10 November 2020

Newsletter Articles

Deputy Principal’s Report

Yesterday Miss Crawford celebrated her birthday at the Principal’s Forum in Toowoomba. We hope she had a fantastic day! While she celebrated, the rest of us at school continued to work hard to complete the many assessments and tasks that are all due at this time of year. The students have worked extremely hard to complete academic assessments of a high quality and I hope these are reflected in the results that are reported at the end of the year.

Last week we farewelled Mr Mike Thomason who has been our school counsellor the past 3 years. We thank Mike for the fantastic service he has provided to the staff, parents, and students. Over the past 3 years Mike has helped the school refine our behaviour policy, introduced You Can Do It, assisted with the Zones of Regulation and provided excellent face to face and online service for our students. Mike will be replaced by a new counsellor in 2021. We look forward to meeting our new school counsellor and will introduce him/her as soon as we know who it will be.

Our first 2021 prep transition day was held on Wednesday 28th October. Our very excited Year 5 buddies enthusiastically greeted the students as they arrived at school. They stayed with their buddies to help them settle in and begin some exciting activities themed around Lego. Miss Crawford had her binoculars out and ready to catch a glimpse of the students who will officially join our school as prep students next year. They all had a fantastic morning completing activities both indoors and outdoors. We look forward to seeing our transition students again this week!

At 11am (after the prep transition visit) this Wednesday 11th November, students will take part in a minute silence for Remembrance Day. Miss Conlin and the Year 6 students will represent Sacred Heart at the town’s Remembrance Day service at the fountain.

Throughout this week the Level 1 students will be having Glamour photos taken by Tammy Hickey and her helpful staff from the Cunnamulla Library. We are very grateful that our Level 1 students are able to take part in this privilege. Keep yours eyes out for the glamourous photos!

Mrs Cara Haig
Deputy Principal

Prep/1 News

Welcome back to another week in Prep/1. Students have been continuously working hard in all learning areas as we near the end of term. Students are to be commended on their efforts in all learning tasks, producing some wonderful work during class. Students are also to be commended on their behaviour, working as a team to achieve excellence in their behaviour. We are finalizing all pieces of Assessment this week and look forward to some fantastic class celebrations. Students are reminded to still continue completing their homework each week and are encouraged to read their readers with an adult every night. A big thank you to all the parents who have stayed on top of the homework demands, it really shows in the classroom! I am looking forward to a great end to the year and hope I see some familiar faces at some of our end of year celebrations.

Miss Cornelius
Prep/1 Teacher

Year 2 News

Getting our heads around multiplication, division and fractions has been a major focus in year two recently. The children find it much easier to understand these concepts when related to real life situations, so we have been busy cooking. Placing cupcakes in trays and cookies on one too, are both great ways of illustrating multiplication and division. Their introduction to division came through sharing the cookies out to the class, having read the book The Doorbell Rang. Fractions needed consolidation, so we’ve cutting all sorts of things up and sampled our efforts and we are now quite familiar with halves and quarters. Eighths however have proved a little challenging, so work on that at home would be advantageous.

Our hands-on approach has doubled as work on examples of mixtures, as we rounded off our Science unit, All Mixed Up. Both units of work are now coming to an end, with a few things still to be covered before we do some fun Christmas activities. We will continue with reading homework until the end of week 8 but shall finish the written work in week 6 because other activities kick in at this stage of the year and life gets busy and children get tired. Please make an effort to keep the reading up during the holidays because it would sadden me to see them regress. So many in our class have experienced high growth in reading and that only comes about through practise. Together we have worked very hard to raise literacy levels and the year twos are to be commended for the amazing progress they have made.

Mrs Shellshear
Year 2 Teacher

Year 3/4 News

Fabulous week 5 and 6! Year 3-4 have been hard at work learning the last parts of the curriculum and preparing for assessment week. Students will be participating in a book club for English, presenting their favourite book. During science we are becoming geologists and are investigating how we live in a world that is constantly changing. Students will explore how natural processes and human activity shape their surroundings. Through hands-on activities students have analysed soils, rocks, landscapes, and factors that affect the erosion of soils. After week 6 we will be moving on from learning about chance and data in math and we will be revisiting time for the last 2 weeks of school. I am happy to announce that every student in 3-4 has made growth with their reading abilities this semester and I am very proud of all the hard work the students have put into their learning this year! They should be very pleased with themselves.

Miss Sore
Year 3/4 Teacher

Year 5/6 News

On Monday we took a trip to the Police Station. We learned how to detain a criminal, hand cuff them, take their prints and interview them. We even had a break in at Country Wear and caught the escaping criminal! She was interviewed and given a notice to show up for court. We will keep the streets of Cunnamulla safe.

This week we have been looking at informative reports and how to write them. The Grade 5/6’s have been working on an information report all about finances. We have been learning all about wages, tax, superannuation, loans, interest, and insurance and how we can use these to budget for our future.

Miss Conlin
Year 5/6 Teacher

Class and Uniform Awards

This fortnight’s focus:

Habit of the Heart: Courage
Habit of the Mind: Persistence

Behaviour Promotions

Happy Birthday

Swimming Days

Class swimming days will be as follows for Term 4:

Thursdays: Year 2 – 12.15pm – 12.45pm and Prep/1 – 2.15pm – 2.45pm
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.

School Dental Van

The school Dental Van is visiting Sacred Heart School this Term. 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 0436 680 659

From the Library

A reminder ALL library books need to be back to school by next Thursday 19th November.

Library day will be Thursday 19th November next week.

Recycling

We have started recycling our poppers and plastic bottles to raise funds for various school resources. If you have any recyclable bottles you are wishing to donate it would be greatly appreciated.

Homework Centre

Homework centre is up and running again for the term and will be held on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 3:00-3:45pm. It is a great way for students to receive support with their homework tasks. Miss Devey will be supervising the students.

Prep Transition Days

Sacred Heart are hosting 3 Prep transition days this term. For more information please contact the office.

We are calling for 2021 Prep Enrolments

Is your child born between 1st July 2015 and 30th June 2016? If so, your child is eligible to be enrolled in Prep for 2021. Prep Enrolment packages are now available at the front office or if you know of a child please come and collect a package. Prep interviews will be conducted in Term 3. Please contact the office to make an appointment. Transition days will be held in Term 4.

Effective Hand Hygiene is Vital

As the coronavirus (COVID-19) continues to evolve, it is important to remember that effective hand and sneeze/cough hygiene is the best defence against viruses and can help prevent the spread of illness.

Lead by example and encourage your children to:

• wash their hands regularly with soap and water, before and after eating, and after going to the toilet
• use alcohol-based hand sanitiser if soap is not available
• cover coughs and sneezes with a tissue or the inside of their elbow
• dispose of tissues in the bin immediately
• remind students not to share food
• if they’re unwell, stay at home and avoid contact with others such as touching, kissing or hugging.

Check out the 20 second routine video for effective handwashing.

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 several 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 (Deputy / LST)
Mrs Carolyn Crick (Administration Officer)
Mr Mike Thomason (School Guidance Counsellor)
Miss Polly Crawford (Principal)

School Tuition Fees

Please note Account number has changed. 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 in desperate need of helpers for Tuckshop this term, so if you are interested please contact Carla Mills on 0448130067, facebook or ring the school office. Tuckshop runs on Fridays 9am – 1.30pm during Term. If we are unable to get enough volunteers, we may have to shut the Tuckshop. We just ask that cars be parked outside the school grounds to ensure student safety. Thank you to all the parents who volunteer in our school tuckshop.

REMINDER: CHICKEN NUGGETS ARE NOT AVAILABLE AT LITTLE LUNCH

Sacred Heart Parish

Sacred Heart Parish Op Shop on the Verandah of the Convent

Opening Days and Times

Monday, Wednesday, Thursday & Friday

9am – 12pm

They have loads of new and pre-loved items available for purchase. Come in and browse around. I’m sure you will find a bargain!!!!

Church Times

Sunday 15th November – Eucharistic Service @ 8.30am
Sunday 22nd November – Eucharistic Service @ 8.30am
Friday 27th November – Reconciliation Mass – 7pm
Saturday 28th November –Mass – 6pm - First Communion
Sunday 29th November – Mass @ Eulo – 9am

Term 4 Important Dates