24 April 2024

From the Desk of the Acting Principal

Week 2 , Term 2

Welcome back! Term 2 has got off to an exciting start, with our ANZAC commemoration and school cross country last Friday. It was wonderful to see students participating respectfully in the commemoration and honouring those who have made the ultimate sacrifice for our country. Mrs
Angela Tiller, one of our Year 5 teachers, shared her experiences in the Army. It is so valuable for our students to know that staff have experiences outside the classroom! The sportsmanship and camaraderie shown at the cross country, as students urged each other on and ran together to cross
the finish line, was also outstanding.

This Thursday we will be joining the Thuringowa ANZAC Parade, leaving from the carpark behind Weir State School. Students are invited to join us. We will be gathering at 8.20am. Students are asked to wear their full formal (checked) uniform, black shoes, a hat and to bring a water bottle. Please make sure you also have a good breakfast before marching.

Friday is an extra Pupil Free Day, so while students are at home, teachers and school officers will be working on Australian Curriculum V9.0, undertaking professional development in how to boost literacy in primary schools, and planning some exciting Mathematics assessments. These days are valuable learning and collaboration opportunities for all staff and enables them to keep up to date with the latest curriculum changes and pedagogies.

Last chance to win $100 Visa
There is one more chance to win a $100 Visa by completing the ECSI survey. Please remember you MUST email the certificate of completion or a screenshot of it to rsmssn@gstsv.catholic.edu.au to be in the draw to win the Visa. We can not access the survey to see who has completed it! Entries for the final draw close at 5pm on Wednesday 1st May.

Reports:

Semester 1 reports will be issued at the end of this term. Reports are published via the Parent Portal on Compass. Please check that you are able to log in to Compass, as this will enable you to access your child’s report as well as enter absences and many other features. If you are unable to log in, please email the office on rsmssn@gstsv.catholic.edu.au for assistance.

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!

Please see below for what’s happening around our school this fortnight.

Curriculum News 👩‍🏫

Change to Reporting in Prep to Year 2

During 2023, the Townsville Catholic Education Office reviewed the Academic Reporting Guidelines for Prep to Year 10.  Schools report on student achievement and progress twice yearly and comply with the Commonwealth Government’s legislation stating that a student’s achievement will be reported using a five point scale or equivalent.  In previous years, the reporting scale for Prep to Year One was as listed below:

From Semester 1 2024, the reporting scale above will be used for reporting student achievement for students in Prep to Year 2.  The P-2 Reporting Standards are summary statements that describe typical performance at each of the five levels (A-E or equivalent). Previously, the reporting scale was A to E for Year 2 to Year 10.  The A to E reporting scale will now be used from Year 3 to Year 10.

This change to semester reporting will bring our diocese in line with advice from the Queensland Curriculum and Assessment Authority (QCAA) and the Queensland Department of Education.

Sports News ⚽️ 🏀 🏈 ⚾️ 🎾 🏐 🏉 🎱

Please be advised that the make-up swimming lesson for Prep – Year 2 will be Thursday 16^th May (Week 5). A reminder closer to the date will be posted on the school’s Facebook page.

School Events 📅 

Tomorrow Good Shepherd staff and students will represent our school in the Thuringowa ANZAC Day Parade. We look forward to seeing strong representation from our school and encourage as many students as possible to join us.

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

Eastertide
We are currently in the Liturgical season of Eastertide, it is the time of new life. Eastertide is the period of 50 days, spanning from Easter Sunday to
Pentecost Sunday. It is celebrated as a single joyful feast, called the "Great Lord's Day". Each Sunday of the season is treated as a Sunday of Easter.

The Easter season continues for 50 days, through the Ascension of Our Lord to Pentecost Sunday, seven full weeks after Easter Sunday! Indeed, for the purpose of fulfilling our Easter Duty (the requirement to receive Communion at least once during the Easter season), the Easter season
extends a bit further, until Trinity Sunday, the first Sunday after Pentecost.

We are now in the middle of the Easter Season, and our focus at this joyful time continues to be the Risen Lord who passed on from the darkness of the grave to the brightness of the new supernatural life, that does not know end.  What a beautiful truth we believe in. Yes, we all must go through rough times in this imperfect universe. And it can be seen more clearly at this time; that is why Easter comes to remind us that our faith tells us that no virus or any other power has the last word, but our Lord Jesus Christ, who has already destroyed death through his death; the spectre of death the worst enemy of our humanity could not get hold of him. Let us keep praying for those who have died in these terrible times, for those who are sick, those who are working to keep the country running and those who want to keep everybody safe.  Prayer that this time is a wonderful weapon against the obstacles we are faced with daily. 

CONGRATULATIONS

A big congratulations to our students that have received their Sacraments of Confirmation and Holy Eucharist on Sunday 21^st April. The children all did a wonderful job and I felt very proud watching them receive their sacraments and being fully initiated in the Catholic church. (We will have photos in next week’s newsletter). Congratulations to Ethan, Sam, Lana, Keona, Matthias and Rodney on receiving your sacraments.

Rebecca Kershaw

APRE

rkershaw@gstsv.catholic.edu.au

What's Happening in Year 5

.Year 5 has had a hectic, productive start to Term 2. We have re-established and reconnected with each other and to our Good Shepherd way to ensure our minds, bodies and hearts are ready for another amazing term of learning.

Week 1 was spent undertaking Relationship Based Learning playing and learning by undertaking some activities that created team work, problem solving and enjoyment.

Sporting Schools saw us learn and play about Netball by undertaking quick, fun games that were definitely entertaining.  

ANZAC Day Commemorative Assembly was another successful event on our calendar.  5B and Mrs Tiller shone brightly in creating a feeling of pride and gratitude for our ANZACS.

Even though the course was long, Cross Country saw our students participate to their ultimate best.  Demonstrating high quality Good Shepherd Gospel Values no matter their skill or ability level.  So proud of their efforts.

We also met Alex Ferlazzo, an Australian Olympian in the sport of Luge.  His presentation was inspiring and interesting.  We were super proud to hear that Alex is a Townsville boy, born and raised.  Good luck Alex in your quest to represent Australia at the 2026 Olympics.

In science we have started chemical sciences, learning about solid, liquids and gasses. Students absolutely enjoyed doing an experiment where they created a chemical reaction to make a gas fill a balloon. The conversations were rich with ideas hypothesizing what will happen and why.

In religion students are learning about the Holy Spirit in the lives of believers.  In small groups, students created a script and performed a mime depicting the story of Pentecost, using movement and facial expressions to show emotion.

Library

Story Dogs

Eisteddfod 2024

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 2, Week 1

This week our Good Shepherd Way Gospel in Action value is Community where I connect and engage.

Our community prayer is below:

Term 2, Week 2

The Good Shepherd Way Gospel in Action for Week 2 will be Compassion where I show care and concern for others.

Our Compassion 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: In the classroom. 

In Term 2, Week 1 we are focusing on: Before school. 

Environmental Tips

Weeds

Weeds destroy the environment by displacing native vegetation and replacing food sources and habitats for native animals.  Aquatic weeds choke waterways and wetlands.  Weeds can destroy our enjoyment and recreational use of natural areas. Be a Weedbuster and stop the invasion.

Lost and Found

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