2 August 2023

From the Desk of the Acting Principal

Week 4 Term 3
As parents, we are our child’s biggest advocate and protector. Sometimes protection mode kicks in and can lead to inappropriate behaviour, such as confronting a child who has been unfriendly toward your own child. I would like to remind all parents, that while we welcome your involvement in your child's education, it is not appropriate to speak with other children about their behaviour, their academic achievement, or their home life. Similarly, it is not okay to encourage children to fight or be physically or verbally aggressive towards others. Our Code of Conduct for Parents and Volunteers also states "Under no circumstances approach another child whilst in the care of the school to address, discuss or chastise them because of actions towards your own child". Parents accept this Code of Conduct when signing and accepting the school's policies in the Enrolment Application Form. Thank you for your cooperation with this.
This week, parents of students in Years 3 and 5 will receive their child’s NAPLAN individual report. This year, the way NAPLAN results are reported has changed, with achievement now being against four proficiency levels: Exceeding, Strong, Developing and Needs additional support. Parents of students in Years 3 and 5 should have received an email earlier in the week with information about what the reports mean, the proficiency levels and how that information can be useful in schools.  Probably the most important aspect is that the results cannot be directly compared with results from previous years due to the new measurement scale that has been introduced. 
Walk the dog…round the world…rock the baby….Most of us will have fond memories of playing with yoyos when we were younger! Tomorrow, our students will get to see yoyos in action as part of the Ned’s Mindset Mission performance and can buy their own Ned’s Mindset Mission yoyo via the order forms sent to every family on Compass. A special Ned Zone will be set up at school on Friday so students can practise their yoyo tricks. After that, the yoyos need to be kept at home. We thank you for your cooperation with this.
This week and next, we have students participating in the Garbutt Magpies AFL Cup and the Interschool Athletics Carnival. Good luck to everyone attending – we are proud of you for getting involved!

AP

mnolan@gstsv.catholic.edu.au

From the Desk of the Assistant Principal Religious Education

Acts of Kindness

‘Catholic education strives to make a difference in the lives of those in our schools and in the wider community by challenging young people to live out the message of Jesus and to reach their full potential as compassionate, contributing, life-giving members of society.’

With this mission in mind, each class was asked to participate in an "Act of Kindness" during Catholic Education Week. Serving others and the wider community helped the students take the focus off themselves and helped them feel like they are a part of something greater than themselves. It was an opportunity for them to see the power we all have to touch another person’s life positively, even in the smallest of ways.

Some of the Acts of Kindness our students took part in included –

• Postcards of appreciation for Soldiers
• Cards to sick children at Townsville Hospital
•  Donations for Ronald McDonald House
• Hampers for the Vinnies volunteers

               PARISH MASS     

ST MARY OF THE CROSS MACKILLOP

This Monday the 8^th of August, we celebrate the feast of Australia’s first saint - St Mary of the Cross MacKillop.

Mary MacKillop was born in 1842 in Melbourne, Victoria.

Mary cared about the people who had no-one to look after them such as boys and girls who just roamed the streets, children in the country who had no school to go to, people who were old and sick and people who had nowhere to live. Mary wanted more than anything to help these people.

Mary went to work as a teacher in a little country town in South Australia called Penola. There she met Father Julian Tension Woods who also wanted to do something for the poor children who could not afford to pay the money needed to go to school.

Together, in 1866, they began the first St Joseph’s School in an old stable. Two of Mary’s younger sisters also taught in the school and other young women came to help them.

On 19 March, 1866 – St Joseph’s Day – Mary started to wear a simple dark dress and began the Congregation of the Sisters of St Joseph. Now as a Sister, she dedicated her life to doing God‛s work. As more and more young women joined Mary as Sisters, they were able to start more schools. All children were welcome at their schools, even if they couldn‛t pay.

In Adelaide they opened a place for women who had nowhere to live, an orphanage for children who had no parents to look after them and a house where poor people could come and stay. The Sisters visited people who were in gaol and those who were poor and sick.

Mary MacKillop died on 8 August, 1909 in North Sydney. Mary helped

many people during her lifetime and after she died the ‘Sisters of St Joseph’ kept on doing the good work she had started.

Mary MacKillop kept her faith in God and bravely challenged those who did not support her vision for a more caring world.

Mary is an important Australian who spent her life helping people, especially children. She is Australia’s first Saint.

Rebecca Kershaw

APRE

rkershaw@gstsv.catholic.edu.au

From the Desk of the Acting Assistant Principal Administration

Talofa lava parents, carers and students!

We are well into the swing of Term 3 and it wonderful to witness all the learning happening in and out of all of our classrooms. 

Curriculum News

This week I attended the TCE Writing Project meeting along with Mrs Karambasis (Year 2) and Mrs Weaver (Year 4/5).  Improving writing outcomes for students is an ongoing focus at Good Shepherd and our school's participation in this TCE initiative forms part of that ongoing commitmment. We look forward to showcasing students' writing samples throughout the semester along with the data that evidences growth in this area. 

Sports News

Today, Ms Ford, Mr Birthisel, Mrs Ellis are taking 19 students to participate in the Garbut Magpies Cup Carnival at Queens Park, North Ward.  This event not only showcases the skills of our young athletes but also plays a vital role in promoting reconciliation and Indigenous culture in Australia. We wish our GSCS AFL team all the best in this famous local cup! 

Ned's Mindset Mission

NED is coming........TOMORROW!

NED’s Mindset Mission is a positive behaviour assembly visiting our school tomorrow Thursday 2nd August.  A world-class performer will take our students on a 45-minute journey filled with storytelling, illusions, yo-yo tricks and humour.

NED’s message and memorable friends inspire students, promote academic achievement, and support our school goals. NED will become a positive role model at both school and at home.

Never give up Encourage others Do your best®

A yo-yo is both a mindset tool and tangible reminder of NED’s message. While learning to yo-yo, children will make mistakes, try again, & improve. Read more at www.MindsetMission.com/yoyos.

Don't forget to order your NED yo-yo!  

Have a wonderful fortnight 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 Year 4/5

We have been busy bees in the Year 4/5 cohort. With the excitement of NAIDOC week, Deadly Day Out, Mulkadee and the start of Term 3, our students have been
 working hard to stay focused in the classroom the last two weeks. In our classes, we created Deadly Doors as part of NAIDOC Week and learned about Elders Archie Roach and Ephraim Bani OAM in our Deadly sessions. 

Our Year 4 students have been exploring the transportation of water in Design Technology. They designed and trialed their own water tanks and how the water
 travelled through the pipes. In the Digital Technology rotation, the Year 4’s have been exploring slideshow components on Google Slides based on a worm farm. 

In Year 5, students have been learning about Australia’s history and will be starting to learn about famous Australians who have made an impact on today’s society.
 During our Thursday afternoon rotations, the students have been participating in Rugby League and AFL to further develop and refine their skills

What's Happening in Year 2

Over the past few weeks students in Year 2 have been learning about the Water Cycle. They have created posters and drawn diagrams explaining the 4 main elements of the cycle, Evaporation, Condensation, Precipitation and Collection. They learned about how sewage is treated to make clean water to rejoin the water cycle, and that the water cycle has no beginning and no end. Some students have even trapped water from the leaves of trees, learning about Transpiration.

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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.

The Good Shepherd Way

Week 4

This week our Good Shepherd Way Gospel in Action value is Hope where I see good all around me. 

Our Hope prayer is below:

Week 5

The Good Shepherd Way Gospel in Action for Week 5 will be Inclusion where I involve and accept others.

Our Inclusion prayer is 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: On the Playground.

In Week 5 we are focusing on: On the Oval.

Parent Library Borrowing

Environmental News

Trees

Trees help to filter water, combat salinity, clean the air and increase flows into water catchments. They also provide food and shelter to Australia's unique wildlife and are an integral part of our country’s biodiversity. So, get your hands dirty and get involved in helping our environment.

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

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.

Community News