From the Principal
What a full week!
Thanks needs to go to our amazing staff and volunteers who are supporting (and enjoying) the various Stage 4 experiences. We are blessed that these people give up their time to support these learning and growing opportunities outside of the classroom.
As you will see later in the newsletter, our ELC children from the Blue Team went on their first excursion to the Adelaide Botanic Gardens. What an amazing time they had.
At the start of the week, we also enacted our lockdown procedure, and I thank staff and students for their responses during this time. There were a number of questions that arose for our parent community, and we share the below information to help you understand a little more about what happens.
Understanding Lockdowns (Invacuations) at Good Shepherd
At Good Shepherd Lutheran School, the safety and wellbeing of our students and staff is our highest priority. From time to time, you may hear that the school has conducted a lockdown drill or as occurred on Monday, that we needed to enact a real lockdown. We know that hearing this word can create worry for parents and caregivers, so we want to take a moment to explain what a lockdown is, why we practise them, and what our communication process is.
What is a lockdown?
A lockdown is a safety procedure used when there is a potential or actual threat in or near the school grounds. Examples might include an intruder in the area, a police incident nearby, or another circumstance where it is safest for students and staff to remain indoors with doors secured.
Why do we practise lockdown drills?
Just as we practise fire and evacuation drills, lockdown drills help ensure that staff and students know exactly what to do if such a situation arises. By rehearsing the procedure, we remove uncertainty, reduce stress, and build confidence that everyone knows what steps to take. Our goal is not to alarm students, but to give them the reassurance of knowing what to expect.
How often are drills held?
We conduct one lockdown drill each semester. These are pre-advertised to families through the published Term Dates on the newsletter, so that you are aware ahead of time that a drill will take place.
How we refine our procedures
Good Shepherd employs a full-time Risk and Compliance Officer who oversees all safety drills, including lockdowns. After each drill, staff and emergency wardens provide feedback on what went smoothly and where improvements could be made. This feedback is carefully reviewed, and our procedures are refined each time to ensure they are clear, effective, and tailored to our school environment. This ongoing cycle of practice and improvement helps us fine tune our processes and gives everyone confidence that we are well prepared.
Communication with families
We understand how important it is for families to feel informed. Our procedure is:
- If a lockdown extends beyond 30 minutes, if safe to do so and permitted by supporting authorities, we will be contacting families.
- If the lockdown is resolved in under 30 minutes, families will be contacted once the situation has ended and normal school activities resume.
We appreciate your support and understanding as we continue to uphold strong safety practices. These procedures, though sometimes confronting to think about, are an important part of our responsibility to care for every child in our community.
In response to this lockdown, we have promoted some works in the front office. There will be an automatic door fitted to the right-hand side of the front reception. This will replace the wooden framed doors that currently remain open.
Initially only pencilled in for 2026, this work will now be completed in the coming holiday period. This change will require some transition from all community members with new routines that will need to be put in place. We look forward to sharing these with you next term.
Blessings for the remainder of your week.
Evie