Sacred Heart Primary School Mildura eNewsletter

Principal / Executive Leadership Team

Dear Parents, Carers, Staff, Students and Friends,

2024 Classroom Placements

We are currently in the process of finalising placements for classroom teachers and students in 2024. We hope to share our classroom teacher placements in the newsletter next Friday, 24th November. On Friday 1st December parents will be informed of student class allocation.

Staff Professional Learning (Pupil Free) - Thursday 30th November

Staff are taking part in the Fullness of Life for All PD on Thursday 30th November. Fullness of Life for All is a Relationships and Sexuality Scope and Sequence. The curriculum is taken from the Victorian Curriculum and RE Awakenings Curriculum. The day will offer opportunities to explore the Why? What? And How? Relationships and Sexuality Education take place in Primary Schools within the Diocese of Ballarat. The important aspects of Child Safety Standards and legislative requirements in relation to Relationships and Sexuality Education will also be covered in the Professional Learning.

World Kindness Day Breakfast

We had a very successful World Kindness Day Breakfast yesterday. It was great to see families gathering at school to enjoy catching up and enjoying their breakfast together. A very big thank you to the Knights of the Southern Cross for cooking the eggs and bacon and to the staff and parents who volunteered to set up and pack up. Well done everyone!

On Wednesday 6th December from 5:15pm-7pm we will be having Sing Along on the Oval as part of our end of year celebrations. From 5:15pm-6pm we invite families to have a picnic dinner on the oval and to mingle with other community members from the school community. From 6pm each class will then lead a song (many learnt throughout Performings Arts in 2023) with a karaoke style video clip displayed on a cinema screen allowing everyone to sing along with the students. The evening will finish with our choirs singing Christmas Carols. This should be a great community event.

2024 Student Leadership

Our Year 4/5 students have had a great day participating in the Student Leadership Development sessions. These sessions were run virtually by Unleashing Human Potential.

Nominations will now be taken from Year Five students for 2024 School & House Captains. These will need to be handed into your teachers by Monday, 20th November. Next Friday, 24th November all School Captain speeches and voting will be held at 9am. On Monday, 27th November, House Captain speeches and voting will occur. Good luck to all students!

2024 Prep Transition

2024 Preps and Year Five Buddies had a very successful Buddy BBQ on Wednesday. We had lots of parents attend and our new Preps enjoyed playing with and getting to know their buddies. Our Year 5 buddies did an amazing job on the night. Well done!

Thank you to the School Choir & Mr Barbary for hosting today’s Assembly. Some of our Year Six students are hosting this Friday’s Assembly which will be held in the Stadium at 2.30pm.

First Day for Students 2023

The first day back at school for students in 2024 is Tuesday, 30th January.

Important End of Year Dates

Year 5 SJC Visit - Tuesday 28th November
School Closure Day - Thursday 30th November
Whole School Transition (2024 Classes) - Tuesday 5th December
Year Six SJC Transition Day (2024 Year 7) - Tuesday 5th December
Singalong on the Oval (Student Performance) - Wednesday 6th December
Year One Fun Day - Thursday 7th December
Year Two Fun Day - Thursday 7th December
Final School Assembly (Special Presentations & Student Leadership Announcement) - Friday 8th December
Student Reports Released - Friday 8th December
Middle Unit Fun Day - Friday 8th December
Senior Unit Fun Day - Monday 11th December
Year Six Government School Transition Day (Non SJC students) - Tuesday 12th December
Graduation Dinner - Tuesday 12th December @ 6pm Willow & Ivie
Prep Unit Fun Day - Wednesday 13th December
End of Year/Graduation Mass - Wednesday 14th December @ 11.30am
Last Day Students School - Friday 15th December @ 3:10pm

Have a great week everyone and God Bless!

Mark Gibson

Religious Education

Reconciliation - Year Two & Above

The Sacrament of Reconciliation is being held for many of our Year Two students this Wednesday. This Sacrament is being held at the church at 7pm. We wish these students all the best.

Learning and Teaching News

Seesaw has a new look! If you have noticed the Seesaw app is looking very different to its usual logo, it looks like it has had an update and is now a lovely purple S. Please keep an eye out for upcoming student portfolio work uploaded on Seesaw. The learning you see reflects the Semester 2 student reports.

Prep Unit News

This week in Prep we have been revising all the awesome learning we have learnt throughout the year in InitiaLit and Maths.

Some reminders for this week:

Pronouncing the Alphabet Sounds Continue practising the letter sounds with your child at home.
2 small lunch boxes: 1 for recess snacks and the other for lunch… this is so that they fit into our fridge containers.
Students need to be at school on time each day (beginning of school is 8.38am). This allows them to settle into the morning routines and avoids disruption to learning. If you are arriving later than this time you need to come through the office and sign in.
Learn all the tricky words at the back of the reading diary.

No Show and tell for this week. Reminder for week 8 = something that makes you happy.

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

We are beginning to wrap up library borrowing in the coming weeks so we ask that families have a good look at home for any library or classroom books and return them to school.

It was fantastic to see so many families on Thursday morning for our World Kindness breakfast. We sincerely thank you all for coming along to celebrate and especially give thanks to our team of organisers and breakfast makers for the delicious meal.

Thank you to the children who have been bringing their diaries to school each day. It’s wonderful to discuss the stories that are being read and read the feedback that's been written.

A big congratulations and many blessings to the Year Two students who are receiving the Sacrament of Reconciliation for the first time next Wednesday. May they always know the Peace of Jesus, the Light of his Love, and the Joy of his Life.

Notes will come home in the following few weeks regarding the end of year Fun Days. These are days where each year level celebrate "The year of 2023" with their friends and teachers. Year One and Year Two Fun Days are both being held on Thursday 7th December at different locations.

CONGRATULATIONS to Miss Huddleston and her partner Tim on the safe arrival of Miss Arianna Rose on 14th November. She is absolutely precious and our Year One students all love her name. We are all looking forward to meeting Arianna and seeing Miss Huddleston again.

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.

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 students will be taking part in some Human Development learning next week. On Wednesday 29th November, Denise Pragt, school nurse, will be visiting to do a Q&A session with us.

As we prepare for Graduation, we are asking any student who did not begin their primary schooling at Sacred Heart please provide a Prep photo emailed to lthompson@shmildura.catholic.edu.au at your earliest convenience. Thank you to those who have emailed this already, classroom teachers will email those whose photo has not been received.

Graduation Invitations will be sent out in the coming week. The student dinner will take place on Tuesday 12th December at Willow and Ivie from 6pm to 8:30pm. The cost per student is $40 and will be payable via CDF pay when notified.

Year 5

Students have received a note this week with the information regarding the Year 6 commemorative rugby jumpers and polo shirts. Please be aware these are ordered through Mattnifico. https://www.mattnifico.com.au/ Orders will need to be placed prior to Friday 8th December. Rugby jumpers are at the front office for those wanting to try on sizes.

Please make sure you are checking in on Seesaw to see all the learning we have been doing this term.

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. Regan Zaxos (Monday-Thursday) & Mr. Jacob Burford (Friday)

Library News

Kindness, Family and Friendship:

A Friend for Ruby

by Sofie Laguna, illustrated by Marc McBride

“When Ruby sees an amazing creature on the beach on her way home from school, she is hopeful she's found a new friend... A gorgeous story about kindness and family and friendship, brought beautifully to life by two incredibly talented creators.

Ruby led the creature out into the garden. She drew a dancing circle in the sand. 'I choose you!' she said to the creature.

Walking along the beach, Ruby finds a strange creature on the shore. She takes it home, feeds it and makes a bed of straw for it in her cubby – but a cubby is no place for a creature from the sea.

Ruby must draw on all her resources to help the creature find their way home - and perhaps, along the way, she might just find an unexpected friendship.

A whimsical tale of friendship, compassion and resourcefulness, from a wonderfully talented creative team.”

(Passage from Allen & Unwin Book Publishers website)

This week, Mrs Campbell and Narooma conducted a captivating storytelling session in the library. Willing students read a new picture book with expression and pace to keep their classmates engaged. The students independently chose the brightly coloured book A Friend for Ruby for their library session. Well done to Archie, Daisy, Henry, Mali, Max and Romeo for their superb storytelling and to the rest of Narooma for being a receptive and respectful audience. All enjoyed the story.

Olivia “Liv” from Amaroo sorted through one large section of the non-fiction shelves and neatly placed books in the right areas. She independently conducted this task in addition to her usual library session—top job on performing the thoughtful task successfully and enthusiastically. Keeping the library looking tidy for the students is always nice, and I appreciate your assistance.

A friendly reminder:

Monday Library Sessions for Classes:

Myalla (Yr 5), Dourim (Yr 6), Narooma (Yr 6), Kyema (Yr 5), Waminda (Yr 5), Mootwingee (Yr 3), Amaroo (Yr 3), Yongana (Yr 3), Wahroonga (Prep) and Cooinda (Prep).

Last borrowing and returning:

20th of November

All books to be returned:

27th of November

Friday Library Sessions for Classes:

Illawarra (Yr 6), Barramunga (Yr 2), Nangare (Yr 2), Eumeralla (Yr 4), Bundaleer (Yr 1), Karinya (Yr 1) and Minga (Yr 4).

Last borrowing and returning:

17th of November

All books to be returned:

24th of November

Please and thank you, Ms Zema.

Christmas is coming!

Even though library sessions will cease for the last two weeks of school, there is good news!

From the 1st of December, Christmas books will be available for staff and students to read and enjoy during class. Please find the Christmas display on the big blue shelf.

Please get in touch with me anytime for all library enquiries and borrowing/returning history.

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