Dear Parents, Carers, Students and Staff,

I was deeply concerned to hear in the media last week that the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) had warned of long lasting impacts on students in terms of their future opportunities due to remote learning. The Sydney Morning Herald reported that “A generation of young people is at risk of being channelled into low-skilled and low paying jobs, with disrupted learning through the coronavirus pandemic exacerbating socio-economic fault lines in Australia’s education system”. The article then went on to say that “Research from the OECD said home-schooling and greater dependence on virtual classrooms during COVID-19 would probably have a long-lasting impact that would disproportionately affect poorer students”.

There is no doubt that COVID-19 has had an impact on schools and I certainly agree with the premise that poorer students will be disadvantaged the most. No surprises here – poorer students along with poorer adults almost always have less opportunities than those from wealthier backgrounds. Some educationists in Australia even talk about the correlation between literacy levels and postcodes. It would be nice to deal with this issue regardless of COVID-19 – along with many other issues in Australian education including indigenous literacy levels. However, at the end of the day all we can do in response to COVID-19 is to find a way to move forward. To do this we need to set up our students for success and not weigh them down with doomsday like prophecies about low paid jobs. We need to make sure that all of our students in Australia feel hopeful and confident in their ability to navigate the future ahead of them.

I have certainly enjoyed my time here at Sacred Heart and I am grateful for the warmth and hospitality which has been extended towards me during the past 8 weeks. I wish each and every one of you every blessing for the remainder of the school year.

With best wishes,

Steve Conlon

Acting Principal

*** TICKETS CAN BE PURCHASED VIA QKR.

Staff Spirituality Day - Friday 25th June

As the term comes to an end this Thursday, the staff of Sacred Heart will attend a Spirituality Day this coming Friday. We will begin the day by attending the Sacred Heart Community Mass at 7:45am. We will then visit the Sisters of Mercy in North Sydney to learn more about their history, the Corporal works of Mercy and how we can bring Mercy to life at Sacred Heart.

Church Visits

Our Family Educator, Mrs Mary Lozina and our Parish Priests, have welcomed the students and teachers into the Church for Q&A sessions this term. The children have come up with some great questions to ask, either based on their unit of work in Religious Education, or their own personal questions. A sincere thank you to Mary and our Parish Priests for their enthusiasm, for their informative responses to the children’s questions and for the time they have taken to spend with each grade this term.

Year 5 went back to colonial life last week on their first camp to Bathurst. We were fully immersed into the everyday life of a gold miner, a blacksmith, a wife and child. We started our trip with a stop at the three sisters where we quickly learnt that a beanie and gloves was going to be essential this trip. Brrrr.

Next stop was the Bathurst goldfields. It was here where we got to design and paint our own boomerangs and then have a go at throwing one ourselves. Learning to throw a boomerang gave us a lot more appreciation of the skill the indigenous people perform so effortlessly.
Next was off to learn about colonial Australia with our crazy and intelligent tour guides. We were given a hands-on experience where we looked at tools people used for photography, cooking, cleaning and washing. We can’t believe how people used to wash their clothes!
We then went on a treasure hunt through what used to be a jail, but now is a beautiful park.
We ended our day with some time in our cabins then a trivia contest at night.
Day two was jam packed with experiences. We moved through activities such as making damper, making mud bricks, learning about gold, going through a gold mine and lots more.
Next we finally got to pan for gold! Lots of us were lucky enough to find some gold and it was amazing to see how everyone persevered through the cold water and stones.
With cold toes and a little exhaustion, we stepped back on the bus for our journey home.
What amazing opportunities we were able to experience. It was all thanks to not only our super splendid tour guides but our incredible teachers, Mr Brierley, Mrs Edwards, Miss Hollingsworth, Mrs Luscombe, Mr DeVilliers and Miss Blake.

COMPASS: