Deputy News 

Dear Parents and families, 

Its been another incredible fortnight at Sacred Heart with the end of year excitement really ramping up and planning for 2023; there is certainly lots happening across our school community. 

TWR- The Writing Revolution

Last week four of our staff Kate Stroud, Sarah Rafferty, Jayne Mackay and myself completed 6 weeks of online training inThe Writing Revolution, (TWR) a writing program we have been trialling throughout our school this term. It is an explicit writing program that teaches students how to write a proper sentence right through to essay writing in secondary school. It can be taught in the context of learning in  a variety of subject areas. This program will be formally implemented right throughout our school next year. 

Over the past fortnight I've had the opportunity to teach some of the TWR The Writing Revolution in years 3/4 when they were writing about their Zoo Snooze experience. We discussed  and brainstormed their experiences and looked at nouns, verbs and adjectives . Using the Summary Sentence scaffold we  really nutted out the WHO, WHAT, WHEN, WHERE, WHY, HOW to support their writing. They then wrote some impressive summary sentences. Today in our next lesson the 3/4's learnt about Topic sentences and supporting evidence and the importance of a strong closing sentence. I look forward to seeing their final writing pieces about their amazing Zoo experience. 

In the year 1/2 classroom I had the opportunity to teach the students about types of sentences and their knowledge of Statements, Questions,  Exclamations and Commands was very impressive. They were even able to use  interactive technology using Slido to consolidate their knowledge. They blew my socks off when they wrote some impressive Command sentences from the Story Jack and the beanstalk. Congratulations 1/2RS!

I also had the chance this week to witness some amazing inquiry work with the 1/2 students who are creating some entertainment and toys  for Michael the rabbit using a STEM inquiry process. Their designs were coming along well and their co-operative group work was excellent. I can't wait to see the final products and I'm sure Michael will be pretty happy too.

SCHOLASTIC BOOK FAIR 

Our Sacred Heart Book fair was a huge success this week and a heartfelt thanks to Simon Collis and Karen Mathiesson for their assistance in setting it up and to the parents who offered their assistance each morning and afternoon, it was very much appreciated. We also thank our community for supporting our Book fair, despite the weather. It was a wonderful opportunity to buy Christmas gifts. I think a few staff may have spent up big for their very lucky granddaughters, grandsons, nieces and nephews!

Many students and parents will be enjoying reading their new books. The pens, posters  and novelties were a huge hit too. Our school will gain a financial benefit of almost $1,000 from the fair as our community spent over $4,500. This money will go towards Literacy resources for the new programs we are running in our school next year including The Writing Revolution and Spelling Mastery.

Mum's Netball Match

I had the pleasure of witnessing the Sacred heart mum's in full action on the netball courts on Sunday 6th November. The weather was kind to us and the enthusiasm was second to none. Congratulations to Amanda Molony and Helen Lonsdale for co-ordinating the event from this end and Rob Simpson for being a great MC and Liam Molony for his DJ skills.   A wonderful cause to support disadvantaged youth - TeamSport4All.  It was a real delight that Sacred Heart were the winning champions on the day but the friendly sportsmanship with Sandy East and the community feel on the day was something very special to be a part of.

LITTLE HEARTS PLAYGROUP

We enjoyed another beautiful morning with our Little Hearts today. Back by popular demand Carol Mathias our LSO came with her guitar in hand to teach us some new songs and we had  a lot of fun with the maracas and bubbles again. The sun was shining so it was a perfect morning to enjoy some lovely outdoor play. We have set up a WhatsApp group for playgroup so if you would like to join please let me know. Our next and final  playgroup for the year is on Friday 2nd December where we will all wear a touch of Christmas and bring  along a plate of Christmas food to share and enjoy some Christmas songs. We hope any local  pre-schoolers can join us. 

FRIENDLY REMINDER- No hat, no play!

Now the weather is warmer please ensure all students have their named hats at school for outdoor play and PE lessons. If they don't have their hats they will be playing in the shade as we are a sun smart school. 

Wishing you all  a wonderful and restful weekend, enjoy the sunshine and happy reading, 

Brigid Pennington

Deputy Principal , Learning Diversity & English Leader