Congratulations to:

Fr Bernard Gordon who celebrated his 27th Anniversary of Priestly Ordination during the holiday break (9 April). Fr Bernard provides tremendous support to Good Samaritan and all that we do. May God bless Fr Bernard as he continues his work within our Lumen Christi Pastoral Region.

 Autism Awareness Day  

30 April - Mufti Day - Light It Up Blue Because We Are Better Together

April is Autism Awareness Month and at Good Samaritan we will be having a special day to develop more of an awareness of the abilities and needs of students with autism so that we can continue to ensure that our students with autism, along with all of our students feel included, welcomed and respected within our school community.

Inclusion is one of the values we hold very dear at our school. When we talk about inclusion we talk about every child in our school being given what they need to develop their whole self. That does not mean that every child receives the same but that every child receives what they need. This may mean having work differentiated to ensure that we meet each child where they are. It may mean providing a quiet space when a child feels overwhelmed. It may mean having a sensory toy to assist with staying calm or visuals to provide routine and structure. It may mean accessing a program to extend and challenge such as SPLICED or to support Literacy such as MiniLit or MacqLit. It may mean accessing extra teaching time in small guided groups. It may mean accessing pastoral support programs. 

When a child enrols at Good Samaritan we don’t just accept them, for acceptance alone is not enough and doesn’t really define the aim for any student at our school including those students who have different learning needs. Embracing difference is the aim for all students, including those with Autism —it goes beyond acceptance to inclusive practices that provide for the needs of each individual child. 

During our Autism Awareness Day we are looking forward to celebrating the abilities of our students with autism and learning more about how we can ensure that they continue to have appropriate support from their peers and teachers as needed.

Our Awareness Day will involve:

• Mufti Day - all students are asked to wear blue clothes
• 9:50 - 10:50am What Is Autism?   (30 minute lessons which have been developed by Mrs Huska and Mrs Sampson for each grade)
• Morning Tea - Bring something blue (blueberries, an iced cake or muffin, whatever your imagination and cooking skills can come up with)
• 11:40 - Liturgy - We’re Better Together 

 Together we can make our school even better