Sacred Heart Primary School Mildura eNewsletter

Principal / Executive Leadership Team

Dear Parents, Carers, Staff, Students and Friends,

I wish all Dads a very Happy Fathers’ Day for this coming Sunday and I hope the day is a special one for you.

First Eucharist Parent Information Session

First Eucharist Parent Information Session is being held at the church this Wednesday, 6th September at 7pm. This is the first step in preparing for this Sacrament. First Eucharist masses are scheduled for the 20th to 22nd of October. Many of our Year Four students will be celebrating this Sacrament.

School Hats

This is a reminder that school hats must be worn by children when outdoors. If students don’t have a hat at recess or lunch, they can’t play.

Before School Arrangements

We wanted to take this opportunity to inform you about some important aspects of/changes to the Sacred Heart Primary School supervision arrangements at the start of the school day. These changes have been carefully considered and are necessary due to various factors, including continuing to ensure the duty of care for our students and our staff.

In the past, it has been practice to allow students to enter classrooms at 8:30 a.m. From Monday, 4th September, it will be optional for teachers to open their classroom doors between 8:30 a.m and 8:45 a.m.
Supervision in the yard will continue to be provided from 8:15 a.m.-8:45 a.m.

While it is likely that many classrooms will be open, if the classroom is locked, students will need to go and play in the yard. The courtyard playground is supervised from 8:15 a.m.-8:45 a.m. and the oval is supervised from 8:30 a.m.-8:45 a.m.

This may mean, at times, parents may not be able to talk to their child’s teacher as easily before school. If you would like to speak with your child’s classroom teacher after 8:30 a.m. we encourage you to arrange a meeting with them that is mutually agreeable.

We appreciate your understanding and ongoing support to ensure the safety and well-being of our whole school community.

School Sports Victoria Division Mini Olympics

Well done to our students who represented and performed superbly at the SSV Sunraysia Mini Olympics. Results will be published in next week’s Newsletter. Many students have qualified for the Region Athletics which are being held in Bendigo on Monday, 9th October. It was great to hear from Mr. Burford how well our students represented our school with positive behaviour, participation and support. Thank you and well done to Mr Burford on preparing our students.

AFL Day

Our AFL Day is being held this Friday, 8th September. Students and staff are encouraged to wear their football colours to school. Staff from AFL Victoria will be running football clinics for all year levels during the morning. Our traditional Staff vs. Students football game will be held during recess starting at 1.45 p.m.

Parish Mass - Minga & Yongana

We have Minga & Yongana participating in the Parish Mass at the church this Wednesday 6th September. This celebration will begin at 9.30 am and parents are welcome to attend.

Assembly - Bundaleer

Thank you to Bundaleer for hosting today’s Assembly. Looking ahead, our next Assembly will be hosted by Karinya. We invite all students, teachers, and parents to join us in the Stadium at 2:30 pm on Friday 8th September.

School Sports Victoria (SSV) Summer District Sport

We wish our Year 5/6 students all the best for this week’s Summer District Sport. On Thursday Volleyball is being held at Trinity Lutheran College and Hot Shots Tennis at St Paul’s Primary School. Students will play games against St Paul’s, Trinity Lutheran and Henderson College. Parents have been notified via SIMON of these offsite activities.

Finalising school numbers

At this time of year, we begin to forecast how many students will be attending our school in 2024. These forecasts are very important as they tell us how many classes will be required for 2024. This, of course impacts how many teachers we need and how many classrooms we need. Subsequently, I ask that all parents advise me if their children will be leaving Sacred Heart at the end of this year. Thank you.

Backflips Over Bullying Incursion

On Thursday, students participated in an incursion called “Backflips Against Bullying”. Acrobats from Action Education flipped, jumped, and did tricks, all while teaching students a valuable lesson – Bullying doesn’t make you tough!

Our presenters role-played different scenarios, which allowed the students to reflect on what is expected and unacceptable and showed the students some appropriate ways to deal with situations. They spoke about being an upstander (standing up to somebody showing unacceptable behaviour). They also spoke about the importance of treating one another kindly so that the school environment is positive and pleasant.

The Stadium had great energy as the hour-long sessions took place, and the students thoroughly enjoyed learning an important message in a fun and exciting way!

It was great that we could acknowledge students on their efforts to show ACCEPTANCE over the last four weeks through our Backflips Against Bullying performance. Over the last week we had 395 examples where students have demonstrated ACCEPTANCE in both the classroom and the yard. Our commendations have now moved beyond 2000 to 2400. We will now strive towards 4000 to have another reward opportunity. We will continue working on ACCEPTANCE but are starting to consider what our next SWPBIS focus will be.

Father’s Day Stall

A huge thank you to parents who volunteered to help out with the Father’s Day Stall today and in particular, to Erin Hurley & Courtney Henderson for coordinating the stall. I am sure dads will appreciate the presents students give them.

Administration News

All school fees for the year 2022 must be settled before the conclusion of this term, except payments made through Direct Debit. Any outstanding fees will prompt a phone call for follow-up.

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

PLEASE NOTE - First Eucharist registration forms (blue) have been sent home with all Year Four students. Registration must be completed and handed in at the Parish Office by Tuesday, 5th September. If you have a child in Year 5 or 6 who is wishing to receive this Sacrament please contact the school office for a registration form. Please contact the school or email Ryan O’Callaghan if you have any questions. ryocallaghan@shmildura.catholic.edu.au

Reconciliation - Year 2 & Above

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

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

Learning and Teaching News

Seesaw

Have you checked in to see the work on your child’s digital learning portfolio recently? Jump on and have a look, leave a comment and let your child know what you think of their work.

Numeracy - ‘You’ve Been Caught’

Prep Unit News

This week in Prep we have been learning about 2D and 3D shapes and the difference between them. We have also been extremely busy making some pretty cool presents for an important man in the lives of our families. We wish all our Prep Father’s a very happy Father’s Day on Sunday!

Some reminders:

Sounds to continue working on with your child 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, ee, qu, z, zz, ch, v, x, y, wh, th (unvoiced as in ‘thick’). It is important that we continue this practice as we are reading and writing with digraphs in Literacy time.
Make sure we are continuing to read every night at home and recording it in the Reading diary.
Learn all the tricky words at the back of the reading diary.
Library day is Monday.

Show and tell reminder = something from your favourite sporting team.

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

The gorgeous weather made for another great week in the Junior Unit.

Our students were congratulated on their success during the ACCEPTANCE BLITZ. On Thursday, we laughed, cheered and participated in the Action Education: Backflips against Bullying performance, aimed to prevent bullying and build resilience in our students.

On Thursday night our Year Two students came back to school at 5pm to begin their YEAR TWO SLEEPOVER CAMP! Students were treated to McSacred Heart burgers, icecream, a movie, the treasure hunt by torch light and of course the odd treats before sleeping in their cosy beds set up in the stadium with 44 other friends and their teachers. This morning students then ate a delicious breakfast before spending the morning at the park and 10 pin bowling. Their lunch smelt and looked super delicious which added extra smiles to the students faces after a very busy but exciting 24 hours.

Congratulations Bundaleer and Miss Moore on your very successful assembly. All students spoke enthusiastically and we learnt A LOT about your Fathers. We look forward to Karinya’s Assembly NEXT FRIDAY- 8th September. (AFL THEMED DAY)

Today our students visited the Father’s Day/Special Person’s Stall to buy a gift and they will also be bringing home a handmade present/card that we know you will love. We wish all the special men in our students' lives a MAGNIFICENT day on Sunday.

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

Nothing to report this week.

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

Year 6 are getting super excited about Melbourne Camp in Week 10.

Attached is the ‘What to Bring’ note for your information. Final notes will be sent home early next week

Year 6 Camp!

Students enjoyed watching and participating in Backflips against Bullying performance. What a great message shared with our students.

We wish all our fathers, grandfathers, uncles and father figures a very happy and restful day this Sunday for Father’s Day

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:

Last week’s SHPS newsletter includes many dress-up day photos under specific unit year levels. However, I would like to take this opportunity to add more; you can never have too many, right?!

Starting the line-up is Hannah Marshall, who won the Senior division of the colouring competition and was away on the day to receive the announcement and her winner’s gifts. Well done, Hannah!

Once again, I would like to thank students and staff for all their support leading up to and including book week. The students’ effort in researching their favourite characters and books was outstanding. Also, thanks to the parents, caregivers and friends for supporting those near and dear to help create these happy and joyful memories. It is so respectful and mindful that everyone putting EFFORT first before EXPENSIVE is a reflection of our community’s mindset. It was a truly wonderful and humbling experience to celebrate book week at SHPS.

Library books:

With two weeks left of Term 3, I know it’s flying by so quickly; I would like to remind students to return books that they have finished reading or renew books that they wish to continue reading.

Only a few students have overdues and are trying to look for their books. But, just as a reminder, please take a few minutes to look in your school bag, school tub, the family car, your bedroom, your siblings’ bedrooms and so on for any overdues or books you think may be misplaced.

I communicate with the students during their library sessions, and if they are unable to find a book after making a considerable effort to find it, I put the books on a missing list. This enables the students to keep borrowing books and looking for misplaced ones. It is amazing how suddenly, out of nowhere, these books turn up in all sorts of places around the home and school. Thanks again for your cooperation!

Scholastic Book Club Issue #6:

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

SHEC News (Sacred Heart Environmental Committee)

Welcome to S.H.E.C’s latest school activity. On the 7th of September, SHEC would like you to help us heal the world of all the rubbish going to the landfills. How will we be able to keep rubbish out of our Mildura Landfill?

On the Thursday 7th of September, SHEC are organising a “Wrapper free lunches” activity for Sacred Heart School.

If we create less waste, we can make our world a cleaner place. Less rubbish makes the world a better place. Let’s give our world a hand by reducing rubbish - think, act, and reduce rubbish. We have a dream of a waste-free world. A waste-free world is possible with everyone's help.

With a waste free world, we can make a HUGE difference.

A wrapper free lunch will:

Help to reduce our Landfill
Protect animal habitats
Help animals to survive
Protect creatures that live in ponds, lakes, rivers and oceans

SHEC members put together posters that will help inspire each class to join us having a wrapper free lunch on the 7th September. The posters focus on how we can protect our environment.

SHEC had an excursion to our local ECO village. We discovered different ways we could help to reduce our rubbish and keep it from entering landfill. Having a wrapper free lunch is a great way of helping the world to become a safer place.

Nude Food info!

SHEC Reporters: Paige Jukes and Tully Wade