ISSUE 3: 11th February, 2022

Principal / Executive Leadership Team

Dear Parents, Guardians, Staff & Students,

We are very thankful for the support families and students are taking to ensure our school environment is COVIDSafe.  Thank you to our parents who volunteered to assist in the canteen today.  Please keep up to date with our messages below.

Get to Know You Interviews

Thank you to the many parents who attended this week’s Get to Know You interviews.  The teachers have benefited from finding out more about your children from yourselves and it has assisted in building a strong partnership between home and school. Bundaleer Get To Know You Meetings will be held this Tuesday 15th February & Wednesday 16th February from 3.30pm.  Parents will keep the appointment times and day from their appointment they originally made.  If unsure you can contact the Office.

Year 1-6 Swimming Program

We look forward to an enjoyable week ahead with our Year 1-6 Swimming Program at Mildura Waves.  Swimming is such an important skill for children living in Sunraysia. The lessons will focus on water safety, swimming technique and survival skills. Students in Year 3/4 will come to school each day in their swimming gear and will get changed into their Sports Uniform after their swimming lesson.  Students in Year 1, 2, 5 & 6 will come to school in their Sports Uniform each day, they will get changed into their swimming gear prior to their lesson and will then get changed back into their Sports Uniform after their lesson.  Students will need bathers, a towel, goggles, rash vest (optional as lessons are indoors), plastic bag for wet clothes & thongs/slides.  Students will bring their snacks/lunch to school as normal.  In the case where lessons clash with normal recess/lunch breaks - students will eat before they go to the pool.  Lunch orders will still occur.

Assembly

Thank you to Narooma for leading the assembly today.  Due to the Swimming Program there will be no Assembly, Student Of The Week and Ray White awards this week.

Kiss and Go

A reminder to all using the ‘Kiss & Go’ process to follow all the rules including; entry into the ‘Kiss & Go’ is only permitted via Olive Grove, no ‘U’-turns at anytime out of this area, do not leave your vehicle at anytime and please do not be talking on mobile phones while in the ‘Kiss & Go’ area. Thank you for your cooperation in ensuring the safety of all.

Pupil Free Days

Over the next three weeks we have two pupil free days that are addressing priorities outlined in our School Improvement Plan 2021-2025.

On Wednesday 23rd February we have a Pupil Free Day with staff involved in a Reframing Learning and  Teaching Environments (ReLATE) professional development facilitated by The MacKillop Institute.  This is a research and evidence informed model supporting schools to create the preconditions for improved teaching, learning and wellbeing. ReLATE aims to:

• Empowers schools to create safe, supportive and predictable environments for enhanced teaching, learning and wellbeing.
• Strengthens staff understanding of how adverse childhood experiences and complex trauma can impact behaviours, attitude and learning.
• Enhances whole school culture and teacher attitudes, including teacher perspectives and responses to student behaviour and disengagement.

On Friday 4th March we have a Pupil Free Day with staff involved in Scaffolding Literacy professional development.  This provides support to teachers to improve writing skills and achievement of students and increasing reciprocity between reading and writing.  We will aim to have a more consistent approach across the school in teaching writing, improve learning outcomes and improve teacher capability in this area. This day was scheduled to occur in 2021 but had to be cancelled.

Our other Pupil Free Days have been confirmed for 2022 and are listed below:

• Friday 12th August - ReLATE
• Monday 31st October - First Aid Training
• Friday 16th December - RE Professional Development

Prep Rest Days

When students first start Prep they can get very tired so rest days are built into the program up until the Labour Day long weekend.  Please see below the schedule for the first term.  Miss Sheridan and Mrs O’Callaghan will work with students individually this Wednesday on reading and writing assessment tasks.

Sacred Heart Master Plan

We are very pleased to announce that after a submission process we have chosen Energy Architecture as our architect to develop a facilities master plan for Sacred Heart.  The Director of Energy Architecture is Daniel Manno who is a parent at Sacred Heart. We look forward to developing a plan that best suits the future educational needs at Sacred Heart.  Changes associated with the development of a global, knowledge-based world, together with a growing understanding of how people learn have shifted the focus of education. The physical spaces must reflect this new understanding if the quality of learning is to be enhanced.  Over the year we look forward to consulting with the community to develop a vision of what our school could look like in the future.

Condolences

We express our sincerest condolences to Mrs. Rosmarie Zalec on the passing of her mother Stefanie.  Our thoughts and prayers are with her and her family at this very sad time.

Shrove Tuesday Breakfast

We are planning to once again have a pancake breakfast on Shrove Tuesday, 1st March from 7:45am on the oval for students and parents. Please place this date in your diary.  Further information will be sent out next week.

School Photos

This week families received the information below in regards to our School Photos. These are scheduled to occur on Monday, 21st February.  Orders will need to be completed online.  All students are expected to wear their full summer school uniform on this day.  Classes who have PE on this day will need to bring their runners to school to change into. 

COVID Cases

Over this week we have eleven COVID cases impacting the classes of Narooma (Year 6), Bundaleer (Year 1), Kyema (Year 2), Cooinda (Prep), Myalla (Year 5) and Barramunga (Year 1).  We encourage families to complete their twice weekly RA Tests as some cases within the school have had no symptoms but testing has indicated a positive test.  Please inform the school of positive cases.

Students with any COVID-19 symptoms should be tested for COVID-19 and kept home even if they test negative on a rapid antigen test, until their symptoms subside.  If students display symptoms at school they will go to the sick bay and parents will be called to collect their child.

Rapid Antigen Test Delivery #2

The next delivery of RAT kits have arrived.  They are being sent home with students today.  Please check your child’s bag.  If students are absent they will be sent home with students when they return to school.  We ask that you store tests safely as they will be unable to be replaced.

Face Masks

We ask that students please bring their own mask/s to school each day.  Many students are repeatedly asking the Office for masks which is a significant cost for the school.

Have a great week everyone and God Bless!

Mark Gibson

Religious Education

Sacrament of Reconciliation & Parent Information Session

Year Three & Four students received an Enrolment Form (blue) for the Sacrament of Reconciliation last Monday.  If you wish to register your child for this Sacrament please fill in the form and return to the Sacred Heart Parish Office (257 Eleventh St Mildura). Please also bring a cash payment of $50 and provide your child's Baptism Certificate.  Registration needs to be completed by Friday 18th February.  The Parent Information session for this Sacrament will be held on Wednesday, 23rd February at the church at 7pm.  The Sacrament of Reconciliation will be held on Wednesday, 6th April.

Please contact the Parish Office if you have any questions or Ryan O'Callaghan at school via phone or ryocallaghan@shmildura.catholic.edu.au 

2022 Sacramental Program Dates

Sacrament of Reconciliation 2022 Year 3 & 4 students

Parents Information Night Wednesday 23rd February 7pm Sacred Heart Church

Celebration of Sacrament Wednesday 6th April 7pm

Sacrament of Confirmation 2022 Year 3, 4 & 5 students

Parents Information Night Wednesday 27th April 7pm Sacred Heart Church

Celebration of Sacrament Friday 3rd June, Saturday 4th June & Sunday 5th June 

Sacrament of First Communion (Eucharist) 2022 Year 4 students

Parents Information Night Wednesday 7th September 7pm Sacred Heart Church

Celebration of Sacrament Friday 21st Saturday 22nd Sunday 23rd October

Sacrament of Penance (Reconciliation) 2022 Year 2 students

Parents Information Night Wednesday 12th October 7pm Sacred Heart Church

Celebration of the Sacrament Wednesday 23rd November 7pm Sacred Heart Church

Learning and Teaching News

Nothing to report this week.

Prep Unit News

Thank you for taking the time to come and meet with your child’s teacher this week during our Get to Know You Interviews. This week an information note was sent home with students outlining all the important information in our Unit. Please take the time to read this note carefully and ask your child’s teacher for a copy if you did not receive one. If you have any questions please do not hesitate to contact your child’s teacher. 

 Over the following two weeks students will be introduced to these 6 sounds/letters SATPIN. These are the first sounds that we learn in Initialit. We will practice hearing these sounds in words and learn to correctly form/write the letters used to represent them. Here is a link to a website that gives you the correct pronunciation of each of these sounds. Pronouncing the Alphabet Sounds

We will practise blending these letters together to form short words, e.g. 's'+ 'a', +'t' = 'sat'.

We will also practise segmenting the sounds we hear in words, so we can then spell them e.g. 'sat'= 's'+ 'a' + 't'. The ability to blend and segment sounds in words are critical foundation reading and spelling skills.

A quick reminder of the terms we use in class.

Sound: Is what we hear. What is the 1st sound in the word sat?

Letter: Is what we see. How do we write the sound 's' in the word sat?

Thursday 17th February we will have our Prep Reading Information Session. This is an important meeting to attend so that you gain an insight into how reading is taught at Sacred Heart and the expectations of home reading.

Junior Unit News

Many thanks for having your child’s take- home nightly reader and diary packed in their library bag each day. Our children are getting used to their daily morning routines which assists us in beginning the day on time. We are still awaiting several headphones to be brought back.

Today your child has brought home their workbooks and diary that need to be covered in CLEAR contact. Should you need to arrange an alternative time, please contact your child/ren’s teacher.

We enjoyed your company at our ‘Getting to Know You’ interviews this week and are looking forward to working with you to support the growth of our Junior Unit Students. 

As we begin our Swim Safe program on Monday, please ensure that you have given consent via PAM for your child to attend and have ALL their swimming items packed in a plastic bag with items CLEARLY LABELLED to avoid confusion.

As the Year Two children will be having an earlier lunch (Due to their swimming times), We encourage all children to bring an EXTRA snack to eat when they get back to school.

Shared are photos of our Year One students working together with a focus on teamwork, compassion, kindness and the way we speak to others.
“TREAT OTHERS THE WAY YOU WANT TO BE TREATED” Year One Friendship focus

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Middle Unit News

Thank you for taking the time to come and meet with your child’s teacher this week during our Get to Know You Interviews. This week an information note was sent home with students outlining all the important information in our Unit. Please take the time to read this note carefully and ask your child’s teacher for a copy if you did not receive one. If you have any questions please do not hesitate to contact your child’s teacher. 

A reminder that all students require a set of over ear headphones (named), their books to be contacted and their library bag at school each day. 

Art Supplies

In art in the coming weeks students are creating a mobile. For this we are asking each student to bring along a wire coat hanger. 

If your family is isolating and your child is feeling up to completing some learning tasks, Year 3 and 4 have access to a Learning Portal that is updated with tasks weekly. This is linked below and can be accessed from Google Classroom. Students are also able to look back on the weeks prior to see additional tasks. We do ask that students do not access this Portal unless they are isolating. 

Year 3 Isolation Portal

Year 4 Isolation Portal

Senior Unit News

Homework

Homework will commence next week for students in Year 5 and 6. Reading for 15 minutes each night is expected- conversations around the text being read are a crucial way to improve comprehension. Students will be given a diary in which to log their reading each night.  This will need to be signed by a parent/guardian.  It will then be checked by their teacher regularly. Homework should be presented in folders provided and be ready at school for correction on Friday morning.

Isolation Learning Portal

The Senior classes have created an online portal for students to access during periods of isolation.  This portal can be accessed by clicking the links below or via your child’s Google Classroom.  Students will have access to work they can complete whilst at home.

Year 5

Year 6

Interschool Sports Information and Processes

Please see the attached note outlining information about Interschool Sports and what to expect in 2022.

Student Leadership News

Congratulations to the following students who have been elected as Class Captains for 2022.

2022 Class Captains

Year 5

Thomas Simonetta (Myalla)

Ivy Richardson (Illawarra)

Year 6

Milla Fitzgerald (Dourim)

Nicholas Walder (Narooma)

Year 3

Dustin Gray (Eumeralla)

Annabelle Pahek (Minga)

Year 4

William Shiner (Mootwingee)

Penisimani Fangaloka (Yongana)

Addison Stafford (Amaroo)

Performing Arts News

This Friday we will be beginning choir rehearsals. There will be a middle and senior choir at this stage with the possibility of adding a junior choir depending on level of interest. 

If you join the choir you must commit for both this term and next term as we will be participating in the Mildura Eisteddfod competition in early June next term. 

Choir commitments may also include lunch time rehearsals, singing at Mass and at Assembly. 

If you are interested in joining the choir I will be coming around this Friday to take groups out, or speak with your class to gauge how many people are interested in joining. 

I may also hold auditions for solos or small group singing parts for some groups. 

If you are absent Friday and wish to join the choir please email me at; ctaylor@shmildura.catholic.edu.au 

Thank you,

Miss Taylor

Library

It has been wonderful to see so many children borrowing from the library again! Children have the opportunity to borrow once a week with their class. We are currently closed at lunch times, but children are welcome to return or borrow before school or return only after school.

Library Timetable:

Monday - Mootingee, Bundaleer, Yongana, Year 6

Tuesday - Year 5, Kyema, Barramunga

Wednesday - Eumeralla, Amaroo, Waminda

Thursday - Preps

Friday - Minga, Karinya

Please ensure library books and bags are at school EVERY day, as some classes may adjust their time due to the swimming timetable.

Scholastic Book Club Issue #1

Orders have been sent off. Thank you to all those who purchased books - each order contributes  to “Scholastic Dollars” that the school can use to supplement resources. Orders are usually delivered in 1-2 weeks and will be distributed to children when they arrive. Occasionally some orders are unavailable at the time and will be sent at a later date. In the past, Scholastic have sent stickers with a note on the back explaining this so children who have a ‘Back Order’ still receive something. If you ever have any issues with an order, please contact me first at school or via email wcollins@shmildura.catholic.edu.au

Students of the Week & Ray White Awards