15 October 2019

Newsletter Articles

Principal’s Report

Welcome back for Term 4! I hope everyone has enjoyed a restful break.

I would like to begin by congratulating all our Year 3 and Year 5 students. Sacred Heart Cunnamulla is the highest performing school in Queensland, on an ICSEA score of 825, for both Year 3 and Year 5 NAPLAN. Each school is given an ICSEA score (index of community socio-educational advantage) and Sacred Heart has topped the board in comparison to schools who are a similar make up to ours according to this scale. The students and teachers should be very proud of their achievements and their dedication to learning. Well done!

I would also like to announce the teacher appointment of Rachael Cornelius at Sacred Heart. Rachael has completed her Bachelor of Education through Queensland University of Technology in Brisbane and has completed practicum’s in rural and remote areas of Queensland. She is very excited about starting her teaching career in Cunnamulla and is keen to get involved in the community. Rachael will start towards the end of this term (5th November) working in the lower school classrooms to assist with a smooth transition into the 2020 school year. I will confirm classroom teachers for 2020 in the coming weeks. I am sure she will receive a positive welcome.

We have a busy term ahead of us, jam packed with teaching and learning so it is really important for students to be at school each and every day. Some of the exciting events we have coming up include:

• Grandparent’s Day Liturgy
• World Teacher’s Day
• Health and Wellbeing Week
• Parent Teacher Interviews
• School Musical, ‘Pirates of the Curry Bean’
• Prep Transition Days
• High School Transition Days
• Graduation
• Christmas Carols

Check out the date claimers on the back page of the newsletter for dates and times. I look forward to what Term 4 brings.

Have a great week.

Polly Crawford
Principal

Prep/1 News

Welcome to Term 4! Only 8 and a half weeks left for the school year and we are already busy learning new units. In English we will be learning how to write a letter to someone special…. Santa! Hopefully he will write a letter back before the Christmas holidays. Religion will see us deconstructing Old Testament stories and understanding God’s presence in our lives today. In Maths we are focusing on adding, taking away, counting and various concepts. For Science this term, we will be looking at light and sound and how we use our senses to see and hear. In Hass and Design Technologies we will be focusing on different events that we celebrate, in particular Christmas, and we will design a sustainable ornament for our Christmas tree. In Art we are practicing Drama skills for the school musical and music skills for the end of year Christmas carols. Finally, in HPE students will be participating in activities set out in the ‘Daniel Morcombe’ curriculum about personal safety.

Students will also be participating in weekly swimming lessons that start this week. Prep/1 students will go to the pool on Thursdays and will need to bring swimmers, towel, thongs, goggles (if required), spare change of underwear and a gold coin donation. A notice of the swimming days will be put out the front of the Prep/1 classroom this week for you to check details. What fun times ahead we have!

Mrs Standfield
Prep/1 Teacher

Year 2/3 News

We’ve had a busy start to term four, beginning new units of work in Geography, Science, Religion, Maths and English. This week something of interest to the children was to locate their hometown on a map and learn about how it fits into the big scheme of things on our amazing planet. We’ve also learnt a song about the seven continents and five oceans of the world and labeled them on a world map. Multiplication has been one of our math’s focuses along with identifying and describing the attributes of both 2D and 3D shapes. Multiplication facts will be a homework activity along with their regular activities and of course reading remains a priority. Just a taste of what’s happening in our room. The children have returned to school keen to learn and we look forward to a short, happy term together.

Mrs Shellshear
Year 2/3 Teacher

Year 3/4 News

This Term Year 3-4 will be focusing most of their units on Sustainability! Through Math, HASS and Design Technology students will be exploring different climates and vegetation in the world. The Students will look at the natural resources in these places and how they can be sustained. The students will be building their own eco system and tracking its progress using statistics and probability and will be building a model of a renewable energy resource. In English this term, the students will be involved in a book club where students will explore a variety of text types and compare text from earlier times with the vocabulary, images, layout and content of contemporary texts. Students will learn to discuss literary experiences with others, share responses and express a point of view using metalanguage to describe the effects of ideas, text structures and language features.

Miss Sor`e
Year 3/4 Teacher

Year 5/6 News

What a fantastic start to our final term! We have revamped our dojo system and are working towards new rewards which we can bank and save for an all-important extra-fun reward when we reach 100! Our writing has kicked off with a story competition. We wrote stories from a humorous picture stimulus. Why was Manny the dog arrested? We had some hilarious reasons why! We kicked off our science topic by learning a little about how light travels. Did you know light travels in straight lines from a source, reflects off an object and into our eye?

Miss Conlin
Year 5/6 Teacher

Yr 5/6 Writing Stimulus

Health & Wellbeing Week

In Week Four (28th October – 1st November) students will be participating in Health and Wellbeing week. As part of this students will be presented lessons on Personal development, Sexuality Education and Protective behaviours for children. These lessons are a part of the Daniel Morcombe Curriculum that students are participating in this term. These lessons align with the ACARA subject Health and Physical Education strand Personal, Social and Community Health and follow the Catholic Education Office, Diocese of Toowoomba, Guidelines for Teaching Sexual Health.

Please be assured that this material will be handled with sensitivity, and that there will be an emphasis on the idea that our bodies are a gift from God. The purpose of this note is to inform you of this part of your child’s education and to prepare you for the possibility of questions being asked at home.

As your child’s primary caregiver, you are welcome to seek further information about the curriculum documents or to view any materials which will be shown to your child. Simply see your child’s teacher to make an appointment.

If you give consent for your child to participate in these lessons, please sign the permission slip that is attached to the newsletter and hand into your child’s classroom teacher. If you wish for your child/children not to participate in these lessons, please contact their classroom teacher.

Swimming Days

Class swimming days will be as follows for Term 4:

Thursdays: Prep/1 – 2.15pm – 2.45pm and Year 2/3 – 12.15pm – 12.45pm
Fridays: Year 3/4 – 12.15pm – 12.45pm and Year 5/6 – 2.15pm – 2.45pm

Students will need to bring: Togs, sun smart shirt, towel, thongs, goggles and $1 every week.

Homework Club

Homework Club is up and running again this term and all students are welcome to attend. It is a great opportunity for students to receive homework support so make sure you take advantage of this great service. Miss Ferguson will be running Homework Club this term and times/days are as follows:

Tuesday’s – 3:00-3:45pm
Thursday’s – 3:00-3:45pm

Class and Uniform Awards

Happy Birthday

Parent Teacher Interviews

Parent/Teacher interviews are taking place in Week 4 after school from Monday 28th to Thursday 31st October. Interviews run for approximately 15 minutes. They are a valuable opportunity for parents to discuss their child/children’s progress across all aspects of school life. I encourage every parent to make an appointment. Please see or phone Mrs Crick to book an interview time.

Parent Partnership Forum Meeting

Save the date!

Our next Parent Partnership Forum meeting is being held on Tuesday 22nd October at 5:30pm. Come along to hear about the wonderful things that are happening at school. We would love to see as many parents there as possible.

School Dental Van

The school Dental Van is currently attending Sacred Heart School. If you would like your child/children to receive the services provided by the school Dental Van, you will need to fill out permission forms for all students. These forms are available from the office. For more information please phone 0437412841.

Hearing Screens

In Week 4, on Monday 28th and Tuesday 29th October, Ann-Marie Mitchell from CACH will be coming to school to conduct the Hearing Screens for this term. Make sure you are at school so you can have your ears checked!

Prep Transition Days

Calling For Prep Enrolments 2020

Is your child born between 1st July 2014 and 30th June 2015? If so, your child is eligible to be enrolled for 2020. Prep Enrolment packages are now available at the front office or if you know of a child please come and collect a package.

School Musical

This Term, all students will be performing in our school musical, ‘Pirates of the Curry Bean’, on Friday 8th November at 5:30pm in the school church. A note has been sent home regarding what students will require for costumes. We are very excited to see the performance and we hope to see you all there for the performance.

Uniform Reminders

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.

Student Protection

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 (Principal)

School Tuition Fees

Term 4 Fees will be sent home soon, these are due by Friday 15th November 2019. 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

This term Tuckshop will be held on FRIDAYS ONLY due to inability to source tuckshop volunteers. We are desperately looking for tuckshop volunteers! If you are interested in either Volunteering or Cake cooking, please contact Carla Mills on 0448130067 or Facebook.

Church Times

Sunday 20th October – Mass @ 6.00pm
Saturday 26th October – Mass @ 6.00pm
Sunday 27th October – Mass @ Eulo

Community Events

Drop-in Centre open on Wednesday and Friday for all ages.

Important Dates

Term 4