ISSUE 26: 16th August, 2024

Principal Message

Gospel Reflection

In this Sunday’s Gospel, Jesus invites us to reflect on the true meaning of nourishment—not just physical, but spiritual. He presents Himself as the "living bread," encouraging us to seek sustenance in our faith and relationship with God. This message reminds us of the importance of feeding our souls through prayer, community, and acts of love and kindness. As we continue our daily routines, let’s take a moment to nourish our spirits and embrace the love that God offers us each day.

What’s on Next Week (Term 3 Week 6)

Coming up in Term 3, Week 7

Dear Parents, Guardians, Staff & Students,

Our Year Three students had a fantastic two-day camp in Swan Hill, where they displayed excellent behaviour and participation in all activities. A big thank you to the supervising and Year 3 teachers for their organisation and coordination. Well done to our girls and boys Football teams who competed at the School Sports Victoria Region Football in Swan Hill on Tuesday, with all teams winning games and showing strong performances. Our Year 1 & 2 students also enjoyed working with Jane from Bunnings on Tuesday to create a special project.

Book Week Dress Up

This week, we celebrate CBCA Book Week with the theme "Reading is Magic." On Friday, students are encouraged to dress up as their favourite book character or a theme-inspired costume. We’ll have a parade at 9am, and students can bring their favourite book to share with their classmates. Throughout the week, classes will participate in various Book Week activities, including a video conference incursion on Friday.

School Sports Victoria District Basketball & Softball

We wish our boys' and girls' basketball and softball teams the best of luck at Monday's District competitions. Basketball will be at the Mildura Sporting Precinct from 10am, and softball at the Old Aerodrome Ovals from 10:15 am. Good luck! 

Kinder Visits

This week, staff will visit Kinder and Childcare Centres to meet our 2025 Foundation students.

Magpies Swooping

Please be aware that a magpie has been reported swooping along Twelfth Street, between the school and Deakin Avenue. We advise families to take caution when walking in this area, especially with children. If possible, consider an alternate route to avoid the magpie during this season. Stay safe!

Bike Locks

Please remind your children to lock their bikes and scooters securely to the bike racks during school hours. This helps ensure their belongings are safe and minimises the risk of loss or theft. Thank you for your cooperation!

School Closure Day

Please be advised that Monday, 2nd September will be a School Closure Day. This day will be dedicated to enhancing the wellbeing of our staff and students. Thank you for your understanding and support.

Athletics Carnival

The Sacred Heart Athletics Carnival will take place at the Aerodrome Ovals on Wednesday, 28th 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.

Names on Jumpers

Please ensure all jumpers are clearly labelled with your child's name to prevent them from being lost. This helps save money and makes it easier to return misplaced items. Thank you for your cooperation!

God Bless!

Mr Mark Gibson

2024 Dates of Interest

Religious Education

Sacrament of First Eucharist (Year 4 & Above)

Enrolment forms for this Sacrament have been sent home with all Year 4 students (light blue form).  Any students in Year 5 or 6 who missed out on doing this Sacrament previously are welcome to get a form from the office.  Please note that the form must be filled in and payment made at the Parish Office (257 Eleventh St) by 4pm Tuesday 27th August.  The Parent Information session will be held at the church on Wednesday, 28th August @ 7pm.  Please contact Carmel at the Parish Office or Ryan O’Callaghan if you have any questions regarding this Sacrament. 

Parent Information Session - Wednesday, 28th August @ 7pm

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

Sacrament of Reconciliation (Year 2 & Above)

Parent Information Session - Wednesday, 16th October @ 7pm

Celebration of Sacrament - Wednesday 27th November

SOCIAL JUSTICE

Soup Kitchen:

The new Soup Kitchen roster from August 2024 - March 2025 has come out and apart from our normal Monday nights, Sacred Heart families have been allocated some Wednesday nights as well. This is due to a lack of volunteers/coordinators across the board. 

Thankfully Sacred Heart school children and families have been incredibly generous and keen with their volunteering time so far this year for which Fr Matt and the parish are very grateful for.

I am looking for any new families who are able to assist in this important Social Justice initiative, on either a Monday or Wednesday with participation being voluntary but requiring a parent to accompany each child who is rostered on for the setting up, serving and clean up shift. Alternatively as a family, you may wish to help out with the catering/cooking. This involves being responsible for preparing and delivering to the Monaghan Centre at 5pm one of the following: meat, potatoes, mixed vegetables, garlic bread or dessert for approx 26 guests. 

Three students (and parents) are required per Monday evening for serving and would be rostered along with Sacred Heart staff. Two students (and parents) are required per Wednesday evening.

If you and your child are interested in being included on our ‘Soup Kitchen’ roster and have not already filled in a form (at the start of the year) or are now able to help on a Wednesday night, please complete the form sent home as a hard copy and return it to the school office or Barramunga so I can set up a roster for the remainder of 2024.

Many Thanks in anticipation

Chris Carmichael

Shared Table:

Here is the latest edition of The Shared Table newsletter prepared by Fr Michael McKinnon in Yanaoca, Peru for you to read about the projects he is working on and supporting through our Mission donations from 2023.

Father's Day Stall

Our Father’s Day Stall will be held on Friday 30^th August and students will be able to purchase a gift from the stall for $5. Parents can make payment through CDF Pay (which has been set up) or some may choose to bring in cash. Children will come as a class to the stall and choose from a range of items that will be available. If you are free and would like to help on the stall between 8.30am – 11.30am please contact the office and leave your contact details and the time you are available.  All money raised is used to purchase resources for your children.

Learning and Teaching

DIBELS -Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills.

Three times a year (February, July and November)  all students across the school complete DIBELS assessments. These assessments are short fluency measures that are used to detect risk and monitor the development of early literacy and early reading skills. The data from these assessments informs adjustments to whole class teaching, interventions and referrals. We monitor all students' progress and their rate of growth.

Foundation News

This week in Prep we have been having lots of fun measuring and comparing objects that are heavy and light, learnt more new digraphs in Literacy, have been training hard for Athletics day in Sport and we have read more stories from the old testament in the bible. We warmly welcome our new student Aalam Bhullar who has started this week in Wahroonga. As the weather begins to warm up please remember to make sure jumpers are named. We are finding a lot of jumpers but are unable to return them to their owners as they aren’t named.

Some reminders for next week:

• Next week's Show & Tell topic is ‘something you have made’ please support your child to bring something in so they are able to participate in this activity. Make sure you practise with your child at home on what they will share with the class. 
• Friday is ‘Book Week’ dress up day…. the students are encouraged to come dressed up as their favourite book character.

This term we have the following dates of interest:

23rd August- Book Week Dress Up 

28th August- Athletics Carnival at Aero Ovals

2nd September- School Closure Day

Year One News

We have had a fantastic week of learning and fun in Year One this week. We can’t believe it is almost week 6 of the term! We would like to thank Bunnings for coming to school this week to help us create a special Father’s/Special Person’s Day craft piece for Father’s Day 2024. 

The Year One’s enjoyed learning about the artist, Claude Monet and his impressionist art this week. They were inspired by his work and beautifully created a watercolour painting with a collage of water lilies. 

We are so impressed to see conjunctions such as ‘because, but, so’ added to writing to expand sentences as well as students reading suffix words including -ing, -ed, s. 

The students are becoming skip counting experts! As a whole we have been practising skip counting by 2s, 5s and 10s to 100 and some students are challenging themselves by skip counting by 3s, 4s and 11s. This is a great counting strategy that can be practised at home or in the car.

As we conclude our studies on Chemical Science, the students have learnt that objects are made of different materials that can be physically changed in size, shape or colour. Elastic materials can be changed by bending, stretching and twisting. If the temperature is cold enough, most materials will freeze and that when they are frozen they can change. When heat is added to materials, the temperature rises and they become warmer, melt or become harder. Keep an eye on Seesaw for your child’s learning tasks on Chemical Science. Our Inquiry focus for the rest of Term 3 is Geography with the focus questions: What are the different features of places, how can we care for them, and how do places change over time?

Upcoming important dates: 

23rd August- Book Week Dress Up “Reading is Magic!” 

28th August- Athletics Carnival at Aero Ovals

2nd September- School Closure Day

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Year Two News

Barramunga Assembly: Mrs Carmichael was incredibly proud of all the Barramunga children with their commitment to learn their reading for our class Assembly today. All children used the microphone well and delivered their reading fluently and clearly. The class did an awesome job learning the actions to our “In the Footsteps of Jesus” song and performed like SUPER STARS on the stage. Congratulations to all children on a SUPER DOOPER job today in front of the whole school and many parents. Thanks also to the parents who supplied our yummy afternoon tea to share.

Waminda Assembly: Will take place on Friday 13th September. 

As a conclusion to our Science Unit on Forces & Energy, yesterday we made boats out of foil to determine the best shape for a boat to float. In our previous lessons we made and tested a Toy Car Launcher to investigate what happens when we change the strength of a force.

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Year Three News

The Year Three’s have absolutely loved their first school camp! Students enjoyed exploring the Swan Hill Pioneer Settlement, going to the Light and Sound Show and loved their dinner at the Murray Downs Resort.

Students should be commended on representing our school with pride and following our school values of being respectful, responsible and safe.

No doubt, students will enjoy a well earned rest over the weekend!

Sarah, Emma and Maree.

Year Four News

It is with great pleasure that we announce the following students as their respective Semester Two Class Captains;

Kyema- Lily Colbert

Myalla- Emmy Guthrie

Illawarra- Jack Milton.

These students will be presented with their badges at a future assembly. We also thank the outgoing captains for their efforts in Semester One; Hamish Petrie, Dawson Boake and Baylee Joyce. These students will also be presented with their certificates at a future assembly.

Next week we look forward to a visit from the Melbourne Renegades. A cricket Big Bash team. The students will be introduced to the players and be involved in player Q&A. There will be some challenges as well as some opportunity for player engagement.

We also look forward to ‘Book Week’ where we will be reading a lot of the books nominated for awards. We can’t wait to check out the costumes! 

Dates to keep in mind;

21st August-Melbourne Renegades visit

23rd August- Book Week Dress Up “Reading is Magic!” 

28th August- Athletics Carnival at Aero Ovals

2nd September- School Closure Day

Natalee, Jaimi, Cathryn

Year Five News

This week in literacy, students have been working on creating a ‘magical’  narrative in readiness for book week. After spending so much time on sentence level techniques and skills we are absolutely loving the creative flare our students are putting into their narratives. 

Students continue to enjoy their hands-on experimentation in Science, investigating the properties of liquids. We urge you to ask them about the word ‘viscosity’ to test their knowledge and let them impress you in their learning! 

Students in Grade Five continue to impress us with their respect and acts of responsibility and safety. 

Upcoming Dates - 

21st August -  Melbourne Renegades Visit

23rd August- Book Week Dress Up “Reading is Magic!” 

28th August- Athletics Carnival at Aero Ovals

2nd September- School Closure Day

Year Six News

Graduation preparation will begin soon. We kindly ask that all students who did not begin their primary schooling at Sacred Heart either bring in a Prep photo to school or email one to lthompson@shmildura.catholic.edu.au. 

Melbourne Camp preparations are well under way. Information regarding what students need to bring will be sent home in the coming weeks. Please ensure your child’s contact and medical details are up to date on PAM. 

Looking ahead:

23rd August- Book Week Dress Up “Reading is Magic!” 

28th August- Athletics Carnival at Aero Ovals

2nd September- School Closure Day

Library News

Next week we will be celebrating CBCA Book Week. This year the theme is ‘READING IS MAGIC.’

Classes will be taking the time to read many of the shortlisted award books and enjoy doing fun book related activities.

Many classes have made a good start on the Book Week Colouring Competition that were distributed to classes last week. These will be displayed on the library windows and judged next week. Entries are due this Friday 16th August.

Next Friday, August 23rd is Book Week dress-up or casual clothes day. 

We encourage students to dress up as their favourite book character, or a Book Week inspired costume related to the theme- ‘Reading is Magic’. Students are encouraged to bring their favourite book to school and share why with their classmates. 

Need some ideas? Check out the images below.

On Friday 23rd August, classes will participate in a Live streamed performance titled ‘MAYBE A MIRACLE!’ for our concluding Book Week day.

MAYBE A MIRACLE! is a new educational musical adventure from Perform Education and touring schools in partnership with The Children’s Book Council of Australia, to celebrate Children’s Book Week 2024 and the theme ‘Reading is Magic’. 

MAYBE A MIRACLE! is a joyful leap into the world of imagination that books inspire every individual to be part of, while featuring a selection of the 2024 CBCA Short Listed books to help point the way.

Scholastic Book Club News:

Orders for the Scholastic Book Club Issue #5 are due to arrive very soon. Items are delivered to SHPS and given to students via their classroom teachers. 

Occasionally, some orders may be on backorder. If this is the case, students receive a small gift with a note from Scholastic Australia regarding the backorder’s new estimated arrival date.

If you have questions or issues with Book Club, please don’t hesitate to contact me rather than directly messaging Scholastic.

Thank you for supporting the students’ reading welfare and the SHPS library.

Mrs Irvin at mirvin@shmildura.catholic.edu.au

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