29 March 2023

From the Desk of the Principal

It is hard to believe that this is the last week of Term 1 - time really does fly when you're having fun!

I would like to take this opportunity to thank you all for your ongoing support of our school community this term. Term 1 is often quite a challenging term as students and staff settle in and spend time getting to know each other and the expectations. I often say it takes a good term to settle and that is exactly what Term 1 is. Thankfully, it has been one of the smoother starts to a school year with limited Covid restrictions and illness. 

Parent Student Teacher Interviews are concluding this week. I hope these have been wonderful opportunities for you all to engage with each other and set goals to ensure successful outcomes for our students. The partnership between home and school is an important one and I thank you for taking the time to meet together to continue fostering this partnership.

As we embark on the Easter season, we are reminded that Easter is not just about the cute bunny rabbits and the delicious chocolate eggs. The resurrection of Jesus Christ is the cornerstone of our faith as Catholics. It is a testament to God's mercy and love for us as as he sacrificed his only son to save us. Through his death and resurrection, Jesus has given us the gift of eternal life and has shown us that even in our darkest moments, there is hope. May this Easter season renew our faith, awaken our spirits and inspire us to live our lives guided by the light of Christ.

I wish you all a happy, safe, restful and holy Easter break and look forward to welcoming you all back when Term 2 commences on Monday 17 April. 

Glenda Scrase

Principal

gscrase1@gstsv.catholic.edu.au

From the Desk of the Assistant Principal Religious Education

Stations of the Cross

Today we had a special ‘Stations of the Cross’ liturgy. This assembly will be led some of our Year 6 leaders, who walked us through the ‘Stations of the Cross’ in preparation of the Easter Season. The Stations of the Cross is a form of prayer that is used traditionally during Lent. Each of the 14 Stations retells part of Jesus' Passion (his suffering and death) through images and words. These Stations of the Cross introduce us to Jesus' Passion, breaking it down into stages that they can reflect upon and remember. All parents, carers and community members are warming invited to join us for this special occasion.

Mini Vinnies – Parklands Visit

On Tuesday 28th March, several of our wonderful Year 6 Mini Vinnies visited the residents at Parklands Aged Care facility. I’m not sure who enjoys the visits more – the students or the residents! Our Year 6’s got the opportunity to do some easter craft, read and talk with the residents and have already formed some beautiful friendships. We are already planning and looking forward to our next visit. 

Mini Vinnes visit

 Project Compassion at Good Shepherd Catholic School.

Please ensure that ALL Project Compassion boxes are returned to school by Friday 21st April. Don’t forget you can 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

PARISH MASS

Friday 31st March 10am
Good Shepherd Community Centre
1A and 3A will be attending.
Parents are also welcome to attend.

From the Desk of the Assistant Principal Administration

Holidays
I remember when my children were little, I loved school holidays…. but I hated the constant question “what are we doing today”. Fortunately, there are a lot of budget friendly activities available over the upcoming Easter school holidays, to suit children of all ages. Check out the Townsville City Council’s school holiday guide by clicking here.
Whatever you end up doing this school holidays, I hope you get the time to relax, be with loved ones
and enjoy a few moments of peace!

Why?
We all know children go through the phase of asking “why?” about everything. But have you ever
stopped to think what happens if you ask your child “why?”.
According to Big Life Journal, if a child lies, teases a friend, has a public meltdown or any number of things, in the heat of the moment most of us respond with “Why did you do that?” or “Why can’t you just…?
But here’s the truth: they don’t know why.
Often, children are not developmentally self-aware enough to know the answer. Whether you’re
looking for an explanation or venting frustration, these type of “Why?” questions place judgement
on the child.
When a trusted adult (especially a parent), leads with judgement-focused questions, the child
internalizes those feelings: “I always do everything wrong.” “There’s something wrong with me.” Big Life Journal suggests that instead of asking “why” you should lead with curiosity.
 “I see you’re having a hard time. Do you want to talk about it?”
 “It looks like you’re very upset. Did I get that right?”
And then - and this is the key - move on.
Yes, trust that they internalized that this moment was just that, a moment.
Later, you can foster reflection by asking questions that will get them to think about their behaviour and how it impacted others. Big Life Journal’s parenting guide, “Be Careful with Why?” is attached to this newsletter. For more information, visit Big Life Journal by clicking here.

Maxine Nolan

APA

mnolan@gstsv.catholic.edu.au

What's Happening In Year 2

The students from 2B celebrated International Womens Day on Wednesday March 8th by discussing the importance of equity and writing about influential women in their lives. They then displayed these in the classroom.
2A has been thoroughly enjoying their RAM (Reading Always Matters) time after lunch each day. 
2C decorated cards to say thank you for the teacher and parent donations of Lego bricks for their class farm. The students are learning about chance and probability in maths, and have incorporated the opening of the lego packets into this. Before the packet is opened, the students discuss the likelihood of the Lego piece being rare/ one donated frequently and use chance language to describe this.

Year 2

Awards For The Week

Birthdays for this week and throughout the holidays!

~Keanu (PrepA)    ~ Indie (PrepA)    ~ Kolton (PrepA)    ~Ryker (PrepB)    ~ Nelson (PrepB)    ~ Marcus (1B) ~ Christian (1C)     ~ Matilda (2A)      ~ Campbell (2A)   ~ Caitlyn (2B)    ~ Alexander (2B)    ~ Colton (2C)        ~ Nate (3A)     ~ Yasien (3B)    ~ Sienna (3B)  ~ Nayte (3B)  ~ Keona (3C)   ~ Archie (4/5A)   ~ Tyler (4/5A)    ~ Vivian (4/5B)     ~ Rion (4/5B)     ~ Caiarn (4/5B)     ~ Amilia (4/5C)     ~ Toby (4/5C)      ~ Ryan (4/5C)       ~ Shania (4/5C)      ~ Nicholas (4/5E)     ~Joeviah (6A)    ~ Peyton (6A)    ~ William (6B)     ~ Indigo (6B)         ~ Riley (6B)  ~ Amelia (6A)

Assembly

2C and 4/5E  will be presenting our Assembly this Friday in the BBC at 8:40am

Our lucky Praise Note winners last week were: Mackenna (Prep C), Evelyn (1B), Willow (2B),  Naleekah (3A),    Audrey  (4/5B),  Dakota-Rose (4/5A),  Isobel (6A)

The Good Shepherd Way

This week our Good Shepherd Way Gospel in Action value is Stewardship where I care for all of creation.

Our Service 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: In the Eating Area.

Parent Library Borrowing

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.

Environmental News

Replace Disposables

Wherever possible, replace disposable products with reusable ones (i.e., razor, food storage, batteries, ink cartridges (buy refill ink), coffee filters, furnace or air conditioner filters, etc.).

Parent Portal

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.

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. 

Upcoming Events

Teacher Contacts

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