19 March 2019

Newsletter Articles

Principal’s Report

Bullying! No Way!

Last Friday was the National Day of Action Against Bullying and Violence with the theme being, Bullying No Way – Take A Stand Together! Bullying is defined as, a pattern of repeated physical, verbal, psychological or social aggression that is directed towards a specific student by someone with more power and is intended to cause harm, distress and or create fear. By contrast, conflict between equals and single incidents are not defined as bullying although such incidents may require intervention by the school.

To recognise the importance of this day, our students participated in activities during family rotations that explored the definition of bullying, the different types of bullying and strategies on how to deal with bullies. It is important that our students have the chance to explore this topic including solutions, so we can appropriately address bullying in our community. Our students will continue to explore the strategies to deal with bullying in family rotations.

Parents are an important part of our work to prevent bullying and to respond effectively if it happens. Stopping bullying involves everyone. We are sending home a pocket card from Bullying. No Way! with tips on what to do if your child talks to you about bullying. Parents know their children best and know the best way to tailor communication to their needs. Adapt these tips to what works for you and your child.

If you would like to watch the same clip as the students, click the following link:

Lots of further details, resources and clips can be found at the link below:

NAPLAN Online

Recently, both Mrs Haig and I attended a NAPLAN online training day in Charleville along with other Principals and Middle Leaders in our area. Over the course of the day, we explored the process for NAPLAN online, NAPLAN protocols, School Readiness Testing and Test Administrator Training. In order to prepare our students for this new way of completing NAPLAN we have been teaching specialised IT capability lessons, providing opportunities for completing Maths tasks online (through online Mathletics program) and undertaking a School Readiness Test in the first week of Term 2. Our students will be completing the NAPLAN test online from Tuesday 14th May to Friday 17th May 2019.

Assessment/School Attendance

Over the remaining three weeks of this Term, students will be completing a number of assessment items. The purpose of this is to provide an opportunity for students to demonstrate their learnings over the Term. This provides important and vital information that teachers require in order to direct future learning. If your child is going to be away over the next three weeks can your please speak to you child’s teacher.

Polly Crawford
Principal

Prep/1 News

Welcome to Week 8! First off, a big congratulations is in order for the Prep/1 students who came to our school fete and participated in the chicken dance. They did a fantastic job, along with all the parents/carers who got up to support the students. This week and next week (Weeks 8 and 9) will be a big 2 weeks of learning and assessment in our class. Make sure you are at school so you can show us what you have learnt over the term.

In English we will be creating a character profile about “Pig the Pug” and participating in a role play of Pig. In Science we will be creating party hats to suit sunny or rainy weather conditions. In HPE we will be role playing scenarios of positive behaviour choices and how to be kind to others. On the physical education side, we will be completing a swimming test at the pool on the various skills we have learnt. In Religion we will be drawing a story profile of the scripture reading ‘The 10 Lepers’. Finally, in History we will be discussing our family members, what we like to do together and showing a memorable item that represents our family. A note will be sent home this week regarding that family item and what needs to be brought in. Copies will be made of the item and we will showcase these in a class museum on the last week of school. Lots of great work to be done and fun to be had… don’t miss it!

Mrs Standfield
Prep/1 Teacher

Year 2/3 News

Year 2 and 3 continue to strive towards making excellent progress by the end of Term 1. As tiredness and illness has set in, Year 2/3 have continued to support each other and pick each other up whenever it is needed. We have moved into the assessment stage of the term across the subjects and everyone is working extremely hard. Cool books like “Doctor Seuss” and “The Gruffalo” have continued to fuel our reading and writing imagination, Year 2/3 are looking forward to showing their writing growth in assessment in the coming weeks. Mathematics has seen place value, odds and evens and working up to and over 1000 which can be daunting, but Year 2/3 have thrived. I look forward to updating you again soon.

All the best.
Mr Pullar
2/3 Teacher

Year 3/4 News

Year 3-4 have just welcomed a new student to the class Everton Grant! He has adjusted very well, and we are all excited to get to know more about him. Last week, we went on an excursion to the Warrego River where we were able to complete a Venn diagram explaining the features of the river that have changed over time. Another highlight was when we were able to perform our dance at the school fete, we are all very proud of the results, every student put in 110%! Lastly, we made and tested our packages this week, all the students found their investigation to be very successful. We are looking forward to the holidays and starting a brand-new term full of fun and exciting new units together!

Miss Sor`e
Year 3/4 Teacher

Year 5/6 News

Lots of wonderful learning is continuing to occur in the Year 5/6 classroom. In Religion, we have been analysing how believers live their faith. We have defined the terms faith and community and how we fit into different communities. We looked at what we do as Catholics while living our faith and shared our ideas as a class and recorded them together in groups.

The Year 5/6 students have also started learning about Psalms in the Bible. We have learnt that a psalm is a form of poem that contains a meaning. We read Psalm 1 and looked at what it meant. Psalms aren’t easy to read, they were written a long time ago when the English language was a lot different to how it is now.

For example:

Blessed is the one who does not walk in step with the wicked or stand in the way that sinners take or sit in the company of mockers

We took this to mean that god will bless those who don’t follow those who sin or are unkind to others. Those who are unkind to others or commit sin will be punished. We created a happy versus wicked poster showing what the psalm represents for those who sin and those who don’t.

Science Materials Needed!

The Year 5/6 students are going to be designing water troughs for their Science assessment and are asking for donations of materials. We are in need of materials including plastic milk cartons, cereal boxes, straws, egg cartons etc. If you have any materials, you are able to donate it would be greatly appreciated.

Emily Conlin
Year 5/6 Teacher

Class and Uniform Awards

Happy Birthday

District and Regional Sports

Over the last fortnight we have had a number of students represent our school at the District Sports Trials for Touch Football, Netball and Rugby League in Charleville – Kellie Brain, Paige Mills, Geoffrey Rynne, Sara King, Ava Anderson, Bella Anderson and Felicity Higgins. Our students performed superbly with a number of students heading off to the next level. Paige Mills and Kellie Brain have made regional trials for touch football, rugby league and netball. Ava and Bella Anderson have made the regional trials for netball and Geoffrey Rynne has made the regional trial as a shadow player for touch football. Fantastic work students. We are very proud of all of you.

District Netball Trials students – Ava Anderson, Felicity Higgins, Sara King, Paige Mills, Kellie Brain and Bella Anderson.

Cross Country/Athletics Training

This year our Cross Country and Athletics Carnivals are going to held early Term 2 due to changes in the South West Sport Schedule.

Therefore, we need to start training, so we are in tip top shape. During family group rotations and HPE lessons, students will be learning and practicing the athletics events and skills.

Cross country training will start next week and will be held on Tuesday and Thursday mornings from 6:45am to 7:15am. The teachers and school officers will run the session and all students are welcome to come along. For more information please see the office.

Car Wash

Do you need your car washed? Well you are in luck!

Our Year 6 class are holding a car wash to raise money for their 2019 Canberra Trip.

When: Wednesday 20th March, 3:15pm-5:00pm
Where: Out the front of the Library
Cost: $20 for Large Car or $15 for a small car

For more information please see Miss Conlin.

Wellbeing Matters

Tomorrow, the 20th March, is the International Day of Happiness. This year’s theme is ‘Happier Together’, focusing on what we have in common, rather than what divides us. Everyone wants to be happy – and life is happier when we’re together.

Visit the following website for some great action ideas for children:

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.

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:

Our Schools Student Protection Contacts are:

Mrs Cara Haig (Middle Leader/LST)
Mrs Carolyn Crick (Administration Officer)
Mr Mike Thomason (School Guidance Counsellor)
Miss Polly Crawford (Acting Principal)

School 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.

Direct Deposit Details

Tuckshop

We are desperately looking for tuckshop volunteers! If we are unable to get more volunteers, we will be looking at only holding tuckshop once a week from Term 2. If you are interested, please contact Carla Mills on 0448130067 or facebook.

Sacred Heart Parish News

Sacred Heart Parish Fete

A massive thank you to all those who helped make the Parish Fete such a great success. The students and parents danced wonderfully. It was great to see so much support for our Parish.

Church Times

Saturday 23rd March – Mass @ 6pm
Sunday 24th March– Mass Eulo @ 9am
Sunday 31st March - Eucharistic Service @ 8.30am

Community News

Term 1 Important Dates