07 June 2023

From the Desk of the Acting Principal

As you would all be aware, our behaviour expectations are outlined in the “GSCS Way”:

Give my best
Show respect
Compassion and care
Safe, responsible and fair.

The behaviour expected across the school all falls in to one of these categories, and students are explicitly taught what each one means, what it looks like, and how it impacts them and those around them. While there is flexibility within the rules to accommodate the needs of each student, the overarching expectation is that students act with respect and in a safe, responsible manner.
Of course, like in any community, there are those people who deliberately flout the “rules” and push the boundaries, along with those who genuinely take a little longer to learn the expectations. We adopt a “rope and elastic” approach, which acknowledges that some children will need a little
“elastic” when it comes to learning the expectations – in other words, there are some who take a
little longer to understand what is required and will receive additional reinforcement and reminders.
That is where we need your help! When families reinforce the GSCS Way at home, the school day
becomes easier for your child, and they achieve more success because there is consistency across
their environments. Reinforcing the GSCS Way at home is not difficult and can easily be applied in
the home setting. To help reinforce the GSCS Way:
 Give my best: Encourage your child to have a go, even if it is difficult and they might not
succeed; praise effort not just outcomes.
 Show respect: Model speaking and acting respectfully; ensure your child follows
instructions; don’t accept your child swearing at you or others or using belittling language
(something we unfortunately hear almost daily); use manners by saying please and thank
you.
 Compassion and care: Encourage your child to help others without expectation of reward;
say sorry if you hurt someone, even if it is accidental; show your concern for others.
 Safe, responsible and fair: Teach your child responsibility for their own belongings; have
them pack and unpack their school bag each day, put away their toys after playing etc;
encourage turn taking; teach safety rules around using equipment appropriately such as not
standing on tables.

Maxine Nolan

AP

mnolan@gstsv.catholic.edu.au

From the Desk of the Assistant Principal Religious Education

Corpus Christi

Corpus Christi is a religious Christian feast that is being celebrated this Thursday June 8.
Mainly celebrated by Roman Catholics, the feast occurs in either late May or early June, on the first Thursday after Trinity Sunday (60 days after Easter).
Corpus Christi, meaning ‘the body of Christ’ in Latin, celebrates the transubstantiation of bread and wine into the actual body of Christ during Mass.
In some countries not only is the feast celebrated in mass but they also parade the streets with the consecrated wafer as a public show that the sacrifice of Christ was for the salvation of the whole world.

Mini Vinnies Parklands Visit
Our next visit is on the 10th June, all Mini Vinnies who would like to attend please return your permission forms  to Mrs Kershaw as soon as possible.

Rebecca Kershaw

APRE

rkershaw@gstsv.catholic.edu.au

NO PARISH MASS - This week

Due to the athletic field evens on the senior oval straight after assembly.                                                   

From the Desk of the Acting Assistant Principal Administration

Talofa lava parents, carers and students!

It has been another very busy week at Good Shepherd with lots of things happening in and outside of our wonderful school. 

To celebrate World Environment Day, classes recently created an awareness poster covering one aspect of our environment and then used these to teach their PAL classes about why our environment is so important. It was a fantastic opportunity for PAL classes to connect and learn from each other. 

Queensland Day
It was wonderful to have the opportunity to don the mighty maroon colours for the second time in a week to celebrate Queensland Day yesterday. The school was a sea of maroon and classes learnt about the history of our state’s birthday while enjoying some lamingtons. Special thanks to the Student Wellbeing Committee for organising these activities. 

Sports News
Today a number of students from Years 6 attended a Basketball Gala Day at Murray Sports Complex with Ms Foord hosted by Basketball Queensland. The Gala Day provides an opportunity for local U12s to try out basketball as a sport and enjoy shooting hoops with their peers.
Our wonderful groundsmen have been hard at work getting our oval prepared and in peak condition for our upcoming Athletics Carnival. The Athletics Field Events will be taking place this Friday 9th June for all students 9 years +. It will start at approximately 9:30am, straight after morning assembly.  Please see the program below for approximate time only. All parents and carers are welcome to attend. 
 

Unexplained Absences 
As we approach the pointy end of the term and prepare for assessment and reporting, we also review and report on student absences. 
The Education (General Provisions) Act 2006 (EGPA) places a legal obligation on parents to ensure a child who is of compulsory school age is enrolled and attends a school, on every school day for the educational program in which the child is enrolled, unless the parent has a reasonable excuse.
From time to time students may be absent from school for extended periods of time for a variety of reasons - cultural reasons (eg. Sorry business), family holidays or short-term lack of transport, for example. It is important that parents/carers report and explain these absences through the Compass Parent Portal or via email to the office or class teacher. Please see the information in the Parent Portal section of this newsletter for information on how to report upcoming absences or explain past absences. 
Teachers will be making contact with families of students who have had a number of unexplained absences over the past semester to determine how we can support you in reporting absences in the future. 

Have a wonderful week ahead and please come and say talofa or hello when you see me around!

Rebecca Rowan

AAPA

rrowan6@gstsv.catholic.edu.au

What's Happening In Prep

Prep A have enjoyed exploring the meanings behind Sorry Day and Reconciliation Week and contributing to the Sea of Hearts along the school pathways.  We made connections between custodianship of the land and keeping our rubbish in  bins, not in our waterways. With our Year 6 Buddies, we highlighted the need to ensure a healthier marine environment for our whales and all of our other marine creatures. 

Prep A

Prep B has had a busy few weeks! 

In Visual Art, students have been working hard on creating artwork using different types of lines. They have created art using curly lines, wavy lines and zig-zag lines! Prep B loved creating their 'crazy hair' portraits using oil pastels and watercolor paints.

In Science, students have been learning about materials and their properties. They explored objects that are made of wood, plastic, paper, metal, fabric and glass. Students loved testing objects in our classroom to see if they are waterproof or non waterproof! 

Prep B

Prep C has been busy! We are extremely excited to be using our letter/sound knowledge to begin reading readers in class. Students have been using their reading fingers to ensure they are pointing to the correct word and practising their fluency to sound like a reader. Confidence in the class with wanting to read every word we see has skyrocketed! It is fabulous to witness. This week we also have been learning a bit about Whales for Environmental week. Students worked as a team to fit inside a drawing of a whale that Miss Vicky drew us. We will use this photo to form part of our poster we are making for our buddy class. 

Prep C

Student Awards for This Week

Birthdays for this week!

Levi (2C)    Alaska (3B)    Noah (3C)   Capri (3C)       

The Good Shepherd Way

This week our Good Shepherd Way Gospel in Action value is Reconciliation where I am fair, forgiving and respectful. 

Our Service prayer is also below:

The GSCS Way

The GSCS Way is our positive behaviour support program here at Good Shepherd Catholic School.

All in our community are encouraged to:

• Give My Best
• Show Respect
• Compassion and Care
• Safe Responsible and Fair

Each week we focus on a different area of our matrix.

This week we are focusing on: In the Toilets.

Assembly

3B will be presenting our Assembly this Friday in the BBC at 8:40am

Our lucky Praise Note winners from last week are :  Xander (Prep C), Mya (1C), Elliott (2C),

Joshua P  (3C), Amelia C (4/5D), Blake  (4/5A) and Kailey W (6A). 

Parent Library Borrowing

Breakfast Club and Running Club

Both Clubs will run every morning. Breakfast Club will run from the Tuckshop from 8:10am and Running Club will be held on the Junior Oval from 8:10am as well.

Environmental News

The Oceans
The oceans cover about two-thirds of the surface of the Earth and are the very foundations of life. They generate most of the oxygen we breathe, absorb a large share of carbon dioxide emissions, provide food and nutrients and regulate climate. They are important economically for countries that rely on tourism, fishing and other marine resources for income and serve as the backbone of international trade.

Parent Portal

Parent Portal

If you have any problems accessing please send an email to the school office at rsmssn@tsv.catholic.edu.au. 

The Parent Portal allows you to:

• View your child’s timetable and the school calendar
• View up to date attendance information for your child
• Enter details of upcoming absences or explain past absences or late arrivals for your son or daughter
• Access your child’s Semester reports
• Make bookings for Parent Teacher Interviews
• View a news feed of school announcements, alerts and updates
• Provide consent for school events/excursions
• Communicate by email with your child’s teachers
• Update your contact details (email and mobile phone number).

The parent portal is a web-based system that can be accessed by clicking this link:

An app called Compass School Manager is also available for both iPhones/iPads (via the App Store) and Android phones/tablets (via the Google Play Store). When you have installed the app, search for “Good Shepherd Catholic School – Rasmussen”.
The browser version of the Parent Portal contains more features than the app.  Please click the link below to access the Compass website which has an online guide and video for the Parent Portal.

Tuckshop

Wednesday - Thursday - Friday

Please contact the school office or Ann-Maree at Tuckshop with any enquiries.

CUTOFF time to order TUCKSHOP
from FLEXISCHOOLS
is 8:30am.

PLEASE NOTE THAT ALL ORDERS ARE TO BE PLACED ONLINE AT THE LINK BELOW. Please visit the website to set up your account if you are new to Flexischools.

Flexischool How To Guides for Parents and Caregivers
• Online help is available any time at Flexischools via the link below.
• Phone between 8am - 12pm (AEDST) on weekdays or on the parent phone line (1300 361 769). 

How-To Guides for Parents
Flexischool has spent some time over the holidays developing some quick how-to guides for  parents. If you'd like to see these, please click the link below.
They include: 
•    Introduction to Flexischools;
•    How to Register; 
•    How to Top-Up;
•    How to Place an Order. 

Teacher Contacts

Community News