Dear Parents and Carers

It was with great joy that we welcomed our Kinder and Year 1 students back to school this week. They have settled back so well into their routines you would hardly know they have been away. Their bright smiles as they entered the playground were warm and uplifting to see. Schools were never meant to be empty and quiet places and it feels so much more like Sacred Heart with our little ones back again. We have provided extra time and teachers into Kinder and Year One this week in order to assess their learning needs on a one to one basis and so far it looks as if the children have made good learning gains at home and through their remote learning. This is a great tribute to our parents, our teachers and students who worked together tirelessly to make sure the children were not disadvantaged.

We look forward to welcoming back our Year 2, Year 3, Year 4, Year 5 and particularly our Year 6 students next Monday. We are very fortunate that we will have time this year to work again with our Year 6 leaders, to help prepare them for high school and to give them the appropriate send off and farewell that they deserve. We look forward to working with our Year 5 students and assisting them to grow into our future leaders of the school in 2022. 

Mrs Petersen has prepared a run down of our other Science Week activities that took place last week. Please see the photos and the notes we have shared as it was a wonderful week of learning. Our children are really engaged in their Science lessons and it has been evident in the growth in their knowledge and ability over the last few years.

Our Professional Development continues even in lockdown. We have several teachers updating their learning on reading, writing and literacy. We have a group of teachers who are completing their MEE Maths course at Proficient Level and a number at the Highly Accomplished level this year. Mrs Petersen attended the virtual Science conference this week and Mr DeVilliers attended the Positive Education Course in the holidays. Thank you to all of our teachers who happily take up opportunities for learning and growth in order to better educate your children.

Our dismissal seems to be working quite well so far. Next week with more students it may be a little harder to get everyone home without too much congestion. It would help a great deal to if Year 3-6 parents arrive at car line no earlier than 3.05pm.

The PAWS expectation that we are promoting this week is encouraging children to Be Helpful. We are encouraging children to help each other as they restart their learning journey at school. If they are still learning from home we encourage them to be helpful around the home. 

Enjoy your week.

Regards

Julie Caldwell

Term 4 2021  Some dates for the diary