Dear Parents, Students and Staff,

Sacred Heart Feast Day

A HUGE thanks to Miss Jackson, our Religious Education Coordinator, for all of her preparation and organisation leading up to our feast day. So much work goes into making these days meaningful and successful- we are all so grateful!

On this day we celebrate the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus on our Sacred Heart Feast Day. St. John Paul II, a great devotee of the Sacred Heart, said, “This feast reminds us of the mystery of the love of God for the people of all times.” This feast day uses the heart as a symbol of love and there is an emphasis on God’s love and mercy. In fact, that love and mercy is so intense that the symbol of the sacred heart is a human heart encircled with a crown of thorns, crowned with a cross, and radiating flames: this is how much Christ loves us.

Jesus’ divine love for humanity coupled with our Sydney Catholic Schools theme  ‘Walking with the Holy Spirit in our Hearts’ was our inspiration for the day. A great example of your love, generosity and care for others was seen in our recent collection of donations for those in need within our community through the SVDP Winter Appeal. When we help others, it is two-fold because it also helps our community to grow in a substantial way. We grow in awareness, we broaden our perspective, we recognise real-world problems…. In fact it appears we get much more out of this than anyone else. Your recent donations and generosity  make me so proud to be a part of this community. At the end of our mass I invited our Mission Captains to present our hampers to Mr Peter Marshall who is the President of our Sydney Harbour North Conference of SVDP. He and Carolina Briscoe were so pleased to accept such thoughtful donations from our Sacred Heart community.

At the Mass, Father Phil blessed our beautiful new Sacred Heart crosses. Mrs Taylor and Miss Jackson sourced handmade Sacred Heart crosses especially for our school for each classroom prayer place. What a lovely gift to represent our special feast day. Thank you! 

A special thanks to Ms Conroy and Ms Merillo for leading our choir at mass and at the end of the day- the music certainly added to the positive vibe of the day and made it so special for us all. What a talented bunch we have here at Sacred Heart!

A huge thank you to Anthony O’Gorman, Jo O’Gorman and the team at O’Gorman & Partners Real Estate, Mosman for providing the sausages/bread and labour for our sausage sizzle on our Sacred Heart Feast Day. 

School Counsellor TIPS

Year 6 Expo

I had the pleasure of being able to witness the AMAZING work undertaken by our Year 6 students and their teachers. CONGRATULATIONS to you all and thank you for all of your hard work, creativity and enthusiams. Thank you also to the parents and friends who were able to attend.

May God bless all our families.

Leanne Meehan

PRINCIPAL

As we come to the end of term, I would like to wish the students a relaxing break and a time to refresh and energise ready for Term 3.  For parents, I hope you also have a break, or at least a change from usual routines. For our teachers the mid term break is when they plan teaching and learning for the term ahead and I hope they also have time to spend with their family and friends.  Students return to school for Term 3 on Tuesday 18 July.

Next term, there are two changes to procedures (compliance focussed) that come into effect.  The first is regarding student attendance and the second is around permissions for excursions / events. 

Attendance

In line with Sydney Catholic schools policy and procedures for Attendance, we now require an extended leave application for any leave of 5 days or more.  Parents or carers may approach the school to seek permission for extended leave for their child to travel during school term. Extended leave is considered to be 5 or more days during the school term for the purpose of a family holiday, family business, bereavement or other reasons.  Parents or carers must complete and submit the Application for Extended Leave prior to commencing leave.  If the leave is approved by Miss Meehan, you should take the approval with you when travelling.  You can find the application on the quick links section of the newsletter.

Permissions

All notes for excursions and sporting events are entered into Compass as an event.  Compass event notifications are emailed automatically to parents when the event is published. Events are set up this way as it connects to the roll to ensure student attendance is marked correctly. Please  regularly check Compass for events and complete permissions. 

As an added reminder, the event organiser usually sends a Compass email to any parent who has not given permission on the day before the event, however granting permission is a parent responsibility.  From Term 3, any students without parent permission via Compass will not be able to attend an event and will need to stay at school with another class.  If at any time you have difficulties with Compass, please email the office and Mrs Imlach can assist you. 

Staff Development Days

Students will finish this term on Thursday 29 June as our staff will have a Staff Development Day on Friday 30 June. We also have a Staff Development Day on Monday 17 July.  SCECS will be open for these days.  

Book Week

Mrs Jago has organised some wonderful activities and events to celebrate book week which starts in week 6 of Term 3.  We will have a ‘Book Fair’ from 21- 25 August, a Book Week Parade on Friday 25th August, competitions and then a Book Week Performance incursion on Tuesday 5th September.  Mrs Jago will put together some ideas for the book week parade and provide more details of the events next term.

Student Academic Reports

Your child’s report on their academic achievement for Semester 1 (Terms 1 & 2) will be available on Compass on Friday 23 June.  We advise that you print a copy for your records, particularly if your child is in Year 6, as you lose access to Compass if not continuing to a Sydney Catholic School High School. 

When you read your child’s report, please be mindful that the report is based on the learning for the year so far - a snapshot in time.  Teachers select an achievement grade based on a variety of learning and assessment tasks over the semester.  This might include samples of work, formal and informal testing and anecdotal records of achievements.  It is best to focus on how your child is achieving at this point in time rather than comparing to previous years as students may have changed stages or are at a different point of learning within the stage. When looking at grades please carefully consider the achievement level descriptors associated with the report. 

Kindergarten have a three point grade scale; Basic, Sound and Thorough and Years 1 - 6 are graded as below.

• Extensive - The student has an extensive knowledge and understanding of the content and can readily apply this knowledge. In addition, the student has achieved a very high level of competence in the processes and skills and can apply these skills to new situations.
• Thorough - The student has a thorough knowledge and understanding of the content and a high level of competence in the processes and skills.  In addition, the student is able to apply this knowledge and these skills to most situations.
• Sound - The student has a sound knowledge and understanding of the main areas of content and has achieved an adequate level of competence in the processes and skills.
• Basic - The student has a basic knowledge and understanding of the content and has achieved a limited level of competence in the processes and skills.
• Elementary - The student has an elementary knowledge and understanding in a few areas of the content and has achieved very limited competence in some of the processes and skills.

Parent Teacher Conferences

Our Parent Teacher Conferences will be held early in Term 3 to give you the opportunity to discuss the report and your child's learning goals for Semester 2. 

NAPLAN

NAPLAN results are expected to schools on Thursday 22 June.  We will receive a school and student summary report and a proficiency standards report.  The individual reports for parents are expected early in Term 3 and we will send them home as soon as received. 

From 2023, NAPLAN results are reported using proficiency standards, which replace the previous reporting of student results that used numerical bands and national minimum standards.

Students’ results are measured against 4 levels of proficiency:

• Exceeding
• Strong
• Developing
• Needs additional support.

Further  information on the introduction of proficiency standards for parents and carers from NSW education Standards Authority (NESA) is being sent to us before the end of Term 2, and we will share this when received.  

Teacher Professional Learning

Each week, our teachers participate in Professional learning based around the Australian Professional Standards for teachers.  This term we have had learning including Religious Education, Diverse Learning needs, writing, Science, Mathematics and teacher voice care.  Some of the students walking past the classrooms afterschool are very interested in seeing what teachers are doing.

Wishing you God’s Blessings,

Jane Taylor

Assistant Principal

Sacred Heart Feast Day, 16th of June

Just a very heartfelt thank you to all who were involved in making our annual Feast Day celebration so very special!!

This week we acknowledge our founder, Bishop Polding.

On Friday, ALL students in Polding Red colour house are invited to wear Sports Uniform and a RED accessory! If your child is in the Polding colour house, you may like to share this fact file with them. 

Grade Mass this Friday @ 9:30am for Kindergarten & Year 6. Families are warmly welcome!

Family Mass, Sundays @ 9:00am

It was lovely to see our Year 3 and 4 families on Sunday at their Family Mass. Thank you to all who were able to attend. This week, we look forward to seeing Year 5 Families on Sunday at 9:00am.

A special thank you to all of the students and families who contribute to our Family Masses by doing a special job or by providing morning tea.

Dear Parents and carers,

I'm back from my pilgrimage and so grateful to have had the most memorable experience. Every sanctuary offers its own special story and we can never stop learning and embracing our faith. We have so much to learn and experience. However, as wonderful and inspiring as it was to see many incredible Cathedrals and Churches and to take part in Mass at some incredibly sacred spaces, it is great to be home and back to a routine.

I was so lucky to have celebrated my first week back with The Sacred Heart Feast day. So far, I have met some parents and carers at the front gate and looking forward to meeting more. Hopefully, there will be many opportunities to meet and chat in Term 3. I have a few ideas in the making which will begin sometime in Term 3, so please take part in one or some, so that together we can build our school and parish community over coffee and a few laughs.

Anna Macri

Family Educator

Playgroup for toddlers.

Let’s get our very own Sacred Heart playgroup started for our Sacred Heart families and beyond. Parents, Grandparents & Carers from our school and community are welcome. Bring your toddler/ toddlers for 90 mins of play time. It’s a terrific way for children to interact with other children while you watch, relax & chat to other adults. Morning tea & coffee will be provided for adults however please bring a snack of choice for your child or children. Playgroup will be held in our Parish Hall across from the school every fortnight on a Monday at 9am – 10:30am. Beginning Monday 14^th August.

We are looking for donations of toys, books, play mats, duplo/lego or anything that is suitable and safe for toddlers to play with. Please only donate if items are in good condition. The school will be purchasing some new fun toys for the children also. See you all soon.

Eat, Pray & Laugh

Join me for morning Mass at Sacred Heart catholic Church every Tuesday beginning at 9:15am across the road from the school, followed by a leisurely walk to a local café for coffee/ morning tea. We can share stories and have a laugh. Again, all are welcome, Sacred Heart families and beyond. Parents, Grandparents and Carers from our school and community are welcome. Bring your toddler/ toddlers.

Anna Macri

Family Educator

‘Pyjama Thursday!’ 

Next Thursday, our last day of term, students are invited to wear their comfiest and most appropriate pyjamas to school. Our Sacred Heart students have been working hard to stick to the ‘PAWS Playground Expectations’, and have successfully worked towards their goal of a Pyjama Day.

2023 SCHOOL FEES