Parent Information

Sickbay Notifications/Alerts to the Parent Lounge

As part of Good Shepherd's procedures, we have implemented a system to send Sickbay Notifications/Alerts to the Parent Lounge whenever your child/children visit the sickbay. These notifications are found under "Student Details - Illness Details". 

In cases involving head injuries or illnesses that we believe you should be informed about, you may receive an email or SMS notification. However, no action is necessary unless you choose to collect your child/children. The school will contact you directly for any illnesses that need your advice or urgent attention.

URSTRONG Friendology for parents 

Dear Parents,

Good Shepherd Para Vista are a USTRONG school, with students learning about this friendship program during their Health lessons and OSHC also adopting the ‘Friendology’ initiative.

 URSTRONG’s whole-school friendship strategy has improved the social climate in schools around the world, connecting over a million kids, parents, and teachers with a common language of friendship. We are proud to be a URSTRONG School and are committed to empowering your children with friendship skills.

You are invited to take advantage of a FREE Parent Membership to access hundreds of resources – including an 8 session video series. This will allow you to learn the same language & strategies being taught in the classroom through the Friendology 101 curriculum. We hope that, as a URSTRONG Family, you will reinforce the important messages of empowerment, self-compassion, & kindness at home.

As a next step, we would recommend:

• Click here to view an overview of URSTRONG.
• Activate your FREE Parent Membership and explore all the resources available to your family.
• Explore the hundreds of resources available to you!

In line with the school's values, we believe that empowering our students with these skills will create a culture of kindness and we hope that, together, we can support your children to have healthy, feel-good friendships.

Creative Play Equipment – call out for donations!

There are many benefits of creative play. At Good Shepherd, we recognise this and are committed to continuing to foster it amongst our learners. The children at Good Shepherd enjoy using the creative play equipment that is available to them in the yard at playtimes.

From time to time, as items become ‘well used’, damaged or broken, our creative play equipment needs replenishing. This is where you come in! The school holidays provide a great opportunity to clean out the cupboards, the shed, or storage at home. Do you have any of the following items that you no longer use that you could potentially donate? 

Items may include:

• Cutlery, cups, bowls (sturdy plastic or metal only please) 
• kitchen utensils (nothing sharp)
• buckets (preferably durable plastic)
• small furniture items (eg wooden tables, chairs)
• wooden storage trunks (with the ability to store outdoor toys)
• milk crates 
• small blocks of timber
• matchbox cars, toy trucks, diggers etc 
• sandpit toys (eg spades, rakes etc) 

Please feel free to come and chat with me or Rachel Liebelt if you have any item suggestions. You may email me at tim.english@gspv.sa.edu.au with any photos, or simply bring items in to school at the beginning of next term. 

If there are any parents or grandparents who may be keen to take on a school holiday project and build some storage trunks, timber racks or outdoor shelving for storing some of our outdoor equipment, please come and have a chat with us, or send us an email.

Thank you in advance. 

Tim English (Learning Enrichment Teacher – Wellbeing)

Rachel Liebelt (Co-Educator & Creative Play Support) 

Donations

Current Endeavour College and past Good Shepherd students Oscar, Remi and Charlotte shared at Assembly this week about an initiative that they have created. 

They are looking to give generously, as God calls us to do! If you are able to donate any non-perishable food, kids toys or kids clothes, please do so in the box found in the front office. More information can be found on the flyer below.

Mother's Day Stall

The Mother’s Day Stall Organising Team are now looking for parent volunteers to help assist during the week the stall is being held. 

Our stall will be held in Week 2 of Term 2, on

• Tuesday 7th May 1:25pm-3pm (arrive at 1:15pm)
• Wed 8th May from 1:25pm-3pm (please arrive at 1:15pm)
• Thursday 9th May 1:25pm-2:25pm (please arrive at 1:15pm) 
• and packing up Thurs 9th May 2:25pm – 3pm.

A volunteer form was sent home in Blue Bags this week and can be found attached below too. Please return the form to the front office by Thursday Week 11 if you intend to volunteer your time.

All volunteers need to have completed the necessary requirements as set by GSPV. Please check with the front office that your volunteer status is up to date. Please be aware, some of these can take a few weeks to complete.

Donations for the stall of Home-Made Gifts will still be received gladly. Please contact Alix Zeppel on info@alizefabrics.com.au.

Raffle donations will still be received over next week or so – please be in contact with Lauren Davis on lauren@funkychickendesign.com.au – or for monetary/gift card donations – please be in contact with Jodi Quast - quast.jodi@gmail.com.

We are very much looking forward to hosting the Mother’s Day Stall at Good Shepherd. It is such an exciting time for our children as they get to purchase some gifts for their Mum’s. 

Thankyou,

Mother’s Day Organising Team

Lauren Davies / Alix Zeppel / Alana Siedel / Sarah Pound / Jodi Quast

Music Tuition

Applications now open!

Code Camp for Year 3&4 Students

We are offering Code Camp for our Year 3 & 4 students again in Term 2.  The coding sessions incorporate weekly challenges, functions, algorithms, branching, variables, game logic, user experience and maths.

From Code Camp:

'Coding after-school' is an 8-week program with a new project each week, and the fun doesn’t have to stop after class! Your child will be provided with their very own Code Camp World account which they can use to continue creating at home and to share their projects with family and friends.

If this is something that your Year 3 or 4 child would be interested in, please click on the button below.

Dads and Kids Camping Weekend - Register Now!

M'n'M 2024 (Men and Minors camp) is coming up again this year on the 17th – 19th May at the regular location near Williamstown.  All primary school aged children accompanied by their dad or significant male are welcome to attend.

A great weekend to 'get back to basics' and really enjoy some quality time with your children and also the opportunity to connect with other dads too.  Saturday is packed full of fun activities and a nice amount of 'down time'. Come along and see what more than 300 people enjoyed in 2023!

The following link provides detailed information about the camp.

NEW Streamlined Registration:  Download the QKR App to your device and go to Good Shepherd Lutheran School.  The registration form and payment process is available all in this one place.  

Check out some fun from the past here!

Volunteering at the school

Interested in contributing to the vibrant community at Good Shepherd Lutheran School Para Vista? We have plenty of volunteer opportunities within our school and your involvement is crucial in creating a nurturing environment for our students. 

To learn more about the available opportunities and the application process, please take a moment to review the attached PDF document. We greatly appreciate your willingness to support our educational journey, and we look forward to welcoming you as valued members of our dedicated team

Growing Faith At Home

It’s been a big term! School holidays can provide the opportunity to slow down and even reconnect with people that you may not regularly catch up with. For some people it means long road trips (which means plenty of time together in the car). 

The GFH resources that I share always flag the idea of sharing your highs and lows. How about reflecting on the term we have just had? Sharing both highs and lows helps them to keep life in perspective. Sharing your highs and lows, in a child friendly way, helps them to realise that we all have our ups and downs. You may like to share the ways you like to celebrate your highs and helpful strategies you have discovered for dealing with your lows. The resources also flag other conversation starters.

Do you have a favourite hobby? Share your ideas about the word ‘trust. Jesus calls himself the Good Shepherd. What is he actually talking about?

God bless your time together!

Seasons for Growth 

Seasons for Growth is an 8- week program for children who have had changes occur in their families through death, separation, divorce or related circumstances. It has been run at Good Shepherd for many years now and each year we see the fruit of children having an opportunity to process change in a safe, supportive group. We have normally run groups for stages 2,3 and 4 in term two but are open to running one this term if the need is there. The groups run for 45 minutes once a week.  Children join the group with parent permission, at the suggestion of a parent and/or their teacher. 

If you think your children might benefit from this valuable program, or have more questions about it, please contact;

Renee Baker renee.baker@gspv.sa.edu.au

Sonia Hulme sonia.hulme@gspv.sa.edu.au

and we will be in touch. 

More information on the program is available at https://www.mackillopseasons.org.au/programs/seasons-for-growth-children-and-young-people/

Siblings

If you have not yet submitted an enrolment application for any siblings of current students, please do so as soon as possible to ensure a position is available, the sooner the better! Your prompt attention to this is greatly appreciated. Enrolment applications can be collected and returned to the front office.