Message From Our
Principal
Dear Parents & Caregivers,
I have had some wonderful news today! We are all back at school on day one of Term 4. F-6 classes will be back and we will again be in full swing as of Monday, October 5th. There of course will be restrictions in place to ensure that all on the school site remain safe but to know that we have a full term together is the best possible news we could have wanted.
We will continue any necessary Covid safe practices throughout Term 4 and we again ask that parents please not enter school buildings and children not attend school if they are feeling unwell. Further advice on the return to school can be found on the 'Essential Information for the Return of Students Term 4' page of this newsletter. As we continue to work to keep all at Sacred Heart safe it will mean some changes to our normal Term 4 events and practices but we will attempt to develop creative solutions to ensure many of our important celebrations can still occur in a safe format. One of the first planned will be school photos, which I know many parents will be pleased to hear. Following the necessary risk assessment, these can safely take place during Week 3.
Please remember to have the school broad brimmed hat ready for our return to school next term as required in our SunSmart Policy. Whenever children are outside, which includes sports lessons they must wear their school hat. Children without hats will sit under the veranda during outside activities. Please also ensure that each hat is clearly named. The first two weeks of Term 4 will be a change over time between winter and summer uniform but we do ask that all children are in full summer uniform Week 3.
It is hard to believe but planning is already underway for the 2021 school year. To assist us with this process could families not returning to Sacred Heart School next year please inform the office as soon as possible, so that we can organise classes and staffing in preparation for the new school year.
I would like to thank members of the School Board for attending an extraordinary meeting last night to discuss Sacred Heart’s Master Plan. It was a very valuable and interesting conversation around the future directions of the school, guided by Paul Maher, CEOS. We look forward to sharing the Master Plan with the wider school community in the coming months.
As the safety and wellbeing of all our children is always our highest priority, I would like to remind families of the importance of online safety. The following tips come from the esafety resources to help parents limit young people’s exposure to harmful content online:
• Engage in your child’s online activities – ask what apps, sites and games they’re using and make sure they are age appropriate
• Use parental controls on devices to help limit what your child is exposed to
• Help them report and block upsetting content they see on social media sites or apps
• Let them know they can come to you about anything upsetting they see online.
I really encourage you to visit https://www.esafety.gov.au/ and explore the wealth of resources, ideas, webinars etc they provide to support parents in keeping your children safe and minimising online harm.
Early next term Sacred Heart School will conduct a School Improvement Survey [insight SRC]. Survey’s will be completed by our students in Year 3-6 at school, all staff and School Board members. There is also a Parent Survey which is designed to assist schools in gaining an understanding of parents’ perceptions of their child’s experience of school. The results will provide valuable information about ways the school can plan programs and activities to improve your child’s experience at school. Families are randomly selected but if you would particularly like to complete a survey please email or phone the office and we can arrange a survey for you.
As we come to the end of the term, I would like to sincerely thank the school community as a whole for the way in which they have managed such an interrupted, challenging time and provided ongoing care and support for each other. Thank you for your patience and understanding as things have quickly changed. I do know that you realise that all these decisions have been beyond the school’s control, but I do appreciate your support and cooperation as we work together to navigate the many changes that have been necessary. Hopefully the new term will be full of health and optimism and your children will have a positive, solid term of learning.
Term 3 finishes on this Friday 18 September at 2.30pm. All onsite children will need to be picked up at 2.30pm from school, unless they are attending After School Care. Please ensure that all school iPads are returned to school by then.
I wish our children, families and staff a safe and relaxed break and very much look forward to having everyone back at school on Monday, October 5th.
May the Sacred Heart of Jesus continue to watch over our school community and bless us always.
Pauline Hindson
Principal
NEW - Jobseeker & CSEF
For parents/guardians who have recently applied for the Government's JobSeeker support due to COVID-19 and now hold a Health Care Card your children may be eligible for Camps, Sports and Excursions Funding (CSEF) of $125 per student. Please complete the application form from the school website link below, return to the completed form to the school office and we will lodge an application for CSEF on your behalf.
The Catholic Education Commission of Victoria has advised that the eligibility for the CSEF has been extended to Monday 5 October, with the closing date for CSEF applications now Friday 27 November. Please note we will be unable to lodge applications after this date.