Term 4 Weeks 7/8
Principal's Message
It is crazy to think that we are halfway through Term 4. The year has gone very quickly and we have many things to look forward to coming up at the end of the year.
Attendance
The primary rationale for high-quality attendance data is the relationship between student attendance and student achievement. Teacher effectiveness is the strongest school-related determinant of student success, but chronic student absence reduces even the best teacher's ability to provide learning opportunities.
Students who attend school regularly have been shown to achieve at higher levels than students who do not have regular attendance. This relationship between attendance and achievement may appear early in a child's school career. A recent study looking at young children found that absenteeism in kindergarten was associated with negative first grade outcomes such as greater absenteeism in subsequent years and lower achievement in reading, math, and general knowledge.
Loss of learning time
Based on 5 x 1 Hour lessons of instruction per day
Important Dates
Friday 2nd December-2-3pm Swimming for Sport. (Buses & Parents to collect students from pool).
Tuesday 6th December - Graduation/Presentation 6pm
Friday 9th December-2-3pm Swimming for Sport (Buses & Parents to collect students from pool).
Friday 16th December 2022 - Last day of Term for the students
Friday 27th January 2023 - Staff return
Monday 30th January 2023 - Years 1-6 return
Monday 6th February 2023 - Kindergarten begin
ADVENT
On Monday we began our Advent season. We introduced the Advent Wreath, praying and lighting the first candle.
Advent is the beginning of the Church year for most churches in the Western tradition. It begins on the fourth Sunday before Christmas Day.
As we prepare our house for Christmas by putting up the tree, decorating our homes, sending cards and wrapping presents, we keep focused on what is at the heart of our preparations. We make time during Advent to prepare not only our homes, but our hearts and minds through prayer. We prepare ourselves for the birth of Jesus on Christmas Day.
As we light our Advent Candles each week, we pray that as the community of Sacred Heart we are preparing spiritually for the coming of Jesus at Christmas.
God Bless
Kylie
Staff Retreat
Last Friday the staff of Sacred Heart attended a Aboriginal Spirituality retreat day. The day began with a smoking ceremony performed by a local Wiradjuri elder Mr Ralph Naden. For thousands of years Smoking Ceremonies have been performed to cleanse places and people of bad spirits to promote the wellbeing of our people as well as guests on Country. Those present were invited to walk through the smoke for an individual cleansing and brushed with eucalptus branches to remove all the bad spirits. Darlene, Leanne and Karen from the Catholic Education Office discussed the resources available to implement in the curriculum. The staff then worked on a new Acknowledgement of Country to be used at our school events. The day finished with meditation and a water blessing. Thankyou to Ralph and the CEDB staff for a beautiful and spiritual day.
SPB4L
We speak and respond respectfully
Fundraiser
We are fundraising for the victims affected by flooding in our Diocese. The staff will be baking at school this Thursday and the following Thursday for the stalls. If you wish to bake some cakes/biscuits or slices to sell at either of our stalls it would be greatly appreciated.
Healthy Lunch Box
Term 4 Week 6 coming to the end of the year, the little things are important. For little brains to operate at their optimum we need to feed them healthy food. Sugary items (chocolates, lollies etc) are not recommended. Fruit, vegetables and proteins are ideal to keep their brains operating at full capacity all day. Thank you for supporting us in this.
End of Year Graduation Presentation
Enrolling for 2023
Naplan News 2023
Students in Year 3, 5, 7 and 9 will participate in NAPLAN online next year from March 15 - 27 March. Year 3 complete Reading, Conventions of Language and Mathematics online. Year 3 complete writing with pen and paper. Year 5 complete Writing, Reading, Conventions of Language and Mathematics online. All students are required to use headphones during the test so they can hear verbal instructions without disrupting other students. All students in Year 3 and 5 will need to send a pair of headphones to the school before Term 1, Week 6, 2023 to ensure all studentsare ready to participate in the NAPLAN test window.
The following frequently asked questions answer some important information regarding NAPLAN. More information can be found at the NAPLAN Parent support page -
https://nap.edu.au/naplan/for-parents-carers
Can Students use paper to work out or plan answers?
Students can use paper to work out or plan their answers for the conventions of language, writing and numeracy tests. This paper is collected by the test administrator at the end of the test.
If a student is sick, can they complete the test online at home?
As with the paper NAPLAN, students who are sick cannot complete NAPLAN at home. Students who are absent on the day of testing may be able to complete catch-up tests if they return to school within the NAPLAN test window.
Will students with limited keyboard skills be disadvantaged in the test ?
The writing test is not about handwriting skills and NAPLAN Online is not about keyboarding skills. There are variations in how fast and well a student can type, just as there are variations in how fast and well a student can write by hand. ACARA research shows that online writing is similar to handwriting in terms of the quality of writing produced by students at each year level. It also shows that students generally appreciates the use of online features such as editing tools (noting that online features such as grammar and spell-check are disabled during NAPLAN testing) Students do not have to be able to touch type to successfully complete the test.
Students can access the demonstration site via the link below. This site gives them an opportunity to engage in the types of questions that will be used during NAPLAN. https://pages.assessform.edu.au/pages/year-3-demos https://pages.assessform.edu.au/pages/year-5-demos
Mass
Weekend Mass
Saturday 6.00pm (Vigil)
2nd Sunday of Advent