from the chair
To our Good Shepherd community.
On behalf of your School Board, I wanted to outline a massive thanks to you all for your ongoing efforts to ensure the School has run as ‘normal’ as possible with the impacts of COVID. Life has really been challenging for many of us. We all have faced some extraordinary circumstances over the last few months. We continue to face societal change and challenges, and circumstances change.
As we continue to plan for the school's future, we encourage your feedback to drive the next School Improvement and Strategic Plan. Much work is undertaken to run the school and plan the next three to five years. It is so essential that we seek parent and community voice to drive our important future. Please take 5-10 minutes to complete the Health Check Survey. The survey link was emailed in a letter from David Wilksch. All voices are valued, and important to plan. The survey closes on April 14th, so please take the time to share your views and vision.
On behalf of our Board, I wanted to offer a personal thanks to the following:
To our amazing leadership team led by David Wilksch - thanks for your regular, open communication and clear direction through these difficult times. We are so truly blessed to have such passionate and enthusiastic leaders.
To our teachers - thanks for your adaptions, additional work and care - you are all sensational, and we value your efforts inspiring and leading our children daily, during uncertainty and ongoing change.
To our support staff - thanks for all you contribute to make Good Shepherd such the amazing community it is.
To our students - thanks for being so understanding, getting on with learning, adapting and your commitment to ’creative’ learning.
To our parents/carers - thanks for your adaptions, your support and willingness to act on the regular updates and your trust as we navigate these times. I urge you all to keep up to date with the regular clear updates.
Your School Board plays an important role and is responsible for developing and monitoring the broad direction and vision for the school. The School Board is focused on the big picture and avoids engaging in the day to day operations of the school which are capably managed by our School leadership team. The Board meets 10 times a year, and representatives also sit on a number of sub-groups including Finance, Risk and Audit teams, Mission and Ministry, Connected Schools and Lutheran Education SA, NT & WA committees. Board members are parents of the school, and we do all we can to ensure a positive community, informed policy decisions and effective planning for the future of our school.
The School Board is a committee comprising of chairperson - Matt Schmidt, vice-chair - Matt Modra, School Board members - Shawn Zeppel, Amy Schultz, Catherine Noack, Tim Eckert, Principal David Wilksch and in 2022 we welcome new members Cathy Ramsay and Adrian Tattersall. The Board is supported by our Business Director - Mark Elliott and Secretary - Pauline Gilroy. I wish to publicly thank all involved with the Board for their commitment to the school.
As we near the end of a busy term, I want to send all of our community a collective thank you for all you are doing. Our leaders, teachers and staff have been going above and beyond to prepare for variations to learning. As a community, please continue to support each other, reach out if you need, make a new connection within our community. Collectively we will get through these challenging circumstances.
Please take care of each other, keep safe, make sure you find joy in some family time together, and God be with you and protect you and your families.
Matt Schmidt
Good Shepherd Board Chair