Principal News
Dear Sacred Heart Community
A Prayer for the People of Afghanistan
Dear Lord
We lift up the people of Afghanistan to you right now. We pray that you would take hold of them and help them walk through this fearful time. Protect them under your wing and help them feel the comfort and peace that only comes from your powerful presence.
So many people who have called this place their home have been displaced because of this event. Remind them, Lord, that their true home is in Heaven with you. Give those who believe in you the courage to stand strong in their faith and be a strong witness for you.
Also, be with those who do not believe in you – help them to see the peace in your followers and allow the Holy Spirit to stir in their hearts as they witness this.
Amen
Special Whole School Assembly Tomorrow For Book Week (From Jessica our Learning and Teaching Coordinator)
This Friday 27th August, Sacred Heart will be hosting our very first online Whole School Assembly. As many of you are aware, this week we are celebrating Book week; “Old worlds, New worlds, Other worlds.” The children have been participating in various book week activities, and we will be announcing the student’s favourite Picture Book of the Year, and their favourite Early Childhood Book of the Year.
To access the Whole school assembly, the eldest child from each family has been invited to the Whole school Assembly google classroom. On this page you will be able to click on the link at the top left hand corner of the page. The link will be available from 12:40pm. Only the eldest child has an invitation to log in due to number constraints on the classroom, however we are asking families to gather around the eldest child’s laptop so that all the students can watch.
Students are asked to come to the assembly dressed as their favourite book character, to have voted in the morning for their favourite books, have their ‘mute’ function on and not to use the chat function in the meet.
We cannot wait to gather together. If there are any questions or issue please do not hesitate to contact Jess Herrick jherrick@shpreston.catholic.edu.au or your child’s classroom teacher.
Facemasks for Onsite Students
As indicated in Monday's special bulletin our Chief Health Officer has recommended primary-school-age children wear masks while indoors and outdoors, which includes those students working onsite at school. At this stage it is a recommendation and is not mandatory.
As I also indicated on Monday, I am comfortable letting parents make a personal decision about their children wearing masks if they are one of the student cohort attending school.
Cirque Du Soleil Comes to Sacred Heart
Yesterday we had the privilege of Larry Edwards work with our Year Five/Six students in preparation for our school production. Larry and I both started working together as graduate teachers at Sacred Heart in 1988. Up until the outbreak of Covid, Larry had spent the last fourteen years travelling the world as a chief costume designer for Cirque Du Soleil. Due to lockdown, Larry is back in the country and really keen to reconnect to the school we both have a strong affinity with, and to again pursue his main passion, teaching drama. We are very fortunate to have Larry continuing to work with our students and Kate leading up to our school performance.
Thank you
Today Gerry and I visited the Preston Police Station to hand over a hamper and letters of appreciation from Marty's Year Five/Six students. We wanted to express our admiration for our police who are trying to keep us safe during these challenging times.
Wellbeing Information from Kate our Student Wellbeing Coordinator
The Royal Children’s Hospital had a live Facebook information session on Wednesday on
How to support your child’s mental health through the Pandemic.
I got to watch part of it (in between Google Meets) and I highly recommend taking a look at it.
I think it was one of the most helpful webinars I have seen about supporting our children and ourselves, as parents through lockdown.
The advice was from Melbourne based paediatricians and mental health experts. They spoke about a range of things that might be impacting children and parents as we find ourselves dealing with so much during ongoing lockdowns, remote learning and the pandemic.
They offered some really practical suggestions; from what to do about kids fighting, ideas on how to keep routines and the benefit of them, dealing with disappointments and remembering to keep hopeful. And much more.
You can watch here for free on Youtube: https://youtu.be/y1DizMUOeng%C2%A0
There is also a new helpline specifically about mental health to do with the pandemic.
Head to Help: https://headtohelp.org.au/ 1800 595 212
Take Care,
Kate
Please stay safe.
Yours Sincerely
Mark Tierney
Principal