ISSUE 17: 3rd June, 2022

Principal / Executive Leadership Team

Dear Parents, Carers, Staff, Students and Friends,

Congratulations to those students who will be receiving the Sacrament of Confirmation at this weekend's masses. We have 67 students from Sacred Heart.  You and your families are in our thoughts and prayers at this special time.

NAIDOC Day

We are excited to be celebrating NAIDOC Day at Sacred Heart on Tuesday 7th June. NAIDOC Day is an important opportunity for students to learn about, celebrate and recognise the history, culture and achievements of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.

We are fortunate on this day to have Indigenous performer, Sean Choolburra visiting our school and presenting to our students. Sean is a captivating entertainer who blends traditional dance, didgeridoo, story, knowledge and humour into his performances.  Parents are welcome to join us for Sean’s presentation from 2:10pm-3:10pm in the Stadium.

We encourage everyone to wear casual clothing in NAIDOC colours (red, black & yellow) and/or designs on the day.

Journey Pole Blessing & Acknowledgement of Country

On Thursday morning Will Hannah will be joining us to do an Acknowledgement to Country and Father Matt will be present to bless our Journey Poles.  Following this, Will will do a 30 minute talk to the whole school in the Stadium.  Acknowledgement to Country and Journey Pole Blessing will be at 10am, followed by Will’s talk from 10.30am to recess.

Eleventh Street Roadworks

We have been informed that even greater disruptions will be in place along Eleventh St from Monday 6th through to possibly Wednesday 8th June.  Please make sure we read this note to be aware of the impact these roadworks will have on traffic around our school during morning drop off and afternoon pick up. 

Smart Watches

Over 2022 we have had a few incidents where students have used smart watches to contact parents during school hours.  Our ICT Acceptable Use and Cyber Safety Agreement states that these watches need to be set to School Mode during school times.  If it is used during school times it will be confiscated, parents contacted and can be collected by parents at the end of the school day.  We do urge parents to ensure that School Mode is set on these devices.

School Sports Victoria - Region Cross Country

We had nine of our students compete at the Region Cross Country yesterday.  They all did an awesome job in extremely cold conditions - Henry Guthrie, Ivy Hards, Sofia Mazza, Remi McClelland, George Miller, Thomas O’Callaghan, Polly Ryan, Jesse Sinclair & Charlie Spratt.  Mia (3rd) and Polly (11th) finished in the Top 12 meaning they have now qualified for the State Finals.

School Sports Victoria - District Winter Sports

Congratulations to our Netball, Soccer, Football and Hockey teams who competed at the District level this week.  Many teams have qualified for the Division Finals.  Thank you to the teams for displaying good sportsmanship against their opponents and to staff who have coached or supervised our students.  Mr Burford has a detailed report later in the newsletter.

2023 Prep Enrolment 

Enrolment Meetings have concluded this week.  We will confirm enrolments with a letter on 11th June.  We are likely to still have a few spaces for enrolment next year so if you or someone you know haven’t handed in your application we encourage you to do so ASAP.  Enrolments will close when we have 46 confirmed Prep enrolments for 2023.

Congratulations 

Congratulations to Mrs Carmichael (Year 2 Waminda Teacher) & Wayne Carmichael (Gardener) with their son Josh being drafted to Collingwood on Wednesday. Josh is an ex  Sacred Heart student so we wish him all the best. 

Free Flu Vaccinations.

The State Government has announced that they are providing free influenza vaccinations for Victorians throughout June at GP clinics and community pharmacies in an effort to help boost vaccination coverage as much as possible and avoid more hospitalisations throughout winter.

Cases of flu in Victoria have increased by more than 30 per cent in the past week alone from 10,000 to 15,000, after two years of COVID-19 and reduced international travel led to limited immunity to the common winter virus.

We encourage you to contact their local GP or community pharmacy from now until the end of June to book your free vaccine.

End of Term Reporting, PSG Meetings & Parent Teacher Interviews

Student Semester One Reports will be available through SIMON from Friday 17th June from 8.15am. Parent & Teacher Meetings are scheduled for the afternoons of Tuesday 21st and Wednesday 22nd of June.  Information on booking meeting times will be released via SIMON next week.

Program Support Group Meetings (PSG) meetings will be held on Wednesday 15th and Thursday 16th June. See below for additional information.

Rapid Antigen Test (RAT)Delivery

We have sent home with students today more RA tests. Please remember only use the test when children are displaying symptoms.

Assembly - School Choir

Today we had no Assembly.  The School Choir and Mrs Taylor will host our next Assembly as they continue preparations for the Eisteddfod.   The assembly will be held in the Stadium at 2.30pm.

Parish Mass - Minga

We have Minga participating in the Parish Mass at the church this Wednesday 8th June.   This celebration will begin at 9.30am and parents are welcome to attend.

Have a great weekend everyone and God Bless!

Mark Gibson

Religious Education

Sacrament of Confirmation

We wish all students who are receiving the Sacrament of Confirmation all the best for this weekend.  We hope that these celebrations allow for continued faith development and are really special occasions for you and your families.  Thank you to Father Matthew for his continued support with the Sacramental Program, along with Mrs Carmel Russo from the Parish Office.  We also thank Sacred Heart staff who will be present at this weekend’s Masses.  

Confirmation Masses are being held at the following times this weekend:

• Friday 3rd June @ 6pm
• Saturday 4th June @ 9.30am
• Saturday 4th June @ 12pm
• Saturday 4th June @ 6pm
• Sunday 5th June @ 9am
• Sunday 5th June @ 12pm
• Sunday 5th June @ 5pm

Sacred Heart Feast Day

Our Sacred Heart Feast Day is being held on the last day of Term Two - Friday, 24th June. More information will be provided over the next couple of weeks in regards to this special day.  A whole school Mass will be held at the Sacred Heart church at 9.30am.  An invite will be sent home with all families next week.

2022 Sacramental Program Dates

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

At present, teachers are writing reports which reflect your child’s learning over the course of this semester. Teachers consider work samples alongside your child’s engagement and participation in class. Progression points on the reports show achievement against the Victorian Curriculum.

The reports should be looked at in conjunction with the evidence of learning uploaded to your child’s Seesaw portfolio. We encourage families to sit together and look over work uploaded on Seesaw and open up discussion around what your child is learning, areas they may find difficult and learning goals they are working towards.

Learning Diversity News

Program Support group (PSG) Meetings will be held on Wednesday 15th and Thursday 16th of June. Parents of students who require a PSG meeting this term, will be sent an email with their child’s scheduled day/time on Monday 6th June. Meetings will be held onsite. All other students who have an individualised learning program will have their evidence of progress of the goals set for term 2 and term 3 goals set; communicated to their parents via the parent/teacher interview held in week 9 of this term. If you have any queries about this process, please contact Mrs Deacon.

Prep Unit News

The hard work continues in Prep this week with new sounds and tricky words added to our bank of knowledge. The sounds you will need to be continually practising at home are: m, s, t, a, p, i, n, f, r, o, c, h, d, e, g, l and the tricky words: I, the, my, a, is, was, you, to, they, that, said, he, are, me, she, we, be. We have also been creating our own sentences using our sounds and some tricky words. Practising writing at home will greatly benefit all students learning - Nat sat in the tin, Sam is in the mud, Pat is in the pit.

Next week’s reminder for Literacy helpers (it will be an odd week). We are loving all the help we are receiving in our classroom… thank you very much. Cooinda is still after one more helper for Thursday.

Don’t forget to bring in a sock and craft supplies for Performing Arts. At the end of this term the students will be making a sock puppet to celebrate their learning in the puppets unit.

We began our fortnightly show and tell this week and it was a HUGE success. Next week it will be the students who are rostered on to the odd week.

Junior Unit News

The rain and cold days didn’t ruin our fun this week! Junior Unit children enjoyed showcasing their writing skills by using their creativity to write about ‘water’ drawing from the strategies they have learnt thus far in their schooling. 

Students are encouraged to bring in a sock over the next two weeks to make their own 'Sock Puppet' in Performing Arts. The Junior Unit will provide all craft supplies/ materials for this experience. 

Year ones (next week) are enhancing their knowledge of tricky words focusing on reading and spelling the words: two, three, four, why, house, because. We are developing an understanding about the Platypus and Ringtail Possum as well as continuing to apply the correct long vowel; sound when spelling words: /ee/ /ea/ /ow/ /oa/ /ue/ ew/ /oo/ /_y/ /igh/ /ai/ /ay/. We are introducing plurals, adding suffixes and the digraph /ar/.

Over the next two weeks, the Year One show and topic is AUSTRALIA! Students are encouraged to all bring in something that is made in Australia and share this with their peers. (Alternatively, photos can be emailed into Mrs Pacher apacher@shmildura.catholic.edu.au )

The Year Two students continue with their Show and Tell projects in week 7. The first topic for students to share is "What is in my paper bag?". Please encourage your child to come up with helpful hints for their classmates to guess their mystery object. We can not wait to see what your child shares with their class.   

Middle Unit News

Year 3-6 Disco… Save the Date!

We are thrilled to announce that the Middle & Senior Unit Disco is back. It will be held on Thursday June 23rd from 6:30pm - 8:00pm in our School’s stadium. Students are always super excited to attend this event and preparations are underway. More details will be announced closer to the date.

Parish Mass

This week Eumeralla attended the Parish Mass. Well done to all these students for their reverence and respect. 

Confirmation

We wish any Middle Unit students celebrating their Sacrament of Confirmation this weekend all the very best. God Bless!

Senior Unit News

Save the Date – Middle & Senior Unit DISCO!!!!

We are thrilled to announce that the Middle & Senior Unit Disco is back! It will be held on Thursday June 23rd from 6:30pm - 8:00pm in our School’s stadium. Students are always super excited to attend this event and preparations are underway. More details will be announced closer to the date.

Library

Scholastic Book Club Issue #4 

Orders were sent to Scholastic this week. Delivery is usually within two weeks and orders will be distributed to students on arrival. Thank you to those who have ordered - all orders contribute to more resources for our school!

Some children have mentioned that they can’t find books at home - please send me an email on  wcollins@shmildura.catholic.edu.au so I know that parents have assisted in looking for these.

Library Times 

• Monday - Yr 6, Mootwingee, Yongana, Barramunga, 
• Tuesday - Yr 5, Kyema 
• Wednesday - Eumeralla, Waminda
• Thursday - Preps, Bundaleer, Amaroo
• Friday - Minga, Karinya

Performing Arts

Just a reminder for everyone to bring in a sock to school for the last week of the term. We will be supplying Pom poms, googly eyes and wool to decorate their sock puppets. Children are welcome to bring any other craft supplies they may wish to use on the day. 

Parents may purchase tickets to watch our eisteddfod choirs perform at the Mildura Arts Centre on June 17th here; https://mac1.sales.ticketsearch.com/sales/salesevent/65023

Times are as follows and more information will be sent to families closer to the date;

• 9:30am session - sections 490 and 491 (Prep - Grade 2 Choirs and Prep to Grade 6 Choirs)
• 11:30am Section 492 (Grade 3-4 Choirs)
• 1:30pm Section 493 (Grade 5-6 Choirs)

Physical Education News

In what has been a very busy week of sport, Tuesday’s regional cross country in St. Arnaud started it all off. The cold temperature and tough track made for a tough event but all students who participated gave it their all and represented the school proudly. We congratulate Ivy Hards on finishing 3rd in the 9/10 girls, as well as Polly Ryan who came in 11th. Fantastic effort by both girls who have qualified for the state cross country in July. 

This week our school entered teams into the district level interschool winter sports. On Wednesday, we had teams compete in netball and soccer. Both the boys side and girls side started off with very little idea of the rules and how to play but improved immensely over the day and both teams were able to win all of their games and successfully progress to the division level. 

On Friday, we had teams participate in football and hockey. Students displayed great teamwork, effort and behaviour across the day. Boys football, girls football and boys hockey all won their games and have qualified for the division events in two weeks time. Congratulations to all those who participated across the four sports and good luck to those teams who will be playing again in a couple of weeks time.

Students of the Week and Ray White Awards

No assembly this week.