ISSUE 8: March 17th 2023
Principal / Executive Leadership Team
Dear Parents, Guardians, Staff & Students,
Although it has been a short week, we have managed to pack a fair bit in from camps to swimming to taking a test or two with NAPLAN. Our students have certainly been hard at work this week!
Mr Gibson had surgery in Melbourne on Wednesday and has received good reports from his medical team that all has gone well. Take care Mr Gibson and we look forward to seeing you at some stage next week.
I’d like to wish everyone a happy St Patrick’s Day! Students have been busy learning about the patron saint of Ireland.
Region Swimming
Congratulations to Johnny Guthrie, Mercedes Leal-Kaiser & Jesse Sinclair who competed at the Region Swimming Finals in Swan Hill on Tuesday. All did a wonderful job and represented our school proudly.
Results:
Johnny - 1st Butterfly (qualified for State Finals) & 2nd Freestyle
Mercedes - 3rd Butterfly & 3rd Backstroke
Jesse - 2nd Breaststroke & 3rd Backstroke
Year 1/2 Swimming Program
Our Year 1 & 2 students have had a wonderful week of swimming and have learnt lots of new skills in the water. Well done to everyone and thanks to the instructors from Waves MIldura, along with the support of Mrs Groves, Mrs Carmichael, Mrs Irvin & Miss Moore. A crucial life skill!
NAPLAN Assessments
I can confidently say that the attitude and effort shown by our Year 3 & 5 students throughout this week whilst sitting NAPLAN Assessments has been first class. Students have completed reading, writing, numeracy and language convention assessments. These will be available for parents to view and discuss with your child’s teacher later in the year. Thank you to teachers for their efforts in coordinating the NAPLAN process. Catch up test will be run next week for any students who were away.
Year Four Camp - Roses Gap
I’m sure that many parents have been keeping a close eye on the Facebook posts for the Year Four Camp. It’s pretty obvious that students have had an absolute ball. With great weather and plenty of fun (and sometimes nerve racking activities) our students have had a wonderful experience at Roses Gap. Well done to all students for their excellent behaviour and positive attitude over the three days and huge thanks to our supervising staff - Miss Price, Miss Lennox, Mr Barbary, Mr Fabich & Miss Vartuli. In particular, thanks to Miss Price for her organisation and coordination of the camp.
Year Five St Joseph’s College Visit
On Tuesday all Year Five students will be participating in a visit to St Joseph’s College, Mercy Campus. Mrs Johnson, Mrs Kotsiakos & Mrs Rowles will attend with students. Students will travel by bus at 8:50am and will arrive back at school by 2:15pm. Students are asked to wear their sports uniform. Snacks, lunch and drinks will be provided. Have a great day exploring SJC!
St Joseph’s College Open Evening
The SJC Open Evening is being held on Tuesday night from 4 to 7pm. This will be happening at both the Enright and Mercy campuses for interested families.
Welcome
We have a new family beginning this week - Thisatrh Marasinghe will join Nangare & Minudi Marasinghe will join Yongana. The family come from Sri Lanka. We look forward to welcoming them to the Sacred Heart community.
Family Footy Tipping 2023
It is great to see that we have around 60 participants in this year’s Footy Tipping competition. Please ensure that you have paid your $10 at the office (named envelope) and all the best to everyone. It’s a long season. One thing's for sure, it’s great to have footy back!
School Assembly
Thank you to our Student Leaders for hosting today’s Assembly. The class of Eumeralla (Year Four) will host next week’s Assembly which will be held in the Stadium at 2.30pm. All are welcome.
Enhancing Catholic School Identity (ECSI) - Parent Survey
Our school is due to complete the Enhancing Catholic School Identity Survey (ECSI) this year. Catholic schools have been enriched by a research partnership with the Catholic University of Leuven and their development of ECSI, which helps schools strengthen their Catholic identity. ECSI is based in sound theology and the traditions of the Church together with appreciation for the changing needs of students and cultures. The ECSI survey is completed by school communities once every five years. Staff members, Year 5/6 students and parents are asked to complete the ECSI survey which will provide our school with important data around our Catholic Identity. The survey is quite lengthy and takes around 45 minutes to complete. The details will be emailed to parents next week. We encourage as many parents as possible to complete this survey to ensure that we have accurate data. Your help with this survey is much appreciated. Please keep an eye out for the ECSI survey next week.
STOMP - Monday 27th to Friday 31st March
We are very excited to have the STOMP team working with all students in the second last week of term (Week 10). Students will participate in lessons each day and the week will culminate with a School Picnic & Concert on Friday 31st March. The Picnic will begin at 5.15pm on the school oval and the Concert will follow at approximately 6.15pm. Families are encouraged to bring chairs, picnic rugs and dinner. Students won’t be required to dress up; they can wear casual clothes.
School Closure (Pupil Free days) Change of Dates
As has been published in the last two newsletters - Thursday, 6th April will now be a Pupil Free Day for staff to undertake learning in Structured Literacy. Monday, 24th April will now be the first day of Term Two and students will attend school as normal (originally this had been planned as a Pupil free day).
Thursday, 6th April - Pupil Free Day (Staff Professional Learning)
Monday, 24th April - First Day of Term Two (Students return as normal)
Term One will now finish on Wednesday, 5th April at the normal time of 3.10pm given that Good Friday is on Friday, 7th April.
Enjoy your weekend!
God Bless,
Ryan O’Callaghan
Religious Education
Sacrament of Confirmation
Year Three children have received a Sacrament of Confirmation Registration form (blue). If you wish to register your child for this Sacrament please do so by this Wednesday, 22nd March. Hand this form in at the Parish office along with payment of $50. You also need to provide a copy of your child's baptism certificate. The Information session for this Sacrament is being held at the church this Wednesday at 7pm. Any questions, please contact the school or Parish office.
2023 Sacramental Dates
Confirmation
Parent Information Evening - Wednesday 22nd March 2023 @ 7pm SH Church
Sacrament of Confirmation - Friday 26th to Sunday 28th May 2023
First Eucharist
Parent Information Evening - Wednesday 12th July 2023 @ 7pm SH Church
Sacrament of First Eucharist - Friday 25th to Sunday 27th August 2023
Reconciliation
Parent Information Evening - Wednesday 11th October 2023 7pm SH Church
Sacrament of Reconciliation - Wednesday 29th November 2023 7pm SH Church
Project Compassion
Families have received a Project Compassion this week. Spanning across the six weeks of Lent each year, Project Compassion brings thousands of Australian schools, parishes and supporters together to raise funds for people living in some of the most vulnerable communities across the world. Your generous support can help change lives today - and For All Future Generations. We encourage families to support Project Compassion this year. Boxes are due back to the school office on Thursday, 6th April.
Learning Diversity News
Program Support Group (PSG) Meetings: Thank you to the parents who attended their child’s PSG meeting. Term one goals and evidence of progress were discussed and term 2 goals were set and communicated. Some teachers set goals in collaboration with their students which has given them a voice in the process.
Wellbeing Dog Update: We are excited to announce that our puppy has been born! We will be getting a male and he is chocolate in colour with curly hair. He will be sent out to us around Anzac Day. He will be coming from Brisbane and we will be picking him up from the Adelaide Airport. This is such exciting news for our school community. Prior to us getting the pup, he will go through specialised training especially around being transported in a car. As part of the breeder’s contribution to the Dog’s Connect Program in schools; the dog will be transported to its destination free of charge. We also get a Dogs Connect dog pack which includes a puppy starter pack, lead, etc. PetStock Mildura will be sponsoring our dog also, which we are most appreciative of.
Prep Unit News
This week in Prep we have had lots of fun learning about St Patrick’s day and completing an activity with our buddies. We have also been doing lots of blending and segmenting of small words. In Social and Emotional Learning we worked together to design and create a monster.
We have been working on developing independence with the students and will be having a focus on 2 points in the last weeks of term 1. 1) Being able to pack their own school bag. This can be tricky so having a practise at home will help. 2) Carrying their own school bag!
Our mornings have now become a little busier with the borrowing of our home reading books every day. These books are to be read each night and returned to school the following day (with the Maggie Mouse reading diary) for the students to select a new book. Below is a quick reference checklist for reading and borrowing in prep:
- Monday = Enhanced Comprehension Book Pocket comes home and stays at home until Friday.
- Monday - Friday = Students borrow and read each night a ‘Home Reading Book’. The book is returned to school each morning for the selection of a new book. If you don’t return your book your child/ren will not be able to borrow a book.
- Monday - Friday = Reading Diary is to be at school each day. You will now need to record the ‘Home Reading Books’ in the diary each night… please see the photo below for an example.
Fluency Chart:
Students have a fluency chart to practise each night in their library bag… please see the video for an example of the fluency chart and reading the decodable books with your child.
Some friendly reminders:
- All children should have headphones at school (named)
- Please cover your child’s reading diary in clear contact.
- School starts at 8:45am each day. If you are at school after 8:45am you will need to sign your child in at the office.
- Your child’s library bag needs to be at school every day - kept in their school bag.
Sports days are Tuesday and Wednesday - sports uniform is needed.
Junior Unit News
It was another glorious week in the Junior Unit as students enjoyed the camaraderie of bus trips, swimming lessons, waves and all the other fun experiences involved during our swimming week.
Today our Juniors learned all about St Patrick, the Patron Saint of Ireland. We had a day full of activities that included praying, dancing, viewing and then to top it off, we celebrated with green food!
In Performing Arts Mr Barbary has been immersing our students with a variety of classics during his lessons. These songs have been sung repeatedly back in our classrooms. We have attached the songs below for you to enjoy, sing along to or perhaps even create a Family Karaoke event at home?
Wonderwall
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R_EXyGWI9rU
Ob La Dei
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EmZxleXjRpM
Proud Mary
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SgD4oxR1_Hw
Country Road
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7aNW9hRKYA8
Sweet Home Alabama
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ShMxICBtGNg
In Year One this week, we have been reading and spelling words with two syllables as well as introduced rules for spelling words with digraphs /ai/ and /ay/. Students continued to enhance their knowledge of compound words such as rainbow and football. To support your child with this learning you could list the compound words you encounter during the week, in readers, library and picture books, in everyday conversations. Make it a fun competition, see who can find the most compound words. Read the list throughout the week. Noticing words in everyday print is a critical development skill.
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 Christine Sherry (Friday)
- Bundaleer (Year 1): Miss Hayley Moore
- Barramunga (Year 2): Mrs Chris Carmichael
- Nangare: (Year 2): Mrs Maree Irvin
Middle Unit News
Wow what a massive week!
Firstly, we would like to congratulate every Year Three student on their amazing resilience, grit and determination for NAPLAN this week. All staff were incredibly impressed with students' perseverance and behaviour.
Year Four camp at Roses Gap was terrific. All students enjoyed trying new activities and entering their zones of growth. Thank you to Miss Price for organising a fantastic adventure away for our students to enjoy. It was great to have Miss Price, Miss Lennox, Miss Vartuli, Mr Fabich and Mr Barbary accompany students away. We hope your child has fond memories of this camp.
Middle Unit Team Contact Details
Click on the teacher's name if you wish to email them.
- Unit Leader: Miss Sophie Price
- Amaroo (Year 3): Mrs Sarah Beckwith
- Yongana (Year 3): Mrs Georgina Whitehouse
- Mootwingee (Year 3): Mrs Jaimi Willersdorf
- Minga (Year 3): Miss Sophie Price
- Eumeralla (Year 3): Miss Rosie Lennox
Senior Unit News
Well done to the Year 5 students who have completed the NAPLAN testing this week.
The Year 6 students had a great time yesterday with their buddies helping them to complete a St Patrick’s Day activity.
Senior Unit Team Contact Details
Click on the teacher's name if you wish to email them.
- Unit Leader Year 5: Mrs. Natalee Johnson
- Unit Leader Year 6: Mrs. Loretta Thompson
- Illawarra (Year 5): Mrs. Cathryn Rowles
- Kyema (Year 5): Mrs. Natalee Johnson
- Myalla (Year 5): Mrs. Emma Kotsiakos (Monday-Thursday) & Mr. Corey Barbary (Friday)
- Narooma (Year 6): Mrs. Jo Campbell
- Dourim (Year 6): Mrs. Loretta Thompson
- Illawarra (Year 6): Mrs. Amelia Pacher (Monday-Thursday) & Mr. Jacob Burford (Friday)
Library News
Scholastic Book Club News:
Orders for the Scholastic Book Club Issue #2 closed on Thursday 16th March (yesterday). Within a fortnight, orders are delivered to SHPS, where I pick through the order and distribute to the students via their classroom teachers.
Occasionally, some orders may be on backorder. If this is the case, students usually receive stickers with a note from Scholastic Australia.
If you have questions or issues with Book Club, please do not hesitate to contact me rather than directly messaging Scholastic.
Ms Zema
Physical Education News
This week Johnny Guthrie, Jesse Sinclair and Mercedes Leal-Kaiser each travelled to Swan Hill to compete in the Region Swimming Finals. All three students swam exceptionally well, finishing in the top 3 in all of their events and we applaud them for their efforts. A special congratulations to Johnny Guthrie for achieving a personal best time in the butterfly to win the event and qualify for the upcoming state finals. Well done!
Students of the Week
Cooinda - Bella Mosalski Wahroonga - Maya Sheehy
Bundaleer - Ilario Frasca Karinya - Nicholas Cavallo
Nangare - Carter Bush Barramunga - Ruby Joyce
Amaroo - Eliza Marciano Yongana - Lily Colbert
Mootwingee - William Tallent Minga - Yr 4 Camp
Eumeralla - Yr 4 Camp Waminda - Ethan Madden-Hickey Kyema - Oliver Hobbs
Myalla - Hunter Morello Illawarra - Assante Ribarits Narooma - Max Gaylard
Dourim - Amelia King
Ray White Positive Behaviour Awards
Respectful - No Ray White Awards this week
Responsible -
Respectful -
Admin News
Dont miss this years Easter colouring competition with Banjo's Mildura.
Each Child will get a free hot cross bun when they drop their picture into the store, and will go into the draw to win an easter prize pack for their age group.
*Hard Copies available at the School Office.
