This week we had a visit from the Queensland Catholic Education Commission regarding our application for a Building Grant for a new stage of our Master Plan. We will know by August if we have been successful. The components of the BGA application are:

• A new purpose built Library on the Camooweal Street side of the College. This will be a second storey building, later to include a new Hospitality Centre;
• Convert existing Library to 3 General Learning Areas plus a new Uniform shop;
•  Demolish E and F Block to remove old classrooms and open up the middle of the school to allow for more airflow and areas for seating;
•  New Junior and Senior toilets to replace the ones removed.

In Stage 2, the College will embark on a project to build the following:

• New Administration and offices;
• New Staff work rooms and lunch areas;
• New Wellbeing Hub to house Pastoral Leaders, Chaplain, Counsellor, Careers and Assistant Principal Pastoral;
• Demolish existing Administration and Staffroom building.

These are ambitious projects but will greatly improve the quality of learning spaces for students and working conditions for staff. The new Library will be a wonderful addition to the school and a resource centre for the whole College to enjoy.

Staffing News

Welcome to Ms Elnaz Kalaly who is our new Junior and Senior Maths Teacher. Ms Kalaly is an experienced teacher who has recently taught in the Islamic College of Brisbane.

Parent | Teacher | Student Interviews

We look forward to seeing you all at our Parent Teacher Student Interviews next Wednesday. We especially want to see the students engaged in these important conferences, so they can also hear first hand how they are progressing in their studies and what they need to do to improve in Term 2. If you need any assistance with booking interviews, please call the office on 47 432509 today.

Time to Shine

We are excited to commence our 2022 Time to Shine program next Tuesday. If you know someone who has a child in Year 6, please encourage them to join in the fun.

Welcome to Term 2

Welcome back to all students and families. I hope that you all had a relaxing and enjoyable Easter Season with family and friends, and I trust that our students are refreshed and recharged ready for the new Term.

NAPLAN

Year 7 and 9 students will be participating in NAPLAN online 2022 in Week 4 of this Term.
Students will participate in the Reading, Writing, Language Conventions and Numeracy. As with all assessment, it is important that students are well rested, have a good night's sleep and are starting their days with breakfast to allow them to work to the best of their ability.
Students can access practice tests on the NAPLAN public demonstration site.

Year 10

The Year 10 students will be provided with an opportunity in Semester 2 to trial subject selections for Year 11. In the coming weeks students will receive more information about Senior Subject choices and the prerequisites for selecting these subjects. This opportunity provides students with an idea of what to expect in Year 11 and 12. Please have some conversations at home on future career pathways and subjects that your child is interested in, leading up to Semester 2. 

Different pathways are available post-schooling, and as such students need to assess their interests, strengths and talents to make an informed subject selection decision.

Please also save the date for our Senior Phase of Learning Information Night on 31 May.

Year 11

At this stage, students should be set in the classes they wish to study for the remainder of Unit 1. Changing subjects now means that students have missed key foundational information. Should students wish to change subjects at the end of Unit 1 (mid Term 2), they must collect a form from the College Office, and talk to both their current teacher and CL, and the teacher and CL of the subject they wish to change into, in order to assess the impacts that moving classes might have.  A parent / carer is required to sign the form to approve the change. Once this form is completed, students can hand this into the College Office and the subject change will be assessed and processed.

Year 12

Year 12 students should be confidently completing their QCE, and working towards their goal ATAR if applicable.  Students or parents/carers with concerns should contact Mrs Wood as soon as possible.

Parent Teacher Interviews

Parent Teacher Interviews take place next week.  Please may I encourage you to make an appointment with your child’s teachers?  We always look forward to opportunities where we can meet you.  Please remember that we are here to help.

Assessment Calendars

Assessment calendars will be published at the end of Week 2.

All the best for a wonderful and successful Term 2!

Timetable Day Swap

As you would be aware, at the start of next term we will miss 3 consecutive Mondays due to public holidays. Year 11 and 12 students both have a double lesson on Week A Mondays so we are going to do a timetable day swap in Week 3 to even the number of senior classes being missed.

In Week 3, we will run a Monday (A) timetable on Friday May 6 instead of the usual Friday Week A timetable. This will be reflected on both Edval and Compass for all staff and students.

Parent | Teacher | Student Interview Bookings

A reminder that Parent | Teacher | Student Interviews will take place on Wednesday, 27 April (Week 2, Term 2). Interview bookings will close at midday this Friday, so please be sure to book in before this time. Instructions are also pinned on your Compass News Feed.

School Photos

School Photos will take place on Wednesday 4 May. For students who were absent for ID photos, the portrait taken on this day will be used to generate their cards. Students have been given the following reminders about school photos:

• Photo envelopes are not to be returned to teachers - students are to bring them to photo day and hand them directly to the photographers.
• Families can purchase photos online; however, students must bring their photo envelope to their photo regardless of your intention to purchase photos (the barcode on the envelope is what the photographer uses to identify students). 
• Family photo envelopes can be collected from the front office.
• Full school uniform and regular hair/makeup/jewellery rules apply for photos. 

Subject Changes

If students in Years 8 - 10 have reconsidered the elective they wish to study this year they will need to complete a subject change form and return it to Mrs Webb as soon as possible. For students in Years 11 and 12, any subject changes need to be discussed with Mrs Wood (Deputy Principal Teaching & Learning). Please note that no subject changes will be permitted after the conclusion of week 2.

All students will receive a printed copy of their timetables on the first day of school.

What’s on @ GSCC

The What’s on @ GSCC Overview will be posted to Compass and Facebook each Sunday again this year. Be sure to check what’s on each week so that you can stay up to date with school events.

School Calendar

The Good Shepherd Catholic College Website includes information about all upcoming events on the news feed at the bottom of the home page. If you have a ‘gmail’ account you are also able to add our School Calendar to your Google Calendar. Click this link to access.

Positive Behaviour for Learning (PB4L)

Week 1 Focus: Recap of Our College Expectations

This week our College community will be recapping our College Expectations – Be Safe, Be Responsible, Be Our Best & Be Christ’s Light and what that in turn looks like in each of our locations around the school.

Over the holidays, families would have received a fridge magnet as a reminder of our College Expectations at home.  The success of PB4L is in our families, students and staff all working together to reinforce the expected behaviours in our community and thank our families for the role they play in helping us to make the smooth transition to PB4L Behaviour Management,

Winter Uniform Reminder

As we move into cooler weather, it is important that students have the appropriate winter uniform. Below is a list of the College winter uniform options that are available at our Uniform Shop:

Please note: Jackets or Jumpers that students receive through participation in extracurricular activities are not an acceptable winter uniform option. These jackets and jumpers are provided for use while on the trip/excursion/retreat/camp, and then for personal use upon students’ return to Mount Isa. They are not permitted to be worn with the College Sport or Formal Uniform.

SchoolTV Focus
FRIENDSHIP & BELONGING

Learning how to make new friends and keep them involves a number of skills every young person needs to understand and develop. For some these skills will come very naturally, allowing them to easily move between different friendship groups, sharing their experiences and opening up to new people. For others, this can be much harder to navigate. Belonging to a group that is like-minded with similar interests is highly beneficial to a young person’s wellbeing. It gives them a sense of security helping them feel valued which in turn builds their confidence.

Positive friendships are an important part of the journey to adulthood. Adult carers can support their child or teenager by providing guidance in the many social and emotional skills required for a healthy relationship. This will help them to obtain, retain and maintain friendships. However, not all friendships are regarded as positive. Sometimes young people develop negative or toxic friendships. Therefore, it is also important for them to learn how to identify, avoid or deal with such a friendship.

In this edition of SchoolTV, adult carers can learn how to support their young person’s friendship so that they experience a sense of belonging.

We hope you take time to reflect on the information offered in this edition of SchoolTV and we always welcome your feedback. If you have any concerns about your child, please contact the school counsellor for further information or seek medical or professional help.

Here is the link to the Friendship & Belonging edition of SchoolTV

The Mount Isa ‘Irish Club’ Eisteddfod is back and will feature an assortment of performance opportunities in Highland Dance, Music, Speech & Drama and Dance. 

Competition Dates:

Highland Dance - Saturday 21st of May 

Music - Saturday 28th - 29th of May

Speech & Drama - Saturday 28th - 29th of May

Dance - Friday 3rd - 5th of June

Entries are to be made online via stardom.com.au - the Facebook Page is regularly updated also if in need of any questions. Entries close Monday 25th of April at 11:59pm.

I am looking forward to seeing the involvement of GSCC in this year’s Eisteddfod. Wishing you all a lovely first week of Term 2.

Our annual Hospitality dinner will be held on Friday 13th May in the Lumen Christi Centre.  Hosted by our senior Hospitality students, they will prepare, cook and serve a four course meal and finish the night with Barista coffee and shortbread.

Students achieve competencies towards their Certificate ll in Hospitality and also raise funds for their Hospitality Camp later in the year. It is a great opportunity for students to showcase their skills and for you to enjoy a home cooked restaurant quality meal.

Tickets are $55 each, 8 - 10 people per table. Tickets are now on sale from the front office or you can purchase them from Arili Thina Cafe on Wednesday Mornings.

On the night you can purchase Beer and Wine.

Hope you can join us for a wonderful night of good food. If you need any more information please give me a call or email, dcole@goodshepherd.catholic.edu.au

When: Thursday mornings
Where: GSCC Oval (Enter via May St Gate)
What time: 7:00am - 7:40am
What is it: Athletics /endurance running and or walking training
Who is it for: All students and teachers
Permission: Students will need to collect a permission note from the office
Cost: Free
How often: Come occasionally or as many sessions as you like
Equipment: Running shoes, comfortable clothing, water bottle
Prizes: Weekly lucky door prize of $10 canteen voucher
2 major awards at Sports Award Evening later in 2022
Information: See Mr Guest for any information/ questions

Term 2 2022 Training Program:

Week 1:
200m repeats x 5 (x 3 sets - 1 min walk/ jog between repeats, 200m walk/ jog between sets).

Week 2:
800m repeats x 4 x 1 set - 2 min walk/ jog between repeats).

Week 3:
500m repeats x 3 (x 2 sets - 2 min walk/ jog between repeats, 400m walk/ jog between sets).

Week 4:
Pyramid: 200m, 400m, 600m, 800m, 600m, 400m, 200m. (1 min walk/ jog between repeats).

Week 5:
400m repeats x 4 (x 2 sets - 2 min walk/ jog between repeats, 400m walk/ jog between sets).

Week 6:
300m repeats x 5 (x 2 sets - 1 min walk/ jog between repeats, 200m walk/ jog between sets).

Week 7:
Pyramid: 200m, 400m, 600m, 800m, 600m, 400m, 200m. (1 min walk/ jog between repeats).

Week 8:
200m repeats x 5 (x 3 sets - 1 min walk/ jog between repeats, 200m walk/ jog between sets).

Week 9:
3000m (alternate striding 100m, jogging 100m)

Week 10:
600m repeats x 5 (x 1set - 2 min walk/ jog between repeats).