Immaculate Heart of Mary School

From the Principal

Dear Parents and Caregivers,

This week, in our Catholic tradition, we will celebrate two special feast days that remind us of God’s love and the example of Mary’s faith, the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary.

The Solemnity of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus will be celebrated on Friday, June 27th, 2025. This day focuses on the Heart of Jesus as a symbol of His great love and mercy for all people.

The Memorial of the Immaculate Heart of Mary follows on Saturday, June 28th, 2025. This day honours Mary’s pure heart, her love for God, and her care for us all. These feasts are closely connected and remind us of the deep bond between Jesus and His mother, Mary. As a school community, we are encouraged to reflect on their love and show kindness and compassion to others.

Students and families are invited to take time for prayer, attend Mass if possible, and find small ways to share love and care with those around them.

Privately Engaged Service Provisions in Schools

As part of our commitment to our mission and values, to working in partnership to enable each learner to thrive, and to ensuring the health and safety of all people on school grounds, our school is implementing a new process for requests from families for Privately Engaged Service Provision in school, including National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) services. This process follows the new CESA Guidelines established for 2025.

Starting next term, Privately Engaged Service Provision in school can only occur, if all the following criteria have been met:

A request has been submitted by the parent/guardian to the Principal, using the new Parent/Guardian Request Form (see below).
The process outlined in the Process Overview Flowchart below has been completed.
A current Privately Engaged Service Provision in Schools: Agreement is in place, which has been fully completed, approved and signed by the Principal or authorised delegate.This applies to new requests for Privately Engaged Service Provision in school, as well as to requests for existing Privately Engaged Service Provision in school to continue in Semester 2.

IHM will distribute a letter this week to all families/caregivers whose child is currently accessing support through a privately engaged provider.

Student Safety

Please ensure children are supervised if waiting at the front of school prior to 8.30am. Staff duty of care commences at this time and parental supervision is required prior to 8.30am or alternatively please book your child into OSHC should your child need care prior to 8.30am.

Kind regards,

Julie Hancock
PRINCIPAL

From the Assistant Principal

Prayer

O most holy Heart of Jesus, fountain of every blessing,
I adore You, I love You, and with a lively sorrow for my sins, I offer You this poor heart of mine.
Make me humble, patient, pure, and wholly obedient to Your will.
Grant, good Jesus, that I may live in You and for You.
Protect me in the midst of danger and comfort me in my afflictions.
Give me health of body, assistance in my temporal needs,
Your blessing on all that I do, and the grace of a holy death.
Amen(From Enthronement to the Sacred Heart by Fr. Francis Larkin)

Did you know?

Did you know that the month of June is dedicated to the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus? The month of June is a very special time in our school, because we are a Sacred Heart School. We continue to be led and inspired by the story and charism of the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart (MSC). In 1951 our school began under the auspices of the Daughters of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart (OLSH). As a Sacred Heart school, we continue to carry our Heart Spirituality as we strive to be God’s Heart here on Earth. Our Feast Day is Friday 27^th June 2025

Parish Bulletin

Sacrament of First Communion and Confirmation

Norah, Eva-Lee, Harley and Artie are currently preparing for the Sacrament of First Communion and Confirmation. Their celebration will take place on Sunday August 17^th at the Sacred Heart Parish, Hindmarsh.

Expressions of Interests are now open for the next Sacramental Cycle in Term 4 2025

If you would like your child/ren to take part in our Sacred Heart Sacramental Program alongside St Joseph’s Hindmarsh, please email Jhovana Fenu - jfenu@ihm.catholic.edu.au. All students need to be 8 years or older and have celebrated the Sacrament of Baptism is a Catholic Church.

Feast of the Sacred Heart Mass

Wednesday 25^th June at 9am - Hall
Father Raja will be our celebrant and everyone is welcome to attend.

Our Lady of the Sacred Heart College (OLSH) Enfield School Visit

On Friday 27^th June we will be welcoming 70 students from Our Lady of the Sacred Heart College to celebrate the Feast of Sacred Heart of Jesus. To celebrate this significant day our Year 6s together with the OLSH students will lead us in prayer. The Liturgy will begin at 9:30am in the Hall.

St Vinnie’s Winter Appeal

Heartfelt THANK YOU for your kindness and generosity.
Donations are welcome until Friday 4th July.

Resilience

Key take away - We are all wired to be resilient - all our feelings are real and valid - but so is the power to grow beyond it!

Now more than ever the spotlight is on resilience in our children. Madhavi Nawana Parker from Positive Minds Australia takes us through what resilience actually is (and what it ISN'T), what to know before you teach it, and 5 ways to help build resilience in our kids.

Why resilience?
Resilient children can be easier to get along with, thanks to their more even temperament, psychological flexibility and ability to get on with things without kicking up more of a fuss than is necessary or constructive.

What is resilience?
Resilience is mentally and emotionally coping with and adapting to challenges in helpful, constructive ways in order to return to a healthy state of wellbeing in a reasonable amount of time.

What isn’t resilience?
Never getting upset or worried when something goes wrong and being happy, confident and calm all the time.

5 ways you can help your child build resilience.

1. Develop your own resilience.

One of the cold hard facts of parenting is that we can’t expect our children to be good at something they don’t see us Role Modelling. Parenting consumes its fair share of physical and emotional energy. Many parents find themselves running off an ‘energy deficit,’ because they can barely find time to pause and take care of themselves. When your wellbeing hits rock bottom, so will your resilience. So, take care of yourself, ask for and accept help, rest, recover, take short cuts and do as much as possible to lay a foundation of healthy wellbeing so you too, can be resilient through the ups and downs of parenting.

2. Don’t make resilience sound easy or minimise your child’s problems.

If something feels big to them – that’s because it is big to them. A child’s perception and experience of a difficulty is often perceived in a magnified way, because of their developing brain. The thinking and rationalising part of their brain is still growing, so emotions tend to take over quickly and be felt deeply. When they are upset about something, no matter how small it might seem to you, it can help to say something like, ‘it looks like you’re having a hard time,’ and ‘I can see this is hard for you.’ These words reassure your child that you acknowledge their experience is tough for them and that you care about that. Be careful not to over empathise though – just genuinely show you take their feelings seriously. Resilience grows from having a space for all your feelings and not being made to feel like something is wrong with you, for having them.

3. Help your child develop confidence through competence.

Children need to know they can do things on their own and that they are coping for their age. While it can be tempting to do everything for our children as an expression of love and support, the message that can emerge is ‘you’re not good enough on your own – you need someone else to be truly competent.’ While this is partially true, as well all need people in our lives who care about us and are willing to help when we need it, helping more than is necessary is not helpful for resilience. Try and avoid doing too many things that they can do for themselves. What skills they might be ready to build? Tidying up? Preparing meals? Mopping and vacuuming? Look at your child’s age, personality and developmental abilities and help them build confidence through competence.

4. Find time for connection.

Healthy relationships with parents and carers is crucial for resilience. Quality one on one time can be difficult in a family but your undivided attention helps your child feel an inner confidence that they matter and are seen, heard and valued for who they are. Show your delight when you see them, especially first thing in the morning and after time apart (and try warm connection before you provide any kind of direction).

5. Encourage healthy risk taking.

Taking healthy risks is about being willing to give something a go without a guarantee of success. No one likes to fail or see things didn’t turn out as planned. Everything feels much better when you succeed. What can happen to many children is, through fear of failure, some great opportunities get avoided altogether. Being willing to take risks that aren’t guaranteed success is an important part of building resilience and wellbeing because it allows your child to practice courage and vulnerability which help you be more confident through the ups and downs of life. Healthy risks look different for everyone. Think about your child and your family, follow your gut and look into ways they can step a little more out of their comfort zone, with your loving and empathic support to move closer towards becoming braver and more confident.

Resilience takes time…

Remember that being rushed into resilience doesn’t work and nor does a ‘toughen up, sink or swim’ approach. Resilience takes time, growing through day to day experiences that allow children to see they are loved and supported through adversity, yet capable and competent to go the distance themselves. The most important thing is that you are patient with them and patient with yourself, remembering that no one gets it right all the time.

Madhavi Nawana Parker’s book, ‘The Resilience and Wellbeing Toolbox: Creating character and competence through life’s ups and downs’ 2nd Ed (2020) is available through all good booksellers and online: Australia wide: positivemindsaustralia.com.au/books

About Madhavi Nawana Parker from Positive Minds Australia

Madhavi Nawana Parker, Director of Positive Minds Australia is a widely published author of resilience, wellbeing, confidence and social emotional intelligence books, articles and programs. Madhavi has worked with children, teenagers, families and schools for over twenty years, following University studies in Psychology and Counselling. Madhavi is known for her empathic understanding towards parents, educators and young people, working tirelessly through her writing, public speaking and counselling, to improve mental health, resilience and wellbeing. Madhavi is married with three children and enjoys time with family, friends and nature. positivemindsaustralia.com.au

Madhavi will be a keynote speaker at the Positive Parenting Conference on the 16th August - presented by the Catholic School Parents SA Association.

For more information on the Positive Parenting Conference please click on the link below:

Positive Parenting Conference

NAIDOC Week 2025

Please click on the link below for more information about the NAIDOC Week Mass being held in July.

NAIDOC Week Mass

Kind regards,

Jhovana Fenu
APRIM

Eureka G.A.T.E. Ways Program

IHM Students Break New Ground with Eureka G.A.T.E.WAYS Science Investigations

Recently, a group of our high-potential learners were selected to take part in the Eureka G.A.T.E.WAYS 'Breaking New Ground' science investigations program at Dominican School, Semaphore. This full-day event was designed to stretch students' thinking, spark creativity, and deepen their understanding of scientific processes through innovative and hands-on challenges.

One highlight of the day involved students imagining and designing a brand-new type of flower, then developing a unique pollinator suited specifically to that flower. This task required them to think biologically, creatively, and logically as they explored interdependence within ecosystems.

Luc shared, “My favourite part was the second half of the day where we created a new type of flower and then we needed to think about creating a pollinator for our new plant. I made a pollinator called the Suss-fly. The Suss-fly pollinates the flower – it takes pollen from flower to flower so new flowers can grow.”

Students also explored life on Mars, learning about the planet’s atmosphere and its effects on the human body. They designed space rovers capable of collecting water and made fascinating discoveries about the presence of frozen water on the red planet.

Jeremy reflected, “I liked making my own flower to be pollinated. I called it the Christmas Tree because it looked like one. I really enjoyed learning about how Mars is different to Earth. Mars has more carbon dioxide, which means if we lived on Mars, it would affect our bodies because as well as breathing out carbon dioxide like we do on Earth, we would also be breathing it in – like we don’t do on Earth. There isn’t enough oxygen to live on Mars. We made a space rover for Mars and one of the features was that it had to collect water. Did you know there is a frozen river on Mars?”

In another session, students investigated the Placebo Effect and how belief can influence outcomes.

Jake explained, “We learned about the Placebo Effect and how it works to trick your brain! It’s used in many things like medications and therapy. Sometimes, people feel better just because they think the medicine will work — even if it’s not real medicine.”

“We did a Placebo Effect investigation. Each group completed a maze activity and then did a breathing activity where we counted down backwards from 100 in groups of seven – we did this once as the control group. We then did the maze activity again and everyone completed it in quicker time. We thought we got better at the maze because we did the breathing activity — but that might not be the real reason. It could be that we were just faster the second time because we had already seen the maze before.”

The day ended with a thrilling engineering challenge where students designed earthquake-resistant buildings using straws and plasticine.

Jake added, “We learned about natural disasters and how to construct buildings to withstand earthquakes. I worked in a group of two with someone from another school to make a strong building from straws and plasticine. Our building was five and a half straws tall, which was very high. We got to test our buildings on an earthquake machine which vibrated the building around. Mine stayed up! It was an amazing experience.”

At IHM, we believe in cultivating the talents and interests of all learners. Programs like Eureka G.A.T.E.WAYS align with our commitment to providing rich, authentic learning experiences that encourage innovation, problem-solving, and scientific inquiry. Well done to our students for embracing the challenge of "breaking new ground"!

Sonia Bianco & Catherine Hulley
LEADERS OF LEARNING