ISSUE 24: 27th August 2021

Principal / Executive Leadership Team

Dear Parents, Guardians, Students & Staff

Thank you for all your support during this return to remote and flexible learning. We truly have appreciated your cooperation  and  ‘can do’ attitude from parents. Considering the circumstances, the sudden switch from our normal way of learning to transitioning to a contact restricted classroom environment at home was not easy for many of us. As Principal, I am very proud of the way we managed this challenge. 

I would also like to thank our amazing team of teachers who have worked very hard this week to make improvements to how we deliver our Remote Learning.  Many changes have occurred including live teaching via Zoom, more availability of teachers to children via Zoom and interventions continuing for students who have been missing out.  These seem to be working very well as we strive to improve how we deliver our Remote Learning each time.

Remote Learning continues for all schools in Regional Victoria until Thursday.  We are hopeful that school will return to normal face to face learning next Friday, however there are no guarantees with this and we will wait to hear what the government decides. We will continue to provide supervision for children whose parents are essential workers or students who are deemed vulnerable. Those deemed essential workers need to provide the school with an Authorised Work Permit. If your child will be attending school during this restricted period, please fill out this form: https://forms.gle/VqpP8TSA6mKGugyaA  This form can be filled out multiple times but for the next day it will close off at 1pm on the day beforehand. This assists us with our planning.   If our lockdown period extends we will add more dates to this form.

Unfortunately, we will need to cancel our Father’s Day stall that was scheduled to occur on Friday 3rd September.  Due to the uncertainty of restrictions and the huge amount of work Lauren Milton, Jodie McInerney and our Father’s Day Stall volunteers need to spend preparing to sell items we have had to cancel this event. 

Program Support Group (PSG) Meetings are being held from Monday to Thursday this week via Zoom.  Mrs Deacon and your child’s classroom teacher will facilitate the meetings.     

In consultation with Father Matthew, we have decided to cancel this year’s Grandparents & Special Friends Day due to restrictions and the uncertainty that we are currently experiencing.  With a major event like this we can’t continue to postpone and hope that it can be held at a later date.  We are better to make a call now and look to reschedule other smaller events that are listed below:

Events that will be held at a later date:

• Junior Unit Social - new date TBC
• Book Week Dress Up Day - new date TBC
• Region Netball & Soccer - new date TBC
• Division Golf - new date TBC
• Police in Schools (Year Six) - new date TBC  
• First Eucharist Parent Information Session - new date TBC
• Division Mini Olympics - new date TBC
• Year One Stayback - new date TBC

After consultation with staff, School Advisory Council and Parents & Friends members we are considering changing how our technology provision currently operates at Sacred Heart.  Below we have information about this proposal and are seeking feedback as we are currently finalising school fees for 2022 and we need to purchase devices in the coming weeks. We invite any interested parents who want to find out more about this proposal and to provide feedback to a Zoom Meeting on Monday 30th August at 4pm. To access this meeting please click on the link here. 

Technology Levy Discussion Zoom 

God Bless!

Mr Mark Gibson

School Advisory Council (SAC) Report

Tuesday 17th August

We had a productive third SAC Meeting for 2021 with all available members attending.  With 2022 planning well underway the council members provided advice and feedback to assist the Leadership Team in their decision making.

At the meeting we had received correspondence from a parent looking at a uniform material that is better suited for skin sensitivities and is a more environmentally friendly product.  Members looked at a sample and felt that it was well worth investigating.  The school will talk to Totally Workwear about the possibilities of using this or a similar fabric.  This will be discussed further at our next meeting.

We looked at pictures of a possible BBQ Trailer that we could use to assist with catering of events such as our Shrove Tuesday or Mother’s and Father’s Day Breakfasts.  The members supported the  purchase of this trailer that has two BBQ’s on the trailer and is worth $12,630.  This purchase will come from our Fundraising Levy that families contribute as part of our school fees.

To assist in our decision making for 2022 advice and thoughts were shared by members in relation to major decision making for next year.  This included class structures, school fees and the possible changing of technology provision.  The advice is valuable as we make decisions over the coming weeks.

Our next meeting is scheduled to take place on Wednesday 8th September.

Parents and Friends (P&F) Report

Our termly P&F meeting occurred last week.  Our P&F had a big goal this year to look at ways we can promote connection and community and to also strengthen communication so that all members of the community are informed.  

As a school some of our plans have been impacted by COVID restrictions enforced upon the community and school that has impacted what we can or can’t do.  The parents who were present appreciated the efforts made by the school and P&F group to try and hold events like our planned Ladies Night, Junior Unit Social, Athletics Carnival, Grandparents’ Day and our Father’s Day Stall and Breakfast. 

Unfortunately we have had to cancel many of these events or look at ways that they can be adapted.  We have had to cancel, since our meeting, our Grandparents’ and Fathers’ Day events but we are aiming to hold a casual social event for parents as soon as restrictions allow us to do so.  The school has committed to rescheduling our Junior Unit Social and Book Week Parade as soon as we are able to do so.

In the meeting Mr Gibson also sought advice from parents in relation to the changing of technology provision at Sacred Heart.  Those parents who were present have completed a survey to provide advice.  The P&F were also very supportive of the purchase of the BBQ trailer from our Fundraising Levy.

Our next meeting is scheduled to take place on Tuesday 12th October.  We are hoping that at this time restrictions are eased and we will be able to plan some social opportunities for our families.

Religious Education News

Sacramental News

Year Four First Eucharist

For children who celebrated their Reconciliation earlier in the year.  All registration forms need to be returned to the Parish Office by 4pm on Friday 27th August. First Eucharist weekend will occur on:

Saturday 23rd October 6pm 

Sunday 24th October 9am 

Sunday 24th October 5pm

The Parent Information Evening that was scheduled to be held on Wednesday 1st September has been postponed and will be held at a later date (new date TBC).  For further information please contact the Sacred Heart Parish Office on 5021 2872 or email Sr Helen pastoral.mildura@ballarat.catholic.org.au 

Ryan O'Callaghan (Religious Education Leader)

Learning Diversity & Wellbeing News

Program Support Group (PSG) meetings are being held today and will continue from Monday 30th August until Thursday 2nd September via Zoom meetings. Parents of students who require a PSG meeting have been notified via email of their child’s meeting day and time and have been given a zoom link to access the meeting. Email invitations have been sent out for Monday and Tuesday meetings. Wednesday and Thursday meetings will be emailed out today. The meeting schedule is very tight which leaves  little space for changes; it is hoped that at least one parent can attend their child’s scheduled meeting. 

Our whole school Wellbeing Portal that you were able to access during last year’s Remote Learning period is being added to and developed further and will be available very soon access. Once it is, a link will be shared with families. 

If your child is experiencing any difficulty during Remote Learning; with school work or just feeling ‘not quite right’ in themselves, please do not hesitate to contact their teacher, Mrs Jo Finlayson (Wed-Fri), Mrs Sam Lowe (Mon-Wed) or Mrs Jacinda Deacon. We are here to make life easier and less stressful at home and at school. 

Learning & Teaching News

Amidst the doom and gloom of lockdowns and Remote Learning there was some good news for Victorian schools this week – Deputy Premier and Education Minister James Merlino announced that Victorian students have received ‘phenomenal’ NAPLAN results that ‘clearly lead the nation’ in a range of disciplines across year levels, with significant improvement shown in some areas. This includes students from government, Catholic and independent schools.

We expect NAPLAN results delivered to the school in the coming weeks and they will be distributed to families. 

General News

Please see below link for Remote Learning Guidelines for Parents and Students of Sacred Heart Primary School.

Prep Unit News

Nothing to report this week.

Junior Unit News

THANK YOU!! For your feedback, communication, openness, understanding, flexibility, adaptability, positivity and energy. We recognise that all homes look different from day to day and are grateful that you and your support team are prioritising our little ones which enables them to participate in learning tasks to assist their development.

Should you or your family need any assistance or clarification regarding learning tasks please contact your child’s classroom teacher. We are more than happy to help where possible.

A reminder that our classroom ZOOMS are open from 9am-11am for students to reach out should they need additional support. 

DAILY ZOOM TIMES: 

Yr 1- 9:30am

Yr 2- 10:00am

Middle Unit News

Here we go again! Remote Learning 7.0. We really thank all parents for their continued support, flexibility and understanding during these difficult times. We pray that everyone in our community is safe and offer any support needed. This time for our Remote Learning, we have slightly changed the way things will be running. A reminder that we have a morning Zoom at 9:00am followed by some teaching online. All children are then required to log back into Zoom at 11:30 where we will check in with how learning has gone for the day so far, and then a reading group will stay online to work with the teacher. If you have any questions about any of this, or require any support please do not hesitate to contact your child’s teacher. Stay safe and stay positive!

Camp photos have been shared with all Year 3 children. To access these your children can log into their school email and find the shared link. We ask that these photos are not shared on any personal social media platforms, in line with our Child Safe Policy. Children are welcome to print these photos to keep. We will also do a craft with these photos when we return to school as a keepsake from our awesome time on camp!

Senior Unit News

Nothing to report this week.

Student Leadership Groups

Nothing to inform you of this week. It is hoped that when we return to school that our planned Work Experience day will go ahead.

Library News

Even though we have had to postpone our Book Week dress up day, it has still been awesome seeing lots of reading happening during Remote Learning! Thank you to all those who sent in photos of the children and family reading - and some of those costumes are awesome! What a creative school community we have! See the following link for the clip we put together to celebrate our Remote Learning Book Week.

Scholastic Issue #6 has been ordered and will be distributed when it arrives at school. If there are any questions relating to Book Club, please feel free to email me. 

Weekly Awards

Students of the Week 

There are no Student of The Week Awards this week.

Ray White Awards

There is no Ray White Awards this week.