Term 2 Week 4
Principal Report
Building Efficacy through the Learning Pit
Last Friday, Mrs Haig and I were thrilled to be able to attend James Nottingham’s professional development session on ‘Building Efficacy through the Learning Pit’ with a large number of teachers and leadership members from Toowoomba Catholic Schools.
We delved into the topic of self-efficacy, learning about the importance of high levels of self-efficacy when learning something new. Those with high self-efficacy approach tasks with the belief that they can ‘figure it out!’ Those with low self efficacy believe there is very little they can do to improve things, particularly if they struggle or fail. Self-efficacy is closely related to growth mindset.
Therefore it is important for our students to know when they are in the learning pit that…
• Learning should make us think….it is hard!
• The more you think, the more you will remember
• I can figure this out!
As teachers our job is to guide the students learning not to rescue them. When students are in the learning pit, we guide them to sort ideas, sequence, self question, categorise and group. We teach them how to learn so they can transfer these skills to different situations. When we create opportunities for struggle our students have more opportunity to learn and are more intellectually challenged. During these times we encourage positive growth mindset, wanting our students to say to themselves; I can overcome challenges, I can influence outcomes, I am resilient, I can figure this out!
Our most recent school impact cycles involve developing self-questioning skills/receiving feedback so that our students to further develop their toolkit of skills can draw upon when stuck in their learning.
We look forward to sharing more of our James Nottingham learnings with you.
Staff Spritiual Development
This week all of the Sacred Heart staff participated in a spiritual twilight retreat prepared by Lisa Cavanagh, TCS Education Officer for Mission and Identity. The theme of the evening was, Prayer. We explored the three different types of prayer that we are required to explore with our students as part of the Religious Education Curriculum. These are meditative prayer, vocal prayer and contemplative prayer. Participating in prayer allows us to nourish our spiritual growth and respond to the wonder and mystery of life.
During the week, Lisa has also supported our teachers by modelling religious education lessons, co-teaching, conducting planning meetings and providing resources. All of these strategies work towards supporting Sacred Heart achieve our Illuminate Project goals which are: by the end of Semester One, we will be delivering more engaging lessons in RE so that students are more cognitively engaged and can make connections to their own lives. We will do this by;
• Using high yield teaching strategies when teaching RE
• Giving and receiving meaningful feedback in RE
• Participating in staff spiritual formation
Have a great week.
Polly Goodman
Principal
Prep
Welcome to Week 4, the first full week of Term 2! It has been another busy fortnight and we have been jam packed with lots of new learning and fun activities. One super exciting event that we held in Prep was our Mother’s Day Pamper Morning. Our Prep mothers were welcomed into our classroom to be pampered and treated. We had nail painting, a photo booth, bracelet making, playdough and a hair salon. We had such a nice time and really enjoyed spending this time with our beautiful mums. Thank you to all the mothers that attended. The Prep students had a great time and this will be a memory cherished for a long time.
In Maths, we have been practicing counting on. It has been a tricky concept but we are starting to get much better with our counting and figuring out how many in a total group. We have also started looking into patterns. We created some pattern paper chains which were very fun and helped us practice extending and continuing repeating patterns.
In English, we have continued looking at the fabulous author Julia Donaldson. We have looked closely into the book ‘Monkey Puzzle’ and spoken about character traits. We discussed the character traits of the butterfly in the story and created some character profiles which are now on display in our classroom.
In Art, we experimented with different painting tools that we could use instead of brushes. We did some stamping with potatoes and made some flowers with the different shapes. We then had some fun and used our hands to do some stamping too. We also decorated our Mother’s Day gifts which got sent home to give to our beautiful mums. We were lucky enough to all work together and decorate an oven mitt for Mrs Crick too!
We have had a fabulous and VERY busy fortnight these past two weeks. It is going to be another crazy two weeks coming up, but we are excited for the challenge ahead!
Miss Aimee Bretherton
Prep Teacher
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Year 1
Happy Mother’s Day to all the mothers reading this! I hope you had a beautiful Sunday with your loved ones. Over the past two weeks the Year Ones have been hard at work learning the necessary knowledge and skills it takes to plan a celebration. By the end of term 2, we will put all our learning into action and will be hosting our own celebration, so watch this space.
Week two had us diving into our calendar of celebrations. As we learnt about each celebration, we noted the different foods eaten, decorations that adorned the festivities, music played and lighting used. So far, we have learnt about Easter, the Passover, Anzac Day, Birthdays, Christmas, Chinese New Year and Mother’s Day.
In English we have been learning how to write recipes. We have sequenced a recipe for pancakes, milkshakes, and fairy bread. We look forward to using this knowledge to write our own recipes for foods that will make an appearance at our event.
In technology we have been learning how to design a decoration for our celebration. We learnt how to make lanterns which were inspired by our research into Chinese New Year. We also worked as a class to create some very colourful bunting.
Maths had us developing our number knowledge for numbers 1 to 100. We love consolidating our number knowledge with maths games at the end of each lesson. The class favourite is Gangsters and Cowboys as the students race to find the number that come before or after the one given by the teacher.
After revisiting the story of Easter and learning about the significance of the Passover, Religious studies have brought us to discussions around the Sacrament of Baptism. We brainstormed many questions around the important symbols, actions and words used during Baptism.
We revisited healthy habits in health and created some posters to advertise healthy eating. Some of the slogans that the students used in their advertisements include, “Eat Green and Grin! An Orange a Day Keeps the Doctor Away! Fruit Salad, Yummy Yummy! And Be Healthy!”
I hope you all have a lovely week.
Miss Abby Davidson
Year 1 Teacher
Year 2
We have been hard at work in the year two classroom over the last fortnight despite the spate of long weekends and sickness. Illness could prove to be problematic this term, however the necessary decision to forge on despite absenteeism has been made. We have much to do and the term is fast slipping away from us.
Our study of insects continues and the excitement of setting up our ant farm, has been contagious. Many children from other classes as well as the year 2’s, are enjoying watching these industrious little insects build tunnels. It’s amazing how such a small creature has been granted the privilege by mother nature, to carry a load 50 times heavier than itself. The study of insects, is in our English unit, not science, and is a wonderful way in which to teach the children to write interesting sentences, expand their vocabulary and increase their library of sight words. Several walls in our classroom adorned with new words taken from our units this term.
In maths we are continuing our exploration of both addition and telling the time. Some are proficient in doing this to o’clock, quarter past and to and half past the hour. We’ve been learning how to represent it in both analogue and digital forms. Challenging for many but practise shall make perfect. We’ve been learning strategies to more easily solve addition sentences but that too is a work in progress for some.
Our religion lessons have been around the Easter story however we shall be moving on from that shortly. We have studied the ancient Jewish tradition of The Passover, which has been of interest.
Our science unit Watch it Grow is being continued from term one and we hope to actually watch an animal grow in our room but that’s only in the planning stage at present.
As you can see, much to do and see in our room of late.
Mrs Jenny Shellshear
Year 2 Teacher
Year 3/4
Welcome to Week 4!
Over the last two weeks, the Year3-4 class have begun their Exploding Endings unit. We started by reading a few stories just for fun, and boy are we excited to read more! Exploding Endings is a series of books written by Australian author Tim Harris. Each book contains a number of short stories that end very differently to what we predict! We have begun developing our ability to activate our prior knowledge by exploring interesting words from the story and making connections to what we already know. In pairs, we used these connections to make predictions about what the story will be about. So far our prediction is the story will be about a boy who likes to play pranks on his older sister, who then complains about the silliness. The class is very excited and eager to continue reading and find out what happens next.
We have also been exploring a couple of different concepts in Maths over the last fortnight. These concepts are addition and subtraction with trading and number patterns. We have been developing our skills in using appropriate materials and resources to help us when we struggle with an equation. Some of us have been using a visual method to help us learn trading in subtraction, others have learnt a catchy little chant to remind us of the steps we take when subtracting with trading. The class has also been investigating number patterns that result from addition, subtraction and begun looking at those that result from multiplication. We have been completing number patterns, identifying the rule, continuing patterns and creating our own.
The students have also worked hard over the last week or so to organise, plan and deliver a beautiful Mothers Day liturgy. The students did a wonderful job and from all of us, we hope all the Mothers, Grandmothers and Aunties had a blessed and relaxing Mothers Day.
Miss Ellie Charlton
Year 3/4 Teacher
Year 5/6
Welcome to a wet and windy Week 4! The Year 5 students have been busy completing NAPLAN testing.
In English, students have been reading and writing procedures. One procedure involved treating a snake bite and required students had to practice using bandages and monitoring a bite. In Mathematics, students are looking at fractions and using different problem-solving strategies. Students worked with fraction tiles and pictures to compare and order fractions and write a solution on how they solved the question.
In sporting news, many of the Year 5/6 students competed at the District Cross Country trials in Thargomindah, last Friday. Well done to all students for representing their school with pride and giving it their best on the track. Congatulations to Kaydan Munn-McFarlane, Sophia Tolete and Ruby Schmidt for being nominated to compete at the Regional Cross Country trials.
Miss Lilly Daly
Year 5/6 Teacher
Class Awards
Habit of the Heart: Courge
Habit of the Mind: Persistence
Courage | Prep | Ernest Roberts | Showing courage in learning discussions with his teacher and peers. |
Year 1 | Natarlia Francisco | For having the courage to share your ideas in classroom discussions. | |
Year 2 | Kendall McDermott | For making the choice to be brave in new situations. | |
Year 3/4 | Amaya Partridge | For showing courage at the cross country and having a go. | |
Thais Vanini | For stepping out of her comfort zone and showing courage when participating in Cross Country. | ||
Year 5/6 | Ruby Schmidt | For consistently demonstrating courage in all co-curricular sporting events. | |
Persistence | Prep | Jaslyn Hooper-Monaghan | Demonstrating persistence an all learning areas |
Year 1 | Charvee Narula | For maintaining positivity when challenged by tasks. | |
Year 2 | Thomas Campbell | For showing increased when receiving feedback. | |
Year 3/4 | Chloe Fett | For getting into the learning pit and not giving up, especially when learning tricky maths concepts. | |
Year 5/6 | Kirsten Higgins | For always demonstrating persistence when learning gets tough. | |
Uniform | Prep | Dakotah Ibell | For wearing your uniform with pride. |
Year 1 | Isla Dunne | ||
Year 2 | Jaqui Hooper-Monaghan |
Birthdays
Happy birthday to the following students & Staff who have a birthday. We hope your day is very special.
Emmison Williams – 2nd May
Ava-May Brock – 4th May
Thomas Campbell – 11th May
Chelsea Ashley-McKellar – 12th May
Mr Whatling – 5th May
Mrs Shellshear – 6th May
Arts Council
On Wednesday 18th May all students will be attending the Arts Council Performance “Charlotte’s Web” @ the Cunnamulla Shire Hall. Students will walk with their classroom teacher to and from this event.
Sports
SHPS Cross Country
We congratulate all students who participated in our school cross country on Friday 29th April in and around the school grounds. We witnessed great sportsmanship and a wonderful effort put in by all students.
Age Champions:
2015 Girl – Charvee Narula
2015 Boy – Thomas Campbell
2014 Girl – Kendall McDermott
2014 Boy – Jason Tolete
2013 Girl – Penny Schmidt
2013 Boy – Dallas Ramsay
2012 Girl – Sophia Tolete
2012 Boy – Kaydan Munn-McFarlane
2011 Girl – Ruby Schmidt
2011 Boy – Maximus Jordan
2010 Boy – Jesse Fett
District Cross Country
District Cross country was held last Friday 6th May in Thargomindah. Congradulations to all students that participated, you all represented your school with pride.
Age Champions:
2012 Girl – Sophia Tolete
2012 Boy – Kaydan Munn-McFarlane
District and Regional Sports
This year we will continue to work with the Cunnamulla Sate School to support the district and regional school sports of Swimming, Cross Country, Athletics, Rugby League, Touch Football and Netball. However, if you wish for your child to participate in an additional sport listed below you are welcome to pursue that yourself, we will provide you the information. The timetable of regional trail dates for this Term are as below. *Please note that students need to participate in a district trial before a regional trial*.
Term 2 District/Regional Sports 10-12 years
Sport | District Trial Date | District Location | Regional Trial Date | Regional Location |
Cross Country | 6th May | Thargo | Friday 27th May | Wandoan |
Soccer | Monday 23rd May | Cunnamulla | 3rd June | Chinchilla |
Please see Mrs Crick if you are interested in any of the sports above well before the trial date so nominations can be made.
NAPLAN Online
This week, our Year 3 and 5 students completed the NAPLAN online test. NAPLAN tests the sorts of skills that are essential for every child to progress through school and life, such as reading, writing, spelling, grammar and numeracy. It is important to remember that NAPLAN is not about passing or failing, but about assessing learning progress. At the classroom level it is one of a number of important tools used by teachers to measure student progress.
Our NAPLAN schedule will be as below:
Tuesday 10th May | Wednesday 11th May | Thursday 12th May | |
9:00 am start | Year 3 Writing (Paper Test) Year 5 Writing (Online Test) | Year 3 Reading Test (Online Test) Year 5 Reading Test (Online Test) | Year 3 Numeracy Test (Online Test) Year 5 Numeracy Test (Online Test) |
11:00 am start | Year 3 Language Conventions Test (Online Test) Year 5 Language Conventions Test (Online Test) |
Parents, students and teachers are invited to use the public demonstration tests to familiarise themselves with the type of questions and related functionalities available in the NAPLAN Online assessment. The demonstration tests cover a sample of possible questions and do not reflect the range of literacy and numeracy content or skills NAPLAN Online will assess. Our students have now completed two practice tests to familiarise themselves with the types of questions and online functionalities. Students have also been working on improving their computing skills including – use of keyboards, mouse, clicking and dragging, using drop down menus etc.
Please click the following link to view the public demonstration link - https://www.nap.edu.au/online-assessment/public-demonstration-site
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 approximately 15 minutes. They are a valuable opportunity for parents to discuss their child/rens progress across all aspects of school life. Interviews will tcontinue to take place this week, Monday 9th May to Friday 13th May.
School Renewal and Improvement Process (SRIP)
Sacred Heart Catholic Primary School Cunnamulla, is scheduled for a School Renewal and Improvement quadrennial school review this term from Monday 23rd May to Thursday 26th May. This process occurs every four years. Incorporated in this process will also include a Principal summative performance appraisal in line with Toowoomba Catholic School’s (TCS) focus on professional recognition and development, as this is my 5th year as Principal at Sacred Heart. To assist with my appraisal, I invite all school staff and parents to participate in the 360-degree survey. This survey is an externally validated perception survey that will be compiled to allow for anonymous feedback around the leadership dimensions of religion, education, organisational skills, strategic planning, staff and community engagement and general leadership capabilities. The survey will be emailed to all school staff and many families over the coming weeks.
The Toowoomba Catholic Schools Office has a School renewal and improvement framework in place which has as a key element a quadrennial school review. In this review a panel consisting of senior staff from the Toowoomba Catholic Schools (TCS) Education Services Directorate and a peer principal from another school in the Diocese visit the school for three days.
Through a process of appreciative inquiry, panel members interview staff, parents/carers, students and community members. The questions asked are “In your opinion, what is going well at the school?” and “What could be done better?” The purpose is for the panel to report to the school community its findings and suggested improvement strategies. These inform the process of strategic plan development and the annual action plans which are also linked to the TCS Strategic Plan. The aim is to assist schools to strategically plan to improve teaching and learning and these reviews occur in all TCS schools.
The review team would like to hear from the school community and I encourage anyone who is interested to have their say. Your feedback is important and will help us to continue to achieve the two pillars of TCS: that all students will come to personally know Jesus and that all students will achieve academic success. Feedback can be provided to the review panel in person or by telephone. All feedback remains confidential.
Please contact the school office if you are interested in speaking to a reviewer. You may also register your interest by emailing cunnamulla@twb.catholic.edu.au
Mother's Day
Tuckshop
We are still looking for volunteers and cake cookers to run tuckshop on a Friday for Term 2. If you can spare one Friday next term, can you please let Mrs Crick know at the office. Tuckshop runs from 9am – 1.30pm
Student Protrction
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.
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:
Mrs Cara Haig (Deputy / LST)
Mrs Carolyn Crick (Administration Officer)
Ms Karen Bruggemann (School Guidance Counsellor)
Mrs Polly Goodman (Principal)
Sacred Heart Parish
Church Times
Sunday 15th May – Mass @ 9am
Sunday 22nd May – Mass @ 9am
Sunday 29th May - Mass @ 9am
Sunday 5th June – Mass @ 9am
Saturday 11th June – Mass @ 5.30pm
Sunday 19th June – Mass @ 9am
Sunday 26th June – Mass @ 9am