Dear Parents, Staff and Students,

A very warm welcome to the 2024 school year at Sacred Heart. I hope you all had a happy Christmas and a great break with family before a busy school year begins. Thank you, too, for the very warm welcome I have received. I am really looking forward to getting to know everyone over the coming weeks and leading this community.

Welcome to those parents who are joining our community for the first time. A special welcome to new staff who are joining us this year: Katherine Smith, May Schneider and Dan Fulton.

In this first newsletter I wish to thank parents for the way in which your sons and daughters have been prepared for their new classes and new teachers. In Kindergarten, we saw a most settled beginning yesterday while our senior students in Years Five and Six have set a wonderful tone about the school through their willingness to assist and help others. All students look great in their uniform. The school uniform, worn with pride is a distinguishing feature of our school and I thank all parents for their support in following our uniform policy.

WELCOME BREAKFAST, MEET THE TEACHER AND OPENING SCHOOL MASS

You are warmly welcome to our Meet the Teacher and community breakfast on Friday 16^th February from 8am. Classrooms will be open from 8:30am to meet your child’s teacher and have a good look around. Our Opening School Mass will be held from 9:30am in the Church with the whole school and we encourage you to join us for this too. Please claim the date.

Sport Days

Kindergarten - Tuesday and Friday

Years 1- Tuesday and Friday

Year 2 - Wednesday and Friday

Year 3 - Tuesday and Friday

Year 4- Tuesday and Friday

Year 5- Monday and Thursday

Year 6- Monday and Thursday

In faith and partnership,

David Austin

Principal

School Hours

Teachers are on duty between 8.30am and 3.30pm each day.

Morning: 

1. No child should be on the playground unsupervised before 8.30am. If you need care before this time, please utilise our Before-hours-care offered by YMCA.
2. Children can be dropped off on Murphy St or at the front Drive-through. Parents and Carers are welcome on the playground to stay for the morning assembly.
3. All children should be at school by 8.55am to start with our assembly.

Afternoon:

Teachers dismiss children from the classrooms (This week we will often walk children to pick up areas!) 

YMCA will usually pick up children in Kinder and Year 1 from the classrooms. Older children walk directly to meet YMCA educators in the school hall.

Children make their way out of the building to our three supervised pick-up points. 

Murphy St. Please park facing uphill on Murphy St or in the adjacent streets. Parents and carers wait at the gate for the duty teacher to send your child to you. Children will raise their hand to indicate that they can see you. Children catching the bus or crossing the road will be walked up to Hodgson Cres by a duty-teacher

Drive-through and main car park off Hodgson Cres. Please come down Hodgson Cres. Students will exit the building and make their way to the shady area near the hall doors. Collect your child and leave the car park making a left hand turn only onto Hodgson Cres. 

a) Join the queue for drive-through. The teachers on duty will assist your child to the car. A nametag in your windscreen is very helpful!

or b) Park in the carpark. Come up to gather your child. Please be very careful of moving vehicles.

Walking/riding across Hodgson Cres or Beasley St. Children meet the duty teacher at the bike cage or near the canteen. The group walks down to the main school crossing, with the teacher supervising crossing these busy roads.

Any child not collected by 3.30pm will be brought to the office. A phone call will be made to check what is holding you up.

Thanks for your cooperation and respect for the safety of all.

Communication, Payments and Calendar

Good communication is the key to smooth relationships. We ask parents to set yourself up for the year on the following platforms. For more information refer to the Parent Information Note (PIN)  coming home shortly. For support please speak to a staff member.

1. Calendar -  COMPASS or our  school website
2. COMPASS - app or online (Helpful hint when logging in the first time: search for PEARCE rather than Sacred Heart)
3. Email - Teachers can be contacted directly via their cg email or via the COMPASS platform.
4. Qkr! App - Use Qkr! for all online payments, including Canteen and Merchant Feast. (We will not see your payment if you accidently use the pay option on Compass. Furthermore you will be charged a processing fee to reverse it.)
5. Our social media platform is  Facebook
6. Facebook ‘ Sacred Heart Parents and Carers’ Group - send a membership request to join our FB parent group. Group moderated by our Community Council. Used to share information and for you to ask questions about what’s going on.
7. Remember to visit our school website, especially the staff lists and the ‘for parents’ tab with the What to do if….? FAQ flowcharts.

Lunch clubs

Our school offers many extra-curricula opportunities for students to choose. Some are paid activities with specialist staff; others are free activities run by our talented teachers. 

Please refer to the list below for what is being offered during Term 1. You may wish to talk to your child about joining in. Clubs start in Week 2, unless otherwise stated. Please note chess is run by external companies and require enrolment and registration fees.

Monday

Gardening with Mr  Fox. Free for children in Yrs 2-6. Meet Fr Fox near the hall doors at 11am

Library is open. Children in Yrs K-6 can choose to spend their lunch playtime in the library reading, drawing and playing quiet games including lego. Come into the library via the Maker Space doors.

Tuesday

Chess Lessons with Sydney Chess Academy. Please refer to the flyer attached further in our newsletter for the costs and enrolment process. Meet Jordan at 3Red classroom at 11am. Chess starts 13 Feb (Week 3)

Karaoke with Mrs Riley. Free for children in YrsK-6. Meet Mrs Riley at the music room at 11am.

Wednesday

THINK!  with Mrs Wode. Free club for Yrs 3-6. Various activities building thinking and creative skills, and drama. Open to all, but great preparation for students who may want to join a Tournament of the Minds Team next term.

Choir with Mrs Riley.  8.30-9.15am in the music room.  Full details for how to enrol in choir will be published next week.Choir will start Week 3.

Thursday

Library is open. Children in Yrs K-6 can choose to spend their lunch playtime in the library reading, drawing and play quiet games including lego. Come into the library via the Maker Space doors.

Friday 

Bike Club with Mr Sweeney. Free for Yrs 3-6. Children can bring their own bikes and helmets or borrow one of the school’s. Meet Mr Sweeney at 11am at the bike cage.

NAPLAN

The annual NAPLAN tests will be held across Australia between 13-25 March. Information will be sent via COMPASS to families with children in Years 3 and 5 shortly. 

Here is the link to the NAPLAN website with Parent and Carer Information for general community reference.

Yours in the virtue of Respect,

Compass Notifications

Please refer to Compass for the following notifications:

• Letter from Mr Austin
• IMPORTANT INFORMATION-STUDENT MEDICATION

Hello from our new School Counsellor ……and important information about how to access School Counselling.

Hello lovely Sacred Heart Primary families! My name is Sarah Foley-School Counsellor and I have been part of the MaryMeadCatholiccare Student and Family Counselling team since 2006.

I am a registered psychologist with a passion for working with children, young people and their families. I have previously worked in marketing, community based aged care, crisis counselling and the homelessness sector.

In my school counselling work -I provide short term client centred support to children and their families drawing from Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), Strengths based, Mindfulness and Trauma Informed approaches in a developmental context. For more complex issues I also provide referrals and information/parent consultation. I am at Sacred Heart Primary all day Wednesdays during each school term.

How to make an appointment.

If your child was seen by the School Counsellor last year and you would like them to receive support in 2024, we require you to complete a new counselling registration form. Please either contact David Austin-Principal, your child’s Class Teacher or the School Counsellor (sarah.foley@mccg.org.au) and we will forward you the link via email.

New referrals and requests can be made by contacting the Principal David Austin, your child’s class teacher or School Counsellor ( sarah.foley@mccg.org.au). We will email you the appropriate counselling registration forms via a link.

Parent consent for counselling continues to be required for all primary school students and will be sought and provided via email. Where parents are separated, we require the written consent of both parents. Once the referral has been received by myself- School Counsellor- I will make contact with parents on my next day at Sacred Heart to further discuss the referral.

More about School counselling/how to access school counselling at Sacred Heart Primary School.

As part of the pastoral care program for students at Sacred Heart Primary students have access to a Student and Family Counselling service provided by MaryMeadCatholicCare Canberra & Goulburn (MCCG). MCCG are contracted by the CEO to provide a counselling service to students and their families on site. There is no fee to access this service. The service offers short term counselling support (roughly up to six sessions per referral issue) to children and their families – the counsellor can also provide referrals for more complex issues requiring intensive or long-term therapy/support.

The role of the counsellor is to focus on the emotional, social and educational well-being of the students. Counsellors welcome contact with students having difficulty with some part of their life, the problem does not have to be a big one. It is better to seek help sooner rather than later. Some typical concerns that counsellors work with include: anger, anxiety, behavioural problems, low mood, family changes/separation, grief and loss, learning and educational challenges, parenting challenges, peer and other social relationships, school avoidance, stress and study skills. As well as individual sessions with students, counsellors can run groups, consult with parents and teachers and make referrals to other services and supports. 

Student and Family Counsellors subscribe to a set of professional ethics that include duty of care and respect for the individual rights to privacy and confidentiality. The counsellors’ obligation is to ensure the safety, wellbeing and confidentiality of the student they are working with. All counsellors are mandated to report any disclosure or sign of abuse (including self-harm) or neglect to Child Protection Services. Outside of our mandated requirements, all counselling sessions are confidential and the details will not be discussed with other parties unless written consent is given by the client.

Sarah Foley-School Counsellor/Registered Psychologist, Ph:  02 6286 2410 , is onsite at school all day -Wednesdays.

Playgroup has started back for 2024.

Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday

9am – 11am

We welcome new staff. Christina Hill (regular relief teacher), Catherine Smith (1 White), Fr Emil Milat (Parish Priest), David Austin (Principal), May Schneider (1 Red)