Every year the College consults with the school community to determine our goals for the year. We also incorporate the Strategic Initiatives of the Townsville Catholic Education office to prepare our Annual School Improvement plan (ASIP). We would like to share this with all of our parents and families and invite you to provide feedback. The full ASIp is here for you to view. Please feel free to email me with any comments or questions.

2022 Annual School Improvement Plan

Later in the year the College will participate in a School Renewal process known as Verification. This is the fourth year in a five year process of school improvement and we look forward to reflecting on how we perform according to the following Ten Characteristics of Catholic Schools:

AREA A: MISSION AND PURPOSE:  
1.  The School Improvement Agenda    
2.  Catholic Identity   
3.  School-Parent-Church-Community Partnerships

AREA B: CLIMATE CONDUCIVE TO LEARNING: 
4.  A Learning Culture   
5. Strategic Resourcing   
6.  A Data Informed Practice

AREA C: EMPHASIS ON LEARNING: 
7. Effective Pedagogy    
8. Teaching & Learning    
9. A Coherent Curriculum     
10. Professional Teaching Community

Covid-19

We continue to have staff and student cases of Covid-19 in our school community. Thank you for notifying the College if your son or daughter tests positive or becomes a close contact. A growing number of students are coming to school without a mask. Please ensure your child has a supply in their bag every day.

Staffing news

This week we farewell Christine Valentine who has worked at Good Shepherd for 10 years. Chrisitne has been the friendly face you saw at the front desk or heard at the end of the phone line. We thank Christine for her invaluable contribution to our College and wish her well in the future.

The National Assessment Program – Literacy and Numeracy 

The NAPLAN tests for Years 7 & 9 students are held in Term 2 each year, but the teaching of these skills happen all year around in all subjects over every grade and level.

NAPLAN provides opportunities for students to demonstrate their skills in literacy and numeracy that are developed over time through the school curriculum. Students are assessed using common national tests in reading, writing, language conventions (spelling, grammar and punctuation) and numeracy. NAPLAN tests broadly reflect important aspects of literacy and numeracy in the Australian Curriculum. 

All our teachers, but particularly those teaching Year 7 and 9, are investing extra time this year in the literacy and numeracy components in their subject areas.  These skills are so important at and beyond school.

For more information on NAPLAN, please visit the ACARA/NAPLAN site.

Communication Matters!

It is the time of term where students will be working hard in their classes, gaining all of the knowledge and skills they require before the busy assessment period begins. 

Your child’s teachers are always happy to hear from you, so please feel welcome to contact them by phoning the College (4749 9400), or emailing them directly. A list of staff email addresses can be found on our College Website → Our School Staff. 

Families are also welcome to meet with teachers in person; we would ask that these meetings be booked in advance by using the communication channels above. This will ensure the relevant staff are available to meet with you at a mutually agreed upon time. Please ensure that you adhere to the most recent COVID-19 protocols when meeting face-to-face with school staff.

The Compass Parent Portal is also a great way to communicate with your child’s teachers. You can email directly from the portal, making keeping in touch with teachers easy for all.

A reminder to come into the College Office between 8am - 4pm to collect your Portal login information if you are yet to do so.

As the year progresses, I’m sure you will have questions, and sometimes concerns regarding your child and their schooling. Below are the communication channels at GSCC:

Year 11 & 12 Exam Blocks

Both Year 11 and 12 cohorts will have an exam block this term (it will take place in Week ‘7’). I will send the details for these this week.

• Year 11 Exam Block: Monday 21 March - Thursday 24 March
• Year 12 Exam Block Monday 21 March - Wednesday 23 March.

Swimming Carnival - date change

Please note that the Swimming Carnival (previously on the school calendar for March 4) has been postponed into Term 3 and will be held on Friday 1st September.

Positive Behaviour for Learning (PB4L)

Over the past three weeks, our GSCC community have been immersed in our implementation of PB4L and our 4 Be’s have really been “buzzing” in our classrooms.

In our Pastoral Care lessons each Wednesday, students have been explicitly taught how they can demonstrate positive behaviours around our College.

Last week, students were asked to do a personal reflection of how they could enact the 4 Be’s from a personal level.  This lesson was important because students need to have an awareness that they are responsible for their own behaviour and need to be able to identify how they can positively contribute to their high school experience.

Praise Notes

Woohoo to our GSCC Community!  In the past 13 days, staff have given over 770 praise notes to our students for demonstrating positive behaviour within the College community.  Year 9 and 10 students are leading the way with over 400 praise notes issued between those two year levels alone!  Well done!

Student Representative Council Nominations

Nominations for the student Representative Council have now closed and all nominees have submitted videos of their speeches for their cohorts to view on Friday, 25th February in homeroom classes.  Voting will commence straight after videos are shown and successful applicants will be notified on Monday, 28th February.  

I want to thank all students who nominated to be on the Student Representative Council.  Their enthusiasm and willingness to represent their cohorts has been pleasing to see and has really encapsulated our 2022 College theme of Community.  I wish them all the best in the next step of the application process.

Welcome

Welcome to the first term for 2022. What a way to start the year!

I would like to introduce myself Mr. Morganson, as the Year 8 Pastoral Leader along with the following Year 8 Homeroom teachers 8.01 Ms. Akshaya Nagarajan, 8.02 Mrs. Emily Watson and 8.03 Mr. Dominic Jackson. I am looking forward to working closely with this year’s 8 cohort and building on their strengths and friendships that were made last year. 

2022 has finally started after an extended two-week holiday break due to Covid 19. It was good to see the faces of the students as they returned for another year of learning and growing. Students have settled in well with their classes along with their chosen electives for year 8 and getting to know their new timetables.

The Year 8 team look forward to working with all Year 8 students and their families in making it a memorable and enjoyable year in their learning experiences. To date students have had their ID photos taken, and their Term 1 assessment calendar has been finalised. The calendar can be found electronically on the school intranet page, so can you please ask your child to see that, so you are aware of when their assessments are due for their chosen subjects. 

As Covid 19 is disrupting all aspects of school, students are reminded that face masks need to be worn around the school when in close proximity to other students, classrooms excepted. A reminder to all that if you are not feeling well and have any Covid 19 symptoms to stay home and get tested. If for any reason there is absence from school, all students should have a Google classroom for each of their subjects. This is where all content will be uploaded by their teacher so that students can access class materials during their absence.

Here’s looking forward to a great 2022.

Good Shepherd Netball Academy

Last year, GSCC commenced a Netball Academy. The goal of the Netball Academy is to create a positive environment that fosters active and healthy lifestyles with a group of passionate students who are striving to succeed in the sport of Netball. The Academy is designed to assist individual development, ensuring that all athletes selected have an opportunity to advance through the sport. The Academy aims to build a supportive culture of high expectations, performance and leadership, develop players' skills and abilities by accessing high quality training opportunities and netball competitions.

We held trials for Academy at the end of last year, and we are pleased to announce that the following students have been selected in the 2022 Netball Academy:

From the GSCC Academy squad, the selectors picked the top 10 students to represent Good Shepherd at the 2022 Queensland Independent Secondary Schools Netball (QISSN) competition in the June/July holidays. Congratulations to the following students who have been selected into the QISSN team for 2022:

QISSN Team 2022

Under the guidance of Head Coach Mrs Julie Hutchinson and Assistant Coach Miss Phoebe Ryder, we are excited to see this team flourish in their games at MIANA and other carnivals throughout the year. A big thank you to our selectors for their efforts and contribution last week; Sally Holland, Jordan Harries, Julie Hutchinson and Phoebe Ryder. We would also like to thank Nicole Henderson for umpiring.

Good Shepherd Netball Club 

Good Shepherd Netball Club has had a wonderful start to the year with the selection of 5 teams for the Mount Isa Netball Association competition. We are looking forward to another year of our students achieving their goals, developing their skills and enjoying this wonderful sport, netball.

We would also like to thank Mr Jericho Young and Ms Jane Edmiston for volunteering their time to assist with the teams throughout the season. 

Congratulations to the following teams, we look forward to seeing you play throughout the year. 

The Sports department would like to congratulate the following students who represented GSCC and Mount Isa in the North West Trials for swimming. Students travelled to Barcaldine over the weekend and were able to set new personal records during the trials.

• Amy Wishart Year 9

• Payton Saunders Year 8

The department would also like to congratulate the following students who competed in the MISSA trials for Netball. There were a number of GSCC students who impressed the coaches and we’re excited to announce that all of our students made the MISSA representative team. 

• Ruby Rixon Year 9

• Hannah Cama Year 9

• Jamisyn Roberts Year 9

• Amy Wishart Year 9

• Capree Saunders Year 9

• Molly Krause Year 8

• Aaliyah Polihipi Year 8

Coming soon: This term's Inter House Volleyball competition is currently being organised, house captains will be taking nominations next week (week 4). More information will be announced on student  notices.

Listed below is a current list of sports that students can individually nominate for. Please see Mr Young for nomination forms.

Nomination dates for the following sports, due dates and venues are displayed below

- Unless stated, nomination dates involve both Boys and Girls in different sporting codes.

- Students who nominate will need to travel independently at their own expense to attend the trial 

Please see Mr Young for any nomination forms before the due date

Welcome to VET

What is VET?

• VET is Vocational Education and training that provides students with nationally recognised qualifications that focus on delivering skills and knowledge required for specific industries

Participating in VET can provide students with:

• nationally recognised qualifications
• credit points towards the attainment of the Queensland Certificate of Education (QCE)
• hands-on industry experience needed by employers
• work-ready, real world knowledge and skills
• support in their transition to employment, vocational and higher education pathways

The VET pathway can be study at school or at TAFE, also includes school-based apprenticeships and traineeships.

At Good Shepherd, students have  many opportunities to study a VET qualifications:

Year 10

•  Certificate l in Hospitality SIT10216

Across 2 years in Years 11 and 12 

•  Certificate l in Construction CPC10111
•  Certificate lll in Business BSB30115
• Certificate ll in Hospitality SIT20316

If you would like to know any more information, please contact me.

On Reading and the GSCC Reading Challenge

As your teacher librarian, I want to be able to help you use your library’s resources efficiently and effectively to help you in your studies. Your library has a great collection of print and digital resources that can support you in your academic learning and recreational reading. It also has initiatives to help connect you to books that will enrich your life as a student and even prepare you for life beyond high school.

Our College’s first library program to foster your love of reading is our Three-Week Reading Challenge which started on 14 February and will finish on 4 March. This challenge aims to start your school year with a focus on reading as a worthwhile and important activity. Reading, especially recreational reading, has many benefits. When you are absorbed in a good book, you are not only having fun, but you are also developing your reading and writing skills effortlessly. You will be introduced to new words and get to know their proper use as they were used in the book. When you enrich your vocabulary, you can enjoy the written and the spoken language more because there are less obstacles in your understanding of the text. You are also exposed to the written word which can be quite different from the spoken word. You can acquire these skills (word comprehension, grammar, spelling, etc.) while you are following along in the adventures of the book’s characters.

Our library has a great collection of non-fiction books such as biographies, travel books or craft books. You can choose, for example, to read a biography of a person you admire or want to know more about. You can visit faraway places without a plane ticket by reading  a travel book or you can learn more tips about a hobby that you want to try. The biography, travel, and craft books are part of your Reading Challenge set of reading materials. The key to successfully finishing and enjoying the” challenge” is to pick a book you like and set a regular time to read your selections. Also, if you cannot find a book or books that you like, I would be happy to help you find one.

In the case of reading fiction, you improve your reading comprehension by understanding the setting, the characters, the conflicts or challenges that those characters were facing. You improve your comprehension simply by being interested in the book you are reading. At the end of the book, you might say that you really admired the character you read about, or that the story was wonderful, that it made you laugh or cry and that it made you see a little (or a lot) of yourself. You were able to” flex your reading muscles” when you focused on reading the book until it was finished because you engaged in sustained reading. 

In reading short articles such as in magazines and in blogs, you were able to follow along the main idea and the supporting ideas that you encountered. You would be developing these reading skills without too much effort on your part when you read something that is interesting to you. You have until 4 March to finish the reading challenge. I hope you will find new interesting books and encounter great ideas and stories during this challenge. What fun book are you reading today?

Reading Challenge updates: 

1. The challenge finishes on Friday, 4 March (and not this Friday).
2. A total of four prizes will be awarded: two for yrs. 7-9 and two for yrs. 10 -12.
3. You can get your Reading Challenge sheets from the library.
4. A display of books belonging to different genres is found in the library. Please feel free to borrow from the display set.

Past library event: Library Lovers’ Day

Congratulations to our Library Lovers’ Day raffle winners.The student participants (26 in total) entered the raffle by writing about their favourite book/book character and why they liked that book/book character.

"Pride comes before the fall."
Proverbs 16:18.

A number of years ago I watched a show called the Ultimate Fighter. It is run by the UFC and features professional MMA fighters living together and follows them as they train and compete against each other for a prized six-figure contract with the UFC. 

As you can imagine having 16 macho men in one house there is more testosterone than stars in the universe; none willing to let their guard down and show any weakness.

This day the men were in the gym with their chest’s puffed out when a lady walked in. The environment changed immediately and became uncomfortable when their coach introduced (a then unknown) Rhonda Rousey.

She was the first American female to win an Olympic Medal in Judo and a silver medal in the World Championships.

He told them she was going to do some wrestling with them and the boys immediately put their noses in the air. None were willing to get in the ring with her because ‘she was a girl’ and they might hurt her. The other reason was fear of embarrassment.

Then one guy put his ego and pride aside and took a chance. In he went and as soon as he laid his hands on her she flipped him onto his back. All the other blokes burst out laughing and made heaps of disparaging remarks.

This guy was smart enough to tuck his ego aside and bounced up and said, ‘do that again’ and grabbed her. She flipped him on his back again and he bounced up and said ‘show me again.’

This time she explained what she was doing and did it slower. Then he tried it on her and found that even though she was a girl she bounced back up. He worked with her for a good 10 minutes while the others watched or went off to do their own thing.

Those that stayed and watched soon put their hand up to have a go because they could see that she was doing stuff they couldn’t. Some didn’t; their pride wouldn’t let them.

They had the chance to learn but pride stopped them. Pride is a terrible thing when it stands in the way of your progress.

I played football and softball with a bloke called Shane King who was probably an inch shorter than me. When Shane was born God reached down and touched his wrist so that he was able to generate enormous speed with his wrist snap.

He became one of the best Softball players in the World, playing professionally in Canada, winning a club World Series, being named in the All-World side and captaining Australia to four World Cups. The San Diego Padres even offered him a contract to switch to Baseball, so impressed were they.

Shane was quick enough to make a North Queensland Touch side and a contract to trial for St George Rugby League team. With his speed and power he was much more of a threat than the big slow moving muscle-bound home run hitters. 

As we got older we played Golf together and he could hit a ball the proverbial mile; not always straight but a long, long way. Whenever we played together the other two blokes would spend the first nine trying to outdrive him and get put off their game.

Everybody used to hit a driver off of a tee to start a hole because it was the longest-hitting club. When we started the back nine and I saw our opponents accepting they couldn’t match him I would point out that he was using a 3-wood and not a driver.

Their pride would kick in and they would try and match him for the second nine and go further off their game. Instead of concentrating on what was best for them they let pride dictate their actions; and it hurt them.

Pride is part of our make-up and is important because it drives and motivates us but we should never let it stand in the way of learning or improving. Pride is a good thing to have but never be ashamed to put it aside.

World Day of Prayer

The annual ecumenical service of the world day of prayer will be held in the Catholic church (Good Shepherd Catholic Church) this year, on the 4^th March 2022 at 7pm.

It is an event held on the first Friday in March every year all around the world in over 170 countries.

Each year a different country prepares the services, highlighting their culture, joys and problems. This year we focus on England, Northern Ireland, and Wales.

All are welcome to attend.