Dear Parents and Carers,

As we come to the end of another term and everyone is feeling the effects of a busy ten weeks, we thought we would give the children an opportunity to join in the fun of sporting finals by dressing in their favourite sporting team colour on Friday 23rd September. 

This will be a celebration of a wonderful term and the beginning of the holidays.

Public Holiday Next Thursday

Please remember that next Thursday 22nd September, is a Public Holiday and there will be no school. The reminders newsletter will therefore be sent home on Wednesday.

Year 2 Swimming

We had planned and organised for Kindergarten and Stage 1 to attend swimming classes this term but unfortunately due to staffing for Royal Life Saving only Year 2 will be going to swimming lessons this year. Next week they will participate in swimming at Bruce.

Pyjama Day for Vincent de Paul Christmas Appeal

We are looking forward to our Pyjama Day on Tuesday 20th September, to raise funds for purchasing toys for the St Vincent de Paul Christmas Appeal. Thank you to our Mini Vinnie team and Mrs Imbriano for organising this event. 

Stage 2 Whole Day Excursion to Birrigai 

We wish all the best to our Stage 2 students who will be enjoying a truncated camp experience next Wednesday 21st September. Unfortunately we were unable to have an overnight experience due to the CE COVID 19 restrictions.

Take care and keep safe

STEAM Classes Update

The children have developed many amazing new skills this term. 

• Kindergarten were scientists creating a journal of seeds germinating.
• Stage 1 have gained confidence as actors in their drama lessons.
• Stage 2 learnt to use the Ozobots, programming them to map the journey of Captain Cook.
• Stage 3 have amazed us all with their monologues of an immigration journey to Australia.

We are looking forward to more exciting STEAM inquiries during Term 4.

• Kindergarten will explore how to be effective and safe in an online community.
• Stage 1 are will be using Scratch Junior to learn a system of coding.
• Stage 2 and Stage 3 have an exciting partnership with Questacon planned. They will be using the Minecraft in Education platform to investigate cyber security. Information will be forwarded to parents and carers shortly about this exciting challenge. Stage 3 will need their iPads at school on Wednesday next week, 21st September, to prepare for the challenge.

Exciting times planned, Kerry Wode and Vanessa Miller

Yours faithfully,

Community Council

The results from the Annual School Survey conducted from 3-16 June 2022 have now been received and were considered by the Community Council at our Term 3 Open Meeting. The survey is conducted in two parts: one provides an opportunity for students in Years 4-6 to reply, the other is for parents and carers. The survey is an important tool for the School and the Community Council to understand the experience of children and families at Sacred Heart. We want to know what we do well and any areas which need a more focused effort. The survey also provides an opportunity to benchmark, through a region mean, those experiences with other primary schools in the Canberra and Goulburn archdiocese.

Community Council was very pleased to see that 52 students participated in the 2022 survey and that overall the results were positive. Some of the best results were in the areas of ‘Students feel classroom instruction is well-organised, with a clear purpose, and with immediate feedback that helps them learn’ and ‘Students feel teachers are responsible to their needs and encourage independence with a democratic approach’. The Council has asked the School to investigate two areas where the results were low, especially in comparison to the region mean. The first of these was that girls extracurricular activities (outside of sport) was lower than we would have anticipated. The second of these was that boys response to the measurement of ‘Students do homework for their classes with a positive attitude and in a timely manner’. The school has agreed to explore these results with the Year 4-6 students to understand more about their experiences in these two areas.

In the parents and carers survey, Community Council was pleased to note that the school scored above the region mean in all measures, with the highest results being in the categories of ‘Parents feel welcome’, ‘Inclusive school’ and ‘Safety at school’. However, the Council was careful to draw definitive conclusions from this part of the survey due to the extremely low response rate. The Council has identified a need for a greater promotion of the survey in future years and clearer communication with the parents and carers about what the survey measures and how the school uses the information it receives. Promotion will be easier now that Catholic Education has settled that early June will be the consistent survey period moving forward. However, before we get to June 2023, the Community Council has asked the school to do a handful of one off polls on particular questions from the survey so we can understand how parents feel now. The first of these will be on the question of whether ‘Parent activities are scheduled at times when I can attend’. Look out for the poll through Compass shortly!

If you have any questions about the Survey, or the work of Community Council more broadly, please email front office who will put you in touch with a Council member.

Thank you

Jacqueline Hrast

Deputy Chair, SHPS Community Council

Private Piano Tuition

Places have now become available.

Those parents who are wanting their child/children to have piano lessons, can contact the teachers directly on the following contact numbers;

• Mrs Hildegarde Mendoza Phone: 0417 580 975
• Mrs Pam Cox Phone: 0418 442 203
• Mr Craig Mewett Phone: 0409 151 887 / 6278 7382

Alex from Stage 3 presented a fantastic monologue about an immigrant.

Max showing his talent with his 3D art.

Simulation of a volcano, using mars bars presented by Leila and Georgia.

For news last week, Kindergarten White were experimenting with different materials and techniques for creating animal artworks.  

The Kindergarten children have been enjoying having 'Fluffles' the chicken in their class. Fluffles will return to the farm tomorrow.

Playgroup

Playgroup made playdough this week thanks to the donation of flour from Freya and Jasmin.

It was great to be outside on Tuesday in the beautiful sunshine.

Congratulations to the following students celebrating their birthday this week 

Tiana J, Aneka T, Isla P, Stella R.