Principal's Welcome

Dear SoGS Families,

HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY to all those that ‘mother’ in some way. I hope you had an absolutely wonderful day on Sunday with your loved ones. We thank all the mothers/aunties/grandma’s and even some dads who celebrated with us on Friday. I was fortunate enough to see so many photos on Seesaw as well as visiting many rooms and it definitely looked and felt like there was a lot of excitement in the air. Our Gospel reading at our liturgy on Friday was such a poignant moment for all of us, trusting and believing that every one of  us here on earth has a mother to look out for us, love us unconditionally and be with us day in and day out.  We look to Mary, the mother of God, ‘Theotokos’ and pray that she keeps us close to her heart. 

Faith Formation

Last Tuesday, the three parish schools (School of The Good Shepherd, St Carlo’s and Mary, Queen of Heaven) came together in our parish church for some Faith formation with Fr Dishan. Fr Dishan took us through 4 Dogma about Mary.  A dogma of the Catholic Church is defined as "a truth revealed by God, which the magisterium of the Church declared as binding".   It was a very interesting afternoon where we were able to read about Mary, discuss what we read and ask any clarifying questions. It was also a great opportunity for the staff from the three parishes to come together.

Forward Planning

On Monday, the Executive Leadership team had the opportunity to forward plan and set achievable goals for the end of the year as part of our 4 year cycle of review. One of our main priorities is that of deepening our shared understanding of our pedagogical model of Inquiry.  Through Inquiry, we will also be beginning to plan for more authentic student voice and student agency in our planning and learning and teaching cycle. 

Therapy Dog

For the last 12 months or so, I have been thinking about the pros and cons of having a therapy dog at school. I have spoken to various staff who have experienced therapy dogs at their school as well as many students who have had the opportunity to have a therapy dog at their school. We are fortunate enough that we have Ms Malone, our Religious Education Leader/Inquiry leader, who owns a dog who has been deemed suitable to be trained as a therapy dog. Ms Malone and Astro will be undergoing five weeks of training with Therapy Dogs Australia and then Astro will be assessed to see if he qualifies as a therapy dog for our school. Astro is a 5 year old Golden Retriever who is gentle and well suited to this role. We look forward to hearing about their journey! Good luck Astro!

HOMEWORK CLUB- EXPRESSION OF INTEREST

We are in the process of partnering  with Ave Maria College  to form a homework club for our students. At this stage we are gathering expressions of interest as to who might be interested. 

Some things  to consider are:

1. This is purely a homework space where students who attend will be required to work on their homework tasks. 

2. Snacks are not provided nor will there be any time for snacks as this is a time to catch up on homework with the assistance of some Ave Maria students.  

3. There will be a booking system with a maximum of 25 students from Prep - 2  and 25 students  from years 3-6.  Families will be required to book each week. 

We are hoping to Launch this initiative in Term 3 on a Monday afternoon on school premises.

Years Prep - 2 will run  from 3.30 to 4 pm (30 minutes) every Monday

Years 3-6 from 3.30-4.15pm (45 minutes) every Monday

School of The Good Shepherd  staff and Ave Maria College staff will be supervising at this time. 

Homework club will only go ahead if we have enough interest.  Please fill in the google form if you would be interested in this initiative.  https://forms.gle/DxSMwJoSB4SewyQs9

A few reminders from our last newsletter, please read through these

CAR PARK

At School of The Good Shepherd, we are truly blessed to have a car park with a Kiss and Drop area. Having worked in 6 different schools across my career, I have to say that I have never seen anything like this for our parent community to use and we are so very fortunate. We remind parents to be extremely mindful and patient when travelling in the car park and when waiting in the kiss and drop queue. Unfortunately we have had a few instances when cars have overtaken the Kiss and Drop queue trying to get to the start of the line and resulting in students nearly being hit. If you do not have the time to wait in the Kiss and Drop queue, and wait your turn then we ask you to park in the car park and walk in to pick up your child.  Please also be mindful that the car park belongs to everyone and that there are no designated spots. The only spots that have been designated are for staff along the green fence along the driveway, otherwise please use the parking bays to park your car.  When walking your child across the car park, we also ask that you walk in front of the yellow Kiss and Drop area OR across the pedestrian crossing rather than in between the cars. We have opened another gate further along the fence for pedestrian use. This has helped reduce the traffic.  We also ask you NOT to park in front of the yellow Kiss and Drop bay as we have students walking across this space. 

Just as Jesus the Good Shepherd looks after his flock, I urge you to also look out for each other’s children just as you would your own when in the carpark. 

CHANGES TO MEDICAL MANAGEMENT PROCEDURES

Recently Melbourne Archdiocese Catholic Schools have made changes to the way in which medications are administered and stored at school. All policies have been included for you to read through, however please note that the major changes are that:

• Parents/guardians/carers are responsible for the provision of a Medical Management Plan and, where applicable, a Medication Authority Form, which references the diagnosed medical need and the medication to be  administered. The school is responsible for administration of medication in accordance with the medication authority documented in the Medical Management Plan for the student. 
• Medication such as aspirin and paracetamol will not be stored (or administered) for first aid purposes as these medications may mask symptoms of serious conditions.
• ANY medication that is to be administered at school or on school camps MUST be accompanied by a medical management plan and/or medical administration form, signed by a medical practitioner. 

Good Luck to our campers

Our Year 5 and 6 students and staff are heading off to camp on Monday. They are travelling to Lake Dewar, Myrniong (50 minutes from Melbourne) and will travel home on Wednesday. We wish them all the very best and we know they will have an amazing time!  Looking forward to seeing all the photos. 

Wishing you all an amazing fortnight!

School of the Good Shepherd 

Address: 88 Sth Circular Rd, Gladstone Park 3043

Telephone: 9338 7686

School Office hours:  8:30am- 4pm