Sacred Heart Primary School, Cunnamulla eNewsletter

Principal Report

The school is relocating update!

Welcome to Week 4, our last week located on school grounds before our refurbishments begin! On Friday, all classes will be walking down to the Shire Hall with their teacher to see their new classroom area for the remainder of the term. Students will be stepped through the boundary areas, play spaces, processes and procedures for our duration at the Shire Hall. Social stories have been provided to all classes to help students prepare for this transition. We have also re-attached the FAQ sheet for parents to this weeks newsletter. If you have any further questions please see your child’s teacher or contact the school office.

Important things to know about move to Shire Hall:

First day of school at the Shire Hall will be Monday 28^th October. Please drop off and pick up your child from the front of the Shire Hall.
School contact numbers will remain the same, 4655 1486 and school mobile 0409 110 662.
This will be the last hardcopy newsletter for Term 4, due to limited printing services while we are located at the Shire Hall.
Students will be participating in swimming lessons once we move to the Shire Hall, continue reading the newsletter to find out your child’s swimming days.

Habits of Heart and Mind

This term, we have been reviewing our school Habits of Heart and Mind. We recently gathered student voice surrounding the Habits they can recall and their ability to talk about their purpose. We found out that no students were able to recall all ten Habits. Therefore, we have made the decision to reduce the number of Habits to six, three Habits of the Heart and three Habits of the Mind. The six Habits have been discussed and deliberated with students and staff. We believe they are the most important to our school, ecompassing our purpose and Mercy charism.

Our reviewed purpose of the Habits of Heart and Mind is:

The Habits of the Heart and Mind are our school dispositions (qualities of character and mind) and skills (tools and strategies) that equip us to become good people and good learners.  Our Habits of the Heart assist us in developing personal characteristics, that align with our school’s mercy values, to promote the common good and become active citizens in a global society.  Our Habits of the Mind allow us to develop as learners by strengthening our cognitive and emotional capabilities so that we can be a lifelong learner. 

Revised Habits include:

Habits of Heart

BELONGING  

JUSTICE

SERVICE 

Habits of Mind 

CURIOSITY  

PERSISTENCE  

METACOGNITION

We look forward to sharing more information with you about each of these revised Habits early next year as we work through them with staff and students.

Health and Wellbeing Week

We will be conducting Health and Wellbeing lessons this week, which includes the Daniel Morecombe Curriculum and the Relationships and Sexuality Education and Protective Behaviours lessons. A letter about this was sent home in Week 2, outlining the content that will be covered. Studens will also participate in Health and Wellbeing rotations on Friday.

Sporting Success

Congratulations to Penny Schmidt, who travelled to Mt Gravatt to compete in the State Athletics. Penny came 3rd in her 800m heat and 11th overall, she competed in the South West 100m relay as well. Congratulations to Henry and Claudia Land, who travelled to Ipswich and Gold Coast to participate in State Cricket. We are proud of you all.

This will be my last newsletter for the year, as my last day of work will be Tuesday 29^th October before starting marternity leave. I wish everyone the best of luck for the remainder of the term and am really looking forward to seeing our newly refurbished classrooms at the beginning of the year.

Mrs Polly Goodman

Co-Principal

Prep

Dear Parents,

I am thrilled to share the exciting progress our prep students have made this week!

Next week marks an important milestone as we move to the hall. What an adventure it will be! This will be a wonderful opportunity for our students to experience a new learning environment and engage with the broader school community.

In Math, our young learners have been enthusiastically exploring the concepts of addition and subtraction. It’s been a joy to see their excitement as they master these fundamental skills.

Our English lessons have been equally engaging. The students have been writing sentences about the storybooks we’ve been reading in class. They have enjoyed sharing their ideas and discussing the stories with their peers.

I am incredibly proud of the progress our students are making and look forward to more exciting learning adventures in the coming weeks.

Thank you for your continued support!

Warm regards,

Miss Sophie Walker

Prep Teacher

Year 1

Welcome to Week 4!

We have been very busy learning in the Year 1 room over the last fortnight!

In English we have begun exploring a new narrative text called Feathers for Pheobe by Rod Clement. While engaging with this text, the students have been working on identifying different types of nouns within the text and connecting the pronoun referencing in the sentences. We have also been exploring adjectives and wonderful words to improve our vocabulary. The students created their an artwork that showed them as a bird. After they created this, they then had to explain what features their bird self had and use appropriate pronouns and adjectives when discussing their creation.

Maths has seen us complete our location and direction unit, with students creating their own directions for a partner to follow. They used the bee bots to complete this task and to say they enjoyed this task would be an understatement! The bee bots have been a huge hit this term. We have begun looking at duration and units of time. We have nailed the days of the week and the months of the year, now we are just working on applying this to real-life situations.

Religion has been an exploration of the Sacraments, beginning with Baptism. The students have recognised and listed specific and signs, symbols and actions that are related to Baptism. They have also discussed why these things are important. Over the next fortnight we will be moving onto the Eucharist and the signs, symbols and actions used within this Sacrament and why they are important to us as members of the church.

In Science we have continued exploring the weather and how this affects our daily life. Over the last fortnight we have been focusing on Spring and in the coming weeks we will be exploring the rest of the seasons.

We are getting ready for our big move to the hall and the students are handling it very well! We look forward to updating you on our adventures when we move.

Miss Ellie Charlton

Year 1 Teacher

Year 2

Hello Year 2 Families!

We’ve had an exciting and busy fortnight in Year 2, filled with lots of learning and fun activities! In English, we are continuing our journey into learning about procedures. This week, the students had a blast making banana splits and fairy bread. They’ve been incredibly creative, coming up with their own procedures for other students to follow. We’re looking forward to assessing these soon! In Maths, we are diving deeper into patterns and place value. The students are doing a fantastic job recognizing and creating patterns, and they’re becoming more confident with their place value skills. Our Science lessons have been all about exploring base materials and how they can be changed. The students are really enjoying the hands-on experiments and discovering how different materials react to changes.

We are preparing for the big move to the hall this week. We are super proud of how the students have handled the transition while continuing to focus on their learning. We were so lucky to have Cate Campbell visit our school! She shared some amazing stories and showed us her medals. A big thank you to Cate for inspiring us all with her visit. Finally, we had a whole school transition day where the Year 2s moved up to Grade 3 with Miss Carter. It was a lot of fun, and we were all exhausted afterwards!

Thank you for your continued support. We’re looking forward to another great fortnight ahead!

Miss Grace Carter

Year 2 Teacher

Another busy fortnight has been had by our 3/4 students full of learning!

This term, our Year 3 and Year 4 students have been diving into the world of informative paragraphs in English. They’ve been learning how to craft clear, detailed, and factual writing pieces that convey information effectively. To make this learning experience even more engaging, students had the opportunity to conduct real-world interviews with special guests.

Dan, a local expert, shared his knowledge about Aboriginal uses for rocks, providing insights into how various stones and minerals were traditionally used by First Nations Australians for tools, art, and cultural practices. Mr. Bretherton also visited our classroom virtually, to talk about the role of gemstones and other materials in jewellery, explaining how these beautiful objects are crafted and their purposes in design.

As part of a connected unit project, the students have started exploring Yowah and its famous opal mines. They are learning about the mining process, the unique characteristics of opals, and the importance of this local industry. This project not only helps them improve their informative writing but also deepens their understanding of local history, geology, and cultural heritage.

We’re excited to see how students will use the information gathered from their interviews and research to create their own informative pieces. We hope this hands-on approach inspires a love for learning and writing about the world around them!

Miss Aimee Bretherton

Year 3/4 Teacher

Year 5/6

What a busy and productive fortnight we've had! Amidst transition days, Cate Campbell's inspiring visit, filming vocabulary lessons, and conducting interviews for the dioceses, the Year 5/6 students have truly been maximizing their learning time as the year draws to a close.

Last week the revised Habits or the Heart and Mind were announced which sparked interesting conversations about effective learning. The 5/6's decided to spend a morning delving into metacognition and exploring how understanding our own thinking processes can help us enhance our learning. What a valuable addition to our learning dispositions!

In English, we've been diving into the world of poetry, analysing various poems and exploring poetic devices. Mathematics lessons have focused on expanding fraction knowledge, challenging students to deepen their understanding and application of this concept. In Science, we've wrapped up our circuit learning and are preparing for a unit exam this week. The students have shown great curiosity and engagement throughout this topic. Religion lessons have had a strong prayer focus, nurturing students' spiritual growth. Health lessons continue to emphasize making safe and healthy decisions, providing our students with the tools they need for their wellbeing.

With graduation only five weeks away (Wednesday, Week 9), it’s essential that your child attends right up until the last day of school to ensure they don't miss out on valuable learning experiences and preparations for this important milestone.

Mrs Abby Kindelan

Year 5/6 Teacher

Class Award

Birthdays

Swimming Term 4

When the school is operating out of the Shire Hall (next week), students will partake in extra swimming. Below are the dates and times of your child's swimming lessons for the second half of the term.

Prep to Year 2 will be swimming Tuesdays and Thursdays and Years 3-6 will be swimming Wednesdays and Fridays.

Tuesday 29^th October , Tuesday 5^th November, Tuesday 12^th November & Tuesday 19^th November

Year 2 – 11.15am – 11.45am
Year 1 – 11.45am – 12.15pm
Prep – 12.15pm – 12.45pm

Wednesday 30^th October, Wednesday 6^th November, Wednesday 13^th November & Wednesday 20^th November

Years 3-6 – 2pm – 3pm

Thursday 31^st October, Thursday 7^th November, Thursday 14^th November, Thursday 21^st November & Thursday 28^th November

Year 2 – 11.45am – 12.15pm
Year 1 – 12.15pm – 12.45pm
Prep – 2.15pm – 2.45pm

Friday 1^st November, Friday 8^th November, Friday 15^th November, Friday 22^nd November & Friday 29^th November

Year 3/4- 12.15pm – 12.45pm
Year 5/6 – 2.15pm – 2.45pm

End of Term Pool Party – Thursday 5^th December – 11am – 1pm

Choir

Dance

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.

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.

Tuition Fees

Term 4 Fees have been sent home, can these please be paid by Friday 15th November 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.