4 August 2020

Newsletter Articles

Principal’s Report

Bishop’s Inservice Day

Last week, our staff participated in Bishop’s Inservice Day with staff from the TCSO Office, St Mary’s Charleville and St Finbarr’s Quilpie. The annual Bishop’s Inservice Days are held in the far west, mid-west and in the city of Toowoomba to remind us that while we are part of a local Catholic school community, we are also part of our local Church, the Diocese of Toowoomba. The theme – ‘A Spirited Tomorrow’ acknowledges the 175th anniversary of the opening of the first Catholic school in Queensland, the long tradition of Catholic education and its continued relevance in preparing students for the future.

The day began with mass led by Bishop Robert and ended with a reflective retreat on the Warrego river. It was a wonderful day to reflect on our mission together and to connect with staff from other Catholic schools.

Our students also celebrated Catholic Education Week with a school liturgy last Friday. The focus of the liturgy was ‘Belonging’.

On the day, we also farewelled Fr Peter Doohan who is relocating to Toowoomba to take up a new appointment as Parish Priest at Helidon and administrator at the Crows Nest Parish. We sincerely thank him for his support and dedication to our Parish school and the far west community. May you go forward into the next chapter of your life journey with faith, knowing that your hard work and endless efforts in this region have enriched and helped those you served. We look forward to welcoming Fr Warren Padilla to our Parish community.

Kindy to Prep Transition

To support the Kindy students who will be beginning Prep in 2021, we have begun the transition to school process. The first step in this process, is for the Kindy students to become familiar with key staff members and the Prep students from Sacred Heart. I had the pleasure of reading the story, First Day by Andrew Dadoo, to the Kindy class. They were very interested in meeting me and listening to a little girl’s story about her first day of school.

Miss Crawford reading a story to the Kindy class.

The Sacred Heart Prep students have also visited the Kindy for a play date. They thoroughly enjoyed making new friends (or seeing their younger siblings), playing outside games and singing songs. We are looking forward to the Kindy visiting us in the next couple of weeks for a Teddy Bears Picnic.

COVID-19

At Sacred Heart, we continue to be vigilant with cleaning and hygiene protocols within our school community.

The staff continue to ask children to:

• wash their hands regularly with soap and water, particularly before and after eating, and after going to the toilet;
• use alcohol-based hand sanitiser if soap is unavailable;
• cover coughs and sneezes with a tissue or the inside of their elbow;
• dispose of used tissues in the bin immediately;
• apply social distancing as far as possible at school.

We ask parents to ensure they do the following if their child develops flu like symptoms:

• keep the child at home and seek advice about undergoing COVID testing
• contact your doctor or contact 13 HEALTH (13 43 25 84) immediately
• call ahead to the medical centre or doctor’s surgery, advising of your child’s symptoms

Have a great week.

Miss Polly Crawford
Principal

Prep/1 News

Here in Prep/1 we have been working really hard to achieve our very best in our learning each day. Homework is well and truly back with some additional tasks for the last two Terms of the year. I encourage students to bring back their Homework folders at the end of each week to ensure they are participating in all the fun. Guided Reading Groups occur every morning expect for Friday’s and students have been working really hard to apply a range of reading and decoding strategies. Students are to be commended on their behaviour over the last few weeks and their ability to persist through challenging tasks and engage with others fairly. Our Axolotl, Buttercup is also settling into our classroom very nicely and has provided a beautiful bond with the students of Prep/1. Keep up the great work Prep/1 students and a big thank you to all the parents for always having students ready to go at the start of each day.

Miss Cornelius
Prep/1 Teacher

Year 2 News

Here we are in week three already and there’s lots happening in our year two classroom. During Maths, we are continuing to explore number to one thousand and have also spent a couple of weeks learning how to tell o’clock and half past on analogue and digital clocks before studying our Australian coins and exploring their value.

In our English unit, we are looking at the structure of narratives before embarking on a study of information texts, all related to our unit on machines. We can identify the beginning, middle and end of fiction texts on the subject and discuss setting and characters. We’ve also been busy in our guided reading lessons, all the time conscious of getting our little people to the required benchmark by year’s end. Thank you for your commitment to our home reading programme, as it is getting results. We want all of our students to reach the benchmark set for year two students, not just some. I can’t stress the importance of this enough because reading is essential to learning, in all subjects.

We’ve enjoyed learning about the childhood and youth of Jesus in our RE unit and look forward to a visit from Sr Maureen shortly to tell us about her trip to Israel, the birthplace of Jesus. She’ll explain what the country looks like now and answer our questions that have surfaced during our lessons so far. In our Science ‘Machine Makers’ unit, we’ve been identifying ‘push’ and ‘pull’ both at school and home and we get to view Catie’s Amazing Machines on ABC Kids twice a week. It’s a real crowd pleaser. More on that as the term progresses. Our theme continues in History with an exploration of machines from ‘old’ to ‘new’ and we’ve arranged them along a timeline. We have also used Encyclopaedia Britannica to learn the definition of a machine.

Skipping has been our emphasis in movement to date and we are delighted with the results we’re seeing there also. Some have gone from complete hesitation to competence. They love it, so if you have a skipping rope at home, they can practise further.

Mrs Shellshear
Year 2 Teacher

Year 3/4 News

Terrific week two and three! This past fortnight the students have been learning the language features and structure of informative texts. They will be writing their own in week five based on the topic of World Explorers. During science, we have been playing games to test forces (tug of war for friction and balloon bounce for gravity). The students have all been working hard to climb up our multiplication champion ladder, I am hoping they are continuing practicing recalling their facts at home so that they can receive a golden ticket and attend the end of Term Party. We have all been working together to further our fraction knowledge and understanding, the students have developed a lot of their mathematical vocabulary over the term and have made connections between the division and multiplication. I am looking forward to seeing everyone who is attending ‘Dance Club! On Monday and Wednesday in week 4!

Miss Sore
Year 3/4 Teacher

Year 5/6 News

In maths this week, we have been calculating the capacity of different containers using repeated addition. Not as easy as you would think! We had to full our cups repeatedly and tally how many times it took to fill it. To make it even trickier, on our last fill, we had to subtract how much liquid was left in our measuring cup to be 100 per cent accurate.

This week, we have had a range of spelling activities including hangman, word searches and our own version of scrabble. We got to pick out six tiles and tried to make the longest word possible. We found that we really struggled with words if we had no vowels in our set!

Miss Conlin
Year 5/6 Teacher

Class and Uniform Awards

This fortnight’s focus:

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

Last Fortnights Award Winners

Happy Birthday

Last fortnights Birthdays

MS Readathon

Do you remember the MS Readathon from your own school days? The concept hasn’t changed - read whatever you like, as much as you can, throughout August. But after 40 years, we’re starting a fun new chapter, with amazing features. We have a brand new interactive website where kids can rate and review the books they read!

From the Library

This term the Library is going to be super busy!! We have officially moved into our temporary library (The classroom beside the Church) until our new library is built. The plans are looking very exciting! This term library borrowing will take place on a FRIDAY. So, remember every Friday to bring your library books back. Also, this term we will have our Book Fair, due to COVID 19 we had to postpone our Book Fair. This term it will take place on the 12th – 14th August.

Book Fair will be open

Wednesday 12th August – 8.00am – 8.30am & 3.00pm – 3.30pm
Thursday 13th August – 8.00am – 8.30am & 3.00pm – 3.30pm
Friday 14th August – 8.00am – 8.30am & 3.00pm – 3.30pm

School Assembly

We have some good news.... school assemblies are back on in Term 3! Our next assembly will be held on Friday 7th August at 8:40am. We ask that parents who wish to attend sanitise their hands on entry and remember to social distance. We look forward to seeing you there.

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 and Miss Ferguson will be supervising the students.

We are now 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 seco nd 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

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

Tuckshop Roster

Sacred Heart Parish

The Sacred Heart Parish church has received approval from Bishop Robert McGuckin to open again for weekend Eucharistic Service. A Covid-19 Plan has been developed and will be implemented to ensure effective hygiene practices are in place as well as social distancing measures. We look forward to meeting as a Parish again very soon.

Sacred Heart Op Shop on the Verandah of the Convent

Opening Days and Times

Monday, Wednesday, Thursday & Friday
9am – 12pm

They have loads of School Winter Track Tops and Pants for $3 each. They have sizes 4-16. They also have loads of new and pre-loved items available for purchase. Come in and browse around. I’m sure you will find a bargain!!!!

First Communion

Contact Sister Maureen if you wish for your child to be included in the First Communion class. There will be a meeting for parents on Thursday 20th August 2020 to outline the program and the commitment this means for parents and children. Please Ph 0428 536930 if interested by Friday 14th August.

Church Times

Sunday 2nd August – Eucharistic Service @ 9.00am
Sunday 9th August – Eucharistic Service @ 9.00am
Sunday 16th August – Mass @ 5.30pm
Saturday 22nd August – Mass @ 5.30pm
Sunday 23rd August - Mass @ Eulo 9.00am

Community News

Sacred Heart School Garage Sale

Sacred Heart School are holding a garage sale to clean out the old library for the new!! There are lots of bargains to be picked up e.g. keyboards, chairs, Xbox, Tv and much more. Come to the Sacred Heart Library on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday of this week and next week from 3:00-4:00pm. Contact the school office if you have any questions.

Term 3 Important Dates