As this is my final newsletter as acting Principal, I want to extend my thanks to our wonderful school community for a fantastic start to the school year. Mrs McCarthy returns next term, and we warmly welcome her back to Mount Isa. Upon her return, I will resume my role as Assistant Principal Administration. 

Thank you to Mrs Sally Holland, who has done an amazing job in the acting Assistant Principal Administration role. Her organisational skills and hard work have meant that the school has run smoothly this term, and we are very grateful for this. Mrs Holland isn’t going anywhere, she will continue with her classes next term before returning to her role as English Curriculum Leader in Term 4.

Sadly, we saw farewell to two staff members this term. Mrs Julieann Scrimgeour joined our school as a School Officer in March 2021 and has been a wonderful support to students during her time with us. We thank Mrs Scrimgeour for her contributions to our school community, and wish her well in her new job. 

We also say farewell to Mrs Pelly Morganson next week. Mrs Morganson has been at Good Shepherd since the beginning of 2015 and in that time has been a classroom teacher, Pastoral Leader and recently the Assistant Principal Pastoral Care. Mrs Morganson was instrumental in the development and implementation of the school’s Positive Behaviour For Learning system, which will leave a lasting impact on our school community. Mrs Morganson departs to commence a new role as Indigenous Education Advisor at Townsville Catholic Education. Mrs Morganson is passionate about indigenous education, and the schools with whom she will work are blessed to have such a wonderful advocate on their team. Mrs Morganson will be missed by many, and we thank her for 8 years of service to our school community and wish her all the best for her new role.

As you would be aware, next term we welcome Mr Jordan Harries to the School Leadership Team. Currently in the role of Pastoral and Curriculum Leader, Mr. Harries has been a member of the Good Shepherd Catholic College, Mount Isa staff since 2019.  During this time he has also held the role of Sports Coordinator and has been involved in many different aspects of the Good Shepherd community. We congratulate Mr Harries on this appointment, and look forward to working with him in this role from next term.

I hope you all have a safe and holy Easter. We look forward to welcoming you back for Term 2 on Monday 17 April, 2023.

Interim Reports

Interim Reports provide parents/carers with an overview of their child’s commitment to our 4 positive learning elements (acts respectfully & responsibly, comes organised & prepared to learn, utilises class time effectively and persists to improve) throughout the term. 

This report will also include an interim level of achievement based on the assessment (either formative or summative) completed so far.

Importantly, teachers may request parent/teacher-student interviews on the Term 1 Interim Report. Teachers request interviews for a range of reasons. The most common reasons include meeting to:

•         discuss academic progress and how the student can improve
•         highlight issues around behaviour, class work, organisation and or effort
•         discussion application to homework and assessment

Parents can also book in to meet with teachers.  A teacher doesn’t have to request the interview, parents are entitled and encouraged to meet with teachers to discuss their child’s performance or progress. Please take this opportunity to work collaboratively with teachers in order to support your child’s learning journey.

To Senior Students: it would be wise to reflect on the term that was, and set some goals for Term Two - do more of what works well and make changes where things have not gone according to plan.  Your future depends on the decisions you make today!

Term 2 Parent|Teacher|Student Interviews

At Good Shepherd, we strongly believe in a three-way partnership between Parents, Teachers and Students, and value communication between this partnership. Parent Teacher Student interviews will take place on Tuesday 2nd May (Week 3, Term 2). Bookings for these interviews will be made through the Compass Parent Portal (either phone or desktop versions) and will open at 5pm on Thursday 30th March, after the Term 1 Report Cards have been uploaded to Compass. The bookings will close at midday on Friday 28th April. 

Please see the information below to assist with making your bookings. 

Term 2 Start Date

The Easter holidays are almost upon us, and it has been an incredibly busy term for all. School resumes for Term 2 on Monday 17th April. 

Final Day of Term 1 and End of Term Celebrations

A reminder that the College will finish Term 1 on Thursday 30th March, 2023. Students will be dismissed from the College LCC at 1pm.

Please see below an invitation to join us for our End of Term 1 BBQ and Easter Liturgy.

What’s on @ GSCC!

The final What’s on @ GSCC for Week 10 will be posted on Sunday morning. These documents will continue next term and will be posted to Facebook, as well as your Compass Newsfeeds. 

Thank you!

I would like to thank the staff, students and families for their support this term in my Acting Assistant Principal- Administration role. I am truly grateful for all of the knowledge and experience that I have gained over the past 11 weeks, and feel incredibly blessed to be given this opportunity. I would especially like to thank the Senior Leadership team; Amy, Michele, Pelly, and Mel for supporting and guiding me in my role this term. You are an incredible group of leaders who I look up to everyday, your passion, commitment and positive outlook play a significant role in what makes GSCC great! I am so blessed to have had the opportunity to work with you all throughout this term.

I wish everyone a safe, happy, holy and blessed holiday season, and I look forward to seeing everyone return for Term 2!

It is with deep sadness that I write my final newsletter article for Good Shepherd but will take it as an opportunity to reflect and thank the College community for the past eight years. When my husband Willie and I moved to Mount Isa to start the 2015 school year, together we had over 30 years of experience working in different areas of education; however, we both arrived as mature aged beginner teachers.

During this time we have seen many changes in the education system and in our students. We have also gained so much in our own personal development and learning as educators. All our experiences, whether positive or negative, have taught us so much about the important role we have as educators and the privilege it is to play a part in our students’ lives.

The past three years as Assistant Principal - Pastoral, has been a professional experience that will remain as one of those most valuable experiences I have ever had. In this role, there have been many challenges, personally and professionally, but the rewards have certainly outweighed those challenges tenfold.

Our move to Townsville sees us both in new roles; Willie as an Indigenous Education Teacher at St. Margaret Mary’s College and me as Indigenous Education Advisor at the Townsville Catholic Education Office. These roles allow us to work in Indigenous Education, our area of passion, and a way to enact positive change and quality outcomes for our mob and the next generation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander leaders.

Additionally, the move also means we will be closer to our family that has now grown with two grandchildren being born in the past three years.

The list of people to thank is extensive and we will do so personally before we leave but there a few people I would like to publicly thank:

• Mr Wayne Wood, former College Principal, for believing in our ability and offering us our first teaching roles at GSCC;
• The College Senior Leadership Team - Kathleen, Michele, Amy, Sally, and Mel for their support and guidance this term and over the years;
• The College Pastoral Team of Kate, Willie, Kylie, Stephanie, Travis, Jan, Jordan and Yvonne for their dedication and tireless work to support our students which never goes unnoticed;
• Father Mick and Father Emene for providing the best example of servant leadership and guiding our personal faith and spiritual growth;
• The amazing students, their families and hardworking staff at GSCC for giving us the most wonderful community to learn and grow in our careers; and last but not least
• Amy and Jeremy Webb, Sally and Chris Holland, Tammi and Will Webber and their families. Thank you for allowing Willie and I to be a part of your families. You have made living in Mount Isa more than a career choice, you have helped in making it easier to call it our home.

I would like to wish Mr Jordan Harries all the best in his appointment as Assistant Principal - Pastoral and I am confident that he will bring a dynamic approach to the role and will provide our staff and students with holistic support. 

In closing my article, I would like to draw on our College motto “To be Christ’s Light”. As I reflect on the past eight years, I can truly say that it is this motto that has made such a difference to how I approach all aspects of my life.  To be a light for others but most importantly, to give everyone an opportunity to shine their own light ... even if it means you have to ignite at first. Thank you for eight years of blessings and memories that Willie and I will forever hold in our hearts. 

God bless

Close the Gap Day

Last Thursday was National Close the Gap Day. The National Agreement on Closing the Gap is an initiative set up to achieve equality in health and life expectancy for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. While there have been some improvements in certain areas, there is still significant work to be done before Indigenous Australians experience the same outcomes as non-Indigenous Australians. For instance, Target 1 is to Close the Gap in life expectancy within a generation, is not on track. Or Target 4, where the developmental progress of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children, the critical first five years that provide a strong start to life, is not on track to reach equality with non-Indigenous children (Australian Government, 2022).

GSCC staff and students joined Australians from all over the country to show support for Close the Gap, by marking the day with activities hosted by visiting health professionals from Gidgee Healing, Headspace and North West Remote Health. All students had the opportunity to participate with Headspace offering Jenga, while Gidgee Healing had a competition to correctly guess the amount of sugar in different drinks. North West Remote Health worked with Gidgee Healing to run a plank and wall -sit competition, there were some very strong competitors! Special mention to Shardae and Skye who won their physical activities, lasting far longer than anyone else.  Each of the activities was designed to create awareness about how to incorporate physical and mental activity into your daily life, and also to demonstrate how we need to be aware of how much sugar is in the food and drink we consume.

Congratulations to the following students who won tuckshop vouchers for winning some of the activities held:

Savanna Little, Emalini Lagilevu, Shardae Munro, Skye Matters, Bobbie Maison and Ella McClymont.

PLA’s due by the end of Term

It has been a great start to our Emerging Leaders Program at GSCC. Personal Leadership Agreements should be completed by the end of the Term. It has been empowering watching our staff check in and mentor our First Nation Students. 

Future Emerging Leaders are on the rise!

This Friday we have primary students from St Joey’s & St Kieran’s visiting GSCC to trial life as an Emerging Leader at GSCC. Thank you to all of our student volunteers who are helping to make this event a success. 

School Captain Business

School Captain, Malachi Munns, has written some tips on how to be a Deadly Emerging Leader. Malachi has been a positive role model for our Emerging Leaders so far. We are grateful for his commitment to the role and all of the inspiration that he brings to our school holistically. Thanks for the tips Malachi!

1.  Looking at the term calendar and organising your dates and when all your assessments are due.
2. Book in any days off that you need off during the term such as holidays and family events.
3. Always keep a strong relationship with your teachers and friends as they are the ones that can help you the most when it comes to your assessments.
4. Keep a strong relationship with your pastoral leadership at all times and go to them when you need help the most.

Save the Date (As of far) 

Thursday the 22nd of June- NAIDOC whole school celebrations 

Thursday the 27th of April- Senior Emerging Leader Homeroom- All about the Referendum

Thursday the 4th of May- Junior Emerging Leader Homeroom- Brodie Germaine Fitness- How to Stay Fit at school

Sunday the 30th of April- Jungalwala hosted by Emerging Leaders 

Sunday the 28th of May- Jungalwala hosted by Emerging leaders 

Year 7 Notices

Just a reminder for all Year 7 students to return their Hearing & Vision checks by Monday of Week 10. 

Congratulations to our GSCC Four-Week Reading Challenge participants. Students who completed a minimum of two weeks’ worth of reading  challenges will also get a praise note and a book voucher.

Certificates of Achievement:

Completed the Reading Challenge:

Savanna Little, Yr. 7

Ruby Price, Yr. 7

Senulya Heiyanthuduwage, Yr. 10

Completed three weeks of the Reading Challenge:

Haidyn Shawcross, Yr. 8

Completed two weeks of the Reading Challenge

Sinura Samaraweera, Yr. 8

Ten students who finished one week of Reading Challenge also earned  Certificates of Participation. 

Library Snaps

Many thanks to Savanna Scarsi and Elizabeth George who come to the library regularly to make sure that books are back on the shelves.