Sacred Heart Primary School, Cunnamulla eNewsletter

Principal Report

As another school year comes to a close, it is important to reflect on the many enriching experiences our students and school community have enjoyed over the course of the 2022 school year. The Sacred Heart community have alot to be proud of and to celebrate. This year we received an extremely positive School Renewal and Improvement Report that will guide our next cycle of strategic planning with Ignite Learning at the forefront. We’ve continued to achieve great growth in our reading and NAPLAN data, learnt and implemented a number of feedback strategies to improve learning outcomes, celebrated Miss Daly receiving an Excellent in Teaching and Learning award and much more. We have also reviewed and updated our school Behaviour Support Plan, to incorporate and explicitly teach our students how to use and practice the skills of our Habits of the Heart and Mind. This has seen our termly behaviour celebrations turn into celebrations of our Habits of the Heart and Mind.

The outcomes we have achieved this year would have not been possible without the many people who contribute to our school community across the year.

I would like to sincerely thank;

Our wonderful teachers and school officers for their continued dedication and hard work in supporting student learning. They have worked hard to set and improve learning goals for each and every student and model exemplary behaviour expectations.
Geoff from SWIN sports, for his fabulous sports lessons and Indigenous games he teaches every week during family rotations. Our students thoroughly enjoy learning and participating in your sporting and cultural activities.
Deadly Choices, for providing wonderful lessons throughout the year about Healthy Lifestyles and supporting our school in any way possible.
The Cunnamulla Police Officers, for always lending a helping hand when needed and supporting our students in every way they can.
Dan McKellar and Lawrence Anderson for taking our students on country and teaching many important and wonderful things about the Indigenous culture and the land on which we live. Your lessons are inspiring to all those who are a part of them.
Tony Fett and the Parent Partnership Forum for your continued support in holding many fundraising activities throughout the year by holding donut stalls, BBQs, buying books for students and supporting our school in anyway possible. Also to Cassie White, for ensuring that our tuckshop continues to run for our students each week.
Fr Shane for his continued support ensuring our students experience vibrant liturgies and school Masses.
And to our students. Watching your growth, energy and enthusiasm towards learning has been a joy to be a part of! Keep striving for the stars!

I hope you all have a happy and restful Christmas break with family and friends. As I take maternity leave next year, I leave with confidence in Mrs Cara Haig and all our staff to continue the improvement agenda of the school into next year. I look forward to introducing you all to baby Goodman in 2023.

Report Cards

Report Cards will be available for collection on Wednesday 30th November.

School Magazine

School magazine will be available on Carols night. Could you please Pre-order with Mrs Crick at the office.

Acting APRE Appointment 2023

I am pleased to announce the appointment of Ailie Lewis to the position of Acting APRE at Sacred Heart Primary School, Cunnamulla.

Ailie is an experienced teacher with over 7 years’ experience teaching primary students. She is currently the Year 2 classroom teacher at St Mary’s Warwick and is looking forward to experiencing life in the west and becoming a member of the school and wider community.

Ailie has completed a Masters of Teaching Primary from the University of New England, and more recently participated in the REAP program through Toowoomba Catholic Schools. Ailie strives to produce authentic teaching and learning experience that encourage lifelong learners who are culturally aware, empathetic and compassionate citizens using the lens of Jesus’ teaching actions as the cornerstone of their lives. Ailie will begin her journey leading the religious life of the school and overseeing the teaching and learning of the Religious Education curriculum, as well as the implementation of the Illuminate Strategy at Sacred Heart.

We look forward to working with Ailie in this new role.

Polly Goodman

Principal

Prep

We have made it to the end of another year! This has been a very busy but exciting and memorable year in the Prep classroom. Over the last two weeks, we have worked to finalise assessment, start Christmas craft activities and began cleaning and organising our classroom for the next group of Preps.

We have our last swimming lesson for the year this week. Thank you to Miss Maryann for all your hard work each week teaching us how to swim. It has been so much fun and we can’t wait to jump back in the pool with you again next year!

The students were lucky enough to spend the morning with their teacher for next year, Miss Charlton. The Preps came back very excited and energetic, sharing all the fun activities they participated in.

A special shoutout to Mrs Fett for your continued dedication and support within the Prep classroom. We cannot thank you enough for all you do to help support the Prep students within their learning and have loved having you in our classroom.

I would like to say a big thank you to all parents, families and friends for your continued support this year. The Prep students have had a very successful and enriching start to their schooling journey. It has been a fantastic year and the students, myself and Mrs Fett have made many memories. I wish all the best to the Prep students for next year when they embark on their next journey in Grade 1. A safe and happy holiday to all and I look forward to seeing you all again next year!

Miss Aimee Bretherton

Prep Teacher

Year 1

It’s true when they say, ‘time flies when you’re having fun.’ We have had so much fun in Year One it feels as though the first day of school was merely yesterday and yet here we are in the final days of the school year. The past fortnight has been jam-packed with assessment, revision and end of school fun. We created puppet shows in religion about the different roles of people in our local parish. We began practicing our Christmas concert performances and have continued strengthening our swimming skills.

Exciting news… our baby books have been published!!! We invented some creative new Bluey characters such as Bob a silly dog who likes to get stung by bees and Pearl a disgusting puppy who poops in the bathtub. Be sure to ask your child about their new character and keep and eye out for the baby book which will be sent home this coming week.

As this will be our last newsletter for 2022, I feel it appropriate to capture student voice on their year one highlights.

Ava-May: Doing Christmas activities like making the angels.

Isla: Making friends with Emmett when he moved to Sacred Heart.

Heather: Making the Christmas baubles.

Charvee: Doing the 100s board puzzle game.

Lucy: When the Easter Bunny visited us.

Lincoln: Making our boats that float and doing Christmas craft.

Lake: Having free time.

Mia: Making boats in science.

Natarlia: Playing loads of games.

Emmett: Decorating the Christmas tree.

Miss Davidson: I have enjoyed getting to know each of my students. I have loved laughing, being curious, having fun and learning with them. I honestly could not pick one favourite moment because the whole year was perfect. Thank you Year One for a beautiful year.

I wish you all happy holidays and a very merry Christmas.

Miss Abby Davidson

Year 1 Teacher

Year 2

As the school year draws to a close, we have been finishing off assessment and enjoying a bit of down time after what has been a very big year. The children have all worked so hard and the growth in learning, has been very pleasing. This does not happen without a lot of effort and the holidays that are looming closer, can’t come fast enough for some ! I know each year we are amazed at the speed with which the months slip by but this year seems to have passed even more quickly.

In English lessons, we have been typing up our persuasive letters to Santa to get in them in the post on time, in addition to testing the children’s reading and comprehension. Most have experienced high growth this year and I encourage you to keep the reading up at home during the holidays.

During maths, we have continued our exploration of data collection and representation, in addition to describing the properties of 3D shapes. Assessment has been high on the agenda, as we near the end of the year.

We have moved onto the story of the nativity in religion lessons, as we explore the season of advent and what it means. We have also been practicing our items for the carols night, one of which was an assessment task for music this term, that focuses on rhythm and beat. We have also had one transition day, where the classes got to experience life in their new classroom in 2023 and they shall have another opportunity to do so again on Monday.

All in all, a busy time interspersed with some fun Christmas activities by way of reward. I wish you all a happy, safe and restful holiday and look forward to seeing my year 2 class progress to year 3 in the New Year.

Mrs Jenny Shellshear

Year 2 Teacher

Year 3/4

The end of the year has come at full speed and I cannot believe we are on the home stretch! Over the last fortnight, the Year 3-4 students have been working hard to complete all their assessment tasks for the year.

We have completed our songs and I have to say, we may have some aspiring musicians and song writers in this class! The students worked very hard to create a song that was all them and that matched the original songs music. Look out for these kids in the future of the music industry!

We also had the pleasure of hosting our parents for a Class Christmas Celebration. The turn out of parents, grandparents, guardians and other family members was truly amazing and we all appreciate your support and attendance. The students, and myself, had an absolute ball! We had ginger bread houses, ugly Christmas sweaters, Polish biscuits, lollies, fruit platters, decorations and much more. The students have worked hard to plan, design and create these items.

Thank you all for a wonderful year, I have enjoyed my time in the Year 3-4 room, getting to know the Year 3’s and continuing to learn more about the Year 4’s. I wish them all the best for next year with their new teachers! Enjoy your holidays, have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Miss Ellie Charlton

Year 3/4 Teacher

It has been an exciting and eventful year. From The Survival Expedition to daily spelling activities, the Year 5/6 have demonstrated serious determination in their studies and have built their collaborative working skills. Seeing the growth within the classroom, both academic and personal, has been fantastic! I hope that all students continue using their learning dispositions, feedback strategies and habits of the heart in their next school year.

This fortnight, the Year 5/6 Students have been selling their product/service to the school community. Some groups have sold, pancakes, brownies, hair styling and bookmarks. All groups have done a great job creating a business plan and reflecting on the choices they have had to make. The Year 5/6 Students have also finished creating their advertisement to accompany their business. They did a great job thinking outside the box and incorporating advertising strategies.

Last week, the Year 6 Students celebrated the end of their primary school journey by enjoying a lovely dinner at The Club Boutique. It was wonderful seeing all their families and teachers celebrate their achievements and watch as the students were presented with their Year 6 shirts. The biggest highlight was seeing the dessert grazing table, that was enjoyed by all.

I would like to thank our wonderful teacher aides that have supported the class all year, Miss Ferguson and Miss Sam. This year would not have run so smoothly without you help. Thank you to the Year 6 parents and guardians for your support over the past two years. I wish all the Year 6 Students the very best for their next adventure to High School. I look forward to seeing the Year 5 students and parents around the school next year and hearing about life in Year 6.

I wish you all a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

Miss Lilly Daly

Year 5/6 Teacher

Class & Uniform Awards

Birthday Awards

Graduation

This Wednesday night 23rd November (TOMORROW) we will be holding our annual end of year Graduation ceremony. All students are expected to attend and please wear their Sports Uniform (White and Green). The evening will commence at 6pm, so if students could please arrive at 5.45pm it would be greatly appreciated. We also ask that all families please bring a plate to share for Supper afterwards (eg.,finger food, sausage rolls, sandwiches, mini pizza etc).

Christmas Carols

Swimming Carnival

Next Wednesday 30th November, we will be holding our annual Swimming Carnival. All students are to come to school in their Sports Uniform (White and Green) and then we will all walk over together. Parents are able to pick students up at the pool at 1pm. Can you please let their teacher know if this happening?

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:

Embed Link – https://www.twb.catholic.edu.au/parents-and-community/student-protection/

Our Schools Student Protection Contacts are:

Mrs Cara Haig (Deputy / LST)
Mrs Carolyn Crick (Administration Officer)
Ms Karen Bruggemann (School Guidance Counsellor)
Mrs Polly Goodman (Principal)

Pre-Prep Transition Day

Sacred Heart Primary School will be hosting our last Prep Transition day for this term. The purpose of these days is for new students to build relationships with staff and students and to become familiar and comfortable in the Sacred Heart school environment. We encourage all students who are enrolled to start Prep in 2023 to attend as well as those families who are still yet to decide where to enrol their child. The school leadership team are available to provide a school tour, discuss what Sacred Heart can offer your child and answer any of your questions.

Next Transition Date & Time

Day 4: Wednesday 28^th November 8:30am-12pm. Students will need to bring a hat, water bottle and packed morning tea.

The process for drop off and pick up

Parents are to bring students to the office on arrival and sign them in. This means that the students will be in the duty of care of Sacred Heart School. Parents are not required to stay with their child during these sessions. If your child is not already enrolled to begin in 2022, we will require emergency contact details and medical information to keep at the office.
Students will spend these sessions with Miss Aimee Bretherton (Prep Teacher 2022).
Parents are to pick up students at the set times and sign them out.

For more information, please contact the school office on 4655 1486.

Prep Enrolments 2023

Uniform Policy

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.