Dear Families,

Welcome back to Term 2! It’s wonderful to see everyone back, refreshed and ready for the exciting weeks ahead. We hope you had a blessed Easter break, enjoyed some well-deserved rest, and spent quality time with your loved ones. Easter is a time of renewal and hope, reminding us of the profound message of love, sacrifice, and new beginnings. As we embark on this new term, let’s carry forward the spirit of Easter—embracing kindness (our virtue for Term 2), faith, and togetherness in all we do.

ANZAC Day Ceremony

On Tuesday, we gathered as a school community to commemorate ANZAC Day, honouring the courage, sacrifice, and resilience of those who have served our country. Our students demonstrated great respect during the ceremony, reflecting on the importance of remembrance and gratitude. It was heartwarming to see their understanding of this significant day, ensuring that the legacy of the ANZACS lives on in future generations.

School Disco – Friday 30 May

We are thrilled to announce our upcoming School Disco for all students from Kindergarten to Year 6, happening on Friday, 30 May, from 6:00 to 7:30pm. This promises to be a fantastic evening filled with music, fun, and lots of dancing! More details will be shared soon, but for now, please save the date—this is a great community event that brings everyone together.

Mother’s Day Breakfast and Mass – Friday 9 May

We warmly invite all mothers, grandmothers, and special women in our community to join us for a Mother’s Day Breakfast next Friday, 9 May, from 8am. It’s a wonderful opportunity to celebrate and appreciate the incredible role that mothers and significant women play in our lives. Following breakfast, we will host open classrooms, and you are welcome to visit your child's classroom from 9:00 to 9:30am. We will then have Mothers' Day Mass in the Church hosted by Year 1, all are welcome. 

Enrolment Time – ACT Catholic Schools

It’s enrolment time for ACT Catholic Schools, including Catholic systemic high schools. If you have children ready to begin Kindergarten or wish to enrol in other year levels, applications are open and will close on Friday, 30 May. Please remember that late applications cannot be guaranteed a place, so spread the word to friends and family and submit applications on time.

Cross Country Carnival – Friday 2 May

Our Cross Country Carnival is happening this Friday from 11:45am to 1:45 pm, and it’s always one of the most exciting days on our school calendar! All students from K–6 will be participating, and we invite parents to come along and either help as marshals to cheer on our runners. It’s a great chance to support the students and enjoy a fun-filled day outdoors.

Looking Ahead

Term 2 is shaping up to be a hectic and exciting time! Here are a few key events to keep on your radar:

• School Photo Day – Tuesday 20th May
• School Disco - Friday 30th May
• Parent Trivia Night – Friday 13 June (More details to follow!)
• Sacred Heart Feast Day – Thursday 27 June

We look forward to a wonderful term ahead and can’t wait to share these moments with you. Thank you for your continued support.

In faith and partnership,

David Austin

Principal

As we begin a new term, here is a reminder of a few processes at Sacred Heart.

School Payments

QKR!: Will be used for the purchasing of items from the Canteen, Clothing Pool , Events needing payment eg: PSSA carnival, and miscellaneous school activities.

COMPASS: Will be used for Excursions and Camps at this stage.

School fees: Preferred payment for school fees is via BPay.

Please contact the front office for any further assistance.

School Hours

Our hours of supervision are between 8.30am-3.30pm. Staff are not on duty outside these hours, but YMCA are available for before and after school care.

Volunteering

We appreciate the contribution volunteers can make to learning in the classroom and community events. Please ensure you are aware of our Safeguarding processes and the ACT rules for needing a Working With Vulnerable People (WWVP) card. 

WWVP and Safeguarding Processes

All volunteers, over the age of 16 years, will need a WWVP registration depending on the amount of days you are volunteering. Please carry your card with you when helping in the classroom or at events. 

We keep a register of cardholders in the Front Office. Contact Shari Cooper or Lisa Davis about adding or updating your WWVP details to this register. Please visit the Access Canberra Website for WWVP registration information.

Our Volunteering and Safeguarding Policy can be found on our school website. Click here.

Visiting School

During the day, all parents, carers and visitors are asked to enter the school via the Front Office. If you are staying on the grounds we require you to sign in on arrival and sign out when leaving using the Compass Kiosk, located at the Front Office. 

If going to an event in the hall, church or on the grounds, you may simply enter and be greeted by the organsing staff.

Assemblies changed in 2025

You are invited to join us for: 

• Morning Assemblies at 8.55 am on Mondays and Fridays only. These will be held on the Blacktop, weather permitting. We begin by acknowledging the traditional owners of the land and praying together. On Mondays we acknowledge children celebrating birthdays over the coming week. Awards will be handed out on Fridays, the list of children receiving an award will be published in the newsletter each Wednesday.  
• Friday afternoon assembly at 2.40 pm in the hall Weeks 3, 6 and 9 only. Individual classes will showcase their learning. Parents may come directly into the hall from 2.30pm. 

Did you know you can read all our past newsletters?

Have you ever gone looking for some information in a past newsletter to discover it is no longer on Compass? Do not despair! Our past newsletters can be found via a link on the website to the newsletter archive. Click on the newsletter tile on the homepage to follow the links to the newsletter archive. https://shpspearce.schoolzineplus.com/schoolnews/archive

Using Compass

1. We are endeavouring to send notifications about 3pm each day, rather than at different times during the day. This may mean you receive a number of separate items to read on some days. 
2. Very important action items or news will be sent during the day as needed. Please check these notifications when they arrive.
3. Attendance notifications need to be entered ASAP for each time your child is absent. We did really well with this last term!
4. Regularly check for updates of the Compass App.
5. Search PEARCE rather than Sacred Heart when downloading or updating the App. Your login details were originally emailed.
6. If you need support to log in, please contact Lisa Davis in the office.

Yours in working together

Kerry Wode

Compass Notifications

Please refer to Compass for the following notifications:

• Starting term 2

Today some of our Year 5 and 6 students are representing Sacred Heart at the da Vinci Decathlon .

Cross Country

Cross country this week, however, we still have over 53 students who have not been given consent to participate in the cross country. Please do this ASAP. All the details are in the Compass events section. 

The cross country will be held in the middle session of the day, starting from 11:45am. We will begin the races from top age to bottom, so 12yrs will begin, then all the way down to Kinder.

Thank you to those parents who have volunteered both course Marshall or BBQ, please arrive at school about 11:30am for instructions and sign in at the front office. If you can help, please let me know. We need as many parents as possible to be around the course. 

Once all the races have been run, students will receive their sausage (supplied by the school) and their snack pack (if ordered through QKR!)

We look forward to a wonderful day rounding out our school carnivals.

ACT Swimming

We are thrilled that 4 of our students have qualified for the ACT Swimming Championships which will be held next Tuesday. We wish you all the best, swim well!

This week your child will bring home Issue 3 of the Scholastic Book Club. Orders need to be returned by Monday. May 12. Thank you for supporting this program, as the school receives rewards from your purchases to put towards resources for the classrooms.