Sacred Heart Primary School, Cunnamulla eNewsletter

Principal

Welcome to the last week of school for Term 1! I have been excited to see how well our classes have worked this term, all diving into learning and trying hard to use both the Habits of the Heart and Mind in order to be the best learners they can be.

Over the last two weeks, Mrs Haig and I have split our student briefing into two groups lower primary and upper primary. The Prep to Year 2 students have been working with me on the ‘learning pit’, specifically learning how to self question to solve a problem when in the pit! For those parents who are new to us this year, the ‘learning pit’ represents moving beyond a single, basic idea into the situation of having multiple ideas that are as yet unsorted. The learner then purposefully explores the problem to discover a richer more complex understanding. The learning pit also helps students to:

Take a positive attitude towards challenge
Be more prepared for the highs and lows of learning
Help us move from information to understanding

We want our students to use a bank of questions when stuck in the learning pit to improve their independence skills. Some of the questions we are teaching our students to ask themselves include:

What problem am I trying to solve?
What do I think I already know about this that might help me?
Where could I start or what could I try?
Where could I look to find something that might help me?
Who could I ask?
What else could I try?

It has been great to see our students embrace this challenge and grasp the idea that we may need to try many different strategies alongside persisting in order to learn something new.

The upper primary, have been exploring something a little more indepth…the cognitive process of how humans learn, specifically how new content becomes part of our long-term memory. The success criteria they have been working towards include:

I can identify what my attention needs to be on in order to learn something new.
I can define working memory.
I can define long-term memory.
I can explain how routines help move my knowledge from working memory to long term memory.

The students know that when they are learning new information, they have to practice it in order for it to move from their working memory to their long term memory so that they don’t forgot it. They know that the retrieval practice routines (e.g. cold call, mini-white board, choral response) teachers incorporate into learning helps them to remember. However, they are stuck on how to focus their attention where required in order to learn something new. Mrs Haig and the upper teachers, have a fun activity planned to show students how distractions in our environment can impact our level of attention.

We look forward delving more into these learning models next term and watching our students improve their learning skills.

I hope everyone has a safe and enjoyable Easter break with their family and friends.

Mrs Polly Goodman

Co-Principal

Prep

We did it! Week ten! We finally reached the end of term, and the prep students have completed their first school term at Sacred Heart! I am so proud of this cohort of students, not only with their academic growth and learning development, but more importantly, their personal growth to be good people. You should be very proud of your child; they have been exceptional this term.

In English, we have concluded our ‘Rhyming and Retelling’ unit of work, which was a deep dive into classic nursery rhymes and the importance of rhyme to understand sounds, words and sentences. We have also discovered that stories and nursery rhymes have a beginning, middle and end which helps us remember what happens in a story. The students have also been very successful in our phonics unit, as we have started to learn about the letters /a/, /m/, /s/ and /t/, to which they are starting to recognise the sounds that letters can make, when producing words. It is very exciting to see the students get so involved in their learning!

In Math, we have learnt a whirlwind of new concepts that the students have picked up and eagerly mastered. Notably, we have discussed sequencing; to which they have been sequencing and connecting familiar events to the time of day. We have also learnt about patterns, and the students have been coping, continuing and creating their own ABAB pattern. Finally, we have learnt about shapes, as they can now name and create familiar shapes.

In Humanities and Social Sciences (HASS) we investigated celebrations including: easter, Christmas, NAIODC week, Harmony week and birthdays. We co-created a birthday party surprise for Mrs. Fett and then the following week, the students planned their own birthday party. They planned the music they wanted, the people they wanted to invite, the food they would eat, and they explained why having abirthdayy party is important.

Thank you to all families and friends for your continued support this term. The students have had a very successful start to their schooling journey, and I am very excited for more memories to be created this year. I wish you all a relaxing and happy school holidays and a happy Easter! See you next term!

Miss Sophie Walker

Prep Teacher

Year 1

Woohoo we have finally reached the end of Term 1! I can’t believe we have completed a full term of 2024! The year 1’s have been busy finishing off assessment and beginning our Easter craft and activities.

We have finished off our HASS unit with our interviews about the things that have changed or stayed the same from when our grandparents were young. The students really enjoyed interviewing their grandparents and have learnt so much about what life was like in the past.

Our English unit culminated in the students sequencing events from texts to then orally present a retell of the story. We used The Three Little Pigs as our final text. The students thoroughly enjoyed reading this text together and putting the events in the correct order. To assist with our retell, the students created stick puppets of the characters and used these when performing their retell.

In Maths we have continued with our routine Daily Reviews and I have to say, the improvement in our choral response, mini whiteboards and recall of knowledge is wonderful to see! This is something the students have really enjoyed engaging with this term and will continue over the rest of the year. We have also completed our learning on Data and Graphing. The students collected data about each others families and represented it in a picture and bar graph form.

Religion has been a highlight for many students this term with some of our focus concepts crossing over into other subject areas like HASS and English. We have successfully learnt about the important people, places and events in Jesus’ life, as well as what his mission and ministry on Earth was. The students have also been learning about the Easter story along the way and discussing why it is important to remember.

To finish off the term, I asked some of the students what they had enjoyed learning this term in Year 1:

“I like Maths. Counting to the numbers and using my magnets.”- Maverick.

“Maths. Writing on the whiteboards.”- Tomas.

“Craft. Making the goat for G.”- Sally.

“Learning how to write words like ‘said’.”- Charlotte

Enjoy your holidays and the well earnt break! I look forward to seeing you all bright and refreshed in Term 2.

Miss Ellie Charlton

Year 1 Teacher

Year 2

With the end of the first term upon us, we have been busy finishing off our work and assessment. Although we have been busy with assessment, we have still made time for fun as well and the children have been enjoying making a few Easter treats and doing some art activities.

We have finished off our English unit by recording ourselves expressing opinions about characters from the Julia Donaldson and Aaron Blabey stories we read in class this term. We have also continued to consolidate our phonics knowledge and learning how to spell accurate using UFLI.

In Maths, we’ve continued with our exploration of number and place value, we have been exploring 2 digit and 3 digit numbers and using MAB blocks to challenge ourselves. We have made place value monsters and are becoming more confident with our place value knowledge and are ready to tackle more challenging numbers next term.

To finish off our connected unit, we have looked at how places are represented on maps and then each student was given a country to research and find facts about. Each student then created a poster for their country that included interesting facts, their flag and how the country is located on a world map.

The children have all worked hard this term and a well-deserved rest is certainly what we all need. I wish you a safe and happy holiday with your family and friends and look forward to welcoming you back on April 16^th for the beginning of term two.

Miss Ailie Lewis

Year 2 Teacher

Year 3/4

Happy Week 10! It is crazy how fast this term has gone past and the 3/4 students are definitely in need of a holiday. The students have worked very hard this term and demonstrated their knowledge in a range of learning activities. A very big congratulations to all students for their effort and hard work this term.

As our term concluded, our students finished a range of assessment pieces. Their main piece of assessment that they completed was their unit work. Students were given a special task by the Paroo Shire Council. Students had to choose an existing celebration and create an event that would be held at our school. The planning of this event was TOP SECRET and students were very tight lipped with this information. They completed a planning document and a pamphlet that would be distributed around town to advertise the event. This piece of assessment included HASS, English, Maths, Technology, Music and Dance. It was a very time consuming piece of assessment but students demonstrated perseverance and persistence to the end.

Students also completed a range of other simple assessment pieces for Maths and English that helped them to demonstrate their ability to make connections.

We concluded our swimming lessons with Miss Maryann this week with some fun. Studenst played with Miss Maryann’s float mats and then some free time fun in the pool. Thank you Miss Maryann for your efforts teaching us and we look forward to seeing you again in Term 4.

On Wednesday, the last day of term, our 3/4 will also be presenting our Easter and Holy Week liturgy. All students are involved so please be sure to come and see their hard work.

Thank you to all parents and family members for your continued support this term. The students have had a very successful start to this year and your continued support and dedication helps with their success.

I hope everyone has a wonderful Easter with family and friends, and a relaxing holiday.

See you in two weeks!

Miss Aimee Bretherton

Year 3/4 Teacher

Year 5/6

Welcome to week 10! Just like that Term 1 is over. Throughout the term we have learnt more than just content knowledge. Yes, we now know about land management, how to write effective narratives, how to solve problems with decimals, efficient mental math strategies and stories about the life of Jesus; but we have also learnt how to work together, how to be nice humans and how we may be more effective learners. We have developed our leadership capabilities and worked hard to help our prep buddies integrate successfully into the Sacred Heart community. We have become clear on our expectations as learners and kept track of our learning goals, so that we may independently work towards success. We have learnt all the above in one term, and we are excited to see what the other three terms will bring.

With so much learning crammed into this term, we are all looking forward to the Easter break so that we may reflect and reset. Over the last fortnight we completed our Term 1 assessment tasks and engaged in some fun Easter activities. We made egg shapes money boxes, created some easter origami and will be taking part in an Easter egg hunt later this week.

We would like to give a big thank to Miss Maryanne for helping us to developing our fitness and swimming skills over the term. We look forward to having you again later in the year.

We wish everyone a very happy Easter.

Mrs Abby Kindelan

Year 5/6 Teacher

Class Awards

Birthdays

Sacred Heart Choir

Dance like an Animal

Brooke, Claudia, Charlie S and Charvee performed at the Dance like an Animal concert at the Cunnamulla shire hall.

Uniform Policy

The school uniform represents the pride we have for our children and our school. A smart, neat and user-friendly uniform encourages the children to take pride in their appearance and in the school. The school uniform requirements:

Hats: Our school policy is ‘NO HAT – NO PLAY’. A green school hat must be worn and can be purchased form the office.

Jewellery: The only jewellery allowed is one set of fine studs or sleepers, a chain with some form of religious significance and watches.

Nail Polish: Nail polish is not to be worn.

Hair: Children’s hair must be neat and tidy. If hair is below the collar it needs to be tied back with appropriate white or green accessories. It is expected that hairstyles reflect the code of dress required by the school. The colouring of hair and unusual hairstyles are not acceptable.

Tuition Fees

School Fees for Term 1 are now overdue. Can these please be paid before the end of Term 1. At Sacred Heart, we have several payment options for your convenience: Cash, Cheque, ETPOS, Direct Debit and Centrepay. For further details on these payment options please see the school office.

Sacred Heart PPF

The Sacred Heart PPF will be selling doughnuts as a fundraiser at the River Lights Festival on Sunday 21st April 12pm - 3pm if anyone would like to come and help.

Tuckshop

You can ONLY order Tuckshop on the App. Please down load the Flexischools App.

Flexischools App

The tuckshop uses the App called Flexischools. This will make ordering and paying for Tuckshop easier. Attached are the instructions to download and use the App. Make sure you update your child's class name.

Student Protection

At Sacred Heart the safety and wellbeing of our students is our highest priority. All children should grow up free of violence or exploitation and be able to learn in a safe and supported environment. Schools have a number of specific child protection reporting obligations that are detailed in our Student Protection Processes and Guidelines.

It is a legislative requirement that all non-state schools have at least two nominated staff members to whom a student can report the behaviour of another staff member that the student considers inappropriate. We call these specially trained staff members School Student Protection Contacts, or SSPCs. Each SSPC has been nominated by the principal in recognition of their integrity, approachability and knowledge in the area of student protection. Whilst students are encouraged to speak up to any trusted adult in the school community, it is important that they know they can access these specific staff members at any time should they have worries, queries or concerns. You will have noticed posters throughout the school depicting our current SSPCs. The SSPCs are also published on our school website along with information about our student protection processes. In everything we do at Sacred Heart Primary School student safety is our highest priority, therefore the SSPCs at our school are key personnel in our overall safeguarding processes.

If a student wants to talk to someone about harm, abuse or inappropriate behaviour toward themselves or others, they can speak to a trusted staff member or one of our School Student Protection Contacts (SSPCs). The SSPCs receive additional training and are identified in the student protection posters displayed around the school.

Summary documents have been developed for parents and caregivers about our student protection obligations and our broader strategy for maintaining safe school environments.

Further information on all of the above topics can be found on the Toowoomba Catholic Schools website at the link below:

Embed Link - https://www.twb.catholic.edu.au/parents-and-community/student-protection/