2020 School Term Dates

Staffing Update

Mr Matthew O ’Dwyer’s late appointment to a new position has meant some slight staffing changes for 2020.
• We congratulate Mrs Katie Imbriano on her appointment to the position of Religious Education Coordinator at Sacred Heart Primary School for 2020.
• Mrs Amy Kelly will be teaching with Katie on 5/6W.
• We congratulate Mr Aaron Fox who will take on the Curriculum Coordinator position.
• We welcome Mrs Vanessa Miller to staff. Vanessa will be teaching Kindergarten Red.

School Communication Methods

Communication and Using SZapp

Our main form of communication with parents is via the ‘SZapp’ app and email. This will be particularly significant in this current bushfire and emergency season. We ask that all parents have the SZapp smart phone app installed and notify the school of any updated contact details ASAP.
a) We have recently improved the privacy settings on SZapp by adding an access code. Approach a member of staff to ask for the code. Please share this code individually with other parents and guardians. For security reasons we will not be publishing this code in any newsletter or online site.
b) Please check your ‘Manage tab’ to ensure you are subscribed to your child’s 2020 stage group.

Facebook Pages

The school community have two facebook pages that you can follow to see what is happening within our school and community.

• Sacred Heart Primary School
• Sacred Heart Parents and Carers

Sport’s Uniform Days

Your child should wear their sport’s uniform on the following days:

Kinder Wednesday and Friday
Stage 1 (Years 1 & 2) Wednesday and Friday
Stage 2 (Years 3 & 4) Tuesday and Thursday
Stage 3 (years 5 & 6) Tuesday and Thursday

Book Club

Scholastic Book Club orders are due Friday 14th February. 

Before School drop-off and the Afternoon pick-up Procedures

We wish to remind all parents and carers who do the before school drop-off and the after school pick–up of our procedures. These directives are for the wellbeing of all our students and ensure that students are supervised by a teacher on duty at all times.

Morning Arrival

Students can be dropped off at Drive-Through or Murphy St from 8.30am when a teacher starts duty. No child should be on the premises before this time as there is no teacher on duty and thus your child is unsupervised. If you need care before 8.30am, please book your child in to our before-school service with YMCA.

Afternoon Pick-Up Procedures 

Pick up: Parking is available in the main school carpark, below the bus bay on Murphy St or in adjacent streets. Please do not use the church carpark.

We ask that all parents and carers do not enter the building to wait beside individual classrooms. Instead, please wait at these nominated locations and ask your child to come to you:

• Kinder Courtyard. Teacher on duty.
• Maker Space inside the building between canteen and library. All parents and carers must only enter the building via the front door. No teacher on duty.
• Outside Stage 3 Corridor exit door. No teacher on duty.
• Near the main hall doors. Children exit via the Stage 3 Corridor door. Teacher nearby at Drive-Through.
• If parents and carers need to visit the classroom to see the teacher or to pick up items, please make your way into the building, once the majority of students have cleared the corridor.
• Please teach your child to see the teacher on duty (Kinder Courtyard and Drive-Through) or the front office staff if ever they cannot find the person who is picking them up.
• No child should be walking up to the church carpark or down to Beasley Street. They should be with the teacher at Drive-Through.

Drive-Through: Cars come down Hodgson Crescent, turn left into school driveway, queuing around the top near the hall.  Teacher(s) on duty will direct you to pick-up or waiting bays and send your children to you. Cars must then exit the carpark and turn left onto Hodgson Cres, being careful at the pedestrian crossing.

Children going to Drive-Through, exit via the Stage 3 Corridor door and wait quietly on the yellow cross or under the trees near the lower hall doors, with the teacher on duty.

Bus: Limited buses arrive at Hodgson Cres. Children meet the teacher on duty in the Kinder courtyard, and will walk up to Hodgson Cres with the walkers.

YMCA ASC: Children exit via the Stage 3 Corridor door and enter the back hall doors to greet YMCA staff. Kinder and Yr 1 children will be met by YMCA staff at their classroom as arranged.

Walk/ride: Children can walk or ride to cross streets with a teacher on duty. Beasley St and Hodgson Cres (meet at canteen/bike cage), or Murphy St and Hodgson Cres (meet in Kinder Courtyard).

Teachers are on duty until 3.30pm at Drive-Through and in the Kinder Courtyard. Children not picked up in these areas by these times will be taken to the Front Office and a phone call made.

Safety: We would also like to remind all Parents and Carers that students need to stay by your side once they have been collected by you and remain in your duty of care. In no instance should a student be playing on any school equipment while the teacher is on duty.

Parking Fines

We have been advised by a parent that a parking fine was issued last week for "parallel park close to dividing line/strip". There is a solid white line where Murphy Street and McNeil Place intersect.  Please be aware that this area is monitored by ACT Govt parking vehicles and you may be issued with an infringement notice.

Community Council Connections

Welcome back families and friends as we start our 50th anniversary year for Sacred Heart Primary School. 

1. New to the school? Join our two social media channels on Facebook. School postings can be found on the public Facebook group and are streamed to the school website, while parents and carers can ask and share information in our private group. Sacred Heart primary School | Sacred Heart Parents and Carers
2. A reminder our Annual General Meeting (AGM) for the Community Council will be held on Tuesday 18 Feb (week 3) at 6pm in the Italian room. The Community Council is designed to support the running of the school and endorse the school strategy. We work closely with the school executive team to help create the best environment to nurture children to learn and play. The AGM is a chance for you to understand and contribute to the running of our school. All welcome, especially new families from kinder to year 6. At the AGM you can nominate to be part of the Community Council Executive, come along to find out more or ask the front office for more information. 
3. Being our 50th anniversary, we have many celebrations planned for the year, led by Selena and Natasha Lanzetta's mum Josie. Josie is meeting with the sub-committee next week to plan activities to mark a memorable year for our school, with plenty of opportunities for the wider community to participate and be involved. 

If you see a new face at drop off or pick up, make sure you smile and extend a warm welcome. We have a fantastic community and we will continue to see it grow in 2020.

Sarah Lloyd

SHPS Community Council Chair