28 May 2025

From the Desk of the Acting Principal

Dear Parents and Guardians,

Last Saturday, the 24th of May, we celebrated Mary, Help of Christians, the patron saint of our Diocese of Townsville and of Australia. Mary, under the title of Help of Christians, is fondly remembered for her role in maintaining the Catholic faith during Australia's early settlement period (as far back as 1844), a time when priests were not always available to celebrate Mass. During this time, the community remained devoted to praying the Rosary, which contributed to the growth and resilience of our faith.

We are pleased to share that our Reconciliation Liturgy will take place at 9:00 am on Thursday. This year, the theme is “Bridging Now to Next,” emphasizing the meaningful ongoing connection between our past, present, and future. The theme encourages all Australians to come together, look ahead, and continue our journey of progress, guided by the lessons of history. The artwork depicting native plants—known for their ability to regenerate after fire and withstand adversity—symbolizes our collective resilience and the potential for renewal. This is a special opportunity for reflection, growth, and renewed commitment as we walk together. It’s important to recognize that Australia's reconciliation efforts have seen both significant achievements and ongoing challenges, and this process continues to develop.

Please note that NAIDOC Week will be observed from 27 May to 3 June each year. These dates commemorate two important milestones—the 1967 referendum and the Mabo High Court decision—both of which have been vital to Australia's reconciliation journey.

Reconciliation is a shared responsibility that is reflected in the hearts, minds, and actions of all Australians. Moving forward, our aim is to foster respectful relationships between the broader Australian community and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, helping to strengthen and unite our nation.

We all play a meaningful part in supporting reconciliation. Through our individual efforts, we can build stronger relationships and communities that genuinely value Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander histories, cultures, and future aspirations.

This Friday, we celebrate the 16th Obe Geia Challenge, which promotes inclusion across North Queensland. Many of our Year Six students will be participating in this special event on Palm Island. We wish them the best of luck, and more importantly, we are proud of their representation of our school—with fairness, good sportsmanship, and integrity.

The staff have been working diligently to review and enhance our Behaviour Management Policy, which will come into effect at the start of next term. Instead of the current five-step process, we will be adopting a three-step traffic light system, similar to that used by most schools in the Townsville Diocese. To maintain open communication, students who display yellow-level behaviours—such as inappropriate classroom conduct—will receive an email from the teacher explaining the strategies used, the nature of the behaviour, and the consequence. For repeated yellow behaviours, or more intentional or aggressive actions marked as orange, the classroom teacher will contact parents to discuss the situation, the strategies implemented to de-escalate, and steps taken to help the student re-engage. At the red level, indicating more serious behaviours, members of the Leadership Team will contact parents to discuss appropriate consequences.

As we approach the second half of the term and the cooler weather, we kindly ask that you label your child's clothing to help manage the increasing items of lost property. We also appreciate your support in encouraging students to wear either the GSCS jumper or a navy blue jumper, with or without a hood. Additionally, arriving at school on time helps ensure students are ready for their lessons and benefits their overall learning experience. If your child arrives after 8:45 am, please remember to sign in at the office.

Last Friday, we said farewell to Mrs. Helen Fong, who has been a warm and valued presence at the student counter. We are pleased to welcome Ms. Shnova McAlister as her replacement, starting Monday. Shnova is well known to many of our students through her work at OSHC, and her family has long-standing connections to Rasmussen.

Finally, we sincerely thank you for your ongoing support of our school. Education is a partnership between home and school, and we truly value the trust you place in us to help nurture and guide your children. Let us work together to make this a positive and successful term for everyone.

Warm Regards, 
Annette Poulsen
Acting Principal 

apoulsen2@gstsv.catholic.edu.au

What's Happening in Deadly Learners

Our Deadly Learners Program has started off this term for Preps to Year 2.  Our focus is Literacy Based, targeting early literacy strategies and embedding these practices using the 8 Ways of Learning Pedagogical Framework, whilst keeping our deep connection and kinship to our Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander heritages.

We commenced our Deadly Learner session, welcoming our students to the Deadly Room starting a new tradition of applying calming oil if they choose to, before entering our sacred space.

Students proudly adorned our Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander coloured headbands that represent the longest living culture in existence.  Then gathered around the Yarning Circle to reconnect and share our stories through traditional signs and symbols.

We read and unpacked our Big Book, discussing focus words; and then regathered for our check out, sharing deadly highlights of our time together.

What an amazing experience we’ve had these past couple of weeks with our little people. We can’t wait to begin and share this experience with our Deadly Learners in Years 3 to 6 later on in the term. 

Yours in Deadliness

The Deadly Learners Team

Mrs DeDaunton, Mrs McLaren-Womal, Mrs Ellis, Mrs Shaxson, Mrs Murray and Mrs Priestley

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Library

Ministerial Region of the Good Shepherd Parish

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 5

This week our Good Shepherd Way Gospel in Action value is Inclusion where I involve and accept others.

Our Inclusion prayer is below:

Term 2, Week 6

The Good Shepherd Way Gospel in Action for Week 6 will be Justice where I make right choices.

Our Justice 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 Library. 

In Term 2, Week 5 we are focusing on: On the Oval. 

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