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Prayer
All-Loving God, we give you thanks and praise for mothers young and old.
We pray for young mother, who life and count little toes and to our every need.
May they be blessed with patience and tenderness to care for their families and themselves with great joy.
We pray for our own mothers who have nurtured and cared for us;
May they continue to guide us in strong and gentle ways.
We remember mother who are separated from their children because of war, poverty, or conflict;
May they feel the loving embrace of our God who wipes away every tear.
We pray for women who are not mothers but still love and shape us with motherly care and compassion.
We remember mothers, grandmothers, and great-grandmothers who are no longer with us but live forever in our memory and nourish us with their love.
Amen.
Today’s prayer speaks to Mother’s Day and the inestimable amount that we each owe to our mothers, stepmothers, grandmothers and guardians. Whether they are still with us or long past, their love and care is integral to our development and to our own responsibilities as parents, teachers, guardians, etc.
Last Friday, the John Arthurson Atrium hosted almost 500 students and family members for the annual Mother’s Day Breakfast. On a delightful crisp and sunny morning, the space was full of excited conversations, lovely music and the very privileged sight of families enjoying a meal together. A big thanks to all who contributed to the organisation of the morning but especially Ms Janet Monaghan and her team of senior hospitality students.
Click the google drive link to access your family photos taken at the Mother's Day Breakfast. https://drive.google.com/drive...
Mobile Phones at Sacred Heart College
Please find below, an important article from Sam Weir (Deputy Principal Learning & Teaching) and Haley Galloway (Deputy Principal Wellbeing) that introduces a major change on the way that Sacred Heart College will be managing student mobile phones from the start of term 3.
Last week, all College staff were introduced to a new procedure for the management of student mobile phones, which will begin in Term 3. The guiding principle behind this change is to improve student engagement and learning outcomes.
There is now a significant body of research highlighting the negative impact mobile phones can have on attention and memory — both of which are essential for effective learning. For example, Skowronek, Seifert and Lindberg’s 2023 study found that “the presence of the smartphone has a negative influence on cognitive performance and attention,” while Tanil and Yong (2020) found that both the presence of, and frequent thoughts about, smartphones negatively affected memory recall accuracy.
As a community of educators, we are committed to continual growth and improvement, and we look to contemporary research to inform our teaching and learning practices. These findings provide a strong foundation for a revised approach to mobile phone management at the College, with the aim of supporting the learning and wellbeing of all students.
A detailed overview of the new procedures will be shared with students and families in the coming week. We encourage families to discuss these expectations at home so that we can begin Term 3 with a shared understanding of both the procedures and the reasons behind them.
We recognise that questions may arise as students and families review the new procedures, and opportunities for clarification will be provided in the coming weeks. We encourage students to engage in these conversations respectfully and with an openness to understanding the reasoning behind the changes.
Student Activities
As the beautiful late autumn weather continues (and we look towards some rain), a number of major events are on the school calendar:
- Over the next couple of weeks, our Year 7 students will undertake their camp to Kinglake. This camp is an integral part of the College Transition program and should provide a culmination to the many weeks of work of the Year 7 teaching team.
- With fantastic weather, the school gathered at the Bendigo Athletic Centre for the annual College athletics carnival on Wednesday this week. The enthusiasm and energy of all students was a joy to behold. Special congratulations to the College’s Year 12 students whose costumes and leadership were of particular note.
- Congratulations and thank you to the Year 11 students and staff who spent two days away earlier this week at Rutherford Park, Blampied for their Year 11 Retreat.
Bereavements: Your prayers are asked for the Grainger family on the passing of Con Mulvihill, grandfather of Spencer Year 9 and Oliver Year 11. Our thoughts are with you at this sad time.
Yours in Mercy,
Dr Darren Egberts
Principal
