Sacred Heart Primary School, Cunnamulla eNewsletter

Principal Report

The final term for 2024 has begun in a flurry of packing boxes and getting organised for our big move to the Shire Hall in a few weeks. As you should all have heard, we are moving our whole school to the hall for the last 6 weeks of school so that our classroom refurbishment can commence. We have been having a good clean out and have nearly filled the skip bin! If you have any questions about the logistics of the move or are unsure of plans, please come and see the teachers or anyone in the office and we will explain as best we can.

Amongst all of this, we also welcomed our pre-prep students for their first transition day last Thursday. They were very excited to have their first day at ‘big school’ and it went off extremely smoothly thanks to Miss Walker and Mrs Fett’s careful planning and the excellent buddies who made the new students feel safe and welcome. Transition days will continue for the next 3 Thursdays, one of which will be a whole school transition day where each class gets to spend some time with their 2025 teacher.

Speaking of 2025 teachers, we are pleased to announce that two new graduate teachers have accepted classroom teacher positions with us. Next year we will welcome Mr Billy Smith and Miss Georgina Ball to the teaching team. We have allocated classes for next year and they will be as follows:

Prep- Miss Georgie Ball
Yr 1 – Miss Ellie Charlton
Yr 2 – Mr Billy Smith
Yr 3/4 – Miss Grace Carter
Yr 5/6 – Miss Sophie Walker

Unfortunately we did not have any applicants for our Assistant Principal- Mission & Identity position. We will keep looking and will begin thinking about ways we can solve this.

Have a wonderful week.

Mrs Cara Haig

Co-Principal

Prep

Welcome back, Prep families!

We hope you had a restful holiday break. As we dive into the second week of Term 4 already!

In Mathematics, we’ve been exploring number bonds and practicing addition and subtraction for numbers up to 10. Students are discovering the relationships between numbers and how they can be combined or separated. We’ve been using hands-on activities, games, and visual aids to reinforce these concepts.

In English, students have been busy crafting sentences! We’re delving into various storybooks and using them as inspiration to articulate our thoughts. Students are learning to express their ideas clearly and creatively. Keep an eye out for their imaginative sentences—they’re sure to impress!

Our HASS (Humanities and Social Sciences) unit has kicked off with a focus on families. Families come in all shapes and sizes, and we’re celebrating their diversity. Bluey’s family has been a topic of discussion. Through stories and discussions, we’re exploring how families can be both unique and familiar.

In our religion lessons this fortnight, we’re delving into the profound story of Mother Mary and the miraculous birth of Jesus Christ.

Hope you have a great fortnight ahead!

Miss Sophie Walker

Prep Teacher

Year 1

Welcome back to school for Term 4! I hope you all had a relaxing and recharging holiday break.

The Year 1’s have jumped straight back into learning this week with us beginning our English unit. We will be exploring narratives this term and have started with our first focus text Shoes From Grandpa by Mem Fox. The students have identified adjectives within the text and used these to create their own written and oral sentences. A highlight this week was when we chose a variety of clothing options to dress a student up and describe the item we had given them. The giggles and joy we got from this activity made our classroom such a bright and engaging space.

In Maths we have begun exploring location and direction. The students demonstrated a strong knowledge of this from the start and successfully followed directional instructions to navigate an obstacle course. We then moved into giving directions, which is something we will be continuing over the next few weeks. The students also completed a treasure hunt that required them to follow given instructions before leading them to their final prize. As a treat, the students also got to explore the use of Bee Bots and apply their coding skills to move the Bee Bots across a variety of different mats. This was definitely the favourite activity this week!

In Religion we will be looking at the Sacraments of Baptism and the Eucharist. We have started our learning by discussing what it means to belong and what Baptism is.

This week we have been lucky enough to have Miss Patterson in our classroom this week. Miss Patterson was with us earlier in the year and has returned for her second first year placement. It has been wonderful to have her in our classroom this week and we wish her all the best for the rest of her studies.

I look forward to updating you all on our progress in week 4.

Miss Ellie Charlton

Year 1 Teacher

Welcome Back to Term 4!

I hope you all had a wonderful school holiday break and are excited for the new term ahead.

This term in English, we’re focusing on procedures. Students have been engaged in making recipes and participating in various activities that teach them how to follow specific steps. It's been fantastic to see their creativity in action!

In Science, we are exploring materials and how they change. Through hands-on experiments, students will investigate properties of different substances and learn about physical and chemical changes. They are all super curious which is great to see.

In Maths, our focus is on number patterns. Students will be analysing sequences and relationships in numbers, helping them develop a deeper understanding of mathematical concepts that are essential for problem-solving.

In Health, we’re starting the Daniel Morcombe unit, which aims to enhance our understanding of safety—both for ourselves and for those around us. This important curriculum will empower students to make informed choices about their well-being.

I want to give a huge congratulations to all the students for jumping right in and embracing their learning with enthusiasm. Your readiness to dive into new challenges is fabulous!!

Miss Grace Carter

Year 2 Teacher

Year 3/4

Welcome to Term 4! I hope everyone had a happy, safe and relaxing holiday! The 3/4 students worked extremely hard in Term 3 and were very deserving of a holiday!

They hit the ground running on Monday and got straight back into their learning. We started our morning with our UFLI lessons and begun our deep dive into the world of Morphemes. This term, the students will learn about how morphemes, or prefixes and suffixes, change the meaning of words. We will learn about the morphology of words (what the parts of words mean) and the etymology of words (the history of words and where they come from). For our Unit work in English, the students will write Information Reports linked to our Connected Unit.

This term for our Connected Unit, students are learning about the properties of materials. We began by investigating natural resources that are found on our oval. We discussed how they look, feel and sound, and began discussing different purposes for these materials. The students also designed their own houses, and had to label and justify their choices in certain materials. Some houses had spa baths, some had security guards, and others with beautiful gardens. There was some very interesting and creative designs.

In Maths, we started our term by looking at the connection between multiplication and division. Similar to the connection between addition and subtraction, students were asked to use their knowledge of multiplication to assist them in solving division problems. We also began our measurement unit by discussing estimation and metric units. We participated in a scavenger hunt around the school looking for a different objects that are measured with different metric units.

The students have worked very hard so far, and I am looking forward to seeing their growth continue this term. Have a nice fortnight!

Miss Aimee Bretherton

Year 3/4 Teacher

Year 5/6

Welcome back! We are off to a fantastic start this term, and there is so much to celebrate already!

A huge congratulations to our students for their hard work on the Bowra brochures last term. These have now been published online, and the students should be incredibly proud of their efforts. Well done!

In English, we have been focusing on enhancing our understanding of Tier 2 vocabulary. Students have been diligently building their fluency and meaning-making skills, along with improving their retrieval of key spelling patterns and morphemes. Additionally, we have begun PAT testing as part of our end-of-year achievement data collection.

Our mini fraction unit is well underway in maths. Students are practicing representing, comparing, adding, and subtracting fractions. It’s wonderful to see their enthusiasm and progress in this area.

In Science, we’ve been exploring electrical circuits. Students have successfully used batteries to light up mini light bulbs and have learned to draw circuits using appropriate scientific symbols. Their curiosity during these hands-on learning experiences has been great to see.

Our Health lessons have kicked off with important safety skills following the Daniel Morecombe curriculum. Students are learning valuable practices to keep themselves and others safe.

We have also started our dance unit, where students are learning a fun line dance to the song “5, 6, 7, 8.” It’s been a joy to see their energy and coordination in action.

In Religion, we have begun exploring various prayer practices.

It has indeed been a very busy start to the term, and the students have done an excellent job in retrieving and displaying our school’s learning dispositions. Their hard work and dedication are commendable.

Let’s continue this momentum and make Term 4 a memorable and successful one!

Mrs Abby Kindelan

Year 5/6 Teacher

Class Awards

Birthdays

Cate Campbell visit

Olympic swimmer Cate Campbell is coming to visit our school on Monday 14th October between 2 - 3pm. The 5/6 class will visit the shire hall for a Q & A Session with her on Monday 14 October at 11:00am-12:30pm.

Parent Survey

2025 Prep Enrolment

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.

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.

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.