Jesus teaches us the importance of striving to offer unconditional love. It is easy (says Matthew 5:38 – 48) for us to love those who love us back, those whom we know, who fit nicely and properly into our own context. It is not so easy to be open, welcoming and charitable to people or children who are not like us, not our best friends and those who annoy or hurt us. It’s a timeless lesson for adults and for children. Let us take the time to reflect upon and acknowledge our wrongdoings during this season of Lent and commit to change, whilst contemplating on what the Lord really did for us on the Cross.

We had our welcome drinks last Friday evening and what a successful night it was for all parents and staff. Your presence signifies the strength of this community and ultimately we are all here because of our collective commitment to our children’s education and wellbeing. I want to make special mention of Claire, Kate and Victoria for the organisation and preparation that went into making the evening so successful, Mark and Paul for setting up and the many other volunteers for all of the work behind the scenes. A huge thanks to Shrijana and Imesh (Sami’s parents) for all of our delicious food! Your partnership is essential to our success, and we look forward to continuing to work together in 2024.

Just a reminder that our P&F AGM is tomorrow evening at 7pm in the school library. We encourage everyone to attend!  

We are looking forward to welcoming our prospective parents and children to Sacred Heart at our upcoming Open Day. 

*Principal Address will begin at 9:30 am followed by expo, school tours and morning tea

REMEMBER siblings can begin the enrolment process now for 2025!

May God bless all our families.

Leanne Meehan

PRINCIPAL

Supporting Project Compassion this Lenten season- CARITAS AUSTRALIA

Catholic Schools Week at Sacred Heart, Monday 4th of March to Friday 8th of March

We warmly welcome you to visit our school during Catholic Schools Week. Join Sacred Heart in celebrating being part of a Catholic community in the Sydney Catholic Schools Diocese.

Monday 4th March 8.45am to 9.45am: Open Classrooms

Tuesday 5th March from 9.30am to 11.00am: Sacred Heart Open Day 

Kindest Regards,

Miss Kristen Jackson

Religious Education Coordinator

PRESCHOOL VISITS

As part of my engagement role, I have been visiting a number of our local preschools to talk to the children about getting ready for ‘big school’. There have been lots of questions and much excitement during these visits. I read the picture book story “The Starting School List” by Kitty Black and we looked at photographs of big school. We discussed things such as: where we keep our bags, where we play on the playground, what’s inside the classrooms and the types of activities we do at school. 

The transition to school is a big step for all and it is vital we support the children and their families in tackling this big step together! We can’t wait to welcome all the new kinders next year. If you know of any families joining us in 2025 please encourage them to come along to our school open day on Tuesday March 5.

GROW YOUR MIND WELLBEING PROGRAM

This week during my classroom visits, we have been practising mindfulness and using the Breathe, Think, Act traffic light strategy to help calm our ‘guard dog’ down (the amygdala part of our brain) during times of stress. 

I have been reminding the children that all feelings are valid. The point of emotional regulation is NOT to get rid of the feeling. That feeling may be an important signal for a child that something is wrong, needs changing, or needs help. Instead, the purpose of emotional regulation is for us to learn and practise the skills necessary to experience our feelings AND make a choice that is helpful not harmful with how we respond. Practising the traffic light regularly will help the children next time they feel overwhelmed by their big feelings such as frustration, anger, or sadness, with a way to calm and self-soothe themselves. There is always power in learning to pause before they REACT. This is a strategy you could practise with your children at home.

Have a wonderful week and remember to keep refilling that cup.

Amanda Macourt

Leader of Wellbeing and Engagement

Dear Families,

In the last newsletter, I mentioned that now is the time we begin to prepare and reflect on Holy Week as we journey into Lent.We are encouraged to PRAY, FAST, GIVE.

A reminder if you would like to attend an all women retreat day at St Marys
cathedral on Saturday 16 th March at 10-4pm. Don’t forget to register. https://bit.ly/3RRAKfa​ or Fr Mathews Lenten evening on Wednesday at 7pm in the parish hall. An evening of reflection & conversation on Holy Week & Stations of the Cross. I will be attending this Wednesday evening.

If you are unable to attend & would still like to reflect on Holy week with your
children as a family, I have attached a link on Holy Week reflection for you to share.

Please feel free to scroll down to access these engaging slides about Holy Week in the link below, prepared by Sydney Catholic Schools. You will also find when you scroll down there is a link to The Angelus prayer, the children pray it daily at noon during their regular school day.

This is a wonderful routine to continue with them at home-

https://sites.google.com/syd.catholic.edu.au/k- 6rehomelearning/prayer

A letter from Most Rev Anthony Fisher OP on Lenten Penance, Tap on link to read- Lenten Penance notice from the Archbishop of Sydney

If you are unwell or know someone who is, remember to pray for them or yourself. The power of prayer can pleasantly surprise you, so with that in mind-

Just a reminder, Anointing Mass for the sick 
Friday 2 March, midday anointing Mass in Sacred Heart Church.

Sacred Heart Playgroup
Every Monday fortnight with the next playgroup on Monday 26 th February 9-
10.30am Parish Hall on Cardinal Street.
Please bring morning tea for your child.Tea, Coffee, and biscuits are provided for parents/carers.

Family Educator Parent/Carer Eat, Pray & Laugh

Mass and Morning tea. Start your Tuesday morning in peaceful reflection &
meditation. It can be a nice thing to do for yourself during lent.
Meet Tuesdays at 9.10am outside the side door of Sacred Heart Church or email me if you’re coming so we can sit together.

Become a Catechist – do something of eternal significance!
If you are interested in exploring the possibility of becoming a volunteer
catechist there are so many spiritual & personal rewards.
You will need to be available for a minimum 30 minutes each week during school terms.You can begin by shadowing a Catechist for a few weeks to understand the process. Ihave been a Catechist for 12 years and enjoyed every class. While being a Catechist,you never stop learning about our faith and the children pleasantly surprise us with their knowledge and interpretation of faith & religion. If you’re interested or would like toknow more please email me or chat with me at the front gate on Tuesday or Wednesday mornings.

Australia’s National Be Kind Day - 2nd March.

National Be Kind Day. Think kind, act kind, be kind.
Australia's national Be Kind Day is on Saturday 2nd March 2024.
Everyday children, young adults, adults are bullied online, at work
& at school.
Being KIND is about generational change.

With many blessings
Anna Macri
Family & Faith Educator
anna.macri@syd.catholic.edu.au

Dear Parents and Carers,

The term is already flying ahead with all of our sporting events. What a busy first four weeks it has been!

To start us off, our first Sacred Heart sporting event of the year will be the school’s Cross Country which will be held at Allan Border Oval on Tuesday the 12th of March for students in Year 2 to Year 6. We are still looking for parent volunteers to assist, so please let me know if that’s you!

With our first sporting event coming up, please be reminded that SCS requires additional steps for parents to volunteer. If you are looking to volunteer for any sporting events this year, please read the communication on Compass sent at the end of last year and ensure to complete every step.

On another note, the Year 1 to Year 6 students have also had a treat with our very own Netball Coach joining Sacred Heart in the first three weeks of school. She introduced and taught students the basics and game play of Netball through fun games and drills. I would like to extend a really big and heartfelt thank you to Jacqui Donoghue for her time and to the Sacred Heart Netball Club for such an amazing initiative.

Sacred Heart will also have a few of our Stage 3 students representing our school in Conference trials for netball, rugby league, football (soccer) and swimming championships (March 4). Please be sure to wish those students trialling in the above sports good luck as they have their trials this week or early next week.

We also want to wish good luck to Coco Mutton and Emily Dynon, who on Friday the 23rd of February, will be trialling and competing for a position in the MacKillop Basketball Teams. We understand that the competition only gets harder at this level and wish them all the best. We as a school are proud of their efforts, regardless of results.

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

Kind Regards,

Miss Austrie Calizar

Sports Co-ordinator

Enrolments are now open for our school for Kindergarten 2025 and will close in late March. Start your younger child’s application now at https://sydcatholicschools.nsw.edu.au/enrolment/enrol-now. Enrolments are also now open for Year 7 2026 for applications from Year 5 parents. Open Day times are available at https://sydcatholicschools.nsw.edu.au/enrolment/visit-a-school. Please share these links with family, friends or on social media for anyone interested in enrolment in our school or at any Sydney Catholic School.

We have a case of Whooping Cough in the school community, please follow the below from NSW Health for further information.