Sacred Heart Primary School Mildura eNewsletter

Principal / Executive Leadership Team

Dear Parents, Guardians, Students & Staff,

Welcome to Week Four of Term Three! We hope everyone returns next week ready to embark on another week of learning, growth and achievements.

Grandparents’ and Special Friends Day

Today’s Grandparents’ Day celebrations were fantastic with many grandparents and special friends being able to join us. I think it is nearly everyone’s favourite day of the year and for good reason. Well done Mr O’Callaghan for organising the day including the wonderful Mass to begin this very special day. Thank you for all the donations to provide a delicious morning tea and to the parents who helped with it (a reminder to collect plates, containers etc from outside the door of the stadium under the verandah).

Best wishes to our Girls Football team as they head to Swan Hill for the Region Finals on Thursday!

100 Days of Prep

We are excited to announce that our Prep students will be celebrating 100 days of school on Monday, 31st July! This is a significant milestone for our little learners, and we have some fantastic activities planned to mark this special occasion.

Baby News - Ms Bianca Niutta

We are pleased to inform everyone that Ms Niutta and her husband Scott welcomed baby boy Campbell Hugh Anstis into the world on Monday, 24th July. Ms Niutta and her family have settled back in Ballarat and little Campbell is going along nicely.

Assembly - Kyema

Thank you goes out to the Year Three Mootwingee students for their outstanding leadership during today's Assembly. They did an incredible job, and we commend them for their confidence and effort.

Looking ahead, our next Assembly will be hosted by Nangare. We invite all students, teachers and parents to join us for this special event, which will take place in the Stadium at 2:30 pm on Friday.

Parish Mass - Mootwingee

Mootwingee students will be participating in the Parish Mass at the Sacred Heart church this Wednesday, 2nd August, starting at 9:30 am. Parents are invited to join us for this celebration.

Administration News - School Fees

We would like to remind you that all school fees for the current academic year are due and payable prior to 14th September. If you would like to inquire about your current balance or need assistance with your school fees, please don't hesitate to contact our reception. Our Office staff will be more than happy to assist you with any queries or concerns you may have.

New Sts. Anne and Joachim Sunraysia

We had nine students attend the launch of our new Sunraysia Parish Sts. Anne and Joachim on Wednesday. The new Parish includes the churches of St Francis Xavier Irymple, Sacred Heart Mildura, Our Lady of the Lourdes Werrimull, Our Lady of the Sacred Heart Merbein and St Joseph the Worker Red Cliffs.

Sacred Heart Welcome

A warm and heartfelt welcome to Isis Simpson who recently joined our Sacred Heart School. Isis has joined our Year 5 Illawarra classroom! We are thrilled to have you join our close-knit and supportive learning community.

NAIDOC Day

We will be celebrating NAIDOC Day at Sacred Heart on Friday, 4th August. NAIDOC Day holds great significance as it provides us with a wonderful opportunity to learn, celebrate and acknowledge the rich history, culture and achievements of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.

To make this day even more special, we are privileged to have the talented Indigenous performer, Dion Drummond, joining us. Dion is a renowned dancer, singer, and storyteller, with extensive experience in sharing both Mainland and Islander culture. His presentation will take place in the Stadium from 9:50 am to 10:55 am, promising an engaging and enriching experience for everyone.

Throughout the day, our students will have the chance to participate in activities related to the 2023 NAIDOC theme, 'For Our Elders.' These activities are designed to foster a deeper understanding and appreciation of the wisdom, knowledge and contributions of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander elders.

We encourage all students, teachers and parents to show their support and appreciation by wearing casual clothing in NAIDOC colors (red, black, and yellow) and/or designs on the day. Let's unite in celebration of our diverse cultures and strengthen the bond within our school community.

We look forward to an inspiring and joyful NAIDOC Day at Sacred Heart, where we come together to honor and cherish the Indigenous heritage of our nation.

Prep Enrolments 2024

For the upcoming 2024 Prep year, there are still four available spaces for enrolments at Sacred Heart School. If you or anyone you know is interested in enrolling their child in our school, we warmly invite you to get in touch with us.

Athletics Carnival

The Sacred Heart Athletics Carnival will take place at the Aerodrome Ovals on Wednesday, 9th August. This event promises to be a fantastic day of sportsmanship and camaraderie, and we can't wait to see our school community come together for this special occasion.

Have a great weekend everyone and God Bless!

Mark Gibson

Religious Education

2023 Sacramental Dates

First Eucharist - Year 4 & Above

Parent Information Evening - Wednesday 6th September 2023 @ 7pm SH Church

Sacrament of First Eucharist - Friday 20th to Sunday 22nd October 2023

Reconciliation - Year 2 & Above

Parent Information Evening - Wednesday 11th October 2023 7pm SH Church

Sacrament of Reconciliation - Wednesday 22nd November 2023 7pm SH Church

Missions Update

Mission Fundraiser: Pie Drive

Thank you to those who supported this year's Mission Pie Drive Fundraiser. The $560 raised will be sent to the Columban Overseas Missions to support the people of South America, Peru where Fr Michael McKinnon is living. We greatly appreciate the volunteers who gave up their time to pack the orders which then ensured the efficient distribution of pies later in the afternoon.

Learning and Teaching News

Structured Literacy

As you are aware, Sacred Heart is changing the way we deliver literacy instruction at school. This year is significant for staff as they undertake professional learning to become more aware of current evidence and best practice in this area. Many staff members attended St. Paul’s PS this week to observe a Structured Literacy teaching block in action. It was an important step to assist with transitioning to Structured Literacy. Building knowledge and understanding of how literacy instruction is delivered, by observing teachers and students, is an extremely valuable professional learning opportunity.

Morphology

Staff have participated in online professional learning this week with a focus on morphology. The SunLit Structured Literacy Scope and Sequence will assist teachers with an explicit morphology instruction which is scaffolded from Year 1 to Year 6. This means that students will understand the meaning of word forms and parts. Morphemes, like prefixes, suffixes and base words, are defined as the smallest meaningful units of meaning. Morphemes are important for phonics in both reading and spelling, as well as in vocabulary and comprehension. Highlighting the morphology of words is useful for explaining phonics patterns (graphemes) and spelling rules, as well as discovering the meanings of unfamiliar words, and demonstrating how words are linked together. Etymology is the study of the history of language which widens vocabulary and helps to build comprehension.

Prep Unit News

Today’s Grandparents’ and Special Friends Day celebration was absolutely A.M.A.Z.I.N.G. It was lovely to see our students working together with their grandparent or special friend to complete a task and show them all the wonderful things that we do at school.

Some reminders:

Sounds to continue practising with your child/ren at home: s, a, t, p, i, n, m, r, f, o, c, d, h, e, n, g, l, k, u, b, j, w, ck, ll, ff, ss, sh.

Learn all the tricky words at the back of the reading diary.
Show and tell reminder for this week = something from a place your have visited (eg. shell, badge). Please remember to practise your child’s show and tell with them. This is extremely important so that they have something to talk about when it gets to their turn.
Please cover your child’s reading diary in clear contact.
School starts at 8:45am each day. If you are at school after 8:45am you will need to sign your child in at the office.
Your child’s library bag needs to be at school every day - kept in their school bag.

Sports days are Tuesday and Wednesday - sports uniform is needed.
Read and record ‘Enhanced Comprehension’ and ‘Reader’ in the reading diary each night.
Library books are to be returned to school on Fridays.

On Monday 31st July we will be celebrating our 100th day of school. We have lots of fun activities planned for the day. On this day we would like to invite the students to dress up like they are 100 years old (please see the images below). Get creative with glasses, hair and outfits!

If your child does not want to dress up then they are required to wear their school uniform.

Prep Unit Team Contact Details

Unit Leader: Mrs Rebecca O'Callaghan
Cooinda: Mrs Rebecca O'Callaghan - bocallaghan@shmildura.catholic.edu.au
Wahroonga: Mrs Wendy Collins - wcollins@shmildura.catholic.edu.au

Junior Unit News

Today’s beautiful ‘Grandparents/Special Friend Day’ celebration was a sea of smiles, excitement and pride with our Junior Unit students taking the time to share their knowledge and demonstrate their skills in their family groups. We are grateful for the delicious food that was generously provided for our shared morning tea and for the magnificent helpers who were able to give their time to assist on this special day.

Next Thursday we have invited Responsible Pet Education facilitators to our school to run sessions to assist our Junior Unit students with safety around animals with a particular focus on caring for our pets.

On Friday 4th August we are celebrating NAIDOC with activities taking place throughout the week. We are really looking forward to Dion Drummond’s performance. Dion is one of Australia’s most experienced Indigenous performers, covering both Mainland and Islander culture as a dancer, singer and storyteller.

Students can wear casual clothing in NAIDOC colours and/or designs on this day.

Year One: Today your child has brought home their work book and writing book that is required to be covered in clear contact. These need to be returned to school on MONDAY MORNING as they are required to be used this day. Should you require additional time to cover your child/ren’s work books, please arrange this with their teacher.

Our children designed their own tie dye shirt during the week in preparation for our Year One Stayback. You should have received an information note for this ‘Stay Back’ experience on Tuesday.

Permission is required for your child/ren to attend and can be made via the SIMON everywhere app- in PAM.

Junior Unit Team Contact Details

Click on the teacher's name if you wish to email them.

Unit Leader: Mrs Katrina Groves
Karinya (Year 1): Mrs Katrina Groves (Monday-Thursday) & Mrs Christine Sherry (Friday)
Bundaleer (Year 1): Miss Hayley Moore
Barramunga (Year 2): Mrs Chris Carmichael
Nangare: (Year 2): Mrs Maree Irvin

Middle Unit News

Thank you to all the grandparents and special friends who came to our celebration today. We loved seeing everyone and working together!

This week Year 3 students received a note with the final arrangements for the upcoming Swan Hill Camp. If you have any questions or concerns please contact your child’s teacher.

Congratulations to the students who have been elected Class Captain for their class in Semester 2. We look forward to seeing your leadership qualities grow and being wonderful role models to your peers.

Matilda Sims (Eumeralla)
Margot Miller (Minga)
Harry Gaylard (Mootwingee)
William Fangaloka (Yongana)
Eva Reid (Amaroo)

Middle Unit Team Contact Details

Click on the teacher's name if you wish to email them.

Unit Leader: Miss Sophie Price
Amaroo (Year 3): Mrs Sarah Beckwith
Yongana (Year 3): Mrs Georgina Whitehouse
Mootwingee (Year 3): Mrs Jaimi Willersdorf
Minga (Year 4): Miss Sophie Price
Eumeralla (Year 4): Miss Rosie Lennox

Senior Unit News

A big thank you to all of our Grandparents and Special Friends who attended today making it truly special!

Senior Unit Team Contact Details

Click on the teacher's name if you wish to email them.

Unit Leader Year 5: Mrs. Natalee Johnson
Unit Leader Year 6: Mrs. Loretta Thompson
Illawarra (Year 5): Mrs. Cathryn Rowles
Kyema (Year 5): Mrs. Natalee Johnson
Myalla (Year 5): Mrs. Emma Kotsiakos (Monday-Thursday) & Mr. Corey Barbary (Friday)
Narooma (Year 6): Mrs. Jo Campbell
Dourim (Year 6): Mrs. Loretta Thompson
Illawarra (Year 6): Mrs. Amelia Pacher (Monday-Thursday) & Mr. Jacob Burford (Friday)

Library News

Book Week 19-25th August:

It’s a countdown to this year’s book week, with the CBCA 2023 shortlist being amazing. This year’s theme is Read, Grow and Inspire! Look at these specially chosen books awaiting the final decision of winners.

SHPS library has purchased CBCA-shortlisted age-appropriate books for the students, which will be displayed during book week. These books will be available for loan within the following weeks.

There is a book week colouring competition for each year level. It begins on Monday, July 31st, and ends on Friday, August 18th. Please ask your classroom teacher for an entry and return it to your teacher once completed by the due date. This book week activity is encouraged, however, students are not obligated to submit an entry. Please note: one entry per student and one winner per year level. Winners will be announced during the book week assembly.

Looking ahead:

Friday, August 25th is book week dress-up or casual clothes day. Students may like to dress up as their favourite book character, person, or career or come in their favourite casual attire. Also, students are encouraged to bring a favourite book to school and share why with their classmates.

Scholastic Book Club Issue #5:

Orders closed yesterday, and we thank the parents and caregivers who placed their orders on this Issue of Book Club!

The school will receive the books and items usually within two weeks. When they arrive at the SHPS library, the students will receive them from their classroom teacher/s. If you have questions or issues with Book Club, please do not hesitate to contact me rather than directly messaging Scholastic.

Ms Zema at azema@shmildura.catholic.edu.au

Sacred Heart Environmental Committee (SHEC)

It has been a busy week for our SHEC students. On Thursday we toured the Landfill site, to see how waste is managed once it leaves out homes. We discussed practical ways we can reduce the amount of waste that ends up in landfill.

On Friday we were invited to acknowledge National Tree Planting Day, by planting saplings at the Eco Village.