As I have highlighted previously, we chose the theme of Compassion this year. One of the Gospel values, compassion is the ability to ‘walk in someone else’s shoes’. This really resonated with me this week when I witnessed a domestic violence situation on my way home from the shops over the weekend. I was with my husband, and decided to stop to help the woman. It’s easy to judge in a situation like this but it is more complicated than that. I felt a deep sense of compassion for the woman but also for the situation the two must be in. What anguish she must be experiencing and also what has that man witnessed in his life to believe that it would be acceptable to treat his partner in that way?

This week we celebrate International Women’s Day and while we acknowledgement the many ‘glass ceilings’ that have been smashed, we know as a community, country and global family, that we have much to do before we can see that we have gender parity. Pay gaps, illiteracy of girls, trafficking, domestic and family violence, sexual abuse are all scourges in our society. The theme of International Women’s Day this year is Choose to Challenge and we are called to play our part in removing obstacles in front of the girls and women we know. I found this quote last week and it outlines the challenge for us all:

I was incredibly proud to see six of our students nominated for the Zonta 2021 International Young Woman of Achievement Awards on Saturday night. It was a tight competition with many outstanding candidates. The award went to Brooke Troxell, a former Good Shepherd Catholic College student who was most deserving. The following students from our school were nominated and were each worthy of recognition:

Stepheny Reddish

Charlotte Coghlan

Amie Pemble

Alina Dempsey

Sophie Greenhalgh

Olivia Greenhalgh

 One of the speakers from the Zonta community mentioned that she was comforted by the fact that Mount Isa has many brilliant young leaders who are rising up the ranks, contributing to the community and reaching out to show compassion to others – everything we encourage our students to do at GSCC.

(ABC North West photo)

Columba All Schools’ Carnival – Congratulations to our Netball and Rugby League teams who performed admirably in their respective competitions over the weekend in Charters Towers. Teams ranked third overall against all the other schools, with some great wins over St Anthony’s and Southern Cross Catholic Colleges. These games are great lead up matches to the QISSN and Confraternity competitions to be held in Brisbane later in the year, with Independent and Catholic schools across Queensland. A special thank you to Nikki Dalla Vecchia, Julie Hutchinson, Jordan Harries, Joshua Schofield-Smyth, Travis Roberts and Gemma Kyle for giving up their weekend to support the students.

Great news – Mulkadee returns in 2021 with  The Wizard of Oz! Ms Catherine Motteram and Ms Saskia Brown will be calling for nominations shortly. Please keep an eye out for an information booklet coming home soon.

The National Assessment Program – Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN)

A reminder that NAPLAN will take place with Years 7 and 9 students from Tuesday the 11th of May until Friday the 21st of May. Within this testing window, students will be completing a series of tests that are focused on basic skills that are administered annually to Australian students. 

NAPLAN tests skills in literacy and numeracy that are developed over time through the school curriculum. This testing system identifies whether all students have the literacy and numeracy skills that provide the critical foundation for their learning, and for their productive and rewarding participation in the community. Students are assessed using common national tests in reading, writing, language conventions (spelling, grammar and punctuation) and numeracy. NAPLAN tests broadly reflect important aspects of literacy and numeracy in the Australian Curriculum. 

In 2021 all Year 7 and 9 students at Good Shepherd will complete these tests electronically for the first time. The NAPLAN software will be downloaded onto students computers over the coming weeks and a trial test will take place in Week 10. Please keep an eye on your emails over the coming weeks as more information is sent through.  

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

Compass Parent Portal

It is extremely important that all families have access to their parent portal on Compass. The College uses this platform to publish student report cards as well as for booking parent teacher student interviews.

In Week 10 report cards will be published, and following this parent teacher interview times will open for booking. If you are yet to log into your parent portal and do not have access to it, please contact the office as soon as possible to obtain your login information.

If you ave forgotten your password, you can reset it by following the steps below:

The Year 11 & 12 Exam Block is 2 short weeks away, and it is important that students are prepared for this. Students must arrive at school 30 minutes prior to the start of each exam to ensure they have time to prepare their resources and go over any final notes.

• Session 1 commences at 9:10am
• Session 2 commences at 12:00pm

If you are unwell on the day of an exam…

There will be occasions where students are unable to attend their exam because they are unwell. It is imperative that you contact the College immediately if your child is unwell, and won’t be able to attend a timetabled exam.

QCAA requires all Year 11 and 12 students who miss an exam to provide a medical certificate upon their return. Students will then sit an alternative paper at a negotiated time.

Exam Block Timetable

How to Deal with Exam and Assessment Stress

We are coming to that time of the term when students have many exams and assessments due.  This means that - exam and assessment time = stress time. 

Students experience exam and assessment stress for a variety of reasons, from worrying they might fail or wanting to do really well, to dealing with pressure from family members or teachers or struggling to understand the things they’re studying. Everyone experiences stress differently. 

ReachOut.com has some wonderful resources and strategies for students on how they can tackle exam and assessment stress to reach study success:

• Break your study up into manageable 20-minute chunks. 
• Talk about it or say it out loud. When you say something out loud, you'll find it much easier to remember it. Chatting with someone about what you're studying is even better.
• Remove the distractions. Put your phone on silent and out of reach, and turn off the pop-up notifications on your computer. Research shows that it can take up to 20 minutes to refocus on what you're doing once you've been distracted.
• Take breaks. If you plan your study chunks with breaks in between, having the time away can help you to come back refreshed.
• Get some sleep! Getting a good night's rest helps your brain and body to rest and recharge. In fact, you'll do better at your exams and remember more of what you studied if you get a good night's sleep, rather than if you stayed up late studying.

Other things students can do include eating the right foods, perfecting their time management skills, and knowing when to take a break from studying and getting some physical activity or social time in.

If students are experiencing difficulties in meeting assessment deadlines, they are encouraged to speak with their classroom teachers to discuss their concerns.

For more information about how students can best deal with stress, visit ReachOut.com. 

Class Masses

Alpha

200 Years Anniversary

Year 10 RE

“Because I say so.” 

As our children grow up we want them to ask questions and challenge themselves and others so they grow as a person. The more knowledge they have will also, hopefully, help them make decisions that keep them safe.  

As a parent when we decide rules for our children it is normally through the biased eyes of our own adolescence. So I try to remember a comment from Wayne Bennett when discussing rules with my children.

After a player had too much to drink and did something he shouldn’t have Bennett told the media, “don’t look at it through the eyes of a mature 40 year old, look at it through the eyes of your 21 year-old self.”

When I did that I sometimes came to the conclusion that my younger self would have been in the thick of it. I know what I did, what my friends did and the consequences we suffered. 

I tell my kids all the things I have done, good and bad, so they have a better understanding of why I say no or put certain conditions in place. I also want to leave the door open for them to tell me what goes on around them.

I tell our youth group that when their parents tell them “because I said so” it is perhaps because they don’t know how to tell them what they did or experienced at the same age.

Trust is built on honesty so if my daughters are going to a party and there is underaged drinking how do I know they won’t; how do I know they will be strong enough to say no?

If they hide the fact there will be drinking then their dishonesty erodes trust. If they are up front then we put in place strategies to protect them, such as will there be someone there if they need help (an older sibling or cousin, the host’s parents, their friendship group).

The level of trust is dependent on time spent in an honest relationship. So I tell the youth group to look at it from their parent’s point of view and work toward building the level of trust.

Like an Olympic Athlete the training begins long before the moment of truth. Having honest and open conversations from an early age sets the groundwork for when the ‘big’ conversations come around.

One way to do that is to have open and honest conversations that may require the telling of some embarrassing stories about yourself and admitting mistakes but so what. By having them your children start to trust you, so when you put a rule in place they know you have a reason behind it. 

Naturally what you talk about and share depends on age and where your child is in life but by starting small you will have paid your dues by the time the occasion requires your best. 

If you wait until that moment to sit down and try and have a conversation, trust may not be there and you are likely to get an answer such as, “Now I’m in trouble, you want to talk?” 

There is no book or manual to read to be the perfect parent; though there are plenty out there. Just think of the people you trust and why you do.

I have a handful of people I trust completely. The reason is because they have seen me at my worst and most vulnerable and during those times honest conversations were needed and this led to a bond of trust and we all need people we can trust to be honest with us.

As Theological Professor Howard G Hendricks says ‘Children aren’t looking for perfect parents, but they are looking for honest parents.”

Youth Group this week is a mini-retreat this Sunday from 4-5:30pm in the CIA Youth Room at Good Shepherd Parish. Topic is heroes. Youth Mass after from 6:00.

Traditionally the school performs the Passion Play at the 3:00pm Mass on Good Friday. Can you let me know if you are up for the adventure, we will rehearse in the church then have some lunch and then perform.

We will be holding a CIA Youth Group on Saturday 27th March. It will be a concert so if you are a singer or performer and would like to have a go let me know. And remember we overcome fear by facing ours, so put your hand up.

Where are they now?

Breanna Waerea

Name, Grad year and House:  My name is Breanna Waerea, I graduated in 2019 (the best year) and had the opportunity to be Leader of Rice (ABSOLUTE BEST HOUSE). 

What did you think you would do when you left school? When I left school I was honestly very lost, I didn’t know if I wanted to attend University, wasn’t sure if I wanted to pick up a trade and start full time work. I was mixed with emotions but while I was still deciding whether or not to further my education I took a gap year and secured a job at Glencore as a Junior Administration Officer for Health & Hygiene. Once I started my working full time journey I still had this passion and ambition for University, so I applied and was accepted at the end of last year. This Sunday (21st Feb) actually I’m moving my whole life to Rockhampton to attend CQU, after 4 & 1/2 years I will have hopefully completed my Bachelor of Nursing & Midwifery. 

Did you follow that pathway and/or what are you doing now?  My pathway in school was “University”, leaving school my pathway was a “gap year”. I chopped and changed because I didn’t know what I wanted to do. I don’t regret the pathway I have taken straight out of school as it gave me hands on experience and life long skills I can now apply to other work forces and even in University. Now it’s coming to the end of my Glencore contract (I only was contracted for a year as a school leaver) I’m more happy going into University now than I would’ve been fresh out of school. 

What is the biggest lesson you’ve learnt since leaving school?  My biggest lesson from leaving school is to embrace every moment and live life to the fullest. Your school culture is so different to outside of school and you do need to grow up so much more. School helped me find my feet by giving me the opportunity to branch out and try different things before you’re put into one job for probably the rest of my/your life. 

Favourite tuckshop food:  Favourite tuckshop food was definitely Nacho Friday’s! 

Favourite Teacher: My favourite teacher... well I never had just one. So shout out to Aunty Dalla Vecchia (or should I say Mrs Henderson these days), Mr & Mrs Kelley (& mini Kelley now), Miss Conway, Miss Scott, Mr Godley, Mrs Coghlan, Donna, Harris, Schofield, Lenore & many other past teachers!

“I will always remember …….…….…..”   I will always remember Good Shepherd being such a positive and excellent learning environment. The teachers and staff don’t get enough credit for the time and effort they put in to support students mentally, physically & emotionally. I’m glad to have such an amazing community to get where I am today and given so many opportunities throughout my childhood. So to all my past teachers, thank you for all your positive influences, know my brother and I are well, and we say Thank You!

 What do you miss most about school? What I miss most about school is definitely the teachers shouting lunch! Earning my own money now I could only imagine what kind of dent it made in the bank account of some legendary teachers (aka Kelley) that shouted lunches or feeds in class. I miss the relationships you create with friends, teachers, staff, parents and outsiders from the Isa community. I also miss the easy going environment. 

Best piece of advice for current students:  Some advice I give to current students is... Take every opportunity with two hands, learn as much as you can. Embrace every moment and live your life to the fullest. Try different/new things. Be kind to yourself and be kind to others. Most importantly... BE YOURSELF! And listen to Mrs Coghlan, she is amazing at her job. She can help you with literally anything in life. I’ve witnessed her help kids to get into Uni without the Atar pathway. She’s a GOAT (greatest of all time). 

What do you hope to be doing in Year 10 years?  In 10 years, I hope to be a full time qualified and working Midwife. Bringing life into the world and helping/supporting women at their most vulnerable is my passion. I also want to have my Bachelors of Occupational Health & Safety as a fall back. In 10 years time I just hope I’m happy and living my best life in a line of work that gives me a purpose. 

QLD Minerals & Energy Academy

Water: Yours, Ours, Mine

Last week our Year 7 Science students attended a workshop about Turbidity (dirty water levels) and they conducted experiments in Flocculation and Sedimentation.

Careers Quarterly Newsletter

https://www.careertools.com.au/resources/newsletters/qld/2021/t1_w6_2021_qld.pdf

This newsletter includes:

• Career as a Sound Technician
• Tax File Numbers
• UCAT - Entry to Medicine/Dentistry
• Careers in Space
• Apprenticeships and Traineeships
• Career in Forensic Science

It’s beginning to look a lot like Easter in the Library

Students have been entering the Easter Raffle by borrowing books from the Library. We have been giving out bonus entries with a different theme every day to encourage students to search the shelves for books matching the topic of the day. So far, we have had animals (to commemorate World Wildlife Day,) Female authors (in honour of International Women’s Day,) and students having to prove they can spell, ‘LIBRARY,’ (to recognize National Proofreading Day.)

The basket of Easter eggs and chocolates has been a great motivator for students to explore what our library has to offer.

Lost and found

Four Little Ponies have turned up in the Science shelves. If you are the parent of a little person who is missing these toys, please let us know so they can return to their proper home.

Top Borrowers for Week 7

1. Grace Doran – Year 7, Nathan Kirley – Year 7
2. Joshua Warhurst – Year 7
3. Isabella Lee – Year 8
4. Zane Blackmore – Year 9, Renee Cameron – Year 10, James Kleinman – Year 7, Milla Van Lelyveld – Year 9

Last weekend, the GSCC Senior Rugby League Team travelled to Charters Towers to attend the Catholic Schools Carnival hosted by Columba Catholic College. For some, these games were their first in over a year. For others, it was their first games of rugby league ever. As such, the carnival allowed our young men the opportunity to come together as a team and build upon notions of mateship and togetherness that have been reinforced through training. Further, the games played provided a brilliant platform to build our team’s culture and refine skills and combinations before our upcoming trip to Brisbane for the Confraternity Carnival during the Term 2 holidays. 

Also attending the carnival was St Teresa’s Abergowrie, Southern Cross Catholic College, St Anthony’s Catholic College and our hosts Columba who we played in our first game on Friday night. After a strong defensive effort for most of the game, our halfback Michael Kelly slid through the Columba defence to score what seemed the matchwinner under the posts. However, it was not meant to be, as the try was disallowed due to an obstruction. Columba winning 4-0 with Chavez Hegarty and Jack Petitt playing starring roles. The boy’s confidence was immeasurable after this game, as they knew they were capable of matching it with the eventual winners of the carnival. 

Bouncing back from defeat, they boy’s got past St Anthony’s 26-10 in our first game on Saturday in tough conditions due to the heat. Highlights of the game included Jake Russell sneaking over the line from dummy half, and brothers Cooper and Jett Guningham playing rugby league together for the first time. Michael Kelly was once again brilliant leading the team around the park.

Secondly, we faced Abergowrie in a tough match during the middle of the day. The boys fought extremely hard throughout this game, but were not able to overcome a strong possession deficit. Abergowrie coming away winners 14-0. Special mentions go to Brodie Roberts and Brayden Kerkhoffs whose efforts in the middle were inspirational. 

Being asked to back up once again in the heat, the boys knew that how they finished their last game was how they would remember the carnival. And they sure finished strong, with a resounding 30-0 victory over Southern Cross. Patrick Wade, Lewis McCoy, TJ Tapu and Sela Naituku all playing starring roles in a convincing win. All the boys are to be congratulated with their performance on the field, as they showed that they were as good as any team in attendance. Also, the way they evidenced respect and gratitude throughout the trip is to be commended.  

After the carnival, Chavez Hegarty was awarded our Most Valuable Player with Michael Kelly receiving recognition as our Best Back and Jack Petitt as our Best Forward. Overall, we are extremely proud of what our boys were able to achieve in such a short carnival, coming together as a team and garnering plenty of confidence heading towards Confraternity.

GSCC Senior Rugby League would like use this avenue to once again thank Brumby’s Mount Isa, 2Seas Catering, Top Fire Constructions, Mount Isa Mining Supplies, Clancy Corporation and Pharmacy First for their valuable donations to our team. The help of Gemma Kyle, Jordan Harries, Col Ryder, Joshua Schofield-Smyth, Mel Hodgetts and Sean Wade also needs to be recognised both before and during the trip away. Thank you to all for your support of GSCC Senior Rugby League. Lastly, our sincerest thanks to the GSCC P&F Association for their funding which allowed these students the chance to travel away to this carnival.

Last weekend, our QISSN team was lucky enough to travel to Charters Towers and compete in a competition at Columba Catholic College. To start off the weekend, we travelled in the bus which was already a great bonding experience, with all of the singing and laughing. We created a true bond and carried that in how we played as a team. As we arrived in Charters Towers we were ready to go and play our hardest netball knowing that we had each other's backs. This showed through the way we played our opponents and in our drive and determination. We didn’t let anyone obstruct us as we were set on playing our best.

Unfortunately, we lost our first game against Columba, however that only spurred us on towards our next match against St Catherines. This was undeniably the beginning and the turning point of the team this weekend. We came out with more confidence in our ability as a team after getting rid of the cobwebs from our first game. This awesome win was fueled by our positive mindset and the cheering from the Confro boys on the sidelines.

Saturday morning we woke up to wet dresses and sore muscles. We knew our next game was against St Margaret Mary’s and that they were the team to beat. We arrived at the court in damp dresses and were nervous as we knew that this would be a difficult game. Nevertheless, we took the court ready to give it our all. We smashed the first half of the game tying with Maggies, which pushed us to very tired legs in the second half. Even though we didn’t come away with the win we were very proud of our efforts against the top team, and kept our heads high for the next few matches.

Our next game we tied with Southern Cross, which we were all very happy about. We played St Anthonys next and came away with a close win. We then found out that we needed to play again in 10 minutes against St Anthonys to decide our placing of 3rd or 4th. This was our final game of the carnival, and we wanted to make it count. This gave us even more determination to win our last match, and go home with one final win. We started the game with a very close score in the first quarter and then half way through we gradually started to overcome and excel in our performance, smashing the competition. 

Placing 3rd was a first for the GSCC QISSN team in this carnival, and we were all very proud of ourselves. We are looking forward to taking this knowledge and experience away to QISSN 2021 and our weekly competitions. 

Our girls have represented GSCC with great spirit, sportsmanship, fight and determination. The best part was watching as we supported and encouraged each other on and off the court. This trip instilled a trust between us and helped us to gel and become more confident in each other and ourselves. Despite the different variety of age groups in our team, we really created a strong bond and that was the most we could ask for out of this trip. 

We’d like to thank Mobilise, especially Mr Ian Barlow, for the bus and fuel donated, as without them the trip would not have been possible. We’d also like to say a huge thank you to Hutcho, DV, Mrs Holland, Phoebe Ryder and our parents. Their knowledge, support, dedication and efforts made this trip not only possible, but worthwhile and they have helped shape us into the players and people we are today.

The QISSN Team

As our first major sporting event of the year, the Good Shepherd Swimming carnival is always packed with energy and enthusiasm, and 2021 was no different. The day was full of excitement, friendly competition and fierce rivalry between the 4 houses. Students participated in 50m events including Freestyle, Breaststroke, Backstroke and Butterfly, with our 14 and above age groups also getting the opportunity to compete in a 200m Freestyle race. The day was also broken up with several novelty activities including a boat race, noodle relay and an obstacle course.

It gives me great pleasure in saying that all students actively participated in all events on the day, which made it a great day of competition. 

I would like to take this opportunity to thank all staff members who contributed to helping the day run smoothly, including the school administration staff, Kaylene and Barb in the school canteen, as well as our parent helpers Tarrene Frost, Scott Wishart and Justin Armstrong. And finally a big thank you to my HPE team who go above and beyond to help make HPE and sport accessible to all of our students.

Congratulations to all students who participated and received Age Champion Awards. These students are listed below:

The overall winner of the 2021 Swimming Carnival was………..BENJAMIN

1. Benjamin: 526
2. Rice: 448
3. Mackillop: 302
4. Chisholm: 226

Upcoming Cultural Events

Close the Gap - 18th March 2021

Closing the Gap is a strategy that aims to reduce Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander disadvantages with respect to life expectancy, child mortality, access to early childhood education, educational achievement and employment outcomes. For more information visit the Australian Human Rights Commission or read about the history of Closing the Gap.

Harmony Day - 21st March 2021

Harmony Day is a day to celebrate Australian multiculturalism, based on the successful integration of migrants into our community. Harmony Day is about inclusiveness, respect and belonging for all Australians, regardless of cultural or linguistic background, united by a set of core Australian values. 

The Young Indigenous Women’s STEM Academy gives young Indigenous women the tools and support they need to succeed in an exciting STEM (science, technology, engineering and maths) career.

The program is delivered by CSIRO in partnership with Career Trackers and the National Indigenous Australians Agency.

Well done to Bella de Waele in Year 10 who took up the opportunity to be part of this great program and even though the program makes students think of their future it teaches students great leadership skills also.

On Friday 5th March, all Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Year 6 students from St Kieran’s & St Joseph’s were invited to Good Shepherd Catholic College to learn more about the Emerging Leaders Incentive Scheme. Whilst here, students got to meet our Principal, our Indigenous Education staff, Emerging Leaders Coordinators and also our current Emerging Leader Students and our Year 7 Pastoral Leader.

As the program is about leadership, we asked some of our 2020 Gold recipients to talk about their incentives that they received and what they had to do to achieve them. These included driving lessons and drivers’ licence fees for a senior student, a softball camp, laptops, pushbike, bull riding, school camps and other sporting activities.

The three pillars of Leadership - Attendance, Academic achievement and Community involvement were discussed and the current Emerging Leaders were able to explain what these meant to them. For some of them their community involvement included cooking for Jangawala - the Church food kitchen; a special activity where Elders cooked with the students and provided the food for the less fortunate in our community. 

After the informative part of the visit Year 6 Students, school staff and the current Emerging Leaders shared a lovely lunch and were able to yarn with each other. After lunch St Joseph’s and St Kieran’s students were taken on a walking tour of the school grounds and facilities by current students. We are looking forward to welcoming them to Year 7 at GSCC in 2022 and they are excited to begin their Secondary School journey next year. There were lots of smiles and laughter as they explored the grounds and thought about their future. 

Our annual Hospitality Dinner is being held this Friday, 12th March 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 to the Gold Coast 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.

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

Every Wednesday morning from 7.00am - 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.