Dear Parents and Carers,                                  

Welcome to a new year at Sacred Heart.   

We hope it is a year full of new beginnings, guided by the love of God and embraced by us here at Sacred Heart. In some aspects our experience will be the same as last year but in many ways we hope it will be an entirely different experience. Just as we faced the fear of Covid last year, this year we can go forward knowing that we will be “living with Covid” rather than the constant fear of the unknown last year. This year we hope to be able to manage more social contact and more opportunities to connect.

A number of opportunities to connect and communicate over the following weeks will be:

Parent Teacher Meetings - Week 3 via Zoom

Traditionally these meetings are held at school at night. This year they will be held via Zoom. Each meeting will be an hour long and will consist of an opening address by myself, a presentation by the teachers about the routines and expectations for the grade as well as a question time at the end. Questions can be raised throughout the session via the chat function on zoom and they will be answered at the end. The sessions are at the following times. The zoom link will be sent with a reminder of your session next week.

Community Mass 7.45am every Friday morning at Sacred Heart Church. Parents, teachers and students may attend this mass together. This is one of the regular opportunities that we currently have to meet together. It is a short “busy” person's mass. We hope to see you there. Year 5 and 6 may attend without parents and can walk back to school with teachers. Adults will need to wear a mask in church. 

Our Opening School Mass will be held this Friday at 9.15am. 

Unfortunately restrictions do not allow parents to attend mass in school times. Mr. Brierley forwarded the Zoom link via Compass this morning but here are the details again:

Parents and carers are more than welcome to join us via Zoom. All you need to do is use this link: https://scscatholic.zoom.us/j/93167645966. The password  newyear will be required upon entry.

Please remember that we will only allow Zoom users with their full name and surname visible when entering the Zoom feed. Please resist the urge to use nicknames or initials as we are very conscious of protecting our students and community from external visitors.

Year Six students will receive their leadership badges and so Year Six parents may want to tune in. Other classes will watch the mass via zoom as our student numbers exceed the allowable church numbers.

Current Covid Allowances Please see NSW Health for the most up to date allowances.

1.5m for social distancing

30 maximum indoors after school eg P and F meeting 

50 maximum outdoors after school eg Welcome evening

NSW Health unfortunately do not allow parents on site as yet except for the early years to settle children into school.

Thank you so much for your co-operation 

We often hear the words of Jesus and reflect on them in our own lives. Forgiveness is often preached but can be difficult in reality. A remarkable example of forgiveness in action was launched this week by two families whose children attended one of our Sydney Catholic Schools. The story of the  Abdalla and Sukr families as they launched  the i4Give Day on the anniversary of their children’s death is inspiring. In the following link is the family's story: 

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-01-31/parents-launch-i4give-day-annoversary-oatlands-crash/13106662

The vision for i4Give Day can be found at https://www.i4give.com/

Class Parents 

One of the very special ways we connect at Sacred Heart is by working with our class parents. These parents are volunteers who help create community within our school by organising get togethers for grades so that parents can feel a connection to our community. 

The following classes still need some parents to volunteer as class parents. 

Kindergarten - one new parent to join a group of experienced parents

Year One - we need some volunteers

Year Four - we need some volunteers

If you would like to volunteer or have already done so can you please send an email to parentliaison2021@gmail.com so we can confirm and publish the class parents details.

We are still looking to fill the parent liaison role for 2021. If you and a friend are interested please send an email to parentliaison2021@gmail.com to inquire more about the role.

The following events have been organised as a get together for the Kindergarten 2021 parents.

Welcome to Kinder families 2021 events

Friday 19th  February 6pm - 7.30pm at school

Kinder Blue parents are invited to a face to face drinks evening at school 

Kinder Gold parents are invited to a face to face drinks evening out school 

More details to follow from the class parents

Heads Up!

Any Kindergarten children who would like to “try out” soccer with our XLR8 coaches will have the opportunity to do so in the upcoming weeks. Parents may attend the session and talk to our Soccer conveners.  Please look out for a note to Kindergarten students.

I hope you have a wonderful week.

Regards

Julie Caldwell

Sport

Welcome back to the 2021 sports season. As the new year rolls over, we have a number of new events coming up. The Annual Sacred Heart Cross Country will be held at Allan Border Oval on Wednesday 24th of February. This will be for all students in years 2 to 6. Following this, the Annual Athletics Carnival will be held at Narrabeen Sports Centre on Friday 19th March. Please pencil these dates in your calendars. If you have any questions about sport or physical education in the coming year please contact Mr De-Villiers. 

Wellbeing

A warm welcome to returning and new families to Sacred Heart. A new year always brings a new found source of motivation, new goals and aspirations to become the best we can be. Considering the complexity and challenges we had last year, it may feel that we are playing catch up or replacing things with time lost. Let us look forward to the new challenges, experiences and opportunities to grow that 2021 has to offer. Let us embrace the ups and downs as this all shapes our resilience, love and character. Let’s chase those goals that are sitting in wait for us to take! Embrace and celebrate the unknown as this year is whatever we shape it to be!

Tip for the week: Make your bed every morning. This is something that I do everyday. This simple task is that initial feeling of accomplishment. First goal ticked off! It builds my structure and discipline for the day. It creates routine and respect for the space you live in. And if you do have a challenging day and things didn’t go to plan, at least now you can come home to a made bed.

Here is a small flashback video to 2020 when we were all at home!

Music Mates is back for another exciting year at Sacred Heart and we’re ready and raring to go! Lessons kick off next week and there are still spaces available. Thank you to those who have already signed up! We ‘d love to chat with you if you are interested in joining the program and to make things easier we’ve included some commonly asked questions below. 

Q: What programs are available?

A: That depends on what year you’re in. So have a look at the list below:

Kindergarten - Introduction to Music 

The Music Mates Introduction to Music sessions provides kids with a fantastic start to discovering music through singing, movement, dance and body percussion. Over the semester the kids will explore a wide range of musical styles and concepts through fun team-based activities and performance. They’ll be learning the whole time and they won’t even know it!

Frequency: once a week on Monday

Time: 7:45am

Session Length: 45 mins

Enrolment: per semester

Price: $10  / session

Year 1 - Percussion Group

The Music Mates Percussion Group is a great way to learn the basics of rhythm and get started with playing instruments. Students will sing, move, play lots of percussion, do body percussion and learn how to work as a team to make a human drum kit. These sessions are so much fun and are great for learning the basics of rhythm and beats. 

Frequency: once a week on a Tuesday

Time: 7:45am

Session Length: 45 mins

Enrolment: per semester

Price: $10 / session

Year 2 - Ukulele Group

Designed as a stepping stone for Stage 1 students, the Music Mates Ukulele Group is a fun way for the kids to learn the different parts of the instrument, how to read chord diagrams and how to sing and play together as a team. With songs like On Top of Spaghetti, Yellow Submarine and Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer, the Music Mates Ukulele Group is a great way to get students involved in making music with their friends…and just quietly, the performance ends up in a gigantic sing along with everyone involved!

Frequency: once a week on a Thursday

Time: 7:45am

Session Length: 45 mins

Enrolment: per semester

Price: $10 / session

Years 3 - 6 Rock Orchestra

This incredible program sees the kids placed into groups to learn not one, but five different instruments (drums, guitar, bass, vocals, keyboard). With the sessions held every week, the kids will learn to play familiar songs that they know and love as well as learning the benefits of teamwork, music mate-ship and solidarity. With a focus on playing, this performance program ends up with all of the groups coming together to perform in front of their family and friends in an unforgettable concert for the entire school. School concerts and assemblies will never be the same again!

Frequency: once a week on either Mon / Tues / Wed

Time: 3pm and 3:30pm time slots available

Session Length: 30 mins

Enrolment: per semester

Price: $22 / session

Year K - 6: Private Lessons

If you have a really keen interest in an instrument, then a private lesson is a great way to move ahead quickly. Lessons are centred around the Rockschool syllabus and your teacher will map out a positive learning pathway that is tailored to each student’s interests.  Currently the instruments available are Piano/Keyboard, Guitar, Bass Guitar, Drums and Vocals. 

Years: K - 6

Frequency: once a week

Session Length: 30 mins and 60 mins available

Enrolment: per semester

Price: $45/30 min lesson

$88/60min lesson 

Q: Can I use my Creative Kids Voucher? 

A: Yes you can! Music Mates is a registered provider with Service NSW and you can use your voucher for any of the programs running at Sacred Heart.

Q: When do the lessons run

A: Introduction to Music, Percussion Group and Ukulele group run in the morning at 7:45am. Rock Orchestra and Private Lessons run after school from 3pm. Please check with each program information above for the days.  

Q: How do I sign my child up to a program?

A: That’s easy, just head to the Music Mates website at www.musicmates.com.au, click on the signup/login link in the main menu and follow the instructions. We already have over 40 people signed up and ready to go. 

Q: How will I be charged?

A: Whilst enrolment is for the semester (2 terms) you will be invoiced and payment will be required for each term in advance.

Q: Do you recommend Group or Private Lessons

A: We highly recommend that all students participate in a group program before starting private lessons. Music is so much fun when you play with other people and the Music Mates programs help you develop fundamental skills and discover which instrument you have an interest in. Private Lessons are great for developing skills on a particular instrument and are a great way to enhance your knowledge and playing ability. We’d love to talk more with you about where to get started. 

COMPASS: