Deputy News 

Dear Parents and families, 

It has been so lovely to see the students return happy and refreshed after their Spring holidays.  We certainly heard squeals of delight as the students reunited before school on Monday morning. I know many parents were happy for us to be back and into the swing of Term 4. 

There is  a wonderful sense of a calm around the school and in the classrooms as we continue to establish a consistent approach to our key learning areas and we are straight back into our full academic program. 

SWIMMING PROGRAM 

Next week we start our intensive swimming program so please ensure your child is ready to go with all the belongings they need. More details on Operoo. They will be tired so please keep that in mind over the next few weeks. 

THE WRITING REVOLUTION

In my role as English Leader, I have been fortunate enough to start some online training this week along with Sarah Rafferty, Kate Stroud and Jayne Mackay. The training has been about  a  writing approach that we will delve into further next year called 'THE WRITING REVOLUTION.' This is an evidence based program which will ensure we have a  consistent approach to writing across our school. 

This program focuses on strategies to improve student writing, reading comprehension and analytical thinking. 

Children fundamentally find it difficult to write as there are so many aspects that have to come into play for them to be good writers. Research shows  and from our own experience and observations that many students write the way they speak. Writing is quite a different skill all together, where they need to include structure, consider the audience and include their background knowledge. Using the Hochman method, our goal is to move from oral language structures to write using a  structured writing approach. 

When writing, students have to focus on the fundamental skills of handwriting , spelling, capitalisation and punctuation and then once they have mastered these skills, they can explore further the semantics, purpose, syntax , and audience. 

We are excited to learn and implement this program across our school and our TWR team will trial aspects of this program this term and then introduce across the whole school next year. 

Our Prep, Year 1 and 2 teachers had  a literacy meeting this week, where we did some writing moderation using the Victorian curriculum to assess where our students writing is placed. This is done regularly across teaching teams  and will be done again before reports.  

Sarah Rafferty also lead the junior team in using the Writing Revolution in their work program in the coming weeks. We are taking one step at a time to introduce this approach to our students and will introduce it across the whole school in 2023. 

This is an exciting time as we introduce a structured, consistent approach to writing to support all students, regardless of their age or skill level. 

We will also introduce a new spelling program in 2023 called  Spelling Mastery to our middle and senior students, 3-6 which aligns with our MSL and TWR approaches. 

ST VINCENT DE PAUL FUNDRAISER 

I can't write  this weeks newsletter without acknowledging our amazing Year 5/6 staff and students. From the amazing organisation, preparation and baking  for their brilliant stalls on Thursday to the Year 6's experiencing sleeping out on a wet night, they have done an incredible job fundraising for St Vincent de Paul. A huge thanks go to the 5/6 teachers Jayne Mackay, Dara Blake, Simon Brown, Alice Healy and Meg Kehoe. The students are very lucky to have you as their teachers and for giving them life long memories and learning to be grateful for the lives they live and making a difference to help others. 

"The St Vincent de Paul Society is a lay Catholic organisation that aspires to live the gospel message by serving Christ in the poor with love, respect, justice, hope and joy, and by working to shape a more just and compassionate society."

LITTLE HEARTS PLAYGROUP

A reminder that Little hearts playgroup will return next Friday 14th of October after assembly in our library. We really look forward to welcoming our little hearts back to Sacred Heart. 

SCHOLASTIC BOOK FAIR 

On the 14th, 15th and 16th of November we will be running a Scholastic Book Fair in our Mackillop Hall from 9:15-8:45pm and 3:15-3:45pm on each of the 3 days. Great idea to purchase Christmas presents and support our school as we receive benefits from Scholastic depending on how much is spent. 

Scholastic Australia is ready to support our efforts to inspire and motivate our students to become lifelong readers! Scholastic have partnered with schools all over Australia to enhance school programs and activities to focus on this important foundational skill.

Research has shown that 15 minutes a day can make a lifetime of difference to a child’s reading ability. Other factors that help children excel in reading are:

1.            ACCESS to the best books

2.            CHOICE in what they read

3.            PRACTICE time to read

4.            FAMILY INVOLVEMENT in reading activities.

1/2 FUNDRAISER for REMEXIO

Following on from our amazing fundraising work in 5/6 our younger students in Year 1/2 have been working on an inquiry unit about our sister school in  Remexio and helping others in need. They had some gorgeous hand made items on sale after school TODAY. Thank you to the 1/2 families for coming along to support another great cause. Thanks to the 1/2 teachers and Heather Mcgrath for her support with sourcing the goods for sale from Remexio. As of this afternoon they raised $340.10 and a few more pencil cases are available if anyone is still interested? 

Wishing you all  a safe, healthy and restful weekend,

Brigid Pennington

Deputy Principal , Learning Diversity & English Leader