17 May 2023

From the Desk of the Principal

School Feedback Surveys

Townsville Catholic Education is working with all schools within the Diocese to improve the education experience provided to our students. As a way to gain this feedback, all staff and families within our school communities will be sent a survey to shape the future directions of our schools.

Your responses are very important in this process as we continue to strive to provide the best educational, social, spiritual and emotional resources and environment for our children. 

The surveys will be distributed via email TODAY and we ask that they are completed by Wednesday 31 May. If you have children and/or work at more than one Catholic school, you will receive a survey for each school.

I would like to thank you in advance for providing feedback and assisting us to improve our school.

Leave

Due to unforseen circumstances I have commenced my leave earlier than anticipated. Mrs Maxine Nolan will be the Acting Principal and Mrs Rebecca Kershaw will continue in her role as Assistant Principal Religious Education. Recruitment has also commenced for the role of Assistant Principal Administration.

I wish you all the best for the remainder of Term 2 and look forward to reconnecting upon my return in Term 3. 

Glenda Scrase

Principal

gscrase1@gstsv.catholic.edu.au

From the Desk of the Assistant Principal Religious Education

The Feast of the Ascension - Thurs 18 th May

In the Catholic faith, Ascension Sunday traditionally falls 40 days after Easter, which is a Thursday. It is a holy day of obligation, but many dioceses now move Ascension Thursday to be celebrated on the seventh Sunday of Easter.  

Jesus ascended into heaven. When Jesus ascended into heaven, he told the apostles to wait on the Holy Spirit to come upon them. They stayed and prayed for 9 days until Pentecost Sunday, making the first novena. A novena is a prayer prayed for 9 days and the concept is based on this event.

The ascension of Jesus is the 2nd glorious mystery of the rosary.

MINI VINNIES PARKLANDS VISIT

On Tuesday 16th May, 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!

The children had an opportunity to interview some of the residents and will be using this information to create a profile on their new friend that they will share with them when we visit again in a few weeks.

My New Gallery

PARISH MASS DATES                                                    Friday 26th May at 10am
Good Shepherd Community Centre
2B and 4/5D will be attending.
Parents are also welcome to attend

Rebecca Kershaw

APRE

rkershaw@gstsv.catholic.edu.au

From the Desk of the Assistant Principal Administration

Compass Access and Semester Reports
All parents at our school have access to Compass, our student management portal. One of the most important features of Compass for parents is access to Semester reports. Reports are no longer printed and sent home, so it is essential you are able to access Compass and view your child’s report.
All parent who have not yet logged in to Compass, were sent an email on Monday with log in details and a password. If you have not received this, please check your spam/junk folder. Follow the prompts in the email to set up your account.

If you require any assistance, please contact the school office.

Reminders
I would like to remind all parents that supervision of students in the morning begins at 8.10am. If your child at school prior to that time, they should be booked in to OSHC, or in your direct supervision and waiting in the Shed. There have been a couple of instances this term, where children have been dropped at school prior to 7.30am and not booked in to OSHC. We understand that work commitments can make it difficult, but your child’s safety should be a priority. Leaving a child at school unsupervised in the early morning is simply not safe.

It is lovely to see parents waiting with their children before class in the morning. We do ask that you help enforce and model the GSCS Way behaviour expectations by sitting down in the Shed, ensuring your child is not running around, and ensuring they move promptly to sit in their class line when the music bell sounds. Thank you for your cooperation with this – a smooth, calm start to the day in the Shed can help students transition to a rewarding day in the classroom.

When collecting your child after school in the Pickup Zone, please move forward as far as possible in the pickup lane. This allows as many cars as possible to access the pickup area. If you choose to park, please walk across and collect your child. Do not call for them to run across the carpark as this is unsafe. 

Maxine Nolan

APA

mnolan@gstsv.catholic.edu.au

What's Happening In Our Deadly Learners

Preps and Year 1 have been learning about ‘Finding Our Heart “ the Uluṟu Statement. 
Students enjoyed finding heart shaped lollipops on a scavenger hunt representing finding the heart of our nation.
We also learnt the Rainbow Serpent Creation story. First Nation people, like Christians, have their own stories that explained the origin of the world, themselves and all that make up the world that provided Aboriginal people with a strong and close association with the land for thousands of years. These stories gave unity and purpose to Aboriginal societies in the past and are important today in maintaining their identity.

This term in our Year 4-6 sessions we’ve unpacked Indigenous Constitutional Recognition, Referendums and The Voice to Parliament. Students were very interested to learn about the history and rights of our First Nations people. Students were given the opportunity to vote within an in class referendum on the topic of ‘School days should be made longer (8:30am until 5:00pm) but students will only be required to attend 4 days per week.’ Majority of votes were yes, therefore it was a successful referendum. 
We look forward to acknowledging Reconciliation Week at our liturgy on Tuesday 30th of May in the Community Centre at 8.45am.
Planning is also well underway and we look forward to welcoming many families to our NAIDOC celebrations ‘Deadly Day Out’ on Wednesday 19th July 2023 from 9:00am.

Deadly Learners

Student Awards for This Week

~Ruby (1B)   ~Archie  (2B)   ~George (3A)   ~Ariana (3B)  ~Esha (4/5E)  ~Vincent (4/5B)  

Assembly

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

Our lucky Praise Note winners from last week are :                                                                                        Kolton (Prep A), Erelee (1A), Willow G (2B),  Nayte (3B), Joshua (4/5E), Sofia (4/5E), Nelika (6A). 

The Good Shepherd Way

This week our Good Shepherd Way Gospel in Action value is Hope where I see good all around me. 

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

World Bee Day 20th May

We all depend on the survival of bees.
Bees and other pollinators, such as butterflies, bats and hummingbirds, are increasingly under threat from human activities. Pollination is, however, a fundamental process for the survival of our ecosystems. Not only do pollinators contribute directly to food security, but they are key to conserving biodiversity.

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

ARRGGH! Books are the treasure!
Our first 2023 Book Fair is coming! It will open on Monday, 15th May and will be open before and after school every day next week. Walk the plank to the Library and support our school whilst getting your hands on the best new children’s books for your little pirates!

Teacher Contacts

Community News