Dear Parents and Carers,

Our staff recently looked at what sets our school apart from other schools and what is unique about us. We ask this question of new parents to our school and it is often on the recommendation of our current parents that new students arrive at Sacred Heart. They  describe the “feel” they get, the welcome they receive and the community that we have here at Sacred Heart. Our families when they arrive at the school meet other families that have the same values as them and that does help create our wonderful community.. 

In describing our mission and vision for the school we can do well to look no further than the school values of Faith Generosity and Courage, our Marist Charism and the fact that our school is named after the Sacred Heart of Jesus  - the symbol of God’s unconditional love. As we embark on this new endeavour it is good to reflect on what helps us live our best lives. I feel it is nurture (time spent in prayer or spiritual restoration) and practice (practicing of faith, reaching out to others and following Jesus’ modeling). This is our “why” and our “what” is to reach for the highest possible standards of teaching and learning resulting in the skills and knowledge to navigate an unknown future with hope.

Friday Mass - 7.45am. On Fridays this term we have the opportunity to attend an early morning mass as a community.  Year 5 and 6 students may attend without parents as teachers will attend mass and bring them back to school afterwards. Kinder to Year 3 children can attend with parents or parents might like to attend alone for some quiet time. Mr Brierley or I will be in attendance at mass each week and would love to see you there and catch up. 

It was exciting news that our future sports pathways are opening up for our students for 2021. The first of the trials for representation beyond the school level were held over the last few weeks. Congratulations to the following students who were selected for the Mackillop Basketball trials:

Boys:Jack Whitson, Jack Farquharson, Pasquale Barbalace, Elias Saffioti

Girls: Elise Thomson, Poppy O'Brien, Lucie Gaffney, Charlotte Mutton

We are very excited to meet with our new Kindergarten students onsite this Friday. We welcome the chance to meet them on site and show them our classrooms and help them get used to our routines.

We are currently looking at renovating our basketball court. As this is at the heart of our school and a real feature of our playground we want to ensure that this is done correctly. We have had expenditure of $200,000 approved (with Sydney Catholic Schools providing half of those funds). This afternoon geotechs will be onsite to take samples of the soil to advise us whether redoing the court on a base of asphalt again or concrete will be more suitable given the current cracking in the court. We would like to be sure that the correct decisions are made. This will mean that the court repairs and renovations may take longer than we had first anticipated but we are hoping for the best possible result for the school. 

In today’s newsletter there is a date saver for our Christmas Fair. Two of our classes (Year 1 and Year 6) have joined together to save the Christmas Fair for the students of Sacred Heart. They are being advised by a parent team in order to have a fun, Covid safe day. Next week more details about costs will follow from our Christmas team! Many thanks to our teachers and students who have initiated this wonderful event to ensure that the children have some fun in the lead up to Christmas. 

Unfortunately we can't have shared food at school at the moment. This does include birthdays. Teachers will help your child celebrate their birthday at school in an age appropriate way.

Regards

Julie Caldwell

COMPASS: