Dear Parents and Carers,

The children and staff have been working immensely hard on our upcoming

Carols on the Court evening on 13 December. Although the feedback was to have it earlier, hence the original 5pm start time, we think that 6pm will accommodate more families during this very busy season.

We will now begin promptly at 6pm so your children should be dressed and at school at least 20 minutes prior. It is also likely to be quite warm but I can't do anything about the sun situation on the basketball court so I am asking that you consider this in your preparation.

The spirit of Christmas is in the 'togetherness', it's in the thought to which you put into thinking about others, it's a selfless time, where we forgive, take stock of what's important and become 'better' versions of ourselves. So with that in mind we are not spending money on hiring stages and chairs this year. Alternatively, we will provide some chairs (approximately 350 chairs) around the perimeter of the court and we invite families to bring a picnic blanket or their own low chairs to sit on as there will be some spaces for that on the court in front of the usual assembly area. There will also be standing room on the balconies outside the Year 2 and 3 classrooms as well as the undercroft area above Kindergarten and Year 1 classrooms.

COSTUMES

Kindergarten: Farm animals (onesie or make your own) - Sheep - Horse - Donkey - Cow - Pig

Year 1: Angels - White pants/leggings, dress or skirt - White tops - Halo - Wings (any style)

Year 2: Stars - Black pants/leggings or shorts/ skirt / dress - Black top - Gold star headband or gold star on top - Gold tinsel pinned around the bottom of their top

Year 3: Shepherd - White top - Black pants / legging / shorts - Tea towel or scarf for their head - Material or long top or robe over the top - String for the headband and belt

Year 4: Angels - white & gold - White top with gold tinsel pinned/ sewn around the bottom - White pants/ legging/ shorts - Gold tinsel halo - Wings optional

Year 5: Kings - Cape / cloak - bright colours & can be ornate - Bright coloured tops - Black pants/ leggings / shorts / dress - or white tunic with bright belt (like the photo) - Gold or Jewelled crown

Year 6: Black pants/ leggings/ shorts - Christmas T- shirt ( red, green, white,) with a Christmas print. These might be a shirt that they have in KMart or Target to celebrate Christmas.

RECONCILIATION

Congratulations to our children on their Reconciliation. Such an important step on your sacramental journey. Thank you, to Mrs Jackson and our staff for their preparation and attendance. Huge thanks to Thomas, the Sacramental Coordinator, for all of his work with our children and families.

The P&F have created an email address and drive folder. The email account will be checked weekly so please email any questions/queries direct to the P&F, if P&F-related. The drive will be used to store handover documents for events. This should support class groups when planning and preparing events going forward. The email address is : shmosman.pandf@gmail.com

In preparation for 2024, I provided you with the calendar of Term Dates and Staff Development Days via Compass last week (please see below also). You will also see a snapshot of dates for Term 1, 2024 below and I will send one of these out before each term next year.

Please note, the dates for the year are locked in, including P&F events, these are now available to be viewed on the ‘public’ calendar.

NSW TERM DATES, 2024 *please see our Staff Development Days below which will alter the start and end dates of each term.

STAFF DEVELOPMENT DAYS, 2024 *some of these are mandated so please accept my apologies for any inconvenience

ALL HAVE BEEN SHARED WITH SCECS (AFTER SCHOOL CARE)

Day 1:Tuesday 30 January- Annual Improvement Plan, PGiA (Professional Goals in Action), WHS, Child Protection and Compliance.

Day 2: Tuesday 2 April- Curriculum Reform Network Professional Learning 1

Day 3: Monday 29 April- Curriculum Reform School-based Professional Learning

Day 4: Friday 5 July- Curriculum Reform Network Professional Learning 2

Day 5: Monday 22 July- Spirituality Day

Day 6: Friday, 18 October- Curriculum Reform Network Professional Learning 3

Day 7: Monday 18 November- Assessment and Reporting

Day 8: Thursday 19 December- Handover, Annual Improvement Plan, PGIA

*Friday 20 December is a day owed to teachers for doing extra twilight meetings (after hours) throughout the year.

TERM 1 SNAPSHOT, 2024

May God bless all our families.

Leanne Meehan

Executive Principal

Amadeus - Concert tomorrow

Our Amadeus tutors are hosting our concert tomorrow.  There are 6 performances starting at 9:15am in our school hall.  The tutors envisage the concert finishing at approximately 10:00 am. 

• String Ensemble Advanced
• String Ensemble Year 3 
• String Ensemble Intermediate 4 
• Concert Band Year 4 
• Concert Band Year 3 - 6 
• Concert Band Year 5 - 6 

Swimming Carnival 

Congratulations to all the students who participated in our swimming carnival.  Thank you to the parents who volunteered to assist with jobs on the day and to our teachers for ensuring the day ran smoothly and that all the students had a safe and happy day.  We couldn’t run a carnival without your support and assistance.  

A huge thank you to Miss Calizar for her planning and preparation over the past few months in organising the carnival.  I’m sure she would have been very happy with all of the students, their swimming, cheering and effort across the day.  FInally a special thank you to Mrs Liz Sloane, for stepping in with just a ‘moment's notice’, visiting Lane Cove Pool the evening before to ensure all was good to go, getting to the pool early to coordinate the day and brief parents and for her skill in ensuring the carnival was a success.  We appreciate her kindness and expertise and feel very lucky that Blessed Sacrament could share her for the day.  

Captains 

At this time of the year, many of our Year 5 students are excited about the prospect of nominating for student leadership roles for 2024. They will share their speeches with Year 3-6 students on Friday.  I have spoken to the Year 5 students so that they are aware that the speeches are just one component of this process. When deciding who to vote for, many students take into consideration the candidates speech as well as what they already know about them based on their interactions/ experiences over the past years. For our elected roles of School, Vice and House Captains, the positions will be awarded to those with the majority of votes - it is not based on gender.  

Wishing you God’s Blessings, 

Jane Taylor

Assistant Principal

• Sacrament of Reconciliation
  

Congratulations to our Year three students who received their Sacrament of Reconciliation last week. Our Parish Priests, Father Phil, Father Mark and Father Matthew did a beautiful job of leading the students through this very special time of forgiveness and penance. Thank you to Mr Dabbah for guiding the Year Three children through this Sacramental program.

• Slight change to the order of our upcoming School Grade Masses, Fridays at 9:15am- families are warmly welcome to attend!

• Year 1 Grade Mass is now this Friday, 24th November at 9:15am
• Year 3 Grade Mass will be next Friday, 1st December at 9:15am

• Family Mass and Pizza evenings

It was wonderful to see the Year Five and Six families gather together for their Family Mass and pizza evenings over the last two weekends. The children were in good spirits and Father Phil was very impressed with how beautifully the children delivered their Prayers of the Faithful. Thank you to all who were able to attend and to all families who assisted.

We look forward to seeing families at our upcoming Family Masses for the term! Year Three Family Mass has been replaced with the special Holy Family Catholic Parish Mass on Sunday, 10th December at 10:30am, presided by Archbishop Anthony Fisher. Mass will be followed by a luncheon at the Parish Hall. We would love to see the Sacred Heart community there! Please rsvp to the invitation below.

First Sunday of Advent- Hope- Sunday 3rd December

We look forward to celebrating our first week of Advent on Sunday, 3rd of December with the Year Four Family Mass at 5pm, followed by pizza in the Parish Hall! Our Year Six leaders will welcome in the Church season of Advent on Monday, 4th December at our school assembly.

Dear parents and carers, 

We are still remembering & celebrating All Saints for the month of November.

Tuesday 21^st November, we celebrate - The Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary. It commemorates a visit by the three-year-old Mary to the Temple in Jerusalem, where she was dedicated to the service of God and left to be raised as a consecrated virgin. This act was done in fulfillment of a sacred promise made by her parents, Saints Anne and Joachim, during their long struggle with childlessness. The Presentation of Mary reminds us that we can go on a pilgrimage of thanksgiving, to give thanks to God for a blessing received. 

Let us all remember to Pray and give thanks for all that we have and to pray and send hope to those less fortunate.   

Here are some wonderful events taking place around Sydney.

It would be great to participate as a family or take some wholesome time-out for yourself.

Vinnies Van First State Fundraiser - Please support & share    

HEARTFELT MASS - SATURDAY 25TH NOVEMBER

The Sydney Centre for Evangelisation in the Archdiocese of Sydney is excited to present the 2023-24 Summer Series with events in Sydney including world renowned special guests Matt Fradd, Jason Evert, and Dr Christopher West!

Catholic Archdiocese of Sydney - Summer Series 2023/2024

Don’t miss out on seeing, Matt Fradd, Christopher West and Jason Evert live in Sydney, so please click here to view the events and bookings.

Anna Macri

Family Educator

Dear Parents and Carers,

This term has flown by and we are almost at the end of the school year. Welcome to another edition of Sacred Heart's Sporting News!

On Tuesday 7th November, we had  a total of five students in Year 4 and Year 5 attend the Conference Touch Football Trials. The students played well and although they were not able to secure a place in the Sydney trials, they most definitely enjoyed the experience. As a school, we are so proud of their efforts and how well they represented Sacred Heart.

On the weekend of the 11th November, Femke Elenbaas in Year 6 and her hockey team made it through to their State Grand Finals. I quote her mother Natalie saying:

“So proud of Femke’s efforts this weekend, her team fought hard and made it through to the grand finals where they tied but came top of the ladder on goal differences.

With Femke also being the 9th top goal scorer of the tournament (even though she is a defender!).”

We are with Natalie and are beyond proud of Femke and her efforts. To close this story off, I would like to say that Femke won GOLD at the State Championships!! A big congratulations to her and her team!

On Friday the 17th November, Sacred Heart held our annual swimming carnival. I was beyond devastated when I became unwell a couple of days before the carnival and was no longer able to attend. Even so, I heard that it was a great success and that student’s genuinely enjoyed themselves!

Due to my absence, I would like to acknowledge and thank Liz Sloane from Blessed Sacrament for taking up the responsibility and ensuring that everything still went ahead according to plan. She did an amazing job! I would also like to thank all of our amazing teachers at Sacred Heart who attended. I knew that even in my absence, I would be able to leave it all in their capable hands. Lastly, I would like to thank all of our parent volunteers who were able to assist on the day. Without you, events like this could never go forward. 

Thank you to:

• Carla Barbour
• Kathryn Pearson
• Euan Stewart
• Magdalena Batchelor
• Michelle Crone
• Jose de Araujo Magalhaes
• Bernadette Thomas
• Lizzie Kemp
• Martine Robins
• Michelle Polin
• Jo O’Gorman
• Leisa Trevisan
• Odile Ralton
• Fiona Dynon
• Sarah Costas
• Marjorie Conway
• Jacinta Tynan
• Anyone else who I may have missed and jumped in on the day!

It was also great to have our Marist North Shore staff and students assist who did a great job timekeeping and assisting with the flow of events. Thank you to them for making themselves available.

I am still currently collating all of the times and results. Please note that only the two fastest times for each overall event (not heat) will progress through to the next level.

To close off, we also had Zac Meacock and Henry Pearson representing Sacred Heart for the cricket trials yesterday and Millie Ralton, Aidan Forrest and Alek Gisbert in tennis today. We wish them luck and all the best!

That’s all for now in sporting news. I look forward to giving you further updates on our student achievements. Until next time!

Kind Regards,

Miss Calizar

Library News

We presented the Premier’s Reading Challenge Certificates to our students this week. It was an amazing challenge this year, with 220 students finishing. Special mention goes to the following students who have completed the challenge every year since they started Kindergarten -

Millie Cargill, Megan Hang and Sienna McMurray

 They were awarded a Platinum Certificate for 7 years participation and completion of their own personal reading challenge.

All books need to be returned by Friday 8^th December for Library stocktake. Notices will be sent home listing any books that students still have. Please have a look at home for any outstanding books. Students can return books at any time by popping them in the Returns box at the front of the Library.

We would like to acknowledge and sincerely thank our Year 6 Library Team ( Lucas Fenwick, Hannah Anderson and Ciara Aboud), for all their hard work behind the scenes in the Library. From early morning restocking shelves, Library Lunch Club, Assembly announcements, PRC, Book Week, supporting students with returns and borrowing, to keeping us up to date with current trends and interests of what books we should have in the Library, they were there!

Wishing all our students and families leaving Sacred Heart all the very best in their ventures, we do hope you enjoyed our Library.

May all our students, their families and our wonderful staff have a peaceful, safe and joyous Christmas. Find time to escape with a good book – “Reading is a discount ticket to everywhere”

Looking forward to seeing all our students refreshed and ready for 2024!

Happy Reading!

Cecilia Jago and Josie Spano

Surf Education Experience

In a first-time event this year, Year 6 participated in a surf education program at SEA Manly. Despite the cloudy skies, the day exuded warmth, and upon their arrival at Manly beach, the students were greeted by the invigorating sea air, brimming with excitement.

Throughout the day, the students delved into lessons on surf safety and enjoyment. They were taught to spot rips in the calmer, darker channels, understanding how these currents can carry them out and back. Additionally, they learned that signalling for help involved raising one arm in a closed fist, akin to a superhero gesture.

The importance of floating skills was emphasised, highlighting their significance in conserving energy and staying afloat during challenging situations. They were instructed on accessing the surf effortlessly, both with and without boards. Then came the highlight of the day—bringing out the big boards, explaining efficient techniques, and experiencing tremendous joy as everyone rode waves back to the beach.

It was a day filled with laughter, conversations, and the thrill of trying new things. Year 6 were complimented on their behaviour and stood out as role models for the school. A great day for all!

2023 SCHOOL FEES