Dear Parents/Guardians,

Welcome to our new look newsletter! We hope you enjoy the layout and reading all about our leadership team in this edition. In our next edition we will meet our Curriculum Support Leaders and Specialist Teams. We look forward to sharing our news with you throughout the year! Each newsletter may look a little different, and have different pages to look at depending on the news we have to share, so watch this space!

School Core Values

Towards the middle of last year the staff did a lot of professional learning in articulating what our 3 core school values are. Through rich dialogue, deep discussion, lots of reflecting, we all decided that the three core values that we would be unpacking and sharing with our community were the three core values of BELONGING, COMPASSION and GROWTH. This year we have begun unpacking the value of BELONGING as we feel that the story of the Good Shepherd is rich in the message that we all belong and that Jesus loves us no matter what. As a staff, each week we have been unpacking a particular scripture or psalm that challenges our thinking about how we connect to the value of belonging and how we show that at School of The Good Shepherd. Next term we would love to invite parents to a forum where we can unpack this value as a school community. Feel free to read up on what we have been exploring:

Romans 5:3-8 Peace and Hope

1 Corinthians 12:14-24 Unity and Diversity in the Body

Psalm 23:1-6 a Psalm of David

Homework Research Group

On Thursday I was fortunate enough to meet with three of our school parents to discuss homework and it’s purpose. We were able to read a few articles and discuss the advantages and disadvantages of set homework for primary aged students. A lot of the research lends itself to the fact that homework in secondary school adds value to a students academic growth, however not so much in primary school. What does add value though is the habits that students can begin to get into from a young age, something that we all agreed upon. We then had an opportunity to unpack our school homework policy to ensure that it captured our discussion. Our next step is to take the same questions to our staff and students, coming up with an agreed way for what the purpose of homework is, how much should be given and how much time students should be spending on homework. The homework team is meeting again on Thursday after school to continue to unpack our homework policy. As school we have decided that while we are in this process of refining our shared understanding of what homework is, that we will in fact be holding off ‘formal homework’ until the beginning of Week 6. All teachers will go through the homework schedule with their students and outline expectations. Thankyou to Connie, Karina and Claire for your openness in our discussion.

Wedding News!

Congratulations to our Prep teacher Miss Oriana Belanti who will be getting married soon! We wish Miss Belanti and her fiance` Johnny all the very very best as they embark on this wonderful new stage of their lives. Prep A families, please check details on Seesaw for the days that Miss Belanti will be away.

Do you know someone starting prep in 2024?

If you have a younger child starting prep in 2024, please collect an enrolment form from the office. If you know of any new families who are within our zone, please share our new flier with them. The flier can be found on our School Community News page.

It’s time for a picnic!

We can’t wait to welcome everyone on Thursday 23rd February for a picnic on the Tiger Turf. See you there!

Have a great fortnight!

Carmela D’Amato

School of the Good Shepherd

Address: 88 Sth Circular Rd, Gladstone Park 3043

Telephone: 9338 7686

Email General inquiries: info@sogsgpark.catholic.edu.au

Email Principal: principal@sogsgpark.catholic.edu.au

School Office hours: 8:30am- 4pm