ISSUE 23: 26th July, 2024

Principal Message

Gospel Reflection

This Sunday’s Gospel tells the story of the miraculous feeding of the 5,000 with just five loaves and two fish. This powerful message reminds us of the abundance that can come from sharing what we have, no matter how small it may seem. In our school community, we can draw inspiration from this miracle to foster generosity, compassion, and faith in the transformative power of kindness. Let us encourage our children to see the value in sharing their time, talents, and resources with others, trusting that even the smallest acts of giving can make a big difference.

What’s on Next Week (Term 3 Week 3)

Coming up in Term 3, Week 4

Dear Parents, Guardians, Staff & Students,

Over the next few weeks, various year levels will be actively engaged in our water safety and swimming program. This week, our Year Five and Six students kicked off the program with enthusiasm and dedication. They demonstrated excellent participation, embracing the opportunity to enhance their swimming skills and water safety knowledge. These programs are crucial in teaching our students essential skills for staying safe in and around water, building their confidence, and promoting a healthy, active lifestyle. We look forward to seeing the continued success and enjoyment as more students take part in this vital program.

Insight SRC Surveys

On Monday, some families will be randomly selected to receive an email requesting them to complete a survey from Insight SRC. If you receive this email, we would greatly appreciate it if you could complete the survey by Friday, August 2nd. All students from Year 3-6 will also be completing a survey within class time.  Feedback provided by parents, students and staff will provide valuable input to plan programs and activities to improve your child's experience at school.

Year 1/2 Swimming

Our Year 1/2 students are participating in their Swimming Program this week from Monday to Thursday, focusing on water safety, swimming technique, and survival skills. Please provide permission for your child to attend and refer to the note sent home for details.

100 Days of Foundation

We are excited to announce that our Foundation students will celebrate 100 days of school on Monday! This significant milestone will be marked with fantastic activities planned for our little learners.

School Advisory Council (SAC) Meeting

Our third SAC Meeting for 2024 will be held this Tuesday evening, beginning at 5:15 pm. We extend our gratitude to our 2024 parent representatives: Racheal Fyfe, Melissa Waters, Warren Henderson, Ben Tallent, Ben Chatfield, and Katie McCoy. From 5:15 pm to 6:15 pm, Stephen Russell from Russell Education will share some insightful data trends that are currently shaping our educational environment. This presentation is part of our preparation for the school improvement review scheduled for 2025. We invite any interested parents to join us for this portion of the meeting. 

Grandparents and Special Friends Day

On Friday we have Grandparents and Special Friends Day. We will celebrate with a Mass at Sacred Heart Church at 9:15 am. Afterwards, students and grandparents will return to school for Family Group activities and a special morning tea.

We ask each family to bring a plate to share:

• Year Prep, One, and Two: Sweets
• Year Three and Four: Sandwiches
• Year Five and Six: Savories

Please use disposable plates (cardboard/plastic) and ensure food is prepared in advance as there will be no cooking or warming facilities. Due to allergies, no nuts please. Clearly label gluten/dairy-free items for a separate table.

Families with children in multiple year levels can bring just one plate of their choice.

If you can help with setup (8:30-9:00 am), during morning tea (10:50-11:30 am), or with cleanup (11:30 am), please contact the school office.

School Assembly (Dourim)

Year Three Dourim will host our Assembly at 2:30pm on Friday 2nd August. Following the assembly, Dourim parents are welcome to join an afternoon tea in their child's classroom, offering an opportunity to view student learning and to mingle and meet other parents.

Our Diocesan Community

“Our Diocesan Community” is included below.  This is a great magazine that shares the good news stories of our schools, parishes and agencies across the Diocese of Ballarat.

God Bless!

Mr Mark Gibson

2024 Dates of Interest

Religious Education

Sacrament of First Eucharist (Year 4 & Above)

Parent Information Session - Wednesday, 28th August

Celebration of Sacrament - Friday 25th, Saturday 26th & Sunday 27th October

Sacrament of Reconciliation (Year 2 & Above)

Parent Information Session - Wednesday, 16th October

Celebration of Sacrament - Wednesday 27th November

Learning and Teaching

Your child might come home using some unfamiliar words.  Here are some helpful terms and definitions that we use in our Structure Literacy Lessons:

Phoneme: A speech sound.

Grapheme: A written symbol (letters) that represents the phoneme (the sounds).

Schwa: A weak vowel sound in an unstressed syllable.

Syllable: A word or part of a word with a vowel sound.

Digraph: Two graphemes that are code for one phoneme e.g sh  (ship).

Trigraph: Three graphemes that are code for one phoneme e.g igh  (night)

SWPBS News

Congratulations to the following students who received a Ray White Thumbs up award this week! 

Sonny Roberts

Logan Pike

Carter Grace

This Friday we hosted our “Thumbs Up” SWPBS afternoon tea for our Term 2 recipients. Students enjoyed sharing a special afternoon tea and talking with school leadership. Congratulations to our Term 2 recipients and keep up the positive behaviour.

Our SWPBS blitz focus for the coming fortnight will be on “safely entering and exiting the school before and afterschool”. 

This term we have noticed an increase in the number of students not walking directly to their pick up area. When the school bell rings students should collect their school bags and other belongings and move directly to their pick up point. 

Students should walk around the office building when entering or exiting school unless they need to drop off or collect items from the office. 

School gates open at 8.20am each morning, students should not be arriving at school before this time.

Wellbeing

Calm Cart 

We will be trialing the introduction of a calm cart for lunch and recess play. The cart will be rolled out at the beginning of lunch and recess play to the tables near the prep rooms. The cart will contain a variety of passive play items such as card games, colouring and drawing items etc. Items from the cart must be used in this space; they can not be taken to other areas of the school. Students will be reminded to pack away all items in their containers and back in the cart 5 minutes prior to the end of break times.

Passive Play

We will be introducing an passive play space at lunch and recess. Students will be able to attend Digi Tech Lab each day at lunch and recess to participate in the following activities:

Monday - Colouring & Drawing

Tuesday - Chess & Board Games

Wednesday - Playdough

Thursday - Chess & Board Games

Friday - Colouring & Drawing

The library will remain open at recess breaks on Tuesday - Friday for students to play with lego, yo yo’s, games or reading.

School TV

In this edition of SchoolTV - BODY IMAGE

Kids today are more obsessed with their body image than those in past generations. This is partially influenced by the media and their social connectivity. Encouraging kids to have a healthy body image in childhood, can lay the foundations for good physical and mental health later in life.

A recent study highlighted that body image is one of the top three concerns for Australian youth. Over half of girls in high schools have tried to lose weight. One-third of teenage boys wanted to be thinner and another third wanted to be larger. Children need to understand that their body shape and size is not a reflection of their health or success. Parents and schools need to work together to help kids understand that everyone is born with their own ‘body-suit’.

In this edition of SchoolTV, parents will learn how to encourage their child to have a positive body image and why it is so important to their mental health.

We hope you take time to reflect on the information offered in this edition of SchoolTV and we always welcome your feedback. If you have any concerns about your child, please contact the school counsellor for further information or seek medical or professional help.

Here is the link to the Body Image edition of SchoolTV

Learning Diversity

PSG Meetings will be held in week 8 this term on Tuesday 3rd September to Friday 6th September. Learning Plans and interview times will be emailed home in week 4.

Foundation News

We have had a great second week back at school in Foundation. We have learnt to read and write the sounds ‘qu’ and ‘z’ as well as the digraph ‘ee’. Foundation have been exploring oral sentence expansion and have begun to use that within their writing. With every sentence having a ‘who’ and a ‘what doing’. In Mathematics we explored friends of tens, doubles and turn around facts as addition strategies. Last week in integrated studies we got to design our own binoculars. This week we used them to explore what materials objects are made from. We looked at wood, plastic, metal and glass.

Prev

Showing images 1 - 8 of 12

Next

Some reminders:

• Sounds to continue practising reading and writing with your child/ren at home: s, a, t, p, i, n, m, r, f, o, c, d, h, e, n, g, l, k, u, b, j, w, ck, ll, ff, ss, sh, qu, ee.

• Learn all the tricky words at the back of the reading diary.
• Show and Tell Topic for next week is a photo with your grandparents. These can be brought in or emailed to your child’s classroom teacher 

hmoore@shmildura.catholic.edu.au

bocallaghan@shmildura.catholic.edu.au

This Monday 29th of July we will be celebrating our 100th day of school. We have lots of fun activities planned for the day. On this day we would like to invite  the students to dress up like they are 100 years old (please see the images below). Get creative with glasses, hair and outfits!

If your child does not want to dress up then they are required to wear their school uniform.

Year One News

We had such a wonderful week of learning in Year One, with the students thoroughly enjoying our Term 3 Science topic, Chemical Sciences Materials and Changes. The focus of this Science unit is for students to understand that everyday materials can be physically changed in a variety of ways. This week the Year One students conducted some investigations with play dough and cloud dough. Before making the dough, predictions and comparisons were made about how the dough can be physically changed through actions such as bending, stretching and twisting. This activity also combines with our Art focus of experimenting with different materials, techniques and processes to make artworks in a range of art forms. 

Swimming: Year 1 Swimming will begin on Monday 29th July until Thursday 1st August. A note has been sent home and is on PAM along with the permission request. 

Please ensure your child brings these items in a separate bag: Towel, goggles, crocs/thongs/slides, underwear and a plastic bag for wet clothes.  

Students are to wear their bathers under their sports uniform Monday-Thursday. 

Bundaleer’s swimming time is 11.00am-11.45am
Karinya’s swimming time is 11.45am-12.30pm

Prev

Showing images 1 - 8 of 27

Next

Year Two News

Swimming: The Year 2 Swimming program will begin on Monday 29th July until Thursday 1st August. An information note has been sent home and is also on PAM along with the permission request that you will need to fill in.  Please ensure your child brings these items in a separate bag: towel, goggles, crocs/thongs/slides, underwear and a plastic bag for wet clothes.  Students are to wear their bathers under their sports uniform Monday-Thursday. 

Waminda’s swimming time is 9:30-10:15am
Barramunga’s swimming time is 10:15-11:00am

Year 2 Sleepover

Information notes regarding the Year 2 sleepover have been sent home this week and the children are SUPER excited. If you have any questions, please see your classroom teacher.

Yr 2 Science

On Monday, we are using shoeboxes for a Science activity. Thank you to those who have already brought some in but we are still in need of quite a few more.  If you have any spares, we would appreciate those too. 

SEL: Cooperation

On Monday we played a game called Threading the Hoop. There was lots of cooperation happening in this game so ask your child what they had to do and what might have slowed them down! With a partner, we then worked together to solve jigsaw puzzles in a calm and cooperative manner. 

Year Three News

It has been another productive and engaging week in Year Three! We are looking forward to Grandparents Day and our Dourim’s Assembly next Friday. As the mornings are getting cooler, please remember to dress warmly. Additionally, a friendly reminder that our library day is Tuesday. We encourage all students to borrow books. If there are any concerns about overdue or misplaced library books, please let us know.

In our classrooms, we have loved seeing the photos of special celebrations and meals being shared for our Religion Hospitality unit. This week, we are starting our Geography unit, exploring climate and weather. For their week three homework, students can have fun monitoring and recording the weather. They can use words and symbols to describe what the weather was like each day. We look forward to Week Three and all the amazing learning we will be doing!

Sarah, Emma and Maree.

Year Four News

Year Four has continued to work hard as we settle into Term Three. Further to last week’s overview of things we will be focusing on this term we would like you to know that;

• Our focus in Civics & Citizenship This term is around: How and why are laws made? 
• In Visual Art, we will be looking at Australian Artists. 
• Over the next few weeks in Math we will be focusing on angles and then fractions.

Finally a reminder that Year Four students elect a Class Captain for Semester Two. This Semester, only those students who wish to be considered for class captain need to write and deliver a speech. Information around this was sent home in a letter earlier this week along with some ideas to include in the speech. While we encourage you to assist your child with ideas and feedback for their speech, we recommend that your child write the speech  for themselves in their own words.

Until next week,

Natalee, Jaimi & Cathryn

Year Five News

Week Two has been busy busy busy! Students have thoroughly enjoyed their time spent at The Waves, completing their swimming program. We are very proud of the way they represented their school and have no doubt a very restful weekend is needed! 

Our students now take part in silent reading each day in a more structured setting.  We provide a variety of texts related to our learning or their interests. Some days students view texts aligned with our learning topics and on other days this text may be chosen from our class bookshelf or a child's own book from home. We strongly encourage students to choose books that provide a small challenge for them. It has been wonderful to see interest in reading improve in our students and hear their discussions centered around books they are all reading simultaneously! 

We look forward to welcoming our grandparents and special friends next Friday, the 3rd of August. A note has been sent home about this with invitations to be shared with the special people in your child's lives. 

Have a happy weekend! 

Danielle, Jacinda & Amilea.

Year Six News

Year 6 Swim & Survive

Today was the final day of the Swim and Survive program for our Year 6 students.   They all participated well in this program and learned some valuable lifesaving skills.

Prev

Showing images 1 - 8 of 17

Next

Library News

Scholastic Book Club Issue #5:

Thank you to the parents and caregivers that have placed their order on this Issue of Book Club! There is still time to order if you haven't already. It's packed with hundreds of books from just $3 to help you on your child's reading journey and there’s a free book giveaway promotion in this edition. Orders close next Wednesday 31st of July.

Please order via the online LOOP ordering system through the link provided or by following the instructions on the back of the catalogue. The school does not accept cash and cheques. 

Please make your order via the link: https://mybookclubs.scholastic.com.au/Parent/Login.aspx

Did you know that every purchase you make on Book Club earns our school 15% of the order value in Scholastic Rewards? We use these to purchase more books and educational resources for the school. It all helps!

Orders will be delivered to the school within two weeks. When the orders arrive at the SHPS library, the students will receive them from their classroom teacher/s. If you have questions or issues with Book Club, please do not hesitate to contact me rather than directly messaging Scholastic.

Mrs Irvin at mirvin@shmildura.catholic.edu.au

Student Awards

Parent Information

Arriving and Leaving Safely

Kiss & Go

To help keep everyone safe during drop-off and pick-up please take note of the following rules at Kiss and Go and the School Crossing that should be followed both in the morning (8:10-8:45am) and afternoon (3pm-3:30pm):

• Stay in your vehicle unless you need to assist younger students with their seat belts.
• Aim to keep your car in the Kiss & Go area for a maximum of two minutes to allow others to use the space too.
• Access the Kiss & Go only from Olive Grove, not 12th Street.
• Please refrain from dropping off students outside of cars in Olive Grove.
• Avoid performing U-turns within the Kiss & Go area.
• For your safety, use the school crossing if you need to cross 12th Street.


Thanks for helping us keep our school safe for everyone!

Pick Up and Drop Off Points

These designated areas serve as convenient points for collecting or dropping off children at the school if you are walking in with them. Please ensure you find a suitable and permissible parking spot for your car in order to use these locations.

Riding Scooters & Bikes

Certain students walk, ride bikes, or scooters to school and are requested to use either the 12th Street entrance or the Tamarisk Grove entrance at the rear of the oval. Riding into or through the school grounds is not permitted.

Collect Children from School Grounds

Feel free to come into school to pick up your child directly from their classroom. It's an excellent opportunity to meet other parents, have casual conversations with teachers, and ensure your child is organised at the end of the day. If you choose this option, please park appropriately and be outside the classroom by the 3.10 bell; otherwise, your child will be directed to the supervised Kiss and Go area. Students and young siblings should refrain from using the playground equipment.

School Crossings

Students walking home are advised to use the school crossings on Twelfth Street, Walnut Avenue and Eleventh Street to safely avoid heavily trafficked roads. All crossings are supervised by a School Crossing Supervisor, and it's crucial to follow their directions.  We also encourage parents to model expected behaviours by using the School Crossings also.

Buses

Several of our students catch buses home from the St. Joseph’s bus stop on 11th Street. Each day a teacher gathers these children together and accompanies them to the bus stop to supervise until they are all safely on the bus.

Drop Off Times

Preferred 'Drop Off' Time: 8.25 - 8.45 am. For safety reasons, please refrain from dropping off students before 8.19 am, as there is no supervision provided.  Our gates open at this time.

Pick Up Times

Recommended 'Pick Up' Time: 3.10 - 3.25 PM. While we understand occasional delays, if regular or extending beyond 3.30 PM, please consider enrolling your child/ren in After School Care.

Walking or Riding Home

If your children walk or ride home or to your workplace after school, please submit written permission authorising them to leave unaccompanied. They must exit through the main 12th Street gate or accompany the 11th Street bus group through Tamarisk Grove.

Alternative Pick Up Places

For safety, we strongly advise against arrangements where children wait unsupervised at public pick-up locations like Walnut Avenue or St Joseph’s College.

EATING AND DRINKING AT SCHOOL

Healthy Eating

To sustain learning and promote healthy eating we encourage students to bring to school predominantly healthy food choices.

Brainfood

Students have a brain food break during the morning to keep children’s brains fuelled for learning. We ask that families send an extra fresh fruit or vegetable snack for children to have during this time. When sending the snack, please pack it separately from your child’s lunch in a small, named container so it can be placed on their desk each morning.

Lunch Snack

The main meal of the school day; a sandwich or roll, a salad or a slice of quiche. A healthy ‘treat’ may also be appropriate here that is healthy and gives long-term energy.  Lunch is eaten usually in the classroom from 11:25am-11:40am.

Recess Snack

We encourage parents to pack fresh fruit or vegetables in your child’s recess snack box.  You may like to pack one or two other snack items for them at this time.  This snack is eaten at 1:40pm.

Packing Food

 The school has a bank of refrigerators for the storage of students’’ food. For the ease of packing and unloading the fridges, we ask that parents provide separate, small, well-labelled containers or zip-lock bags for their child’s recess snack and lunch. Insulated ‘puffy’ lunchboxes and ice-blocks are not required.

School Canteen

Our School Canteen operates on a Wednesday and Friday and provides a range of lunch options at low cost.    The current menu and prices can be accessed through and ordered via the CDFpay website https://shmildura.cdfpay.org.au

OFFICE INFORMATION

Office Hours

Office hours will run from 8:20am to 4:00pm every day. Phone calls can be made starting at 8:00 am.

Change of Personal Details

If there are any changes to your contact details (address/phone number/emergency contacts), kindly inform the office by calling 50231204, emailing office@shmildura.catholic.edu.au, or visiting the office in person.

Simon Everywhere and Parent Access Module (PAM)

Simon Everywhere is an App for smart phones that allows parents to access all information relating to their child/ren such as reports, attendance and much more. It also allows you to update medical information, give permission for excursions, access teacher emails and also receive notifications from the school.

For parents familiar with PAM, the new App works mostly the same as PAM and you can still access PAM through the web site: pam.shmildura.catholic.edu.au, however the app has additional functionality such as Push notifications and the ability to sign in without having to enter your username and password each time.

1. Go to the App Store or Google Play Store and search Simon Everywhere
2. Download and open the App and Allow Notifications
3. Enter your name and phone number and press verify, you will receive a code via SMS
4. Click on 'Add School'
5. Select Sacred Heart Primary School, Mildura - Parent Access
6. Enter your PAM username and password. If you do not know your credentials, please call the school.

7. Click on the Home icon.
   

Simon everywhere works best when notifications are turned on. You can check the notifications setting on your phone to be sure by going to the Settings – Notifications – Then find the Simon Everywhere App.

Sickness at School

Children with severe colds, flus, or other debilitating illnesses must stay at home. Do not send the child if they have:

• Fever: Children with a fever over 38 degrees should stay home.
• Prescribed antibiotics: Keep a child at home for at least 24 hours if prescribed antibiotics for an acute illness.
• Diarrhea: Children with watery stool should return only after being symptom-free for at least 24 hours.
• Vomiting: Children who are vomiting should stay home until at least 24 hours after it has stopped.

After School Care

After School Care is available for Sacred Heart students and is located on our school grounds.  Camp Australia run this program for students from Sacred Heart Primary School and St Paul's Primary School.  The program runs from the Art House building which is located on Olive Grove.

Sacred Heart families can make use of the Camp Australia After-School Care Program that is held on the grounds of Sacred Heart.  The service is available from 3:10pm through to 6pm on school days.  A healthy snack is provided to children.  Registration needs to be done through the Camp Australia website www.campaustralia.com.au .  Further information can be obtained by calling 1300 105 343.  Each day the office will print out a list of students attending Out of Hours School Care and notify the students at the end of the day via the announcements.

Marking Child’s Absence 

1. Log into the App - SimonEverywhere or login via PAM (type pam.shmildura.catholic.edu.au in your address bar).
2. You can either log by clicking on the large blue calendar section that says Parent Notified Absences or you can click on the 3 menu lines at the top right-hand side of your screen. NOTE: On your phone it will appear below your child/ren’s name.
3. You will then need to click the blue + Add Absence button circled below
4. Then select your child, and in reason

If your family is going on an extended family holiday. Please contact the school to inquire about an Student Absence Learning Plan.

School Day

• 8:19 am - Gates open & students can access Courtyard
• 8:34 am - Access Courtyard and play on Oval (classrooms opening optional for teachers)
• 8.49 am - School day begins - classroom open
• 8:55 am - School starts.
• 9.55 am - Brain Break
• 10:55 am - Lunch Play
• 11.25 am - Lunch Eat
• 1.40 pm - Recess 
• 2.10 pm - Recess Finishes
• 3.10 pm - School finishes

Sports Uniform Days

Prep:  

• Cooinda (Mrs O’Callaghan) - Thursday & Friday  
• Wahroonga (Miss Moore) - Thursday & Friday  

Year One: 

• Bundaleer (Mrs Coffey & Mrs Priestley) - Tuesday & Wednesday 
• Karinya (Mrs Groves) - Tuesday & Wednesday 

Year Two:

• Barramunga (Mrs Carmichael) - Tuesday & Friday
• Waminda (Mrs Collins) - Monday & Friday

Year Three:

• Narooma (Mrs Beckwith) - Monday & Tuesday
• Dourim (Mrs Kotsiakos & Mrs Irvin) - Monday & Thursday

Year Four:

• Illawarra (Mrs Willersdorf) - Monday & Tuesday 
• Myalla (Mrs Rowles) - Monday & Wednesday
• Kyema (Mrs Johnson) - Monday & Thursday 

Year Five:  

• Minga (Mrs Deacon) - Monday & Wednesday 
• Eumeralla (Mrs Gunn & Mrs Pacher) - Monday & Wednesday

Year Six:  

• Amaroo (Mrs Campbell) - Tuesday & Friday 
• Yongana (Mrs Zaxos) - Monday & Friday
• Mootwingee (Mrs Thompson) - Thursday & Friday

Term Dates