Dear Parents, Carers, Students and Staff,

Before I retired as a Principal, one of my favourite school times each year was when we conducted Kindergarten enrolment interviews. As a Principal I was always up for a chat and I loved the opportunity to talk with new and prospective parents as they were in the process of discerning the right school for their child.  However, the real joy of this experience was pretty much found on the faces of those little boys and girls who were turning up at school for their kindergarten readiness assessment. Of course, this is not a formal test of any sort – but for a little four or five year old it could easily seem like a bit of a mountain to climb! That combined look of trepidation, awe and wonder was often so present on their little faces and their smile of relief when they were rewarded with a sticker at the end was always a great joy to behold.

So it was a great pleasure for me to be able be involved in enrolment interviews this week for Kindergarten at Sacred Heart for 2022. Let us keep these children and their families in our prayers as they prepare for their first year at school and I ask you to especially make those families new to Sacred Heart feel welcome and
appreciated when they begin next year.

Our Year 6 students have been preparing for their confirmation and this week they attended their confirmation retreat in the school hall. Please pray for these students, their confirmation sponsors and also their parents as their special day comes closer.

With best wishes,

Steve Conlon
Acting Principal

Dear Parents and Carers of Sacred Heart,

As we all know 2020 was a difficult year for the community of SHM to come together due to COVID restrictions and as we have seen recently we will continue to have situations arise that prohibit us all getting back to “normal”.

The P & F is well aware it is overdue to all gather as a community and connect, so please take this communication as a “save the date” for Saturday the 24^th of July for a function to be held on the school grounds. Please get this in your diary and we will have something more official out in the next week with full details.

I hope to meet as many new and existing parents and carers on the night.

Kind Regards

Chris Janes

On behalf of SHM P & F

The children of Sacred Heart have been beautiful to Archie Doohan (Year 4G) as he deals with the sudden loss of his big brother.

With the support of Julie Caldwell and the SHM staff, Archie would like to thank all of his friends by holding a colourful mufti day in Max’s honour.

Max was a very bright student but he was even brighter when it came to his choice of clothes, especially his collection of colourful  hoodies!  So let’s celebrate Max and the brightness he brought to so many lives.

We have some colourful prizes for the most colourful and creative!

WHEN? Friday May 14

WHAT TO WEAR? All the colours of the rainbow!

HOW TO SUPPORT:  Please bring a gold coin to school and it will be collected by your teacher with proceeds going to the Victor Chang Cardiac Research Institute.

The fear of success - Part 1

Success and ability to succeed are not cut from the same cloth. One is an outcome and the other is a process, a verb, something that we work on. Success and the feeling of accomplishment is something we passionately seek. To give meaning and value to our efforts which are thus approved by others and ourselves. That awesome feeling of, “Yup! I nailed it!” But what if I told you that success is not the outcome you should strive for? What if I told you, that success comes at a cost. It’s not free. You’re not entitled to it, you are not owed it and nobody is going to give it to you. Success needs 2 essential ingredients, and they must work together. In this article I will discuss the first ingredient and its importance. You have to make mistakes...lots of them. You have to fail, you have to know what it feels like to lose. You have to be resilient, because it’s not going to go the way you want it all the time no matter how much you want something. Some days, it’s just not your day! Which is normal. You’re going to mess up, and you know what, everything will be fine! We fear success because we fear making mistakes. How we look when we mess up and what others will think of us when we fail. We may think, “Have I let someone down?” or “I wish I was better…”

The short answers are, “No you haven’t” and “You can be, you just have to work at it.”

This thought process of making mistakes is a terrible thing and is all contradictory. Why? We celebrate success and acknowledge the end product, but we do not recognise the necessary steps and processes of failing, which are needed to succeed. We recognise the trophy, but not the training. We recognise the grade, but not the classwork. Every successful person (or what we perceive as successful) leaves a long trail of late nights, frustration, fear, joy, planning, restless nights of sleep, commitment, guts, focus, repetition, practice and failure...Just to name a few. With every mistake we make, we find a new way not to do something. By order of elimination, you are bound to find the way that works for you. So let us continue to celebrate success, but let us also truly recognise the effort, the drive, the dedication and the sacrifice that one goes to reaching their goals. The resilience displayed and the conquering of the self doubts and/or the physical challenges they faced. For that is the true success. The learning and overcoming of the challenges.

I will finish on this final note: Your thoughts will run and drive your world. If you have a goal and it’s truly important to you, there will never be an excuse. You will never be too tired, mistakes are opportunities and you will always have time. Good luck In the week ahead and I wish you many mistakes and many opportunities to help you become the best you can be!

Fruit of the week - Apples

This week I have been really getting into apples! The apple or Malum in latin has been a staple fruit of many Australian households. Commonly, apples come in three colours: red, green and yellow, each apple having distinct flavours. Apples are tree fruit, which means that just before they are ripe, they fall off. Or in our case, they are picked, packed and sent to our stores. 

Apples contain a variety of super beneficial vitamins and minerals. These are the little things in food that helps our body run! They contain Vitamin C which helps keep our skin and body cells healthy, Vitamin K that supports our blood circulation and potassium which helps the movement of our muscles. Finally, apples have been known to help promote good bacteria, the kind that helps you fight off illness.

So what are you waiting for? Next time you are at the store with your parents, ask if you can have an apple in your lunch! Better yet! Why don’t you go apple picking?

Athletics Carnival

The Sacred Heart Athletics Carnival will be held on Tuesday 25th May at Allan Border Oval. Due to the location change, some events will be conducted at school throughout the term. Additionally, Mosman Council has notified Sacred Heart to inform us that the grandstands will be under construction for the duration of the term. 

If there are any questions or parents who are available to assist for the day, please contact Mr De-Villiers.

2021 Push Up Challenge

The Push Up Challenge has returned for 2021! The Push For Better Foundation raises awareness and engages people in mental health through connection, education and health and wellbeing. Each year there is a target amount of push ups to be completed within the timeframe of 4 weeks. This year the target is 3 318 pushups! For further information on the Push Up Challenge go to https://www.thepushupchallenge.com.au/

Mr De-Villiers will be taking part in this challenge and will be raising funds for the Push For Better Foundation. Future updates will be coming up next week!

National Walk Safely to School Day

This Friday 14th May is National Walk Safely to School Day. This is a national day that encourages all students to walk safely to school. Walking to school is a great way to increase levels of physical activity, enhance social experiences and opportunities and a positive routine and relationship with exercise. If you do live out of walking distance from school, try parking a few blocks away and walk the rest of the distance. Parents could park a distance from their work and walk the distance.

Happy stepping everyone! Remember to follow the road rules as a pedestrian and cross at the appropriate and safest locations!

COMPASS: