3 March 2021

From the Desk of the Principal

On Saturday members of our School Board gathered with school board members from other Townsville Catholic Education schools for a Board Formation Day at the Mercure Hotel. The day had our members reviewing the context and purpose of the School Board while looking at the importance of prayer and faith formation at a Board level, the history of Catholic schools in the Townsville Diocese and the role of School Improvement at a Board level.  The Good Shepherd Catholic School Board meets once a month and is responsible for the development of policy. Their role is to also advise me on the overall direction of the school.

Just a reminder that School Photos are taking place on Monday 8 March. All students are required to wear full academic uniforms with black shoes. There is a reminder below as well as on our Facebook page.

I will be absent on Monday and Tuesday as I will be attending Townsville Catholic Education Principals' Meetings. I will contactable via email during this absence.

Enjoy the rest of your week.

Glenda Scrase

Principal

gscrase1@gstsv.catholic.edu.au

From the Desk of the Assistant Principal Religious Education

LENTEN PRAYER

And the Lord said: I will give you a new heart, and place a new spirit within you, taking from your bodies your stony hearts, and giving you hearts of love. I will put my spirit within, and help you live by my ways.  (Ezekiel 36: 26-27)

This holy season, let us think about our call to:

•    fast from judging others; feast on the Christ dwelling in them
•    fast from emphasis on our differences; feast on our oneness
•    fast from the darkness around us; feast on the light of Christ
•    fast on words that pollute; feast on words that purify
•    fast from discontent; feast on gratitude
•    fast from withholding anger; feast on sharing our feelings
•    fast from pessimism; feast on optimism
•    fast from worry; feast on trust
•    fast from guilt; feast on freedom
•    fast from complaining; feast on appreciation     
•    fast from stress; feast on self-care                         
•    fast from hostility; feast on letting go
•    fast from bitterness; feast on forgiveness
•    fast from selfishness; feast on compassion for others
•    fast from discouragement; feast on seeing the good
•    fast from suspicion; feast on seeing the good
•    fast from idle gossip; feast on spreading good news
•    fast from being so busy; feast on quiet silence
•    fast from problems that overwhelm us; feast on prayerful trust
•    fast from talking; feast on listening
•    fast from trying to be in control; feast on letting go

Loving God, let us fast from anything that leads us away from you and teach us to feast on all that brings us closer to your love.  Amen

Project Compassion: Be More

Please remember: This Lent our fundraising for Project Compassion will go towards assisting Caritas to provide decent housing, schools and hospitals in Bangladesh.
Each student has been given a Project Compassion money box. These are to be returned to the office any time before the end of this term. The money will be counted and recorded against your child’s class. 
For every $5.00 that a class raises they will receive a picture of a house. 
When they have 5 houses, they get a school. 
When they have 10 houses, they get a hospital. 
Let’s see how many houses, schools and hospitals each class can get.

Aspire not to have more, but to be more. (St Oscar Romero)

PARISH MASS
Saturday 20th March 6:00pm
Good Shepherd Community Centre
All GSCS families are welcome to attend.

Judy Bell
APRE
jbell17@gstsv.catholic.edu.au

From the Desk of the Assistant Principal Administration

Read, read, read…and then read some more!
Here at Good Shepherd, we have a number of excellent reading programs in place across all year levels, including InitiaLit in Prep and Year 1, the MacqLit reading intervention program for Years 3 – 6. These programs teach students everything from the basics of letter-sound recognition, through to more complex comprehension strategies.
All of this learning comes together when students read, but it’s a skill they need to practise frequently, both at school and at home – and that’s where parents and carers play a vital role!
Listening to your child read, regardless of their age, helps build reading fluency and confidence. Asking a variety questions (what was the story about, who was the main character, what do you think will happen next etc) during and after reading helps build comprehension skills.

Hearing a more capable reader read aloud is also a great way to build a child’s reading skills. Take turns reading a page (or paragraph), use funny voices, get into character, make reading fun. For many families, finding time to sit and read can be difficult, so get creative there too - have older children read to younger ones, listen to them read while driving to school/making dinner, phone or Facetime a family member and read to them.
Happy reading!   

Maxine Nolan

APA

mnolan@gstsv.catholic.edu.au

What's Happening in Our Year 3 Classes

Year 3 have made a good start to the year.  The students are learning to work in groups for English and Math lessons.  

In English students are learning to persuade others by putting together a convincing argument. They are learning that texts are written based on the author’s opinion. We have been brainstorming topics and thinking up arguments for and against a particular topic. This week we are also beginning our spelling program. Students will look for patterns in words following the Words Their Way program. Teachers have also sent home readers for children to read with a parent, sibling, family member or pet. Students with higher reading levels are encouraged to borrow chapter books from the library.  The Good Shepherd Homework Policy, referred to in the Parent Handbook, states that students should read for 10 minutes each night. With all the wet weather we have had lately why not encourage your child to read a book before they switch on their device.  

Our Math lessons are still focused around number and place value.  As a good understanding of numbers is critical for all mathematical concepts, we are ensuring that students have a good grasp of numbers to 10,000 before moving to other concepts such as addition, subtraction, measurement, time and money.

Our science lessons have been based around an exploration of heat sources including friction, electricity and burning. Students have also explored which materials are good heat conductors. This week we will also explore insulators and compare how insulators and conductors work with different materials. 

We hope that this crazy weather has minimal impact on you and your family.  Stay safe and happy. 

Awards For The Week

This Week's Birthdays

~ Alex  PrepC                ~ Colton  PrepC               ~ Noah   1A                 ~ Amelia   1C   

~ Anarchy  3B               ~ Ebony   3C                       ~ Ethan  4A               ~ Scarlett  4B

Assembly

3B & 5B will be presenting our Assembly this Friday in the BBC at 8:40am.

Our lucky Praise Note winners for last week were: Willow (PrepA), Calum (1C), Ruby (2B), Nima (3C), William (4A), Piper (5A) and Emmi (6B).

The Good Shepherd Way

This week our Good Shepherd Way Gospel in Action value is Justice where we are encouraged to make right choices.

Our Justice 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: Tuckshop, Office, Assembly, Community Centre, Moving Around School and the Pick Up Zone.

FACE (Family And Community Engagement) Network News

Our next meeting will be held on Tuesday 16 March at 7:00pm in the Staffroom.

We are organising an Easter Raffle and are looking for donations. Please drop any donations into the Office.

School Photo Day - Monday 8 March

Please place your order online using the below details. If you would like a sibling photo please place your order online by no later than Thursday 4 March at 5:00pm. Due to our growth within the school sibling photos will be before school starting at 7:45am in the BBC. Siblings are only students that attend Good Shepherd Catholic School. 

Year 3 to 6 Swimming Lessons

Year 3 to 6 Swimming Lessons have commenced at Little Snapper Swim School and will continue for the next few weeks. Here are the remaining dates for students:

Year 3 and 4 students will be attending on the following Tuesdays:

• Tuesday 9 March

Year 5 and 6 students will be attending on the following Mondays:

• Monday 8 March
• Monday 15 March (make up lesson for 1 March)

Tuckshop

Opening Hours

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.

Can You Help?

Ann-Maree is always looking for helpers in the tuckshop, if you are able to spare some time please give her a call on our office number or email rsmssn@tsv.catholic.edu.au She would love to hear from you. 

We recognise that there has been some issues with Flexischools lately. The following letter has been received:

Library News

The library has a brand new look and welcomes students back for the first time in 2021 to borrow books and spend their lunch breaks relaxing with games, colouring and reading opportunities.

To borrow students require a library bag which can be anything from a purpose designed library bag to a cloth environmental bag.  Please no supermarket plastic bags.

Prep to Year 2 students are able to borrow 2 books, Year 3 and 4 are able to borrow 3 books, Year 5 and 6 students can borrow 4 books.  Each student has 2 weeks before books need to be returned or the due date renewed.

This year we have some exciting events planned for Good Shepherd students such as the Regional Reader’s Cup, National Simultaneous Storytime, Book Fairs, Book Week and Premier’s reading Challenge.

If you have any questions regarding your child’s library borrowing please don’t hesitate to contact me.

Happy Reading!

Mary-Anne Cameron

Library Officer.

Environmental Tips

Clean up Australia Day
Clean Up Australia is nearing!!! Good Shepherd will once again “step up to clean up” our school environment on Friday 5th March. We know Australia's waste challenges can't be solved in just one day but we can do our bit in cleaning up our own local environment. 
Each class will be involved in going outside to clean up a designated area as part of this initiative. To reduce the amounts of disposable gloves we use, this year all students are encouraged to bring along their own reusable garden gloves to use on the day. 

Litter Free Lunch Tuesdays

Each Tuesday is "Litter Free Lunchbox Tuesday". We encourage our children to bring along a litter free lunch.

Tucker Time

This year we are excited to continue our very popular Tucker Time Activities. 
This initiative is held twice a term during lunch times and creates inclusion for all Good Shepherd students while also promoting regular exposure to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island culture. 
Last week we welcomed our Prep-Year 3 students for our very first activity for 2021. 'Hand Print Art' was held in the shelter shed during first break and we saw lots of Deadly faces there!

Good Luck Kuiola!

We would like to congratulate Year 6 student Kuiola Iosefo on his selection in the Townsville District Rugby Union Team. Kuiola is heading off to the North Queensland trials this weekend and we wish him all the best. Well done Kuiola!

Can you support Emmi?

Our School Captain Emmi is taking part in the Leukaemia Foundation's World's Greatest Shave. Emmi will shave her head  here at school on Friday 19 March.

Please click on this link below to support Emmi's Greatest Shave. 

Upcoming Events

Please Note: Due to the large number of students and limited space, the Under 8s event is only for Prep and Year 1 students.

Information about Mulkadee 2021 will be sent home to prospective students in the next week.

Teacher Contacts

Community News