Sacred Heart Primary School, Cunnamulla eNewsletter

Principal Report

Welcome to Term 3,2024! This term is always a busy one as we have lots of sport, cultural and academic activities happening. We will do our best to keep you informed with the many things that are happening so please continue to check the SZapp, Facebook and the newsletter or call the office at any time to check.

At the end of last term we collected some student voice to assess our success with Reading Fluency. It was very pleasing to see and hear the students being able to talk about the importance of reading fluency and describe the ways to be successful. Students across all grades could tell us how important accuracy, rate and expression are in order to be a fluent reader. They also talked about the different routines and practices they know to help them achieve fluency, but most importantly we were hearing students say that they are reading to understand what the text is telling them.

This term we will continue to build on our UFLI Phonics knowledge and reading fluency by adding in a focus on vocabulary. Vocabulary is part of Scarborough’s Reading Rope- a tool we use to ensure that all elements of being a skilled reader are being taught. Vocabulary development helps students to broaden their prior knowledge and deepen their understanding of what it is they are reading. It also helps to improve the quality of their written work as they become authors who want their audience to be interested in what they have to say. I’m sure you’ll hear some very interesting, high-level vocab words this term and into the future. Be sure to ask your child/children about what words mean or if they can use a ‘better’ word to help them expand their vocabulary.

On a sporting note… we are very proud of Penny Schmidt who attended the Queensland State Cross Country last Friday. Penny has been training hard and did a great job coming in 21^st place out of a huge field of almost 70 competitors. Congratulations Penny!

Next week is Catholic Education Week. The staff are off to Quilpie for the Bishop’s in-service day on Monday. Students get a day off to celebrate the start of Cath Ed week! I hope to see you at our Open morning next Tuesday.

Mrs Cara Haig

Co-Principal

Prep

Welcome back everyone, Term 3 has begun! I hope you all had a lovely holiday break, but I am so excited to jump back into learning this term, as this one is another busy term!

We certainly jumped straight back into school as we kicked off with Athletics Carnival in the first week. I have to admit, I am so impressed with all of the prep students. They tried their hardest, they overcame any nervous energy, and they were such respectful and encouraging team players. A huge well done to everyone involved and a big thankyou to the parents who came to support the students.

In Mathematics, we have transitioned from using numbers 0-10, and we have progressed to introducing numbers up to 20. The students have been so eager to learn the new number of day and their genuine excitement for learning has been wonderful.

In English, we are always working on Phonics; learning more letters and sounds every day. We have needed a refresh on the letters we learnt last semester, but I am sure we will catch up and be back on track soon.

Our connected unit this term will focus on exploring plants and animals. The students have already shown such an interest in animals, it will be a fantastic unit to deep dive into how animals move, what they need to survive, where they live, and answering all their curiosities.

I look forward to catching up with you all soon, but please remember that you are always more than welcome to reach out with any concerns, comments or queries.

Miss Sophie Walker

Prep Teacher

Year 1

Welcome to Term 3! I hope you all had a relaxing and enjoyable holiday and are ready to jump straight back into learning!

Year 1 had a busy start to the term with us kicking off our learning in most subject areas.

In English we have begun looking at how to write simple sentences that make sense. To help us with this we have looked at colourful semantics which is a resource that assists us in adding detail to our sentences and ensuring we have all correct parts of the sentence. The growth in students sentences already has been wonderful to see.

In Maths we have begun exploring groups and how to break them into equal groups. Students have been counting out their collections and separating them into equal groups. We have also continued developing our skills in recognising, representing and ordering numbers to 120.

To add to our busy week, students participated in the Athletics Carnival. I am very proud of the effort of all the students during the carnival.

I look forward to catching up with you all in a fortnight.

Miss Ellie Charlton

Year 1 Teacher

Year 2

Welcome back to term 3! We hope that you have had a lovely break over the holidays and are ready to go for another term .Year two have had a super busy start, with lots of learning and fun.

We had a very lucky opportunity to head down to the town library on Tuesday to choose 2 books each thanks to the amazing Indigenous Literacy Foundation that is celebrating NAIDOC week by generously giving students a chance to learn more about what NAIDOC means to us.

Our athletics carnival on Wednesday was a hit with the year 2’s putting a huge effort in and trying their best in each activity. Congratulations to all students who gave it all a go. A big thankyou to all parents for helping out and coming to support the students.

In English, we are learning about narratives, and closely studying ‘The Very cranky bear’. Along with fluency, and bringing in a focus of vocabulary to our students to help improve their reading and comprehension.

In maths, we are continuing to learn about place value, as well as further in the term learning about fractions. We are excited to see how the students go with grasping this knowledge and all of the fun activities that we are able to learn and do together.

Our connected unit this term is based on toys from the past and into the present, we will be exploring the differences over time and closely examining and comparing childhoods of ourselves, parents and grandparents.

Finally, our NAIDOC day celebration was on Friday, with our year two students leading us in the liturgy, a huge thankyou to our year 2 students who demonstrated courage when reading in front of the school.

Miss Ailie Lewis & Miss Grace Carter

Year 2 Teachers

Welcome back! How is it already Term 3! The 3/4 students started school back with a bang on Tuesday and had an excellent day discussing their holidays with Miss Carter. This term, we also welcome Mrs Allan into our classroom as our school officer. We are excited to work alongside and learn with her!

On Tuesday, the 3/4 students were lucky enough to venture to the Town Library and spend some time with Miss Tammy. As part of NAIDOC week, the Indigenous Literacy Foundation generously donated books for our students.

On Wednesday, our students participated in our Sacred Heart Athletics Carnival. Our students all represented our school with pride, demonstrated excellent persistence and effort, and showed excellent sportsmanship in all events. Congratulations to all students, the runners up and Age Champions.

This term as part of our connected unit, students will be learning about Community. We began our unit by discussing the key term community and what it means. Students shared their thoughts and ideas about community:

“They are all over the world”

“It embraces culture”

“We are all a part of a community. In our town and our school”

“Communities demonstrate service and belonging”

Within this unit, students will learn about the members of our town, and how the different community members and themselves as students contribute to our community.

Both Mrs Allan and myself, are excited for another exciting term full of learning and discussions.

Miss Aimee Bretherton

Year 3/4 Teacher

Year 5/6

Welcome to Term 3! One week down and it is safe to say that this is year is flying by too fast. The countdown has started for Year 6 camp and thus, fundraising is in full swing. Don’t forget to reserve a spot at our Trivia night this Friday. There will be games, food and winners, you don’t want to miss out!

As the term has only just begun, I thought it appropriate that the students share their highlights from last week. I love to see students enjoying challenging academic tasks, creative activities as well as sporting events. From the comments below you will see that some of our Year 5/6 students love a bit of friendly competition along with the boasting rights that come with winning.

My favourite thing this week was doing our abstract artworks - Charlie K, Natasha

I had fun learning about perimeter - Chelsea

My favourite thing was reading to our buddies - Jase

I enjoyed all the NAIDOC activities. - Hunter, Charlie D, Laura

I had fun helping to design the Year 6 graduation shirts – Charlotte

Winning high jump was definitely a highlight – Jakarhlem

I enjoyed beating Jakarhlem at discus – Sterling

I enjoyed family groups and playing sports in the big shed - Thor

I liked the readers theatre about toes – Dallas

Drama activities were a highlight of mine – Heath

I enjoyed sports day and beating McAuley – Chloe

I enjoyed the 800-metre race – Charlie Stone

The students have also been working hard to improve their skills in being effective learners. They have defined effective learners as people who display all the habits of the mind, participate in lessons, dive confidently into the learning pit, use the success criteria, retrieve information and most importantly, think. They have created goals surrounding learning dispositions which will be displayed in our class ‘Effective Learners’ art exhibition this term. I welcome you to come and have a look. Have a lovely fortnight.

Mrs Abby Kindelan

Year 5/6 Teacher

Year 6 Raffle Winners

A big thanks to all who supported by buying a ticket and donating prizes for our Year 6 raffle. The winners were:

Orange Ticket donated by Australia Post & Chemist - Cara Haig
Red Ticket donated by Ashley SportsnAll & Rumour Has It - Bec Fett
Blue Ticket donated by Friendly Grocer & Donald Thompson Electrical - Lisa Whalan
Green Ticket donated by True Value & Warrego Bargain Barn- Andrew Gardiner

Class Awards

Birthdays

Athletics Carnival

Congratulations to Xavier House who took out the overall trophy at our annual Athletics carnival last Wednesday. All students showed great sportsmanship. Well done to all our Age Champions.

2017 Girls - Dakotah Ibell
2017 Boys - Harry O'Sullivan
2016 Girls - Lucy Schmidt
2016 Boys - Lincoln Thompson
2015 Boys - Lake Wilson
2014 Girls - Chloe Fett
2014 Boys - Noah Spaul
2013 Girls - Penny Schmidt
2013 Boys - Dallas Ramsay
2012 Girls - Laura Murphy
2012 Boys - Jase Mitchell

Dance

2025 Prep Enrolment

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

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.