Dear Parents and Families,

Welcome back to Term 3, a short but rich term filled with exciting learning opportunities!

This year has been a joyous one as Jubilee celebrations continue to unfold across the world. In this sacred year of renewal and grace, we have witnessed significant moments in the life of the Church — from the sorrowful passing of Pope Francis to the historic appointment of Pope Leo as our new Holy Father. We also await the canonisation of Blessed Carlo Acutis, a modern-day saint and inspiration to many of our young people.

Carlo was initially set to be canonised on April 27th. However, with the papal seat temporarily vacant, this was postponed and is now scheduled for September 7th. In this Jubilee Year of Hope — a year calling us to embrace faith, unity, and compassion — we continue to pray that peace may soon come to the many war-torn nations across the globe, for the sake of all children and generations to come.

In January, I applied to participate in a special Jubilee Year of Hope Pilgrimage for Catholic school principals, and I am deeply grateful to share that my application was accepted. I will be one of only 15 principals selected to take part in this pilgrimage, focused on deepening faith leadership through the human, spiritual, intellectual, and pastoral dimensions of our vocation.

The pilgrimage will take place in Rome, Assisi, and Loreto — sacred places where we will have the rare opportunity to walk through the Holy Doors, opened only once every 25 years. I will be away from school during the first two weeks of Term 4 for the pilgrimage and will also be taking a few days of personal leave at the end of Term 3 as prior to the pilgrimage, I will be visiting family in Italy.

I feel truly blessed to embark on this journey and will carry the prayers of our school community with me as I walk in faith and hope.

100 Days of Prep

Congratulations to our amazing preps on completing 100 days of school! They have had an amazing day full of activities and counting to 100!!

Thank you to the prep team for making this happen today and for celebrating our preps. Thank you also to the parents for coming along and having a dance at the prep disco. The preps all look amazing in their bright cololured clothes.

Parents' Association

Next Friday is our Trivia night that has been planned by our Parent Association. We do have a few tables available if you haven’t purchased a seat yet. As well as our parent community taking part, we also have 20 of our staff attending and they can’t wait! For those of you who have already booked tables, it promises to be a night of fun.

TRIVIA NIGHT REMINDER – TICKETS SELLING FAST!

Our Trivia Night is just around the corner – don’t miss out on a great night of laughs, games, raffles, and auctions!

Date: Friday 1st August

Time: 7:00pm

Venue: Skyways Hotel Function Room

Book now: https://www.trybooking.com/events/landing/1414793Tickets available for individuals (jump on an existing group's table!) or full groups.

Families are welcome to invite friends from outside the school community.

Already booked your tickets?Awesome! Don’t forget to bring plenty of gold coins and cash to take part in the games, raffles, and auctions on the night.

Let’s make it a fantastic evening – see you there!

Fundraising Makes a Difference!

Fundraising opportunities, such as our Trivia Night, special lunch days, and Mother’s and Father’s Day stalls play a vital role in ensuring our students have access to resources and equipment beyond what is covered by our global budget. We are extremely grateful for the ongoing support of our families and the dedication of our Parents' Association, who work tirelessly to make these initiatives possible.

This year, we are focusing our efforts on upgrading some of our outdoor play equipment and IT resources in classrooms. Thanks to your fundraising efforts this term, we were able to contribute $8,000 — half of the total cost — towards new upright Chromebook charging stations for our Year 1 and 2 classrooms. These new stations take up significantly less space, help keep our classrooms organised, and are safer and more accessible for our students.

Next term, we plan to upgrade the Prep charging stations, with updates to the Year 3/4 classrooms planned for 2026.

Thank you once again for your generous contributions — your support continues to make a real impact on our students’ learning experience.

Parent Code of Conduct

Thank you to the parents who have expressed their support for including the Parent Code of Conduct in our recent newsletter.

This code is in place to ensure that all members of our community, particularly our students, feel safe, supported, and respected at school. We have, unfortunately, had incidents where parents have attempted to address issues between students themselves, rather than speaking directly with the classroom teacher or relevant staff. While often well-intentioned, this approach does not always lead to positive or appropriate outcomes.

As outlined in the Parent Code of Conduct:

Parents should not approach or discipline a child who is not their own. Matters involving student behaviour must be addressed by school staff.
Parents should not approach other parents to resolve issues between students. These situations should be referred to school staff to manage appropriately.

We strongly encourage all parents to speak with us directly regarding any concerns. Together, we can ensure a calm, respectful, and safe environment for all children. Thank you for continuing to support this important partnership between home and school.

Year 4 Camp

Our Year 4s are getting ready to attend camp next week! It is an invaluable experience; an opportunity to make lasting memories where our students can challenge themselves physically, socially, and mentally in an environment other than school. Activities the students may be involved in are bush cooking, team building tasks, giant swing, archery, and many other fun activities. We wish them the very best time!

Personal Toys at School

We kindly ask that students do not bring personal toys from home to school. Toys can easily become lost or damaged, and this often causes unnecessary distress.

If a student does bring a toy to school, it remains their responsibility and must be kept in their school bag for the duration of the day to avoid any disruptions or accidents.

We appreciate your understanding and support in helping us maintain a safe and focused learning environment.

Upcoming assemblies:

Wednesday 20th August 2:30pm Year 5

Wednesday 10th September 2:30pm: Prep

Wednesday 29th October 2:30pm: Year 1

Tuesday 16th December 9:15am-10:00 Year 6

Have a wonderful week ahead.

Sincerely,

Carmela

School of The Good Shepherd

BELONGING, COMPASSION and GROWTH

Issue 11 · 25 Jul 2025

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