Principal's Welcome

Dear Families,

Last Sunday we celebrated one of the most significant feast days in the Catholic Church, the Feast of Corpus Christi, where we celebrate the Real Presence of Jesus Christ in the Holy Eucharist—Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity.  In a reflection by Greg Sumner, he states:

Gospel Focus – Real Presence

In the gospel passage, Jesus speaks a number of times about his followers eating his flesh and drinking his blood; ‘For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink.’ In the Eucharist, we celebrate the ‘real presence’ of Jesus, understanding that bread and wine is changed into the body and blood of Christ. This change does not occur in a physical, observable way. The Church teaches that the ‘substance’ of bread and wine (what makes them bread and wine in essence) is changed but not the physical attributes. This is known as ‘transubstantiation’ – change of substance.

Some questions for us to consider:

How might the saying, ‘You are what you eat’ be applied to Eucharist?

What reasons can you suggest for the Eucharistic meal becoming so central to Christian practice?

How is it possible for you to be ‘Eucharistic’ in your daily life?

In what ways can people be ‘nourished’ and ‘fed’ by Eucharist?

In what way do you understand Jesus to be ‘present’ in the Eucharist?

What's coming up!

TERM 2 REPORTS

Over the last few weeks teachers have been finalising assessments, writing general report comments and assigning progression points for their students.  Since the return of full time attendance at school, we have been able to reflect on our current assessment practices and reporting structures so as to build on what we already do. Since the end of last year I have been meeting regularly with a group of parents to have a look at our current reporting structures and critique them against the reporting guidelines that have been released by Melbourne Archdiocese Catholic Schools. It has given us great insights into the strengths that we have but also the opportunities for growth that are needed. We will be unpacking the new report structure with staff beginning in week 1 of Term 3.  As we unpack our new format, we will also be communicating with parents what changes will be visible when you next receive the written reports in Term 4. 

Our teachers always strive for excellence in their teaching and learning practices and they find many different ways to assess students to ensure that the data they are collecting is accurate and in real time. We may find that in some instances, although growth has been made, it may not be significant enough to move a progression point, therefore we can sustain the marking.  Progression points then allow teachers to design their program around the needs of the classroom, targeting these needs with specific lessons.   Nationwide we have seen that in the second year  of being back at school, that children are readjusting in their learning rates depending on what was accessed or not accessed during the two years of COVID. 

If at any time you are concerned with your child’s progress, please do not hesitate to contact your classroom teacher. Please allow 24 to 48 hours for an email response.

SCHOOL FEES

Thank you to those families that have made payments so far this year and thank you to those families that have contacted me in regards to fees. Payment of school fees is part of the commitment families made upon accepting an offer at School of The Good Shepherd and although we appreciate that circumstances can be difficult for families, we also encourage families to make contact so we can discuss options. We have updated the ways that families can pay school fees, with many families opting for a payment plan. Please contact me if you need to discuss fee payments.

RESILIENCE FIRST AID

Last week Jemma McVeigh  and I attended a two day First Aid resilience course which was just so invaluable to our craft.  During the two days, we learnt about:

• The different parts of our brain and how each part is so reliant on the other.
• How our brain works when faced with an adverse situation
• The very essence of the meaning of resilience is to be able to ADVANCE DESPITE ADVERSITY.  

Our facilitator was psychologist Maria Ruperto who  spoke to us about the real need for our children and young adults to be faced with adversities so that they learn the tools to manage their emotions and responses when faced with challenges. Currently studies are finding that young children are being shielded from challenging situations rather than having the confidence to speak to someone about it and be coached in strategies to face these challenges. 

At School of the Good Shepherd, we are so fortunate to already be using tools that assist in building resilience skills in our students such as the Berry St Education Model and the Zones of regulation. Maria was able to offer a lot of insight as to how we can further enhance these programs with our students. Overall it was such an amazing two days of learning that we can bring back to our school community.

Next year, Maria will be coming to speak to staff from all three parish schools when we share a professional learning day together. We are looking forward to this opportunity.

EBA AGREEMENT

As we know, MACS has been under negotiations with the Education Union Victoria and Tasmania over the introduction of a new agreement. The CECV and the IEU have reached in-principle agreement on the terms and conditions of the proposed new enterprise agreement.  The next step is for staff to vote for the agreement which will be held at school next Tuesday and Wednesday. 

The main changes that will affect parents is that we will be working a 38 hour week for full time staff.  How this differs from what is occurring at the moment is:

The 38 hours is broken up into a maximum of:

As a consultative Committee we are currently reviewing many different options as to what our working day needs to look like to accommodate the EBA guidelines and criteria. Any changes to start and finish times that  are required will be communicated prior to the end of Term 2 but will not be put into effect until week 4 of Term 3. 

CELEBRATION OF LEARNING

We once again open our classroom doors to our families so that we can share the amazing work we have done round OUR BIG QUESTIONS.  Doors will be open on Thursday 22nd June from 2:40pm. Looking forward to seeing you then!

SAVE THE DATE

This year we are very excited to be holding our ARTS CELEBRATION. Traditionally SoGS has held an art show and alternated with a performance every two years. We wanted to showcase ALL the learning that has been happening in our specialist classes therefore have decided to hold an ARTS CELEBRATION celebrating and sharing learning from VISUAL ARTS, LOTE, STEM and MUSIC!  Lock in Thursday 2nd November, approx 5.30-7.30pm (time tbc).

Wishing everyone a fantastic week ahead!

School of the Good Shepherd 

Address: 88 South Circular Rd, Gladstone Park 3043

Telephone: 9338 7686

School Office hours:  8:30am- 4pm