Dear Community,

Yesterday our students joined the Parish at the 9:30 Ash Wednesday Mass. It was great to see so many parents there too.

Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of Lent and the ashes we received remind us of our mortality, of the fact that we belong to God and that God loves each one of us unconditionally.  Being marked with ashes is a sign of our conviction to repent of sin and to try to live up to the presence of God in our lives.

Father Emil spoke to us all about the next forty days leading to Easter. Almost out of habit, we think of Lent as a time to “give up something,” to do “some penance” because self-denial is considered good for both body and soul.  However, Lent can be a time for very positive action and self-denial can be achieved by the way we express ourselves to other people and the attention we give to our self development.

Whatever we choose to do for Lent, we should ensure that it leads to a positive change which in turn has a positive effect on the people who are daily in our lives.

Welcome Breakfast tomorrow!

We are looking forward to our Welcome Breakfast/Meet the Teacher morning tomorrow. From 7:30 am egg and bacon rolls will be available for all and tea and coffee available too. From 8:30 am, classrooms will be open for you to meet your child’s teacher, have a look around allow your child to ‘show and tell’ where they are working. We are looking forward to seeing you tomorrow.

Opening School Mass

A reminder our Opening School Mass will be held tomorrow at 9:30 am. Parents and visitors are most welcome to join us.

Parent/Teacher Interviews Term 1

Our Parent/Teacher meetings will be held next week. All information and bookings were disseminated through COMPASS.

At Sacred Heart, teachers value creating a positive relationship with you. These meetings help us to know your child and you better and let us know from the beginning of the year what hopes and concerns you have for your child.

All parents are asked to book a 10-minute conference with their child's teacher. If you have already had a significant meeting with your child's teacher this term, you may not need a further meeting. Kinder parents, if you require a meeting at all (considering the testing and discussions etc that have occurred over the past weeks), please let Caroline or Jessica know and they will book a time. Remember to RSVP for the Kinder Information Session on Wednesday night. See further information below.

Please come to the interviews ready to share:

1. What your child's strengths and passions are?
2. Any concerns you have about their learning or achievements?
3. Any concerns you have about their social skills and development?
4. What do you see as goals for the year?
5. Any other matter which will help your child's teacher know, challenge and care for your precious child this year?

Instagram

We have just joined ‘Instagram’. For those on social media, please follow us. If you search ‘sacred.heartpearce’ you will find us and this is another way we can share what we are doing in the school and keep you up to date.

Principal chats!

As the new Principal at Sacred Heart School, I am very interested and open to meeting with parents. I would love to know what you believe is great about our school, any concerns you have and any improvements you see are needed.

I have the following days and times available for parents to come in and have a chat and a cup of tea. No need to RSVP- just pop into the front office and we will find a space.

I’d appreciate the feedback from current parents to assist me, the leadership Team and the Community Council with future direction. Of course, if you can’t make this time but would like to share anything, please don’t hesitate to contact me via email, or phone or make an alternative time.

Monday 19^th February 2-3 pm.

Wednesday 21^st February 9-10 am; 5-6 pm.

Thursday 22nd February 8-9 am; 3:30-4:30 pm.

In faith and partnership,

David Austin

Principal

Have you seen our school facebook page recently? @SHPSPearce

And our new Instagram page?

We have posted many photos from the first few weeks and don’t miss the video of ‘David - Mr Austin!’ filmed with our students. 

It is school policy that we do not post names of individual children and we are always careful to respect your media preferences in regards to images of your child. In keeping with this, we remind parents to not mention your child’s name either. 

We are loving the fun comments though. Karaoke will be set up in the music room tomorrow as promised. We look forward to hearing some parents singing!

Kindergarten Information Session on Wednesday 21st February

Parents and carers of Kindergarten students are invited to our information session at 5.30pm. Your kinder teachers and school leadership will be there to answer all your questions about learning in kinder and being part of our school community. Please RSVP to the office.

It’s the beginning of the year and we have nits!

Please check your child’s hair regularly. Importantly if your child has hair which is shoulder length or longer please keep it tied back. Hair accessories are asked to be in school colours.

School Photos - Save the date

MSP photography are booked for Tuesday 9th April (Week 11). Students will be photographed in summer uniform this year.

Yours in the virtue of Respect,

Compass Notifications

Please refer to Compass for the following notifications:

• Mathletics 2024
• Parent-Teacher Conferences
• Kinder Information Session
• NAPLAN Information Years 3 & 5
• Term 1 Overview - All classes

Yesterday Sacred Heart community and MHoC parishioners celebrated Ash Wednesday Mass.

Ash Wednesday is the first day of Lent, the 40-day period (not including Sundays) of fasting and repentance leading up to Easter.

Yesterday’s Gospel called us to the three great opportunities for renewal and enrichment during the season of Lent.  

Prayer – strengthening the connection with God and the whole human family 

Fasting – making individual sacrifices and turning away from selfish concerns

Almsgiving – offering something of ourselves or giving material help, with a focus on others.

Lent is about transformation, as we move outside our individual concerns towards selflessness and care for others.

It is about transforming the ways we relate to others – building right relationships between God’s people.

The season of Lent began on Ash Wednesday (14^th February), which also marks the beginning of the annual Caritas Australia Project Compassion Appeal. Donations to Project Compassion allow 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 2024 is ‘For All Future Generations’ and reminds us that the good we do today extends to 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 prayer, fasting and almsgiving in support of Project Compassion.

This week each student will receive a Project Compassion box for their donations. The school will collect all boxes and donations till the end of Term 1.

NAPLAN testing will occur in our school between 13 and 25 March 2024 for students in Years 3 and 5.

Online NAPLAN tests provide more precise results and are engaging for students. The tests are tailored (or adaptive), which means that each test presents questions that may be more or less difficult depending on a student’s responses. This helps students remain engaged with the assessment. 

Tailored testing allows a wider range of student abilities to be assessed and measures student achievement more precisely. A student’s overall NAPLAN result is based on both the number and complexity of questions they answer correctly. Your child should not be concerned if they find questions challenging; they may be taking a more complex test pathway. 

The NAPLAN tests are completed online, using the child’s usual device, with the exception of the Year 3 writing assessment. Year 3 students will continue to complete the writing assessment on paper.

NAPLAN provides valuable information to schools and parents about literacy and numeracy achievement. It supports school improvement processes by enabling teachers to monitor student progress over time and to identify areas of strength and development. 

All eligible students are encouraged and supported to participate in NAPLAN testing. Visit www.nap.edu.au to see interactive versions of the test and for more information.

Playgroup have been enjoying watering and picking tomatoes from the vegie garden Rosie and Alia planted for us.

Our first Mass as a school this week celebrating Ash Wednesday. Thanks Fr Emil. Our students are to be commended on their prayerful particiation.

Indeed it has been a busy past week! 

We are happy to share photos of classes enjoying Shrove Tuesday Pancakes, hockey clinics, iPad bootcamps and making dancing dragons for Chinese New Year. 

And that is on top of sharing our playground with kangaroos and european wasps. 

Amazing things happen at Sacred Heart Pearce!