14 July 2021

From the Desk of the Principal

Welcome back to Term 3! It is always so lovely to come back rested and ready for a new term and to see all of our beautiful smiling faces on that first day back. I trust that you all had a wonderful break and managed some rest time - even if it was forced with a three day lockdown!

Over the break, our wonderful groundsman Jason Hills transformed the unused area near the library into "Yalga". Jason raised the area, put in new irrigation, cemented and paved a cross pathway, added boulders and new turf. What a phenomenal effort in two weeks! Yalga is a Wulgurukaba word meaning path or journey. At Good Shepherd Catholic School we have named our Reconciliation space Yalga to remind us of our way - where we have come from, where we are going and what we may encounter along the way. Thank you Jason for transforming this area into a usable space for all in our community.

It was amazing to have Yalga ready for us just in time to celebrate NAIDOC Week. Thank you so much to our Deadly Team of Kylie, Emma, Melisia, Marita and Melissa for organising amazing activities for our students and families to participate in this week. On Monday, Alaska's mum and Grandma, Adelia and Luen, provided a presentation for our Prep- Year 2 students where they shared their knowledge of special family artefacts along with a taste test of Lemon Myrtle flavoured popcorn. On Tuesday we welcomed Aka Ellen and Athe Andrew in to make fried scones for our students which has been a staple food amongst Torres Strait Island people for generations. Tuesday also saw us welcome families, friends and the Mary MacKillop Kindy kids to join us for a flag raising ceremony. On Thursday we will also be holding a NAIDOC Week Liturgy in the Community Centre. As part of the liturgy, each class will be presented a plant to be added to the "Heal Country Garden" in our Yalga space. We look forward to having families and friends join us for this special celebration tomorrow from 9:00am.

Enjoy the rest of your week.

Glenda Scrase

Principal

gscrase1@gstsv.catholic.edu.au

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From the Desk of the Assistant Principal Religious Education

This week the GSCS community is celebrating NAIDOC Week. This year’s theme – Heal Country! – calls for Australians to recognise, protect, and maintain all aspects of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander culture and heritage.
Please join us tomorrow at 9:00am in the Community Centre for our 2021 NAIDOC Week Liturgy. 

Holy Father, God of Love,
You are the creator of this land and of all good things.
Teach us to respect all cultures.
Teach us to care for our land and waters.
Help us to share justly the resources of this land.
Help us to bring about spiritual and social change.
Help young people to find true dignity and self-esteem in the ways of your Spirit.
May your power and love be the foundations on which we build our families,
our communities and our nation.
Through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Judy Bell

APRE
jbell17@gstsv.catholic.edu.au

From the Desk of the Assistant Principal Administration

Welcome to Term 3! After an enjoyable two weeks of sleep-ins and lazy days, it can be hard to get back into the swing of things and return to the school day routine. Starting the school day “right” with a good night’s sleep and a healthy breakfast helps set students up for a great day. 
Once at school, it is important they also follow our routines. This includes waiting in the Shed before school. All students, from Prep to Year 6, who are not attending OSHC Before School Care, are required to follow our GSCS Way before school, which means sitting quietly in the Shed, chatting with friends. Ball games, chasing and running around are not permitted.
Teachers are not on duty until 8:10am, so ideally students should not be dropped at school before that time. Parents are welcome to sit in the shed with their children, but we do ask that you continue to encourage them to follow the GSCS Way.

DOGS
Franki is enjoying an extra week of holidays, but will return to Good Shepherd next week, and will continue to be at school on Monday, Wednesday and Friday whenever possible. 
Franki is in training to become a registered therapy dog, a process which takes considerable time and money. The training involves how to react in different situations, temperament checks, and behaviour expectations. As such, there are rules around Franki being at school, and she is covered by the school’s insurance while on the school grounds and working with students.
We all love our dogs, and it is very tempting to bring them along to school. However, other dogs brought onto the school grounds are not afforded the same cover that Franki has. It is important, for the safety of both the dog and our students, that dogs (and puppies) are not brought onto the school grounds without prior permission of the principal.
Thank you for your cooperation with this – and feel free to say hi when you see Franki around.

SHORT STORY COMPETITION
Have a great story to tell about your family? Why not put it on paper and enter Townsville City Libraries short story competition?
This year’s theme is My Family, there are four age categories to apply for:
First Five (0 - 5 years):  max  200 words
Children (up to 11 years): max 500 words
Young adult (12 – 17 years): max 1,000 words
Adult (18+ years): max 2,000 words

Entries open Thursday 1 July 2021 and close Tuesday 31 August 2021. More information is available at the below website.

Maxine Nolan

APA

mnolan@gstsv.catholic.edu.au

What's Happening in Our Year 4 Classes

At the end of Term 2 students were introduced to ‘Genius hour’. The concept revolves around three essential components; an interesting question (not easily answered), research and finally presentation. In essence, students became the teacher and experts on their topic and taught their peers. 
Students engaged in deep thinking in order to choose a complex question of interest to them and their peers. Following are some examples of questions:
* How did the universe start?
* Can an egg remain intact when dropped from the height of 4 metres?
* What supernatural entities exist?
* What came first; dinosaurs or crocodiles?
They then engaged in self paced, peer supported research with minimal guidance from adults. Students needed to filter their research to identify and summarise important information. They then needed to decide how they would like to present their findings. Below is a list of ways students could present their findings:
Flipgrid, Experiment, Slideshow, Sculpture, Poster, Google doc/drawing, Speech, Cartoon
or alternate agreed upon presentation. As you would expect, Genius hour was very engaging and successful. Student presentations were enjoyed by all and everybody learnt something new from their peers. Ask your child what they presented. 

During Term 3 the students will look at the diversity of Australia's first peoples and the long and continuous connection of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander People to Country/ Place. They will examine conditions in England and the reasons behind the colonisation of Australia. Students will take on the role of a convict and follow him/her on their journey to Australia. 

Awards For The Week

Birthdays For This Week

~ Dylan    PrepB        ~ Addisyn  PrepB         ~ Jensen  PrepC         ~ Cooper  1A           ~ Lexi  1A

Welcome Mrs Sprindzuks

This term we welcome Mrs Erin Sprindzuks (Mrs S) to our Good Shepherd family. Mrs S will be providing drama lessons to our students each week this term and dance lessons each week next term. Welcome Mrs S!

Assembly

5B will be presenting our Assembly this Friday in the BBC at 8:40am.

Our lucky Praise Note winners the last week of Term 2 were: Indianna (PrepA), Chelsea (1C), Lane (2A), Lachlan (3C), Isla (4B), Paige T (5A) and Patience (5B).

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.

Congratulations to our last GSCS Way VIP winners Braxton, Rion and Lucas who were joined at the VIP Table on the last day of Term 3 by special guest Glenn “Minty” Mintern.

FACE (Family And Community Engagement) Network News

Thank you to all who came to our meeting last night. Our next meeting will be held on Tuesday 12 October at 7:00pm in the Staffroom.

Catholic School Parents Queensland is holding a Parent Engagement Day on Saturday 7 August from 10:00am to 4:00pm at St Joseph's Catholic School The Strand. Guest Speakers for the day are Psychologist Andrew Fuller and Chris Borrell from The Fathering Project.  The agenda for the Day is:

• 10:00am - Welcome, Acknowledgement of Country, Prayer
• 10:30am - Andrew Fuller "Tricky Behaviours"
• 11:30am - Chris Borrell "The Fathering Project"
• 12:00pm - Break
• 12:15pm - Andrew Fuller "Building Blocks for Mental Health in Children"
• 1:15pm - Lunch
• 2:00pm - Bernadette Kay, Executive Officer CSPQ, "Talking with 5 schools about their best practice in Parent Engagement"
• 3:00pm - Andrew Fuller "How to help your kids be motivated to learn and do well in school"
• 4:00pm - Thanks and Close
• 4:00pm-4:30pm - Drinks and Nibbles (optional)
• 4:30pm-7:00pm - Trivia Event (optional)

The event is free to attend however you need to register by clicking on the link in the poster below.

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.

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.

Student Protection Letter

Premier's Reading Challenge 2021

NCCD Fact Sheet for Parents & Caregivers

Environmental Tips

Your healthy newborn child could live to his nineties – but did you know that his first disposable nappy may well still be around in 500 years?

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