Dear Parents and Carers,

Week Three already! The unseasonably cool weather earlier this week had the jumpers out in full force – many of which were later scattered across the playground once the sun returned. Let’s hope summer lasts a little longer.

Welcome Breakfast and Opening School Mass
Despite the wet and miserable conditions last Friday, we still had a wonderful Welcome Breakfast. A huge thank you to everyone who attended—although numbers were down compared to previous years (we certainly over catered!), it was still a fantastic community morning. I am sure the rain kept many at home. Special thanks to Tracey Kane (Canteen) for coordinating all the food and to the many staff members who arrived bright and early at 6:30 a.m. to set up, cook, and serve. Your efforts are truly appreciated.

Our Opening School Mass was a beautiful celebration, highlighted by our Year 6 students receiving their Student Leadership Badges. As always, the children were fantastic, and seeing so many parents in attendance was wonderful. Thank you for being so supportive.

Parent-Teacher Interviews
This week, we have been hosting Parent-Teacher Interviews, providing a valuable opportunity for parents and teachers to connect and set goals for the year ahead. Thank you to those who have made the time to meet with your child’s teacher. Unfortunately, we have had many ‘no-shows,’ which is disappointing and frustrating for our teachers. If you missed your appointment or have yet to schedule one, don’t hesitate to contact your child’s teacher to arrange an alternative time. Remember, you are always welcome to meet with your child’s teacher at any point throughout the school year.

Year 5/6 Camp
Next week, our Year 5/6 students will head off to their camp at Berry, NSW. This camp, run by NSW Sport and Recreation, provides an excellent opportunity for students to develop teamwork skills, build resilience, and step outside their comfort zones while engaging in exciting and challenging activities. I will join them and look forward to spending time with our student leaders.

Farewell Mrs. Imbriano
This Friday marks Mrs. Katie Imbriano's last day at Sacred Heart. After many years as an exceptional educator—including the past ten years at Sacred Heart—Katie is moving on to a position in the Australian Government. Katie has been an outstanding teacher, a dedicated Religious Education leader, and a valued member of our school community. Her passion, kindness, and ability to talk to anyone about anything will be greatly missed!

We wish Katie all the best in her new role and know she will bring the same dedication and enthusiasm to her new position as she has to Sacred Heart.

Mrs. Laura Stumbles will be Acting Religious Education Coordinator for the next seven weeks. The position to replace Katie has been advertised and will be filled in the coming weeks.

Farewell, Katie – we will miss you!

We truly value the partnership between parents and the school. Your ongoing support makes a huge difference in the education and well-being of our students. Thank you for working with us to create a positive, welcoming, and faith-filled learning environment for our children.

In faith and partnership,

David Austin

Principal

Safeguarding Practices and Volunteer Code of Conduct

We are welcoming so many parents and carers into the school in various capacities, including classroom and canteen helpers, and event volunteers and attendee/spectators.

We take this opportunity to remind you that our school is a ‘regulated service’ under the ACT Working with Vulnerable People Scheme, and as such we have laws, policies and documents to guide us all in keeping our vulnerable people safe.

Our ‘Code of Conduct for Volunteers’ outlines the expectations for adults attending an activity or event with students. Further documents about our Safeguarding practices are linked on our school website. Link

We love showcasing our wonderful school via school publications and our social media accounts. We are committed to respecting the privacy of your family in line with your documented media permissions. 

On our social media sites (facebook and instagram) we endeavour to never have a child’s name in text or photo. We have processes in place to ensure privacy is maintained. We may ask a child to step aside when a photo is being taken that will appear on social media, or we might blur or cover a face or name that forms part of a group.

We ask that:

• you only photograph school activities and events when permission has been granted.
• if you take photos with other children in them, to always have the permission for the individual parent before sharing or posting.
• you never name a child, including your own, in a comment you make on a school post.
• if ever you notice a photo or comment that is contrary to these guidelines, let us know immediately by emailing a member of staff or contacting the office.

Emailing teachers

We have been advised that when emailing teachers via Compass, to include a second teacher you need to:

• use the 'Add Recipients' button under the Recipients section
• manually add the other teacher of the class.

You also have the option to email office.shps@cg.catholic.edu.au to have a message passed on (particularly important during the day when a teacher is teaching!) or send an email directly to the class teacher(s) using the format ‘firstname.surname@cg.catholic.edu.au’ (full names are needed)

Yours in working together

Kerry Wode

Compass Notifications

Please refer to Compass for the following notifications:

• Medication and Medical Plans
• Sacred Heart Sport
• COMPASS issues
• Choir
• NAPLAN note to Years 3 & 5 families

Compass Events and Conferences

• ICT Agreement Upper Primary 2025
• ICT Agreement Lower Primary 2025
• SHPS Swimming Carnival 2025 8yrs and above
• Swimming Carnival 2025 - Kinder, Yr1 and 7yrs

Swimming Carnival
Please ensure you have checked Compass and have given consent for your child/ren to participate in our Swimming Carnival on 11/3. The closing date for this is Wednesday 26^th Feb. If you have any questions, please contact the front office.

Tennis
Rising Star Tennis Academy are offering lunch time tennis lessons for 6 weeks for $160. We currently have 4 students interested and we need to get a minimum of 6 students. If you are interested, please email Laura Stumbles . Thank you to those parents who have emailed already.

The Scholastic Book Fair will be held in the Sacred Heart library on Tuesday, March 4 to Thursday, March 6. It will run from 8:15 to 8:55 am each morning and from 3:15 to 4:00 pm each afternoon. Next week, your child will bring home a flyer which outlines some of the books which are available. Our school library receives credit from the Book Fair sales which we can use to purchase new books and  resources. We hope to see you at the Fair.

NAPLAN testing will occur in our school between 12 and 24 March 2025 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.

All Year 3 students will 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.

Painting with balloons at Playgroup.