Dear Parents and carers,

What a lovely week we had meeting many of our parents at both our Principal and Assistant Principal Morning Tea and our P & F Welcome Drinks.  Thank you to those of you who were able to attend either event and for sharing some of the important aspects of your child’s school life.  A special thank you to our P & F executive and parent volunteers for all of the work they did to make Friday evening a special night for all.  

Catholic Schools Week

Next week is Catholic Schools week, a time where we celebrate excellence in teaching and learning and the impact of Catholic schools nationally.  Sacred Heart Catholic Primary School is one of the one hundred and fifty Sydney Catholic Schools with the mission ‘ To Know and Love Christ through Learning’.  To start this week, on Monday 20 March, you are invited to attend our morning prayer at 8:40 am and then open classrooms between 9:15 - 10:00 am.  During this time you are welcome to have a look at the wonderful learning that takes place everyday by visiting your child’s classroom. 

Harmony day is on Tuesday 21 March and students are invited to wear an orange accessory & bring a gold coin for Project Compassion. Further details in the Religious Education update. We have purchased some Berri Quelch Fruit Stick Ice Blocks, 99% fruit juice,  as a treat to celebrate this day and Catholic Schools Week.  Should you not wish your child to have an ice block, please let the office know. 

We finish Catholic Schools week with our Open Day on Friday 24 March, for new families to come and see our beautiful school.  If you have a friend or relative who is looking to enrol for school in 2024, please let them know about our Open day. 

Facebook Photos

You may have noticed that we have posted photos of many of the wonderful learning, events and celebrations we have at Sacred Heart.  Just in the past week we showcased our ‘Wellbeing week’ with posts about meditation, painting fun, the teachers vs students netball game and International Women’s day.  Thank you to those who have given permission for photos to be used via the Compass event and if you wish, you can still do so.  If you have a Facebook account, please like or comment on our posts as this will assist in increasing our school profile. 

NAPLAN

Students in Year 3 and Year 5 started NAPLAN this week.  The date for each test is: 

There is a short window frame in which students can complete a ‘catch up’ test if they are away on the set testing day.  

You can find further information about NAPLAN on the following link: https://www.nap.edu.au/naplan/for-parents-carers

No Dogs on school grounds

Just a reminder that parents and carers are not able to bring dogs onto the school grounds in the mornings or afternoons.  As much as we understand that dogs are an important part of family life, the ‘Companion Animals Act 1998 No 87’, prohibits dogs in some public places including school grounds.  This applies to whether or not dogs are on a leash or being held.    

If you are bringing a dog on your walk, please tie the dog safely outside the school gate whilst you collect your child.  

Allergy Awareness

As mentioned last week, we have a number of children with known food allergies who have severe anaphylactic reactions.  In line with best practice guidelines we have an ‘allergy aware’ approach to minimise the risk of exposure to known allergens.  We ask parents to avoid packing lunches with peanut butter, nutella, nuts, chocolate bars with nuts or nut muesli bars.  Students should not share food, should not give food to others and should not leave food or packaging in the playground. 

Some of the procedures we have in place include:

• Keeping up to date medical information and individualised anaphylaxis care plans for each student at risk based on information from parents and medical professionals.
• Our staff are trained in the prevention, recognition and treatment of allergic reactions including anaphylaxis.
• We provide age-appropriate education for students with allergies and their peers to manage risks in school settings.
• We communicate in the newsletter about anaphylaxis management to help raise community awareness 
• We implement practical strategies to reduce the risk of accidental exposure to known allergic triggers 

One such strategy was introduced this week for students who have not finished eating their lunch during the class eating time.  Students now take their lunch box to the ‘Bardwell Gate’ compass area of the playground while they finish eating to further minimise the risk of having food and lunch boxes left around the playground. 

Around the Classrooms

In Year 2 we are learning about the life cycle of butterflies! In Week 4, Year 2 received six caterpillars. We named them Knuckles, Oreo, Flame, Pom Pom, Pixie and Sapphire. Last week, they all emerged from their chrysalis and now we have been observing them. We even had them on our desks whilst we were writing about them!  

We have also been learning how to write Information Reports. We have been focusing on writing about the minibeasts that we have been exploring in Science. We have researched and written all about bees, spiders and butterflies. Did you know that butterflies can taste with their feet?

Last week, we spent time writing letters to our new PenPals all the way over in Canada. We wrote about what we have been learning, what our classroom looks like and also asked them some questions to get to know more about school and life in Canada.

This week in Maths, we began learning about arrays. We learnt about rows and columns and how there needs to be an equal number in each. Arrays help us to skip count and count larger groups quickly. Look at how wonderful our Array City turned out!