Dear Parents and Carers,

As we continue to focus on the virtue of gratitude I found this quote from Albert Schweitzer. 

At times, our own light goes out and is rekindled by a spark from another person. Each of us has cause to think with deep gratitude of those who have lit the flame within us.” 

Let us bring to our minds in thought and prayer those people who have rekindled our lives.                                                    

Take care and keep safe

Wellbeing in Action

Save the date for 

• ‘Bullying. No Way! Building a Kindness Culture’. Classroom activities on March 18th.
• ‘Harmony Week’ Dress-Up day on Monday 21st March. We will be celebrating the diversity of cultures at Sacred Heart and across Australia. Children are invited to wear clothes with cultural significance or orange clothes/socks/accessories to celebrate harmony and diversity in our community. Further information about what to wear and the activities we will be engaging in at school will be made available next week.

Helping your child to be a good friend

“Friendship skills include being a loyal friend, accepting differences in a friend, standing up for a friend, being kind and supportive to a friend and including a friend in games.” Life Education

Understanding what a good friend is can be tricky. The latest Insight from Parenting Ideas explores some strategies you can use to help explain what being a good friend means to your child and how they can be one. Click Here

Student Wellbeing and Behaviour Management (Part 1)

At Sacred Heart we make the: teaching of social-emotional skills, online safety, knowing our school rules and having strategies for when things go wrong - a core part of our inquiry learning. These skills will help us to be better self-managers, collaborators and communicators. (Learning Assets, K Murdoch 2015).

Across the school we use the STOP, THINK, DO! program to teach social skills, helping students consider the choices they make in managing their own behaviours and responding to the behaviour of others.

Students in the older grades go further with social-emotional learning by participating in activities from the Rock and Water program. The exercises and games are practised to develop confidence and self-reflection. The games are martial arts based. Students learn to block, stand strong, negotiate using “rock” or “water” verbal approaches, walk away from a fight, consider alternatives to aggression, and develop understandings about who they are, their intuitive feelings and their personal direction. Click on the Rock and Water Logo to take you to their website for further information.

Staff at Sacred Heart will use the language of these two programs, explicitly taught in classes, when guiding students to respond to interactions at school. 

Next week - Behaviour steps when children need further guidance to manage their behaviour choices.

Yours faithfully,

Ash Wednesday 2^nd March

Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of Lent: a period of reflection, fasting and prayer. Ashes are a symbol of penance made sacramental by the blessing of the Church. They help us develop a spirit of humility and sacrifice. Sacred Heart staff and students will receive a sprinkling of ashes on their heads (no ashes will be placed on foreheads this year in accordance with guidelines).

As we begin Lent, may we find new encouragement to open our hearts to respond to God’s grace and to lead others to do the same.

    

Project Compassion 2022     

Next week the season of Lent begins with Ash Wednesday, which also marks the beginning of the annual Caritas Australia Project Compassion Appeal. Donations to Project Compassion allows Caritas Australia, the Catholic Agency for International Aid and Development, to work with local communities around the world to end poverty, promote justice and uphold dignity.

The theme of Project Compassion 2022 is ‘For All Future Generations’ and reminds us that the good that we do today will extend and impact the lives of generations to come. It invites us to make the world a better place by working together now and finding long-term solutions to global issues.  We encourage you to put your compassion into action this Lent through your prayer, fasting and almsgiving by supporting Project Compassion. Each family will receive a Project Compassion box next week.

The boxes can be returned to school at any time, with all Project Compassion boxes collected by early Term 2.

• MHOC 2022 First Reconciliation Session 3 will be on 2 March and Session 4 will be held on 9 March.  Both start at 6:30pm and will be held in the Church.  
• Next Wednesday, 2 March is Ash Wednesday.  Ash Wednesday Masses with ash distribution will be held at 7:30am and 5:30pm in the Church.  All are welcome at either of these Masses.

Position Vacant: Parish Office Coordinator – Sacred Heart Church.

Part-time, 2 days per week during school terms, 9am to 3pm.  12 month contract - option to extend. 

General office administration & coordination & administration of the sacramental programs.

Applications close Friday 25 February with a start date in March.

Email for a duty statement: attention Melanie Kerr Office Manager.

Netball 2022

The netball season is coming up and we are looking at gauging interest from students in years 2-6 who would like to play netball for Sacred Heart at Arawang Netball Association. The games are every Saturday with one training session during the week, commencing March 19, 2022. 

Brooke Willoughby-Thomas is our school netball coordinator for this year. If your child is interested in playing or you have any questions, please send Brooke an email and when the online registration portal has been finalised next week, she will send you the information to register. Children in Kindergarten and Year 1 can register separately for the Net Set Go netball program, details are through Arawang Netball Association.

We look forward to another wonderful year of netball at Sacred Heart. 

 Tennis ACT

In celebration of the spectacular Aussie success stories at the Australian Open this year, Tennis ACT are giving everyone FREE* court hire for one session during the month of February. We would love to the see you all out on the court so please see details below on how to book your free court.

To book just head to play.tennis.com.au/courthire. Enter FREECOURT at the checkout. Please feel free to share this code with a friend and let’s make Feb a big hit for tennis!

*T&C’s apply: https://www.tennis.com.au/doc/court-hire-promo

Private Piano Tutition

Places for 2022 have now become available.

Those parents who are wanting their child/children to have piano lessons, can contact the teachers directly on the following contact numbers;

• Mrs Hildegarde Mendoza Phone: 0417 580 975
• Mrs Pam Cox Phone: 0418 442 203
• Mr Craig Mewett Phone: 0409 151 887 / 6278 7382

Student Leaders

This year we are looking to build the capacity of our student leaders and provide them with a forum to connect with our wider school community. To broaden student advocacy and help introduce our School Captains to the newsletter and community, we will be starting a “Leader Spotlight” news article.  Each captain will offer their responses to the same questions. We hope this will shed a light on who they are and what being a leader at Sacred Heart means to them. They will also share how they intend to have a positive impact on the community of Sacred Heart Primary School.

The students have had a great start to the 2022 school year. A few pictures from around the school. Some of these have been shared previously on FaceBook.

Two's Day 22/02/22

It was wonderful to see the joy for our Playgroup, Kindergarten and Stage 1 students who celebrated Two's Day- a once in a lifetime experience!

Congratulations to the following students celebrating their birthday this week 

Joshua K