Yamandhu….hello in Wiradjuri.

We are now officially half way through the term. This year is definitely flying past. We are making so many memories and hopefully there is lots of learning happening for all our students and staff. For the past day I spent time at the Galong Monastery with some other prinicpals from across the diocese. It was a special time to reflect on and learn about leadership and ways that we can support our community through good times and times of crisis. The strength of Sacred Heart has always rested in the united support and connectedness of our community and it is indeed this that has helped us celebrate the good times and navigate and survive the worst. We are grateful for all the blessings of our community and we hope that we will continue to grow in strength as we journey through the final months of this year. It was wonderful to have so many families share our Community Breakfast on Wednesday. Hopefully these events also help to keep us connected. Next Community Breakfast will be Wednesday Week 5 Term 4.

Lots of lots of sporting activities have taken place over the past weeks. We have had Infants through to our seniors out matching their skills with other students. We thank the parents for their support of these opportunities and our staff, especially our Sports Coordinators – Megan Withers and Wendy Van Kerk Oerle for their organization and management. We will have many students travelling to Canberra for the Arch Diocesan Athletics next Tuesday 22 August. It is important that students communicate with the coordinators about their availability. We have increasing numbers of children pull out or change their minds about competing and this plays havoc with organization and bus costs, transport and supervision. We encourage all students to honour commitments to sporting teams if they have indicated that they want to attend (obviously there are extenuating circumstances on occasions) so that it makes for smoother organization. All details are available on COMPASS and it is an easy process to indicate and pay for events and also decline events. If you are ever unsure please contact the Front Office for instructions.  

Some of the schools in the region are experiencing high numbers of COVID cases. Please be vigilant in monitoring for symptoms, test and stay home if exhibiting symptoms. We have a considerable number of RAT kits if you would like some. Please contact the Front Office if you would like some sent home.

Also like most schools we are still having difficulty in employing casuals to replace staff. This has necessitated accessing a range of different teachers to cover classes or to collapse classes to ensure that learning continues. Sometimes this is challenging for the students as they do not have a consistent teacher and it can be quite unsettling. Whilst we appreciate that this is the case we do expect them to behave appropriately and to continue to show respect for whoever is in front of their class.

On Tuesday 15th August we welcomed our Year 7 2024 families for our parent information session. Ms Marsay and our School Leaders, Elliot Sargent and Isobel Cram presented an exceptionally comprehensive run down of our transition program and all things to do with life in Secondary school. We are very excited about the prospects for our incoming Year 7 cohort and it was lovely to see so many parents and students in attendance.

REMINDER: Staffing considerations for 2024 are currently under discussion at Catholic Education in Canberra. To support our staffing requests we would like to provide an accurate number of enrolments for the next academic year. If parents are considering discontinuing their child’s enrolment with us in the new year we would like you to make contact with the school to discuss your intentions. Likewise, if there are additional enrolments for any class across the school we would love to talk to those interested.

Remember: Do things for others not because of who they are or what they will do in return but because of who you are. It’s good to be kind!

God Bless

Ms Nicky Trinder

Principal