ISSUE 16: 18th June 2021

Principal / Executive Leadership Team

Dear Parents, Guardians, Students & Staff

May your love and light shine in and through me today

In a way that no mask can hide.

May my eyes dance with the laughter and joy

Replacing my hidden smile.

May my actions of care and concern

Speak louder than my muffled voice ever could.

And may the generosity of my heart

Radiate out through who I am

And how I respond to the world around me

So that others may not see my mask

But your image shining out

Moving in and through me today. 

Amen

The students’ School Reports are ready for you to view today via your PAM account. The written report is one part of the broader assessment and reporting regime at Sacred Heart along with your child’s Seesaw work samples and the Parent-Teacher meetings.  These three elements aim to provide you with an accurate picture of your child’s progress as well as insights into the content of classroom curriculum.  The written report provides a record of achievement standards as well as a description of the curriculum outcomes that each child has met.  Seesaw is a collection of work samples that provide examples of student learning.  The Parent-Teacher meeting allows for teachers and parents to discuss each child’s progress and identify opportunities for future learning.  Mrs Thompson, Mrs Deacon & myself have read the reports and agree that the students should be congratulated for their excellent progress and effort so far this year.  We would also like to commend the teachers for their diligence in preparing the reports for you which paint a very positive picture of school life here at Sacred Heart.  Please contact the school office if you have any questions regarding School Reports and Parent-Teacher meetings.

COVID Restrictions Update - Thanks to everyone for cooperating with COVID restrictions.  The main points to come from our latest guidlines are summarised below:

• QR code check ins will be be required for all parents who enter buildings when on the school site, ie - Parent/Teacher meetings, Classroom Helper, Canteen Helper 
• QR code check ins will not be required for parents who come onto school grounds for drop off or pick up, but do not enter buildings.
  

Parent-Teacher meetings are being held at school this Tuesday & Wednesday afternoon beginning at 2.30pm.  Teachers will meet with parents in your child’s classroom.  Please be aware that interviews are 10 minutes in duration and we ask that both parents and teachers adhere to these times as best they can.  Bookings are still open via SIMON (PAM).  Please note that these will be closed at 10am on Tuesday.  You will need to contact the office if you wish to make a booking after this time.  Please sign in via the QR code check ins when you arrive for your meeting/s. 

We are pleased to announce that Mrs Sam Lowe has been appointed to a part-time Wellbeing/Visual Arts role working on Tuesday, Wednesday & Friday beginning next term through to the end of the 2021 school year.  We are very grateful for the work Mrs Lowe has done throughout this term (teaching Visual Arts to all classes) and we look forward to utilising her skills with specific students and small groups beginning next term.  In addition to this, Miss Clare Taylor has been appointed to the role of Performing Arts teacher from the beginning of term three to the end of the 2021 school year.  Clare will work in a full time capacity teaching Performing Arts to all 17 classes as well as providing support with Junior Unit Social, Choir and End of Year Concert.  Clare brings a passion for dance, music & drama and has a range of educational experiences in various Sunraysia schools over the past 18 years.  We look forward to welcoming Clare at the beginning of term three.

Next week is Mrs Willis’ last at Sacred Heart before making the move to Bendigo.  We wish Jacqui, her husband Will and children Jed, Tom & George all the best with the move.  We thank Jacqui for her wonderful contribution to Sacred Heart over the past nine years which have included classroom teacher roles in various year levels (began in 2013), maternity leave, periods of part time work in learning support roles/special programs and as a parent.  May God bless you and your family Jacqui.  Likewise, we wish Ms Niutta and her husband Scott all the best with the upcoming birth of their first child.  We thank Bianca for the great work she has done in the Senior Unit over the past two years and we will hopefully see her back in some capacity down the track.  We pray that all goes well Bianca and enjoy the exciting times ahead.

We have some students and families that are leaving Sacred Heart at the end of this term.  We wish the Henry (Trini), Willis (Jed) & Vieira (Raquel) families all the best with their future endeavours and thank these families for their contributions to our school.   

We welcome Molly Kalms to Sacred Heart next week.  Molly is a Year 10 student at Trinity Lutheran College and is joining us for a week of Work Experience.  

Our annual Sacred Heart Feast Day will be held next Friday.  We look forward to coming together for Mass, Family Group activities and enjoying our Feast Day lunch.  See further details about our Feast Day in the Religious Education section.  Please be aware of the following: 

• All students are required to wear their Sacred Heart sports uniform.
• There will be no canteen available next Friday.
  
• A hamburger lunch & ice cream will be provided for all students.
• Any students not wanting to eat a hamburger for lunch will need to bring their own packed lunch.
• Being the last day of term students are welcome to bring in any ‘Special Interests’ to play with ie - footy cards, Pokemon cards, fidget toys like 'Pop its'.
• Our traditional staff v students game will be held at lunch time.

  
  

The final day of Program Support Group Meetings (PSG) is being held at school this Monday, 21st June.  Parents have been notified of their child’s scheduled PSG meeting date/time via SIMON. Each student's PLP will be attached to an email noting the date/time of meeting. Meetings that have not been scheduled last Tuesday or this Monday will be held as part of the Parent/Teacher Interview process on Tuesday & Wednesday this week.  Parents are expected to attend these meetings.  

Parents of students who have qualified for the Region Cross Country, please note that the date has changed yet again.  This will now be held in the first week of Term Three on Tuesday, 13th July.  Please refer to the SIMON Calendar for all up to date events.

Year Five parents please note that the St Joseph’s College Visit scheduled for Tuesday, 22nd June has been postponed to Term Three.  A new date will be confirmed soon and communicated to families. 

Thanks to Cooinda for hosting today’s Assembly.  Everyone did a great job for their first time up on the stage!  Wahroonga will be hosting our final Assembly for the term, which will be held in the Stadium at the earlier time of 1.30pm.  

Term Two concludes next Friday at the earlier time of 2.10pm.  Term Three commences for all staff and students on Monday, 12th July.  

In God we trust.

Ryan O’Callaghan (Deputy Principal)

Religious Education News

FEAST OF THE SACRED HEART OF JESUS - POOR MAN’S MASS

Friday 25th June, 2021

Sacred Heart Church

9:30am

Unfortunately, due to COVID restrictions parents & caregivers will be unable to attend this Mass

Donations of gold coins, blankets and clean, warm clothing (in good condition) are being sought.  Your child can bring these items on the day or leave them in the classroom any time prior to the Mass. A representative from the Society of St. Vincent de Paul will be attending Mass and will accept our donations; these will then be distributed among those in need within our community.  Many thanks in anticipation of your generosity.

Lunch will be provided for all children to make our Feast Day extra special.

Lunch will consist of hamburgers (bread roll and meat patty, with choice of lettuce, tomato and cheese, with or without sauce). If your child does not want a hamburger for lunch they will need to bring a packed one as there will be NO CANTEEN on this day.

Eumeralla will attend this Wednesday’s Parish Mass beginning at 9.30am.

Ryan O'Callaghan (Religious Education Leader)

Learning Diversity & Wellbeing News

Thank you to the parents who attended the first day of our Program Support Group (PSG) meetings on Tuesday of this week. The second day of meetings will be held on Monday 21st June. Parents of those students who require a PSG meeting have been notified via email. Please confirm that you can attend the meeting either by contacting the office or replying to the email sent. Meetings will be held in the boardroom of the school. Please enter via the school’s office. 

As mentioned in a previous newsletter, the Program Support Group (PSG) brings together key stakeholders (parents, teachers, allied health professionals, the student’s support team, etc.) who have relevant knowledge of, and responsibility for, the student. The PSG, via the PSG meeting, will:

• collaboratively establish shared goals for the student’s social, emotional and educational development
• ensure that SMART goals are measurable and achievable, ongoing and future-focused
• plan reasonable adjustments to enable the student to access and participate as outlined in their Personalised Learning Plan (PLP) and/or Behaviour Support Plan (BSP)
• provide the opportunity for the student and student’s parents to work collaboratively with school personnel and allied health professionals in goal setting and planning
• monitor student progress at PSG meetings at least once per term and adapt goals and make adjustments accordingly.

There are four levels of adjustment which are based on the professional judgement of teachers and school teams and are reflected in a student’s Personalised Learning Plan. Each adjustment level is provided for students as part of day to day practice. Information regarding the four levels of adjustments will follow in next week’s newsletter. 

Learning & Teaching News

Sacred Heart Environmental Committee (SHEC) was established early in the 2000's as a special interest group to assist those who needed extending and development of their special gifts and talents.  From there it has continued to be a special interest group involving various students from years four, five and six who have an enthusiasm and desire to help the environment with student led initiatives to promote our school to become more sustainable.  SHEC works as a team to plan and implement activities and resources to help the environment, specifically biodiversity, energy, waste and water. Since early 2000, SHEC has been involved in the Kids Teaching Kids Program (KTK) which is about students taking on the task of teaching their peers and raising awareness amongst their peers on local and global issues. Over the years SHEC has also been presenters and participants in Student led conferences such as the MDBC International River Health conferences and the Melbourne Water Conference.

This year SHEC is researching, planning and intending to deliver various interactive, engaging and informative workshops for their peers during Kids Teaching Kids week based on the theme “ Don’t be mean … keep the world clean!”  SHEC will be encouraging their peers to take positive actions to reduce rubbish in our school. SHEC intend to challenge their peers to reduce the use of plastics and to bring rubbish free lunches.

SHEC  students are working under the guidance of Sacred Heart staff member Rosemarie Zalec who has had  a long association with the KTK program and SHEC as a special interest group.

General News

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

Well done Cooinda on your assembly presentation. You were all awesome! Our show and tell presentations were fantastic this week. It was obvious that there was a lot of time put into preparing the students at home.

Junior Unit News

Have you ever made a mistake? We sure have! This is the message we have been focusing on over the past week. We have looked at what we have learned when we have made a mistake and the possible ways that we can bounce back after making them. Students have role played scenarios, looked at stories and have been able to relate emotionally to making mistakes.

We have reinforced ‘That it’s ok to make mistakes. It’s how I learn’. Maybe your child/ren could share their insights with you? 

Next week we farewell Jed Willis and Raquel Vieira as they set off on their new adventures. We feel blessed to have met these little people and have enjoyed their company, energy and insights throughout the year. We wish Jed, Raquel and their families an exciting and prosperous journey. We will miss you!

Middle Unit News

The Middle Unit is undertaking our Science Immersion Days on the topic of Beneath Our Feet . Your child will have brought home a note entailing some items students are required to bring in for these days. Each student requires:

• About 1 cup of soil in a jar that can hold about 400mL of water (please label this with your child’s name, date of collection and where they found it.) 
• Some different types of rocks (please label this with your child’s name, date of collection and where they found it.) 

Year 3 need to have this at school on Monday the 26th of June.

Year 4 needed to have this at school today. If they did not, please ensure this is at school on Monday the 26th of June.

Senior Unit News

Nothing to report this week.

Student Leadership Groups

The SLT are slowly working on revising our current Child Friendly, Child Safe Policy. The team will meet to begin the process of putting each of the seven standards in their own words next week. Once complete, each standard will be presented to the rest of the school community. 

Library News

Scholastic Book Club Issue #4 orders have been handed out this week to children. Unfortunately there were a few books that are on backorder. Children who had these books were given a sticker sheet from Scholastic,  and will hopefully receive their order as soon as possible. 

Did you know that our school library is named after Kathleen Hill, past teacher and Principal? Sr Kathleen was the Principal of Sacred Heart from 1974-76 and she had an extra special interest in developing children’s skills in reading and writing.

In 1974 when St Paul’s opened, half of our school community enrolled there which meant we had lots of spare rooms at Sacred Heart for a library! Sr Kathleen found resources and supplies around the district and all the books that had been previously stored in each different classroom were brought together into one collection. This was a massive job to undertake. Luckily she had a great vision for the future of our library! If you haven’t been in here yet, please feel free to pop in one afternoon at pick up time to check out the amazing Kathleen Hill Library!

Library Days Week 10

Monday: Year 5 & 6, Bundaleer

Tuesday: Minga 

Wednesday: Nangare, Mootwingee

Thursday: Preps, Karinta, Amaroo, Yongana, Eumeralla

Weekly Awards

Students of the Week

Congratulations to the following students on receiving a Student of the Week award this week.

My New Gallery

Ray White Award Positive Behaviour Award

Congratulations to the students below for receiving a Ray White award this week.