Dear Parents,

We are all so excited to perform our school production 'Aladdin' next week. On Tuesday and Wednesday night, you are all invited to step into a world of wonder - a world filled with adventure, friendship and dreams that soar higher than a magic carpet ride. Our students and staff have poured their hearts into bringing this story to life, blending music, dance and drama to create something truly special.

I would like this opportunity to thank Shannen Wickremasinghe for showing amazing leadership and creativity in preparing our students and to Cara Decru for working alongside her every step of the way.

Don’t forget to book your tickets or purchase the video to keep a memory of this special event. Also please keep an eye out for last minute reminders as they come out on the Nforma portal.

Thank you

On behalf of all the staff I would like to thank our current Year 6 families for providing a beautiful lunch for all the staff on Tuesday. We are all so grateful for your kind words of appreciation and feel blessed to come to school everyday to guide and care for your children. A big thank you to Sue for setting up the lunch.

Planning for 2026

Thank you to the parents who have already advised us that their children will be moving to a different school next year. We understand that due to various reasons this may happen.

If you have not yet informed us could you please email gsoffice@gswheelershill.catholic.edu.au by Friday 31 October.

This does not include our Year 6 students who will be moving onto secondary school.

In the coming weeks, we will begin the process of creating class groupings for the 2026 school year. To support this, we will be sending home a "friendship star" next week, where students can list up to five friends they would like to be with in their class next year. While we will make every effort to accommodate their preferences, please understand that we can only guarantee placement with one friend from their list.

Also, if you have a request for a significant reason related to the wellbeing of your child including as to why your child should not be placed with a specific student, could you please email me directly (principal@gswheelershill.catholic.ed.au) by Friday 7 November.

We will be working on class groupings soon and we need all the information now to ensure the process runs smoothly. No requests can be taken after this time. For those parents who contacted me last year there is no reason to contact me again this information will be taken into consideration.

ANZAC Appeal for Remembrance Day - 11 November

Some of our Year 6 student leaders will come around to classes in the next two weeks to sell pins, wristbands and Poppies as we remember soldiers who died in wars to protect the nation.

Music Gala

Our 2025 Music Gala will take place on Thursday 13 November commencing at 5:30pm in the Performing Arts Building. Our Year 4 - 6 students in the junior and senior school choirs will sing and we will have performances from the junior, senior and jazz bands. It will be a wonderful night. More information will be sent out to the students involved in the coming weeks.

Prep 2026

On Tuesday our new Prep 2026 students had their very first orientation session. They had a wonderful time in their classes with their peers and teachers. Thank you to Niloopa for supporting with the morning tea. They will attend two more sessions:

● Wednesday, 5 November 2024: 9:15 AM - 10:15 AM

● Thursday, 20 November 2024: 9:15 AM - 10:15 AM

Year 5 Leadership opportunities for 2026

We are currently finalising the timeline for formal leadership opportunities as students enter Year 6 in 2026. The Year 5 teachers will communicate to parents the leadership roles available and the process for students in the coming week.

Year 6 Graduation Week

We are planning a very special final week at school for our current Year 6 students to celebrate and acknowledge the end of their primary school journey. A letter will be sent out to parents shortly about all the activities.

Congratulations

We congratulate Amelia S (5SZ) and past students Christian Lim and John Yanko for scoring roles in the musical 'School of Rock' at the National Theatre in St Kilda in November.

2026 Sacramental Program

Fr Andrew, Vanessa Lamanna and I met together this week to start planning the sacramental program for 2026. To support families planning for next week we can let you know the following:

First Eucharist for our Year 4 students will take place in Term 2 (June)

Confirmation for our Year 6 students will take place in Term 3 (August)

Reconciliation for our Year 3 students will take place in Term 4 (November)

The exact dates are still being finalised and we will send them out once they are locked in.

Coming up

In the coming weeks there are many school activities taking place.

They include; Year 4 Assembly, Aladdin Production, Prep Fire Education Incursion, World Teachers Day, Day for Daniel, Level masses, Year 1 Assembly, Year 2 Excursion and School Sports/Athletics Day and P&F Colour Run.

Please keep an eye on nForma for alerts and reminders that may come out.

School Closure Days

An important reminder of the following school closure days this term.

Monday 3 November (day before Melbourne Cup Day)

Monday 1 December (Planning for 2026)

Thank you for your ongoing support.

Jacqui Marshall

Principal

Good Shepherd School

Issue 10 · 24 Oct 2025

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