21 April 2021

From the Desk of the Principal

Welcome back to Term 2! I trust you all had a restful and enjoyable Easter break. This term we welcome Miss Alisha Foord (PE) and Mrs Josephine Allison (School Officer) as well as many new students to our Good Shepherd Family.

Term 2 is shaping up to be another busy and eventful term. With the COVID restrictions constantly being reviewed and updated, we are hoping that many of our school events that were cancelled in 2020 can resume in 2021. Obviously decisions like this are out of our control at a school level and I am confident you can all understand that decisions to change and alter events are not made lightly. One event that was nationally cancelled in 2020 but looks to be going ahead in 2021 is NAPLAN Testing for our Year 3 and 5 students. Our FACE Network Mothers' Day Stall is also looking like it will be back in 2021 after it was sadly cancelled in 2020. More information about the stall will be distributed in the coming weeks. Our Athletics Carnival and Field Events are also looking like making a comeback in 2021 after they too were cancelled in 2020. Please see below for information regarding our Cross Country and ANZAC Day.

Cross Country

We are excited to have a modified version of our Cross Country back in 2021 after it was a cancelled event in 2020 due to COVID. Due to the sudden resignation of our PE Teacher and the imminent nominations due to Townsville Sport for the 10-12 year students to compete at the Townsville Trials, a modified event is being held for the required age groups after Assembly this Friday.

At this stage, rain is predicted so it is highly likely the event will be postponed. If that is the case, we will hold it on Tuesday morning.

I recognise that there are students in younger year levels who are disappointed in not competing in our modified event this year. It is my hope that the Cross Country will be back bigger and better in 2022 and I am confident you can all appreciate and understand why it was modified in 2021. 

ANZAC Day

The following advice was received by all schools from the Townsville City Council in relation to the 2021 ANZAC Day March:

Part of these Queensland Government guidelines is a request to separate marching groups to ensure they do not interact together. This means we need to ensure 1.5m between all groups on parade, be they school groups, community groups, defence units and the all important veterans groups.
In order to achieve this and still keep the parade length to a manageable size, we are requesting that all schools cap the numbers of their marching contingent to 50 members only.
This day is for our veterans first and foremost, and as such we are not capping numbers on any veteran contingent in this year’s parade. 

We are excited to be able to participate in the ANZAC Day March this year but as our numbers have been limited to 50 students only, we have invited our students of current Defence members as well as our Year 5 and 6 leaders to participate. It would be our dream to have all students participate but as you can appreciate we must follow the guidelines set by the organisers and limit our participation to 50. Families are invited to attend the service at the Riverway Precinct. Students participating are to meet in the carpark of the Weir State School at 8:30am. The parade steps off at 9:00am and the service commences at 9:30am. The Council has advised that public parking will be available at the Willows and Sunland carparks for the community attending Anzac Day commemorations and that public parking will not be allowed in the Riverway precinct.

At a school level we will be holding an ANZAC Day service as part of our Assembly this Friday which you are all welcome to join us at.

I appreciate and thank you for your continued support and understanding in decisions made at a school level each day as we continue to get back to the new normal. Enjoy the rest of your week.

Glenda Scrase

Principal

gscrase1@gstsv.catholic.edu.au

From the Desk of the Assistant Principal Religious Education

Sacramental Program

This week, eleven of our students will receive the Sacraments of Confirmation and Holy Communion. This marks the culmination of the Parish Sacramental Program for this year. Receiving these Sacraments strengthens faith and forges a deeper relationship with God and is a joyous and special time for these students and their families.

Congratulations to Nate, Lucy, Sofia, Eden, Isabella, Visesio, Brax, Esiah, Cynthia, Ethan and Sharaye.

Parish Masses

Parish/School Masses will no longer be held on the third Saturday evening of the month. From now on, classes will take turns participating in fortnightly Friday morning Masses. The reason for this change is to give more of our students an opportunity to experience Mass in a parish setting. 
All Year 1 classes will be attending Mass next Friday 30th April at 10:00am in the Community Centre. Parents are also welcome to attend.
Celebrating Mass together is a great way to build community!

Term 2 Dates

Friday 30th April - 1A, 1B, 1C
Friday 14th May - 4A, 2B, 3B
Friday 28th May - 4B, 2C, Prep A, 6A
Friday 11th June - 5B, 2A, Prep B, 6B
Friday 25th June - Prep C, 5A, 3A, 3C

God of Hope,
In this season of Easter we rejoice in the new life the risen Jesus gives us, offering hope and peace.
This Sunday, as we remember the ANZAC soldiers who fought to protect our country, help us to be instruments of your peace.
Amen.

Judy Bell

APRE
jbell17@gstsv.catholic.edu.au

From the Desk of the Assistant Principal Administration

Welcome back! Term 2 is shaping up to be an exciting term, with lots of fun learning activities planned across all year levels.
With the increasing reliance on technology in the workplace, our social lives and even at school, many parents feel unsure about how to best monitor their child’s usage and access to things like social media.
With this in mind the Australian Government’s eSafety Commissioner has put together an expert education and training team to present a FREE webinar for parents and carers. The webinar will discuss how to set up devices and apps to keep children and young people safer online. There are several webinars scheduled in May and June, and all are FREE. You just need to register online. All the details are below.

Maxine Nolan

APA

mnolan@gstsv.catholic.edu.au

What's Happening in Our Year 2 Classes

Welcome back to school! We hope you had a relaxing break over the holidays. Year 2 finished Term 1 with an exciting Easter Egg Hunt out in the school yard (linked to our learning in Maths). While we were out hunting, the Easter Bunny snuck into our classrooms and left a surprise for all the children. It was a wonderful end to a very busy term! This term, we welcome some new friends to our community. We are looking forward to getting to know them better. Our major theme for Term 2 is "the needs and life cycle of mealworms"! To get us started, please send through any photos to your class teacher of your pets (or minibeasts from your backyards).

Staff News

This term we welcome Miss Alisha Foord and Mrs Josephine Allison to our staff. Miss Foord will be teaching PE each Monday to Wednesday and 1B each Thursday. Mrs Allison will be working with students in Prep and Year 4 each day. Welcome Alisha and Josie to our Good Shepherd Family.

Awards For The Week

Birthdays For This Week And During The School Holidays!

~ Summah  PrepA       ~ Chelsea  1C       ~ Jacob  2A      ~ Joshua  5A       ~ Rylan  6B             

Assembly

2B will be presenting our Assembly this Friday in the BBC at 8:40am.

Our lucky Praise Note winners will be drawn at assembly on Friday.

The Good Shepherd Way

This week our Good Shepherd Way Gospel in Action value is Community where we are encouraged to connect and engage.

Our Community 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 Safe, Responsible and Fair: Before School, Classroom, Eating Area, Playground, Oval, Library and Toilets.

FACE (Family And Community Engagement) Network News

Our FACE Network is looking for donations for our Mothers' Day Stall. Can you help?

Cross Country

Running Club

Running Club is back each Tuesday and Thursday on the oval and is open to all year levels and age groups. Can you help us get to Tokyo for the Olympics?

Have You Enrolled For Prep 2022 Yet?

Students turning 5 by 30 June 2022 are invited to enroll for Prep 2022. Applications are available from our School Office. Alternatively they can also downloaded from our website at https://www.gstsv.catholic.edu.au/enrolment/enrolment-package/

Tuckshop

Wednesday - Thursday - Friday

Please place your order with Flexischool no later than 8:30am on the day you wish to order. You will find a menu on our webpage. If you wish to place an order of cupcakes for your child's birthday please place your order the week before.

Environmental Tips

World Earth Day 22nd April
The theme for Earth Day 2021 is Restore our Earth. Climate change represents the biggest challenge to the future of humanity and the life-support systems that make our world habitable. Think carefully about how you use the Earth’s resources.

Upcoming Events

Townsville Eisteddfod

The Townsville Eisteddfod, held each year in September, is a great way for children of all ages to showcase their talents. 

Students who enjoy writing, art or photography are encouraged to enter in one of the following sections: Poetry, Creative Writing, Functional Writing, Visual Arts, Media, Photography (Digital). 

Entry Fee is $8 per entry and is due Tuesday 8th June.  Finished work is not due until Tuesday, 3rd August. If you are interested and would like to enter or want more information please see Geraldine Feaver (4A)

Teacher Contacts

Community News