Today hosted our annual Athletics Carnival for all students in the school. We hope that the weather will be kind to us but most likely it will be a fresh start but turning to sunshine for the bulk of the day. This is always a wonderful community day and is still a mandatory school day regarding attendance.  We hope to see all our students at Albert Park participating or helping at the different events. The canteen will be open at the park and there are lots of wonderful selections to choose from. Students who arrive at school on the bus will be accompanied to the park by a teacher. Please come and join the crowd of supporting parents and cheer on our athletes.

This week we marked National Reconciliation Week with a focus on community and the theme for 2025 "Bridging Now to Next". The Reconciliation Community Breakfast was really well attended and our students, parents and staff enjoyed a sausage breakfast with hot milo prepared by the staff of de la Salle House. In class our students were also able to learn about the cultural elements of the 2025 artwork and create artworks themselves that recognised what they know now and what comes next with respect to reconciliation. All the artworks were then combined into a creative representation of Bridging Now to Next. Thank you to Mrs Maher for her leadership and the class teachers for their support.

Thank you to the small band of families who gathered on Saturday night to lead the ministries a the de la Salle Vigil Mass. Many parishioners made comments about how wonderful it was to have the children at Mass and how competent and confident they were to lead the ministries. Thank you to Mrs Chesworth and Ms Buchanan for supporting the students.

On 17 June we will hold the 2026 Year 7 Information Evening for all prospective students transitioning into Secondary next year. This will be held in the library at 5.30pm. Please join us to hear all about what our secondary programs have to offer and to meet the staff. If you are aware of anyone who is looking to enrol please encourage them to go to our website and complete the enrolment online to allow us to plan for 2026. Students currently enrolled in Primary at Sacred Heart do not need to re-enrol for secondary.

Our beautiful refurbished Primary building is absolutely wonderful. It is warm, spacious, new and exciting. Our staff and students are very grateful to be in the new space. We also appreciate the generous contribution of the P & F who have purchased the luxurious ottomans that line the corridors and allow for comfortable work spaces. We will continue to fit out the rooms as needs are identified and we are always grateful for the P & F funds to provide those “little extras” for our students that make learning more enjoyable.

This week we also held the Community Council meeting for Semester One. A dedicated collection of parents, staff and one priest gathered to discuss issues of importance for the parent voice in our school. Mrs Lucy Daley heads up our Community Council and she is ably assisted by Mrs Deb Cram, Mrs Rebekah Twyford and Mr Gareth Jones as representatives of the parents. Ms Lisa Buchanan and Fr Lolesio are also members of the Council. Matters of interest and importance to the parent voice can be addressed to these representatives for discussion.  Our Council were also the first group of parents to be shown through the Primary building. We look forward to the opportunity to show off our new space to the entire community at a later date.

On Tuesday and Wednesday our Year 9 and 10 students had the privilege of viewing the film, My Black Dog, at the Cootamundra Arts Centre. It was a very clever and creative way to focus on the pressures faced by young people and the struggle with mental  health. It is the brainchild of the small physical theatre company Fling from the south-coast of which our 2000 school captain Gabrielle Rose is a director and one of the brains behind the production. We continue to raise awareness of the mental health and ways and means for our young people to access support and help. We are very grateful for the opportunity to view the film and continue the important discussions. We are also very proud of Gabby.

A small group of very determined and enthusiastic environmentalists in the Infants area are busy building, working and maintain a community garden. They are busy researching appropriate seedlings, growing conditions and many other things to nurture the growth of their produce. This week they proudly installed their own scarecrow and were happy to be photographed at the installation. These wonderful little people are our future and they are determined to make it a wonderful future. (Please note not all the children were present for the photo).

Enjoy the weekend and we look forward to a busy week 6. Secondary exams will be held this week so please encourage our students to use their time productively in preparing for the examinations and to get lots of good sleep over the weekend.

God Bless.

Ms Nicky Trinder

Principal