28 February 2024

From the Desk of the Acting Principal

Week 6 , Term 1

Did you know we are the only primary school in the Upper Ross with a Defence School Mentor (DSM)? Our fantastic Mrs Brennan fulfills two roles at Good Shepherd: School Officer and DSM. As DSM, Mrs Brennan works with students whose parent/s are serving in the defence forces, helping
them adapt to any changes to home and family life caused by postings, relocations and parental absence and giving them another friendly face to turn to.

Mrs Brennan also works with staff to help educate them about how a military lifestyle may affect students and organises our school’s Anzac and Remembrance Day ceremonies and participation in events to recognise the defence forces. When not working in her designated DSM role, Mrs Brennan is a school officer, working in classrooms to support all students to achieve their potential.

If you are a serving defence member, and have not yet touched base with Mrs Brennan, please do so. If you know of anyone relocating to Townsville who is looking for a great school, remember to mention us – the only primary school in the Upper Ross area with a DSM!

Naplan 2024: Teachers have been working with students in years 3 and 5 to help prepare them for the upcoming NAPLAN tests which will take place from Wednesday 13 March until Monday 25 March. 2024.

Naplan consists of four tests – writing, reading, conventions of language and numeracy – with all tests conducted online except for Year 3 writing. The tests assess the skills students have gained over all of their schooling, not just what they have learned this year. While teachers have been preparing students for the academic challenges of the tests, families can also help prepare students by ensuring they eat well, have restful sleep the night before the tests and arrive to school on time. Parents are also asked to send along a set of headphones, so students can fully access the tests.

It is expected that all students participate, however if you are concerned about your child sitting the Naplan tests, please speak to your child’s classroom teacher as soon as possible.

SchoolTV: It can sometimes feel challenging for parents to raise happy, healthy and resilient children
and teens. What can help our families and schools is up-to-date resources aimed at providing information on key topics that relate to parenting and the wellbeing of our children. Each topic or
edition addresses key issues using brief interviews with expert specialists, fact sheets, parent quizzes, recommended apps, books and much more. 

SchoolTV streamlines and brings together information from many reputable sources such as REACHOUT and beyondblue, Australian Psychological Society, Nutrition Australia, headspace and esafety Commission.  This provides a very reliable and accessible resource, saving parents time and confusion searching online across multiple sites.

Click here to access SchoolTV or go to the Parent tab on our School website.

Reminder- Extra Pupil Free Day: As advised last year, Townsville Catholic Education Office has approved an additional professional development day in 2024. The date will be Friday 26th April 2024 and will be a pupil free day. This day follows on from the ANZAC day public holiday on Thursday 25th April.

Maxine Nolan

AP

mnolan@gstsv.catholic.edu.au

From the Desk of the Acting Assistant Principal Pedagogy and Learning

Talofa lava parents, carers and students!

Week 6 sees us preparing for NAPLAN, participating in various sporting events and carnvials and consolidating learning in preparation for assessment.

Please see below for what’s happening around our school at the moment.

Curriculum News

Sports News ⚽️ 🏀 🏈 ⚾️ 🎾 🏐 🏉 🎱

This Friday, a number of our Year 5 and 6 students will be participating in two popular annual local sporting events. The Townsville Primary Schools Rugby Union - 7's Gala Day will be held at Mike Carney Toyota Park while the Ruth Young Hockey Gala Day will take place at the Murray Sporting Complex. We wish both teams the best of luck on the field.

Next Friday 8^th March we have 34 GSCS students from Year 2 to Year 6 competing in the ‘D’ Schools Interschool Swimming Carnival at Kokoda Pool. We look forward to celebrating their successes in the pool upon their return.

School Events  

We are lucky to be continuing our partnership with the North Queensland Toyota Cowboys Adopt-a-School program in 2024.

Adopt-a-School is the North Queensland Toyota Cowboys' cornerstone community program, reinvesting in the Townsville school community with the support of presenting partner Bravus Mining & Resources.

The program theme, 'Eat Well, Play Well, Stay Well' supports the NRL One Community health initiative, with each participating school using their Cowboy to assist them in sharing these messages with the aim of maintaining a healthy school community.

We look forward to welcoming our Adopt-a-Cowboy Kyle Feldt for his first visit this year next Monday 4^th March. Keep an eye on our socials for some photos!

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

Good Shepherd Catholic School supports

Caritas Project Compassion.

Last week, Ash Wednesday began the season of Lent, it also marks the beginning of the annual Caritas Australia Project Compassion Appeal. Donations to Project Compassion allows Caritas Australia, the Catholic Agency for International Aid and Development, to work with local communities around the world to alleviate poverty, hunger, oppression and injustice.

We encourage you to put your compassion into action this Lent through your prayer, fasting and almsgiving by supporting Project Compassion. Each family will receive a Project Compassion box for their donations or you can donate online via the Caritas Australia website at: lent.caritas.org.au    

The theme of Project Compassion 2024 is is ‘For All Future Generations’ and reminds us that the good we do today extends to impact the lives of generations to come. By donating to Project Compassion, Caritas Australia, the Catholic Agency for International Aid and Development, can work with local communities around the world to end poverty, promote justice and uphold dignity.

Each family will receive a Project Compassion box and/or a set of envelopes for their donations or you can donate online via the Caritas Australia website at: www.caritas.org.au/project-compassion

The World Day of Prayer is an international ecumenical Christian laywomen’s initiative. It is run under the motto “Informed Prayer and Prayerful Action,” and is celebrated annually in over 170 countries on the first Friday in March. The movement aims to bring together women of various races, cultures and traditions in a yearly common Day of Prayer, as well as in closer fellowship, understanding and action throughout the year.

Through World Day of Prayer, women around the world:

• affirm their faith in Jesus Christ;
• share their hopes and fears, their joys and sorrows, their opportunities and needs.

Through World Day of Prayer, women are encouraged:

• to become aware of the whole world and no longer live in isolation;
• to be enriched by the faith experience of Christians of other countries and cultures;
• to take up the burdens of other people and pray with and for them;
• to become aware of their talents and use them in the service of society.

Through World Day of Prayer, women affirm that prayer and action are inseparable and that both have immeasurable influence in the world. The motto of the World Day of Prayer is “Informed Prayer and Prayerful Action”.

Rebecca Kershaw

APRE

rkershaw@gstsv.catholic.edu.au

What's Happening in Year 2

Year 2 have been learning how to use different non-formal units of measurement to measure the length, weight and capacity of different items. Students were challenged to decide which item they should use to give the most accurate length measurement of objects found in the classroom. Balance scales were used to weigh different items and compare them after students had estimated which would be heavier. They used critical thinking skills to decide which containers would be best suited to fill different objects with water and compared the capacity of differently shaped containers.

Library

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 1, Week 6

This week our Good Shepherd Way Gospel in Action value is Justice where I make right choices.

Our Justice prayer is below:

Term 1, Week 7

The Good Shepherd Way Gospel in Action for Week 7 will be Love where I share my good heart with others.

Our Love 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 oval. 

In Term 1, Week 6 we are focusing on: in the library. 

Environmental Tips

Clean up Australia Day - Sunday 3rd March

Step Up to Clean Up - Help reduce the impact of waste on our environment and make a real difference in our local community.

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