God of joy, help me to see that true happiness comes from you.

Fill me with your love and lead me to serve others in whatever way I can. 

Amen.

                                Enrolling Now for Kindergarten 2021!                                                      

Enrolment applications are currently being accepted for Kindergarten 2021 at Good Samaritan.

Update of Construction of Shade Sails on Infants Playground

The posts have been installed in readiness for the fabric to finalise the construction of the shade sails.

We should see the project completed over the next two weeks.

The construction fencing will come down over the next couple of days enabling ease of  access to classrooms.

Smartwatches & Phones at School

The exponential growth of technology and its role in education for the 21st Century Student, has been very exciting but also very challenging. Students are faced with more distractions than ever before and are struggling to maintain focus and concentration, manage impulsivity and avoid distraction. It is our role to help support them to develop as successful learners.

Many Good Samaritan students are wearing smartwatches to school and it is our responsibility to ensure that the wearing of them does not result in lower levels of concentration due to: constant interruptions; an increase in fear of missing out; reduced memory; warped views on reality and increased levels of stress. Research is beginning to show that the mere presence of a phone or smartwatch, either in a pocket or on a desk, is enough to reduce cognitive capacity. 

It is important that all parents and carers understand that students do not need a smartwatch, or phone, turned on at school. Students will be asked to turn such devices to modes that will not interrupt the course of learning or playing throughout the school day. 

If a student chooses to ignore a staff member’s direction to turn the device to the correct mode, the device will be confiscated until the end of the school day. 

Parents are asked to consider the value of allowing their child/ren to wear smartwatches and/or bring phones to school and to decide whether it is worth the associated risk of loss, damage or theft. Therefore, if the watch or phone is brought/worn to school the risk remains with the student and parent.

In addition, parents are reminded that  if, in an emergency, a student needs to contact a parent or a parent needs to contact his/her child during the school day, this contact must be made via the Good Samaritan school office.

First Holy Communion Dresses

We have been "gifted" some lovely "pre-loved" First Holy Communion Dresses.

If any Year 3 parents would like to have a look, please contact your child's classroom teacher.

 Dates for the Sacramental sessions in each Parish.

The sessions will be held in the Church.

SJV Wednesday 6pm

• 4/3/2020
• 11/3/2020
• 18/3/2020
• 25/3/2020

SFX Thursday 3:45 pm

• 5/3/2020
• 12/3/2020
• 19/3/2020
• 26/3/2020

SBG Saturday 4:30 pm

• 7/3/2020
• 14/3/2020
• 21/3/2020
• 28/3/2020

The Value for this week is:        

Generosity

Being generous is:

• Giving time to others.
• Sharing of gifts and talents to support others  and expect nothing in return.

Being  Considerate of Confidentiality

At times there may be incidents within the school that involve certain students and you may hear about them through other parents. These may relate to another child’s progress and learning or their behaviour. It is most important that the confidentiality of that student, and of his or her family, is protected. Always treat such incidents with empathy – no one would like their own child to be the topic of discussion amongst parents. If you have some specific concerns that relate to your own child please do not hesitate to address these through the classroom teacher, Stage Middle Leader, Mrs Smithers or myself.

Book Club orders: - Due Monday 23 March 2020

Last week the students took home their Issue 2 Scholastic Book Club brochures. Please be reminded that Good Samaritan accepts online Book Club orders ONLY through Scholastic's LOOP site (ie. no cash orders through the school office).

Thank you to our parents who have already placed their online orders.

Ordering through LOOP is easy - register at scholastic.com.au/LOOP and follow the prompts. 

The deadline for all LOOP orders is Monday 23 March 2020.

There is no need to return any paper forms to the school. Your child's books will be sent to their classroom when the orders arrive.

Premier’s Reading Challenge

Most students in Years 4-6 have been given their log in details to access their personal reading log on the Premier’s Reading Challenge Site.  Next week’s lessons will see the remainder of the students being given theirs. We are having some technical difficulties with some Year 5 students and are working with the organisers of the Premier’s Reading Challenge to fix them.  This should be no barrier for students to put their best reading efforts together though as they can record any books read and add them when we have solved the problem.

Some classroom teachers have made the decision to make this reading challenge compulsory and not extra reading but the students home reading of 20 - 30 minutes each evening can be to support them with this challenge.

Digital Citizenship

Mike Ribble is a well known author and advocate of digital citizenship practices globally.  He established that there are 9 elements of digital citizenship that individuals need to be aware of and understand so that they can be effective, respectful, responsible and safe on the Internet.  

It is really important that students begin to be responsible and commit this information to memory.  It is easy to use fingerprint ID, or save password on their devices but if they are without their device and need to access certain apps / websites for learning at school they are unable to. It then takes time to track down the information required and some students are losing valuable learning time. The offline analogy could be that if you go to the bank and you forget your PIN at the ATM, you can’t have people waiting in the line behind you while you try to find where you stored it.  There are also benefits to brain development when we train our brain to remember things.

Year 1 and 2 have made some great learning about the need for balance between screentime (being online) and being offline.  They have also come to realise that balance does not mean the same amount of time but rather listening to your body and knowing some of the signs your body gives you to say, “ Hey, let’s go offline now.”

Year 3  have been learning about the difference between being online and offline and the importance of having an adult aware of where they are on the Internet.  Expectations of being safe, responsible and respectful are the same online and offline but the consequences of inappropriate choices or behaviours are longer lasting online.

Years 4 - 6 are now at the point of applying their learning by connecting with students from Illinois through an app called Flipgrid.  If you would like to know more about this, there was information in the newsletter two weeks ago with links. Students who are not permitted to have photographs taken will not be able to participate in this activity and alternative activities will be set for them.

Thank you and Good News Stories

Thank you to our parent helpers who have started the book covering process for the year.  We have a few more boxes ready to go out and are very grateful for your assistance in getting this job done.

Thank you to Chloe Olima who has joined her friends in making sure our library bins are emptied each day. Thank you to Riley Bowyer who assisted me this week by picking up books that had been left on the floor and chairs during borrowing time and began putting them away without being asked. Also, another stand out moment of gratitude for me was last Thursday when it was raining and I didn’t have my umbrella at school, Taylah Foster and Emme-Grace Burke came to my rescue and told me I shouldn’t be walking in the rain and held their umbrellas over me so I could get to the Canteen and back to the library.These students are great examples of the values of kindness and generosity to me.

When is the next P&F meeting?

The P&F Annual General Meeting will be held this evening

Wednesday 11 March at 7pm 

in the School Library. Entry is via the St John Vianney Parish carpark. 

All are welcome

Congratulations to all of the boys and girls who trialed for the diocesan football (soccer) team.

The standard of play was incredibly high. Best wishes to Mikayla and Sienna who now travel to the NSW McKillop trials in Goulburn as part of the Diocese of Wollongong team.

Well done to all who participated.

Diocesan Swimming

South Coast Regional Swimming Carnival

A big congratulations to the following students who represented our school at the South Coast Regional Swimming Carnival last Thursday.

Cruz, Nate, Noah, Eli,  Bede, Logan, Jensen, Lachlan, Callum, Nash, Sarah, Macy, Olivia G, Gemma, Matisse, Olivia L, Georgia and Ella.

GSFM had a very successful day in the pool with all swimmers trying their very best and representing our school with pride.

Congratulations to Cruz and Gemma who both received Runner Up in their Age Championship.

Diocesan Selection Trials

Following Thursday’s carnival, students who placed 1^st, 2^nd, 3^rd or 4^th in their event were invited to represented GSFM at the Diocesan Selection Trials held at Corrimal Pool on Monday.

Well done to Cruz, Gemma, Matisse, Logan, Nate, Sarah, Callum, Snr Girls Relay Team – Gemma, Matisse, Ava, Olivia G, Snr Boys Relay Team – Cruz, Nate, Eli, Noah.

Once again GSFM had a successful day with the following students selected to represent the Diocese at the MacKillop Swimming Championships held at Homebush on March 25.

 Cruz –

• 1^st 50m Freestyle
• 2^nd 50m Butterfly
• 1^st 50m Breaststroke                                            

Gemma –

• 1^st 50m Freestyle

Matisse –

• 2^nd 50m Breaststroke

Snr Girls Relay: 

1^st  4 x 50m Snr Girls Relay

Gemma, Matisse, Olivia. G, Ava  

Congratulations and best of luck at Homebush!

Wednesday 11 March: 

• P & F AGM Meeting 7-8pm in the Library