ISSUE 3: 5th March 2021

Principal / Executive Leadership Team

Welcome to our update for next week.

This Monday, 8th March is the Labour Day public holiday.  We hope that everyone enjoys the long weekend and the extra day to relax, catch up with family and friends or to get away.

From now Prep students will need to attend school every day.  If children are struggling to adjust to the full time format please don’t hesitate to talk to our Prep teachers Mrs O'Callaghan or Miss Sheridan. 

Friday will be Mrs Pacher’s final day before beginning Maternity Leave.  We wish Mrs Pacher and her husband Daniel all the best with the upcoming birth and we look forward to hearing some exciting news in the near future.  

PSG Meetings are being held this Thursday & Friday in the Boardroom.  Mrs Deacon will facilitate the meetings.  A third day of PSG Meetings will be held on Tuesday, 16th March.  Parents should have received an email notifying them of their allocated day/time for their child’s PSG meeting. This email has their child’s Personalised Learning Plan (PLP) attached.    

Richmond Football Club are holding a Virtual Community Camp on Friday, for schools in Sunraysia.  Year 3-6 classes will attend this virtually from their classrooms on Friday from 9.10-10.10am.  

Just a reminder that Scholastic Book Club (Issue No.2) is due to be submitted online before Tuesday.

We have Narooma and Dourim participating in this Wednesday’s Parish Mass at the church.  Students will do some of the readings and jobs throughout the Mass.  This celebration will begin at 9.30am and parents are welcome to attend.    

Thank you to Kyema for hosting today’s Assembly.  Karinya is hosting next week’s Assembly, which will begin at 2.30pm in the Stadium on Friday.

In very exciting news Ms Niutta is pleased to announce that her family will be growing.  She is expecting in late July.  We congratulate Bianca and her husband Scott on this fantastic news.

Thank you to parents who have volunteered to be class contacts for our classrooms in 2021.  Our co-ordinator Rebecca Siale is still chasing class contacts for the following classrooms:

• Mootwingee  (Year 3) - Miss Sophie Price
• Nangare (Year 4) - Mrs Jacqui Willis & Mrs Emma Kotsiakis

If anyone is able to assist or has any queries please contact Rebecca on 0427 300 878.  It would be great to fill these positions soon.

We are offering that students can run/walk laps of the oval when they arrive at school each morning if they wish.   We are offering this while the weather is nice and also in the lead up to next term’s Cross Country.  It is also a good way for students to ‘burn off’ a little bit of energy before learning begins.

Last Monday’s Learning Walk, facilitated by Tony Dalton and attended by six Sacred Heart parents along with staff from other Catholic schools in Sunraysia. This was a great learning experience for all who attended.  Those who participated found the experience very informative as to how learning occurs at Sacred Heart.  We plan to continue these walks and incorporate them into our Open Day/2022 Prep Enrolments.

Last Tuesday we had a very successful Pancake Breakfast after it was cancelled on Shrove Tuesday.  It was great to see families gathering on the school oval to enjoy catching up and enjoying a pancake or two.  We had around 400 people in attendance.  A very big thank you to David and Cassandra Circosta from Banjo’s for making the pancake mix, to Frank and Montanna Simonetta and Knights of the Southern Cross for cooking the pancakes and to the parents and staff who volunteered to set up and pack up.  Well done everyone!

Well done to Grace Brown, Liana McClaer & Evie Smythe who participated in the  Division Swimming, which was held at the Mildura Swimming Pool on Wednesday. All girls have qualified for the Region Swimming Finals which will be held in Swan Hill on the 18th March.

We hope everyone has a great week seven of term one.

Mr Gibson

Religious Education News

Thank you to Year Four parents who attended last week’s Reconciliation Parent Information Evening.  We also thank Mrs Johnson and Mrs Kotsiakos for helping to prepare and run this session.  Reconciliation will be held at the church for all Sacred Heart students on Thursday, 25th March at 7pm.  We hope that weekly lessons are going well for all families.  Please contact Ryan O’Callaghan at school if you have any questions regarding the 2021 Sacramental Program.

Learning Diversity & Wellbeing News

The parents of students with a Personalised Learning Plan (PLP) have been set a time for a Program Support Group (PSG) Meeting. These PSG Meetings will be held in the Boardroom of the school. 

Twenty minutes is allocated to meet and discuss each child’s progress in their Personalised Learning Plan goals for Term 1, and to set goals for Term 2. It is essential that the meetings run to the time-schedule agreed, so we ask parents to please be on time. 

If parents are unable to attend the meeting in person but would still like to meet online, via the Zoom link, as was used during 2020, please let Mrs Deacon know once you have made your appointment so the link can be shared with you.

Learning & Teaching News

Sent home today with Year 3 and Year 5 students is the NAPLAN Online information for parents and carers. This brochure communicates the intended test schedule for 2021 along with information of why students do NAPLAN and what does NAPLAN assess.

Prep Unit News

The Prep students have been working really hard on learning our first 4 letters and their corresponding sound - m, s, t, a. It would be amazing if parents could practice these at home and reinforce the sounds so that the students recognise them. We have also learnt our first 5 tricky words - the, I, my, a, is. These can be found in the back of the reading diary to practice every night after reading. The students have also been introduced to the next 5 words, so you will be able to practice them as well. Once your child is competent in remembering these words they can ask their teacher to check them. Remember to read every night, first read is by the parent pointing to each word, the second read is child and parent together and the third read is just the child, so you will read the little book 3 times!

Junior Unit News

Just a friendly reminder for all students in the Junior Unit to ensure that they have bought in working order headphones with a cord (not bluetooth) as soon as possible please.  These need to be clearly named. 

Middle Unit News

Hello parents. Here you will find some important information for children in the Middle Unit. Please ensure that you carefully read any information each week to ensure you are up to date with the happenings in Year 3 and 4!

Students in the Middle Unit are reminded to read every night (excluding Fridays and weekends) for 20 minutes, fill in their reading diary and have a parent initial their diary. Reading diaries should be brought to school everyday for their teacher to sign, along with their library bag. This is very important to develop good reading habits with your child. 

A friendly reminder for students to also please bring in a set of over ear headphones to be left at school. These need to be named.

Next week, Year 4 students are asked to bring in any of following items if they have anything at home, to assist them with their Science Immersion Day: Paper, cardboard, plastic, foil, corrugated and plastic coated cardboard, bubble wrap, tissue paper, fabric, polystyrene, boxes.

Year 4 students will meet on Friday to discuss the final arrangements for our fast approaching camp to Roses Gap. Students will receive a note with the final details of the camp, including a packing list. If you have any queries or concerns about this camp please do not hesitate to contact your child’s teacher.

Senior Unit News

No news to report this week.

General News

St Joseph's College 2022 Year 7 Enrolments

Please contact Mrs Tracy Aston, Admissions and Communications Manager on 5018 8034 or email taston@sjcmda.vic.edu.au if you wish to receive an enrolment information package for your child for 2022. The College Open Evening will be held on Tuesday March 16 commencing at 4.00pm.  Activities and displays will be available at the Enright Campus, 154 Twelfth Street and the Mercy Campus, Cnr Riverside Avenue and Eleventh Street.  Everyone is welcome to attend.Please visit the College website - www.sjcmda.vic.edu.au

2021 Student Residential Address Collection Notice

Performing Arts Teacher Vacancy

We are advertising in the Sunraysia Daily this weekend for a Performing Arts Teacher.  If anyone knows of anyone who may be interested in this position please forward the information below.  Thank you!

Sunraysia Catholic Communities Bulletin

We have attached below the bulletin for this weekend for the Sunraysia Catholic Communities.

Sunraysia Junior Football

Imperial Football & Netball Club

Junior Football  will commence training on Wednesday 10th March @ Brian Weightman oval (No 1 Oval).  U/10 & U12 commence @ 4:30pm.  Training will be for around 60 minutes.  Please bring a drink bottle. New children and families most welcome to attend.  For more information call David Kennedy 0411 448 400 or email imperialsjfnc@hotmail.com 

Registration for Auskick is open.  Register through PlayAFL.com When registering type in Imperials FNC (Mildura).

Mildura Football & Netball Club

Mildura Football Netball Club are open for registration! We are taking new player registration for junior football; Ages 8 to 13 (U10 to U14 colts). For more information please contact Bec at mildurafnc@gmail.com 
Mildura JFC Auskick is now open for registration! Commencing Thursday 22nd April, 5pm. Ages 5-12. Register through PlayAFL.com

South Mildura Football Club

Junior Football training for U/10 and U/12 is each Thursday from 4:30pm-5:30pm (No 3 Oval).  Please bring a drink bottle. New children and families most welcome to attend.  For more information contact Kerry Scobie, 0428 121 193.

Registration for Auskick is open.  Register through PlayAFL.com When registering type in South Mildura.

Library News

Scholastic Issue #2 was sent out last week. All orders are to be completed via LOOP, the online ordering system, please see the instructions on the inside back cover.  Orders will close on Tues March 9th and delivery is usually 1-2 weeks after that, depending on Australia Post. 

Timetable for week 7:

Monday: PUBLIC HOLIDAY

Tuesday: Minga, Year 2

Wednesday: Nangare, Mootwingee

Thursday: Preps, Karinya, Amaroo, Yongana, Eumeralla

Friday: Barramunga,  Bundaleer (PLEASE NOTE CHANGE DUE TO PUBLIC HOLIDAY)

Parent/Teacher book swap: Just a reminder that we have a parent/teacher book swap in the library if any parents or grandparents are looking for something to read. This can be accessed before or at pick up time after school Tuesdays -Thursdays. Just pop into the library to swap or grab a book!

Weekly Awards

Student of the Week

Congratulations to our Student of the Week winners for this week!

Ray White Award Positive Behaviour Award

Congratulations to the following students who demonstrated our school beliefs of either being Safe, Repsponsible or Respectful.