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Dear Parents and Carers of Good Samaritan,
Throughout the last couple of weeks we have been welcoming new families and siblings into Good Samaritan through the Kindergarten 2022 interviews. For me, this always presents as a time of great privilege as parents choose our school for their child’s education.
This is the beginning of the relationship that is formed between school and family - particularly when the eldest child is being enrolled. It is a time of further enrichment of the relationship for siblings.
Relationships exist all across our school. We have students who form relationships with one another, parents who lean on each other for support and teaching staff who develop strong collegial relationships with one another. In our Catholic school such relationships are sacred because they become friendships that are life giving and this is what we desire as people who are truly human.
People of ancient times viewed friendship as the crown of life, the fulfillment of all that is most distinctively human. Our modern times can all too often look at the value of friendship primarily in terms of its usefulness for achieving material ends (friends as business contacts) or minimizing boredom and loneliness (friends as people to kill time with). . . .
Most people also have colleagues with whom they work or associates with whom they spend regular time.Friendship is one of God’s special gifts to humans. Remarkably, friendship is one of the terms God uses to describe the relationship that He desires with us. Friendship is therefore no ordinary relationship.
The twelfth-century Cistercian monk Aelred of Rievaulx (1110–1167) viewed friendship with other people as a way to deepen our friendship with God in Christ. This is quite different to the relationships we often settle for today. Wise people might say, “a friend is medicine for life.” This is a powerful metaphor. It is saying that no remedy is more powerful, effective, and distinctive in everything that fills this life than to have someone to share your every loss with compassion and your every gain with congratulation. According to St Paul, friends carry each other’s burdens and John’s Gospel tells us that Jesus said: “I shall no longer call you servants but friends” [John 15:15]
In our friendships and relationships, we encounter God every single day. Perhaps that is how we live and practice our faith through our friends and the relationships we form in our community.
As we journey, together, with Jesus this week,
Toni Sillis
Principal
Save the Date:
On Friday 25 June we invite you to a belated Mother’s Day Liturgy along with a prayerful celebration for the end of the term. This will be followed by a picnic lunch to end the term.
The Liturgy will begin at 12noon. Students may go home following the picnic.
We look forward to celebrating with you.
Uniform Tender Process:
As part of auditing regulations, Good Samaritan and all Catholic Education Diocese of Wollongong (CEDoW) schools need to market test suppliers for uniform services to ensure families are paying reasonable market value for school uniforms.
This school is supported in the completion of this process by accountants within the CEDoW Building Finance and Facilities team. This process will begin in the coming weeks. It is important to note that the Good Samaritan school uniform will remain unchanged.
The Academy: Good Samaritan Performing Arts Program
The weekly timetable for student tutorials and Band program can be accessed here.
Kindergarten 2022 Enrolments:
On Saturday we will continue to interview new families and siblings for Kindergarten 2022. This is an exciting time for families and students. If you know anyone who is considering Kindergarten to Year 6 enrolments at Good Samaritan in 2022 enrolments are still open.
eSafety Commissioner Parent Webinars
Click here to access the eSafety Commissioner’s free webinars for this term. Dates are also listed for webinars that will take place in Terms 3&4.
Look What Is Happening In The Learning Support Centre
In the Learning Support Centre we are becoming more familiar with using Rosary Beads as we pray for the people in India and other special intentions.
Our Year Six students are preparing to receive Confirmation this weekend.
In the Learning Support Centre we use the Zones of Regulation everyday to recognise how we are feeling and to know what helps us to keep calm and ready to learn. It is important to know this about ourselves.
Amalia likes to escape into a book.
Miguel likes to draw.
Brandyn likes to read Christmas books.
Curtis likes to have a fidget tool in his hands.
Lachlan likes to exercise.
Mitchell likes the oil spiral.
Brain breaks help us to stay focussed. Sometimes we do yoga poses. At other times we do balancing activities or exercises that make us cross over our midline.
We are always ‘filling our buckets’ by cooperating with others and getting our work done.
We also try to be positive people by thinking of something to be grateful for everyday. We are often grateful for our families but some other things we mention are soccer, pets, technology, tools, food and our homes. We are all very grateful to have Mrs Blewitt back working with us!
We work hard to improve our reading and writing skills as well as our communication skills in the Learning Support Centre. In maths lately we have been learning about different strategies to add and subtract. We have been playing cards to help with this.
We always enjoy cooking on Fridays! This term we have made Anzac cookies, sausages and biscuits for Mothers Day.
Look What We Are Doing In Amaroo
This term in Amaroo Blue, the students have been highly engaged in imaginative writing. They use images that are magical, unusual and fantastical to inspire them to write. Their imaginations have been running wild!
There is some research that supports the idea that boys in particular write more when they choose an image and write about it. We aim to share these stories within our class once we have written more of these wonderful stories.
Over the past 2 weeks Amaroo Gold have been working on measuring length in Mathematics. We have been informally estimating and measuring length using a variety of objects such as blocks, string and our handspan in our classroom and playground.
The Science and Technology unit we are learning about in Amaroo is "In The Kitchen: Investigating ways things can change". We are having fun predicting, carrying out experiments and making observations.
One of our experiments has been making and eating Anzac biscuits.We watched solid butter turn into a liquid when heated, we also saw lots of bubbles when we added bicarbonate of soda to our mixture.
We are very excited that everyone in the school got to learn more about the way our brains work when we have Autism. This is a video that was made to help us learn more about autism. we invite you to come on our learning journey.
This week we begin the celebration of Confirmation for our Year 6 Candidates. We thank parents and carers for their commitment and support in the preparation of your child.
PRAYER FOR CONFIRMATION CANDIDATES:
Lord, You send out Your Spirit to touch the hearts of all people, so that they may believe in You and in Jesus whom You sent.
Look kindly on all candidates for Confirmation as they listen to Your voice. Open their hearts to Your Spirit and bring to fulfilment the good work that You have begun in them.
As we prepare these children for Confirmation, make each of us an instrument of Your love. Teach us to appreciate what is holy in others, and to be patient with what we do not understand.
Deepen our faith in the Gospel and help us to pass it on by our example. We pray that You will continue to guide us and sustain us.
Through Christ our Lord, Amen.
Prayer for Laudato Si’ Week
16-25 May 2021
“For we know that things can change” LS n13
Good Samaritan’s Partnership with CatholicCare OSHC:
Partnerships and relationships are highly valued at Good Samaritan. CatholicCare OSHC is more than just before and after school care - it is a partnership that works with the school to create learning and social experiences before and after school. Good Samaritan is proud to partner with CatholicCare to offer this service to its families.
Congratulations to the McDermott Family who recently became Australian citizens. Please read through Jonas’ reflection of the day.
‘We moved to Australia from the North of Ireland 6 years ago.
We had our ceremony in Wollongong and the Lord Mayor Gordon Bradbury presented us with our certificate. We pledged our allegiance to Australia and then we sang the national anthem.
We really love living in Australia. There are so many opportunities for work. There are so many wonderful places to see.’
PUPIL FREE DAY
Remember!
Tomorrow Friday 21 May is a Staff Development Day. Students do not attend school on Friday.
Good Samaritan Catholic Primary School will be providing students in Years 3-6 the opportunity to participate in external quality curriculum assessments.
The International Competitions and Assessments for Schools (ICAS) is an independent, quality skills-based assessment program which rewards and recognises achievement. ICAS gives you broad insights into your child’s performance across English, Mathematics and Writing.
ICAS Assessments are now online, a move that reflects a sector-wide transition to online assessments. This allows greater accessibility for students and faster delivery of results.
Learn more about ICAS here: https://www.icasassessments.com/products-icas
This year our school has signed up for the ICAS Assessments parent payment system (PPS) for English, Mathematics and Writing. Through this system parents can pay for ICAS directly online while tests will still be held at our school.
Within the next few weeks you will receive more information regarding how to register.
Library News:
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:
Canteen is only open Wednesday to Friday
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 the correct money to the school office.
These orders will be filled on uniform shop days.
Athletics Carnival Wrap Up:
After a rusty start to the carnival following a year without being able to run one the staff, students and parents quickly got back into the swing of having a great day out all together!
Carnivals cannot run without the organisation and planning that goes on for weeks prior to the event. Our thanks is extended to Mrs Corby and Mrs Foster for the planning and running of the day.
We are deeply grateful to all our parents who were able to assist on the day. Many people assisted across the track and field events. We could not have done it without you.
Thank you particularly to our Year 6 parents who have assisted for many years, with 2021 being the final year. Your commitment to Good Samaritan has built a tremendous relationship between school and parents.
Lastly, what a fantastic student community we have. Students displayed great commitment to entering races and participating always putting their best effort forward. Whether they had a chance of winning or not the joy came in being with their school and enjoying the day.
Love of Learning
How Can We Build & Maintain Empathy in our Community?
- Show kindness towards others through actions and/or words.
- Use active listening & showing this with your whole body
- Think through what you say before you say it
- Be aware and supportive of those less fortunate
- Value the perspective others even though you may not always agree
- Turn taking when listening and speaking
- Setting expectations for social interactions
- Recognise different opinions and viewpoints are ok
- Speak up when you know or hear something that is not right
From the School Handbook:
Car Park Safety
Safety within the Parish car park is everyone’s business. Students, parents and staff can only be kept safe if everyone is vigilant about their actions when using this space. It is every parent/carer’s responsibility to exercise safe actions within the carpark. This includes using the car park as indicated below:
- Parents are not to park on school or Parish grounds during drop off (8:20am-8:50am) or pick up (2:30pm-3:20pm) times
- When arriving prior to dismissal at Car Line Pick Up parents are asked to turn engines off once the car is stationary
- A safe speed of 10km/h when driving into the car park
- Do not exit your vehicle when dropping off or picking up students
- Ensure that children are well within the school gate when dropping off before moving off
- Children only exit vehicles when the vehicle is at the front of the queue
- Ensure students have safely entered the car and closed the door when picking up
- There is no pedestrian access to the carpark when car lines have begun in both the morning and afternoon
- Gates into the school are closed and locked from the Parish car park following the morning bell at 8:50am.
Thank you to those parents who continually exercise the utmost care when accessing the school via the Parish car park. Every child’s safety is everyone’s concern.
May
- 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 Mother's Day Liturgy and Picnic
- Friday 25 June Last Day Term 2
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
