Dear Parents and Carers,

The feast of Mary Help of Christians, the Patron of our Parish is celebrated on 24 May. In our whole school Religion Unit, we have been learning about Mary, her place in the church and her role and model of discipleship.

The infant church in Australia had a special reason for turning to Mary. No priests were sent to the colony in its early days and Mass was not allowed except for one brief year until 1820. It was largely the Rosary in those early days that kept the faith alive.

Catholic Australia remained faithful to Mary and was the first nation to choose her under the title Help of Christians, as principal Patroness.

A prayer for us in this difficult time as we face the challenges before us.

Mary Help of Christians Patroness of Australia

Almighty God, deepen in our hearts
our love of Mary Help of Christians.
Through her prayers and under her protection,
may the light of Christ shine over our land.
May Australia be granted harmony, justice and peace.
Grant wisdom to our leaders and integrity to our citizens.
We ask this through Christ Our Lord. Amen

Rainbow Ritual       

This ritual has developed out of our work (Quest for Life Foundation) in helping children deal with challenging, sad or distressing news. We have found it to be a wonderful blessing for children and a comfort for their parents. You can take as long or as little time with this ritual as seems appropriate for the age of the child. This ritual is wonderful for children from the age of about three.

You can watch Petrea's Rainbow Ritual on video or find the full text below by following the link. 

https://www.questforlife.com.au/toolkit/for-children#1

Take Care and God Bless.

Tournament of the Minds 2020

TOM is still running this year, with several changes in format to respond to the conditions of 2020. Please read below to see what the competition will be like. Sacred Heart would love to enter lots of teams. Mrs Wode and Mrs Filardo are so excited with the new format (and much cheaper prices) that we are offering training and an opportunity to nominate for a team to all students in Years 4, 5 and 6.

• In 2020 there is only one round of the competition. There will be no Branch or International Final.
• The competition will be completely online. Teams will upload a 5 minute video of their solution to the challenge.
• There is one discipline only. It will be one Super Challenge for everyone which includes all of the regular disciplines
• There will not be a Spontaneous Challenge in 2020 
• During Term 2 we will have skills sessions at school, during one lunch time per week. There is no commitment or cost for these skills sessions.
• Towards the end of Term 2 we will send out full details of the competition, costing (expected to be less than $20), application and commitment to be part of a team and details of team training sessions.
• The competition starts 29th of July, with online responses to the challenge due on Wednesday the 9th of September.

Mrs Wode will speak to students in Years 4,5 and 6 this week to let them know about the skills sessions this term for them to participate in.

Learning together

Kerry Wode AP

• Canteen Recess Reminder: Counter sales for the canteen are unavailable at the moment. You can order recess from Qkr-Canteen-snacks and your child's order will be delivered to their classroom.

National Sorry Day and National Reconciliation Week 2020

National Sorry Day, May 26th acknowledges and raises awareness of the history and continued effect of the forced removal of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people from their families, communities and culture. 

 

National Reconciliation Week, May 27^th – June 3^rd, celebrates and builds on the respectful relationships shared by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and other Australians.  This year’s theme is In This Together - resonating in ways we could not have foreseen when it was announced last year, but a beautiful reminder that whether in a crisis or in reconciliation we are all #InThisTogether

Private Piano Tuition 

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
• Mr Michael Dooley Phone: 0424987337

Thank you for supporting Caritas Australia’s Project Compassion Campaign. Your generosity will work for the freedom of those living in poverty, challenge unjust structures, and empower people to work for a sustainable way of life.

Please return all Project Compassion boxes to the school office by Friday 29th May

The month of May has been dedicated to Our Blessed Lady. The practice of honouring Mary during the month of May has been especially recommended by the Popes. In May of 2002 Pope John Paul II said, "Today we begin the month dedicated to Our Lady a favourite of popular devotion. In accord with a long-standing tradition of devotion, parishes and families continue to make the month of May a 'Marian' month, celebrating it with many devout liturgical, catechetical and pastoral initiatives.”

Devotion to Mary is an important part of the Catholic identity. As a mother she is an example of a committed “Yes” to the will of God. Because of this devotion many people ask her for help in the most difficult moments of their life as any child does with their mother.

Throughout May the students at Sacred Heart have reflected and deepened their understanding of the life of Mary through images, scripture and Marian prayers in their Remote Learning program.

Finley and I decided to count our loose change money jar today, so I thought I’d share with you.

First we separated out the coins (removed the foreign stuff), then we stacked each of the 5c, 10c, 20c, 50c, $1 and $2 into piles of 10, counted them all up (in 10 intervals) and then wrote down how many onto the board.

Finley used a ruler to help make sure the stacks of 10 coins were even, and also to help him count in the 10s. He said this was much easier than counting one by one!

We used a calculator to work out the value of all the coins.

Maths Learning

Congratulations to the following students celebrating their Birthday 

Palak B, Lucy M, Tom B, Grace M, Angelo V, Merrisa M.