Dear Parents and Families,

We hope this message finds you well. Over the last few weeks we have had so many events to celebrate as a community.

Mother’s Day Breakfast

We thank DONUT PANIC ( now trading as The Sweetstakes) for bringing us deliciously hot, fluffy pancakes with a multitude of toppings. We also thank "You, Me and High Tea" for donating the delicious fruit to go with our pancakes. It was wonderful to see so many of our mums and students at the breakfast. May, being the month of Mary, we pray to our mother Mary, to bless our mothers and to continue to protect us always.

Good Shepherd Feast Day Celebrations

What an incredibly beautiful way to celebrate Good Shepherd Sunday with the opening mass on Mother’s day. Archbishop Comensoli celebrated the most beautiful, heartwarming mass, followed by light refreshments in the hall. There were over 600 people in attendance at mass followed by approximately 300 remaining for light refreshments. What an impressive turnout to kick start our year long celebrations. We then welcomed year 5/6 students from St Carlo’s and Mary Queen of Heaven to our school for a combined feast day celebration. And we then had our whole school celebration where we took part in amazing activities with Kaboom Kids.

Year 5/6 Camp

Our year 5/6 students attended camp at Lake Dewar where they enjoyed so many different activities and really made strong connections with their fellow classmates and teachers.

First Eucharist Sacrament

Our final, beautiful event was our year 4s celebrating their First Eucharist just this Sunday past. Our students were so well prepared and engaged so prayerfully throughout the mass. We continue to be very proud of them and pray that Jesus continues to nourish them through their lives. Congratulations to all of our communicants!

Parent Association

We thank our Parent Association for all of their hard work in planning the School disco, Mother’s day stall and Mother’s day raffles. The time and effort that you put into fundraising and organising fun events for our students does not go unnoticed, and we truly do appreciate you.

Our Parent Association is getting ready to start planning a trivia night in August and would like to gain some interest to help with preparations. If you could kindly fill in this google form, that would be great!

Trivia Night Survey Link

What’s App groups

We have been notified that there are various what’s app groups where messages are not always respectful towards staff, students, the school or other parents. In no way do we endorse what’s app groups and we ask all parents that are asked to join any groups, to do so with caution. As a refresher, we urge you to read over the code of conduct so that we can all contribute to an environment that is respectful and safe for everyone.

Out of School Care

Over the past 12 months, our governing body, Melbourne Archdiocese Catholic Schools (MACS) has engaged their own provider for out of school care and have been onboarding schools slowly. We have been notified that our school is due to get on board next term. Please read the letter that has been forwarded by MACSEYE.

MACSEYE Intro letter July 2025 (002).pdf

Over the past few years, I have inquired relentlessly about a school holiday program, however the answer that I always receive is that we don't have enough interest. If there are families out there who would benefit from a holiday program, please contact MACSEYE and let them know. Thank you to those families that have consistently reached out to our Out of School Care providers requesting a school holiday program. It has been disappointing that this has not come to fruition.

nForma parent portal

Thank you to everyone who has downloaded the nForma For Parents app on their phones. All messages regarding organisation etc will be sent through this format. See saw platform will be used for learning or class specific messages.

IMPORTANT- SCHOOL COMMUNICATION PLATFORM INSTRUCTIONS

1.Download the app “nForma for Parents” from the App Store or Google Play (many families will have already downloaded the app to access children’s reports last year).

2. Log in using the email address you have registered with the school. If you are not sure of what this is, please email the office at info@sogsgpark.catholic.edu.au and we can check which address is on file.

3.Ensure that you have notifications switched on so that you will know when there are updates on the app.

4.Please complete the Chromebook Policy and Mobile phone/Smartwatch Policy if you have not already done so (we need this to be completed for every child as soon as possible).

Please don’t hesitate to reach out if you are unsure of any of these steps.

Elizabeth Sarpa Michelle Peel

esarpa@sogsgpark.catholic.edu.au mpeel@sogsgpark.catholic.edu.au

Have an amazing fortnight!

Carmela D'Amato

School of The Good Shepherd

BELONGING, COMPASSION and GROWTH

Issue 7 · 30 May 2025

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