Welcome to new families

The beginning of each school year brings with it opportunity for us to welcome new families into our community. For Early Learning and Foundation children and their families who are experiencing 'school' for the first time, and for students and families transferring from other locations, the beginning of the new school year is a time of exciting change and challenge. We trust that our home visit program, the Buddy program for students and friendly staff and administration team, make your transition into our community comfortable, informative and enjoyable. In the event that questions arise, don’t hesitate to make contact with us. We’re here to help.

Curiosity is OPEN!

On Tuesday this week our Centre came 'alive' with the energy and intrigue of our first cohort of pre-schoolers.

This a significant milestone in the life of Good Shepherd. Our dream to connect with families earlier in a child's learning journey, to support families and to also ensure the best opportunities for a smooth transition into primary schooling, has been realised.

This project has been a significant one, a number of years in the planning, preparation and delivery. I'm excited to present a world class facility to the community, a learning program and team of educators that without doubt, are also world class.

After some need to navigate Adelaide's 'Mad March' we have settled on Sunday 15 March 10.30am as the date for the official opening and dedication of the project. Further information will follow.

Some parent feedback.

"I wish there were places like this when I was young!"

"I think I might set up my work desk right here (under the verandah).

"It is so spacious and all the areas have been so well thought out!"

"My child will never want to come home".

"Everything is so perfectly set out and really speaks to the pedagogy we can expect".

Parent Partnership Night

Formerly the Parent Information Night (PIN), this year's event takes on a whole new shape and purpose. Through a review of previous practice, it has become very clear to us that parents needs regarding the PIN have changed. We feel a strong sense of trust and confidence has been developed regarding our curriculum and methodology. We are also now communicating curriculum and learning related information and routines to parents in new and informative ways.

What has evolved is Parent Partnership Night 2020, a social evening where the critically important elements remain. We commend the evening to you as an essential step in developing the all-important school-home relationship and partnership in support of your child's learning

Teachers will be ...

identifying and acknowledging the learning needs of students in the Stage;
painting a picture of the Stage culture they are desiring;
outlining their dreams and expectations for the home-school partnership;
clearly articulating Communication protocols; and
helping you get to know them personally.

Join me in the courtyard to begin the evening, share in some refreshments, laugh and connect, before touching base with our teachers.

Tuesday 11 February

6.45 Arrive to drinks and nibbles adjacent Mengkiwodli

7.10 Welcome by David Wilksch

7.30 Session 1 – Stage presentation (10 minutes)

7.40 Individual teacher presentation (5 minutes)

7.45 Parents move to Session 2 (if required)

7.50 Session 2 – Stage presentation (repeated presentation for multiple child families)

8.00 Individual teacher presentation

8.05 Drinks and nibbles continue - mix and mingle with staff and community

8.45 Close

Recently appointed, new and returning staff

With the opening of 'Imagination' our new OSHC service late in 2019, the commencement of 'Curiosity' Early Learning Centre this week, an expansion to our leadership team, and some returning staff, our team of new staff in 2020 is large. They bring new skills and gifts and complement our existing staff team beautifully.

New Administration Staff

Kahlia Feuerreiter - Risk and Compliance

Daniella Levy - Uniform Shop

New Primary Staff

Brett Humphrys - Director Senior Primary

Elysha Magor - Stage 2 Teacher

Ashleigh Thomas - Stage 4 Teacher

Janine Panagiotou - Foundation PE and release teacher

Rebekah Devcic - Junior Primary Classroom Support

Returning Staff - Primary

Danielle de Dezsery - Visual Arts

Sarah Jones - Stage 2 Teacher

Curiosity Staff

Jacqui Gliddon - Director

Griseldi Alfaro-Sanchez

Karen Bloffwitch

Shin-Yei Chew

Tricia Childs

Jodie Frost

Kira Robb

Michelle Webb

Karen Winderlich

Imagination (OSHC) Staff

Alanah Ford - Coordinator

Charlotte Armitage

Jessica Bedell

Renea Falkenberg

Lachlan Field

Melanie Maguire

Carolyn Manser

Nam Tran

New look Primary Educational Leadership Team

Another exciting innovation in 2020 is our expanded Primary Educational Leadership Team. Our striving for ongoing improvement and innovation, including the extension of our program into the pre-primary years, stretched our leadership team in 2019, beyond what is sustainable. We welcome Brett Humphrys to the team.

By way of a simple snapshot, please take note of our leaders titles and this brief and broad summary of their areas of delegation. Our Directors have relocated to a collaborative working environment and can be found in the large office adjacent the library.

Karen Schoff (Director Learning Innovation)

Curriculum and Pedagogy (ELC – 6)
Staff Professional Learning
Gifted Education
External relationships - universities, associations, authorities

Bronwyn Holliday (Director Junior Primary)

Junior Primary staff
Learning Support (Teaching and LSOs)
Student Wellbeing & Behaviour Learning (Junior Primary)
Volunteers

Brett Humphrys (Director Senior Primary)

Senior Primary staff
Day-to-day organisation & administration
Student Wellbeing & Behaviour Learning (Senior Primary)
PFA liaison

A challenge for Garry

In recent weeks our Director of Business and Finance, Garry Schwartz, received the challenging news that a slowly progressing cancer had been detected through regular health checks.

Garry will undergo surgery late next week and then require approximately one month of recovery time. Whilst recent weeks have indeed been an emotional time for Garry, his family and colleagues, we also celebrate that the prognosis is excellent.

We thank God for his ongoing protection and blessing of Garry and more broadly, this community. No surgery is without risk, so we invite and encourage your prayers for Garry and his family at this time.

Holiday happenings

My sincere thanks to each and every member of the staff team of Good Shepherd for a wonderful commitment over the last two weeks of professional development activities prior to the commencement of the school year. Your desire to work and laugh together for the benefit of our community was inspirational. Parents, be confident that your children are in the very best of hands.

I also extend an enormous thank you to the staff and volunteers who contributed tirelessly over the holiday break to complete 'Curiosty' in preparation for the new school year. A special mention goes out to the Gliddon family, ELC staff and associated volunteers who did not let go of the project until registration was achieved and all of the finishing touches were complete. We are most grateful.

Bushfires

Through a whole-of -staff conversation we this week acknowledged that a level of trauma is likely to exist in our community related to the horrific fire events of the past months. Perhaps there are families who have been impacted first hand. Others may have family and friends for whom they are hurting. And it's likely many children have seen significant levels of television footage containing distressful images.

Please contact us if your child is experiencing any anxiety. We have resources and support ready to implement.

A couple of resources that you might find useful are attached.

Coronavirus

As you would be aware, an outbreak of novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) was detected in Wuhan, Hubei Province, China in late December 2019.

Coronavirus is a respiratory illness now spreading across China and other countries, including confirmed cases in Australia.

As a school, we are monitoring the situation closely and following all Department of Health guidelines that have been distributed and are being regularly updated through the Association of Independent Schools SA (AISSA).

We are aware of a small number of students who have travelled to China during the summer break and we are communicating with these families. If you have travelled to China during this period and have not yet notified us, please do so.

Back to Community service

Students will be welcomed and blessed at the ‘Back to Community’ service this Sunday at 10.30am in the Good Shepherd Lutheran Church. New staff together with existing staff members will also be dedicated at this service. We'd love to see you there. All are welcome.

Respect for all

There's something special about the energy and excitement of the first days of a new school year - our community comes alive! We must also note that the early days of every school year are rather chaotic. Huge numbers of parents choose to park and enter the school as children settle into new classrooms. Car parks and local streets naturally and predictably overflow. Then, quite quickly, we return to a more normal rhythm - families again start to use 'Kiss and Drop' and efficiencies return.

During these days of congestion please respect one another and local residents too, by exercising an extra level of patience and keeping residents driveways clear at all times. Thank you for your cooperation.

Thank you

A huge thank you to the majority of parents / caregivers for attending to numerous end-of-year tasks and returning forms in preparation for the 2020 school year. All available family and student information has been processed ensuring we begin the year efficiently and well informed. Thanks again for your cooperation. A small number of families are yet to return vital data and medical health information. Please attend to this task promptly to ensure the highest level of care can be offered to your children.

Our foundation for learning - the Good Shepherd Learning Principles.

We are a school that looks to the future while valuing the basic skills required for all learners to succeed.

Our learning principles have been unpacked by groups of parents over years and this term we will share the PARENT CHARTER. How are you supporting our school?

The learning environment is a safe and supportive place to build self, social, emotional and spiritual capacity.

Knowledge and Skills (What the parent will know and be able to do)

In learning environments that reflect this principle, the parents:

Encourage open communication, dialogue and questioning to assist their child to understand themselves and their place in the world.
Model and value spiritual, emotional and social learning to support and encourage their child’s individuality.
Encourage their child to be adventurous and see mistakes as vital to learning (F.A.I.L. = first attempt in learning.)

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