Next week is the most important week in the catholic calendar with Holy week commencing with Palm Sunday this weekend and culminating in the Easter Sunday celebrations of the Resurrection. The four day weekend will always be gratefully received but it is important that we remember and connect with the significance of the Holy Week experiences. Our Year 9 students are busy preparing the traditional Passion Play pray service for the school community (Thursday 28 March at 10am) and for the Parish Community (Friday 29 March at 10am). All are most welcome and I was lucky enough to have a sneak preview yesterday, and like always, our students are reverently rehearsing under the expert guidance of Mrs Maxwell and Ms Wade.  

The Colour Run last Friday night was enormous fun and a wonderful fundraiser for our P & F. The weather held and it was a lovely autumn evening where our school community were joined by many from the Cootamundra community to enjoy a fun-filled family night. Thank you to our P & F and our staff who supported and ran the event.  

The Parish BBQ was also a lovely community time where our 2024 School Leadership Team were presented to the Parish. We then shared a BBQ lunch with Parish numbers.

NAPLAN is almost at an end and we are finalizing the last of the catch up tests for our students who missed the original scheduling of the test. Thank you to Ms Marsay and our staff for the smooth coordination and management of the tests. Hopefully they will reflect the fine work that has been happening in our classrooms and also give us future directions for consolidation and revision.

A reminder that our enrolment period has been opened and we are busy taking enrolments already for 2025. Thank you to the parents who have already submitted their enrolment forms online for the 2025 intake into Year 7, Kindergarten and any other class that has vacancies. Please let any parents who are interested in enrolling their children for 2025 to log onto the school website www.shcoota.nsw.edu.au and click on the large enrolment tab or they can contact the school during office hours. We will begin interviews later in Term 2. The information session for the 2025 Kindergarten intake will be on Tuesday 21 May. We will advertise the details of the Year 7 2025

On one of the early days of Term One our Leadership team travelled to Yass to participate in a professional learning program to implement a new school wide behaviour program that looks to explicitly teach behaviour skills, expectations, routines, protocols, and appropriate social skills. Below is a short summary of the initial phase and explanation of the program that will be instituted in Term 2. Already the staff have begun discussing what this could look like for our school. It is aimed to make the transitions between classes smoother and safer and will build more productive class time.

Thank you to all the parents who made the most of the opportunity to meet with K-6 teachers last night. It was a very well attended evening and the teachers also appreciated the opportunity to keep you up-to-date with all the important developments and progress of your children. There is another session next Tuesday evening for K-6 parents and we will be offering a similar program of interviews for all secondary students and parents when we return in Term 2.

This coming Monday 25 March will be the Easter Hat making afternoon extravaganza. It is a hectic but special time where we invite family and friends into the break out space in Infants to help their children construct their Easter hat for the parade on Thursday 28^Th March.

In last Week’s newsletter we introduced the changes we were looking to institute at Sacred Heart and explained why. This week we will do a brief review and look at some specifics.

CLASSROOM MASTERY: Change is coming: Student Engagement Protocols: Part 2

What you might have missed.

Classroom Mastery is a program being trialled by Sacred Heart and number of diocesan schools. It is patterned on the very successful use of school-wide behaviour protocols that have been instituted at schools like Rosebud High Schoo in Melbourne, and in a great many high performing schools in Western Australia. Classroom Mastery is a program aimed at teaching both staff and students consistent and targeted classroom learning and behavioural expectations. We begin the process with our students in Term 2. 

Before we begin

Classroom Mastery builds on the work we are already doing with the Canberra Goulburn Archdiocese’s Catalyst program and High Impacts Teaching Practices that are already being widely used in primary classrooms and is the focus of development now in Secondary. The focus of both Classroom Mastery and HITP is to focus on Student Engagement and Teaching Expectations

Our Student Engagement Protocols are simple and the following are terms that staff, students and parents alike are now commonly hearing.

• Eyes Front, Face Forward, asks the students to be attentive to where instruction is coming from.
• Cue to Start is a specific and consistent way to check students are focused before beginning any new task
• Full Participation is the expectation that every student is engaged in learning and discussing their learning
• Pronounce with me is aimed at developing mastery of taught vocabulary through direct instruction on how words sound as well as how they look and what they mean.
• Choral Responses involve the whole class reading and responding aloud to short texts and is aimed both at language development and at keeping student focus on learning
• Complete Sentences is the expectation that teachers model correct language and expect students to answer in full sentences both orally and in writing.

Primary and Infants classes also have:

• Track with me helps students to concentrate on developing their knowledge by reading and following
• Gesture with me involves students in learning kinaesthetically through movement while being involved in listening and speaking

Keep reading next week for a review of Teacher Protocols for best learning.

There is never a reason not to be kind.

God Bless

Ms Nicky Trinder

Newsletter Week 8

Yr 1 Reflection Day

On Thursday Yr. 1 gathered at Dickson Hall to enjoy their Reflection Day. The theme of the day was” Caring for God’s Creation.” The focus of the day was to look at all the wonderous things that are part of creation and how we can care for them. The students engaged in a range of activities including craft, singing, prayers, Godly Play and a nature walk. Thank you to Ms Thompson, Mrs Hunt, Mrs Maher and Mrs Randal for supporting us on this special day.

Re-establishment of Altar Servers

Together with the Parish we are looking to reestablish our altar servers’ program. Students who are in Year 4, 5, 6 and Secondary and who have made their First Eucharist are invited to be a part of our Parish Altar Serving Roster for the Saturday Masses. It is a beautiful ministry that you can offer your children in their faith life.

Mass Time

Saturday -5:00 pm and 6:00 pm (During Daylight saving)                                                                                                                                                           

For the children who wish to serve on the altar there will be training sessions at Sacred Heart Church on Tuesday 26th March with Sr Kathy Hodge and Mrs Patrece Maxwell

An information note has been sent home with interest students. Please contact Mrs Maxwell if your child is interested.

Thank you. May the good Lord bless all you are doing for your child’s faith formation.

Project Compassion Week 6

~Please check the school calender for updates.~

Cross Country - Years 3-10

On Friday 5th April we will be holding our annual Cross Country Day, based at the Country Club Oval, with the track completed around the Golf course. We are seeking volunteers to assist at checkpoints and to cook the BBQ.

For checkpoints we will need people from 9:15 am - 12:00 pm and for the BBQ, we will need people from 10:00 am - 12:00 pm.

If you are willing and able to assist, please contact Megan.Withers@cg.catholic.edu.au, Wendy.VanKerkOerle@cg.catholic.edu.au or the front office at 69422612.

Thank you in advance.

Primary Sport

Mortimer Shield

The compass event for stage three league and league tag has gone out. If you wish your child to participate in this Gala day, please complete the form by the end of the term so that arrangements can be made. It will be held in Junee this year on the 14th of May. Nominations are due before Friday of week 11, students may miss out if consent is not received before this date.

Young Soccer Gala day

The compass event for this event has gone out. It is for students from stage 1-3. Please read the note carefully. Students who require transport will be catching a bus (there are limited spaces), if the bus is full we will organise transport for them with parents who have offered to transport students over. Transport is $10. Please contact the front office if you do not require transport and they will remove the $10 transport fee. Students must wear shin pads and soccer boots to take the field. Nominations are due before Friday of week 11, students may miss out if consent is not received before this date.

Primary Sport Dates

If you have any concerns or questions please don’t hesitate to contact me via email

Kind regards

Wendy Van Kerk Oerle

Primary Sports Coordinator

wendy.vankerkoerle@cg.catholic.edu.au 

Secondary Sport

Representative Sports

A reminder to keep checking the Secondary Sports Google Classroom page for all notifications and processes for registration for the many representative sports coming up this term. IMPORTANT - Please take notice of the due date. There are many reasons for the due date and we need to stick to them.

Secondary Triathlon

Congratulations to all who participated in the Triathlon last Friday.

Students were in staged teams in house groups. 

Champion Teams

Stage 4 Girls

Halle Johnson (Swim), Sophie Sannazzaro (Bike), Sophie Boxsell (Run) - Mercy

Stage 4 Boys 

Darcey Thompson (Swim), Harvey Fitzgerald (Bike), Jai Alexander (Run) - O’Shaughnessy

Stage 5 Girls 

Caitlyn Cram (Swim), Emily Fry (Bike), Josey Hoey (Run) - De La Salle

Stage 5 Boys

Tom Peacey (Swim), Blake Holder (Bike), Alex English (Run) - De La Salle

Champion Individuals

Stage 4 Boys

Eamon Sutherland 1st De La Salle, Lucas Walker 2nd De La Salle

Stage 5 Girls 

Grace Derrick 1st De La Salle, 2nd Ellie Lake De La Salle and Lucy Paterson O’Shaughnessy

Stage 5 Boys

Jake Winsor 1st Mercy, Austin Beddow 2nd Mercy

Spirit Cup Attendance was won by Mercy

Triathlon Champion House

1st - De La Salle 142 points

2nd - Mercy 106 points

3rd - O’Shaughnessy 96 points

CECG Soccer Trials

The Opens Boys and Girls CG Soccer trials were held on Monday 11th March in Canberra. Austin Beddow, Ryan Dempsey, Alex English, Blake Holder, Sophie Sannazzaro, Matilda Sannazzaro and Zara Bodycott attended the trials. 

Congratulations to Alex English, Sophie Sannazzaro, Matilda Sannazzaro and Zara Bodycott for making it to the CG team and the next level of trials.

Good luck with the tri-series Southern Country trials against Wagga Wagga and Bathurst in Bathurst on Wednesday 27th of March.

Western Rugby League Girls U16s Trials

Congratulations to Josey Hoey and Hallie Kelly for making the Western Rugby League U16s team. From all reports, they were stand-out players. Best of luck at the next level.

Photos from CG/Wagga Touch Trials early term 1

Secondary Sports Dates

W9

Wed 27th Mar - Southern Country Opens Soccer - Bathurst

W10

Wed 3rd Apr - Western League Boys 15s and Opens Trials - Forbes

Thu 4th Apr - CCC Swimming - Homebush

Fri 5th Apr - SHC Cross Country - Country Club Oval base

W11

Mon 8th Apr - CG Netball Gala Day and U15s CG Trials - Canberra

Tue 9th/Wed 10th Apr - NSWCCC Touch - Tuggrah