Dear God,

You come to us in Jesus who teaches us that the way to happiness is through our love for one another.

Watch over the teachers, students and families of Sacred Heart Cathedral School as we try to be faithful to this teaching.

Help us to be a welcoming and joyful community, so that others may come to know your love and peace.

We ask this through Jesus Christ our Lord,

Amen.

Dear Parents/Caregivers,

Today marks the start of our Lenten journey. Syndicates all had stunning Liturgies. Like everything else so far this year, Ash Wednesday was a little different as we had no Ashes and students blessed themselves. Special thanks to John and the staff who made this all so meaningful for our children and helping them to become the best version of themselves.

" Turn to us Lord God and we will turn to you."

Our staff team at Sacred Heart Cathedral School is simply incredible. With the nearby protest, school is open. Your child is most welcome to learn from home as well. Our Junior School children will access learning across the seesaw platform and Middles and Seniors across the Google classroom. What suits your family will suit us. We are in challenging times and I certainly appreciate and acknowledge how difficult it is for everyone. All mixed up with a pandemic as well.

As per our normal emergency drills, we have all practiced and talked through earthquake, fire, and lockdown procedures with the students including having a lockdown drill.

Just to confirm to families that should we go into lockdown we will contact you immediately through email, SchoolAppsNZ and will let you know what will happen regarding the collection of children should that be required.

Just to confirm that as per Ministry of Education guidelines during Phase 3 of the Red Traffic Light system, we will continue to have the children in syndicate bubbles. This mitigation measure combined with vigilance about symptoms and staying away if unwell continue to be a priority for us as a school.

https://covid19.govt.nz/traffic-lights/life-at-red/education-at-red/early-learning-schools-and-kura-at-red/ 

In Phase 3, only household contacts of confirmed cases are required to self-isolate. The isolation period will be 10 days. All other contacts of COVID-positive people are not required to isolate, but they will need to monitor for symptoms. Rapid antigen tests will become the primary testing method.

I read a beautiful piece of writing today in Room 3 today.

"It is Ash Wednesday today and there is a helicopter in the sky."

I pray for peace. 

Ka tau te rangimarie

Ki runga i a mātou o te kura nei

Ka tau te rangimarie

Ki runga i ngā iwi o te ao.

Aio ki te Aorangi

Haumi e, hui e, taiki e!

Let peace be upon us of the school

Let peace be upon all peoples of the world.

Peace to the universe

Bound, linked and joined!

Arohanui,

Bernadette Murfitt

Principal

Sacred Heart Cathedral School

Kia ora koutou.

This information is being provided should a class have to self-isolate in the future or if students are at home waiting on test results.

All home learning work will be communicated using Seesaw for Rooms 1, 2 and 3 and Google Classroom for Rooms 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10.

FOR ROOMS 1, 2 AND 3: 

Your child has now received their Seesaw login. It is important that you keep this in a safe place. If you have not received this, or you are not set up on Seesaw, please contact your child’s teacher directly.

Room 1 adrienne@sacred-heart.school.nz  or leanne@sacred-heart.school.nz

Room 2 sarah@sacred-Heart.school.nz

Room 3 suec@sacred-heart.school.nz

You can download the Seesaw Family App for iOS, Android, or use or access it online to view your student’s learning. If you are having trouble connecting to Seesaw, please contact the class teacher for assistance.

A big part of the learning will be the use of Reading Eggs and Mathletics. Your child has also received their logins for these. Please contact the classroom teacher if there are any issues.

Your teacher will liaise with you as to when class Zoom sessions will happen.

FOR ROOMS 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10: 

Google Classroom will be the main platform. Your teacher may also include tasks using Reading Eggs, Mathletics or Seesaw.

Room 5 hannah@sacred-heart.school.nz

Room 6 kate@sacred-heart.school.nz

Room 7 john@sacred-heart.school.nz

Room 8 julius@sacred-heart.school.nz

Room 9 therese@sacred-heart.school.nz

Room 10 ann@sacred-heart.school.nz 

MANAGING COVID AND HOME LEARNING

If your child is sick they should stay at home, rest and not do home learning. Please contact the office to say they are sick.

If your child and family need to self-isolate because they are a close contact or have had Covid-19, please contact the office to say your child is self-isolating and will be learning at home.

If your child is at home because a class is isolating, there is no need to contact the office and learning will continue from home.

NEWSLETTER

Please keep up to date by reading the school newsletters. If you don’t already receive the newsletter by email, please ensure you provide the office with your email address so this can be added office@sacred-heart.school.nz. Our newsletters are also posted on our school website www.sacred-heart.school.nz.

Emails are also used to send out urgent notices and reminders.

School App – this is free to download from the App Store (for Apple devices) or from Google play (for Android). Simply search for ‘School App NZ’ and choose our school once installed.  We use the App to send out notices and our latest newsletter.

HOME LEARNING EXPECTATIONS

No work is compulsory. We won’t require things to be done at a set time. Teachers understand if children cannot participate in a zoom meeting. Do what you can, when you can.

HARD PACKS FOR LEARNING AT HOME

We have already sent hard copy packs home. If you have not received one, please contact your child’s teacher.

MANAGING WORKLOAD WHEN LEARNING FROM HOME

No one expects you to be working full-time at your job, caring for your family and being a full-time teacher. Some families find it useful to create a daily schedule for Home Learning, including break times and a set finish time for the day. If things are getting on top of you with your child’s Home Learning, please let us know.

ADDITIONAL SUPPORT

If your child is not able to do the work that their teacher is setting, please contact your child’s teacher directly.

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION RESOURCES

You can also independently watch Home Learning TV - https://www.tvnz.co.nz/shows/home-learning-tv.

There are also literacy, mathematics and science resources organised in early years, and school years 1-4, 5-8.  https://learningfromhome.govt.nz/age/years-1-4   https://learningfromhome.govt.nz/age/years-5-8

CARING

We acknowledge that learning at home is different for everybody. It can be very stressful for some families. Don’t put yourself under extra pressure. If at any point you need to take a break from Home Learning, there is no problem to do so.

ASK FOR HELP

We want you to know that our teachers are ready to respond to your questions or concerns.  We will communicate directly with you as well as with our students. Our goal is to make sure that everybody knows expectations around learning and how to access tasks from home.

Ngā mihi nui,

Bernadette Murfiit
Principal

We celebrated Ash Wednesday today with our syndicate liturgy.

You’ll be aware that the Government announced that New Zealand moved into Phase 3 of our response to Omicron from last Thursday, 24 February.

In Phase 3, only household contacts of confirmed cases are required to self-isolate. The isolation period will be 10 days. All other contacts of COVID-positive people are not required to isolate, but they will need to monitor for symptoms. Rapid antigen tests will become the primary testing method.

This is a decision that has been made based on public health advice – the high vaccination rate across the country will do its job in protecting us from transmission during the next surge of cases. If you haven’t already, get the booster.

If you have COVID-19:

• You will be notified by text. If you do not have a mobile number, you will receive a call.
• You will be asked to complete an online COVID-19 contact tracing form if possible.
• Cases are advised to notify your household, workplace and/or education setting.
• You should also let your close contacts know you have tested positive. These are people you spent time within close vicinity when not wearing a mask eg, your partner or close friends.
• You will need to self-isolate at home for 10 days from when you got tested or when your symptoms started.
• Avoid contact with other household members to the greatest extent possible during your isolation period.
• Wear a mask and physically distance in shared spaces during your isolation.
• You can end your self-isolation after 10 days – you may receive a text message confirming the end of your isolation. You do not need to wait for an official message or release to leave isolation.

If you are a household contact:

• You may be notified that you are a household contact by a person that you live with who has COVID-19, or by text.
• If you live with someone who has been confirmed to have COVID-19, you need to self-isolate:
  • from the day that the case receives their positive test result (or is notified as probable).
  • until the case completes their 10 days of self-isolation.
• You need to get a RAT test on day 3 and day 10 of the case’s (person with COVID-19) isolation period, and a test if you develop any COVID-19 symptoms. You will be advised how to access free RATs.
• If any of these tests return a positive result, you are a ‘case’ and need to isolate for 10 days from either the day of symptom onset or the day you get a positive result.
• Avoid or minimise contact with the person with COVID-19 to the greatest extent possible during your isolation at home.
• You can end your self-isolation on the same day as the (first) person with COVID-19 in the household, provided all of your tests were negative including your day 10 test.

If you are a close contact (outside of the household):

• If you have been in close contact with a person with COVID-19, that person may notify you directly.
• You do not need to isolate.
• You do not need to test.
• Monitor for symptoms for 10 days.
• Get tested if you have COVID-19 symptoms and if this is a PCR test, stay at home until you get a negative result.

Dear Parents/Caregivers,

From tomorrow, 03 March to every Thursday during Term 1, we will be selling mini lemonade ice blocks for $1.00 each to help raise funds for the 2022 School Camp for Years 7 & 8 students. Please have the correct amount of money to reduce the need for change. Thank you.

A big thank you to all our parents who generously donated easter items to go in our easter hamper raffle!  We have 14 'hampers' to raffle!

5 raffle tickets in an envelope have been sent home with the youngest child in each family.  Tickets are $2.00 each.

Please sell them to friends/family/work colleagues or you might choose to up your odds on winning a hamper by buying the lot. Name and contact phone number need to be written on each ticket butt that is then returned to the school to go in the draw.

Payment can be made by internet banking:

Account name:  Sacred Heart Parents and Friends

Account number:  12-3140-0397242-00

Please use your child’s name and raffle for school reference.

Extra tickets are available from the school office.

Raffle closes on Friday 25 March and winners will be drawn on Tuesday, 29 March and will be announced in the school newsletter on Wednesday, 30 March.  Thank you.

Blossom in Room 8 has lost her named jersey. Please check your child's jersey and if found, please drop it off to the Room 8 teacher or to the office.

Joaquin Room 2 has lost his named sunhat. Please check your child's hat and if found, please drop it off to the Room 2 teacher or to the office.

Thank you.