ISSUE 11: 14th May 2021

Principal / Executive Leadership Team

I have been in Ballarat yesterday and today at a mandatory Principal’s Conference to learn more about the important links between school and Parish under our new governance structure.  This has been the first time in 18 months that Principals across the Diocese have met together and it has been great to reconnect and learn.

I would like to acknowledge all the Year 3 and 5 children, who have been working hard on putting their best efforts into NAPLAN tests this week.  We are very proud that students tried their best.  Well done!  If students were away we will do some catch up tests at school over the next week.

We wish our Year Six students all the best for their camp to Melbourne.  Students and teachers will leave at 6.30am on Monday morning and return to school on Friday evening.  We will inform parents of return time via SIMON Everywhere.  This camp is a fantastic opportunity for children to develop their learning, social skills, independence skills, fitness and decision making.  An enormous amount of work goes into organising a camp and so we must thank Mrs Campbell for her many hours spent preparing for the camp.  Have fun everyone!

This Sunday is Education Support Staff Day.  We thank our LSO's Simone Scott, Wendy Kerr, Carmel Pollifrone, Fiona Driscoll, Carrissa Ernesti, Brittany Huddleston, Abbey Madden, Tayler Brooks and Kyle Dashington, our Administration staff Mary Avery, Candy Fleming and Sarah Beggs, our Counsellor Jo Finlayson and Canteen Staff Ag Gray, Tanya Littore and Grace Rodriguez for the significant contribution they make to our school. We will have a morning tea on Monday amongst our staff to acknowledge this work.

2022 Prep Transition meetings continue this week.  Last Tuesday we had 26 prospective students meet with Mrs O’Callaghan and their parents with Mr Gibson and Mr O’Callaghan.  These 40 minute meetings will continue with those that have handed in their ‘Application for Enrolment’ this Wednesday.  If you haven’t handed in your application we encourage you to do so before the closing date of Friday (21st May).

Term Overviews can now be viewed in the Newsletter by going to your child's unit (Prep, Junior, Middle or Senior) and clicking on the link.  Term Overviews provide parents with an overview of the topics and concepts that are being taught across all curriculum areas.  Please take the time to have a read about what your child will be learning this term.

National Simultaneous storytime is being held across the nation this Wednesday.  Every year a picture book, written and illustrated by an Australian author and illustrator, is read simultaneously in libraries, schools, pre-schools, childcare centres, family homes, bookshops and many other places.  It is a colourful, vibrant, fun event that aims to promote the value of reading and literacy. Due to timetabling, children at Sacred Heart enjoy the story and a related activity during their regular library session. This year the book, ‘Give me some space!’ by Philip Bunting, is being read by an astronaut on the International Space Station! See the Library Report below for further details. 

We have our next School Advisory Council (SAC) meeting occurring on Tuesday 18th May from 5.15pm.  I look forward to once again meeting with our SAC group.

Currently our lunch order cut off time through CDF pay is at 9am.  From next Wednesday the time will change to 8:30am.  This will give canteen staff and volunteers more time to prepare lunches as there has been greater demand this year.  We are finding ourselves short of volunteers in the canteen on many days.  If you are able to assist please contact our co-ordinator Agata Gray via email agray@shmildura.catholic.edu.au or inform the Office.

We pray for many of our Year 5/6 students who will be celebrating the Sacrament of Confirmation on the weekend of 21st to 23rd of May.  Please note that there will be five Masses over this weekend held at the following times:  Friday, 21st May @ 6pm, Saturday 22nd May @ 9.30am & 6pm, Sunday 23rd May @ 9am & 5pm.  We encourage those in our community to attend a Mass over the weekend to support our students at these special celebrations.

Catholic Education Week is being celebrated this year from Sunday 23rd to Friday 29th May (Week 6).  This year is an extra special one as we celebrate 200 years of Catholic Education in Australia.  The theme is ‘Faith in the Future’.  We have been able to secure Kaboom Kids (Tabloid Sports) as a special event for our students.  This will be held on Monday, 24th May from 9-11am.  Students will work in their Family Groups at this event.  We are inviting parents to come in and enjoy a coffee and muffin from 8.30am onwards and to watch students participating in the activities if they wish.  An invitation will be sent home with all families next week. 

Thank you to Waminda for hosting today’s Assembly.  Bundaleer is hosting next week’s Assembly, which will begin at 2.30pm in the Stadium on Friday.

We are currently seeking passionate teachers for the following employment opportunities:

• Classroom Teacher for Grade 4: Part-Time (FTE 0.4 working Monday and Tuesday) Fixed Term
• Classroom Teacher for Grade 5:  Full-Time Fixed Term
• Boost / Intervention Teacher: Full-Time Fixed Term

Each of these positions commence in Term 3 – July 12, 2021 (or earlier by negotiation) and concluding on January 28, 2022.  Applications close Friday May 21st, 2021 at 9am. If you know of anyone interested in applying please refer them to: https://www.shmildura.catholic.edu.au/employment/

With many days being much cooler we encourage children to dress appropriately for the weather conditions.  Dressing appropriately can help avoid illness amongst students. On cold days our winter uniform is most appropriate.  Tights should not be worn with summer uniform and the navy blue weather-proof jacket doesn’t replace a jumper.   In classrooms these jackets cannot be worn so a jumper is still encouraged to be worn.

As part of our Guided Learning Walks we created short videos showing a snapshot of learning in a classroom.  Our next video is showing our Grade 1 classroom Barrumunga.  In this Mathematics Place Value lesson, we see Barramunga students completing their work in small group situations where some students are working independently. This enables the teacher Mrs Groves to focus on targeting explicit needs and enhancing student understanding in a small group lesson. Often when we walk into contemporary classrooms, this is how it looks.  This allows the teachers to focus on the skills and the application students need which is data driven. By working in a smaller group, it allows the teacher to closely monitor and assess students in regards to their understanding of a concept.  It is very different to the classroom I grew up in where all students seemed to do the same thing.  I hope you enjoy it.

God Bless,

Mark Gibson

2022 Enrolment Information

Enrolment processes have commenced for new Prep students in 2022 at Sacred Heart.  We are currently taking enrolment applications. We have changed enrolment processes with an aim to strengthen students' transition into school.  With the school being limited to only two class groupings in 2022 we encourage families to hand in their Application for Enrolment form before 21st May.  Advertising in the newspaper and television will be promoting enrolment in our Sunraysia Catholic schools over April and May. Below is our process for enrolment:

• 1st April: Enrolment Applications are open.
• Tuesday 4th, Wednesday 5th & Thursday 6th May at 9:30am, 12:30pm & 6pm: Guided Learning Walk to see facilities and learning at the school.  This is a great opportunity for prospective or existing families to see learning at Sacred Heart.
• Friday 21st May: ‘Application for Enrolment’ closes and needs to be emailed to office@shmildura.catholic.edu.au  or handed in at the School Office.

• Monday 10th-Friday 28th May: In groups for an enrolment interview that takes around 40 minutes for prospective students and a parent, parents or guardian. Parents will be contacted to arrange a meeting time after the Enrolment Application Form is received.  Parents will meet with Mr O’Callaghan or myself and students in a small group with a teacher to do some activities.
• Friday 11th June:  Enrolment acceptance letters will be sent out.

Religious Education News

Sacrament of Confirmation

A reminder that information regarding your child’s Confirmation name, sponsor etc needs to be filled in (small white sheet) and returned to the Parish Office by today (14th May).

Confirmation Retreat Day

All Year 5/6 students participated in today's Confirmation Retreat, which was led by our senior teachers - Mrs Campbell, Mr Barbary, Miss Zappia & Ms Niutta.  Students took part in several activities on the Holy Spirit, the symbols and the meaning behind this Sacrament.  We thank Father Matt and Sr Helen for their support with this day and well done to all students for their enagement in the activities.  

Sacrament of Confirmation Timeline

Week beginning Sunday 16th May

4. Celebrating Confirmation 

SACRAMENT OF CONFIRMATION - 

Friday 21st May 6pm

Saturday 22nd May 9.30am 

Saturday 22nd May 6:00pm 

Sunday 23rd May 9:00am 

Sunday 23rd May 5pm

Class Mass

On Wednesday Waminda will be participating in the Parish Mass at the church.  Students will do some of the readings and jobs throughout the Mass.  This celebration will begin at 9.30am and parents are welcome to attend.

Making Connections Within our Community

During May, the Sunraysia Catholic Communities will be undertaking an effort to re-connect with all  parishioners who come to Mass here and are involved in our catholic communities.

The parish wants to continue a way of being ‘church’ with all families who have been coming here for many years, and with those who are relatively new.

Our faithful parishioners are the ‘heart’ of our Catholic Community and our desire is that each truly experiences a real sense of belonging, welcome and hospitality.

So, this weekend the parishes are holding a  ‘Making Connections’ weekend will be  inviting all those attending Mass to complete a Parish Connection Card during Mass.  

These Connection Cards will allow the parish to design and plan meaningful ways to be relevant as ‘Church’ now and into the future. It will assist to build upon the formation that has already takes place, assist to update our Parish Census register, and help us prepare well for our forthcoming Parish Stewardship Renewal.

Ryan O’Callaghan (Religious Education Leader)

Learning Diversity & Wellbeing News

Some information for parents taken from the SPELD website - SPELD Victoria

What is meant by “Learning Difficulties”?

Children can have difficulties learning academic tasks and gaining skills for a variety of reasons. For example:  delayed maturation, social and cultural factors, emotional or behavioural problems, low intelligence, trauma or poor or interrupted teaching. Such children are said to have Learning Difficulties.  These challenges may be short term in nature as circumstances change.

Some learning difficulties arise due to chronic health problems such as diminished hearing due to recurring ear infections where a child is unable to distinguish a range of spoken sounds. Difficulties with eyesight or visual skills to see and process written information.

These can all impact on your child’s ability to learn and if you suspect any of these, it is best to see your child’s paediatrician for an assessment. The doctor may also recommend a visit to a specialist such as an audiologist or optometrist to investigate further.

What are Specific Learning Difficulties (SLDs)?

Specific Learning Difficulties are characterised by a child showing persistent and unexpected learning problems despite their general intelligence, development in other areas, positive learning attitudes and support received through good teaching.

Sometimes SLDs are referred to as Specific Learning Disorders, or Disabilities or Differences  depending upon the context. See What’s the difference between a Specific Learning Difficulty, Disorder, Disability and Differences? for further information.

In all jurisdictions SLDs refer to impairments in reading, writing and/or math which are likely to endure but none the less can be improved through effective intervention.

What matters is the functional impact a learning difficulty has on a student’s capacity to learn.  Intervention and accommodations will enable these students to reach their learning potential.  The best outcomes for children are achieved when teachers and parents work on this in partnership.

For more information regarding learning difficulties with reading, writing, maths and general learning difficulties, please visit the SPELD site for parents. SPELD - Information for parents

Learning & Teaching News

Well done to the Year 5 and 3 students who have completed the NAPLAN tests this week. For those students who were absent for any of the tests, they will complete these during next week.  Once the school receives the results closer to the end of term, they will be sent home with the children. 

At the end of last term staff participated in some highly engaging professional learning around Scaffolding Literacy. She encouraged staff to bring back the thrill of writing, skills when writing and will to write within our students. Over the last two weeks the Year 4 teachers and students have had their first try at using the structure that Misty Adoniou demonstrated and we were extremely pleased with the outcome. Watch below to see for yourselves.

General News

National Sports Academy - Basketball Program Prep-Year 2

Sacred Heart Primary School have been offered an after-school program for all Prep to Year 2 students that will be delivered on our school grounds for an 8 week period on Thursdays from 3.15pm-4.15pm  commencing on 3rd June. This is an introductory program for Basketball however students will also learn and develop motor skills to gain self-confidence in a friendly and encouraging environment.  

Canteen News

Please be advised that you can no longer cancel lunch orders online.  This has come about due to parents running a continuous credit and not using this up on the next lunch order placed.

If you require to cancel an order, please phone the office (50231204) during school hours.  Your label will be given to the canteen and you may use this order on another day, by phoning the school and placing that order. This will only be valid for one month.

If when logging onto your account you see that you have a credit, please use the credit and not pay with a Credit Card.  All current credits will be valid until the end of this Term (25^th June).  If unused they will be not valid after that date.

To use a credit on your account you order your child’s lunch as normal.  Once you have submitted your order, the option to use the credit on your account will come up in the payment section.  Please be aware you cannot use Bank Transfer, only Credit Card to pay any balance owing after the credit has been used.

Prep Unit News

On Wednesday the Prep students visited Father Matt at the Church. We spent some time walking around the Church and identifying all the different symbols that are used and on display. Father Matt explained what all the symbols were and how and why they are in the Church.

Letter and sounds to focus on this week: m, s, t, a, p, i, f, r, o, c, d, h, e, n, g

Tricky Words: I, my, the, a, is, was, to, you, they, that, said, he, are, me, she, we, one, were, has, look, his, her, them there.

Junior Unit News

We are investigating the importance of CHOICES this term. Students are focusing on the impacts that our choices make in our daily life and the life of others. Students are reflecting weekly on the ripple effect of the choices they make to them and the impact our choices make on our Environment. 

Next week, we welcome Isobel North (3rd Year La Trobe Student Teacher) who will be working in Barramunga for three weeks. 

Middle Unit News

Well done to all the Year 3 students for completing the NAPLAN tests this week, everyone should be very proud of their efforts. Parents will be notified when results are available. 

Senior Unit News

In Religion this term we have begun by focussing on passion. Mr O’Callaghan came and spoke to us and told us not to give up on our passions. Mr O said that his passion was AFL. Sr Helen Nolen said her passion was helping people in poverty. She did years of helping East Timor. Nicola Moras also came and spoke to us and told us her passion was talking- and she ended up having a job where she can talk to people all day. It was fun learning about passions and everybody enjoyed it. Something we can take away from these discussions is that we should never give up on our passions because they can help us later in our jobs. 

Written by Noah Slorach & James Clay

During Religion this week, we have been learning about finding our passion and what it means to be passionate about something. We have been very lucky to have some fantastic guest speakers come in to talk to us about their passions. Mr Barbary’s children, Lindsay and Maddie, came to speak to us about their passions and how they used GRIT to achieve their goals. Mr O spoke to us about how if you really want something you need to work hard to achieve it.  Nicola Moras told us there can be stops or hurdles when we are trying to achieve our goal, but if we keep on going in the end something good will happen and Sr Helen Nolan spoke to us about her passion of helping others in need. They told us that there will be good times and hard times and that we have to try to make our dreams come true. They also told us to use GRIT - Give it your all - Redo if necessary - Ignore giving up - Take time to do it right. They were teaching us that if we find what we are passionate about and stay focused we could make them come true.

Written by Cooper Milton & Jesse Umback

The excitement of the Melbourne Camp is very evident in the Year Six classrooms.  We depart for Melbourne at 6:30am sharp Monday morning.  We know the students and staff will all have a fabulous time and return on Friday with lots of stories to share with you all.  Please look out for the Facebook posts highlighting our adventures from each day.

Student Leadership Groups

Nothing to report this week.

Library News

Next Wednesday is National Simultaneous Storytime. Every year a picture book, written and illustrated by an Australian author and illustrator, is read simultaneously in libraries, schools, pre-schools, childcare centres, family homes, bookshops and many other places around the country. Due to timetabling issues, at Sacred Heart we read the book throughout the week when children attend the library for their borrowing session. This year, the book “Give me some space!”, written by Philip Bunting, will actually be read by astronaut Dr Shannon Walker from the International Space Station! Children will watch this story and complete a short activity. It will be very exciting to see a real astronaut reading from space!

Library timetable:

Monday: Year 5, Bundaleer

Tuesday: Minga, Waminda, Kyema, Mootwingee

Wednesday: Nangare

Thursday: Preps, Karinya, Amaroo, Yongana, Eumeralla, 

Friday: Barramunga

Mildura Riverfront

Weekly Awards

Student of the Week

Ray White Award Positive Behaviour Award