Sacred Heart Primary School, Cunnamulla eNewsletter

Principal Report

Welcome to Week 4 and what an action packed couple of weeks it has been! Between cross country carnivals, chess competitions, Anzac Day celebrations, choir and dance lessons, we definitely have had the extra curricular activities covered lately. It is always rewarding to see how well our students participate in these activities and the pride and effort they display.

This week myself, Miss Walker and the school officers will begin taking part in the Berry Street Education Model training course. This model aims to help all students succeed and equips schools with practical, classroom-based strategies to increase the engagement of all students, including those with complex learning needs. It works to support students’ self regaultion, relationships and wellbeing to increase student engagement leading to improve academic achievement.

The Berry Street Education Model, aligns perfectly with our school vision, there is a rentless focus on LEARNING and the development of EXPERT LEARNERS. Ensuring our staff are equipped with the skills and strateiges to make certain no one is opting out of learning! We look forward to sharing with you our learnings over the next four weeks.

Parent/Teacher Interviews

Parent/Teacher interviews are held twice a year in Term 2 and Term 4. These take place after school and run for 15 minutes. They are a valuable opportunity for parents to discuss their child progress across all aspects of school life. Interviews will be taking place this week (Tuesday 7th, Wednesday 8th, Thursday 9th & Friday 10th May. I encourage every parent to make an appointment. Please see or phone the office to book an interview time.

AEDC Data Collection

The AEDC is a national assessment conducted every 3 years to examine how children have developed by the time they start school. It looks at 5 areas of early childhood development; physical health and wellbeing, social competence, emotional maturity, language and cognitive skills and communication skills and general knowledge. This data collection will be carried out by our Prep teacher, Miss Sophie Walker and will take place this term. Parents will be receiving a note this week with further information.

Mrs Polly Goodman

Co-Principal

Prep

Holy moly we are already approaching week four of term two! As always, the Preps have been very busy with learning new things and refreshing our minds on content from last term. Our phonics program is developing so quickly, as we have introduced more letters and their corresponding sounds. A, M, S, T, P, I and N have all been discussed in class and it is great to see their learning progress and develop as the weeks go by. Our English and Science combined unit is looking at all things related to the weather around us, as we discuss and examine a book about a very windy day.

Our mathematical knowledge is also skyrocketing as we delve into learning about measurement; specifically, length (long/tall versus short) and mass (heavy versus light). The students are doing so wonderful to explore our new and challenging topics.

This week I hope to catch up with all of you in parent teacher interviews and I look forward to the chance to talk with you about your child progress, both academically and socially.

Lastly, happy Mother's Day to all of the wonderful mothers at Sacred Heart, which includes - mothers, grandmothers, godmothers, stepmothers, mothers-in-law, foster moms, aunts, partners, sisters, friends, mentors and women who love with a mother’s heart.

Miss Sophie Walker

Prep Teacher

Year 1

Welcome to Week4! I can’t believe how quickly this term is moving already! On Friday the 3^rd of May, the Year 1 students joined the Preps and ventured down to the Shire Hall to watch the Lemon Drops Show. All students who attended had a ball and enjoyed dancing and singing along to the music.

In English we are exploring texts and how the purpose and features of these can tell us whether they are Informative or Imaginative. The students have enjoyed engaging with a variety of different genres to show the many different imaginative and informative texts we have. We have also discussed the difference between fact and opinion and begun identifying these within the texts we read.

Maths has seen the Year 1 students continue their focus on addition and begin to learn new strategies to help them when solving these problems. We have also begun looking at patterns, specifically repeating patterns. The students have had lots of opportunity to explore different patterns and experiment with creating and continuing reperating patterns.

We have also been busy preparing for our Mother’s Day Liturgy which will be held at 8:40am on Friday the 10^th of May in the assembly hall. The students are very excited about this Liturgy and can’t wait to share their hard work with you.

Lastly, this week is parent teacher interviews and I look forward to touching base with you all.

Miss Ellie Charlton

Year 1 Teacher

Year 2

Welcome to week 4 of Term 2. We have been very busy over the last two weeks deep diving into our learning. In Maths, Year 2 has continued to improve on their addition and place value knowledge by applying these skills to simple and some more complex addition tasks. We are continuing to explore various methods of measurement and having fun using different types of materials to measure ourselves and our classroom.

In English we are investigating literary features of texts where we have begun to discuss their preferences for stories and characters in both familiar and unfamiliar settings. We have begun learning how to discuss our feelings about the characters behaviour and choices and why the Author has chosen to write the story and characters in specific ways. We also finished our study of “Our Dreaming” by Kirili Saunders by identifying First Nations Australian language words and the significance of this “mother tongue” when appreciating First Nations Australians perspectives in literary texts. We were then inspired by “Our Dreaming” to create our own echidnas using materials from the land. These echidnas look amazing!

This week are parent teacher interviews and I look forward to the chance to talk with you about your child progress.

Happy Mother’s Day to all those special ladies in our lives that have helped us along our journey so far!

Miss Ailie Lewis

Year 2 Teacher

Year 3/4

Welcome to Week 4! It is crazy how fast this term has gone already, but I am pretty sure the 4 day weeks have helped with that. Regardless, the 3/4 students have been hard at work and have been stuck into their units.

In our Connected Unit, students have been learning about the water cycle. We completed an experiment that helps us to visualize the water cycle within a container. We placed boiling water in a container with glad wrap over the top. The water evaporates from the bottom and creates condensation along the glad wrap and edges of the containers. The water then runs down the edges and drips which resembles precipitation. This was a very successful experiment and helped to consolidate student knowledge.

In English, students have continued learning how to effectively plan and construct a narrative. We have been looking at and deconstructing the text ‘Flood’ by Jackie French and Bruce Whatley. The descriptive language in the text has been an excellent example of how to show not tell in a fiction text. The vocabulary in the text has also been very interesting and allowed students to experiment with new adjectives.

A school focus at the moment is to improve reading fluency. Students have been working very hard with this and participating in a variety of activities. The students have tried choral reading, readers theatre and echo reading. The students are working to improve their accuracy, rate and expression while reading. Be sure to ask your child about their fluency and see what they can tell you!

Congratulations as well to all students that participated in the District Cross Country event in Week 2! The students that participated represented their school with pride and demonstrated excellent persistence and perseverance.

Have an excellent fortnight!

Miss Aimee Bretherton

Year 3/4 Teacher

Year 5/6

Welcome to week 4! I hope this newsletter finds you well. Over the past fortnight, our Year 5/6 students have been actively engaged in a variety of exciting learning experiences.

In our English classes, students continued to hone their comprehension strategies while reading the novel “The Hatchet.” This captivating adventure story has led to some fascinating discussions about survival and resourcefulness. As an extension of this theme, our young learners collaborated with their survival expedition teams to design paper airplanes. The challenge? To create a plane that could fly the farthest distance! Through this hands-on activity, students applied their knowledge of aerodynamics and problem-solving skills as well as developed their teamwork and communication capabilities.

Additionally, we focused on improving fluency by fine-tuning our pausing and intonation when reading aloud. Our fluency passages were carefully analysed to identify the features of journal entries. Following this exploration, students had the opportunity to write their own journal entries, capturing their thoughts and experiences.

In our math classes, we wrapped up our unit on angles. Students explored various types of angles, including acute, obtuse, and right angles. To hook students into our next unit, we introduced grid coordinate systems through a friendly game of “Battleships”.

Our science investigations centred around plant adaptations. Students delved into the world of how plants adapt to their environments. One experiment involved measuring the surface area of leaves. We discussed how this surface area affects water retention rates and the overall health of plants. Through hands-on activities, our budding scientists gained a deeper appreciation for the natural world.

In Religion, we explored the social status of women during biblical times. We examined stories of healing and miracles performed by Jesus, which often challenged social and political norms. These discussions allowed students to reflect on compassion, empathy, and the power of faith.

As sickness seems to be plaguing the 5/6 classroom, I wish you and your families good health in the coming fortnight.

Mrs Abby Kindelan

Year 5/6 Teacher

Class Awards

Birthdays

Sacred Heart Choir

Choir will take place every Wednesday morning at 8am to 8:30am in the Year 1 classroom. All students are welcome. We have decided to have a 3-week trial period where the students may come and go. If your child wishes to stick with choir after those three weeks, it will be expected that they attend rehearsals on a regular basis. We look forward to seeing you all there!

Mrs Abby Kindelan and Miss Ellie Charlton

Year 5/6 Teacher and Year 1 Teacher

Dance

Dance will start again next Thursday 16th May 2024 in the Church. Please bring a water bottle.

School SZapp

The school has the SZapp available for down loading. This app is great for finding out what is happening at school. The newsletter goes directly to the app and notifications come straight from school. The instructions are as follows.

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

Term 2 Fees have been sent home, can these please be paid by Friday 14th June 2024. 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.

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/

Our Schools Student Protection Contacts are:

Miss Ailie Lewis (APRE)
Mrs Carolyn Crick (Administration Officer)
Mr Jesse Kupper (School Guidance Counsellor)
Mrs Cara Haig (Co-Principal)
Mrs Pollyanna Goodman (Co-Principal)

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.