Sacred Heart Primary School Mildura eNewsletter

Principal / Executive Leadership Team

Dear Parents, Carers, Staff, Students and Friends,

Welcome to this week's newsletter.

RUOK Breakfast (8th September) Orders

We are looking forward to our RUOK breakfast that is being held this Thursday 8th September from 7:45am-8:45am. Thank you to those families who have placed their order for bacon & egg rolls, fruit salad, corn flakes and rice bubbles will be available. Ordering will close at 9am on Monday.

On the day when families arrive you will be able to go to the tables that are sorted alphabetically and will be able to collect your breakfast pack. If you have ordered an egg and bacon roll we will have a token inside your breakfast pack and these tokens can be exchanged for your order from the canteen. A coffee van will be available to purchase hot drinks from. We look forward to having breakfast together as a school community.

R U OK? DAY

Thursday 8 September is R U OK? Day, and a reminder we need to stay connected and make asking 'are you OK?' a part of our everyday. That way if someone we know is struggling with something big or small, they'll know we care.

You don't need to be an expert to ask someone, 'are you OK?'.

Try and make time for regular chats about life's ups and downs so you can build trust. That way when someone is struggling, they'll know you care and will feel comfortable opening up to you.

It helps to choose the right time and place for a meaningful conversation.

On breaks from work or study
When exercising
When you're spending time together socially
When you're doing an activity side-by-side
When you're sharing a meal
When you're travelling together, even a short trip can be a good time to talk

Ask R U OK? No qualifications needed. Because a conversation could change a life.

School Sports Victoria Summer District Sport

We wish our Year 5/6 students all the best for this week’s Summer District Sport. On Tuesday Basketball is being held at the Mildura Sporting Precinct and Softball at the Aerodrome Ovals. On Wednesday Volleyball is being held at Trinity Lutheran College and Hot Shots Tennis at St Paul’s Primary School. Students will play games against St Paul’s, Trinity Lutheran and Henderson College providing they have entered teams in these sports. Parents have been notified via SIMON of these offsite activities.

Assembly - Waminda

Thank you to Bundaleer for hosting today's Assembly. Waminda will host our next Assembly, which will be held in the Stadium at 2.30pm on Friday.

Staffing News

With Mrs Priestley beginning Maternity Leave from Monday, Mrs Beer is now the full time classroom teacher in Dourim. We thank Mrs Beer for stepping in and taking this role on for the remainder of the year.

Work Experience Student

We thank Lillee Driscoll for her work at Sacred Heart over the last two weeks. Lillee has done a great job working mainly with PE lessons.

Parish Mass - Kyema

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

Insight SRC School Improvement Surveys

A random number of families were sent home a School Improvement Survey on Monday. Insight SRC conducts the survey on behalf of our school and Catholic Education Ballarat. The main aim of the survey is to assist us as a school in gaining an understanding of parents' perceptions of their children’s experience at school. We ask that all requested families complete their survey by Friday 9th September.

School Hats

A reminder that school hats again need to be worn by children when outdoors. If students don’t have a hat at recess or lunch they can’t play.

School Sports Victoria (SSV) Mini Olympics

Well done to our students who represented and performed superbly at the SSV Sunraysia Mini Olympics. Results will be published in next week’s Newsletter. Many students have qualified for the Region Athletics held in Bendigo on Monday, 10th October. It was great to hear from Mr Burford how well our students represented our school with behaviour, participation and support. Thank you to Mr Burford for preparing our students so well.

P&F Social Event

On the evening of Friday 7th October from 6:30pm-11:30pm we are planning to hold a parent social evening at the Mildura Rowing Club with supper included. The event cost is $25 per person and should be a great way for families to meet other people and have some fun together. Tickets can be purchased via CDF Pay. Solunar and The Italian will provide nibbles. Drinks will be at bar prices. We thank the parents who have volunteered to assist Katie McCoy on the organising committee. Tickets are limited to 120 people and are going on sale from today.

2022 Parent Social Function Poster

Administration

Last Tuesday, Fee Commitment Forms for 2023 were sent home with the eldest child. It is very important that these forms are returned prior to the end of this term to enable us to calculate your 2023 fees and send home the Payment Option Plan which will also need to be returned once completed and signed off. Please return all correspondence in the plastic pocket provided.

ALL 2022 School Fees are due and payable prior to the end of this term, except for Direct Debit Payments. These fees if unpaid will be followed up by a phone call if unpaid on time.

SIMON Everywhere Update

SIMON Everywhere has been upgraded to improve the functions of the app. In order to access the app you will need to upgrade to the new version of SIMON Everywhere via the App Store. We know that this is now available. Please see our Admin staff if you are having any issues.

Anthony Koutafides & Jenna Hudson Visit

It was great to have special guest speakers Anthony Koutafides (former Carlton superstar) and Jenna Hudson (The Self Love Club) visit us today to talk to our Year 4-6 students. A big thank you to Chatime Mildura (Ray & Alisa Pratt) for organising this special opportunity. Get down to Chatime over the weekend if you can.

Father’s Day Stall

A huge thank you to parents who volunteered to help out with the Father’s Day Stall yesterday and in particular to Lauren Milton and Jodie McInerney for coordinating the stall. I am sure dads will appreciate the presents students give them.

We hope that all dads have a fantatic Father's Day over the weekend.

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

Sacrament of First Communion (Eucharist)

The Parent Information session for this Sacrament is being held this Wednesday, 7th September at the church beginning at 7pm. Registration forms and information have been sent home with all Year Four students. Registration form and payment needs to be made at the Parish Office by Tuesday, 6th September. Please contact the Parish Office or Ryan O’Callaghan at school if you have any questions.

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

When we think of reading it is often books that we consider first. However, a text is really anything that conveys meaning and this includes posters, radio, news, brochures, comics and websites to name a few. Many texts are multimodal, they convey meaning in multiple ways through written and spoken language, images, audio content even through physical movement such as facial expression. It is important that we give children the opportunity to connect with and learn from a variety of texts and podcasts are one way for children to gain knowledge about a topic in a different way. Below are some podcasts for children which may be of interest to your family!

- That’s Incredible, hosted by Andrew Daddo shares interesting facts about Australia.

- Little Yarns focuses on the language of a different Nation each week.

- Short and Curly answers the questions coming up in Australian households.

- Story Pirates takes story submissions from children and then recreates them into a radio play.

Learning Diversity News

Thank you to the parents who attend their child’s Program Support Group (PSG) meeting this week. Your support is greatly appreciated. Term 3 goals and evidence of progress were discussed and term 4 goals were set and/or discussed also. Emails have been sent out to parents who were unable to attend or had a Zoom meeting. Please ensure that you read the minutes taken and the goals set for term 4 and email a response back to Mrs Deacon.

Prep Unit News

This week in Prep we have started our learning on Subtraction. Cooinda had so much fun playing subtraction smash with play dough. We have also been extremely busy making some pretty cool presents for an important man in the lives of our families. We wish all our Prep Father’s a very happy Father’s Day on Sunday.

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, ee, qu, z, ch, y, v, x.
Learn all the tricky words at the back of the reading diary.
Library day is Monday however due to change with Mrs Collins timetable ALL prep students need to return their library books each FRIDAY.

Show and tell reminder for this coming Thursday = odd week.

At our SHPS Showcase on Tuesday 13th September both Prep classes will be performing their Junior Unit Social dance up on the stage… we are pretty excited and have been back to practising!

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

Two more weeks and it's the end of another term, but Wow! We have an action packed two weeks! Next week we have R U OK day and “The Year One Stay Back” on Thursday 8th September. On arrival at school, Year One students are asked to bring their stayback belongings into the classroom and place them on/under their tables before heading out to the oval for breakfast. Please ensure that parents have given permission via SIMON for your child to attend and communicate any additional information to your child’s teacher if necessary.

Students are required to wear hats for the remainder of the school year. Students are asked to have their own hat with them at school each day.

Thank you Bundaleer for your fabulous Assembly. We are really looking forward to seeing the talented Waminda on stage next Friday at 2.30pm.

Next week, Year One students are investigating numbers that add up to 10. We call these friends of ten and are working on recalling them automatically. Year One students are also revising their knowledge of the digraph /ou/- cloud, /ow/ town, /ow/snow as well as identifying the base word and the suffix, ‘er’, ‘ing’ and ‘ed’, then using them correctly in sentences. eg; dance, dancer, dancing, danced.

Yesterday the Year Two children responded to their RE Unit “Call for Action” They made cards and bookmarks to be sent to the aged care facilities around town, they made chocolate balls to sell at the Shared Table stall after Mass next weekend to raise money for the Missions in Peru and they joined Mr Carmichael in the garden. Outside the children were very engaged in looking at the worm farm and transferring worms across to the soil for the veggie patch, picking up all the itchy pods and rubbish from the oval and of course, spending some time in the chicken coop with the chickens.

We wish all the special men in our students' lives a MAGNIFICENT day on Sunday and hope you enjoy the gorgeous gifts your child/ren have prepared for you.

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

End of Term Celebratory Shared Lunch

To celebrate our learning in Religion this term about Hospitality, the Middle Unit is going to hold a shared lunch on Thursday 15th of September (Week 10). We are asking the following Year levels to bring the following type of food to share, on a plastic or paper plate so it can be thrown out afterwards.

Year 3’s to bring a plate of sweet food.
Year 4’s to bring a plate of savoury food.

Please do not send any food that contains any nuts.

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 PE Uniform Days

Year 5 PE Uniform Days will change slightly for the remainder of the year. Senior Unit Sport will now take place on a Tuesday for Year 5s.

Myalla - Monday & Tuesday

Illawarra - Tuesday & Thursday.

A huge congratulations to Isabella Mensch (13&U Div 2) and Alice Siale (13&U Div 1) winning the Best and Fairest in their respective age groups for the Sunraysia Football Netball League last week.

Farewell Mrs Priestley

Today we farewell Mrs Priestley who will commence her maternity leave. We thank Mrs Priestley for the many positive contributions she has made in the Senior Unit this year and we all look forward to hearing her exciting news in the coming weeks.

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 Danielle Gunn (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 #6 has arrived and were handed out this week. Thank you to those who purchased - every order contributes to resources for our school.

All students in Years 3-6 will need their devices during library days over the next few weeks. Please remind students in Year 4-6 to charge their devices and bring them to school.

There are a number of children forgetting to bring their library bag and books to school on their library day. Please check the following timetable and remind your child the evening before to ensure they have their books packed in their school bag. Children can also return and borrow books before school and at lunch times.

Timetable:

Monday - Illawarra, Eumeralla, Preps, Waminda

Tuesday - Amaroo, Minga, Karinya

Wednesday - Bundaleer, Barramunga, Year 6, Mootwingee

Thursday - Yongana, Kyema, Myalla