Dear Families,

A warm welcome back to all staff, students, and families for the 2024 school year. I feel privileged to be returning to the Sacred Heart Catholic community as Principal, and I look forward to meeting you over the next few weeks. Over the break, I hope there has been some time to relax, forget about routines and prepare for a new year. It has been wonderful this week to see excited, enthusiastic children meeting their teachers, connecting with their friends, and settling into routines. Changes can often bring mixed emotions; children can often feel unsure, unsettled and a little tired and anxious.  Let your child know that their nervous or apprehensive feelings about the start of school are normal. All children (even adults) can have a difficult time getting back into the routine of the school year. When your child understands they are not alone in this experience, it will help them feel they are being heard and understood. I often reflect on how courageous we need to be when we begin something new, and by the end of the week, I hope we all ‘find our feet.’

Staff have been busy preparing classrooms, learning spaces and teaching and learning programs in readiness for the start of the year. I would like to thank the staff for their positivity, energy, and motivation in ensuring a positive start to the year. Saint Mary MacKillop's beautiful words, ‘Never see a need without doing something about it’, continue to inspire us all to make a difference to others.

I would like to welcome all our new families and staff to the community; please see the special welcome in the latter part of the newsletter.    

Please note the newsletter will be distributed fortnightly on Thursday afternoons. All other key information will be via COMPASS.  Communication is important in supporting and fostering positive partnerships.  Please see the section in our newsletter that clarifies how we communicate between home and school.

Let us embrace the blessings of new beginnings, trusting in God's guidance as we navigate the educational journey ahead.

Dear Heavenly Father,

As we embark on this new school year, we humbly come before you with hearts full of gratitude and hope. May Your guiding light illuminate our path, and Your love be the foundation upon which we build our community.

Grant us the wisdom to cultivate an environment where love flourishes - love for learning, love for one another, and most importantly, love for You. May our interactions be marked by kindness, understanding, and compassion, fostering an atmosphere where every member of our school family can grow and thrive.

In this new chapter, we seek Your blessings for patience in challenges, strength in adversity, and joy in our shared accomplishments. May our endeavours be fuelled by the love that knows no bounds, echoing the example set by Your Son, Jesus Christ.

In growing in love, may we reflect Your divine light to one another, creating a tapestry of unity and understanding. May our collective journey be guided by the principles of faith, hope, and love as we strive to become better stewards of Your grace.

We entrust this new school year to Your loving hands, confident that with Your grace, we will blossom into a community that radiates Your love in all we do.

In the name of Your Son, Jesus Christ, we pray.

Amen.

I extend my prayers for a successful and fulfilling school year, and I look forward to witnessing the collective achievements and milestones we will celebrate together.

In partnership

Charlene Best

Principal

We would like to welcome the following new staff to the Sacred Heart Catholic School community. Mrs Gretchen Lane- Deputy Principal; Mrs Mariah Hanson - Kinder teacher; Ms Phillipa Ray - Drama; Mrs Karen Kelly - Administration Assistant; Mr Geoff Wakefield - Utility Officer.

We welcome the following new students and their families to our community:

Mersey Leven Catholic Parish Sacramental Program

The Mersey Leven Catholic Parish Sacramental program runs between May – October 2024 and will include preparation and celebration of the Sacraments for First Reconciliation, Confirmation and First Communion.  

A Parent Information Session is on Monday 18^th March – 5pm at Our Lady of Lourdes Church, Devonport.

A more detailed letter from the Parish will be sent out to families with children in Grades 3-6 next week, via Compass.

For more information please contact Miss Davis through the school office.

Save the date: Parent/Teacher conversations will be held on Tuesday, the 27th of February. Additional information will be provided in the next few weeks to enable you to make an appointment. 

Sacred Heart staff value the partnerships between home and school; effective communication is important to us. Please see below the expectations for using our platforms and communication channels. 

Science of Learning Insight All System Day - 2nd February, 2024

All staff were fortunate enough to gather as an educating community at the Paranaple Centre in Devonport, to continue to deepen our knowledge and understanding of the Science of Learning. 

Staff listened to an array of keynote speakers and actively participated in differentiated workshop sessions covering:

- Supporting Writing with Rosenshine's Principles of Instruction: The Role of Questioning with Tom Sherrington.

- How Writing Instruction Can Revolutionise Education with Natalie Wexler.

- Checking for Understanding and Sentence Writing: Windows to Student Thinking with Dr Nathaniel Swain.

- The Need for Speed: Why Fluency Counts for Maths Learning with Toni Hatten-Roberts.

- Everyone Can Teach Writing: Approaches for Secondary Writing Instruction in All Subjects with Rebecca Birch.

We welcome our COGlearn coach, Brittney Elliot, to Sacred Heart on Monday 12th February for the first of five sessions to be held with our staff. Our 2023 ILTP teachers, Rachel Donnelly, Katie Johnstone and Haylee Rowe will be working with our new 2024 ILTP teachers, Kelli Cook, Michael Allison and Danielle Allison. Mrs Best, Miss Davis and Mrs Lane are looking forward to joining them for the day.

Families received communication via COMPASS about 'Marlee', the school therapy dog. Marlee is a chocolate Labradoodle who will be in the office area on selected days of the week. Marlee will be familiarising herself with the environment over the next few weeks. Please contact the office should you require any further clarification. 

SACRED HEART CATHOLIC SCHOOL UNIFORM

Sacred Heart students are required to wear the complete school uniform described below, unless exempted from doing so by the Principal.  The uniform is part of our commitment to the values of justice and equity and provides a focus and a sense of identity for students attending our school.  It is also a means to increase security, as trespassers are easily identified.  It provides an economic means of clothing children for school and eliminates competition among students. 

Items stocked by our Uniform Shop are the correct style; please check that items bought elsewhere conform to school expectations.  A large supply of second hand uniforms is available. School uniform can be ordered and purchased at the office. 

Sports Uniform – Grade 1-6

Students in Grades 1-6 wear the same uniform for Sports as described for Kinder and Prep students above.

Hats are to be worn in Terms 1 and 4 – Blue legionnaire caps or slouch hats. Students without a hat will need to play in the shade. 

Jewellery is limited to one pair of studs, a signet ring and a solid gold or silver bangle.

All items of clothing should be clearly named.  

At Sacred Heart Catholic School we are committed to wearing our school uniform with a sense of pride and appreciate your support with this, as we believe it enhances the image of our school in the general community.

We pray that they grow in their leadership to lead with Honesty - Compassion - Inclusion - Gratitude, and Sustainability.

Safer Internet Day - 6th Feb

The theme of 'Safer Internet Day' is Connect, Reflect and Protect. Classes across the school are engaging in a range of activities in class to equip students with the knowledge and skills on how to engage online safely. 

Here are some tips on how students can online, reflect and protect themself online. 

Parent and Carer Term 1 Webinars 

The eSafety Commissioner are offering live webinars to give parents and carers the knowledge, skills and tools to support their children to have safe online experiences.

REGISTER by heading to the eSafety website: https://www.esafety.gov.au/parents/webinars 

CAR PARK INFORMATION AND REQUIREMENTS

School community safety is of paramount importance to us and we have systems in place to reduce the risk of accidents happening and it is our combined responsibility to ensure these procedures are followed for the safety of all.

Signage is to be followed around the school on Buttons Avenue as well as in Tucker Street. Parking or Standing is not permitted in the turning circle of Tucker Street. Parking is not permitted in the bus stop area in front of the school hall on Buttons Avenue. Additional parking is available on the top oval to reduce congestion during school drop-off and pick-up. 

Carpark

The car park is one-way and has lines marked yellow for parking bays, crossing, walkways and also to indicate no parking. The stop signs ask you to stop and give way to pedestrians crossing in the car park. Students are taught to always stop and look before crossing and we ask that you also provide this message regularly.

This area is not a drop-off or collection zone. If vehicles are stopped here, it means that cars back up in the driveway and out onto the street which then causes safety issues.

It is also expected that if you access the school via Buttons Avenue and need to cross the road that the school crossing is used.

SUPERVISION - DUTY OF CARE

School starts at 8:30am. Students are not to be dropped off at school prior to 8:30am as there is no supervision before this time. 

TENISON WOODS CENTRE CARPARK

This car park which is located near the school's blue shed is not to be used for school drop off or pick up.

Catholic Education Tasmania (CET) acknowledges that all families and students, have the right to raise a complaint (including matters of concern or a grievance) with CET.

Please find information regarding the CET grievance/complaint processes below. For any CET policies please familiarise yourself with the current policies on the CET website. 

Should you have any queries, please do not hesitate to contact our school office.

Ulverstone Soccer Club - Red Hot Skills