Last night at our monthly Board meeting, we were discussing the benefits of sitting around the dinner table at least once a week to share a meal and to share how students are going with school, friendships or other points of conversation. Family structures have changed and due to the busyness of Parents’ work schedules and sporting commitments etc, there are fewer opportunities to share what is going on for each member of the family. The Board were discussing ways for Parents to talk to their child about serious matters such as drink-driving, peer pressure to vape or mental health problems. Of course these are complex matters that can’t just be resolved over the dinner table, but finding one non-negotiable time of the week where the family commits to sitting together to just ‘be’ as a family, might open up a valuable opportunity to explore them.

Have you considered sanctioning one night a week for ‘Family Night’? Here are some of the potential benefits:

• It may help to strengthen the family bond;
• Provides a space to talk about the academic success or struggles of school;
• Could be an opportunity to develop parenting skills;
• Young people who are encouraged to talk through their issues tend to experience less behavioural problems;
• It provides an opportunity to talk about your family values, and what matters to you as a family.
• Finally - ‘a family that prays together, stays together’ - an old idiom but starting with grace before meals is an easy way to add prayer into your family’s daily life.

College Board News:

Our 2023 College Board is made up of the following members:

Chair - Sean Wade (Parent)

Principal - Kathleen McCarthy

Parish Priests - Fr Mick Lowcock, Mr Emene Kelemete

Leadership Team Representative - Michele Wood

Teacher Representatives - Veronica Feliciano, Donna Cole

Community Representative - Michele White

Have a great week.

Kathleen McCarthy

Pivot Surveys

For the last 2 years, teachers have been using Pivot surveys as a means of receiving feedback from the students they teach.  Teachers are then able to reflect on, and improve their teaching practices in response to the needs of their classes.

This document provides further information.

The surveys proved to be wonderfully insightful and successful last year.

We’d like to again make use of these surveys, however this year, Pivot has requested that we provide our students’ names and school IDs so that they are able to provide students with access to their teachers’ questionnaires.  

Townsville Catholic Education is confident that our students’ names will be stored securely, however parents are welcome to opt out.  Should this be the case, parents are encouraged to contact me as soon as possible via email: mwood1@goodshepherd.catholic.edu.au

Compass Parent Portal

This week, could all families please log into the Compass Parent Portal to check your access.

• Can you log in? If not, please contact the front office to assist you. You will require access to Compass to view the Semester Reports at the end of this term.

Adding Attendance Information

It’s important that student attendance information is accurate each day. For parents, you can explain any absences using your Compass Parent Portal. The steps for both Computer and Phone are below:

A final reminder for Year 11 students about exam block next week!

Upcoming Exam Blocks

As I outlined last week, this term Year 10 and 11 students will have formal exam blocks.

Year 11 Exam Block:

• Term 2, Week 6
• Tuesday 23 – Thursday 25 May 2023

Year 10 Exam Block: 

• Term 2, Week 9
• Monday 12 – Wednesday 14 June 2023

REMINDER: ALL ASSESSMENT MUST BE COMPLETED IN ALL SUBJECTS IN ORDER TO HAVE EXAM BLOCK PRIVILEGES.  Students who have incomplete assessment will be required to attend school for the duration of the exam block.

If you are absent for an exam in exam block you must:

Contact the College office ASAP, or your parents can contact the College office on your behalf.

Have a medical certificate. These requirements are in accordance with the GSCC Assessment Policy “If a student is absent from a Senior Exam Block exam, the student will complete an alternate paper in the next available session and a medical certificate must be provided upon their return. If a medical certificate is not provided the student may not be allocated a result for that internal assessment piece, resulting in no credit for the piece / unit studied." 

Below are the exam block timetables for Year 10 & 11 for this term.

PB4L:

We are now getting towards the busiest time of our school term, where we have assessments, exams, study and other outside factors such as sports carnivals to navigate in our schedules. Therefore, it is really important to stress our PB4L focus for this week, “I am at the right place, at the right time”. It is essential that our students are making the most out of their class time and contributing to the collaboration of their learning, this includes being at the right place, at the right time. 

During our next assembly we are going to celebrate the students who have achieved more than 10+ praise notes from Week 1 - Week 4 this term. It is always amazing to see the effort that all of our students put into being the best version of themselves, both in and outside of school. 

Do it for Dolly: 

As mentioned in my previous newsletter article, Kate Thinee and the Year 7 cohort prepared a great week full of homeroom activities to support Do it for Dolly Day here at GSCC. There was a lot of great work produced to highlight the importance of our online presence particularly in regards to cyber bullying. Thank you to Kate and her team. We will also celebrate the students who produced amazing work during our next assembly.

Resilience: 

I think it is important to highlight resilience as a key part in helping our young people develop. Reflecting on the point of the term we are at, seeking resources to help build resilience is very necessary. I employ you to sit with your son or daughter to look through their previous report card. How can they continue to succeed, or build on their results from last term? There are many resources available in the School TV article below, please explore this and push your child to utilise these articles to achieve success and build their resilience come assessment/exam time. 

School TV: Resilience

Resilience is important for a child’s mental health. It is their ability to bounce back from failure, challenges, adversity and stress. It’s not something that kids have or don’t have but a skill that kids develop over time as they grow. Building resilience not only helps a child deal with current difficulties, but it also helps develop a resilient mindset that will help them deal with challenges later in life. All children are capable of working through challenges and coping with stress, but they require guidance and support from a charismatic adult role model.

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: https://goodshepherd.catholic.schooltv.me/newsletter/resilience

Year 12 IA2 Artworks

We are into the countdown for year 12 Visual Art for 2023. The students are now completing their IA2 works and developing their final IA3’s.  The works illustrated are by Danica Taylor, Gyan Angon, Olivia Greenhalgh and Erich Petalcorin. Danica has made two pieces of clothing highlighting the abuse and mortality, as well as the spirituality and afterlife, of dogs. Gyan has made an installation that questions the continuous cycle of human suffering and growth. Olivia’s work Chokehold challenges the notions of how decisions in her life have been manipulated to adhere to the social construct society sees fit to stereotype women. She has learned about how art can advocate for women's rights in society.  Erich has also created an installation of crochet using recycled black T shirts and wire. Her work investigates the intricate complexities of human beliefs, freedom and anxiety. Her unsettling artwork reflects feelings of confinement and vulnerability. 

Still two students to finalise their work and submit- then all go for IA3!

Above: Artwork by Erich Petalcorin

Above: Artwork by Gyan Angon

Above: Artwork by Olivia Greenhalgh

QMEA STEM UNEARTHED

Last week some of our Year 10 students attended the Qld Minerals & Energy Academy STEM Unearthed workshop.    Students learned about how to extract metal from rocks, finding coal and engineering the perfect drink.  Here is what student Beau Kelly had to say about the workshop.

The QMEA STEM was a fun experience as we learned new problem solving skills and also how the mining companies revive (rehabilitate) the area when they are finished.  Beau Kelly, Year 10

NORTH WEST MPX - MINEX 

Last Thursday we took 25 year 10/11/12 students to this year’s mining expo at the Civic Centre.

Students were able to listen to a panel of three former GSCC students talk about their experiences.  Two of these students (Sienna Te Wani and Renee Moran) have commenced apprenticeships with Glencore as an Auto Electrician and Boilermaker respectively.  Darcy Webber is working with Engineering staff on the school leavers program.

After the panel discussion, students made the most of checking out the displays and speaking with stallholders about future job opportunities in their businesses.

CAREERS NEWSLETTER

This edition talks about the following topics and more:

• Careers in Care and Support

• Where to look for jobs

• Top 10 Growing Jobs

• Micro Mathematics

• Getting involved

Careers Newsletter

Thank you to everyone who attended our Hospitality Dinner on Friday 12th May.

I am very proud of the Year 12 ,11 10 Hospitality students who participated on the night. They all did an amazing job to produce restaurant quality meals within set timeframes.

A massive thanks to Sam Dolzan, Jarvis Miller and 2 past students Emily Brown and Charlie Stretton for helping in the bar. 

For those that missed the night, 130 guests enjoyed the following 4 course meal prepared and served by our hospitality students;

To Start - Cheese and Spinach Puffs | Sticky Pork Belly | 

Entree -Coconut Prawn and Avocado Salad with Sweet Chilli Mayo Or Moroccan Lamb with CousCous Salad and Tzatziki 

Main - Slow cooked Beef Brisket with Red Wine jus, mashed potato and Buttered Beans Or Baked Chicken breast with Bacon & Leek stuffing, Gravy, Mash Potato and steamed Broccolini

Dessert - Vanilla Baked Cheesecake with Fresh Berries and Raspberry Coulis or Chocolate sponge topped with Chocolate mousse and Macadamia nut praline.

To finish - Coffee with Orange vanilla shortbread

Hospitality students and I look forward to hosting another Dinner in 2024.

Mrs Donna Cole.

Premier’s Reading Challenge at GSCC

Starting next Monday, 22 May, GSCC is participating in the Premier’s Reading Challenge. It is a great reading program that supports schools, parents, and students to help our children with literacy. There will be certificates and prizes to be given to Year 7 to Year 9 students when they read books between next week up to 25 August. Students can read any number of books, but they will be completing the challenge when they have read a total of 15 books. They can read any books or eBooks they have at home or the ones they borrowed from our library and from our student reading digital app, Sora. They can also include books that they have read during their leisure time at school. I will be providing more information about the reading challenge next week and you can also find out more about the program from the Premier’s Reading Challenge website. The link is

To register their participation, students need to get a Non-State School Reader Record Form from the library and return it to the library with their parent/guardian’s signature.

Inter House Futsal

A big thank you to all students who participated in last week's Inter House Futsal competition. Our Year 12 Recreation students did a great job in organising the event, ensuring a fun and competitive showcase. Results are below

Inter School Netball

Round two of our Netball Tri-series is back! Games will start from 3:30pm onwards this Friday 19th May at the Mount Isa Basketball Stadium. Free entry so make sure you come to support GSCC and our four competing teams. Game schedule will be released asap on student notices and our Facebook page. 

Athletics Pre Events - 1500m & High Jump

We had a great afternoon on Monday as students participated in our pre Athletics Carnival events. Congratulations to the following students who broke the records in their respective age groups for the 1500m event.

• Alli Thompson (15yrs Girls)
• A-Tai Li-Downie (13yrs Boys)
• Jiun-Shian Li-Downie (15yrs Boys)
• Pratik Seegoolam (16yrs Boys)

We look forward to next week as we hold our annual Athletics Carnival on Friday 26th May! See you all then.

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

- Individual nominations require students to currently compete in the sport and must provide a coach who can confirm skill level

Cricket

A big thank you to Tony from QLD Cricket who came out and provided a fun Cricket experience for our Year 8 and 11 students last week. It is always great to have organisations come to provide these exciting opportunities. 

Good Shepherd Striders Running Club                       

When: Tuesday & Thursday mornings.

Where: GSCC Oval (Enter via May St Gate).

What time: 7:00am - 7:40am.

What is it: Cross Country trials & Athletics 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.

Information: See Mr Guest for any information/ questions. 

Term 2 2023 Training Program: (until May 25, 2023)

1. Warmup (10-15mins)
2. 2k time trial 

There are 4 $50.00 SportsPower vouches to be won:

• Senior Male & Female; Junior Male & female. 

Dates to remember:

• Cross Country May 12 (See Mr Young for details)
• Athletics carnival May 26.
• Parkrun (5k run or walk) every Saturday at 7:00am