This week I have had the pleasure of meeting Year 10 Students and Parents for their Senior Education and Training (SET) Plan interviews. I have been very impressed with the dedication shown to their studies and their aspirational hopes for the future. At Good Shepherd Catholic College, we aim to provide the highest standard of academic support for our students so that they can achieve to their potential and have broad pathways for the future. Next year these Year 10 students will embark on their Senior schooling journey and together as Parents and Teachers, we will continue to support them. Thank you to all of the teachers who are assisting with the interviews.
This year we are one of the schools that has been nominated for the Outstanding Indigenous Schools’ Recognition Award for Townsville Catholic Education. Good Shepherd’s Year 12 student Malachi Munns has also been nominated for the Bishop Michael Putney Indigenous Student of the Year. We are looking forward to the presentation at the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Liturgy being held in Townsville this week. We have three First Nations students graduating this year:
Malachi Munns, Arwen Ingram and Jamaron Mothe.

This Friday is a pupil-free day and our staff will be busy working on their preparation for Version 9 of the new Australian Curriculum and changes to some subjects in the Senior School Curriculum. These will start to take effect in 2024 and we are excited about the opportunity to refresh our pedagogy and learning in each of the Junior and Senior phases.

Today we are celebrating Multicultural Day with an assembly which recognizesthe incredible cultural diversity of our community. Please don’t forget that this Friday is the Good Shepherd Parish Multicultural Festival. It promises to be an amazing evening with foods from around the world, a spectacular Cent Sale and entertainment from diverse cultures to celebrate 100 years of Mount Isa. I hope you’ll join us!

It is with much sadness that I announce Fiona Coghlan's resignation from Good Shepherd. Fiona has been an incredible Careers Officer at our school and is loved by the whole community. We wish her all the best as she continues her treatment. 

Kathleen McCarthy

Absence from School

We understand that some absence from school cannot be helped especially if students are unwell. However, taking time off from school to attend festivals, weddings or other social events does prove problematic. While these decisions rest with families, missing one day of school is hard to catch up on - particularly in Year 11 and 12 - let alone missing a week of school.

As a Mount Isa College, we also recognise that travel is part of our students’ lives. At times, we have to travel to access medical appointments or family functions. While we will try to accommodate absence, it is not possible for students to simply catch up on a week’s worth of lessons. Students miss out on the discussions, collaboration and group activities in the lessons, and catching up is difficult in practical subjects.

Absence in the peak assessment times of a term, or in exam block, is even more challenging. 

Again, we will try to be flexible with legitimate absence but sometimes it’s just not possible.  In Year 11 and 12, the decision on whether or not students have an opportunity to submit an assignment or sit an exam rests with QCAA.

In summary:

• Absence from school is problematic and especially difficult in Weeks 6-9 when most assessments are due.
• It is the student’s responsibility to catch up on missed class work, not the teacher’s responsibility.

 Absence due to social events will not result in extensions.

Pupil Free Day Reminder

A reminder that this Friday, 1 September, is the Reflective Practice Pupil Free Day. There is no school for students on this day.

Year 12 Exam Block Term 3

A final reminder that all Year 12 students will be on exam block next week. This External Exam Preparation Block takes place from Monday 4 September – Friday 8 September (Week 9). During the week, exams will take place in D5/D6 and Study in D4. All students should be studying/completing assessment at home; studying quietly in the Study Room or completing an exam during exam block, it is not free time.

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

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

2.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."

Sports Awards Night

We are looking forward to celebrating the wonderfully talented sports people from Good Shepherd at our annual Sports Awards Night in Term 4. Mr Young will send specific details closer to the event, but please ‘save the date’.

Calling All Artists!

We are calling for GSCC artists to enter our 2023 GSCC Yearbook Cover Design Competition!

All you need to do is design and create a cover for the 2023 GSCC Yearbook. The designs will be voted on, and the winner will be used as the cover for the 2023 Yearbook. The designs should be:

• Aesthetically appealing & of high resolution;
• Hand drawn, painted or digitally created;
• A4 in size;
• Have a GSCC focus (although GSCC colours aren't necessary);
• Bonus points if the cover reflects our 2023 theme of Care for Creation.

Entries must be submitted through the front office or emailed to Mrs. Webb by 3pm Thursday Week 1, Term 4 (5 October). 

End of Term Arrangements

The final day for Term 3 is Friday 15 September. This year, we will conclude Term 3 with our rescheduled Swimming Carnival at Splashez Aquatic Centre. My Young will email specific details to students and families in the coming fortnight.

The Swimming Carnival will conclude for the day at 1:30pm. 

Driver safety: 

Throughout the year we have had various chats with our senior students regarding the education and responsibility of having a driver's licence. We have also stressed the importance of being a responsible passenger whilst in a vehicle. Just as parents care for and trust their children, we as a community also care for our students. With this being said, we hear stories and concerns related to teenagers driving and understand that as P plate drivers they may not always have the best judgement on the roads. I do not address this to say that we need to worry about our drivers more than we already do, however, I would like to state that it is clear we need to continue educating our students around the safety of making responsible choices as both a driver and a passenger on our roads. 

As a school we have recently put our Year 11 and 12 students through different courses in pastoral care focused around driving, I would encourage you to please pick their brains this week to see what they understand around the different measures they can take to ensure their safety on the roads. Please also see some states below, directly fro the Department of Transport and Main Roads.

Young drivers – the facts. 

Young drivers (drivers aged 17 to 24) are one of Queensland's most at risk road user groups. Research suggests that young drivers and riders, aged 16 to 24 years, are 60% more likely to be involved in a serious crash than licensed mature adult drivers and riders, aged 25 to 59 years.

In Queensland each year: 

• about 100 fatalities occur as a result of crashes involving young drivers (including drivers, pedestrians and passengers) 
• more than 2,000 young drivers are involved in crashes where someone is taken to hospital 
• about 80% of young drivers involved in fatal crashes are males 

If you have any questions, or would appreciate further resources, please do not hesitate to contact me through the front office. 

TERM 3 SUCCESS STORIES

Term 3 has been a busy term, with students involved in many Academic, Sporting, Music, Cultural, Multicultural, STEM & Volunteering services around the school and in the Mount Isa Community.

Mini Murri’s 

18 Emerging Leader students from Years 7-11 volunteered at the annual Saint Kierans Mini Murri’s Day. Students facilitated stalls, activities and events that fostered kinesthetic learning and play through a cultural lens. Thank you to all of the students who volunteered their time and demonstrated their leadership capabilities.

Homework Help

Homework Help attendance has been skyrocketed by our Emerging Leaders. Thank you to all of the Emerging Leader Students & their Deadly Mentors who have been attending to better their academic success.

Saint Kierans Literacy Program

15 students have been regularly volunteering their Tuesday mornings at Saint Kierans. Students have been paired with younger First Nation Students. Students partake in activities that target improvements in literacy and leadership skills. The program will continue for the remainder of the term and hopefully the rest of the year. Thank you for your work so far, Saint Kierans and Emerging Leaders!

Mad-Mentors!

Congratulations to Mrs Veronica Feliciano and Mrs Shreeparna Banerjee who have completed the BlackCard Cultural Capability course in alignment with the Stronger Smarter Framework. Thank you for your dedication to Indigenous Education.

Further Engagements!

Thanks everyone for your dedication to Emerging Leaders & being advocates for your own learning, culture and engagement! Below are some final engagements that we have for this term, including University Experiences. The Flyers with additional information and application information are attached.

2023_Mental_Health_and_Wellbeing_Roadshow_Poster_2_.pdf

2023_Mental_Health_and_Wellbeing_Roadshow_Poster_2 pdf 388.77 KB

Inspire_U_Spring.pdf

Inspire_U_Spring _pdf 91.85 KB

INSPIRE_U_STEM.pdf

INSPIRE_U_STEM _pdf 91.76 KB

Raise_The_Bar.pdf

Raise_The_Bar _pdf 173.88 KB

YIWSA_Application_20200812_4_002_.pdf

YIWSA_Application_20200812_4_002 pdf 332.70 KB

WEHI Newsletter - Emerging Leaders

WEHI Newsletter - Emerging Leaders 1.02 MB

Last week Tony Martin from Construction Skills Queensland attended our College and facilitated the fantastic “Try-a Trade” event. Year 9 students had the opportunity to engage with a Virtual Reality experience that allowed them to step onto a virtual worksite and interact with different tradespeople.Thanks to Tony, students explored painting, tiling, cabinet making and electrician’s work. The event was a huge success and students were inspired to think about different career options for the coming years. A big thank-you to Fiona Coghlan for setting this in motion! It was a very interesting experience that has hopefully inspired some great dinner table conversations. 

As the Year 10s start making preparations for Senior School with their subject selections for next year, it was an important consideration for them to ask themselves, “How do WE shine?” 

As such, this was the central theme to our Indigenous Spirituality Retreat last Friday where students visited Lake Moondarra and the College to take part in some activities that would collectively build teamwork, confidence in themselves and ownership of what they could be as a collective. 

The morning began with a lovely liturgy in the shade and tranquillity of the Lake. Thank you to Father Emene for presiding over the liturgy and Ms. Mel Puxty for organising as well. The liturgy allowed students to reflect on the power of their own individual gifts and qualities that they can shine which in turn can improve the community in which they belong. 

Further, this served as a great link to then breaking off into yarning circles for students to identify individual gifts, talents, qualities or skills in others that they admire and respect. It was pleasing to see all students be so respectful and enthusiastic in this space. 

We then moved on to the Wallaby Walk which really highlighted the Indigenous Spirituality that is available all around us - through the land, cultures, traditions and beliefs of the Kalkadoon people. Students rotated through groups learning about Indigenous Spirituality, their sense of community, traditions, beliefs and how their actions still shine in the world today. Thank you to Mrs. Tammi Webber for facilitating the spirituality component and inspiring students through community and connection to Country. A further thank you to Ms. Ann-Marie Lesca for running an Indigenous Art activity that allowed students to unwind and identify their own interest, talent or quality that they can let shine. 

From the lake we returned to the College for an afternoon of Indigenous Games to build teamwork and connection further. Thank you to Mr. Jordan Harries for organising this component, it was an extremely  unifying and fun way for the students to finish the afternoon. 

Moving forward, I am very excited to see the Year 10 students take ownership of their role as part of our cohort, and to let their individual qualities and talents shine. 

Several senior students have been enjoying 9 holes of golf one afternoon each week after school this term. Whilst the main goal of this initiative is participation, enjoyment and skill development, it is hoped that some players will develop a keen interest in the sport of golf and continue to play beyond their schooling years. Mount Isa Golf Club generously allows students to play for free and this is much appreciated. Players that have participated are Kayne Capuno, Adithiya Dias, Jordan Frost, Jett Guningham, Mikeal Kuskopf, Jamaron Mothe, Malachi Munns, Max Pye and Patrick Wade. Thanks to Mr Harries who has assisted previously and if any other staff are keen to assist please contact me. Tee off is 3.30pm on the nominated afternoon each week. The golf will run until Term 4, week 3, when we will farewell our Year 12 students.

Swimming Carnival

The Sports Department has been hard at work in preparation for our annual Swimming Carnival. This will be held on Friday 15th September as we celebrate the end of another successful Term for our College. More details will be released next week and in Week 10 on our Facebook page.

Sports Awards Night

Save the Date! Students that have represented the College in Sport will be celebrated on the 18th October - Term 4. Can all parents and students please check the recipient list below. If there are any errors please contact me immediately. 

Arili Thina Morning Cafe 

Arili Thina Cafe is open every Wednesday Morning from 7.30am - 9.00am, the cafe is located behind the LCC next to the Hospitality Kitchen.

Offering a range of espresso Coffees and cold drinks ; milkshakes, frappes , Iced Coffee. There is also a selection of food : Ham and Cheese Croissants, Bacon and Egg toasties and Smashed Avocado on sourdough, this may change weekly.

Our Year 11 and 12 Hospitality Students run this Cafe to achieve their competencies towards their Certificate ll in Hospitality and also fundraise for Hospitality camp.

Year 7, 8 and 9 Students are welcome to Cafe if accompanied by a parent or adult.

We encourage everyone to dine in.

We look forward to seeing you at the Arili Thina Cafe.

Cheers Mrs Cole and senior Hospitality Students