ISSUE 20: 30th July 2021

Principal / Executive Leadership Team

Dear Parents, Guardians, Students & Staff

It is great to have everyone back at school.  I know that these continued lockdowns have been extremely hard on a lot of families emotionally, mentally, physically and financially.  However, I think that if there is anything good that has come out of this it is the resilience of our children to keep bouncing back and the fact that so many people have been checking in on each other.

Once again we would like to take this opportunity to thank parents for your support of your children’s education by engaging in Remote Learning with enthusiasm and determination! We know it is not easy! Your support makes the difficult task of creating learning online completely worthwhile for our teachers, who work tirelessly for your children whether they are learning at school or from home.  I am very thankful for the very positive feedback we have received in regards to the approaches we used with our Remote Learning this time around.  Now more than ever it is important that your children are at school everyday. We have been putting in a lot of additional support across the school for the children in learning both academically and socially.

Our Sacred Heart Athletics Carnival will be held at the Aerodrome Ovals this Wednesday.  Unfortunately due to restrictions related to COVID-19, parents will be unable to attend this event.  School Guidelines for events like this state that: ‘spectators are not allowed (excluding people necessary for events such as teachers and supervising staff).’ Our decision to go ahead was a very difficult decision to make as this event is a fantastic community event and is attended by many spectators.  With the uncertainty of the time we feel it is vital that our students get the opportunity to participate in a special event like this while they can.  We don’t want students to miss out again in 2021.

The event requires a COVID Safe Plan and we are required to have a COVIDSafe Marshall. We are asking for your cooperation and support in regards to the student drop off & pick up.  Please be aware of the following:

• All students will be dropped off at the Aerodrome Ovals on Wednesday morning between 8am & 8.40am.  This will be done via a Kiss & Go set up, where parents will need to remain in their car.
• All students will be picked up by their parents at the conclusion of the day between 3pm & 3.40pm.  Again, this will be done via a Kiss & Go set up, where parents will need to remain in their car.
• Entry for drop off & pick up will be off Flora Avenue (entry) and exiting via Eleventh St for all parents.  Signs will be displayed at the entry point off Flora Avenue.

Athletics Presentations will be done at school after restrictions have lifted and when we are able to hold School Assemblies again.

We do thank parents for your cooperation in following current COVIDSafe guidelines.  The following restrictions will be in place until further notice:

• Parents are able to enter school grounds for drop off and pickup.
• Parents are expected to wear a face mask and sign in via a QR register when you enter school grounds.
• We are currently unable to have Parent Helpers/Volunteers in the classroom. 
• We are currently unable to hold events like School Assemblies, School Masses etc 

The Feast of St Mary Mackillop is on Sunday, 8th August.  In past years this has been celebrated in the parish community with Mass and a dinner afterwards.  Due to restrictions this won’t be happening this year.

Please note that the Year Two Sleepover has been moved from Thursday, 12th August to Thursday, 4th November.

We were scheduled to have our next Parents and Friends meeting next Tuesday 3rd August at 6pm.  Due to the many restrictions in place in regards to what can and can’t happen at school we have rescheduled this to Tuesday 17th August at 6pm.  Our next School Advisory Council meeting will occur on Tuesday 10th August at 5:15pm.   These meetings may need to occur via video conference.

A reminder for all families to follow the rules and regulations for our school Kiss & Go to ensure the safety of all families.  Please note, that parents are not permitted to drop students off at the Olive Grove gate in the morning. 

We have some more exciting baby news to share.  Bianca Niutta & her husband Scott welcomed their baby boy Theodore Banjo Anstis on 27th July.  Congratulations to you both.  

God Bless,

Mark Gibson

Religious Education News

Gospel Reflection: Waste not, want not

When they were satisfied, Jesus told his disciples, ‘Gather up the fragments left over, so that nothing may be lost.’  John 6:12

In a world where we produce enough food to feed everyone, up to 811 million people — more than 10 per cent of the world's population — still go to bed hungry each night. 272 million people are already or are at risk of becoming acutely food-insecure due to the aggravating effect of the COVID-19 crisis. 

While there are many fronts on which this battle is faced, Sunday’s gospel reading highlights a Western issue that can be easily avoided, wastefulness. Wasting food is the equivalent of depriving others of the food they need to survive. “Wasted food is food taken away from others,” Aloysius John, Caritas Internationalis’ secretary general noted.

According to the Department of Agriculture, Water and Environment, each year Australians waste around 7.3 million tonnes of food – this wastage equals about 300kg per person or one in five bags of groceries. Food waste accounts for more than five per cent of Australia's greenhouse gas emissions.

The World Wildlife Federation suggest the following simple ways each of us can reduce food waste:

1. Check the fridge before you shop and only buy what you need.
2. Plan your meals. It saves time, money and reduces food waste.
3. Check date labels and know the difference between:
1. ‘Use by’- food has to go.
2. ‘Best before’- food is at its best and can be eaten after this date as long as it has been stored correctly.
3. ‘Display until’- a stock control message for retailers.
4. Use leftovers and be creative with your next meal.
5. Ask for smaller portions or a ‘family bag’ when eating out.

These can be our simple “loaves and fishes” that can ensure that nothing may be lost.

Ryan O'Callaghan (Religious Education Leader)

Learning Diversity & Wellbeing News

You may already be aware of Maggie Dent - Australian parenting author, educator and speaker. She has written a number of books, holds and speaks at events in Australia, and appears on radio and television. Parental As Anything is Maggie’s latest publication - a commonsense guide to raising happy, healthy kids. 

Maggie’s website is full of very useful information and advice for teachers and parents. If you have some time, it is certainly worth a look. 

Learning & Teaching News

Nothing to report.

General News

CSEF application deadline extension for 2021

The DET has extended the deadline for schools to submit CSEF applications.

The CSEF helps eligible families to cover the costs of school trips, camps and sporting activities.

Families with a valid means-tested concession card, such as a Veteran Gold Card, Centrelink Health Care Card or Pensioner Concession Card, as well as temporary foster parents, are eligible to apply.  There is also a special consideration category for asylum seeker and refugee families.

The means-tested concession cards must be valid on any of the first days of Term 1 (27 January), Term 2 (19 April) or Term 3 (12 July).

Please complete the attached form, or contact the office if you are eligible and have not already applied for CSEF this year.

Australian Parents Council Newsletter

The latest edition of the Australian Parents Council newsletter is available.

Tokyo Olympics

With the Olympics underway, we continue to wish all of the Australian team well in their events and pray that everyone remains safe as the world has come together for the first time since the beginning of the pandemic. 

Pope Francis has repeatedly underlined the educational potential of sport for young people, the importance of “putting oneself on the line” and the merit of fair play, as well as the value of a defeat, because the greatness of a person is more evident when he or she falls rather than in a moment of triumph, both in sport and in life.

At the beginning of the year, the Pope remarked: “Victory gives you a thrill that is difficult to describe, but there’s also something marvellous about a defeat ... Wonderful victories can be born from certain defeats because you unleash the desire for redemption after identifying the mistake. I would even add that winners don’t know what they’re missing out on.”

Let us hope though that our Aussie team does exceptionally well and that they "don't know what they are missing out on."

Prep Unit News

Welcome back to school! A BIG thank you to parents/caregivers for the support, time and patience during the lastest lockdown… we greatly appreciate all your efforts. We are super proud of our prep students and all the wonderful work they achieved online. It has been wonderful to have the kids back these last 3 days! Attached are some photos of the preps learning from home.

This Friday your child will be bringing home their semester 2 books to be contacted. Please contact in CLEAR contact and don’t forget the READING DIARY as well.

Junior Unit News

We warmly welcomed our students back to school this week and are eager to do additional practice for our Athletics day which is happening next Wednesday and ask that our students wear their PE uniform on Monday 2nd August, please.

Thank you parents/caregivers for the support, time, energy and patience that you have shown during this recent lockdown. We appreciate that the past few days have been different for everyone and are incredibly grateful that you were able to access the remote learning portal.

Today, your child/ren has brought home their Term 3 Diary and Semester 2 workbooks to be contacted. Please use CLEAR contacts only and have them returned by Monday 2nd August as we will need to use these on this day.

Middle Unit News

Welcome back to school! The Middle Unit Teacher would like to express our gratitude to families for their understanding, flexibility and support during the recent period of Remote Learning. All children are to be commended for their positivity and persistence shown.

In preparation for our upcoming Year 3 camp to Swan Hill, we are asking parents to please email their child’s teacher by Friday 6th of August with any of the following information (if relevant for your child): any medical needs not listed on PAM, any medications your child will need administered, if your child gets car sick. Further information regarding the finer details of the camp will be provided in the coming days.  

Senior Unit News

Nothing to report.

Student Leadership Groups

Nothing to report.

Library News

Scholastic Book Club

Issue #5 has been sent off and when orders arrive will be distributed to students. If there are ever any issues with Book Club, please email me so I can help you out.

Week 4 Library timetable:

Monday: Year 5, 6 & Bundaleer

Tuesday: Minga, Year 2

Wednesday: 

Thursday: Prep, Amaroo, Yongana, Karinya, Barramunga,  Eumeralla

Friday: 

As we have been on lockdown for two weeks, the majority of children will now have overdue books. Please ensure they bring all their books (in their library bags!) to school on the appropriate day. Children can also borrow before school and at lunchtimes Tues-Fri.

Future event: Children’s Book Week Awards 2021

This year the theme of CBCA Book week is “Old Worlds, New Worlds, Other Worlds”. At this stage Sacred Heart are planning on participating in activities during the Nation-wide celebrations from August 21st - 27th. During this week, we are planning a dress up day - staff and students will be able to dress up as any character from an ‘Old World, New World, or Other World”. The ideas are endless! More details will be sent out shortly.

Weekly Awards

Students of the Week 

Congratulations to the following students who received a Student of the Week Award in Week One of Term Three (due to the lockdown we are unable to present these awards).

Ray White Awards

Congratulations to the following students who received a Ray White Award this week.