity will be a key ingredient for our thriving school community. 

On that note, a special mention to our remarkable and generous P&F (led by Lisa and Nat), we cannot thank you enough for your passion and strong desire to bring our community together and redirect funds to enrich the learning experience of our students. This year, the P&F have donated over $60K to upgrade furniture and various resources to benefit the students. These significant contributions have had an immediate impact on the classrooms and learning environment for our students - thank you P&F. 

• Nat McCabe (P&F Co-President)
• Lisa Short (P&F Co-President)
• Sam Tudor (Treasurer)
•  Zey Gonsalves (P-2 Class Rep)
• Josie Luczak (P-2 Class Rep)
• Marielle Denton (3/4 Class Rep)
• Yvette Buzza (5/6 Class Rep)
• Kathryn Sutherland (5/6 Class Rep)
• Tarn Rodrigues (Uniform Shop)
• Amanda Welch (Uniform Shop) 
• Tony Begg (Maintenance & Working Bees)
• Cathy Beven (Outreach Program)
• Anthony McCabe & Michael Schuh (Dad's Group)

To the School Advisory Council, I thank you for being such an important sounding board. Although we have only gathered on a handful of occasions throughout the year, this forum will always be highly regarded as your feedback informs and helps shape our school improvement agenda. 

Thanks to Rosemary Pacquola, Jessica Maxfield, Helen Mertin, Karen Aldrich and Melanie Nolan.

And finally, to our students at Sacred Heart, our daily purpose and motivation as educators, you have truly shone this year and have thrived and embraced all before you. You have welcomed me into your learning spaces, enjoyed the odd high 5 and never missed an opportunity to share your precious story. I have simply loved your energy and our daily exchanges and cannot wait to build upon these relationships next year. In particular, I congratulate our Yr.6 students for their leadership (setting such a high bar), example and advocacy as they have represented our school so proudly over an extended period of time. You have been exemplary in your manner this year and we wish you every success as you're equipped and ready to fly at secondary school next year. 

MOVING FURNITURE DAY

What can I say? Call, and they will come. We were just blown away by the response from our MANY helpers as we relocated all but two classrooms last Friday. This extraordinary response from our working families ensured the magnitude of this move was made possible within such a tight timeframe.  In 2023, our aim is to have all classrooms aligned throughout the building from P-6 as we believe this will better help with our desired rhythm and flow for the students and staff across the school in future i.e. less disjointed and greater connection between teams and students. 

Not only did our adult helpers make this move possible, our army of students were exceptional on the day moving resources, cleaning spaces and even dismantling old furniture. They were superstars, and along with our staff must have been exhausted on Friday evening - they didn't stop! 

MOVING UP DAY

Congratulations and well done to our students and staff for the seamless moving up day. We have no doubt had a mixing bowl of emotions on this day, however, we couldn't have asked for a better response from the students as they started this key transition to the new school year. A notable feature since the moving up day was having the teachers and students working out of these newly relocated classrooms. Our students and staff adapted superbly to this change. 

CHRISTMAS PLAY & CAROLS

Once again, we  sincerely thank Ms Bryce and Mr Thiessens for their AMAZING work preparing the children with the beautiful play and carols evening last week.  This unique production was written by our multi-talented Mr Thiessens and coordinated by Ms Bryce in her second year as a teacher. How very impressed we all were with this fabulous outcome.  The students of course stole the show, and perhaps MORE remarkably this was officially their second rehearsal. 

GRADUATION CLASS 2022

A CELEBRATION OF STUDENT-TEACHER RELATIONSHIP

Perhaps not visible to all families,  I was just astouded by the incredible and collective work done behind the scenes by our senior teachers (Miss McKay, Miss Healey, Mr Brown, Mr Blake, Mr T and Mrs Tucker) in preparation for this beautiful evening and celebration for our Yr.6 students. On behalf of our families, students and staff, we 'doff' our hats in awe to this team for all they did over the past few weeks for this special evening.  The graduation was such an incredible celebration of student-teacher relationships as the staff showcased just how well they know and have invested in their students. Another impressive box ticked by Miss McKay for her fabulous choreography of the Yr.6 dances. Gosh, what a performance, Yr.6!

Wow, thank you to our phenomenal Yr.5 Graduation Committee for organising the catering, decorations and hall for our Yr.6 students and families. Your genrosity and support on the evening (and next day) was overwhelming and we hope you can now look forward to sitting back and enjoying next year with the children, you desrve it! 

LEAVING FAMILIES

This week, we bid a fond farewell our Year 6 students and a number of families who have been instrumental in defining the culture at Sacred Heart over the years - many beyond 10 years. We sincerely thank you for your partnership, active involvement and most considerable investment in our school community (Inc. P&F, School Board, Working Bees, countless events), and more importantly your child's journey as the primary educator.

We thank the following families for their valued contributions and wish you well:

Angus, Astill, Bled, Byers, Cheron, Claxton, Corrigan, Cowell, D’Abaco, Grennell, Haber, Humphrey, Hyde, Lawless, Matthews, McCroary, McGowan, McGregor, Melton, Meredith, Roche, Ruffell, Scott, Shugg, Thurlow and Vandeligt

A special mention to the Gleeson family (Jack & Will) who will be relocating to NZ for the next couple of years. We look forward to hearing about their exciting travels and cannot wait to have the family back in time.  

STAFFING 2023

Once again, we would like to take this opportunity to acknowledge Mrs Jen Brown, Mrs Jacqui Reed (retirement), Mrs Heather McGrath, Miss Louise Bryce and Miss Levy (expecting her first bub) for their most positive contributions to our community. We wish them every success in 2023 and trust that their new chapter will be as rewarding as those at Sacred Heart. We look forward to staying in touch and crossing paths in the near future. 

STUDENT LEADERSHIP 2023

Congratulations to the following School Captains and Student Leaders for 2023

School Captain: Milly, Benji, Luisa  & Harrison

RE: Joel, Alice, Johnny & Angus

Respectful Relationships:

James, Eliza, Bella, Stevie, Miles & Liam 

Social Justice:

Eden, Eloise, Daisy, Grace, Jasper & Scarlett 

Sport:

Harry, Bonnie, Joe, Lachie, Harvey & Angus

Arts: Keira, Levi, Finn, Aylah & Felix

Environment: Jasper, Ellara & Monique Brady

IT: Thomas & James 

Library: Millie, Frankie & Sam Jamison

LEADERSHIP 2022

A special mention to Delilah, Bella, Ella, Hamish and Charlie for their outstanding leadership and role modelling over their journey at Sacred Heart as our 2022 School Captains. 

Congratulations to Archie McPherson for receiving the Goldstein Medal, presented by MP Zoe Daniels on Wednesday. This award is determined by the staff in recognition of the influence a student has across the community. Archie's leadership and exemplary manner has been noted by all, and the response from his peers during this presentation suggests our staff were on the money. Great work Mr Blake for organising this special presentation. 

Clubs 2022

We dearly thank the following dedicated and generous staff for offering (volunteering) up their mornings and break times to provide these rich and diverse experiences for our students:

• Mrs Collins: Gardening Club & SRC
• Mrs Hyslop: Art Club
• Miss McKay: Fitness and Stretching Club
• Miss Prosser: Mindfulness
• Mr Blake & Mr Brown: Boot Camp
• Miss Rafferty & Miss Healey: STEM
• Mrs Brown: Reading Club
• Miss Healey: Mindfulness & Skipping
• Mr T: Ukulele

Back To School Reminders

• Day 1 January 30
• Summer uniform. No hat, no play.
• Correct school shoes. Multi coloured or clearly branded (white Nike ticks etc.) sneakers are not part of the school uniform.
• Specialist Program commences in Week 1
• Preps finish at 1pm Monday and Tuesday in Week 1

Little Gems

Congratulations to our All Age-Stars staff team for just sneaking over the line against the Yr.6 All Stars in the traditional student vs staff basketball game played on Wednesday. Played in great spirits, we certainly have a highly competitive bunch of teachers and students at Sacred Heart determined to claim this annual title. 

I would like to express my deepest gratitude to the Yr.6 families for the extraordinary gift presented to me last week - it just doesn't get any better! The signed football by all 300 gamers from my beloved Carlton Football Club was an incredible and unexpected surprise and will now sit pride of place in my office as a beautiful reminder of my first Yr.6 class at Sacred Heart. Please note a change to the enrolment criteria from 2023, prioritizing Blues supporters. 

Key Dates and Reminders

Please note we have started to include some 2023 dates in the 'Key Dates' page.

And finally...

Our stunning children are indeed our core business. Each day as they enter the school gates and classrooms, they exude warmth, joy, passion, energy, enthusiasm, care, laughter and a thirst for learning. Our greatest joys come as we have the privilege to witness, share and influence their transformation and growth. We are most fortunate to share this in partnership with our parents and look forward to celebrating more success in the years to come. 

‘Everytime time a child walks into our school, so does the family.’

Wishing you a well deserved, safe and Holy Christmas season. We look forward to sharing another prosperous and positive school year in 2023,

Simon Collis

Principal