ISSUE 19: 14th June, 2024

Principal Message

Gospel Reflection

This Sunday, the Gospel shares the parable of the mustard seed, where Jesus compares the Kingdom of God to the smallest seed that grows into the largest of plants. This story reminds us of the potential within small beginnings. In our school community, let us nurture the small acts of kindness, faith and learning in our children, knowing that these can grow into significant and positive impacts. Together, we can cultivate an environment where these values flourish.

What’s on Next Week (Term 2 Week 10)

Coming Up in Week 11

Dear Parents, Guardians, Staff & Students,

Congratulations to our talented Netball & Soccer teams for their outstanding performance in Wednesday’s Division finals! Both our girls' and boys' netball teams, along with the boys' soccer team, secured victories. The students displayed exceptional sportsmanship, representing our school with pride. 

Our Division Girls and Boys Football and Boys Hockey that was scheduled to occur today will be rescheduled. 

Mildura Eisteddfod

Many students from many year levels are participating in this year's Mildura Eisteddfod at the Mildura Arts Centre on Wednesday and Thursday. Performance days and session times are listed below:

• Year 5/6 Choir: Wednesday @ 10am (Competitor No. 3)
• Year 1/2 Choir: Thursday @ 10am  (Competitor No. 2)
• Year 3/4 Choir: Thursday @ 10:30am  (Competitor No. 7)

Sacred Heart Feast Day

Our annual Sacred Heart Feast Day is this Friday. It’s a special day to celebrate Jesus' love for everyone with a Mass at Sacred Heart Church starting at 9:30am. To be like Jesus we are collecting gold coins, blankets, and clean, warm clothing in good condition. Your child can bring these items on the day or leave them in the classroom beforehand. A representative from the Society of St. Vincent de Paul will attend the Mass to accept and distribute our donations to those in need within our community.  Please note the following arrangements for the day:

• There will be no canteen on Friday.
• Students will participate in family group activities from 11:50am-1:20pm.
• All students need to wear their Sacred Heart sports uniform.
• Lunch will be provided for all students - a hamburger.
• At recess students will receive an ice cream.
• Any students not wanting to eat a hamburger for lunch will need to bring their own packed lunch.

Semester One School Reports 

School Reports will be available on SIMON/PAM on Friday, 21st June, ahead of Parent Teacher Meetings and PSG meetings. To view your child’s report, log into your PAM account, click on your child’s profile, and select Assessment Reports.

Parent Teacher & Program Support Group (PSG) Meetings 

Parent-Teacher & PSG meetings are being held on Tuesday 25th & Wednesday 26th June beginning at 2.30pm.  Parents are encouraged to book a meeting via PAM to discuss your child’s report and learning.  Please contact the school office if you have any questions.  Bookings will be closed off on Monday 24th June at 12pm.

Administration News

As the term ends, parents who opted to pay school fees by term via Direct Credit or at reception should ensure payment is made by June 27th, 2024. If you need an updated amount, please contact Mary Avery.

Baby News

Big congratulations to Mr. Burford and his wife Eliza on the safe arrival of their beautiful twins, Charlie (a boy) and Sadie (a girl)!

Student Drop Off

To ensure student safety, we kindly request that drop-offs occur after 8:19 am, as many students are unsupervised before then at the front of the school. Thank you for helping us maintain a secure environment for all our students.

God Bless!

Mr Mark Gibson

2024 Dates of Interest

Religious Education

Sacrament of First Eucharist (Year 4 & Above)

Parent Information Session - Wednesday, 28th August

Celebration of Sacrament - Friday 25th, Saturday 26th & Sunday 27th October

Sacrament of Reconciliation (Year 2 & Above)

Parent Information Session - Wednesday, 16th October

Celebration of Sacrament - Wednesday 27th November

Social Justice

Thanks to those parents and children who have come past the Lost Property and collected an extra SH jumper/jacket. I still have a number of these left (of all sizes) and so will leave the tubs outside Barramunga classroom for another week. Please note that none of these items are named so you are free to take the size you are after without asking. I will be grateful knowing that these school jumpers are going to someone who wants/needs them. Next to these tables is also a box of unnamed water bottles and brain food containers. Please remember to name your child’s clothing, water bottles, containers so that in future Lost Property is easier to sort and quicker to return to the owner. 

Thanks in anticipation

Mrs Chris Carmichael

Learning and Teaching

Interoception is the very foundation of independent self-regulation.

At Sacred Heart we are committed to teaching  students the skills and knowledge that they require to have a positive full life. As a part of our positive behaviour strategies, we encourage students to reflect on how they are feeling, what sensations they feel in their body and how they responded to these sensations/feelings.   This is referred to as Interoception. 

Interoception is the internal sensory feedback the brain receives from the body.  It tells the brain about what’s going on inside the body.  This includes messages from our organs, hormones and immune system.  Interoception helps us to understand the body’s internal state. It includes sensory messages about

• Hunger (or fullness)
• Need for the toilet
• Tiredness
• Stress or heightened arousal
• Internal pain/discomfort
• Heart rate
• Body temperature
• Feelings and emotions
• Awareness of the effect of external messages on internal state

Additional information about Interoception:

SWBPS News

Congratulations to our Thumbs Up - Ray White awards this week!

Imogen Stafford

Stella Kourdis

Olympia Jordan

Our SWPBS focus for the remainder of the term will be following reasonable instructions

Following instructions is a part of everyday life. It is the child’s ability to act on requests by others. Following instructions requires the child to attend to detail in spoken language, to sequence the information in the appropriate steps and to seek clarification if they have trouble remembering or recalling the information. At home, parents ask their children to do things around the house (e.g. “Put the cup on the table”) and at school teachers ask their students to follow instructions within the classroom (e.g. “Go to your bag and get your lunch”) and within academic tasks (e.g. “Copy the spelling words on the board, then put each of them into a sentence”). When children engage with their peers, they often give each other instructions in play (e.g. “Can you put the doll in the bed?” or “Let’s make the train go to the station, then get all the people”).

It is important for children to be able to follow instructions so that they can function effectively across different environments (e.g. home, school, sport, or visiting a friend’s house). If a child struggles with following instructions this impacts on their ability to reach the desired ‘purpose’ or ‘outcome’ and thus complete tasks effectively.

NCCD

The Nationally Consistent Collection of Data on School Students with Disability (NCCD) happens every year in August. 

As a parent, guardian or carer, what do I need to know? 

Under the Disability Discrimination Act 1992 and the Disability Standards for Education 2005, schools have an obligation to ensure that students with disability are able to access and participate in school on the same basis as their peers. To ensure this, students with disability may receive adjustments or support, depending on their functional needs, to access and participate in education. 

Parents, guardians and carers have an important role in their child’s education. They work collaboratively with the school to ensure that the school understands their child’s needs and that appropriate adjustments are made to enable access to education. 

The NCCD is an annual count of students who are being provided with adjustments to address disability. All Australian schools and approved authorities for schools participate in the NCCD each year. 

If you would like to learn more about the NCCD, further information can be found on the NCCD portal https://www.nccd.edu.au or visit the Inclusive Education Centre/Administration Office.

Please ensure you have booked a parent teacher interview with your child’s teacher to review your child’s goals and progress.

Wellbeing

A SPECIAL REPORT: Respectful Language

In today’s world, it is common to hear socially offensive language on the streets, on social media channels, streaming services and in some forms of modern music. While swearing is becoming more common and less taboo, the use of derogatory language or the act of swearing at someone, or about someone, is a form of verbal violence. It transgresses the usual rules of social interaction by impinging on an individual’s self-image and sense of dignity.

It is becoming apparent that some young people are being influenced by the language they hear. Proliferating the use of swear words can sometimes normalise, glamorise and desensitise their impact for kids who may misunderstand the true meaning of some derogatory terms. Whilst some students may use swearing or derogatory terms as a misguided attempt at belonging, others may use it simply because they are still learning how to moderate their language and are not accustomed to making adjustments to suit different situations.

Although many schools enforce a zero-tolerance policy when it comes to swearing and derogatory language, parents need to also play an important part in enforcing this approach. Parents and carers can be proactive in monitoring what their children are viewing or being exposed to. Discussing the use of words or the origin of some derogatory terms and gaining insight into the reason behind their child’s use of such language can help prevent inappropriate or disrespectful language filtering into the classroom or the school yard, which is turn helps to build more tolerant, safe and connected communities.

This Special Report offers a number of guidelines to help manage a suitable approach when discussing the importance of respectful language.

We hope you take time to reflect on the information offered in this Special Report, and as always, we welcome your feedback.

If you do have any concerns about the wellbeing of your child, please contact the school for further information or seek medical or professional help.

Here is the link to your special report:

Foundation News

This week the Prep students have been learning how to sunrise numbers. Here is a video you can watch about subtising;

We have continued listening to the scripture story about Creation and worked on our illustration book. All Religion lessons at school are taught with a Catholic Christian lens. The sounds you will need to be continually practising at home are: m, s, t, a, p, i, n, f, r, o, c, h, d, e, g, l, k, u, b  and the tricky words: I, the, my, a, is, his, has, as. Now that we are learning and having to remember more sounds it is really important that the students can recognise and know each letter/sound automatically. Continue using the fluency charts at home to build on automaticity. 

The Foundation students will be celebrating their 100th day of school early Term 3… we will be dressing up as 100-year-old people (see the example below). Feel free to begin to organise your costume.

Year One News

The Year One students have had a busy and fun week after a restful long weekend.

It has been fantastic to teach and observe the students' continued engagement and love of learning about Australian coins and notes. They have grouped coins, ordered coins, learnt about their features and really enjoyed learning the technique of coin rubbing. During reading sessions, the students have begun learning about split digraphs. A split digraph is when the vowel sound is split by a consonant a-e, i-e, o-e, e-e, u-e. For example; cake, bike, bone, tube, eve. The long vowel sound – A, I, O, U, E (less examples for E) is split by a consonant. These words may appear in your child's reader books; if they are unsure how to read these words you can explain that they make a long vowel sound. 

Thank you so much for bringing in empty juice bottles. We would be very grateful if you can please save any 1.25- 2 litre drink containers for our science unit project over the next week and bring them to school. We would like absolutely any please - students will be using these to make bird feeders for their science unit. Please ensure that they are washed out and if the labels were off, that would be wonderful. 

Our Show and Tell focus for Week 10 is ‘What do you like about winter?’. We often seem to focus on the negatives of winter, so we’re encouraging the Year One’s to think about something they like about it!

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Year Two News

This week we have been learning how to read and write questions. A question asks something where an answer is expected, ends with a question mark, and often begins with “who, when, where, why or how”. The Year 2 children have been writing some amazing questions!

In Science yesterday we added a range of different ingredients (salt, oil, flour, sugar or vinegar) to water to see what the reaction would be. First we wrote what we thought would happen and then we talked about what actually did happen! We found out that water and flour would make the best glue.

Show and Tell for the next two weeks will be  “When I Grow Up”. Children are asked to share what they aspire to be when they grow up, why and how will this happen? They might like to bring an item to complement their choice. The EVEN group will be in week 10, and the ODD group in week 11.

Year Three News

We hope all our Year Three families had a restful long weekend!

This week, we have enjoyed learning and applying subordinating conjunctions to combine sentences. We have also continued our daily spelling and reading fluency exercises.

In maths, we are starting to learn about and review our understanding of fractions and the addition of three-digit numbers on a number line.

Could we please ask that your child’s jumper is labelled with their name? We have had many misplaced jumpers. Labelled jumpers can be returned to their owners more easily when found.

Don’t forget, we enjoy a healthy brain food snack at 10 am each day. With the cooler weather, many children are appreciating this snack, which helps keep them full until lunchtime.

Thank you!

Sarah, Emma and Maree

Year Four News

We hope all our Year Four families had a restful long weekend!

This week, in Literacy, we have been learning about writing concluding sentences. Our topics have linked to our History focus about life in Britain in the 1700’s. The children have demonstrated a really great understanding of the conditions of the time in their responses. 

In Maths, the students have enjoyed the challenge of solving the mystery case of the jungle joker. They have been solving addition and subtraction algorithms to work out the clues. Ask your child if they managed to solve the mystery and who the jungle joker was!

In SEL we have been comparing conflict to bullying. Keep an eye out for our recent learnings on Seesaw.

Our focus in Visual Art has been learning about portraits. Students completed a self-portrait on paper using pencil, and then coloured pencils/crayons. They began by identifying their eyes, hair, and skin tone and then practising proper placement and representation of these features. Here are a few examples of their work.

Finally, congratulations to Illawarra on their assembly, thank you for sharing some great learning.

Wishing you all a wonderful weekend!

Natalee, Jaimi & Cathryn

Year Five News

We hope our Grade Five families had a wonderful long weekend. This week, students in Grade Five have been busy working through their projects in both Science & Integrated Studies. We have been working on presenting our big ideas in paragraph form and presenting our information in either Google Slides or poster form. 

In Maths, we are busy working on division problems. Students have been looking at 3 or 4-digit numbers and dividing these by one digit using the partial quotient strategy. This strategy helps break the larger number down into more manageable parts for example:

During literacy, we are working on understanding and creating complex sentences. Students are ensuring their sentences include a dependent clause, independent clause and subordinate conjunction. We check that they are complex by writing them in two ways and checking they make sense. For example

Looking ahead: 

Feast Day - Friday of Week 10 

Parent Teacher interviews - 25th & 26th of June

Year Six News

Science  

To finish our Science Unit about electrical circuits, students will be designing and building a model house which includes two working circuits to light up two light globes. Students will need to bring any materials they need for this project into school next week.

Looking Ahead:

• Sacred Heart Feast Day Mass - 21/6/24
• Year 6 St Joseph’s Visit - 25/6/24

Library News

With the colder weather upon us, it has been lovely to observe many students coming into the library, keen to borrow and enjoying their reading from our amazing range of books. We have several new books that have been added to our collection (thanks to our recent Book Fair and Scholastic rewards) that are generating interest among our borrowers.

It has been pleasing also to see many long overdue books being returned. Please continue to remind your child/children to bring their books to school in their library bag and to return their library books regularly.

Many thanks,

Mrs Irvin

Book Fair Reorders

All books that were ordered at the Book Fair have now arrived. If your child has not received a book they ordered please contact Sophie Price (sprice@shmildura.catholic.edu.au) to follow up. Thank you once again for your support of our successful Book Fair!

Student Awards

Parent Information

Arriving and Leaving Safely

Kiss & Go

To help keep everyone safe during drop-off and pick-up please take note of the following rules at Kiss and Go and the School Crossing that should be followed both in the morning (8:10-8:45am) and afternoon (3pm-3:30pm):

• Stay in your vehicle unless you need to assist younger students with their seat belts.
• Aim to keep your car in the Kiss & Go area for a maximum of two minutes to allow others to use the space too.
• Access the Kiss & Go only from Olive Grove, not 12th Street.
• Please refrain from dropping off students outside of cars in Olive Grove.
• Avoid performing U-turns within the Kiss & Go area.
• For your safety, use the school crossing if you need to cross 12th Street.


Thanks for helping us keep our school safe for everyone!

Pick Up and Drop Off Points

These designated areas serve as convenient points for collecting or dropping off children at the school if you are walking in with them. Please ensure you find a suitable and permissible parking spot for your car in order to use these locations.

Riding Scooters & Bikes

Certain students walk, ride bikes, or scooters to school and are requested to use either the 12th Street entrance or the Tamarisk Grove entrance at the rear of the oval. Riding into or through the school grounds is not permitted.

Collect Children from School Grounds

Feel free to come into school to pick up your child directly from their classroom. It's an excellent opportunity to meet other parents, have casual conversations with teachers, and ensure your child is organised at the end of the day. If you choose this option, please park appropriately and be outside the classroom by the 3.10 bell; otherwise, your child will be directed to the supervised Kiss and Go area. Students and young siblings should refrain from using the playground equipment.

School Crossings

Students walking home are advised to use the school crossings on Twelfth Street, Walnut Avenue and Eleventh Street to safely avoid heavily trafficked roads. All crossings are supervised by a School Crossing Supervisor, and it's crucial to follow their directions.  We also encourage parents to model expected behaviours by using the School Crossings also.

Buses

Several of our students catch buses home from the St. Joseph’s bus stop on 11th Street. Each day a teacher gathers these children together and accompanies them to the bus stop to supervise until they are all safely on the bus.

Drop Off Times

Preferred 'Drop Off' Time: 8.25 - 8.45 am. For safety reasons, please refrain from dropping off students before 8.19 am, as there is no supervision provided.  Our gates open at this time.

Pick Up Times

Recommended 'Pick Up' Time: 3.10 - 3.25 PM. While we understand occasional delays, if regular or extending beyond 3.30 PM, please consider enrolling your child/ren in After School Care.

Walking or Riding Home

If your children walk or ride home or to your workplace after school, please submit written permission authorising them to leave unaccompanied. They must exit through the main 12th Street gate or accompany the 11th Street bus group through Tamarisk Grove.

Alternative Pick Up Places

For safety, we strongly advise against arrangements where children wait unsupervised at public pick-up locations like Walnut Avenue or St Joseph’s College.

EATING AND DRINKING AT SCHOOL

Healthy Eating

To sustain learning and promote healthy eating we encourage students to bring to school predominantly healthy food choices.

Brainfood

Students have a brain food break during the morning to keep children’s brains fuelled for learning. We ask that families send an extra fresh fruit or vegetable snack for children to have during this time. When sending the snack, please pack it separately from your child’s lunch in a small, named container so it can be placed on their desk each morning.

Lunch Snack

The main meal of the school day; a sandwich or roll, a salad or a slice of quiche. A healthy ‘treat’ may also be appropriate here that is healthy and gives long-term energy.  Lunch is eaten usually in the classroom from 11:25am-11:40am.

Recess Snack

We encourage parents to pack fresh fruit or vegetables in your child’s recess snack box.  You may like to pack one or two other snack items for them at this time.  This snack is eaten at 1:40pm.

Packing Food

 The school has a bank of refrigerators for the storage of students’’ food. For the ease of packing and unloading the fridges, we ask that parents provide separate, small, well-labelled containers or zip-lock bags for their child’s recess snack and lunch. Insulated ‘puffy’ lunchboxes and ice-blocks are not required.

School Canteen

Our School Canteen operates on a Wednesday and Friday and provides a range of lunch options at low cost.    The current menu and prices can be accessed through and ordered via the CDFpay website https://shmildura.cdfpay.org.au

OFFICE INFORMATION

Office Hours

Office hours will run from 8:20am to 4:00pm every day. Phone calls can be made starting at 8:00 am.

Change of Personal Details

If there are any changes to your contact details (address/phone number/emergency contacts), kindly inform the office by calling 50231204, emailing office@shmildura.catholic.edu.au, or visiting the office in person.

Simon Everywhere and Parent Access Module (PAM)

Simon Everywhere is an App for smart phones that allows parents to access all information relating to their child/ren such as reports, attendance and much more. It also allows you to update medical information, give permission for excursions, access teacher emails and also receive notifications from the school.

For parents familiar with PAM, the new App works mostly the same as PAM and you can still access PAM through the web site: pam.shmildura.catholic.edu.au, however the app has additional functionality such as Push notifications and the ability to sign in without having to enter your username and password each time.

1. Go to the App Store or Google Play Store and search Simon Everywhere
2. Download and open the App and Allow Notifications
3. Enter your name and phone number and press verify, you will receive a code via SMS
4. Click on 'Add School'
5. Select Sacred Heart Primary School, Mildura - Parent Access
6. Enter your PAM username and password. If you do not know your credentials, please call the school.

7. Click on the Home icon.
   

Simon everywhere works best when notifications are turned on. You can check the notifications setting on your phone to be sure by going to the Settings – Notifications – Then find the Simon Everywhere App.

Sickness at School

Children with severe colds, flus, or other debilitating illnesses must stay at home. Do not send the child if they have:

• Fever: Children with a fever over 38 degrees should stay home.
• Prescribed antibiotics: Keep a child at home for at least 24 hours if prescribed antibiotics for an acute illness.
• Diarrhea: Children with watery stool should return only after being symptom-free for at least 24 hours.
• Vomiting: Children who are vomiting should stay home until at least 24 hours after it has stopped.

After School Care

After School Care is available for Sacred Heart students and is located on our school grounds.  Camp Australia run this program for students from Sacred Heart Primary School and St Paul's Primary School.  The program runs from the Art House building which is located on Olive Grove.

Sacred Heart families can make use of the Camp Australia After-School Care Program that is held on the grounds of Sacred Heart.  The service is available from 3:10pm through to 6pm on school days.  A healthy snack is provided to children.  Registration needs to be done through the Camp Australia website www.campaustralia.com.au .  Further information can be obtained by calling 1300 105 343.  Each day the office will print out a list of students attending Out of Hours School Care and notify the students at the end of the day via the announcements.

Marking Child’s Absence 

1. Log into the App - SimonEverywhere or login via PAM (type pam.shmildura.catholic.edu.au in your address bar).
2. You can either log by clicking on the large blue calendar section that says Parent Notified Absences or you can click on the 3 menu lines at the top right-hand side of your screen. NOTE: On your phone it will appear below your child/ren’s name.
3. You will then need to click the blue + Add Absence button circled below
4. Then select your child, and in reason

If your family is going on an extended family holiday. Please contact the school to inquire about an Student Absence Learning Plan.

School Day

• 8:19 am - Gates open & students can access Courtyard
• 8:34 am - Access Courtyard and play on Oval (classrooms opening optional for teachers)
• 8.49 am - School day begins - classroom open
• 8:55 am - School starts.
• 9.55 am - Brain Break
• 10:55 am - Lunch Play
• 11.25 am - Lunch Eat
• 1.40 pm - Recess 
• 2.10 pm - Recess Finishes
• 3.10 pm - School finishes

Sports Uniform Days

Prep:  

• Cooinda (Mrs O’Callaghan) - Thursday & Friday  
• Wahroonga (Miss Moore) - Thursday & Friday  

Year One: 

• Bundaleer (Mrs Coffey & Mrs Priestley) - Tuesday & Wednesday 
• Karinya (Mrs Groves) - Tuesday & Wednesday 

Year Two:

• Barramunga (Mrs Carmichael) - Tuesday & Friday
• Waminda (Mrs Collins) - Monday & Friday

Year Three:

• Narooma (Mrs Beckwith) - Monday & Tuesday
• Dourim (Mrs Kotsiakos & Mrs Irvin) - Monday & Thursday

Year Four:

• Illawarra (Mrs Willersdorf) - Monday & Tuesday 
• Myalla (Mrs Rowles) - Monday & Wednesday
• Kyema (Mrs Johnson) - Monday & Thursday 

Year Five:  

• Minga (Mrs Deacon) - Monday & Wednesday 
• Eumeralla (Mrs Gunn & Mrs Pacher) - Monday & Wednesday

Year Six:  

• Amaroo (Mrs Campbell) - Tuesday & Friday 
• Yongana (Mrs Zaxos) - Monday & Friday
• Mootwingee (Mrs Thompson) - Thursday & Friday

Term Dates