Sacred Heart Primary School Mildura eNewsletter

Principal / Executive Leadership Team

Dear Parents, Guardians, Students & Staff,

Thank you to everyone who has assisted in making today a fantastic community building day.

School Sports Victoria (SSV) Region Football - Swan Hill

We wish our Boys Football team all the best at this Tuesday’s Region Football finals in Swan Hill. Students will be travelling to and from Swan Hill by bus. Mr Burford & Mr O’Callaghan will attend as the supervising teachers.

Staffing Update

We are very pleased to announce that we have Mrs Danielle Gunn replacing Mrs Weaver in Myalla who will be going on parental leave from 15th August. From this date Mrs Kotsiakos will work in Myalla on Monday, Tuesday & Wednesday and Mrs Gunn on a Thursday & Friday.

Later this term Mrs Priestley (Dourim classroom teacher) will also be going on parental leave. We are also very pleased to confirm that Mrs Maria Beer will be teaching Dourim for the remainder of the 2022 school year.

Mrs Beer & Mrs Gunn have already been working in the Senior Unit across 2022 which will assist in ensuring a smooth transition for the students in these classes.

100 Days of Prep

Prep students are celebrating 100 days of school on Monday, 1st August. I am very interested to see all the activities planned for our Prep classes to recognise this milestone. Congratulations to our Preps who are making great progress in their learning.

Prep Enrolments 2023

We still have spaces for 2023 Prep enrolments. If you know of anyone who is interested in enrolment at Sacred Heart please get them to contact the school.

Assembly - Kyema

Thank you to the Year Two Barramunga who led our Assembly today. Kyema will host our next Assembly, which will be held in the Stadium at 2.30pm on Friday.

Year Two Sleepover (Thursday)

The Year Two Sleepover is being held this Thursday evening at school followed by offsite activities on Friday. Mrs Whitehouse, Mrs Taylor, Mrs Carmichael, Mr Fabich, Mrs Driscoll and Mrs Groves will be running Thursday night’s program and sleeping over with the students. On Friday Mrs Whitehouse, Mrs Taylor, Mrs Carmichael, Mrs Driscoll, Mrs Pollifrone & Mr Dashington will accompany students to their various offsite activities. We wish our Year Two students all the best for a fun and enjoyable experience.

Parish Mass - Waminda & Barramunga

We have Waminda & Barramunga participating in the Parish Mass at the church this Thursday 4th August. This celebration will begin at 9.30am and parents are welcome to attend.

Circuit Breaker Long Weekend

A reminder that our school, along with most schools in the Ballarat Diocese, will be closed on Friday 12th  August and Monday 15th  August. On Friday 12th August staff will participate in the already scheduled ReLATE professional development.

The circuit breaker weekend is in addition to any other school based measures that schools may take to manage staff and student absences throughout Term 3 and is designed to curb the predicted winter wave of the coronavirus and flu in a short, sharp way.

We understand that pressure has been great in all areas of our community this year and that this decision may place additional stress on some. Camp Australia has confirmed that after-school care will be available on these days. Please book if you require this service.

Please see flyer below.

COVID & Illnesses Update

You may have noticed that we are seeing an increase once again in COVID Positive cases. I strongly encourage you to call in and collect the Rapid Antigen test kits from the office if you require more tests. More importantly, please test immediately when any signs or symptoms are present.

Unfortunately, the flu, common cold and bouts of gastro are also circulating at the moment as well. If your child/ren are unwell, please keep them home. We are trying to minimise the risk of spread of infection.

As illnesses continue to spread, it places an enormous strain on our resources, particularly staffing. Somehow we are still making it work and our students are continuing to receive a great education.

Masks are not compulsory at this stage but are strongly recommended when indoors.

School Sports Victoria (SSV) Region Netball - Swan Hill

Well done to our boys & girls Netball teams who had a fun day in Swan Hill yesterday competing in the Region Finals. Both teams played some really good netball and represented our school in the right manner. In particular, students enjoyed maccas and lots of laughs on the way home! Thanks to Mrs Thompson and Mr O’Callaghan for attending with our students and thanks to the parents who went along to support.

Grandparents & Special Friends Day

Thank you to everyone for making Grandparents/Special Friends day so memorable today. We had a lovely Mass and a huge turn out of grandparents and special friends. Thanks in particular to Mr O’Callaghan for his organisation and planning of the Mass and activities, and to Father Shaiju for celebrating Mass with us. Thanks also to our many parent volunteers who answered our call to assist with our morning tea. What a wonderful day it was!

Last week the Leadership had a really positive session with Anne Ruddell talking about our school wide behaviour processes. Anne looks after School Wide Positive Behaviour Support (SWPBS) across the Ballarat Diocese. Following discussion, we all agreed on the importance of reviewing our Behaviour Matrix which will include input from staff, students & parents. This will then become the 'blueprint for behaviour' at Sacred Heart. We have commenced this process by looking at various matrices from other schools and discussed the key areas that we would need to focus on with expected behaviour for Respect, Responsible & Safe.

Have a great weekend everyone and God Bless!

Mark Gibson

COVID Update

COVID is still out there in our community and we can expect that this trend will continue for some time. We would encourage families to continue with twice weekly testing at home to help prevent the spread. RAT tests can be collected at any time from the front office. We will still send these home at times throughout the term.

The COVID Schools Operations Guide has been updated to reflect that:

Visitors and staff are no longer required to meet COVID-19 vaccination requirements to attend school.
Staff and students must inform the school if they have tested positive to COVID-19 and isolate for 7 days.
If a student or staff member tests positive through a RAT test, but they don’t have symptoms or have not been in contact with anyone who has COVID-19 it is recommended getting a PCR test within 48 hours and staying isolated at all times until they receive their result. If the subsequent PCR test is negative, you can return to school.
Household contacts are required to test negative using a rapid antigen test on at least 5 out of 7 days if they are attending or working at a school onsite.
Household contacts are required to inform the school that they are attending during the 7 day period.
Social distancing, good hand hygiene, air purifiers and use of outdoor spaces for teaching are still recommended.
Students and staff refrain from returning to school if they remain symptomatic.
Parents/carers who are positive to COVID are able to leave isolation if other arrangements cannot be made to transport someone they live with to and/or from school.
After having COVID you do not need to be tested if you have been re-exposed within 12 weeks of ending self-isolation.
It is recommended that face masks are worn in indoor settings (except for close contacts, who must wear a mask indoors unless an exception applies).
Everyone including students aged 8 years and above must wear a face mask when travelling on public transport, taxis or rideshare vehicles.

Religious Education

Grandparents & Special Friends Day

Thank you to our families for supporting today’s Grandparents & Special Friends Day raffle. Proceeds will go towards food items for the Sacred Heart Parish Soup Kitchen. About $650 was raised. We sincerely thank everyone for their generosity.

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

Mathematics, while explicitly taught at school, is also something that children are naturally encountering in their daily lives. Families are the first Maths educators in a child’s life. When children ask parents for help with maths problems often adults revert to the way they were taught. The problem solving strategies children are taught now however have certainly changed.

If you are interested in learning more about how you can support your child in learning about maths at home, have a look at the Numeracy@HOME website. Developed by Monash University and Swinburne it offers 11 ways you can incorporate maths naturally at home with your children.

Learning Diversity News

A group of staff members from across the school participated in a two day professional learning workshop - Positive Partnerships - working together to support school-aged students on the autism spectrum. They were provided with current, relevant and evidence based information and strategies to support autisic children, their parents, carers and each other.

The workshop was designed to help the participants understand children on the autism spectrum so that they can foster productive, school, family and community relationships.

Creating autism friendly schools helps create more inclusive learning environments in which all students succeed and flourish. The professional learning, two day program was also designed to assist educators to create real change in their school settings and establish learning environments that will reach all learners - Actioning Education For All

Positive Partnerships Website

Prep Unit News

Today’s Grandparents’ and Special Friends Day celebration was absolutely A.M.A.Z.I.N.G. It was lovely to see our students working together with their grandparent or special friend to complete a task and show them all the wonderful things that we do at school.

Some reminders:

Sounds to continue practising with your child/ren at home: s, a, t, p, i, n, m, r, f, o, c, d, h, e, n, g, l, k, u, b, j, w, ck, ll, ff, ss, sh.
Learn all the tricky words at the back of the reading diary.
Library day is now on a Monday instead of Thursday, so please bring in your library books each Monday.
Show and tell reminder for this week = even week.
Please make sure you have returned your ‘Visiting Primary School Nurse Program’ envelope - it was due back today!

On Monday 1st August we will be celebrating our 100th day of school. We have lots of fun activities planned for the day. On this day we would like to invite the students to dress up like they are 100 years old (please see the images below). Get creative with glasses, hair and outfits!

If your child does not want to dress up then they are required to wear their school uniform.

Prep Unit Team Contact Details

Unit Leader: Mrs Rebecca O'Callaghan
Cooinda (Year Prep): Mrs Rebecca O'Callaghan
Wahroonga (Year Prep): Miss Courtney Sheridan

Junior Unit News

Today’s beautiful celebration was a sea of smiles, excitement and pride with our Junior Unit students taking the time to share their knowledge, demonstrate their skills and collaborate respectfully in their family groups. We are grateful for the generous food that was kindly provided for our shared morning tea and for the magnificent people who were able to give their time by supporting our children on this special day.

Should you require additional time to cover your child/ren’s work books, please arrange this with their teacher.

Year 1: ‘these, after, before’ are our focus words for this week. We encourage you to ask your child to put these into sentences or spell these incidentally.
You will also see on SeeSaw this week, students have been sharing their understanding of 2D shapes through recognising their attributes as well as counting the vertices and sides.

Isolation Portal

Junior Unit Team Contact Details

Click on the teacher's name if you wish to email them.

Unit Leader: Mrs Katrina Groves
Karinya (Year 1): Mrs Katrina Groves (Monday-Thursday) & Mrs Amilea Pacher (Friday)
Bundaleer (Year 1): Mrs Maree Irvin (Tuesday-Friday) & Mrs Amilea Pacher (Monday)
Barramunga (Year 2): Miss Georgina Hewitt
Waminda (Year 2): Mrs Chris Carmichael
Kyema (Year 2): Mrs Kim Taylor

Middle Unit News

On Thursday the Middle Unit students were lucky enough to have the Royal Flying Doctor’s Service visit. We learnt all about the important work the RFDS do and even got to take a look inside one of their planes. Many thanks to Mr Barbary for organising this experience!

Next week students will be enjoying our Local History excursion. Year 4 will attend on Monday and Year 3 will attend on Wednesday. We will visit Psyche Pumps, Rio Vista, the Homestead and Nowingi Place. Please ensure students have a packed lunch on this day and are wearing their Sport Uniform. Please note: Students in year 3 will not be able to have a lunch order on Wednesday as we will not be at school for lunch.

Just a reminder to please send along any materials that students may use to make their diorama over the next few weeks.

Congratulations to our Semester 2 Class Captains!

Year 3 Isolation Portal

Year 4 Isolation Portal

Middle Unit Team Contact Details

Click on the teacher's name if you wish to email them.

Unit Leader: Miss Sophie Price
Minga (Year 3): Mrs Cathryn Rowles
Eumeralla (Year 3): Mrs Sarah Beckwith
Amaroo (Year 4): Mrs Natalee Johnson
Yongana (Year 4): Mr Corey Barbary
Mootwingee (Year 4): Miss Sophie Price

Senior Unit News

Year 5 Ballarat Camp

Permissions for Year 5 Camp were made available last week. Please respond with permission for this on PAM as soon as possible. Further details of the camp will be provided soon. Please ensure that your child’s medical profile is up to date and you have answered the questions on the permission form. If you have any questions, please contact your child’s teacher.

Maths Olympiad/Problem Solving Competition

On Tuesday, Year 5 and 6 students collaborated in small teams to compete in the 4th Maths Olympiad/Problem Solving Competition for this year. They were given 30 minutes to solve 5 questions. It was wonderful to see the students so engaged throughout the challenge and listening to great conversations happening between students while they used a variety of strategies to solve each of the problems

Year 5 Isolation Portal

Year 6 Isolation Portal

Senior Unit Team Contact Details

Click on the teacher's name if you wish to email them.

Unit Leader: Mrs Jo Campbell
Myalla (Year 5): Mrs Kerryn Weaver (Monday-Wednesday) & Mrs Emma Kotsiakos (Wednesday-Friday)
Illawarra (Year 5): Miss Belinda Zappia
Narooma (Year 6): Mrs Jo Campbell
Dourim (Year 6): Mrs Xana Priestley

Library

Scholastic Book Club Issue #5 has been delivered this week. These orders will be handed out to students next week. Thank you to all who have ordered - each order adds to new resources for our school.

CBCA Book Week

Book Week will be celebrated from Monday August 22nd through to Friday August 26th. We will be having a dress up day during this time, so start putting your thinking caps on! The theme for Book Week this year is “Dreaming with Eyes Open”. Children may dress up in this theme, as a book character or in “comfy reading clothes”. More details to come in the following weeks!

Timetable:

Monday - Eumeralla, Preps, Waminda

Tuesday - Illawarra, Amaroo, Minga, Karinya

Wednesday - Bundaleer, Barramunga, Year 6, Mootwingee

Thursday - Yongana, Kyema, Myalla

General News

Thank you to those families who have paid their fees to date. Just a reminder that all Fees must be paid by the end of this term. If you require an updated Statement please feel free to contact Mrs Avery in the office.