25 October 2023

From the Desk of the Acting Principal

Week 3, Term 4

What Would Jesus Do?
Catholic school education is open to all who want to be involved. All are invited! However, that invitation comes with a few conditions – it is not an invitation to do whatever you want, whenever you want.

Speaking on assembly last week, our APRE Mrs Kershaw revisited last week's Gospel (Matthew 22:1-14) which was the 'The Parable of the Wedding Banquet' and reflected on this reading about a wedding feast. Invitees to wedding have a certain set of expectations to uphold – they need to wear appropriate clothing and behave in a manner suited to the occasion. You don’t turn up at a wedding dressed in swimmers or run in and throw a footy around!

Being invited to attend Good Shepherd Catholic School also has some expectations – primarily that
everyone at the school (students, staff and parents) act in accordance with our Gospel values and
Charism. In short – act and speak the way Jesus would: use kind words, a pleasant tone and gentle
actions. Jesus did not walk into a crowd yelling, swearing and throwing things, and neither should
we. This approach will be a major focus for our school for the remainder of this term, and into 2024. By having all at our school to act as Jesus would, we are building a more welcoming, inclusive school
and an environment conducive to learning.

New Co-Educational High School
Townsville Catholic Education is delighted to announce the opening of our first Co-Educational
Secondary College; Mary Help of Christians Catholic College. Located in Shaw, next to St Benedict's
Catholic School, the new college will cater to the growing demand for Catholic secondary education
in the region. In 2025, the new college will open its door to incoming Year 7 students.
Expressions of interest are open, click here for more information:
https://www.tsv.catholic.edu.au/schools/mary-help-of-christians-catholic-college/

Student Absences
If your child is going to be away from school, you can lodge their absence yourself through the
Compass Parent Portal. This is the same portal used for accessing reports. If you have difficulty
logging in, or have any questions, please contact the school office.

AP

mnolan@gstsv.catholic.edu.au

From the Desk of the Acting Assistant Principal Administration

Term 4 Week 3/4

Talofa lava parents, carers and students!

Please see below for happenings around our school in curriculum, sports and events.

Curriculum News 👩‍🏫🍎📖

All classes in Year 2-6 have now completed PAT testing in reading, mathematics and grammar and punctuation. This assessment is used to monitor each students’ progress in these areas and to contextualise NAPLAN data for Year 3 and 5 also. 

Students are now completing summative assessment for many of their learning areas. These results will inform their Semester Two reports.

Sports News ⚽️ 🏀 🏈 ⚾️ 🎾 🏐 🏉 🎱

Miss Foord has been conducting netball and touch trials over the past week to select teams for the following upcoming gala days.

Touch Gala Day – Friday 17th November

Schools Netball Carnival – Friday 24th November 

We wish students in Years 3-6 good luck in the trials. Teams and further training days to be announced soon.

School Events 📅🗓📆

Wolrd Teacher's Day

Australia will celebrate the teaching profession on World Teachers’ Day on Friday 27 October 2023.  

Let’s celebrate Australia’s teachers for their skilled work in educating, inspiring and supporting our students.

Hats off to teachers this World Teachers’ Day!  

Day for Daniel

Australia's largest child safety education and awareness day, Day for Daniel is held annually on the last Friday of October and honours the memory of Daniel Morcombe. The Daniel Morcombe Foundation asks all Australians on this very special day to Wear Red, Educate and Donate. 

Parents, carer, and educators are encouraged to start a conversation with children and young people about personal safety. Schools and Early Learning centres conduct child safety education activities. Business and communities come together to raise awareness of child safety issues. 

Good Shepherd Catholic School will hold our annual Day for Daniel acitivities on Friday 27th October. Student can wear a red shirt for a gold coin donation to the Daniel Morcombe Foundation and will engage in lessons and activities on personal safety. We look forward to continuing to support this important cause. 

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

From the Desk of the Assistant Principal Religious Education

All Saints’ Day is next Wednesday, November 1st. It is holy in the Western Christian tradition, celebrated by the Roman Catholic Church, the Methodist Church, the Lutheran Church, and more. It is designed to show honour and reverence to saints both canonized and unknown, and in some faiths also to give thanks to those who have guided others to Christ, like a friend or relative. Around the world, there are many traditions woven into All Saints’ Day, from the laying of flowers on graves on November 1 to the Mexican Day of the Dead.

Many canonized saints have their own day in which they are celebrated, particularly in the country they represent. But, All Saints Day celebrates those saints who have not been canonized or have any particular holiday dedicated to them. In fact, the event recognises those who have gone to heaven but their sainthood is known only by God himself.

All Saints Day Prayer

Bless the many parted souls
who lived their lives with grace.
Bless the saints in heaven,
gathered in that special place.

May we tell their stories
and remember all the ways
they lived their faith
and spent their days.

There is glory and reward,
even if at first there’s strife.
Oh, blessed saints, you help us see
a path that’s to eternal life.

May we always hold them dear
and know their life and place.
May we know their inspiration
and aspire to their grace.

Rebecca Kershaw

APRE

rkershaw@gstsv.catholic.edu.au

What's Happening in Year 6

It’s hard to believe our Year 6 students are more than half way through their final term of primary school. They are currently very focused on their learning as their final assessments are looming and teachers are preparing to begin writing their final school reports. This term our students are learning how to write different forms of poetry, all about different physical and chemical reactions in science, celebrations within the church and celebrations held within other church communities in Religion, The 3 levels of Government and how laws are formed in HASS and Chance and Probability in Maths. During our Sporting Schools program on Thursday afternoons, our students have been playing rugby and golf with specialised coaches, and on Wednesdays, Ms Hewitt our Guidance Counselor, has been working with our students on a transition to high school program. 

What's Happening in Year 3

Year 3 has had a very busy start to term 4. In English we are exploring persuasive writing. The Year 3s have used their persuasive skills to convince us why Fun Friday should not be banned, why young children should be allowed earrings and why we should protect ant lives. The students have debated within their classes reasons for and against these arguments. They have been using the OREO method (opinion, reason, example and opinion) to provide some convincing arguments for and against their chosen topics. 

In science, Year 3 explored how the heat and cold affects different everyday objects. We completed a very fun experiment where we created ice-cream in a bag! Students got to try the ice-cream if they wanted to and observed the changes that happened to cream. 

In maths this term Year 3 have been very busy learning a variety of topics, including mass and capacity. We have been very busy developing our skills with the use of money. Students are able to order and count a collection of coins.

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

Term 4, Week 4

This week our Good Shepherd Way Gospel in Action value is Compassion where I show care and concern for others. 

Our Compassion prayer is below:

Term 4, Week 5

The Good Shepherd Way Gospel in Action for Week 5 will be Endeavour where I challenge myself to do my best. 

Our Endeavour 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: Before School. 

In Term 4, Week 5 we are focusing on: In the Classroom. 

Parent Library Borrowing

Environmental Tips

Nappies

Your healthy newborn child could live to their nineties - but did you know that their first disposable nappy may still be around in 500 years?

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