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Dear Parents,
While our school prepares to wind down after the end of an amazing first term, it is important that we remember that, as a community, we are in one of the most important seasons in the Christian calendar; Easter.
The true meaning of Easter lies at the heart of the Christian faith. It's the celebration of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, an event Christians believe occurred on the third day after his crucifixion.
Easter symbolizes hope, renewal, and new beginnings. Just as Jesus rose to new life, Christians believe they too can experience spiritual resurrection and transformation. The events of Easter, from Jesus' suffering and death to his resurrection, are seen as the ultimate expression of God's love for humanity, offering forgiveness and reconciliation.
While Easter is often associated with symbols like eggs and bunnies, which have their own interesting, often secular origins, the core meaning remains deeply rooted in the Christian belief in Jesus' resurrection and its implications for faith and humanity.
Thank you so much for your ongoing support of our school and I wish all of you a wonderful break. Have a safe Easter with family and friends!
STAFF DEVELOPMENT DAY-Curriculum Reform & Implementation: Friday 4 April
STAFF DEVELOPMENT DAY-Curriculum Reform & Implementation: Friday 11 April **therefore the last day of Term 1 for our students will be Thursday 10 April
TERM 2 begins on Monday 28 April
HARMONY DAY
On Friday 21 March we celebrated Harmony Day. This day recognises diversity and inclusion and the theme for 2025 is ‘Everyone Belongs’. I urge you all to stop and take notice of the meaning behind this theme for us in our own community. Belonging is a basic human need. We are social creatures, and we naturally crave connection and acceptance. When everyone feels like they belong, it fosters a sense of community and social cohesion. It reduces conflict, promotes cooperation, and strengthens our society as a whole. In essence, fostering a sense of belonging is not just a nice idea; it's essential for creating a more just, equitable, and harmonious world.
HUGE thanks to Mrs Macourt, Leader of Well being and Engagement and Miss Adamo, SRC Leader, for all of their work in this space and for their preparation leading up to the day. We raised $842.00 for Project Compassion. Huge thanks to our community for your generosity!
At the end of each term we celebrate the achievements of our students with the Blue Award for Faith, Generosity and Courage recognising their dedication to our school values. To make these awards extra special, we have always had sponsors present vouchers to the award recipients. This year I am pleased to announce that it will be The Reinhard Family at The Compounding Pharmacy of Australia - Mosman, who will provide book vouchers for each recipient.We sincerely thank Anita (mother of Lucas in Kindergarten) and the whole family for their generosity and support! Adam, who is Anita's brother and the Pharmacist-in-charge, will present the awards each term. We will see Adam on Thursday 10 April for our final assembly.
NCCD: Nationally Consistent Collection of Data on school students with Disability. Please see attached Information for parents & carers.
Mrs Leanne Meehan
EXECUTIVE PRINCIPAL
As we come to the end of the term, I wish all families a very happy Easter and a restful holiday break.
Passive play space - playground update
We have had a number of companies come out to measure and advise us on our final ‘concrete’ play space in our playground - the area at the back of the school near Bardwell gate. Students have many active areas in our playground and have expressed the need for a more ‘passive’ space where they can play board games, draw, colour or just sit. At the moment the area is not very inviting so we plan to install artificial grass, some chess board markings and chalk boards to enhance the feel of the area. This should make a big difference for the students who do not want to play ball games or run around during lunch.
We have now chosen a company and are awaiting timing which will hopefully be early next term.
Thank you to the P & F, as money raised will go towards funding this upgrade.
Staff Development days
This Friday our staff are attending professional learning network days at various Sydney Catholic Schools. Our Kindergarten, Year 1 and Year 2 teachers will participate in professional learning focussed on Mathematics at Leichhardt, our Year 3 and Year 4 teachers will focus on the new curriculum during their learning at Lane Cove and our Year 5 and Year 6 teachers will attend the network day at Woollahra with a focus on English.
The following Friday we combine with teachers from Blessed Sacrament for our staff development day with a focus on planning using the new English Syllabus and units written by Sydney Catholic Schools.
These days form part of the required professional learning for teachers based on the Australian Standards for Teaching. We look forward to the time to learn, collaborate and to plan the learning for all students.
Zing Activ Interschool Dance Challenge is next week - Tuesday 8 April
We have 124 students attending the event and they are very excited. Students have been honing their dance skills ready for the night. Zing has advised that there will be no teacher dance this year - so you won’t get to see the teachers amazing skills!
A reminder that your child should wear two outfits - one is worn underneath the other.
- A white t-shirt with denim shorts (or skirt). This will be for the showdance.
- Own choice - Over the top of their white t-shirt and shorts, the students may wear their own choice of clothes. As there are no change facilities, students just take this layer of clothing off once the partner dances are finished, to be ready for the showdance. The choice of clothing might include:
- Buttoned shirt (over the white t-shirt)
- Long pants (completely optional over the shorts as some children like to cover the denim)
- Dress (would cover both the t-shirt and shorts)
- blouse (over the white t-shirt)
- Skirt (completely optional over the shorts as some children like to cover the denim)
Mrs Jane Taylor
Assistant Principal
Dear Parents and Carers,
We warmly invite you to join us for an informative and engaging Parent Engagement Workshop focused on supporting your child's early reading development.
Workshop Details:
- Date: Friday, May 16th (Term 2, Week 3)
- Time: 9:00 AM - 10:00 AM
- Location: School Library, Sacred Heart Mosman
This workshop will provide you with valuable insights into:
- The key stages of early reading development.
- How to build strong foundational reading skills.
- The importance of a balanced approach to reading instruction.
- Practical and effective strategies to nurture a love of reading in your child at home.
We believe that a strong partnership between home and school is essential for your child's early reading success. Your active involvement in their reading journey makes a significant difference. The workshop, presented by Mrs McCartney and Miss Hollingsworth, will be held in-person and unfortunately will not be recorded or available via Zoom.
RSVP: To help us prepare for the workshop, please RSVP via the Google form link if you wish to attend.
Link: RSVP Parent Engagement Workshop: K-2 Reading
We look forward to welcoming you and working together to support your child's reading success.
Nerissa McCartney
Leader of Teaching and Learning
Grow Your Mind – The Power of Positive Thinking!
At school, through our work with the “Grow Your Mind” program we encourage the children to recognise their thoughts and shift towards a more positive mindset. One way we do this is by identifying ‘shark’ thoughts and ‘dolphin’ thoughts’.
? Shark thoughts can be unhelpful, making challenges feel bigger and more difficult.
? Dolphin thoughts help us stay positive, problem-solve, and build resilience.
When faced with a challenge, we encourage the children to ask:
Is this thought helping me?
Is there another way to see this situation?
For example, if a child is worried about performing on stage, they might have a shark thought like:
❌ “I hate performing! I get so nervous and always forget my place.”
By growing their mind, they can turn it into a dolphin thought:
✅ “I might feel nervous, but each time I practise, I’ll get better and more confident.”
Helping children reframe their thinking supports their emotional growth, builds resilience, and encourages a positive approach to life’s challenges.
Try to encourage more ‘Dolphin Thinking’ with your child at home!
Have a great week!
Amanda Macourt
Leader of Wellbeing and Engagement
Last week, our school celebrated Harmony Day, a day dedicated to promoting inclusivity and cultural diversity. The Student Representative Council (SRC) took the lead, delivering a presentation at our school assembly focused on respect, acceptance, and ensuring everyone feels a sense of belonging, regardless of their background.
The assembly provided a great opportunity for students to reflect on the richness of our diverse community. The SRC leaders did an outstanding job inspiring us all to embrace and celebrate our differences.
We are proud of their efforts in making Harmony Day a meaningful and impactful event.
Warm regards
Abbey Adamo
Abbey Adamo
SRC LEADER
As we come to the end of the Lenten season and enter into Holy week. This link is super informative.
We still have time to participate in the last few weeks of Lent so if you need a Lenten Challenge,
Here are 25 ideas for things to do or give up for Lent in 2025
If you or a family member or friend are in need of some extra prayers due to being unwell or going through hard times, our parish has an
Anointing Mass for the Sick
4th April, Midday Mass Sacred Heart Church followed by lunch in the Parish Hall.
As we lead up to Holy week, Holy Family Parish has a Community Reconciliation Mass on Tuesday 15th April at 7pm. Confession is a place of victory !
Reminder:
Our last community playgroup for this term is on Monday 7th April at 9am in the parish hall. Parents, grandparents, carer’s… All are welcome.Tea/coffee & light morning tea is provided for adults.
Walking for Wellbeing group Tuesday morning at 8:45am. Meet at Cardinal St , school front gate. We walk for approx 45 mins, then have morning tea.
SPaR - Stop, Pray and Reflect. Begins with morning Mass at 9:15am at Holy Family church. Then coffee & conversation for whomever is available.
Anna Macri
Family & Faith Educator
Welcome to the final sporting newsletter for the term. We have finally hit week 9, and what a very eventful two weeks it has been with all of our sporting trials, crazy weather and postponements.
Firstly, I would like to thank all of the staff and parent volunteers who assisted with our postponed cross country last week. Despite the change of weather (it was meant to be sunny the whole day!), I am so thankful for everyone pulling through and putting in their best efforts even in the rain. No running and organising of a sporting event is ever easy, so having an amazing team makes all of the difference. I would like to dedicate a small section of this newsletter to say thank you to:
Our Sports Captains:
Iggy, Matthew Z, Lea, Eve, Molly and Emily B for all of their assistance in tallying laps, counting house colour points, marshalling and for being the best cheer squad and hype warriors our students needed during their runs. Jorge P and Zachary M were away at the AFL trials, but I am more than confident that they would have also done an amazing job. We also had Eve Grover and Elle S in Year 6 participate in the Sydney netball trials. Please join me in congratulating both girls as they have been selected to progress to the MacKillop Selection trials and have made the Sydney Catholic Schools team. These girls will be off to Canberra next term to fight for a spot on the MacKillop Netball Team.
Teachers:
Thank you to the staff at Sacred Heart for helping in the running of the day. For helping pin on the race bibs, walking students to and from school and for keeping everyone safe and organised. A special thank you to Mr. Shane Kenny and Mrs. Stephanie Matchett for all of their help setting up, recording results, packing up and the overall running of the day. Thank you also to Mrs. Anna Macri for providing first aid to the students who required it.
Last, but definitely not least - our parent volunteers. Thank you to:
- Emily Billiau
- Emma Aouad
- Sarah O’Halloran
- Maud Dumont
- Maryann Schmidt
- Fiona Britten
- Louise Edwards
- Lisa Taylor.
Thank you so much to these parents for volunteering their time and assisting with the overall running of the day. Their sacrifice of their time is always appreciated by both the students and staff at Sacred Heart. Thank you for being a part of a great day. Successful students will be progressing to the Sydney Championships at Sydney Motorsport Park in Eastern Creek next term. colour house tally at the conclusion of the event resulted in:
1st: Champagnat (Gold) - 263 points
2nd: Polding (Red) - 250 points
3rd: MacKillop (Green) - 178 points
4th: McAuley (Blue) - 52 points
As mentioned in the last sporting edition, we had two students represent Sacred Heart at the Australian Football (AFL) trials last week. Any successful student would then become a part of the MacKillop Australian Football team. Congratulations to Zachary Meacock for being selected. As quoted by our conference coordinator, “Congratulations to all students selected for our SCS and NSW Mackillop teams. Reaching these levels is a remarkable achievement, and it's amazing to see so many Conference 1 students making their mark in their sports.” Zachary will be competing at the NSWPASS Australian Football Championship on Wednesday 4 June - Friday 6 June at Blacktown International Sportspark.
We also had Eve Grover and Elle S in Year 6 participate in the Sydney Netball Trials. Please join me in congratulating both girls as they have been selected to progress to the MacKillop Selection Trials and have made the SCS team. These girls will be off to Canberra next term to fight for a spot on the MacKillop netball team.
To close us off, I would like to advise parents of programs that are offered over the school holidays by Sydney FC. Please read on below:
Sydney FC Holiday Clinics
Sydney FC Holiday Clinics offer three days of non-stop football fun to keep kids active and entertained during the school holidays. Designed for boys and girls aged 5-13 and led by qualified coaches, our well-structured programs are available at locations across Sydney and Wollongong. For more information, please visit this website: https://sydneyfc.com/clinics/
Sydney FC x EA Sports FC Masterclass
Sydney FC have partnered with Xbox for the Sydney FC x EA Sports FC Masterclass. The event will be held at the Fortress Sydney and is aimed at participants 9 – 17 years.
Register before April 6 for a chance to win a Sydney FC Gaming Experience at Sky Park, where you'll play EA FC against five Sydney FC players!
Miss Austrie Calizar
Sports Co-ordinator
