9th August 2088

Dear Parents and Carers

What a big week! This week we celebrated Father Joe’s Ordination along with almost 100 seminarians and priests from the archdiocese of Sydney at St Mary’s Cathedral on Saturday. Yesterday Father Joe celebrated his first whole school mass with the school for the Feast Day of Mary McKillop. Father Joe will move in two weeks time to the Liverpool parish to begin his new life as an ordained priest. We welcome Father Kene (who celebrated the Grandparents Mass with us) as the new Assistant priest for our parish. Seminarian Noel also joins our parish.

This week the students have been been engaged with their studies about Mary McKillop’s life in a live theatre production of Mary’s life on Tuesday. The children also experienced a planetarium in the hall to begin their Science Week experience next week.

We were thrilled to receive this week the results of the Year Six RE test. The Year Six students scored above the diocesan average and the student's achievement of 7 High Distinctions, 25 Distinctions and 18 credits was extraordinary. This is a great credit to all the teachers of Religion at the school, particularly the Year Six teachers who have taught the Year 6 students valuable study skills that they can make good use of in high school.

Our first Year Six Winter Sleepout will be held tonight. Thirty brave Year Six students will sleep the night at school with four even braver teachers (thank you to Mrs Watson, Mr Brieley, Mr de Villiers and Mrs Siokos. Our Year Six students and their families, plus our wider community have so far raised $5393 for St Vincent de Paul for tonight’s sleepout. Some of our social justice initiatives have focused on homelessness this year. Our Mother’s Day and Father’s Day gifts and the stall at the Spring Fair support the Cana Community and Farm where homeless people work and learn life skills. Daniel from Cana will work with Year Six tonight. 

You are all invited to Father Phil’s Golden Jubilee school mass. On Friday the 23rd August he will celebrate 50years since he was ordained. You are invited to our special mass on the 23rd and you are also invited to contribute to the parish/school gift for Father Phil. If you would like to donate to the parish gift please put your donation, in cash, in an envelope and send to the school office or take it to the parish office

It was a little like Hollywood today with photographers, movie makers, directors (Mrs Loots!) and drones to take photos for our new school website. Many thanks to Sydney Catholic Schools for the funding for this as well as the setup of our website.

Mystery! Lost bag. This week we were contacted by a member of the public who found a lost bag at Sydney airport in the holidays. The only identifying feature of the bag was that there was a Sacred Heart library book in the bag. If this sounds like your bag please  contact the school office.

Maths Tips for this week : 

Mathematics is really the study of patterns. We take time in class for students to explore patterns. At home you can to:

Look for patterns

• Creating and exploring patterns with numbers, shapes, colours, music and symmetry are the basis for early algebra. Activities that encourage looking for patterns are often hands-on and fun for children to do.
• Look for patterns and symmetry:
• On signposts, in nature, on fabric, wrapping paper, when playing with blocks or counters, when counting.
• In the shapes of numbers and letters.
• Older children can begin sequencing using skip counting, which is the basis for multiplication, patterning and early algebra.
• 2, 4, 6, what comes next?
• 3, 6, 9 what comes next?
• 1, 3, 5 what comes next?
• 3, 5, ?, 9 what number is missing?

Other fun activities you might want to try include:

• Use blocks or pegs to make patterns on a clothesline or a string. Encourage your child to make their own pattern by stringing coloured beads or home-coloured penne pasta. It’s great for developing fine motor skills too!
• Make your own wrapping paper. Create potato or vegetable stamps, dip them into paint and stamp on butcher’s paper. Encourage your child to draw or continue a pattern that you start. Get them to describe the pattern they have made in their own words.
• Sound is an excellent way to identify patterns. Clap a simple pattern then get your child to copy it. Take turns in creating patterns and repeating them back.

Regards

Julie Caldwell