Senior School News
Celebrations in Senior School
Congratulations to our wonderful Year 6 students who celebrated their Sacrament of Confirmation this week. A heartfelt thank you to Ms Maloney, Ms Newey, and Mr Homer for all of their hard work preparing our students for this special milestone. It was a proud moment for our school community and a meaningful step in the students’ faith journey.
Year 5
Literacy
Our Year 5 students have loved beginning Dirrarn, the second book in our series, which follows a young Aboriginal girl named Mia and the trials and tribulations she faces as the only Aboriginal student at her boarding school in Perth. Building on Mia’s story and her strong cultural identity, we have begun exploring the story of Jandamarra, an important Aboriginal figure from the late 1800s.
Students will soon begin writing an information piece about the life and death of Jandamarra, applying their writing knowledge to craft compound and complex sentences, use descriptive language, and incorporate the rich vocabulary they have been learning throughout the term.
Maths
In Maths, we have been focusing on decimals and how to accurately place them on a number line. Students are learning that tenths are larger than hundredths and thousandths, and they have been practising how to convert decimals into fractions. They have also been exploring decimats, which provide a visual representation of decimals and help students build a stronger understanding of place value.
Times Table Rockstars
Please make sure all students are playing TTRS each night for 5–10 minutes. Building automaticity in multiplication is an extremely important foundational skill for success in Maths. Regular practice helps strengthen recall and supports confidence when working with more complex number concepts.
Topic
Our students have been looking at structures and adaptation of plants around the school yard. We have looked at the biotic and abiotic factors that help plants thrive in different climates.
Book Presentation
Bookwork has been a big focus in Year 5 over the past few weeks, as we encourage students to take pride in their work and always aim for their personal best. It’s important that this continues at home through their homework and handwriting practice. This week’s homework has a strong focus on handwriting, along with a short Maths sheet to consolidate their learning.
Year 6
Literacy
In Literacy, our Year 6 students have begun their study of Tigg and the Bandicoot Bushranger. In the first few lessons, they explored the historical context of the Australian gold rush and what life was like on the goldfields, building important background knowledge for the novel. Students have also been developing their vocabulary and started reading the text, focusing on understanding the main character, Tigg, and the events in the opening chapters. It has been a great start, with lots of thoughtful discussion and growing curiosity about the story.
Religion
Our Year 6's have been working hard creating their Saints project for Confirmation.
STEM
In STEM the Year 5/6s have been learning about the pH scale and categorising food as acidic or alkaline. We have explored how pH affects taste, conducting experiments using pH test strips to measure the level of acidity of different fruit juices.
Some students were even brave enough to have a go at solving a logarithm equation - which is Year 10 level maths!
Womens AFL
We were lucky enough to send 14 girls to play against other schools in AFL 9's on Thursday. Our girls left everything on the field and represented Sacred Heart. Our girls did a fantastic job throughout the day and ended up falling short by 5 points in the Grand Final.
Interschool Sport
Today we played against our other Sacred Heart teams for Interschool Sport, and the students had an absolute blast! These games also helped us finalise our teams for Lightning Premiership. Next week will be our final Interschool Sport session for the term. A big thank you to Mr Jaynes for organising these events that the children love so much — a lot of hard work and logistics go into planning these days, and we are very grateful for the opportunities they provide our students to build teamwork and have fun.
A gorgeous walk home from Peterson Oval after a wonderful Friday afternoon of footy. These three lovely boys were linking arms and chatting excitedly about what they’re going to wear to the disco next week. Don’t forget to get your tickets!
Matilda Tench
mtench@shsandringham.catholic.edu.au
Orla Moloney
omoloney@shsandringham.catholic.edu.au
Kate Newey
knewey@shsandringham.catholic.edu.au
Luke Homer