Our Year 7 students have settled in beautifully to secondary school. The feedback from their Retreat on Friday was very positive, with teachers commenting on how friendly and supportive they are with each other. Starting high school can be daunting, but at Good Shepherd we take particular care that they transition smoothly into their new classes and have opportunities to make new friends. Thank you to Ms Kate Thinee, our Year 7 Pastoral Middle Leader and the Homeroom Teachers for their work on Friday. Here are some highlights:

This week, we are looking forward to having a big turnout

 of parents to the “Parenting in the Digital World” session on Thursday at 5.30 pm in the Lumen Christi Centre. It can be challenging as a parent to raise a child fully immersed in the cyber world. This session is an initiative of the Dolly’s Dream foundation. Dolly was a young girl who took her own life after experiencing relentless serious online abuse from her peers. Come along and let’s Do it for Dolly.

If you require babysitting on the night, please contact the College office. The presentation is not suitable for children or students.

College Board

Congratulations to the 2021 appointees to the Good Shepherd Catholic College Board:

Chair - Mrs Kim Higgs

Parish Representatives - Fr Mick Lowcock; Fr Emene Kelemete

Principal - Mrs Kathleen McCarthy

Community Representative - Mrs Karen Pye

Senior Leadership Team Representative - Mrs Pelly Morganson

Parent Representatives - Mr Will Webber

Teacher Representative - Mrs Emily Watson

Each week in our Newsletter, we will include an extract from our Annual School Improvement Plan. This is our road map for 2021 and what we want to achieve. Please contact me at the College if you would like to provide feedback on anything noted here.

Assessments are an extension of the work completed in class, and allows students to demonstrate their application of the skills and knowledge they have acquired this term.  

Drafting is a very important part of the assessment process. When students submit drafts to their teachers for feedback and guidance, the submission should be the student’s best possible response to the task.  This way the teacher can provide the best possible feedback to the student.

Students are reminded to be organised to enable them to complete full drafts by the required date. Teacher feedback on drafts will vary from task to task and is generally subject-specific, thus meaning that how a teacher drafts in English will be different to how another teacher drafts in Maths. 

Sometimes assessments will see students respond in class under exam conditions, whereas for other tasks the assignment might be a ‘take home’. 

Year 7-10 students who are unable to submit assessments on time and have a valid reason for requiring a revised assessment date, should collect an extension form from the Office, and complete and return the form to their teacher with any supporting documentation.

In Year 11 and 12, planned student absences during assessment time require QCAA approval.  

Drafting at Good Shepherd is a compulsory process that all students are expected to take part in. If students are struggling or finding the drafting process challenging I encourage them to make contact with their classroom teacher as soon as possible. 

Term 1 Exam Block - Year 11 & 12 Students

This term, Year 11 & 12 students will sit exams from Monday 22 March - Friday 26 March (Week 9). Earlier this week students were emailed individual exam timetables, a full timetable has been included below:

As Term 1 reaches the halfway point, it is important that students are coming to school on time, everyday, prepared to learn! We understand that there will be times when students need to stay at home because they are unwell; however, it is important that they make an effort to catch up on any work missed.

If your family are planning a holiday, it is important that this takes place in the allocated school holiday times.

If students are absent on an assessment due date/scheduled exam, please note the following from the GSCC Assessment Policy.

Absences 

The College understands that expected and unexpected absences may occasionally result in a student not being able to  submit an assessment item on the due date. When students know in advance that they will be absent on the due date, the  assessment must be submitted prior to the due date or the student must apply for an extension of time. For an unanticipated  absence, students are encouraged to make every effort to submit their final assessment item to the teacher either in hard  copy or electronically preferably on the due date, or immediately upon their return to the College. 

If a student in Junior is absent due to illness on the due date / exam date the assessment will be recorded as a late submission  and students will be required to complete that assessment item / exam upon their arrival at school. A medical certificate should be attached to the assignment for all Year 11 and Year 12 students. If a medical certificate is not produced for  students in Years 11 – 12, the draft / work completed up to the due date will be marked as their final submission. 

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 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.  

Appropriate Use of Technology - laptop chargers

Recently, there has been an increase in students requesting to borrow laptop chargers from the school. These will not be given to students on a short term loan basis, unless there has been communication from a parent/guardian making a specific request. These requests have a formal process, with loan paperwork to be completed.

Students should be coming to school each day with a fully charged laptop. If they find that the charge doesn’t last a full day, there are charging stations in the Library that can be accessed during both breaks. Students should not be charging their laptops in class, as the cords create a workplace health and safety hazard.

If you have any questions regarding this, please contact their Pastoral Leader.

eSmart Schools

Over the past few weeks I have been promoting our eSmart School parent information session “Parenting in a Digital World” which we will host this Thursday evening in the Lumen Christi Centre.  In addition to this parent information session, all of our teaching staff will engage in a teacher information session on “Teaching in a Digital World”.  Together we are looking to develop positive partnerships to ensure that our students are safe whilst engaging in the digital world.

So what is eSmart Schools?  eSmart Schools, an initiative of the Alannah & Madeline Foundation, helps teachers and the greater community to best manage cyber risks, bullying and cyberbullying issues so students feel safer and supported. It is a Framework that sits across the entire school community and encompasses teachers, students and parents.

eSmart Schools is a long-term change program designed to educate, track, monitor and prevent bullying and cyberbullying. It also supports schools to meet their duty of care to embrace the benefits of technology while reducing childrens’ exposure to cyber risks, such as cyber bullying, online sexual predation, sexting, identity theft and fraud.

Our goal is to keep all our students safe from bullying, cyber bullying and violence and we at Good Shepherd believe that eSmart is a positive way to achieve this.

If you would like some more information about eSmart Schools, please visit their website https://www.esmart.org.au/what-is-esmart/

Welcome to Week 5

We begin our annual Lenten Project Compassion journey by learning about the story of Jamila and her family. Jamila, 22, is a Rohingya woman, living in the world’s largest refugee camp in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh. A single mother, she fled armed conflict in Myanmar to save herself, her elderly mother and eight-month-old baby. 

With the support of Caritas Australia, through Caritas Bangladesh, Jamila was able to access emergency food and shelter. She also received counselling, emotional support and learnt sewing skills, to help her earn an income.  Jamila now feels less alone, with a sense of community around her. She is able to ‘Be More’ to her little family.  

• 860,494 people remain in the densely populated camps, in desperate need of humanitarian assistance, especially due to COVID-19. (UNHCR) 

Watch a short film about Jamila’s story here.

 “Aspire not to have more, but to be more.” Please support Project Compassion: lent.caritas.org.au

God’s blessings

Getting out of the hole

Sometimes life just feels too hard; hard to get up, hard to get moving and hard to keep going. Normally when I get this way it is the beginning of a spiral where I go down and down until completely miserable.

Anything people say upsets me and the glass goes from half full to almost empty and I become negative about everything and everyone. When you stay in that place for a long time it is called depression and you see no end in sight.

When it first happened I didn’t understand.  How could I be so happy with a good job, beautiful girlfriend, lovely house (with a shed) and lots of friends and yet feel so miserable and alone? When you feel like this you can be in a room full of people and be the loneliest person in the World.

I was lucky in that I had my father to call and ask why I felt this way. He had been through the same thing and laughed and said, “it’s just life.” I didn’t particularly like his answer but he was right.

When God created the World he said “let there be light,” and he called the light “day” and the darkness “night”. On the second day he created sky and water, on the third land and sea, on the fourth the sun and the moon, on the fifth day it was fish and birds, on the sixth it was man and land animals.

You see, in nature every ying has a yang. The tide comes in, the tide goes out. Night follows day, summer follows winter, sun follows rain, drought follows flood and happiness follows sadness.

We can’t be happy all the time; as much as we would like to be. Most of the time we work hard and do things we really don’t want to do. We need to do this to live and survive, the same as our ancestors who didn’t have electricity or computers.

They had to hunt and forage for food and only then could they relax and enjoy. When you get down and are feeling sorry for yourself remember that it is a cycle and you will feel good again.

What we have to do is find out what stops our spiral and how we can limit how low we go so it doesn’t hurt us. For most people it is doing something creative because this releases the pressure and allows the stress and negativity to flow out.

For me it is exercising or writing because when I do either the body releases endorphins that make me feel good. Dayne Beams played AFL for Collingwood but struggled with depression and, as an AFL player, couldn’t use exercise to find a release because it was his job and he did it every day.

Beams decided in December 2019 to step away from AFL to focus on his mental health and while receiving treatment he stumbled across art therapy. He was at a mental health facility and went in with the attitude of being open-minded and giving everything a go.

He received a program for the weeks he was there and two things stood out as things he felt he wouldn’t enjoy; yoga and art. Though Beams scoffed at them he said they actually turned out to be the two things he enjoyed the most.

It is important to have something outside your everyday job (or school) as an outlet that releases your stress and makes you feel good. And as Dayne Beam’s experience shows, don’t discount anything, give everything a try.

Senior Youth Group (Grade 10 and above) this Friday 6-8pm at 59 Nineteenth Avenue (caretaker’s house at St Joey’s).

Term 1 College Fees have been sent out in the mail. If you have not received your statement by Friday, 26th February 2021, please call the College office for a copy.

It is an expectation that fees are paid on time or that a regular payment plan is put in place. For those families opting to pay their fees per term, the due date is the 18th March 2021. If you would like assistance working out a payment plan, to make regular weekly/fortnightly payments on your account, please email me at jdavis@goodshepherd.catholic.edu.au I am happy to help.  You may also access  fee information directly from our College website https://www.goodshepherd.catholic.edu.au/finance/college-fee-structure/

Good Shepherd Catholic College endeavours to keep fees to a minimum, there has however been a slight increase this year to tuition costs and levies, which are in line with other Catholic schools within the Diocese. Some families may already be paying their fees via a payment plan calculated from previous years. If this is the case and you have not made any increase to your payments this year you will need to do so. Any families who pay the College via regular bank transfer will  need to check that there is no end date on their payments and that they have not stopped over the break. Alternatively if payments were stopped they will need to be restarted.

It is important that fees are kept up to date and manageable.  If you are experiencing any difficulties meeting your payment obligations or if you experience any unexpected financial hardship, I urge you to contact the College and make arrangements to speak with the Principal to discuss your account. Please note that it is College policy, if accounts fall 2 terms in arrears, with no communication from you to advise us of any change in your circumstances, accounts will be forwarded on to our Collection Agency for management.

Thank you to those families who have organised a payment plan or who pay their accounts regularly per term.

If your child is departing the College, please ensure that you fill out a Departing Student Form at the front office. This can be emailed through to you for your convenience. It is important that this form is completed and returned to the College, signed and with all of the items on the checklist completed. This will ensure that fees and charges are calculated appropriately.

To ensure the accuracy of your personal information, please ensure that any changes to your address, email address or phone numbers have been communicated to the College.

Buongiorno, e benvenuti in Italia!

Parents of Year 7 Students can ask their children to translate this phase. In the Library we have a new selection of books to support the Italian elective at our College. Students who want to learn more about the culture and history of Italy or practice words and phrases can borrow from our new collection. 

Divertiti a conoscere l’italia!

Easter Library Promotion

Once again we are holding a Library Easter Raffle with the prize being 2 baskets filled with Easter Eggs and chocolate. However, the winner keeps only one basket and nominates a worthy cause/organisation to receive the 2nd basket. Last year the staff of Mt Isa Hospital’s Emergency Department were the worthy recipients.

Students receive an entry every time they borrow a book. Bonus entry days will also take place for students to increase their chances of winning.

Did you know?

All the prizes in our Library promotions are funded by our Containers For Change initiative. Students leaving their recyclable cans and plastic containers outside the Library is not only good for the environment but the more that is recycled, the bigger prizes we can offer.

Is your child using Discord?

Discord is an instant messaging platform commonly used by online gamers to chat online. One in five young people tell us that they use the service, which has made significant inroads into the Australian youth market over a relatively short period of time.

Lean more about the benefits and risks associated with how people use Discord in this eSafety Guide.

Discord and eSafety

The sports department would like to congratulate Matt Roper in Year 7 who participated in the North West Swimming Trials on the 12th and 13th of February. Matthew had a successful weekend breaking several Personal Best times whilst competing for Good Shepherd and the Mount Isa Sports Association. Well done Matt.

Upcoming MISSA and North West sporting opportunities:

Year 12 Visual Arts in Practice 

The Year 12 Visual Arts in Practice Students have just completed the practical section of their 'Fabulous Form' module. This body art/tattoo module is based on the concept of climate change, inspired by the activist 'Greta Thunburg'. They are proud of their work, and what they have achieved in this module. It is currently being displayed in the GSSC Library (corner opposite C1). 

Humanities at Good Shepherd introduces junior students to Ancient and Modern History, Geography and Business and Economics. In the senior years students can choose to study Modern History, Geography, Legal Studies and Social and Community Studies. 

This term Year 7  HASS students are investigating the exciting world of the Ancient Romans; Year 8 students begin the year with Geography, learning about Landscapes and Landforms; Year 9 students study the impact of the Industrial Revolution and Year 10 students are developing an understanding of Environmental Change and Management.  

The Humanities teaching team consists of: Junior HASS - Jan Luarca, Tahlia Morley, Sally Holland, Kate Millan, Lachlan Toal, Stephanie Spano, Gemma Kyle. Senior Humanities - Tahlia Morley, Lachlan Toal, Greg Blake, Gemma Kyle, Leigh Harding.

At Good Shepherd the Australian Curriculum - Cross Curriculum priority of Embedding Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Histories and Cultures is part of the school Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP).  The Year 10 HASS students are investigating Environmental Change and Management. With climate change being a current challenge, the Year 10s have been exploring and researching different perspectives on the environment and sustainability.  

In Week 3,  the students  became both the students and the teachers. They were tasked with creating a poster to strengthen their understanding of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander perspectives of sustainability. Students worked in groups to analyse different articles on the topic. Their analyses of Indigenous knowledges and understandings were then put to paper in an engaging way. The posters were a way to be both creative and informative for their peers. They then presented their amazing posters to their peers and built whole-class discussion through question and answer. The students' posters are now displayed in E2. 

Photos of some of the Year 10.01 HASS  students, who are  taught by Miss Morley, presenting their posters on Project Compassion Free Dress Friday (dress in red or pink)

In Week 4, Year 8 Students’ Landscapes and Landforms study focussed on the local area - Kalkadoon Country. Students and teachers were privileged to have Mrs Roslyn Von Senden, a Kalkadoon Elder, as a guest speaker. Mrs Von Senden shared her knowledge and understanding of the geographical topography of Kalkadoon Country - landforms and waterways; sacred places and spiritual connections to Country and the importance of the Dreaming. Students also learnt about the plants and animals of their local area and their importance of these to traditional and contemporary Aboriginal culture.

TERM 1 HUMANITIES EVENTS INCLUDE:

• YEAR 12 GEOGRAPHY FIELD TRIP TO LAKE MOONDARRA - 25TH FEBRUARY - SOIL AND WATER TESTING
• 2021 AUSTRALIAN GEOGRAPHY COMPETITION - 18-31ST MARCH - GET YOUR ENTRY FORM FROM YOUR HUMANITIES TEACHER - ONLY $4 ENTRY FEE - PRIZES TO BE WON FOR HIGHEST ACHIEVER IN STATE AND EACH GRADE AT SCHOOL LEVEL
• MR BLAKE’S WEEKLY MILITARY HISTORY CLUB MEETINGS AT MORNING TEA - LISTEN FOR TIMES AND DAYS ON MORNING NOTICES

Former GSCC Students

Every now and again we will endeavour to bring you an article about former students titled 

WHERE ARE THEY NOW?  This week’s piece is about………

2020 College Dux and School Captain

LAURA SZABADICS

Name, Graduation Year and House:  Laura Szabadics, 2020, Rice house

What did you think you would do when you left school?  When I left school I wanted to go to university and study some field in the arts. 

What are you doing now?  I have been fortunate to be accepted into QUT to study a Bachelor of Creative Industries.

What is the biggest lesson you’ve learnt since leaving school? I’ve learnt that even though I’m an adult and I want to be independent, receiving help from others is ok. You don’t need to have everything figured out.

Favourite tuckshop food:  My favourite tuck shop food was a warm pizza rounda.

Favourite teacher/s:  My favourite teachers were Mrs Gillies-Hughes and Mrs Wood.

I will always remember …...….  I will always remember the chaos of getting an assembly organised.

What do you miss most about school?  I miss having little chats in the hallways between classes with anyone that I knew.

Best piece of advice for current students: My advice for current students is that you should use all the class time you can to get assignments and homework done, so then you can enjoy your afternoons.

What do you hope to be doing in 10 years? In ten years I hope I’m with a theatre group organising events and making sure that rural Queensland gets equal theatre experiences.

CONGRATULATIONS to our new School Based Trainees and Apprentices

Over the last couple of months we have had 6 students commence traineeships.  

Best of luck to these students as they embark on their career pathways.

• Lasharna Hegarty:  Certificate III Business, MEGT/National Australia Bank
• Shayne O’Shea-Breed:  Certificate III Animal Companion Services, Furry Friends
• Brodie Roberts:  Certificate III Carpentry, Trevor Morris Builders
• Rhys Buschel: Certificate III Light Vehicle Mechanical Technology, Malouf Auto Group
• Max Pye: Cert III in Engineering – Mechanical Trade, Superior Machinery Maintenance
• Connor Blythe:  Certificate III Refrigeration & Air Conditioning Mechanic, Clancy Corporation
  

The Year 7 Retreat in 2021 was an absolute great day.

We started at the Church - developed an understanding for our college and how it is involved in our Parish, what Christ’s light means, who we are as part of GSCC and how we will develop as part of our college.

We were lucky to have school leaders work with us during our activities, which were lead by our fantastic homeroom teachers Miss Luarca, Mrs Whitehouse and Mrs Feliciano. Miss Moon and Mr Young our preservice teachers also joined us and experienced that teaching is so much more than classrooms.

We learnt about meditation, how stopping and not thinking is good for us and allows us some calm and peace.

We appreciated how what the world sees of us, thinks of us and hears from us is not always what or who we really are - we looked for and appreciated our inner strength.

We also learnt about the rosary and enhanced our skills at following instructions to create our own rosary with a Mary MacKillop medallion added.

We made lunch for each other - we asked what was wanted, listened and then created - what a magnificent feast!!

Fr Emene joined us, beat us at hand ball, brought us ice blocks and showed us his competitive spirit is strong!!

At the pool is where the team challenges started. We learnt our House War Cries and didn’t we give them a blast - We’ve got spirit YES we do!!

Thanks to all who came, helped, supported and enjoyed!

Year 7 has shown that they are building and adding to this great community of GSCC and our future is so very bright!

This week in our Pastoral Care lesson, the Year 8 students created their journals for this year. They began by covering their journals with contact (which for some was a new experience) It was great to see them working together to ‘wrangle’ the contact and help each other out. They got creative by designing their title page which was made up of images or words that reflect who they are, what they enjoy and what inspires or motivates them. They then completed a variety of activities that required them to reflect on their identity, what they are grateful for, and how they can show gratitude to others. We will make additions to these journals throughout the year, and they will be an important part of retreat next term.

Come along to the Homework Help Programme 

The Homework Help Programme runs during Weeks 2-9 of each term on Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday from 3pm - 4pm in the Library. For each session, teachers are in attendance to assist the students with their homework and any assessment work they may have. You may require individual assistance or a teacher may work with a group of students who are all working on the same task. All students are welcome. 

What the students say about the Homework Help Program:

• Year 10 Student ‘The library is a quiet environment where I can focus and do my homework”
• Fiona, Year 9 Student “Homework Help suits my family as my mum can pick me up at 4 o’clock. I also get my homework done before I go home. There is a good vibe of everyone studying in the library”
• Riley, Year 9 Student “I find homework help really useful because if you’re the type of person who is uncomfortable asking your teacher or classmates to help, Homework Help has a variety of other teachers, who you may feel more comfortable asking for help. It has honestly been a great help for me”
• Amy, Year 8 Student “I think Homework Help is very good because I can’t concentrate at home and sometimes my classroom teachers are at Homework Help to support me”
• “Attending Homework Help is going to help me reach my Emerging Leaders’ goals”

Student Expectations:

• College & Library expectations must be followed while attending the Homework Programme.
• Students must work productively on homework or assessments
• Students must register their attendance upon their arrival to the Homework Programme.
• No eating or drinking in the Library during this time 

Every Wednesday Morning from 7am - 8.45am, Parents and Friends are invited to The Arili Thina Cafe to purchase your Morning Coffee and breakfast.

By doing so you are supporting our Hospitality students to achieve their competencies towards their Certificate ll in Hospitality and all profits go towards their Hospitality Camp to the Gold Coast in August. 

There are a range of coffees, cold drinks and breakfast food available. Please see our Menu. Our students are becoming fantastic baristas. Come see for yourself how good they are.

Queensland families can now put ‘emotional wellbeing’ on the priority list for this term, for parents as well as kids!

 We all know last year was rough, so it’s important to ensure children and teenagers are feeling optimistic and positive about the year ahead. It’s a great way to look after yourself and your relationship, too.

 Triple P’s positive parenting tips and strategies can help families re-establish stability and routines and more enjoyable family time. There’s no need to ‘go it alone’ when it comes to parenting – help that really works is available now, free for families in Queensland through a State Government initiative.

 To register for free Triple P Online or Triple P seminars and sessions, visit www.triplep-parenting.net

With thanks,

The Triple P – Positive Parenting Program team