Dear Sacred Heart Community,

The term is racing away!

This year, Easter falls in the middle of the school holidays, but we will begin our Holy Week observances this Friday. Holy Week is a sacred time when we reflect on the final week of Jesus’ life and His immense sacrifice for us.

Kindergarten will lead us through a liturgy of Palm Sunday, helping us explore the significance of Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem. We warmly invite all parents to join us in the school hall this Friday at 2:40 p.m. for this special liturgy. There is something special watching our young students wave palms! All are most welcome.

Next Thursday, 10 April, Year 4 will present a reenactment of Holy Thursday at 12:45 p.m. in the school hall. Later in the day, Year 5 and Year 6 will lead the Good Friday and Easter liturgy at 2:00 p.m. in the Church. These prayerful and meaningful occasions allow us to unite as a community in reflection and faith. All are most welcome to attend.

Canteen Update
After a thorough review, we will conclude our partnership with The Merchant’s Feast at the end of this term and return to in-house operations led by Tracey Kane. Tracey will manage the canteen on Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays. The new menu will be introduced next term. We will send a letter and the menu out via Compass in the coming days.

We sincerely thank The Merchant’s Feast for their exceptional service and look forward to engaging them for future events. Please refer to the coming letter for more details.

Leadership Update
I am currently on leave until next Tuesday. Should you have any concerns or require assistance, the Assistant Principal, Mrs Kerry Wode, is available to help. I appreciate your understanding and look forward to reconnecting with you next week.

Pupil Free Day Reminder
This is just a reminder that next Friday, 11 April, will be a Pupil-Free Day as our staff participate in professional learning sessions. These opportunities for growth and development are integral to ensuring we provide the best possible education and care for our students. The YMCA is available from the hall that day if required: please speak with Brentan.

Due to the Pupil-Free day on Friday, we will give out Week 10 awards at the Thursday morning assembly.

Compliance Review
Next Wednesday, a panel from Catholic Education will visit our school as part of our Compliance Review process. This review ensures we meet the highest standards in our policies, procedures, and overall operations. Over the past two terms, our team has been diligently preparing for this review, carefully examining and enhancing our practices to uphold excellence in everything we do. It takes place every five years, so it is a big deal! We warmly welcome the panel and look forward to showcasing the hard work and dedication of our school community.

Thank you for your continued support and partnership in making Sacred Heart a thriving environment for our students.

In faith and partnership,

David Austin

Principal

Compass Notifications

Communication between school and home is a vital part of partnership with you in caring for your child. Some weeks we need to communicate many things. Compass is our main channel. 

We would like to make notifications easier for parents by limiting the timing of daily Compass notifications to 3pm. We are hoping that this will ensure parents prioritise any message that comes during the day.

So, we will endeavour to keep to these guidelines:-

• Notifications for information will be scheduled for 3pm. Please be aware you may receive more than one notification at that time. 
• Wednesday’s Newsletter will be sent as soon as it is ready, so you have plenty of time to read it and know how to plan your week. eg: Maybe to attend Friday morning assembly when your child is receiving an award!
• Event notifications/emails which require permissions or payments will be sent any time.
• Priority notifications, such as emergencies or information to know before your child comes home, will be sent at time of need. 

If you need to pass on a message to your child or their teacher for that day, please always phone (or email) our office.

For more general conversations/information with your child’s teacher, please email them directly or the office can forward it on.  Staff will endeavour to respond to parent emails within twenty-four hours of receiving them, Monday to Friday. We do not ask teachers to respond to parent emails during teaching periods or later at night.

Removing Distractions

We have noticed a huge jump in the number of items children are bringing to school. These are proving to be a distraction and, in some cases, a status symbol. We ask that children leave them for home use. 

We remind families that:

• All stationery items are supplied as part of your school fees. 
• Children in Year K-2 should not be bringing in their own pencils/ textas/ erasers. 
• Children in Years 3-6, who wish to use some of their own items, may bring in a pencil case small enough to fit in their desk tray or school bag. 
• Items such as small treasures, multiple keyrings on bags to play with, balls, soccer gloves, friendship or fashion wristbands, toys, colourful hair accessories or extra jewellery should not come to school. An exception might be one small fiddle toy (kept to themselves) or one handball (as we just can’t keep up the stock).
• At times a child might bring in items for news or a book they are reading. They can plan with the teacher to keep them safe.
• Children have requested to bring in diaries and drawing items to use during play time. Next term, drawing/writing club will happen during lunch times when the library is open.

While it's sad to say farewell to summertime, hopefully with daylight saving finishing this weekend the task of getting everyone in your house out of bed each morning will be easier for the last week of term!

Yours in working together

Kerry Wode

Compass Notifications

Please refer to Compass for the following notifications:

• Notification of incident at St Edmund's College
• NO NUT PRODUCTS
• WEEK 9 AND 10 SPORT DAYS

Reflection during Lent
As we approach the middle of Lent, reflecting on our Lenten promises is a valuable exercise to assess our journey of faith and identify areas for growth, focusing on the core practices of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving.
Here's a breakdown of how to reflect on your Lenten promises:

Acknowledge Your Progress:
Recognise the positive steps you've taken during Lent, whether it's increased prayer time, acts of service, or abstaining from something.
Identify Areas for Improvement:
Be honest with yourself about areas where you struggled to uphold your promises or where you could have done better.
Reflect on the Purpose of Lent:
Remember that Lent is a time for spiritual renewal, repentance, and preparation for Easter.
Consider the Three Pillars of Lent:
• Prayer: How did you deepen your prayer life? Did you find new ways to connect with God?
• Fasting: What did you give up, and how did that experience impact you? Did it help you focus on spiritual needs rather than material ones?
• Almsgiving: How did you serve others or give to those in need? Did your actions reflect a spirit of generosity and compassion?
Pray for Grace:
Ask God for the grace to continue growing in faith and to live out your Lenten promises in the coming months.
Prepare for Easter:
As you reflect, consider how you can carry the lessons of Lent into your everyday life and prepare your heart for the joy of Easter.
Remember that it's okay to make mistakes:
If you haven't stayed true to your Lenten promise, it is okay to admit that and restart.

Athletics Carnival

Another enormous thank you to everyone for a great day, we were so efficient that we ended up finishing early. A massive thank you to the Mackillop Students who were an enormous help in the running of the day.

Clinics

This week our AFL and Oz Tag Clinics (Oz Tag tomorrow) have finished. We love being able to provide the students with opportunities to play a range of sports, which hopefully gives them the confidence to do this on the weekends.

A big thank you to you our parents. We appreciate how often we have changed the sports uniforms days thoughout the term and we know how hard it can be to keep up with the changes (often week to week). Availability of the clinics often come up once the term has started which means we have to adjust our days along the way. We hope your child has enjoyed these clinics and we hope have some more through out the year.  

South Weston Swimming

On Friday, a small team of SHPS students will attend the South Weston Swimming Carnival which is held at the AIS this year. We wish them all the best as they compete against the best swimmers in our South Weston Region. Mrs Iles will be accompying them on the day. 

Weekend Netball

We are looking for a few more players from Y2, Y3, or Y4. We have enough for 2 teams and are still going ahead but would like a few more extra players, especially as it gets colder in the winter season. 

If your child is interested, please contact Laura Stumbles as she will pass your name onto our netball coordinator. 

The games are Saturday mornings, either at 9am or 10am. Trainings will be a morning during the week at school. 

Please see in this week’s bulletin details of:

• A church Cleaning – Working Bee for 12 April,
• We are looking for volunteers for Easter – sign-up sheet will be in the church over the weekend and
• Please join us next Sunday 6 April for our monthly morning teas and a farewell to the O’Brien’s after the 10am mass.