from the principal

Reflection on Term Three

Term 3 has been amazing!  A multitude of creative events and activities have enhanced learning opportunities across the school.  From a leadership perspective, I continue to feel very satisfied and grateful that our community collectively, has its eye on the future.  Now solidly embedded, our Vision, Values and Learning Principles, have generated focus and shared understanding as to how we guide learning.  And it remains absolutely critical that we continue to shape learning in our place in order to ‘prepare children for their future, not our past’.  

We are all…  ‘Active and Connected, Growing for LIFE’   Praise God for Good Shepherd Lutheran School.

Staff News

Many thanks to John Greenwood (Stage 4) and Janine Eggart (Stage 3) for the roles assumed in supporting student learning during Long Service Leave for Rod Dissel and Gen Hart.  We pride ourselves in building and maintaining a strong sense of community, and we celebrate and give thanks for your place in our community over the last term.

School Uniform Review

The final item of consultation and decision making in preparation for 2018 has been passed through School Council’s policy review processes.

Sports Shoes:  This aspect of our existing policy has been without doubt, the most difficult to manage over many years.  A broadened policy from 2018 has been approved to ensure that every family, without exception, will find policy compliance achievable. 

2018 POLICY

Sport Shoes:  Predominantly white, black, or grey cross trainers / joggers, with the same colour laces.  Velcro is also permitted and is recommended for children who are unable to tie their own laces.

Interpretations:  ‘Predominantly’ implies that the majority of the shoe, including the main body of the shoe, is one of the three approved colours. 

‘Cross trainers / joggers' does not include basketball boots, leisure or street shoes.

Amnesty period:  An amnesty period exists for the remainder of the year for students currently wearing incorrect shoes.  From day one, 2018, this policy will be enforced without exception. 

Supervision of children after school

Creating ‘community’ is what we do at Good Shepherd and we welcome and encourage fellowship among parents at the close of the school day, It also a joy to see children enjoy a last session of play before heading home. 

For safety reasons, it is critical that children are directly supervised at all times.   After school, children are permitted, with parent supervision, to play on the junior primary playground or on the oval (south of the cricket pitch).  The oval surrounds, including all nature play areas are not for use by students after school, unless you are playing alongside your child.  Thank you for your cooperation.

EDUMATE - Is it your mate?

I searched the archives for the article I wrote when Edumate was launched at this time last year. It read like this …

‘EDUMATE’ – Your new best mate … guaranteed!

Does paperwork drive you crazy? Do clumsy processes and systems frustrate you?  Is organisational efficiency important? Do you forget things and could simple reminders and notifications help?  Would you like a real time view of your child’s learning?  Need an easy way to update information after a change of circumstance?

If you answered “Yes” to any of these questions, then you need EDUMATE mate.

Just image ….. excursion consents at the click of button, reminders and notifications for important events, access to student learning records, ability to update medical information after a visit to the GP, change of address instantly recorded etc, etc – all achieved without mountains of paperwork.  Life doesn’t have to be so complicated!

Reading these words even made me smile… for a few reasons!  Some reflections from me a year on.

As a School Administration Tool:  Edumate is positively transforming our management, organisation, recall and effective use of data to support students and families.  The power of the software as a school management tool is incredible.  And … we are still only scratching the surface of its true capabilities.

As a Tool for Teaching and Learning:   A team of passionate and innovative teachers are customising the software for roll-out to all teachers in the near future.  It’s exciting that our school management system will also provide a centralised tool for planning, curriculum delivery, assessment and ultimately, ongoing continuous reporting to parents.

As a Tool for Parents: Capability exists for us to manage many processes electronically, removing the exhaustive list of challenges we face with the ‘great paper shuffle’ that schools are renowned for.

The Edumate Reality: Our ultimate dream is certainly not yet a reality – that will take time.  Ideally, we would have liked at this time, for our greatest success and improved efficiency to have be realised through the parent portal.  You are our customers and the customer experience is critically important to us.  For some, we know the reality is different.

Edumate is not a stagnant product, it is constantly evolving to become a powerful web-based tool for all school stakeholders.  There’s good news on the horizon for parents and carers.  The parent experience in Edumate is currently being redesigned for responsive use on tablets, as an alternate platform to PC desktop access, for which it was initially designed and released.  We know (as does Edumate) that desktop access in the current age, is not the preferred tool for many consumers.  

At Good Shepherd, we ask for your patience and appreciation that this development timeline is not within Good Shepherd’s immediate sphere of influence.  Do however, look forward with anticipation to the increased functionality that this development will offer in the very near future.  We are also aware a phone app is also in the development phase.