Over the long weekend I managed to get some time to spend on my craft of quilting. I have been sewing a queen-sized quilt for my Goddaughter and it has taken me nearly 6 months. Spending time on hobbies which we enjoy is good for our soul and provides us an opportunity to forget the stresses of our life and to clear our mind. In a world where 1 in 5 Australians experienced a mental disorder in the last 12 months, it is vital that as educators and parents, that we are giving our children strategies for mindfulness and relaxation. I’m sure quilting is not going to be a popular pastime amongst our students, but prayer, youth group, exercising, going on walks, camping in nature, listening to music and meditation are strategies enjoyed by young people and we should encourage them to find their preferred activity. 

Esteemed child psychologist Dr Michael Carr-Gregg has outlined some ways that mindfulness helps our young people. 

• Reduce worries, anxiety and distress;
• Create a sense of calm;
• Learn how to relax and regulate emotions;
• Improve concentration and increased productivity;
• Develop a sense of empathy and connectedness;
• Enjoy better health and sleep

Our Guidance Counsellor Ms Yvonne Van Den Worm has recently presented to the Board and teachers about the varied student support services available to our students. If you have any concerns about your child’s mental health, please contact Ms Van Den Worm or your child’s Pastoral Middle Leader.

Staffing News

English Curriculum Middle Leader, Mr John Harrop, has announced that he will be retiring from Good Shepherd at the end of this Term. Mr Harrop is a very experienced and well-respected member of staff and he has been at GSCC for over ten years. He is retiring to spend more time with his family who live overseas. We will farewell Mr Harrop later in the term.

A Prayer for Finding Peace

Assessment Calendars

Assessment Calendars have been distributed to students during Week 2. These are also accessible via the College website under the Students tab, followed by the Studies & Assessment link. 

The Assessment Calendars are designed to:

• assist students to plan their study time
• help students to prioritise
• be an organisational tool
• communicate due dates to parents/carers and students

NB: Parents and students are encouraged to be mindful of the assessment due dates, and to arrange for specialist appointments/holidays and trips, around these dates. Wherever possible, students should also minimise paid work/casual employment, and cut back during busy weeks of the term. 

Parents & carers with any questions or concerns in regards to subject curriculum or assessment are encouraged to contact the classroom teacher first. Following this, the Curriculum Leader for each Learning Area is available to speak with you regarding any concerns you may have.

The National Assessment Program – Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN)

A reminder that NAPLAN will take place with Years 7 and 9 students during mid-May this year.  

There has been a slight change to the school’s original schedule for the NAPLAN tests.  Year 7 and Year 9 students will now take the NAPLAN tests on Wednesday, 12 May (Writing and Reading) and Tuesday, 18 May (Conventions of Language and Numeracy).  

Catch up sessions for students who are absent on these two days will take place on Thursday, 20 May and Friday, 21 May. 

This year, all Year 7 and 9 students at Good Shepherd will complete these tests electronically for the first time.

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

Students are also encouraged to visit the Public Demonstration Site which is an opportunity to practise NAPLAN-type questions, and the site for Student Readiness for training videos on how best to use the online platforms.

Making Self-Care a Priority for Families

Our Pastoral Care Team is always offering examples to our staff and students of how they can make self-care a priority to enhance their energy, restore their health and wellbeing and reduce stress. Taking time for self-care is not always easy, but doing something small each day, week or month is a good start.

Practising self-care can make you feel happier and more physically, mentally and emotionally able to deal with life’s pressures and stresses. For busy, hectic families, ensuring self-care is a priority makes sense, as it allows the whole family unit to work together to look after each other.

What Self Care Works for your Family?

Self-care is different for everyone and families might have to work together to figure out the best options for each member of the family. Ask everyone to think about these questions individually:

• What activities make you feel good and recharged?
• What would you like to do more of?
• Are there any activities that you look forward to during the week?
• What would your ideal day look like? What activities would you do?

If you’re struggling to think of specific activities, think about:

• For parents - What did you love doing before you had kids or when you were a kid?
• For children - Remind them of the things you’ve seen them enjoying.

Self-care activities don’t need to empty your bank account as there are so many low budget or free activities that may fill your family’s hearts with joy.

Here are some examples of activities that your family may find fun and interesting to do:

• Family movie nights in;
• Going for a walk or bike ride;
• Having a picnic lunch in a park;
• Cooking a family meal together;
• Meditation or yoga;
• Playing board games;
• Plan a local sightseeing trip to a place that you have never been before;
• Do a jigsaw puzzle that everyone can contribute to (include some snacks!)

Your Choice

It is easy to see when you look at me that I am a long distance runner, lean frame and low percentage body-fat. However, when my wife asked a lady if she had seen me on the course in Alice Springs she replied, “if he looks like a footballer, then yes he is still out there.”

That was my third and final Marathon, a distance I don’t have the body to run, but I set myself a challenge; not to be the best but to finish. I remember coming toward the finish line desperately trying to finish under the goal I had set, putting everything into it.

The emotion when you cross the finish line is immense. Relief, (that you have finished), and satisfaction, (that you have made it), combine with a wave of exhaustion to leave you a shattered mess. Oh how I wish I could do it again and have that feeling.

The reason I mention this is because I had a conversation with a student today about setting goals. It seems there is a thought that if you have a Plan A and a Plan B, psychologically you will generally default to Plan B.

I disagree entirely with this because as soon as you use the word psychological, you give yourself a choice. The reason people default to Plan B is because they do not have the discipline or courage to follow Plan A, in other words when it gets too hard they ‘opt out.’ 

That is why it is so important when you set goals to break them down into steps. You can’t just go out and run a marathon, you have to first be able to run 5k and then 10k and then do a half-marathon. To do a marathon then requires at least three months of training.

I recently held a course for some young ladies where they wrote down their goals and then we broke them down into the relevant steps required to achieve them. Whether they achieve them is up to them as they are the only ones who can choose to apply the discipline and courage needed. 

The secret is to break your goals down into manageable chunks to bite off along the way. ‘You don’t play for Australia today but you can begin training to play for Australia today.’

“The fight is won or lost far away from witnesses - behind the lines, in the gym, and out there on the road, long before I dance under those lights.” Muhammad Ali. There were boxers who could beat Muhammad Ali but they didn’t.

There are a million people who will tell you they were better than people who played for Australia. For most the reason they didn’t was because they lacked the courage and discipline to stick with Plan A.

In other words when it got hard they took the easy option. I know and have interviewed many people who have played for Australia and they have a common trait - They didn’t quit.

When it got hard they stuck to Plan A no matter what; in other words they made a choice. You put Plan Bs in place in case something outside of your control stops you from accomplishing Plan A, something you cannot overcome with courage and discipline.

The race isn’t always won by the biggest and the best but the one prepared to pay the price.

Good Morning Parents and Guardians,

The National Assessment Program - Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) 2021 for Years 7 and 9 will be held between Wednesday, 12 May 2021 and Tuesday, 18 May 2021. NAPLAN tests assess student knowledge and skills in Writing, Reading, Language Conventions (spelling, grammar and punctuation) and Numeracy.

In 2021 all Year 7 and 9 students at Good Shepherd will complete these tests electronically for the first time. The NAPLAN software has been downloaded onto students computers and the trial test took place in Week 10 of last Term.

All students are expected to participate in the NAPLAN tests. During test week, catch-up tests will be available for individual students who are absent on test days. These students may undertake catch-up tests on the days in the test week after the scheduled test, up to and including Friday, 21 May 2021.

Support can be arranged for students who are eligible and regularly use similar support for classroom assessment tasks. If you believe your child will benefit from the support please contact me via email and I can collaborate with you to complete the appropriate Adjustments Form. Parental consent is required before any support is granted and must be completed as soon as possible.

Students may be withdrawn from NAPLAN by their parents or carer. This is a matter for consideration by parents and carers. Withdrawals are intended to address issues such as religious beliefs and philosophical objections to testing. If you decide to withdraw your child, you must sign a Student Withdrawal Form, which is available from the front office, Michele Wood (Deputy Principal Teaching & Learning) or myself.

Students may be exempted from one or more of the tests on the grounds of English language proficiency or disability. The Exemption Form is available from the front office,  Michele Wood (Deputy Principal Teaching & Learning) or myself.

• Students with a language background other than English, who arrived from overseas and have been attending school in Australia for less than a year before the test, should be given an opportunity to participate in testing, but may be exempted.
• Students with significant intellectual disability and/or those with significant coexisting conditions that severely limit their capacity to participate in the tests may be exempted from participating in NAPLAN testing. This is decided after the Principal, student and the relevant parent/carer have consulted with each other and agreed that the student is not able to access the tests even with adjustments.

If you have any questions in regards to NAPLAN and how we can support your child please contact either myself or Michele Wood.

Athletics Carnival

With the Athletics Carnival only weeks away, the HPE department is working steadily behind the scenes to make this one of GSCC’s best carnivals yet. In order for the day to run smoothly, we are looking for some extra volunteers to help run events on the day. Anybody that is interested in helping out on the day of the carnival can email Mr Schofield at jschofieldsmyth@goodshepherd.catholic.edu.au. May the best house win.

Listed below is a current list of sports that students are able to represent the college in at either Mount Isa or North West level. If students wish to compete in these events they are asked to come and see Mr Schofield at break times for more information.

In Week 2, the Year 11 ICT students visited ABC North West Queensland - ABC Radio, to learn the processes of a radio announcer. A huge thank you to Andrew Saunders, (Chief of Staff), for providing your wealth of information about the history of the radio station and the processes. Also to Zara Margolis, (Breakfast Radio Announcer), who allowed the students to observe part of your radio program. Zara also showed the students the hardware and software she uses in her role and her responsibilities as a radio announcer. Miss Lesca and the Year 11 students really appreciate allowing us to get the real world experiences. It will help them immensely with their current radio program assessment. Thank you to Mr Coghlan for coming along to the excursion with us. Below is some feedback from the students about their experiences from the excursion.

“I learnt what is needed and required to make news on the radio. I also learnt how it all works in terms of running a radio show”. Tom Edge

“It was an insightful look into what it takes to run a radio show and I really appreciate the extra help on our assignments.” Rhory Kingdom

“After studying the components of managing a radio program, having the opportunity to view a studio and conversing with its announcers and producers allowed us to develop a better understanding of the media industry”. Igee Petalcorin

In Wek 2 we had the opportunity to reflect on our report cards from Term 1 and create academic goals for this Term. It was a great way to look forward and see what we can achieve higher given what we have achieved in the past. I really enjoyed the engagement in this lesson and some positive conversations happening where we split off and challenged each other with some questioning around where we see ourselves in the future and how we can make adjustments in our everyday lives to help contribute towards individual goals. The way that each student had an input was great to see. 

I'm hoping that this session, and future check-ins will really help to push this group of Year 10s to get the most out of themselves this Term and build some daily habits/routines that can contribute to their future achievements/goals.

In Week 4 we look forward to our College Curriculum Leaders to come into our Pastoral Care le

sson and speak to us about their subjects and the pathways within each subject to give a brief idea of Senior School. This will be our first introduction to our Senior Phase of Learning Information Night (SPOLIN) which is going to be held in Week 4 of Term 3. This night gives our students an opportunity to explore the different subjects that our College offers in Senior Education. I will provide more information on SPOLIN as we approach Term 3, but this will be a good introduction to SPOLIN in Week 4 of this Term during Pastoral Care. 

If you have any questions about Pastoral Care or upcoming events for Year 10, please do not hesitate to contact me. 

Where are they now?

Gabriella Cooper-Stevenson

Name, Grad Year and House

Gabriella Cooper-Stevenson, Graduated in 2019, Benjamin House.

What did you think you would do when you left school? 

My thoughts of what I wanted to do when I left school changed a lot over my senior years, I was just kind of winging it towards the end and hoped something came out of it. Not the best strategy I know. I’m still not too sure what I want to do yet, but that’s okay.

Did you follow that pathway and/or what are you doing now? 

I applied for the school leavers program and after 3 interviews was finally offered a position. 1 year later and here I am, with a permanent position in the Training Department (Yay for things working out!). 

What is the biggest lesson you’ve learnt since leaving school? 

I guess the biggest lesson I’ve learnt after leaving school is that everything happens for a reason. If I hadn't done the other two interviews I wouldn’t have been as laid back on my 3rd interview and I may not have gotten into the school leavers pathway. 

Favourite tuckshop food

My favourite tuckshop food was definitely chicken chips. 

Favourite Teacher

I’m not too sure who my favourite teacher was, each teacher was good in their own way. My favourite subject was Art, so I really liked Mrs James, but also I really liked SOR and Miss Massey. 

Best School Memory

Best school memory/memories would have to be the camps. I thoroughly enjoyed Grade 12 Camp, (even though I got stitches in my foot). It was an amazing experience. I miss the environment of school, I miss hanging out with my friends every day and I definitely miss not having to pay bills!

Best piece of advice for current students

Seriously enjoy and cherish every moment of school. It can really suck sometimes (I had many breakdowns over exams and assessments), but you don’t realise how good something is until you don’t have it anymore. Don’t take it too seriously either. Don’t get me wrong, school is important. But it’s not everything. Just have fun and do what you enjoy. Everything will work out in the end.

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.