20 August 2019

Newsletter Articles

Principal’s Report

Principal’s Forum

Welcome to Week 6! Last week, I attended the Toowoomba Catholic School Principal’s Forum in St George. The purpose of these days is to develop the capacity of principals in our diocese and to provide valuable information to inform our school strategic plans and policies in order to improve the academic success of all students in our schools. The theme for this term’s forum was, ‘Many Voices, One Spirit’. Over the 5 days we discussed and explored the topics of instructional and evidence-based leadership, recruitment and selection procedures, the new Assessment and Reporting Framework, finance and facilities, technology in the classroom, Student and Staff Wellbeing Framework and Planning for Personalised Learning. This forum also included a Formation and Identity retreat day where we reflected on the gospel story, ‘The woman at the well’ and participated in creating a water purifier for those in third world countries.

Staffing

We are still in the process of recruiting a Teacher for the Year 2/3 Classroom. The position has been advertised and we are ensuring we employ the right person for our school community. We are very fortunate to have Mrs Shellshear, an experienced teacher from Toowoomba, teaching our students for the next few weeks. I will keep you updated with further progress.

We are also in the process of reviewing staffing for 2020. At this stage we are delighted that Miss Conlin and Miss Sor`e will remain at Sacred Heart next year. Unfortunately, we will farewell Mrs Standfield at the end of this year as she will be relocating to Toowoomba. Mrs Standfield has been a wonderful asset to our school over the past two years and we sincerely thank her for her wonderful contributions to the teaching and learning at Sacred Heart. The Prep/1 position has been advertised.

Prep Orientation Day

This Wednesday at 9am, we will be welcoming the Kindy and Pre-Prep students for 2020 to our school. The morning will include a tour of our vibrant school and participation in classroom activities. I am positive that the staff and students will make them feel very welcome during their visit. For more information or to obtain a Prep pack please contact the school office.

Priest Appointment

Bishop Robert has announced the appointment of Fr Warren Padilla as Associate Priest to St Mary’s Parish Charleville from Thursday 15 August 2019. This also includes priestly assistance at Quilpie, Augathella and Cunnamulla. We warmly welcomed Fr Warren to our Parish last Sunday night at Church. This appointment will be a great support to Fr Peter.

Have a great week.

Polly Crawford
Principal

Prep/1 News

Welcome to week 6 in Prep/1. Our knowledge of nursery rhymes continues to grow, and we are now identifying rhyming and alliterations patterns when singing. We have also built up a great bank of scientific words to describe the weather. Each day last week we observed the weather and recorded the cloud and wind factors. I wonder what the weather will be like this week. We have learnt so much in Hass over the past couple of weeks with Miss Wendy. She has shared her knowledge of country and how to care for the land around our school. We have also listened to native wildlife and went on a hunt for animals around the school.

We have had some class additions over the past couple of weeks which we have all been excited about. Two students have joined us from the Roma and Brisbane areas and have settled in very well. On the other hand, we will have to say goodbye to Miss Mann at the end of this week, as she finishes up her time here in Cunnamulla. We wish her all the best with her future studies and will miss her greatly. As a way of saying thank you to our class, Miss Mann has invited Prep/1 students to a class party on Friday! Let’s hope we can all continue to follow school rules and try our best when learning. Parents are not required to bring anything in for the party, teachers from Prep/1 will be organising it for the students.

Mrs Standfield
Prep/1 Teacher

Year 2/3 News

We welcome back Mrs Jenny Shellshear whom will be teaching the 2/3 class until a new teacher is appointed.

For the past few weeks the Year 2/3 class have been completing a range of activities that are all related to ‘Toys’. In English they have been comparing the structure and features of narrative and information texts about toys and have identified similarities and differences in these text types. In science students have been investigating the effect a push or pull force has on the movement of toys. Students posed their own questions about the movement of a particular toy and had a great time experimenting and measuring their observations.

During Drama, students have been learning how to take on the role of a character during improvisation activities. They are getting really good at using facial expression, voice and movement to take on a character.

In HaSS the students have been comparing toys from the past and present. We have made a timeline of toys and keep adding to it each time we read about a different toy. If any parents, grandparents or friends have some old-style toys they would like to share we would love to see them! Coming up in HaSS is preparation for ‘A Night at the Toy Museum’. This top-secret event will be held on Tuesday 27th August at 5.45pm. Parents and friends are invited to come along and see some of the work the students have been doing if you dare. But beware... we all know what happens in the movie, might our exhibits come to life?

Year 3/4 News

This fortnight year 3-4 have been enjoying learning about measurement and geometry. In collaborative learning groups the students were asked to make a robot using nets of 3D shapes, the students then were able to name the robot and give them a super power. The students have also been learning about angles in mathematics and PE, as a group we used our bodies to create angles and letters from the alphabet. Highlight’s for the fortnight include; in PE the students have been practising their tumbling skills during gymnastics training and we welcome a new student to the class which we are all very excited about. Year 3/4 are looking forward to dressing up and celebrating book week.

Miss Sor`e
Year 3/4 Teacher

Year 5/6 News

This week in 5/6 we have given our all to investigating shapes and what happens when we rotate them, translate them and enlarge them. We will be following this up with their lines of symmetry. In writing, we have conquered metaphors, personification and modal verbs – not an easy challenge! Our amateur dramatics have begun fully this week, with stage actions being performed for our musical. Please note that all scripts must be brought to and from school every day and practised for lines to be learned fluently.

Emily Conlin
Year 5/6 Teacher

Class and Uniform Awards

Happy Birthday

Instrumental Music Program

The instrumental music curriculum has three dimensions: Literacy, Technique and Performance. The literacy of applying music symbols and instructions to performance and technique studies will be the focus for term 3. Further, students will create a vocabulary list of words used by musicians. In term 4, we will focus on sight-reading and memorising music with level 1 (year 4 students) being able to play 8 notes (an octave).

In relation to performances, the school brass and wind ensemble (band) will perform at the Charleville Performing Arts Festival on Friday 30th August 2019.

Book Week 2019

Come along this Friday morning to assembly to watch our Book Week dress up parade. Details are in the flyer below.

Under 8’s Day 2019

This year Sacred Heart are hosting Under 8’s Day for the Cunnamulla community. All children 8 or under are welcome to attend and participate in a range of fun activities that have been prepared by the KEYS committee. We welcome parents to this event as well to participate with their children. See flyer below for more details.

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. Prep interviews will be conducted in Weeks 8, 9 and 10 of Term 3 (2nd September to 19th September). Please contact the office to make an appointment.

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.

Child Protection Week (1st -7th September 2019)

Child Protection Week Survey

This year one of the major activities we are undertaking for Child Protection Week is to participate in an online student protection survey. The Queensland Catholic Education Commission is coordinating a state-wide project to find out how effective our Student Protection Processes and Guidelines schools are. Parents, students and staff members in schools will be invited to participate in the survey. We would like all parents to participate in the online survey, which is confidential and voluntary. Students and staff will also be completing a survey. A letter with further detail is attached to the newsletter.

Our school is one of 17 in the Diocese of Toowoomba that has been selected to participate in the survey, which will be administered during Child Protection Week. The survey is being administered by an independent research organisation, who will collate results and provide us with recommendations for improvement. The survey asks questions about student protection and will take approximately 15 minutes to complete. Parents will receive an email that will have a link to the survey. Students will complete the survey at school and consent information will be provided closer to the date.

Student safety is very important to us and we value the input of our school community. Please contact the office if you do not receive a letter or if you specifically do not wish your child to participate.

We are pleased to be part of this important project for continuous improvement and encourage your participation. If you have any questions about the survey, please contact Barbara Woods at the Toowoomba Catholic Schools Office on (07) 4687 4348 or by emailing barbara.woods@twb.catholic.edu.au.

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 3 Fees have been sent home, these are due by Friday 13th September 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

Saturday 24th August - Mass @ 5.30pm
Sunday 25th August – Mass @ Eulo
Sunday 1st September – Eucharistic Service @ 9 am
Sunday 8th September – Eucharistic Service @ 9 am
Sunday 15th September – Mass @ 6.00pm
Saturday 21st September - Mass @ 6.00pm
Sunday 22nd September – Mass @ Eulo
Sunday 29th September – Eucharistic Service @ 9 am
Sunday 6th October – Eucharistic Service @ 8.30 am
Sunday 13th October – Eucharistic Service @ 8.30 am
Sunday 20th October – Mass @ 6.00pm

Community Events

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

Term 3 Important Dates