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Friday 12th February |
Opening School Mass for Students
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Wednesday 17th February |
Ash Wednesday
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Wednesday 17th February |
Reconciliation Session 3
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Wednesday 24th February |
Reconciliation Session 4/Practice
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Parent Information Note (PIN)
Have you seen the PIN information that was sent home?
If you haven't please refer to the Zapp notice that was sent out on Tuesday via the Zapp App and Email.
Community Council
Come join us in 2021!
The Community Council would like to invite all families to join us for our AGM on Tuesday 16 February (Week 3) at 6pm at the school. In case you haven’t been to a Council meeting before – or it’s been a while – we have included some information on the role of the Council and what we do at meetings.
What do you do at Community Council meetings?
At a regular Community Council meeting, we will look at:
- the school budget and approve expenditure
- discuss priority projects for the school
- discuss progress on school projects like the 50+1 anniversary celebrations or the K-6 Complete work
- hear updates about Be You program and student wellbeing
- hear updates from the Parent Representative co-ordinator
- from time to time, we will also look at other things like the school survey or updates from the Catholic Education Office. At the AGM, we also elect a new Executive team.
Why should I come along?
Community Council meetings are a great way to understand what is happening at the school now and what is planned for the future. Meetings are also a lovely way to meet other parents and carers and form connections across the our community. This is the key forum that parents and carers can give feedback on the school, what you would like more or less of and what you think the school should prioritise going forward.
Who is the Community Council?
The Community Council is made up of parents and carers from our community and a representative of the teaching staff. Meetings are also attended by Mrs Staines and Mrs Wode so the Council can hear from the school executive. Other Teachers and Father Richard are also welcome to attend.
Each year, we elect parent and carer representatives to the 5 Executive positions of President, Vice President, Treasurer, Secretary and Parent Representative. This year, we also had the co-ordinator of the 50th Anniversary celebrations join as an executive role. Next year, this role will be replaced by a “Community Engagement Lead” . This role will be a co-ordinating and liaising position between sub committees for community events or fundraisers. All the positions are made vacant at the AGM each year. In the first newsletter of 2021, we will include role descriptions so you know what each role does throughout the year.
Okay I’m interested but what is the time commitment?
We have four open meetings a year – our AGM at the start of the year and a meeting in Week 2 or 3 of each Term. Everyone is welcome to attend these meetings. In addition to the open meetings, the Executive team meets once in the latter part of each term to keep momentum on decisions and new business. Traditionally, we have these meetings in person, but during COVID-19 we successfully transitioned online to Zoom meetings. In 2021, we will plan to have the AGM in person for the purposes of voting in the new Executive, and then determine face-to-face versus Zoom for the remainder of the year. Meetings usually take about 1-1.5 hours depending on how full the agenda is.
The Executive roles all have different levels of time commitment required – for example, the Secretary sends out minutes after a meeting, whereas the Treasurer will prep the financial report with the school before the meeting. We’ll tell you more about the time commitment for each position in the role descriptions we will publish in the first newsletter of 2021, so you can have a think about the positions ahead of the AGM.
I have more questions!
Not a problem - You can send an email to the front office and they will pass it on to the current Executive Team to answer or you can post on the wall or send us a message on the Sacred Heart Parents and Carers Facebook page. We are always happy to help.
Opening School Mass
Sacred Heart will celebrate the new school year with an Opening School Mass next week. In keeping with the Archdiocesan Protocols with restricted numbers, only the students and staff of Sacred Heart may attend this mass.
It has been a tradition for the Year 6 students to have their leadership badges pinned on by their parents at the Opening School Mass. The school would like to invite Year 6 parents on Friday 12th February to a special morning assembly at 9am to acknowledge their children as leaders and to give them the opportunity to pin on leadership badges. We thank you for your understanding as we continue to work together under the current conditions and restrictions.
Upcoming Webinar for Parents, Maggie Dent presents: Communicating with Teenage Boys
The webinar will be held on 24 March 2021 at 8-9 PM AEDT.
*If you enrol, you can watch the webinar at a time to suit you.
Sacred Heart has a membership with Parenting Ideas, one of Australia’s most trusted sources of parenting education and support. As part of this membership, all the parents in this school community can attend this webinar at no cost. We will advertise other webinars during the year.
Communicating with Teenage Boys
Internet Safety Day
With Safer Internet Day happening this week, teachers have been speaking to all classes about device and internet use, as we believe the younger children learn about being safe online the better. Below is a range of great information from various support networks with advice to schools and families about making the internet safer for our children.
10 tips for parents when getting kids smart phones from Safe on Social
When you are thinking about giving your child their first smartphone or discussing how they may begin to use social media, here are ten ideas to keep your Tweens safe online:
- If your child is asking for a phone, make sure that you get them to do a little presentation, or write a small project sheet, on a topic of cyber safety every week in the lead up to getting their phone.
- Think about the age recommendations; it is not illegal for a child to use social media under the age of 13yrs with their parents’ permission. But they need to remember to update their age on any site that has asked for it when they actually turn 13yrs. Like Facebook, for example. This way, the app will not think they are older. As an extreme example…if your child signs up to use Facebook when they are 10yrs, and they have to lie and say they are 13yrs…so by the time they are 15yrs if they haven’t adjusted the year they were born, the app will think they are 18yrs. Then they can get a Tinder account as it relies on Facebook for verification!
- Teach your kids to think twice before they accept a friend request. Just because someone is a friend of their big brother or sister or cousin who goes to another school does not mean they should let them into their life.
- Engage with them about their favourite social media app and get them to teach you about it so you can at least know the basics. Get them to show you how to block and report so you can be sure they know how too.
- Be a good role model. Keep your screen time in check. There is no use banning the phones from bedrooms if you go to bed with yours each night, for example.
- Help them to check and manage privacy settings. This is something you can do together when they are younger by making it a shared experience.
- Think twice before “sharenting.” Do not post photos of your kids in school uniform or school events or holding certificates with their full name and school name on it. You are letting the whole world know where they go to school. This can happen by “checking in” or geotagging a school as well.
- Ask them first when you are about to share their photo. Let your kids be involved in the decision making on whether they are ok with you posting a photo of them or not as young as possible. This will teach them to ask others first before they post pictures as they grow up.
- Put healthy boundaries in place. Don’t ban them from their device if they forget to do a household chore or are naughty for something totally unrelated to their device. Do not take it off them if they speak up about something that has happened online because you are scared either. This is the quickest way to drive all the conversations that you want to be having underground. Instead, if you have a healthy boundary like all devices are banned from the bathroom or bedroom. So then if they are caught with their device in either place, you ban them for a week. This way, they will learn that it is safe to speak up about what is going on online without punishment unless they break the rules about device use.
- Respect the classifications. The average age of a gamer is 35yrs old. Classifications are there for a reason. It is not ok for a child under the age of 18yrs to be playing R Rated games…even with their parents!!! If your child is playing online games, set healthy boundaries around time playing as well. All of the other tips above also apply to gaming.
ThinkUKnow Guide to Online Safety
Stage 3 children participated in a session about internet safety this week. ThinkUKnow aims to empower every Australian to be safe, respectful and resilient online. ThinkUKnow is Australia’s first and only nationally delivered, law enforcement led, online safety program. Please Click Here to access the Parent and Carer Guide to Online Safety.
For Parents of TikTok users under 18yrs.
Our network shared information which we hope will make TikTok safer for families with teenage children who have a TikTok account. It is vital that all parents check that their child has entered the correct DOB when creating an account.
‘The new security provision for u16s that has been recently released by the app, will not function if your child has lied about their age. Changing and checking this is not simple. In January 2021, TikTok has advised that errors in entry for DOB may only be altered in the following way.LINK TO INSTRUCTIONS
Back to School & Healthy Lunchbox Week
Welcome back to the new school year! As kids head to school, families often look for tips and ideas. This week is Nutrition Australia's Healthy Lunchbox Week, so now is the perfect time to share healthy lunchbox resources and help establish good lunchbox habits from the start!
Healthy Lunchbox Week website 7-13 February 2021 - for recipes and competitions
Free Trial Chess Lesson
Sydney Academy of Chess operates a group chess lesson in our school library every Thursday.
Next Week, Thursday 18th February, they are offering a Come and Try Chess for Free lesson. If your child is interested, they will need to complete a form.
Information about enrolling into Chess lessons, including costs. Click Here
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
Little Hearts Playgroup
Little Hearts Playgroup started this week with 10 children and their parents and grandparents.They had fun painting, fishing, cooking in home corner and the sand pit was very popular.
Little Hearts Playgroup operates on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 9:30 am – 11:30 am.
The educational program is designed for 2 – 4 year old children with the support of their parent, Grandparent or carer.
Ring the school office to book in.
Congratulations to the following students celebrating their Birthday this week
Noah J, Ruhan K, Earnest F, Aengus D
This week's assembly will be run by our school leaders in the hall.
Awards will be presented at this time.
Due to COVID restrictions, parents are unable to attend.
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Kindergarten |
Meredith H, Mila H, Finn O. |
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Stage One
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Merissa M, Aleeia V, Angus F,Ryan M, Harrison A, Tatenda K, Noah D, Airlie R, Joshua F. |
| Stage Two |
Matilda H, Bobby C, Maiya W, Roland S, Anna D, Natasha L Hamish F, Halle R. |
| Stage Three | Alessia M, Luke H, Leila W, Helena M, Georgia M, Aengus D, Charlotte B, Cate B, Amelia M. |
