Our theme for this year is “Let there be peace. Let it begin with me!”. In January, Pope Francis travelled to the Democratic Republic of Congo where he spoke about Christianity being incompatible with any kind of violence. He reminded each of us, as believers, to devote ourselves to becoming builders of peace and emphasised that Christ’s message of peace is “for everyone”. In our College community, this translates to us being considered in our dealings with each other and focussing on what we can do to bring peace to every interaction.
The construction of our Latrobe Street Wing Extension is moving at pace, and we still anticipate its completion in August. This new building, consisting of the student wellbeing centre and learning spaces will provide additional purpose built facilities for our students and staff. In addition, the installation of an all-weather external structure has begun at the McBride Centre to increase the useability of our outdoor spaces year round.
A focus for 2023 will be implementing recommendations from our School Review which took place last year.
Sacred Heart Girls’ College is encouraged to:
Formulate and implement a shared, school wide understanding of what constitutes effective teaching practice. This could involve:
- exploring contemporary pedagogies and approaches to teaching and learning
- enabling teachers to access regular and supportive feedback on professional practice
Enhance student agency in learning by:
- developing consistent use of a lesson structure which includes discussion of learning intentions, co-construction of success criteria and rubrics
- strengthening staff and student capability to use feedback and reflection strategies in order to set and monitor meaningful learning goals
Strengthen the existing connections between the Catholic faith, learning and wellbeing by:
- deepening staff understanding of student wellbeing and developing a model of distributive responsibility
- exploring additional avenues to collaborate with families as partners in learning
Once again it is my hope and prayer that every member of our community will embrace the opportunities and challenges of 2023, our 66th year, in a spirit of openness and joy filled with hope for the future. Together with the staff, I look forward to working in partnership with you in the education of your daughters at Sacred Heart.
I wish you every blessing for the year ahead.
