Swim and Survive Program Kindergarten and Stage 1

All children from K-2 should now be registered for the Swim and Survive Program.  if your child is not registered please register ASAP at Royal Life Saving Enrolments.

Here is the link to the note sent home with Kindergarten and Stage 1 students

Swim and Survive Program.

SZAPP Notices

Raffle Tickets Due Back on Friday 13 September 2019

A reminder that all raffle tickets must be returned to school by this Friday, 13th September, either sold or unsold.

If you have misplaced them, you will need to come into the office and sign a Statutory Declaration as all tickets must be accounted for.

Thank you

Fete Committee

Head Lice

We have a confirmed case of headlice in Stage 2.  Parents are asked to check their children.

Please see the information sheet below if you require further information.

Head_Lice_fact_sheet.pdf

Thank you

Stage 2 Teachers.

Do you live in Torrens, Pearce or Chifley?

Are you going for a walk in your neighbourhood in the next few days? We have a few areas divided up into hour-long walks, to distribute flyers for the fete. If this is something you would like to help us with, please see Shari at the front office to grab a map and a handful of flyers.  This will ensure every house in those suburbs receives  information about the fete.

Thank you

Mrs Kerry Wode

Masses

We have been advised by the Parish office that the Masses that were scheduled for Stage 1 on the 20th September and Stage 2 on the 27th September have been cancelled. We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause.

Regards

SHPS Staff

My Body, My Life Presentation

A reminder that the My Body, My Life presentation will be held in the Hall (girls) and 5/6N (boys) on the 16th September at 6pm. 

Please see the note below.

My_Body_My_Life_Parent_Information_Session.pdf

Dear Parents and Carers,

It’s been a big couple of weeks preparing for the FETE, Stage 2 camp and K-2 swimming lessons. We have had a Community Council meeting and a Be You Action Team meeting in the past weeks, which always focuses us on what is happening strategically at Sacred Heart.

Staff took the time this week to look at our Annual Improvement Plan. We identified what we have already achieved this year, what is still left to do and in some instances, what we have had to strategically abandon.

We are pleased to note that ‘A shared approach to inquiry learning, being developed, documented and consistently used in all classrooms’ is one success measure we are well on track with, having implemented a new scope and sequence for our Inquiry Curriculum last year, with teachers reflectively implementing it this year.

We launched life-long learning skills and the language to talk about learning with our ‘Learning Assets’ this year. Work is going well with this introduction in the classroom. We have identified some further needs with communicating these to our wider parent body, and have some ideas around how to go forward with this.

We have implemented Phase 2 of changes to our Religious Education Curriculum quite well and noted that staff, through professional learning and dialog, are using the Three World of the Text in bringing the words of the bible meaningfully alive to the students, in a much more confident manner.

Welfare Officer

While John Bourke continues to be on leave, we have made the decision to fill his position, under the chaplaincy grant, in the best interest of supporting students and staff for the remainder of the year.

Mrs Maria Lustri is extending her hours to include working as Welfare Officer on Thursday. A substantial part of her time will be used to facilitate the Seasons for Growth groups.

Mrs Natasha Barrenger will join our staff, working Monday, Tuesday and Thursday each week, between the hours of 9.15am and 2.45pm. The children have thoroughly enjoyed meeting Mrs Barrenger this week. Tash comes with a range of experience and is a welcome addition to the team.

Fundraising and Celebrations

In answer to a question earlier this week, I wanted to share again our major fundraising schedule.

Christina H continues her run of artistic success. She has been awarded a Highly Commended in the ACT Threatened Species Art Competition. 

Her teacher Mrs Imbriano (who is taking credit for teaching Christina all her artistic skills!) offered this opportunity to interested students. Christina decided to take the opportunity to enter and now adds another certificate to her collection. Well done.

To focus on the importance of numeracy Year 5/6 leaders guided their group through an investigation called 'Heads and Legs'. Children had to investigate the number of roosters and cows on a farm. Children also had fun playing 'Snakes and Ladders'. Through these activities children could see the importance of selecting and using appropriate mental strategies to add. 

The Year 5/6 leaders facilitated a variety of literacy activities that encouraged listening and communicating with others. The children all chose a piece of their own writing and participated in a shared reading circle. They read and viewed popular story books and responded with enjoyable hands-on activities. The children are to be commended on the courtesy they displayed whilst sharing stories and their enthusiasm towards reading and working together as a community of learners.

Lisa Binutti-Wilson and Katie Imbriano

Stage 3 Lawn Bowls

Over the past four weeks, Stage 3 have been learning and participating in Lawn Bowls. The students have gained valuable knowledge and skills about the game from Patrick and Denise from ACT Lawn Bowls. The children’s confidence and technical play improved throughout the weeks and this was demonstrated in a special event on Monday, where children competed in a mini Lawn Bowl competition. Patrick and Denise were impressed with the progress the students made, their dedication and self discipline.  The students gathered to cheer on a representative from each class with great enthusiasm and the CEO of Lawn Bowls ACT Kate Lyttle presented Samara, Lana and Jasmine with medals. 

Our Community Council Executive met this week to move forward on a number of plans for this year and next. 

Fete! Fete! Fete!

We won’t have another fete until 2022. This could be your last chance to get involved and volunteer. You can register with your friends, family or neighbours to spend an hour or two on one of the stalls. 

SHPS K-6 

We have a sub-committee of parents working on a marketing plan to promote the value in committing from Kinder through to Year 6.  There are so many great things happening in our school and we want the community to have all the information they need to make an informed decision. This is an opportunity for families to understand the benefits of seeing their children grow from Kinder to Year 6. Keep your eye out early in Term 4 for a Junior School parent evening where parents, teachers and students will have the opportunity to discuss the Sacred Heart value.

Internal Courtyard

How can we make the internal courtyard a great place for our children to learn in or use as a place for relaxation?  Come and have a look at the space and drop Kerry Wode an email if you have any ideas! We already have plans for a shade sail. 

50th Anniversary Celebrations

The 50th Anniversary activity planning continues thanks to Josie L and the team. Several ideas are beginning to take shape with main events being locked in.  A dinner dance will take place at Canberra Southern Cross Club, a trivia night will be hosted at the school and  a yearbook will be published. The staff and students will take part in a special photo next term in preparation.  Please look out for important dates for your calendar in Term 4.

Be You 

The Be You committee have met to review school survey results and will meet again early in Term 4 to put together an action plan to take us into 2020.

Student Voice

Earlier this term at our Open Council meeting, Mia W (Year 6) attended the meeting as the voice of the students, following a discussion with Stage 3 on matters to raise.  One topic of interest is the student toilets. The Council and Kerry Wode agreed this is a great opportunity for Stage 3 to put together a proposal on how to make the bathrooms fresher. We look forward to hearing their ideas at the next Community Council meeting. 

YMCA School Holiday Program

Finally, it has been noted by a number of parents that there is no YMCA school holiday program offered on the southside.  We have proposed that the Principal engages YMCA in discussions to see if a presence in 2020 is possible.

Suggestions

If you have a suggestion to raise or idea to share, please contact the SHPS Community Council via the front office, attention Sarah Lloyd.  

Sarah Lloyd | Catherine Woods | John Berry | Jac Hrast | Sharon Poole | Josie Lazetta | Brendan Mitchell | Kerry Wode | Anne Staines | Fr Richard Thompson. 

Well done to everyone that has contributed to our Lids for Kids initiative. We have filled our first bin and our tops are on their way to becoming bionic limbs for children in need. Please continue to bring in your lids as we will be continuing this initiative for the remainder of the year.

Congratulations to the following students celebrating their birthday in September

Noah T, Emily Mc, Lilija S, Olive P D, Lucas V, Elysia G, Mitchell D, Jennifer T, Taya L, Christina H, Howell L, Quintin C, Cameron Mc, Tiana J, Aneka T, Stella R, Joe R, Sophie S, Josephine A, Daksh M, Catherine RB, Liam C, Louise Q, Halle R.