16 March 2022

From the Desk of the Principal

It was so wonderful to be able to hold Assembly again! Assembly is a wonderful opportunity for our community to come together and share in our student achievement and learning. At our first Assembly we were able to acknowledge our 2022 School Leaders and Year 6 students as they all received their senior badges. We look forward to having this wonderful group of students lead us in 2022.

On Monday we had a group of students compete in the Interschool Swimming Carnival. Congratulations to all students who competed - Good Shepherd Catholic School finished third overall. Well done!

Last week we launched our School Fun Run fundraiser which is being held with our Cross Country on Friday 22 April. Through the fundraiser we are aiming to raise funds to contribute to providing an undercover area at our Stop Drop Go area in the Pick Up Zone. Families are encouraged to make an online profile for their child through schoolfunrun.com.au. The class that has the most online profiles established by 8:00am this Friday will receive a pizza party so be sure to sign your child up before then! 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 for 2022

RECONCILIATION - CONFIRMATION - HOLY COMMUNION

The lesson this week was the first on Eucharist, with the second lesson on Eucharist next week. Next week is the final week of lessons.  A note has gone home for the Sacramental Retreat Day on Friday, 22 April (Term 2 Week 1).
Thank you to the teachers who have volunteered to lead the groups. 
Congratulations to Sienna(3C), Diezel(3A) and Isziah(3A) who received the Sacrament of Reconciliation last week at Ryan Community Centre. 

Project Compassion - Rosalie's Story

Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC)

From her life as a former child soldier in the DRC, Rosalie is a now a business owner, a community leader and a role model for other ex-combatants seeking to readjust to civilian life.
Rosalie had a tough childhood. Her father passed away when she was just two-years-old and her mother struggled to look after the family on her own.
When she was just 15 years old, Rosalie was forced to join the army. In recent decades, the DRC has experienced ongoing political instability, violence and conflict, and the recruitment of child soldiers is all too common.
When Rosalie finally left the army after six years, she was eager to start a new life, free from violence. But like many ex-combatants, Rosalie found the challenge to adjust to civilian life overwhelming.
With your generous help, Rosalie was able to participate in business and social skills training, supported by Caritas Australia’s partners, Catholic Agency for Overseas Development (CAFOD) and Caritas Bukavu. Through the program, she gained essential skills in generating an income while gaining a sense of belonging and community spirit. Rosalie is now a business owner, a community leader and a role model for other ex-combatants who are seeking to readjust to civilian life.

Watch a short film about Rosalie’s story by clicking the below link.

Project Compassion at GSCS

Don’t forget to continue to use your Project Compassion box for your donations or you can donate online via the Caritas Australia website at: lent.caritas.org.au

Rebecca Kershaw

APRE

rkershaw@gstsv.catholic.edu.au

From the Desk of the Assistant Principal Administration

Naplan 2022
Next week, on Thursday March 24, students in Years 3 and 5 will be participating in the Naplan online coordinated practise test. This test is designed to test the capacity of the Naplan secured website to ensure it can cope with everyone logging on at the same time.
During this coordinated practise test, students will be exposed to the format used in the Naplan testing. It is a valuable opportunity to practise the necessary skills. Teachers also use it as another way to check that students have the technical skills needed for the test, such as the ability to scroll, switch between screens and use online tools. This test is not marked and results are not provided.
Our students have also taken part in a number of online practise tests. Again, these are not marked but play an important role in ensuring students are familiar with the style of testing used and able to navigate their way around the test documents.
The “real” Naplan will take place next term in Week 4 and 5, May 10 to May 20.  Students will participate in four tests: writing, reading, conventions of language and numeracy. Each test is between 40 and 50 minutes long and will be held in the mornings, starting at 9.15am. During this time, it is important for all Year 3 and 5 students to be at school on time and every day.
If you have any questions or concerns about Naplan and your child’s participation, please speak to their classroom teacher.

School TV - Mindfulness: being present in the moment
Recent studies have shown that one in seven primary school children have significant mental health disorders, and one in four secondary school students have psychological problems. Every year, in the last five years, that number has increased. Mindfulness, is the practice of being in the moment, being present and being open to what you're focusing on. Mindfulness is all about building resilience. It is not a replacement for therapy or medication for mental health issues, but will hopefully reduce the need for it later on.

Research has proven that mindfulness has endless benefits for children. This school taught activity is on the rise, and many experts are wanting it to be a compulsory component of the national curriculum. Not only does mindfulness calm a child’s mind, but it has also been proven to reduce disruptive and bullying behaviour in schools.
SchoolTV has a range of videos and information to help build mindfulness. Click below to view the Mindfulness resources, or go to the “students” tab on our school home page.

Maxine Nolan

APA

mnolan@gstsv.catholic.edu.au

What's Happening In Our Deadly Learners?

As Indigenous Education is everyone’s business, in 2022 we have extended our Deadly Learners program to include all students across all year levels. Each fortnight our Indigenous Deadly Learner students spend time in the Deadly Learners room where they will engage with lessons focusing on culture. The next week they will return to their class and share their learning and culture with their classmates. 

Deadly Learners gives students an introduction to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island culture and positive promotion of Indigenous identity amongst the school. Participation in Deadly Learners allows students to gain confidence, improve self esteem, instil pride and promote cultural understanding which in turn will impact positively in their engagement and educational outcomes. All activities meet cross curriculum priorities and general capabilities including Literacy, Numeracy, Information and Technology capability (ICT), Critical and Creative Thinking, Personal and Social Capability and Intercultural Understanding.

This term we have focused on the differences between Welcome and Acknowledgement of Country, What is a Yarning Circle? What Country is our school located on? The history of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island flag.

It was great to be able to present our Year 6 Deadly Learner leaders with their Deadly badges at our first whole school assembly last week.

Awards For The Week

Birthdays For This Week

~Zade (1A)                 ~Kyle (1B)                       ~Tahnay (1C)                 

Assembly

PrepA & PrepB will be presenting our Assembly this Friday in the BBC at 8:40am.

Our lucky Praise Note winners drawn last week were: Primroze(PrepC); Emersyn(1C); Abigail(2B); Toby(3C); Harriet(4C); Peyton(5A); Josie(6A).

The Good Shepherd Way

This week our Good Shepherd Way Gospel in Action value is Reconciliation where we are fair, forgiving and respectful.

Our Reconciliation 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: At the Tuckshop and at the Office .

Congratulations to our GSCS Way VIPs! We held a VIP Mega Draw at Friday's Assembly and the following students were selected as VIPS - (Back Row) Bella, Yasmine, Chanel, Kelly, Caprice, (Front Row) Emersyn, Terrence, Indee and Joshua.

Fun Run - 22 April

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.

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.

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. 

Environmental Tips

Turn it off - Artificial lighting accounts for 44 percent of electricity used in office buildings. Make it a habit to turn off the lights when you're leaving any room for 15 minutes or more. Same goes for electronics; switch off power strips and unplug electrical devices when you're not using them.

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