Term 4 - Week 4 (25 October, 2024)

From The Principal

Dear Families, 

Collaboration is Key- At Sacred Heart, we believe that recognizing and celebrating good learning and social choices encourages more of these behaviours in everyone. We also value the learning that comes from making the right choices. This learning process often starts with a consequence, followed by a conversation about what should have been done and what will be done differently next time. This approach is most effective when both school and home engage in these discussions. Communication is key to achieving this partnership. 

When a child receives a minor behaviour consequence, you will receive a text message from the school, and your child will have 5 minutes out of play. Please encourage your child to explain what happened and what they will do differently next time. For major behaviour consequences, you will receive a call from a member of the school leadership team. If you are unavailable, a voice message may be left, or an email will be sent to inform you of our attempt to contact you. In both minor and major cases, the goal is to inform you so that the conversation can continue at home. 

Trivia Night Success– Thank you to our Parent Engagement Network (PEN) for their work in bringing together this night. When setting our PEN calendar for this year, all proposed activities needed to achieve 1 of 2 things (or both at the same time) – building parent engagement in learning or building community. The Trivia Night last week did the second of these, bringing parents and other community members together for a night of fun. Thank you to Zoe for being the work party leader and for Bernie for being our ‘Trivia Master’. Thank you too to all our teachers and parent volunteers who assisted on the night. Funds raised will be going to building the growing inventory of decodable readers and quality texts which are both integral to the teaching of reading. I think it’s safe to say that this event will be on the calendar again next year. 

Welcome Mrs Karen Lunn – Karen is the new face you have been seeing in our office on Mondays and Tuesdays.   

Karen worked at Fairview Primary School for the last 14 years and performed various roles as part of their staff. She lists 'supporting young families as they start in school' as one of her passions when working in a school.  

I know you will join us in welcoming Karen to our school community. 

God bless, 

Mr Tyronne Maher

From The APMI

Grandparents’ Day  

Next Monday we will be gathering as a school community to celebrate and acknowledge the important roles our grandparents play in the roles of our children. We invite all grandparents, parents or special guests to come to school on Monday afternoon to join us for a special afternoon with their grandchildren.  

Why do we celebrate Grandparents’ Day? In a perfect world, our grandparents play such an important role in our children’s lives! I acknowledge that not every family has this ideal situation or relationship with their child’s grandparents. There may be other special people who seem to step in as grandparents and that is just as special. We have so much to learn from the wisdom and lived experience of our grandparents. Personally, my grandparents are some of my favourite and cherished people that I have had the honour of knowing. My grandmother taught me so much about how we treat other people and approaching everyone from a place of compassion and knowing there’s a friend to be made in every situation, if you just take the time to get to know someone’s story. Grandparents hold a special place in our children’s lives, and we will dedicate Monday afternoon to saying thank you for the time and love our grandparents have shown.  

Mini Vinnies – Christmas Appeal 

Our Mini Vinnies Group will be doing good work in the wider community by collecting hampers that we will donate to the St Vincent de Paul’s Christmas Appeal as well as Yellow Bridge’s Yellow Bucket appeal. The Hampers will be delivered to families in our local community who have called upon Vinnies for a hand-up. To uphold the dignity of those receiving the hamper, please check that all food items are not due to expire for at least 6 months. All items must be non-perishables and undamaged.  

Below are some ideas you might like to consider putting into a family hamper.  

• Christmas pudding 
• Long-life custard, juice or milk
• Tea and coffee 
• Milo 
• Packeted biscuits 
• Christmas Lollies 
• Fruit cake 
• Tinned fruit 
• Cordial 
• Cereal 
• Shortbread 
• Jelly 
• Spreads – Jam, Vegemite 
• Pancake mix 
• Tinned vegetables 
• Gravy mix 
• Soup 
• Dried pasta 
• Pasta sauce
• Christmas bonbons and decorations
• Christmas gifts (new)  

Each class will receive an empty washing basket, and the aim is for each class to fill the basket with festive goodies and then we will split the donations between the St Vincent de Paul’s Christmas appeal and the Yellow Bridge’s Yellow Bucket appeal. Thank you in advance for any and all donations – I know that all the donations will go a long way to making another local family’s Christmas Day that little bit more special. If you or someone you know needs assistance, don’t hesitate to call the Vinnies helpline on 13 18 12. They’re there to listen and help. 

All Saints Day  

Come dressed as your favourite saint for our annual All Saints Day celebrations! This year we will be celebrating on Sunday 27 October around the 9 am High Mass. There will be lots of fun activities afterwards, along with morning tea so bring your family and friends. Follow @sacredheart.tba on Instagram and Facebook for updates and costume ideas. 

Jumble Sale  

Join us in supporting our parish at the upcoming Jumble Sale at Sacred Heart on November 3 and 24, from 7 AM to 12 noon! If you have any unwanted items at home, please consider donating them to the parish office by November 1. On the sale days, we’ll also have a delicious sausage sizzle and baked goods available. Thank you for your continued support—Fr. Hermi and the parish community truly appreciate it! 

Golden Ticket Winners  

Congratulations to the winners of the Golden Tickets from last week’s Gotcha draw!

Madut (5R), Ella J (4M), Garang (2J), Parker (2J), Earn (1T) and Henry (Prep C) will all receive an invitation in the coming weeks to the Pizza Party with Mr Maher.  

Assembly Prayer  

Thank you to the students of 1R and Miss Reed for sharing your learnings about Mary to start off our Week 2 Assembly. October is the month dedicated to the Most Holy Rosary so it was timely to reflect on the important role Mary plays in our lives.  

Colour Fun Run  

The hype around this event is amazing! Our School Fun Run is coming up in just two weeks! Thank you so much for your support so far. We have already raised over $6500 toward our goal of $10 000 for new reading resources.  

It’s not too late to create a profile or start fundraising. Just jump on funrun.com.au to get started. 

The greatest part of the event is if you are unable to donate yourself, you can share the link with trusted family, friends and colleagues. 

Event Details:  

Friday the 8th of November  
2:10 pm 
On the school’s oval  

What to bring: 

• Students will wear a white t-shirt, old or black runners, shorts that can be coloured/stained to school on Friday. 
• Water bottle
• Towel  
• Change of clothes (optional)  

 Please be aware that the coloured powder that will be used for the Colour Run is made up of corn starch (98.3%) and food grade dye (1.7%).  

 We are so excited to see all the HAPPY KIDS & PROUD PARENTS on event day! 

 Mrs Alice Lucas

Prayer of the Week

Student Protection Contacts

School Student Protection Contacts (SSPC) 
Our school has five School Student Protection Contacts. Mr Maher, Mrs Jackman, Mrs Lucas, Mrs Barrett and Ms Campbell. These are nominated staff members to whom students, staff and parents can raise concerns related to student safety. Although School Student Protection Contacts receive additional training, all school staff receive regular training and information to enable them to respond to student protection concerns. 

From The Middle Leader/Curriculum Co-ordinator

The Importance of Punctuality in Student Success  

 Ensuring that students arrive at school on time is crucial for their academic and social development. When students are punctual, they can join their peers right from the start of the day, participating in morning routines and activities that set the tone for effective learning. Being on time helps students feel more settled and ready to engage with their lessons, reducing anxiety and fostering a positive attitude towards school. It also allows them to benefit from the full range of educational opportunities, including important announcements in class morning meetings.  

 As the end of the school year approaches, students may start to feel more tired and less motivated. This makes monitoring of screen time, good sleep and rest even more vital. A consistent bedtime routine and ensuring that students get enough rest can help them stay focused and energized throughout the day. By maintaining punctuality and prioritizing rest, we can support our students in managing their energy levels and staying engaged in their learning.  

 Let's work together to help our students finish the school year strong, ready to take on each day with enthusiasm and readiness to learn!  

Mrs Charlie Barrett

From the Learning Support Teacher

Term 4 Transitions for the New School Year 

Changing to a new school or new class can be worrying for many children.  For students who have challenges in their learning or social or emotional skills, this may be quite frightening.  For parents it can also be a concerning time as they worry about how their child is going to fit in at a new school or in a new class.  Will the new teacher understand my child?  Will they cater for needs as the previous teacher did?    

The teaching and learning of students in our Catholic schools is a shared responsibility.  Gone are the days when teachers taught their classes in isolation to the rest of the school.  Through our Student Support Processes, Review and Response meetings and staff discussions, all teachers are familiar with all students in the school.  The challenges of each child, as well as the successes, are shared by everyone and many of us including teachers, school officers and leadership work together to support our students. 

Term 4 is a term of transitions, to ensure that our students and teachers are set up well for the new year.  A number of Prep transition afternoons have already been held this term.  Our Year 6 students have been involved in high school open days and Charlie Barrett has been working with parents of individual students to make their transition to high school successful. 

This term we will have transition discussions for the 2024 classes.  This will involve a review and hand-over of the Planning for Personalised Learning for individual students and discussion of student needs between current and future teachers during the 2024 pupil free days.  The DLP, our system for recording student information and achievement data, has been instrumental in building a profile of each student in our school.  The complete history of each student, including academic results, meeting notes, specialist information etc are kept here and teachers can quickly become familiar with a student’s history through viewing this.  This information can also transfer easily between schools in our diocese including St Mary's, St Josephs and St Saviour's.   

An ‘Up Morning’ will be held on Friday 22nd November.  Children entering Prep in 2025 are invited to attend school for the morning.  Students in other grades will move to their 2025 classrooms during this time.  

If you do have any concerns with your child’s transition to a new class or school, please contact myself, or your class teacher. 

Mrs Genny McNair

From the School Counsellor

How we can all help keep our students safe 

Australia’s biggest safety lesson occurs each year on a Friday, in the last week of October. The Daniel Morcombe Foundation’s objective is to acknowledge that as adults we must protect our children and provide safe communities. The Daniel Morcombe Child safety lessons and awareness program have been developed to help support school communities, be safe and vigilant for crimes against children. The Daniel Morcombe website is regularly updated with new information and resources to help school communities educate our children about ways that they can be safe.  

‘Stranger Danger’ which was taught in schools many years ago, referred to keeping our children safe in the local community that they lived, whereas now, in today’s fast paced world of technology, online safety - which extends beyond our local communities presents a real and present danger. Unfortunately, technological advances haven’t quite caught up to preventing childhood abuse online, all of which can occur without parents/carers or teachers’ knowledge.  Therefore, as adults we need to be vigilant in ensuring that we not only monitor what our children are accessing online but we need to ensure that we have parental controls in place to prevent, limit or block our children’s access to potentially inappropriate content. Through education we can all increase our knowledge and skills in helping our children feel safe.  

A key educational message from the Daniel Morcombe curriculum is that we teach our children to recognise, react and report when things don’t seem right. 

1. Recognise body clues- identify how they are feeling. At school, we often talk about the Zones of regulation, and asking children to identify how they are feeling? Are they feeling in the blue zone (less energy), are they feeling in the red zone (angry, or lots of energy) or are they feeling in the Yellow zone- (anxious, worried, scared). Often, it's our body clues that help us identify when things don’t feel right, and that we might be in danger.  

1. React is learning to respond to an unsafe situation. It's identifying that I don’t feel safe and that something isn’t right.  Teaching kids the skills about what they can do when they feel scared, anxious or worried and feel that something bad is about to happen.  

1. Report to a trusted grown up. Feeling unsafe is not a problem that children should try and solve on their own. Feeling unsafe should be reported, and children should be encouraged to speak up and not keep secrets.  Teaching children to report feeling unsafe or uncomfortable is vital to help ensure that children feel confident that their voice will be heard.  

The ‘Safety Hand’ which involves tracing a hand and then naming five trusted adults at home and at school that they trust is a helpful strategy in supporting our students identify who they might talk to if they felt that they were in danger.  

Through the Toowoomba Catholic Schools Student Protection Policy, School Student Protection Contact (SSPCs) are mandated, and these staff are at school and are identifiable by the school posters, our school’s website and through our newsletters. The SSPCs have received extra training in student protection to help support school communities be safe and to identify and report any children who may be at risk of abuse or harm.  

Additionally, I’d encourage all families to explore the free resources available online by the Daniel Morcombe foundation website: www.danielmorcombe.com.au 

I’d also encourage all families to have a conversation with their child about ‘child safety’ at home.  If this article has raised any concerns or questions please contact the guidance counsellor at your school, sarah.jackman@twb.catholic.edu.au 

Mrs Sarah Jackman

Classroom Awards

Meal Deal - Term 4

MEAL DEAL for Term 4

Funds raised support the 2024 Seniors and their end of year Grad Mag publication 

 Week 7 of Term 4  -  Wednesday, 13 November 2024 

 $5 meal deal – Sausage in Bread & Snow Cone 

Gluten free option available 

Orders on Flexischools - Link below

Prep Enrolment

The Arts

CHOIR:

Every Thursday afternoon 2.55-3.30pm in the Music Room.  

The choir is available for all students in Year 3 to 6. We are currently working towards preparing new songs for the Christmas Concert and starting repertoire for 2025. 

Choir members will be dressed a local Bethlehem people for the Christmas Concert. They will require a plain over coat/dressing gown and a tea towel or scarf as head dress. Can you please start sourcing these items and let me know if you have any concerns. 

If you would like your child to be involved in the choir, please contact Cherie Runciman, cherie.runciman@twb.catholic.edu.au  or send them along next Tuesday after school.   

DANCE CLUB:

The students have been busy working towards their performance for the Christmas Concert: An Animals Christmas Carol on the 29th November. 

 Junior Dance Club - Moths and Spiders 

Senior Dance Club- Black and White Dogs 

Junior Dance Club Equipment 

Black bike shorts for girls or plain shorts for boys Bike Shorts - Kmart 

Long sleeve black t-shirt Plain Long Sleeve T-shirt - Kmart Please bring by Friday 8th November. (We need to sew things to the shirt) Please let me know if you are happy to donate this shirt to our dance costumes. 

Black canvas shoes or black jazz shoes 

Senior Dance Club Equipment 

Black long leggings Plain Full Length Leggings - Kmart 

White t-shirt Short Sleeve Plain T-shirt - Kmart Please bring by Friday 8th November. (We need to sew things to the shirt) Please let me know if you are happy to donate this shirt to our dance costumes. 

Cheap black or white tutu shirt Adult Tutu -Black - Party planet (choicethediscountstore.com.au) This is something that will be returned to students. 

Black canvas shoes or black jazz shoes 

If you have any concerns about the costume, please contact Ms Cherie Runciman. 

INSTRUMENTAL PROGRAM:

We will be holding a Twilight Concert this term on Wednesday 13th November, 5.30-6.30pm. This concert is to showcase all the hard work the students have done over the year and to give them an opportunity to perform, which is a skill in itself. Please keep this date free! 

Lessons will continue on Wednesday with Miss Joy for Term 4.

There are still spots available for this year. If you would like to enrol your child, please fill in the online form below or contact me directly via email. Cherie.Runciman@twb.catholic.edu.au 

Christmas Concert: An Animals Christmas Carol 

We are currently working towards our Christmas Concert on Friday 29th November. This is a very big event for the student, as they get to perform on a large stage with lights and sound and in front of all their wonderful family and friends. 

Your class teachers have been sending out information regarding what your child needs for their costume. Please start sourcing these items early. 

Below is a table that lists each class and the item they need. Can I please reinforce that the clothing needs to be plain and have no patterns. You may be able to turn the clothing inside out. I have supplied links for some items. 

Ms Cherie Runciman

Sport

Swimming Block  

It has been wonderful to hear the hype around swimming this week. So many students have been having conversations about which swimming group/level they are in compared to their level from last year. I would like to thank all the parents for your support in ensuring the children have been ready to swim!  

Hockey in PE 

This week our students have been so lucky to have Development Officers from Toowoomba Hockey running hockey games in our PE lessons. Last year when we had Hockey in for 4 weeks, we saw a huge improvement in the students’ ability to control the ball with the stick and a greater spatial awareness of where they position their body in relation to their other teammates and the opposition players. There was a lot of interest to get involved in Hockey and I hope that this week’s PE lessons might have re-ignited the students’ excitement for Hockey as it really is a great sport! Thank to Mrs Wann for organising this opportunity for our students.  

Bike Safety  

This coming Tuesday the students from Year 4 – 6 will be participating in a free bike safety lesson. This is a part of the AusBike Roadshow program where expert AusCycling coaches will come to our school to facilitate a 1hr session. This is a new AusBike Learn to Ride program which has been created in conjunction with the Australian Government and the UCI Governing body which focuses on Safety.  

Riding to school or around town can be dangerous and that’s why AusCycling want to provide this program for students to learn how to be confident on a bike and understand how to be safe when riding around high traffic areas. The bikes and helmets are all provided by AusCycling and no bikes or helmets are to come to school for the lesson. All abilities and confidence levels will be catered for by the coaches and their classroom teacher. We will have photos in our next newsletter!  

 Mrs Alice Lucas and Mrs Kara Wann

SACRED HEART DISCO NIGHT

Darling Downs Health School Dental Service

Darling Downs Oral Health Services will soon be offering treatment to children attending Sacred Heart Primary School.  Treatment will be provided at Toowoomba North Dental Clinic. You may register your child for a check-up by completing the form that was sent home earlier this week and returning it to the school office no later than Friday, 31st October, 2024.  All children within your family can be registered on this one form.

HAIR WITH HEART - RUBY'S BIG CHOP

You can help by joining 'Team Ruby' and register for a chop yourself or by making a donation to help with wigs or other vital equipment. Time, date and Venue of Ruby's big Chop is to be advised.

Non State Schools - Transport Assistance Scheme

Vera Lacaze Kindergarten - 60 Years Celebration

The Uniform Shop

Uniform Shop hours:
Mondays (THIS INCLUDES PUPIL FREE DAYS) & Thursdays 8.00am - 10:30am.  If a Public Holiday falls on a Uniform Shop day, the Uniform Shop will be closed.

Please note during the Term 4 Prep Transition Afternoons the Uniform Shop will be open:

Thursday, 17th October 2.30 - 3.30 pm

Tuesday, 5th November 2.30 - 3.30 pm

PLEASE NOTE: WE CAN NO LONGER ACCEPT DONATIONS OF PRE-LOVED ITEMS
Thank you for your understanding in this regard.

*We accept EFTPOS only - NO CASH OR LAYBY*  

SCHOOL BAGS: School Bags are COMPULSORY to the WHOLE SCHOOL.
Do you have the correct bag?  These are available from the Uniform Shop for $39.50 

SCHOOL PULLOVERS - This is a compulsory uniform item for Years 1 to 6.

SPRAY JACKETS are compulsory for students in Years 1-6 only.
PREP STUDENTS DO NOT REQUIRE SPRAY JACKETS!

FREE BUTTONS available for boys’ red shirt, girls’ red and white blouse & Prep red polo.

Thank you for your continued support of the school’s uniform shop.

 Mrs Fay Rhodes
Uniform Shop Convenor

Sacred Heart Parish

Tennis Coaching 2024