We have made it to the penultimate week of term 2. It has been one of the most unusual terms that I can remember and we have come out the other side relatively unscathed. I hope that the lessons that we learned through this term will resonate much longer than the threat posed by COVID-19. We were able to slow everything to a crawl and take stock of what was important. We learned the value of time and investing in our families and wellbeing. For the first time we, as a staff, could really only teach and care for our students. We were not set upon by a myriad of interruptions and our children were grateful to be back in the classroom. Thank you to all our families who supported us throughout this term we are grateful for your trust and understanding. Let us pray that this threat passes by without leaving too many scars but lots of fresh eyes to take in what really matters.

Don’t forget that the enrolment period and process is in full swing and we are hopeful of increasing our numbers for 2021. I have conducted many interviews and tours over the past days with more to come and all speak highly of the calibre of our students, their manners and positive attitude. If you know of someone considering enrolling for next year please let us know so that we can make contact to ensure that they realise what we have at Sacred Heart. There is no obligation to enrol when a tour is booked but it does give us a chance to show off our fantastic students, staff and opportunities.

Another reminder that Term 2 fees are now due and that it is very important  to try and stay on top of the fees as they are vital for the financial management and operation of our school. If you are experiencing difficulty in making fee payments please make an appointment to meet with me at your convenience and we can discuss options.

We are hopeful that we will be able to celebrate the end of term and Sacred Heart Feast Day on the final day of this term with a school mass. It seems a long time since we were able to celebrate together and we have been given permission, at this stage, to celebrate mass at 12noon with just the school students and staff. This is an important sign of hope to our community that life is good and we indeed have much to celebrate. We still plan to conduct a sausage sizzle at the conclusion of mass and then finish the term with house bingo.

Remember, kindness does not cost anything and it is a gift we can all afford to give. Have a fabulous weekend, stay safe, stay well and count your blessings.

Go gently, be kind to yourself and others. God Bless!

Parental Controls on devices & school holidays:

There are often many disputes in households over the time that children spend on their devices that is not related to school work. In case you were not aware, parents do have the ability to control and monitor their children’s screen time via Apple Parental Controls - Screen Time. With the holidays approaching, this may be a good time to check what settings you currently have or what settings you may like to introduce if you have not already done so.  

Attached below is a Chat Sheet on how you can set up parental controls on screen time for your child’s phone or iPad. These come from Kirra Pendergast's Cheat Sheets.

SoS_Cheat_Sheet_iOS_Settings.pdf

Turning off Location Services: 

Another fantastic Cheat Sheet that Kirra introduced to us on her visit in March was Location Services. This was posted last term but there have been several requests for it again. Attached is a link to how you can change your location services. 

Whether you know it or not, your mobile device tracks your location.

This can be handy for features like Weather, Traffic, Find My i-phone and maps but most of the apps you use for entertainment purposes track you as well. The information gathered by these varies from sales and marketing purposes, to declaring your exact posting location on social media. If you (or your child) is not comfortable with this, it is easy to opt out, and just turn on location services when you need to.

Location history - this serves to show exactly where you have been throughout the day. “Frequent locations” and “significant locations” pinpoint your patterns of movement. This information is easily available on Apple devices or as part of google's location data on an android device. You and your child need to weigh up whether or not the apps services you use are valuable enough that the information you are giving is an acceptable trade. If they are you can leave the features turned on. 

SoS_Cheat_Sheet_Location_Services.pdf

Mrs Katie Thompson

Assistant Principal

Year 4 Reflection Day

Last week the Yr 4 students participated in their reflection Day. The theme of the day was forgiveness. The students participated in a wide range of activities such as singing, craft, personal reflection and prayer.

CATHOLIC LIFE TALKS

All secondary students will be participating in Catholic Life Talks on the Thursday and Friday of Week 1 next term. Students will be receiving a letter home this week explaining the importance of these talks and the information that will be covered. Please return the payment envelop and $5 to school by Tuesday 21/7/20.

2020_Census_Privacy_Notice.pdf

Students obtaining their White Card certificates.

The Murrumbidgee Primary Health Network (MPHN) part of the Empowering our Communities funding to support the immediate support needs whilst fostering longer term recovery and resilience to drought affected communities has created the opportunity of the Murrumbidgee Youth Community Grants.

Please see attached some information.

MPHN_Youth_Community_Grants_newsletter_article.pdf

For further information on the grants please contact Larah Harding on 69 233 147 or empoweringourcommunities@mphn.org.au  . Applications can be found on our website: https://mphn.org.au/drought-support

Thank you,

MPHN Grants team

Murrumbidgee Community Grants

Empowering our Communities

02 6923 3147

https://mphn.org.au/drought-support/