With the penultimate week of Term 2 now almost over we are staring down the wonderful reprieve of two weeks holidays for staff and students. It has been another massive term and everyone is deserving of a solid break. The cold weather has been challenging and hopefully families will be able to have some quality time relaxing and refreshing themselves for another 10-week term.

Last week the Vicar-General for Education Fr Richard Thompson conferred the Sacrament of Confirmation on 21 Candidates. It was a wonderful celebration of our young people confirming their faith in front of the parish and their family and friends. Thank you to Mrs Maxwell, Sr Kathy and the Stage 3 teachers who helped prepare them for this important moment in their faith journey. It was so nice to see so many families in the church sharing in the Mass.

So much has been happening over the past weeks as teachers finalise the curriculum reports for Semester One. These reports will be released on COMPASS at the end of next week. Parents must log onto the student profile and choose ‘reports’ from the ribbon where all reports for the student are stored. The teachers have been dedicated in providing accurate and clear commendations and recommendations for the students. The assessments over the past two terms are reflected in the grades that are given for the different Key Learning Areas. Early next term there will be an opportunity to meet with the teachers to discuss any points from the reports about progress, development, effort, achievement and steps forward.

We are about to enter Week 10 – the final week for Term 2 – this will be a short week with students finishing for the term on THURSDAY 4^th JULY. Teachers will remain on site on Friday for additional training and professional learning and to prepare for Term 3. On Thursday we will join as a community to mark NAIDOC WEEK with a whole school liturgy. We will then have a shared lunch (the traditional sausage sizzle) and then finish with our community event of House Trivia. We will also mark this day with a uniform free day and students are welcome to wear the colours of the First Nation flag or any item of clothing acknowledging first nation art and community. We are so blessed to have so many wonderful First nations students who are proud of their culture. This is a very important event in the calendar for our school. Please join us if you have time.

Yesterday was an energetic afternoon of ‘Jump Rope for Heart’. Our Primary students enthusiastically jumped and leapt around for an hour in an effort to raise funds, promote healthy activity and to just have fun. Our Primary staff also embraced the spirit of the event and donned vibrant active wear to join in with the students. Thank you to everyone who contributed in some way.

Our Infants student will round out the term with the annual disco on Wednesday afternoon. Interestingly they chose an 80s fluoro theme for their hour of dancing. It is a joy filled afternoon of frantic dance moves and it will be a delight to behold. Thank you to our wonderful Infants staff for leading this activity.

This year has seen the revival of a long standing tradition of Sacre Heart of the School Musical Production. Since 2000 when the first production hit the stage of St Columbas Hall we have seen 10 different iterations of Sacred Heart students’ talent and creativity. This year just to add to our hectic schedule and those of our secondary staff and students we are endeavouring to bring a new version of ‘Man of Steel’ to the stage in August. Our students are the busiest I have ever known and we have had to work around their hectic schedules but we are determined to bring the best possible production to the stage. Tickets for the show will go on sale sometime next week for the cast members in the first instance and then the general public after that. Stay tuned for a COMPASS update when they are available. It never ceases to amaze the depth of the talent that our students have and their willingness to be involved in extra-curricular activities despite their busy lives. Over the final weeks they will give up time in the holidays and on weekends to refine and rehearse ‘Man of Steel 2024’.

So much sport has also been happening over the past weeks. Please read Ms Withers and Ms Van Kerk Oerle’s report on all our efforts and successes. This doesn’t happen without significant logistical organisation and I pay tribute to the staff and students who are involved in making these events happen. Also, to the parents who are generous in offering to transport student.

They are predicting our coldest week of winter next week so enjoy the sun while it is out and have a restful weekend.

Remember, if you have to choose between being extraordinary or kind – be extraordinarily kind. The world can always use more kindness

God Bless

Ms Nicky Trinder

Principal