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Prayer
God of mercy and wisdom,
We thank you for those who began with little and trusted you with much,
for Ursula Frayne and the Sisters of Mercy,
whose faithful leadership continues to shape lives.
As we lead in our own time,
give us the courage to begin well,
the patience to build steadily,
and the wisdom to protect what matters most.
Help us to lead with compassion and justice,
with respect and hospitality,
with generosity of service and courage of heart.
Jesus, you came that all may have life,
and have it to the full.
May our leadership create the conditions
for that flourishing to take root and grow.
Faithful always, we pray,
Amen
This week’s prayer reflects the focus of prayer for the College’s staff professional development days held last week. The prayer explores the Sacred Heart College 2026 theme, “From Good Beginnings, Mercy Flourishes”. This theme reflects this year’s twin anniversaries: 180 years since Mother Ursula Frayne and her companion Sisters of Mercy landed in Australia in Fremantle in 1846 as well as the centenary of the blessing and opening of the College Chapel in December 1926.
A most sincere welcome to all in the Sacred Heart College community – students, parents, family members, staff and friends – and a particularly special welcome to those families and staff who are new to the College, I trust that recent days have been all that you hoped for.
Last week, we welcomed a number of new staff to the College:
- Jack Cornelissen Teaching in the VCE VM team
- Natalie Port Teaching Mathematics
- Sherie O’Connell Teaching Humanities
- James Ryan Teaching in the Technology and VCE VM team
- Zarya Volya Teaching Languages and English
- Paul James Teaching Mathematics
- Lily Dusting Teaching English and The Arts
- Siobhan McLennan Teaching Technology and Science
- Jessica Demare Teaching Music and Technology
- Jodie Warner Returning to the Library team
- Hayley Fenech Teaching in the VCE VM and English teams (starts next week)
- Rachael Williamson Teaching Science and Mathematics
- Susannah Jones Returning to the English team
Communication Lines
Ensuring that open, candid and timely communication exists between school and home is a key priority for Sacred Heart College and something that teachers are reminded about regularly. To assist this, parents are reminded of the key protocols around communications regarding your son/daughter:
- Your child’s homeroom teacher should be your first port-of-call with any communications – absences, sicknesses, family holidays, friendship issues.
- Your child’s Year Level Leader has responsibility for the year level and therefore deals with broader operational and/or behavioural issues.
- The College’s Head of School have larger responsibility for Years 7 – 9 and 10 – 12 and tend only to be ‘go-tos’ for serious issues or problems.
A reminder of the College’s Year Level Leaders and Heads of School:
- Year 7 Level Leader Lily Dusting
- Year 8 Level Leader Aaron Williamson
- Year 9 Level Leader Angelica Violante
- Year 10 Level Leader Paul James
- Year 11 Level Leader Hannah Monagle
- Year 12 Level Leader Philippa Spring & Tori Young
- Head of Junior School (Year 7 – 9) Matt Carroll
- Head of Senior School (Year 10 – 12) Anthony Diamond
Start of Year Arrangements
Later in this newsletter is an article from the Head of Junior School (Matt Carroll) on considerations that Sacred Heart College undertakes when developing homeroom lists annually. I encourage all parents and families to read it.
Holiday Works
This week has seen the completion of a substantial number of capital improvement and maintenance projects over the extended Christmas and New Year period. These reflected the need for additional classroom spaces to accommodate increasing enrolments alongside increased numbers of classes. An enormous thanks to the College Property and Maintenance team and particularly Steve Huntley for their work in support of local tradespeople and businesses in achieving these.
Planning for a Productive 2026
As is detailed later in this newsletter, the College’s middle leaders, teaching and learning support staff completed four days of professional learning last week. This intensive program was designed to build on the strategic work done in recent years on themes of team learning and improvement, a shared language of pedagogy and the mission of leadership in a Catholic school context.
Student and Staff Activities
A number of special activities and events are planned for students, staff and families in the first few weeks of term one:
- We wish all Year 7 students a fun day’s activities today as they enjoy their “Splash” day at the Craigieburn Pool.
- Yesterday, the school year was opened and blessed as the whole school community gathered for our Beginning of Year Mass. It was a pleasure to be joined by College Chaplains, Fr Declan (Kyneton and Trentham) and Fr John (Woodend and Lancefield).
- Parents and families are reminded of the opportunities in coming weeks to meet your child’s homeroom teacher: at Year 7, this will be through the Year 7 Commissioning Mass on Thursday evening (February 26) and for Year 8 & 9 students, the Meet The Teacher evening is next Monday 9 February.
Bereavement: Your prayers are asked for the Smith family who are mourning the loss of Dianne Smith, grandmother of Riley Year 9, and Lachlan Year 8. Our thoughts are with you at this sad time.
Yours in Mercy,
Dr Darren Egberts
Principal
