30 April 2025

From the Desk of the Acting Principal

Dear Parents and Guardians,

The beautiful April weather has warmly welcomed us back for Term Two. We are pleased to share that the start of the term has been very positive, with students diligently remembering to wear their hats outdoors and adhering to the correct uniform. Classrooms are lively centres of learning, with students revisiting school rules and behavioural expectations. As demonstrated in Term One, everyone has shown great commitment and resilience.

On Wednesday, I had the opportunity to present the Annual School Improvement Plan (ASIP) and the Five Year School Improvement Implementation Plan to the directors at Townsville Catholic Education Office. These plans were developed based on surveys and interviews conducted last year under the leadership of Mrs. Maxine Nolan and Mrs. Majella Lynch-Harlow. I would like to extend my sincere appreciation to all who contributed and participated in these conversations. The honesty and insights shared have been invaluable in helping us identify the key areas for growth at Good Shepherd Catholic School.

The Leadership Team has collaboratively identified four main focus areas:

1. To establish an authentic Catholic identity with deep relevance for our community.

Jesus Christ remains at the heart of our faith and school life. All members of our school community—staff, students, and families—are encouraged to serve as genuine witnesses of our faith by embodying gospel values in their daily actions.

2. Establish consistent behaviour expectations to enhance student engagement and outcomes.

Our staff will continue to refine and explicitly teach classroom routines and behaviour expectations, both inside and outside the classroom. Creating an orderly environment is essential for fostering active participation, supporting learning, and ensuring that all students feel safe and included.

3. To optimise student outcomes through a refined curriculum, evidence-based programs and consistent teacher practice.

The curriculum will be aligned with Version Nine of the Australian Curriculum, ensuring that achievement standards are accurately taught across year levels. Our approach will employ the gradual release of responsibility model, responsive planning tailored to student needs, and the integration of cognitive verbs into learning intentions and success criteria. Assessment practices will also be realigned to accurately measure student learning and progress.

4. Provide an inclusive education through differentiated teaching, targeted interventions and family engagement.

Our staff will employ a variety of teaching and assessment strategies to meet the diverse needs of all students. Unit plans will incorporate Universal Design for Learning (UDL) strategies, and interventions such as MacLit and the Prep-Y2 Literacy programs will support students requiring additional assistance. Our Inclusion team, guidance counsellor, speech pathologists, and occupational therapists will continue to work closely with families to support each child's development.

We are truly fortunate to have such a dedicated and experienced team of teachers and specialists supporting our students. We look forward to seeing the positive impacts of our ongoing plans this year and are optimistic about the continued growth of our school in the years ahead.

Warm Regards, 
Annette Poulsen
Acting Principal 

apoulsen2@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. 

ANZAC Day March – Thank You

We would like to extend our heartfelt thanks to all the staff, students, and families of Good Shepherd Catholic School who attended the ANZAC Day march on Friday 25^th April. Your presence, commitment, and outstanding behaviour were a true credit to our school community.

It was wonderful to see so many of you come together to honour the sacrifices made by the men and women who served our country. Your respectful participation reflected the deep significance of this occasion, reminding us all of the importance of gratitude, courage, and peace.

As a community rooted in faith and service, it was inspiring to witness our students embody the values we hold dear — respect, humility, and compassion.

Rebecca Kershaw

APRE

rkershaw@gstsv.catholic.edu.au

What's Happening in Year 5

We have undertaken an abundance of learning throughout Term 1 and even more so, as we head into Term 2.  Starting off with the Leadership Program delivered by Character Builders.  Our kids had the opportunity to undertake various team building tasks, problem solving, listening and communicating effectively, encouraging and praising each other, taking risks, building resilience, strengthening interpersonal skills and respect.

Our Religion focus was on Mary, the Mother of Jesus and all Christians, and Marian spirituality.  This term’s focus is learning about the Power of the Holy Spirit.

Our English unit is centred around the text ‘War Horse’ by Michael Morpurgo. The book is set in the World War 1 through the eyes of a horse named Joey telling of his accounts from both sides of the trenches.  Highlighting the importance of true friendships as he survives these horrific times.

We’re learning Spanish through an online approach.  Students are embracing this style of learning, working through each task at their own pace.  It’s fun and interactive.

Numeracy is all about Data and Statistics, Basic Number Facts, Place Value and Decimals.  Students continue to push themselves across all content no matter how challenging.

We met Karl Lawton, our Adopt-A-Cowboy.  We introduced him to our PE – Sports Wall that is underpinned by our GSCS Ways, Giving Our Best, Compassion and Care, Safe, Responsible and Fair and Showing Respect.  It was a deadly opportunity for all of us.

Finally, our recent learning has been of our ANZAC’s.  Year 5s proudly represented Good Shepherd at the annual ANZAC Day March that was held at Riverway last weekend.  We created Poppy artwork and our amazing wreaths to commemorate our diggers both past and present at our ANZAC Day Liturgy.  Mrs Burling treated us by sharing the story of ‘Gunner’ by Kathryn Berryman. 

Lest We Forget

Library

Story Dogs

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. 

Enrol for 2026

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. 

Dates to Remember

Lost and Found

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