Filter Content
Pray for India:
Pope Francis has begun a Prayer Campaign as people across the world stand in solidarity with all people in India who face the devastating health crisis of the COVID-19 pandemic.
This recent Instagram post was on @goodsameducation as a reflection of the experience of India:
Over the last few weeks, India has been facing an utterly devastating and heartbreaking surge of coronavirus. In India, when someone passes away, there is a common tradition to go for a ‘besnu’, which quite literally translates to ‘sitting’. No words are spoken but the community members simply sit in silence with a wordless whisper in their hearts: “We are in this together.” While we can’t wipe away others’ suffering, kinship certainly creates a field of resiliency and reminds us of the grace that lies in between the dance of embrace and release.
Together, we awaken not only to help “walk each other home,” but also to ignite our innate #compassion to support others. (ServiceSpace.org)
May compassion be on our lips and in our actions as our hearts go out to our Indian friends and companions...
At Good Samaritan we will pray the Hail Mary each day throughout the month of May as our act of hope and solidarity.
Hail Mary, Full of Grace, The Lord is with thee.
Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.
Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now, and at the hour of death.
Amen
Good Samaritan Athletics Carnival:
Next Monday is the Athletics Carnival. The carnival will be held at Beaton Park Athletic Track. We are very grateful to all our Parent Volunteers for helping to make the day a success. Under the COVID-19 safety plan, all adults attending must check into the grounds using the school COVID QR code. Please note that there are no Canteen facilities and the grandstand is undergoing renovations so students will be seated in different areas to previous years.
Students, staff and parents are not to access any fenced off area.
Students are to be supervised at the toilets. Toilets are to be accessed from the back of the grandstand.
Students and parents are not to be at the finish line and recording table.
All students must wear sunscreen, bring wet weather gear and have their school hat on the day. Students also need to bring adequate water & food for the day. Students can wear their house colour T-shirt & should also have warm clothing such as their school jacket.
Students are to remain with their age group group throughout the entire day in order to ensure active school supervision can take place.
In the event of poor weather an announcement will be made through Compass.
The carnival will continue for competetive students only. This means students who are likely to progress to the Diocesan level carnival.
Following is the proposed schedule for the day.
Please note that all times are approximate.
|
8:45am |
Parent Helpers Meeting at Beaton Park Athletics Track |
|
8:50am |
800m runners arrive at Beaton Park Athletics Track with their parents |
|
9:00am |
800m races begin |
|
9:00am |
Buses begin to depart from school grounds |
|
9:20am |
Arrival of student to Beaton Park Athletics Track begins |
|
From 9:30am |
Kinder, Year 1 and 7 year old students assemble on southern grass area for their Mini Olympics events |
|
From 9:30am |
8-12 year old students assemble on the grass in the centre of the track |
|
9:45am |
Events/Rotations start. Munch & Crunch, Recess and Lunch will be during the athletics rotations determined by the supervising staff |
|
12:30pm |
All students assemble assemble on the grass in the centre of the track |
|
12:35pm |
8-12 year old 100m & 200m Finals |
|
1:45pm |
Clean Up |
|
2:00pm |
Parents to take their students home after having name marked off the roll |
|
2:00pm |
Buses departs from Beaton Park Athletics Track |
|
2:15pm |
Bus arrives back at school |
|
3:00pm |
End of day dismissal as usual |
|
8-12 year old events |
Shot Put |
100m Heats |
High Jump |
Long Jump |
Rest / Eating (grass area) |
|
9:45am |
8 years |
12 years |
11 years |
10 years |
9 years |
|
10:15am |
9 years |
8 years |
12 years |
11 years |
10 years |
|
10:45am |
10 years |
9 years |
8 years |
12 years |
11 years |
|
11:15am |
11 years |
10 years |
9 years |
8 years |
12 years |
|
11:45am |
12 years |
11 years |
10 years |
9 years |
8 years |
School Assemblies:
Our whole school assemblies are scheduled for every Friday afternoon (weather permitting) under the Primary shade sails. Assemblies begin shortly after lunch at 2pm. Parents are most welcome to attend the assemblies.
Our Year 6 students host the assembly each week. Assemblies include our School Prayer, Acknowledgement of Country, School Song and the National Anthem. The assembly is our weekly opportunity to be together as a whole school and to celebrate the learning and achievements of all students.
NAPLAN:
This week students in Years 3&5 have begun the NAPLAN assessments. NAPLAN is a point in time assessment of literacy and numeracy skills that are essential for every child to progress through school and life. Students in Years 3, 5, 7 and 9 participate in the annual NAPLAN tests in writing, reading, conventions of language (spelling, grammar and punctuation) and numeracy.
As a school we look forward to receiving the results of NAPLAN as they allow us to analyse whole school trends of student learning therefore informing our approach to improvement.
Celebrating Reconciliation Week at Good Samaritan:
This year we will be celebrating Reconciliation Week with a performance by Christine Anu. Christine will perform for Good Samaritan on Tuesday 1 June. This performance was the suggestion of one of our Year 6 students, Amalia, who is a proud Torres Strait Islander girl and wanted to share the traditions and customs of her people in a unique way.
How blessed we are to have students who offer their ideas forward so that we can work together like this and bring them to fruition.
Getting Home In The Afternoon
Bike Riders: We have a number of students who ride home from school each afternoon riding west along Cabbage Tree Lane. All bike riders must use pedestrian crossings on either McGrath St or Cabbage Tree Lane. A number of students have been riding very quickly and attempting to do wheelies while riding past the park. While this can be fun, it is happening near other students who are walking west along Cabbage Tree Lane and parents have contacted the school worried that there will be an accident.
All students who ride a bike have been spoken to on dismissal lines last week. We ask that you speak to your child if they ride home to emphasise the need for caution.
Heavenly Father, through the Gift of your Holy Spirit pour your love and your truth into our hearts. Fill our family and our home with the riches of your blessings and wisdom. May the Holy Spirit make us more deeply aware that we are your beloved children and help us to be patient, kind, faithful, and gentle so that we may be true witnesses of the Good News of salvation.
We ask this through Jesus Christ, your Son. Amen.
In Religious Education, Year 1 is learning about Easter. The students have developed an understanding that Jesus rose to new life and we celebrate this on Easter Sunday. We have explored how the friends of Jesus felt when they were told that Jesus was not in the tomb but that he had risen to new life. We will now focus on the Ascension and Pentecost.
During Term 2, the Year 1 English Programme will focus on Reading & Viewing, Listening & Speaking, Writing & Representing and Grammar. The students are learning about information texts with a focus on endangered animals. This programme is linked to the Year 1 Science Programme. The students are learning to collect information, plan and write a fact file, life cycle and information text about an endangered animal. The focus for the past three weeks has been on the Bactrian Camel, Gorillas and Cheetahs.
Year 1 students have continued to work with the concept of addition and subtraction with combinations to 10. They are now measuring the length of a variety of objects using concrete materials and they are comparing the length of objects.
The students greatly enjoyed planning and making their gifts for Mother’s Day. All the students conveyed that their mum loved their gift!
Stage One
YEAR 2
Year 2 has had a fantastic start to Term 2!
In Religious Education Year 2 has been learning about Easter and the importance of spreading the Good News and letting our light shine. In 2 Gold, we made some beautiful butterflies as a symbol of new life, just like Jesus’ Resurrection. 2 Blue worked on some ways they could spread the Good News in their everyday lives.
Library News:
This term promises to be a very busy term in our library with lots of learning and memories to be made.
NATIONAL SIMULTANEOUS STORYTIME - 19th May
On the 19th May, Kinder - Year 3 will be participating in National Simultaneous Storytime. This event is held annually and each year a different piece of literature is chosen. This year the story that will be read is “Give Me Some Space” by Phillip Bunting. The exciting part about this year’s event is that the story will be read by Dr Shannon Walker, an astronaut on the International Space Station. We will also have some other space activities on the day as well.
An activity associated with this day is a colouring competition from a group called Learn from Play. There are lots of prizes up for grabs and you will find the link for each of the categories below. Each of the students from K - 3 will be given a copy of this colouring sheet. Once they have coloured them in, you then need to upload to the Learn from Play website. If you need assistance, I am happy for the children to bring their entries to me and I will upload.
Junior Colouring Competition (2-6 year olds)
Senior Colouring Competition (7-13 year olds)
1 MINUTE FILM COMPETITION
Years 4 & 6 are learning about the film-making process this term. Students are then going to be creating a 1-minute film about the theme - Connection. This learning will meet outcomes in English, Creative Arts and Science and Technology. It will encourage the students to become more creative in their thinking. These films will be submitted by midday, Friday, 16th July. At this point in time, students are learning about writing a screenplay and that filmmakers don’t go from idea to filming. There is a whole lot of behind the scenes preparation and planning that happens.
Please feel free to learn more about this term’s challenge here.
Also, ask your child/ren to look at their Google Classroom as this is where some between lesson time work and information may be posted to assist them in being successful with this task.
We are also looking to present the inaugural Good Samaritan Film Awards (official name to be announced at a later date) so that students can share their learning with parents and other students from the school. Stay tuned for further details.
ROBOTICS
After Years 3 & 5 have completed their NAPLAN testing week, they will be completing some work in coding and robotics during library time. They will learn about algorithm, abstraction and computational thinking. They will continue to learn that the output of the machine is only as effective as the person who completes the input.
This learning will meet the Science & Technology outcomes.
VEX ROBOTICS - EXTRA CURRICULAR OPPORTUNITY
Some students have nominated to participate in VEX IQ Robotics activities on Fridays at lunchtime. It is hoped that as we all become more familiar with this robot we can then begin taking teams to participate in scrimmages. Some of these scrimmages do happen out of school and we will communicate who and where as these opportunities arise. I am really grateful that Mrs DeAndrade has become very excited in helping me get this opportunity up and running and am sure we may persuade some other teachers as the term progresses.
BOOK WEEK POSTER COMPETITION 2021
Each year during Term 2, we hold a Good Samaritan Book Week Poster Competition. Entries are now open for Years 2 - 6.
The poster needs to be no bigger than A4. It needs to have the words Old Worlds, New Worlds, Other Worlds / Book Week 2021 written on the poster. It needs to have original picture / images that match the theme - Old Worlds, New Worlds, Other Worlds.
Prizes will be given: 1 winner and 2 Highly Commended.
The winning entry will be used to promote activities that will take place during Book Week.
The last day for submission is Thursday, 10 June.
Canteen News:
The Uniform Shop is now open on
Tuesday mornings 8.30am to 9.30am
Thursday afternoons 2pm to 3.15pm
Appointments Only
Winter Uniforms are now available
In order to manage the physical distancing requirements, parents will continue to make appointments at the uniform shop to purchase uniforms.
This can be done through the Compass Portal.
If you would like to place an order with the uniform shop an order form has been added to the school website under parents/uniform.
Please complete the form and return with payment to the school office.
These orders will be filled on uniform shop days.
From the School Handbook:
Bus Travel
Transport NSW has a complete set of Guidelines for managing school students behaviour on buses. These guidelines unpack the Code of Conduct responsibilities of students, parents and school principals in relation to bus behaviour. The guidelines also indicate the consequences for a breach of the Code of Conduct.
For your information, the following is taken from section 2 of the Guidelines - Student Code of Conduct.
CODE OF CONDUCT FOR SCHOOL STUDENTS ON BUSES
It is every student's responsibility to behave in a manner that ensures the safety and comfort of passengers and drivers. This includes:
Behaviour on buses:
- Use appropriate language not offensive or racist language
- Fighting, spitting, feet on seats, throwing things in or from the bus is not permitted
- No eating or drinking (other than water) — unless for medical reasons or the bus operator gives written permission
- Offer seats to adults including people with a disability, elderly or expectant mothers
- Do not touch, push or shove other people
- Do not bully or harass other passengers or the driver. This includes photographing, making lewd or suggestive comments, acting in a manner or participating in activities that may be deemed inappropriate or of a sexual nature.
- Avoid attracting the attention of the driver except in the case of emergency
- Do not play music at such volume that it may distract the bus driver or other passengers.
Parent Action: If your child/ren catches a bus to or from school please familiarise yourself with these guidelines and speak to your child/ren about their responsibilities on the buses.
Opal Cards: Some students who catch the school buses do not have an Opal Card. It is compulsory to have an Opal Card when using this service, which is provided by the government for students who are eligible.
The Bus inspectors were on the bus this week and spoke to students who did not have an Opal Card. Students were asked to do the following
- Find their Opal Card and have it with them every day - a card holder attached to bags is a very good way of ensuring they have their pass and don’t lose it
- Have parents order a new Opal Card and have the paperwork to show that it has been ordered . This should be carried in the students bag until their Opal Card arrives
- Have an Opal Card with Money on it so that the trip can be paid for if a student is not eligible for a school Opal Card
- The bus drivers do not accept money any longer on buses.
Parents of students who catch a bus need to ensure their child has a working Opal Card that is in or on their school bags. It is very stressful for little people in the afternoon when they do not have an Opal Card with them.
CLAIM THE DATE!
Good Samaritan staff will be participating in a Staff Development Day on Friday 21 May. This will be a Pupil Free Day so students do not attend school on this day. Teachers will be working with the newly released Personal Development Health & Physical Education (PDHPE) Syllabus.
May
- Monday 17 May Athletics Carnival
- Friday 21 May PUPIL FREE DAY Students do not attend school on this day
- Saturday 22-Sunday 23 May Confirmation Weekend
- Sunday 23 May Pentecost
- Monday-Friday 24- 28May Screens Down Week
- Wednesday 26 May -National Sorry Day
CEDoW School Director Peter Hill visit to GSFM
- Monday 31 May Reconciliation Week
June
- Thurday 3 June MABO Day
- Tuesday 11 June Term 2 PB4L Day (Mufti Day)
- Monday 14 June Queen’s Birthday Long Weekend
- Tuesday 15 June Sth Coast Netball Gala Day
- Friday 18 June Semester One Reports distributed to Parents
- Monday-Friday 21-25 June Parent Teacher Interview Week
- Friday 25 June Term 2 concludes
TERM 3 DATES:
JULY:
- Wednesday 12 July Feast of St Benedict
- Friday 16 July Grandparent’s Day
AUGUST:
- Tuesday 3 August Sth Coast Region Athletics
- Thursday -Friday 5-6 August Year 6 Camp
- Monday 8 August Feast of St Mary of the Cross MacKillop
SEPTEMBER:
- Friday 3 september - Father’s Day Breakfast/Prayer & Stall
- Monday 6 September Students return to wearing Summer Uniforms
- Wednesday-Thursday 8-9 September Assistant Principal Overnight Retreat
- Thursday-Friday 9-10 September Basketball Gala Days (Junior & Senior)
- Monday 13 September MacKillop Athletics Carnival
- Friday 17 September Term 3 Concludes
