Over the weekend I was filled with pride seeing our students participate in ANZAC Day events. Whether it was reading the leading prayer or performing in the Combined Schools’ Choir; reading at Mass or marching proudly for their school, our students certainly shone this week. I thank the Staff for coordinating these events and particularly offer my thanks to our Parents and Carers for supporting our involvement in these community events. This quote from respected parenting website Raising Children resonates, “Community activities can boost teenagers’ self-confidence and self-esteem. Your child can learn to deal with challenges, communicate with different people and build up their life skills in a supportive environment. It’s also a great foundation for mental health and wellbeing.”

As a Catholic school, events such as volunteering for Jangawala Kitchen or attending ANZAC Day Mass, reinforces Jesus’ message for us that the way to peace is through acts of kindness to others. Fr Emene told us over the weekend that peace cannot be achieved through war alone, but must also come from being people of peace to each other.

Parent | Teacher | Student Interviews

We look forward to seeing all of our Parents and Students at our Interviews this Wednesday. When students are present at these conferences, there is an important opportunity to hear feedback and strategies to improve in Term 2. 

Time to Shine

Our Time to Shine program started this week. If you have a child in Year 6 or you know someone who does, please tell them about this amazing program!

Have a blessed week.

Kathleen McCarthy
Principal

The National Assessment Program – Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN)

A reminder that NAPLAN will take place with Years 7 and 9 students in Week 4 of this Term.  

Year 7 and Year 9 students will take the NAPLAN tests on Wednesday, 11 May (Writing and Reading) and Thursday, 12 May (Conventions of Language and Numeracy).  

Catch up sessions for students who are absent on these two days will take place on Monday, 16 May. 

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

Students are also encouraged to visit the Public Demonstration Site which is an opportunity to practise NAPLAN-type questions, and the site for Student Readiness for training videos on how best to use the online platforms.

For any concerns regarding student participation, please contact the college by Wednesday, 4 May 2021.

School Photo Day

School photos will be taken next Wednesday, 4th May. If students were not at school when ID photos were taken this will be their last opportunity to receive a photo ID this year.

Envelopes were handed out in Homeroom last week. These must be returned directly to the photographer on Wednesday (at their photo). All students must bring their photo envelopes, regardless of your intention to purchase photos.

If you would like students to have a sibling photo, please collect a family photo envelope from the front office this week.

Please note that all students must wear their full formal uniform for school photos, and normal hair, makeup and jewellery rules apply.

Public Holiday Reminder

Next Monday, the 2nd of May, there is a Public Holiday in Queensland (Labour Day). There is no school on this day.

What’s on @ GSCC

Each week I publish the What’s on @ GSCC document. This is posted to our College Facebook page, it is also sent to all parents and carers through the Compass News Feed.

Compass School Manager

If you are having trouble accessing your Compass App, please contact the College Office. It is important that all families have access to Compass because it is how we send report cards, and how you book parent teacher interviews.

Parent | Teacher | Student Interviews

If you were unable to make a booking for Wednesday’s Parent | Teacher | Student Interviews and would like to talk to teachers about your child’s progress please contact the teacher directly.

All staff email addresses are linked to the Staff page on the College Website >

Positive Behaviour for Learning (PB4L)
Week 2 Focus: Classrooms

This week our PB4L focus is behaviour expectations in the classrooms.

It is common practice for teachers to reiterate their classroom expectations at the beginning of the term or introduce their expectations if they have a new class.  

By outlining classroom expectations, students are aware of what is expected of them and the positive and negative consequences of their behaviours in each class.  

Classroom expectations can differ per teacher, the class and individual teaching styles.  Sometimes students require regular reminders of what their teacher expects, particularly because they may have classes with five different teachers in any given day.  

The goal of PB4L is to ensure that the teacher can effectively teach the class and all students are able to learn in that class.  I encourage parents/carers to ask their child about their different teachers’ classroom expectations.

School Photos

Next week on Wednesday, 4th May Academy Photography will be at the College to photograph all staff and students for ID cards. Please ensure that your child is following the College Uniform expectations to have these photos taken especially focusing on hair and grooming, jewellery and make up requirements. 

Week 1 & 2 Pastoral Events

I would like to acknowledge and thank my pastoral team for the amazing work that has gone into the first two weeks of Term 2.  They have organised, facilitated and supervised a number of events in the past two weeks such as Character Builders Workshops for Year 7 and 9 boys; Enlighten Education Workshops for Year 7 and 9 girls; Year 7 Retreat; Year 12 Y-Lead Workshop; Year 10 Retreat (including Love Bites workshop); and Year 8 Retreat.  These events target particular pastoral aspects for each year level to provide students with additional skills and strategies for secondary school.

I would also like to thank Miss Mel Puxty, our acting Assistant Principal – Religious Education and Mrs Yvonne Van Den Worm, our College Guidance Counselor, for also providing guidance and support to our pastoral teams in providing spiritual and wellbeing focuses for these events. 

SchoolTV Focus
Managing Overwhelm

Due to the pandemic, the world we now live in is a very different place. The hyperconnected nature of our current environment means that we are constantly being reminded of the challenges we face via numerous media and social media channels. Our connectivity to the digital world exposes us to a barrage of messages that can leave us feeling overwhelmed. As a result, many children and their parents are reporting higher levels of stress and anxiety.

Our brains have not evolved fast enough to adapt to this digital landscape. The combination of constant access to information and having little control over the situations presented, can be stressful and overwhelming. It is therefore important for adult carers to check in with their children and be aware of what information they may have been exposed to. It may not necessarily be the information itself that is harmful, but more their inability to process and make sense of it. Providing children with the skills and strategies to cope will enable them to flourish and thrive, socially, emotionally and academically.

The blueprint for parenting, based on our own experiences, is no longer fit for purpose in raising kids as citizens of tomorrow. This can be inherently stressful and overwhelming, not only for parents and carers, but children alike. If left untreated or unmanaged, constant stress and anxiety can lead to a number of behavioural issues or health consequences.

This Special Report suggests a number of strategies to help manage any feelings of overwhelm that you or your child may be experiencing.  We hope you take time to reflect on the information offered in this Special Report, and as always, we welcome your feedback.

If you do have any concerns about the wellbeing of your child, please contact the school for further information or seek medical or professional help.

Here is the link to your special report:

Year 7 Retreat

The Year 7 retreat was a great day - once it finally took place.

We started our day together and talked about what makes us part of our GSCC community - we are Christ’s Light.

Through different activities we discovered our personal strengths and how these were different to what we know others see and hear about us, we learnt what the Good Shepherd is and also we did “practical prayers” and created a rosary. All of this was brought together with each of us receiving a sports bag in the colour of our House - they all looked awesome!!

We ended our time at school by making someone lunch - this enabled us to listen, share and provide care to another person because we could. Sharing and making food is one of the simplest and genuine ways of providing care in our community.

The afternoon had us learning war cries - taught by our super College Leaders - We had spirit  - Yes we did!!

Time was then finished off being people having fun in the pool - laughing and playing! 

A huge thank you to our Homeroom teachers and College Leaders for leading activities and all others who supported. A special thank you to Sophie Greenhalgh our Spiritual Leader who led each of the groups to learn to pray the rosary!

Enlighten Education and Character Builders

Our retreat was a fantastic way to all come back together after spending Thursday - girls with Enlighten Education and the boys with Character Builders.

Enlighten Education focused on what were our values and what was important for as an independent young women - what is important and how society and social media can change the focus we have of ourselves and others.

Character Builders taught us about working together , what our character as a young man stands for and how giving a Big Up - telling someone what their genuinely good qualities are is very powerful!

Enlighten Education & Character Builders

Last Friday the Year 9 students participated in two workshops.

The Year 9 girls spent the day in workshops run by Storm, from Enlighten Education and the boys attended workshops run by Lucy and Bas from Character Builders.

The activities focused around a variety of issues that are faced by young people today. They addressed issues such as identity, relationships and image in a fun and unique way.

We look forward to having them again next year.

Today we went to Mass at the Good Shepherd Parish - Year 7's and Year 11's as Buddy groups.

All who attended were respectful, engaged and really joined in the community spirit of Good Shepherd.

Thank you to those who read and were significant parts of the Mass.

Mrs Thinee and Mr Harries

Hello and welcome to the start of Term 2

We have already had such an exciting, yet, disruptive start to Term 2 classes. I just wanted to ensure that we are all on the same page with the HPE timetables for each year level. 

The Timetables for each year level are linked below - You will need to click into your child's year level and then find the class code. If you are unsure of their class code, please check their diary which should have a full school timetable in it (HPE is the green coloured subject). 

For our new families - The classes that are highlighted yellow are our practical lessons, and the classes that are not highlighted are our theory lessons. 

Please keep in mind that as we see disruptions in our timetable (Such as public holidays and rainy days etc.) we may have to move around our practical/theory lessons to accommodate this. However, your child's classroom teacher will always notify your students of this, either via email or school notices - Please encourage your child to keep up to date with emails as this is our easiest way to communicate with them in advance. 

If students are not able to bring their sports uniform on any given day, please issue them with a note to excuse this, with good reason.

Lastly, if you have any questions or concerns with these timetables, please contact me directly as I will be happy to field any issues and help to come up with a solution, as best I can. 

Thank you

To all staff and students involved with Emerging Leaders. Welcome back to Term 2! On behalf of Dottie Frew and myself, we would like to thank you all for your help, contribution and efforts within Term 1 in regards to the Emerging Leaders Programs. Mentors, you did a great job in completing your PLA’s with the Emerging Leaders and beginning to foster relationships. Students, thank you for your inspiring attitude and application towards your attendance, results and engagement. In a short period of time, we had a very busy term. Thank you all for volunteering your time to help at events such as Sign on Day, Emerging Leaders with the primary students and your contributions in Homeroom each Friday. A big thank you also to the Indigenous Education Team, including Mell & Billi-Jean who work tirelessly to support our students.

Emerging Leaders

To all parents, this Term we can relax a little more as our administration is completed on behalf of the personal incentive goals and leadership agreements. Over the next few weeks, can you please double check that you are happy with your child's PIG (personal incentive goal) and encourage them to attend homework help (each Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday). This will ensure the continued success or improvement in your child's academic performance.

Save the Date

On Saturday the 7th May, Good Shepherd is volunteering at Park Run. We would love to extend the invite to our Emerging Leaders & families to participate in the Park Run event. Good Shepherd is encouraging Mentors and Mentees within the Emerging Leaders program to attend the event and enjoy the morning walk.

The event commences with a briefing around 6.30am for a start time of 7.00am. The course begins in front of the Judo centre. It is a 5km route.

After Park Run, we are inviting all Emerging Leaders and families to attend a breakfast at the college. This will begin at 8.00am. This year’s theme at Good Shepherd is community and we believe that this is a great opportunity for students and families to engage in community events and build relationships.

An email will be sent for you to RSVP if you can attend the breakfast. Otherwise, please contact Gemma Kyle (gkyle5@goodshepherd.catholic.edu.au) to confirm.

Secondly, Friday the 3rd of June commemorates the 30th anniversary of the Mabo decision. On 3 June 1992 the High Court of Australia recognised that a group of Torres Strait Islanders, led by Eddie Mabo, held ownership of Mer (Murray Island). In acknowledging the traditional rights of the Meriam people to their land, the court also held that native title existed for all Indigenous people. To celebrate such a significant date, we would like to invite all parents and staff to attend a Popcorn and Movie night while watching ‘Mabo’. The afternoon will start with nibbles around the fire at 5.30pm,  followed by the movie in the LCC.  An RSVP link will be sent out later in the term.

Events

On Wednesday the 20th of May, 17 Emerging Leaders students were invited to attend Cloncurry to watch the ‘Storey Players’- who performed an account about Peter Cragie, “The Forgotten Warrior”. Peter Cragie was a 21 year old Pitta Pitta man who travelled 1600 kilometres to enlist in World War 1. Peter was one of more than 1000 Indigenous men who fought for Australia in the Great War.The story presented the many issues that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people faced in Australia before, during and after World War 1. The play was insightful and inspirational to the students. More information about the story can be identified in the link below.

The trip concluded with a stop in at the famous Cloncurry Bakery. Students enjoyed a curry pie before arriving back at school for period 5!

Thank you to Dottie for organising, Billi-Jean for supervising and Father Emene for driving the bus. 

Interschool Netball

The Sports Department would like to thank all parents, teachers and students who came down to support our Netball teams in Round 1 of the Interschool Tri-series last Friday afternoon. Both school’s played extremely well, tying the Round 1 match-ups.

• Open Boys (Win)
• 15's Girls (Win)
• 13's Girls (Loss)
• 14's Girls (Loss)

Round 2 is scheduled for Friday Week 6 27th of May. Mark this down in your calendars as we look to come back even stronger!

Athletics Carnival 

With the Athletics Carnival only two weeks away, the Sports department is working steadily behind the scenes to make this one of GSCC’s best carnivals yet. In order for the day to run smoothly, we are looking for some extra volunteers to help run events on the day. Anybody that is interested in helping out on the day of the carnival can email Mr Young at jyoung@goodshepherd.catholic.edu.au May the best house win.

Representative Sport

Below is a current list of sports that students are able to represent the college in at either Mount Isa or North West level. If students wish to individually nominate for Northern Representative sport, please collect forms from the office - note: only students who play these sports competitively are eligible.

Acknowledgements

Finally, the sports department would like to acknowledge the following students on their sporting efforts. Sienna Wilson: Queensland Representative - Australian Softball Champion April 2022

The last week of Term 1 and the Easter School Holidays saw a number of our students participate in Work Experience placements. We are very proud of our students for giving their time to pursue these wonderful opportunities, and for the tremendous feedback we have received from their host employers.

A big thank you to the following businesses who hosted our students for work experience placements in Term 1, we really appreciate your support and look forward to working with you again.

Glencore Mount Isa Mines
Hertz 
HBL Hairdressing
Sandvik 
Mount Isa City Council
St Joseph’s Catholic Primary School
St Kierans Catholic Primary School
Clancy Corporation
RCT (Remote Control Technologies)
IMED - Radiology

Work Experience Term 2

Applications are now open for work experience placements this Term. (Application forms are available in the Careers Office). Work experience opportunities will commence in Week 10 of this Term and are available to the Year 10’s (Benjamin & Chisholm Houses) and all the Year 11’s & 12s. Please do not hesitate to contact me on 4743 2509 or email me at larmstrong1@goodshepherd.catholic.edu.au should you have any questions or concerns.

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).

Our annual Hospitality dinner will be held this Friday 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