Dear Community,

As you are aware, we lost one of our current, long-term staff members, Mrs. Lella Senatore, who passed away suddenly on Sunday evening. Mrs. S dedicated 17 years of her life to our school community, and her absence is deeply felt by all who knew and loved her. It has been a difficult week for everyone, and our thoughts and prayers are with Lella's husband, Eddie, their children, Siena and Gianmarco, and all their family and friends during this challenging time.

Our Catholic faith provides us with solace and hope in times of grief. We are reminded of Jesus' words in Matthew’s Gospel: "Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted." As a school community, we draw strength from our shared belief in the promise of eternal life and the comfort that God offers to those who are grieving.

We will continue to support one another in this time of loss, offering our love and prayers to Lella’s family and each other. 

Heavenly Father,

We entrust Lella into Your loving arms. Comfort her family and friends as they navigate through their grief. Grant them the peace that surpasses all understanding and the strength to carry on.

May Lella's soul, and the souls of all the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace.

Amen.

REPORTS and PARENT TEACHER INTERVIEWS

Student reports will be sent home tomorrow via COMPASS. Our staff have worked diligently to evaluate your child's progress. Parent-teacher interviews are scheduled for next week, and I encourage you to book your appointments through COMPASS as soon as possible if you haven't already done so.

The interview booking window will close over the weekend to allow our staff adequate preparation time. Currently, only 50% of parents have scheduled their interviews. Please prioritise this, as these meetings are crucial for fostering a strong partnership between home and school, ensuring the best outcomes for your child.

COMPASS

I want to emphasise the importance of staying informed through our COMPASS platform. Effective communication is essential in any school; all significant notes and information are sent through this channel. To ensure you don’t miss out on any updates, please ensure your notifications are set up and that you regularly read the newsletters, notes, and other communications. Your attention to these details helps us maintain a smooth and efficient flow of information, ensuring everyone is well-informed and engaged in our school’s activities.

Thank you so much for your support with this.

Carparking

I have spent the past seven years as Principal of a school with over 750 students. It shared the same driveway and block of land with another school with over 2000 students. Picking up in the afternoons was a logistical nightmare—it took over 30 minutes! Then I came here! With 20 or so cars, pick-up is a breeze.... honestly!

However, I have received a few complaints and concerns about unsafe practices in the past week. We have watched and observed our pick-up arrangements and would like to remind parents of a few things to make it safer and smoother for all:

1. When leaving the carpark, please remember it is a left-turn only. This is a road rule. Adhering to this is crucial, as turning right holds up traffic and poses a safety risk with cars coming down the hill.
2. We have noticed cars lining up more than 20 minutes before the school bell rings at 3:15 pm, creating a queue that extends onto Hodgson Crescent and causes congestion. Students can’t leave class until 3:15pm, so the more cars that line up before then, the more congestion we will have. I am also concerned that emergency service vehicles cannot get through if we are queuing on Hodgson Crescent (both ways). We kindly ask that you delay lining up until closer to the bell time to help alleviate this problem.
3. If a queue is coming down Hodgson Crescent into our carpark and you are coming from the other side, please drive up Hodgson Cres, do a U-turn around Murphy St, and join the queue that way. Please don’t turn right from Hodgson across this line, as people coming down the hill find it difficult to see you.

Thank you for your understanding and support.

Food Swapping

There are some students at school that are trading food. We have advised the students to stop this due to food allergies and family choices of food options. We encourage you to discuss this with your child/children.

Good Luck, Holly!

During the term, all Year 5 and 6 students have participated in the Rostrum Public Speaking competition within their classes. Holly (Year 6) will represent Sacred Heart at the regional Rostrum Public Speaking competition next week. We wish Holly all the best. She will present her speech tomorrow at the assembly if anyone is interested!

Good luck, Holly!

In faith and partnership,

David Austin

Principal

Come and join us at Playgroup on:

Tuesday 9-11am

Thursday 9-11am

Friday 9-11am

Follow us on Instagram @littleheartsplaygroup 

Isaac from year 1 helped Mrs Wills read the story to Playgroup on Friday

Stage 3 students held a 'Natural Disasters Exhibition' on Monday 24th june in the school hall. They are to be commended on their displays as well as their technical knowledge about their disaster. We thank the school community for their support of the Stage 3 students and for their positive feedback.

New conversation starter resources for families

Open and honest conversations can empower your family to tackle potential online harms. To help you get started, we’re excited to share new resources from the Australian Centre to Counter Child Exploitation (ACCCE) and eSafety. 

Available in English, Punjabi, Chinese and Arabic, these resources have been tested with culturally and linguistically diverse communities. They include an advice sheet for parents and carers, and conversation cards to help you talk with your family about online safety.  

Join our July webinars

Are you interested in short webinars on topics top of mind for parents, like gaming online safely and the opportunities and risks of generative AI? Our July webinars have you covered and include a Q&A with our experts. Here’s what we’ve got lined up:

·         Understanding how to support your child with online gaming – Suitable for parents and carers of children and young people in primary and early secondary school. 

·         An introduction to online safety and emerging technologies – Suitable for parents and carers of children and parents in primary and secondary school. 

What to do if your child sees distressing content

We all want the internet to be a safe place for young people, but sometimes they might find something distressing. To help deal with these situations, we have developed fact sheets available in English, Arabic, Assyrian, Chinese, Punjabi, Spanish and Vietnamese.

Check out Google's new tool to protect your personal information

Have you ever Googled yourself to see what information is out there? Google's new 'Results about you' tool allows you to see what personal information is available online and request its removal from Google search results. You can access this tool on Google's mobile app or browser.  

When your child shares information like their phone number, personal email address, the name of their school, or home address online, there is a risk it could be used in ways they may not have thought about. For tips on protecting your child's privacy, check out our Privacy and your child resource.