It has been a privilege this week to be part of the Sacred Heart Community. The strength, care and love shared amongst our staff, students and wider school community has been humbling and overwhelming. We have stood together to share our grief and sadness at such a difficult time and hopefully we will continue to walk the journey together as we learn to navigate a changed Sacred Heart. The grief is a heaviness that the school has worn this week, but not in a maudlin or depressive manner. There is a hope that we can help each other through this and a comfort in being together and sharing this journey. This is a shared sorrow and the entire school is genuinely united in supporting each other and acknowledging the pain people are feeling. I could not be more proud of the way our community has cared for and looked out for others. The coming weeks will not be easy, and we pray that we will have the strength and compassion to look for the joy that can be found.

We are indebted this week to the support of Catholic Education and CatholicCare who have financially, administratively and emotionally supported our community. We are grateful to the staff of Hennessy Catholic College Young who provided staff to assist in managing the school in the first days and to our Cootamundra Schools who also offered support in any way we needed it. The messages of support and shared grief came from around the world and were indeed humbling. Over 23 years worth of Sacred Heart students and their families reached out to our school to share their love and memories of Mr Roberts. Our town community were also generous in their care and concern in so many different ways.

Please check in with your child/ren over the weekend. It is natural for our children to want answers and it would be best if they could confide in you, as parents, about the questions that they have. We will continue to provide support for our community in any ways that are required, but please encourage your children to be open with how they are feeling, what is happening for them and the information they have. If you have any questions please contact the school to speak to someone. We will try our best to answer questions if we are able. If students or their parents want to book in a time to speak to a counsellor they can email or phone 69422612. Other community services and resources are listed below:

Lifeline (131114 or www.lifeline.org.au)

headspace (1800 650 890 or www.eheadspace.org.au)

Kids Helpline (1800 551800 or www.kidshelp.com.au)

Beyond Blue (1300 22 4636 or www.beyondblue.org.au/the-facts/grief-and-loss)

If you are approached by anyone from outside the school asking for information about this death, please tell them they should speak with me as the Principal. At this time it is important for us to remember Scott especially for what he brought to our school community.

As I type this, we are not aware of a date for the funeral service or any additional information. However, we have been given permission to give all staff and students the opportunity to attend the service and this will necessitate providing only minimal supervision at school on the day. When we know specific details we will be asking parents to indicate if they require supervision at school for the day as we will need to, most likely, source additional staff to supervise. If your child would like to attend the service then it is only with your permission and in the presence of a trusted adult. The staff in attendance at the funeral will not be there in a supervisory capacity but as friends and colleagues of Scott. Again please contact the school early next week if you have any questions.

God Bless and in all things be kind to yourself and each other. The world could always do with more kindness.

Ms Nicky Trinder

Principal