Dear Families,
Judge kindly; that is the heart of everything.
Mother Janet Erskine Stuart is one of the great educational
leaders and writers in Sacred Heart history. Her influence stretches
around the world through her essays and poetry. Mother Janet Stuart died
on October 21st, 1914, and the Network of Sacred Heart Schools will gather
together next week, through the power of modern technology, to open a year of
celebration of her life.
Our students in grades three to twelve will join together in
mixed age-level groups throughout the school to participate via webcast in the
opening ceremony of this Centenary Preparation on Monday, October 21st at
3:00 p.m. This is sure to be a memorable webcast. The ceremony
is taking place at Stuart Hall in San Francisco, and our own Headmistress, Sr.
Wachter, will be there!
If you would like to experience this very special event, just
stay tuned. Pauline Scott, Principal of Sacred Heart High School, is our
Janet Stuart webcast coordinator, and she will be sending instructions to all
of us before Monday.
Late Dismissal Monday
Due to the timing of the Janet Stuart webcast on Monday, October
21st, students in grades 3 to 6 may not be back in the
classrooms by 3:30. We appreciate your patience, as they may be
dismissed closer to 3:45 on that day. Thank you.
Feast of Mater Admirabilis
Our grade six students, led by Mrs. MacDougall, treated us all
to a very special presentation in honour of the Feast of Mater Admirabilis. They retold the famous
story of the painting by Pauline Perdrau at the Trinita dei Monti, a Sacred
Heart school in Rome. We have our own Mater painting in the Little
Theatre. You can view Robert Marchand’s rendering of this famous painting
in the Fountain Academy lobby.
Click here to see photos
of today’s special assembly presentation.
Lockers and Independence
Of course, you are welcome to assist your child settling into
school in the morning and heading out after school. However, please keep
in mind that the more you do for your child, the less he will learn to do on
his own. Certainly, the way we help our preschooler is different than how
we guide our grade sixer. And yet, with patience, children are usually
capable of a lot more than we think. We have students as young as six who
know how to start their day after being dropped off at the curb. That’s
personal growth in an atmosphere of wise freedom!
Here’s Janet Stuart’s take on educating to independence:
There are two ways of educating: one, to give heart, mind,
energy, everything to working for the children - doing things for them. The
other, to try to teach the children to work for themselves. And this is the
higher of the two. It requires more prudence, more foresight and there is less
immediate return. We ought not to do things for the children which they ought
to learn to do for themselves. We want to make them independent of us.
Field Trips this Week
The Preschoolers walked to the Spring Garden Road Library for
Musical Munchkins, a presentation by two members of Symphony Nova Scotia. The
children were introduced to a viola and a bass. They learned about the
similarities and differences between the two instruments and participated in a
variety of movement songs. It was a great morning!
Our grade fours ventured up to the Citadel on Tuesday to
learn all about Halifax’s famous historical landmark. Check out some
photos of the excursion at Mrs. Chipman’s class webpage.
Our grade fives headed over to Sir Sandford Fleming Park for
some mysterious encounters at
the Adventure Earth Center.
Cards by Me
By now you should have received your child’s Cards by Me artwork
and order form. This is a great chance to load up on note cards with your
child’s beautiful artwork professionally printed on them. And at the same
time, funds raised by this project go directly into supporting our elementary
school art program. The deadline for Cards by Me orders is
Tuesday, October 22nd. Thank you for helping us keep art alive for
our children!
Book Fair
Our annual Scholastic Book Fair is next week! Please drop
by the Large Parlour (by Main Reception) on Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursday to
find some great books for your children. Your child's class will be visiting
the fair during school next week, and you can either send money in with your
child or have him make a wishlist during his visit so you can follow up
afterwards. Either way works for us.
We have an extra special family night planned to kick off this
year’s book fair on Monday, October 21st from 6:30 until 8:30 p.m.
From 7 until 8, guest readers will read Not-So-Spooky Stories with
the lights dimmed; while kids sip hot cocoa and their parents get first dibs on
this year's books. We hope to see you there!
Two Parent Education Opportunities
Our Parents’ Guild is sponsoring a special presentation
concerning what parents should know about social media (Tech Savvy Kids =
Learning Curve for Adults) by Matt Corkum on Tuesday, October 29th at
7:30 p.m. There is a free lecture about what parents can do to help their
children with general anxiety at home by Dr. Daniel Chorney at Armbrae Academy
on Tuesday, October 22nd at 6:00 p.m.
ASC News
Tomorrow, Friday October 18th, is the deadline for
registering for our PD day camp on October 25th. The
Preschool to Grade 2 children will be attending a Halloween-themed puppet show
at the Spring Garden Road Library. Children in Grades 3 to 6 will be planting
fall bulbs on our school grounds and participating in a school-wide scavenger
hunt! Should be fun!
Basketball will go ahead on Monday, October 21st following
the webcast prayer service.
Looking forward,
Stephen Tugwell
Principal, Sacred Heart
Elementary School
When you know even for a moment that it’s your time
Then you can walk with the power of a thousand generations.
When you’ve got a dream like mine, nobody can take you down.
When you’ve got a dream like mine, nobody can push you around.
- Bruce Cockburn
The Network of Sacred Heart Schools in North America completed a live webcast from our Sacred Heart School in San Francisco at 3:00 p.m. AST today to begin the celebration year of Janet Erskine Stuart, RSCJ. Mother Stuart was born in Cottesmore, Rutland, U.K. in 1857 (87 miles north of London, England). She was an fine educator and the 6th Superior General of the Society of the Sacred Heart. Below the pictures of Janet Erskine Stuart and our Sacred Heart School of Halifax prayer flag used in the ceremony today, are photos of all of our students who participated in the live webcast. We had three locations within the school: the Little Theatre, the Study Hall and the Band/Music Room. 
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