Good Shepherd Grapevine – 10 September 2020

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5 Powerful Prayers for the Flourishing Family

 Written by Esther Hosea

We aren’t quite at the end of the term, but as we draw to its end, many of us are feeling pretty weary. For the moments when you don’t know what to pray over your family…

A Prayer to Have a Heart for God

Father, thank you for each one of my precious children. Lord, you know their hearts. You know their strengths, their weaknesses and every tiny detail about them. God, I pray that You draw them closer to You. Show them who You are. Let them see their need for you, Lord. Capture their hearts and fill them with Your Spirit. Lord, I pray that they would seek You above all else. That as they wake up in the morning and go to sleep at night, You would be on their minds and hearts. That everywhere they go and in everything they do, they would see You. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

A Prayer for Unity

Father, we thank You for Your blessing over our family. Help us to be unified. Help us to speak the same language and share the same vision that You have for us. Lord, guide us and keep us on the right path. I pray that NO weapon formed against my family will prosper. No plot, ploy or scheme from the enemy will divide us or cause dissension in our house. Help us to stand in unity…preferring one another over ourselves and loving You above all else. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

A Prayer for Fulfilling God’s Purpose for My Family

Father, thank You for creating our family with a purpose. We know that you have plans for each of us individually and for our family as a whole. Lord, I pray that you would reveal this purpose to each one of us and help us to walk it out daily. Help us to have an appreciation for each other’s personalities, gifts and even our weaknesses. Lord, teach us and guide us in all that we do, that we may glorify You. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

A Prayer for Godly Friendships

Father, thank You for the family friends that You’ve given us. Lord we are so grateful that You’ve knit us together with other families to do life with. Lord help us to always be reminded of how blessed we are to have them. We pray blessing over these relationships. That no weapon from the enemy could cause division between us. Lord, we ask that You give us more relationships like these. Connect us with like minded families that will sharpen us and bring us to a new level of faith in You. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

A Prayer for A Heart to Serve Others

Father, thank You for the opportunity to serve others. I pray that You would continue to instill this value into us and our children. Help us to see others the way you see them. Lord, we pray that You show us the needs of those around us. Help us to be others focused and in tune to Your Spirit, so that we can help those that are hurting. Lord, give us the grace to serve when it’s hard. Give us the strength to keep going when we are worn out from our own situations. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Submitted by Abby Beames

Prayer Corner

This fortnight, staff and students pray for:

FAMILIES

  • PRITCHARD-GORDON: Kate, Sam, Jemima, Heidi and Miranda.
  • RATHJEN: Tracy, Jarred, Priya, Jobe and Quinn
  • RATSCH: Helen, Travers, Michael and Judith
  • ROWE: Susan, Steven, Alex and Casey

Birthdays

September

8   Kaitlin Schultz
10 Spencer Pech
11  Archie Davies
16  Zeke Osborne
25  Ella Randall
25  Matita Schroeder
26  Felix Maddern

Baptisms

September

2   Jayden Ahrns
4   Brodie Heinrich
14  Mitchell Harvey
22  Charli McGorman
23  Amelia Emmett
30  Jesse Brandon

STAFF 

  • Jennifer Grieger – Foundation Teacher
  • Pastor Rob Borgas – Pastor
  • Selena Grundel – LSO
  • Fiona Lloyde – Chaplain
  • Renee Barry – LSO

OUR PRAYERS

  • This week we pray for the Mathews family as they grieve following the loss of Kelly’s mother. May God wrap His comforting arms around you all in the days ahead and keep you close.

Principal’s News

Dear Parents,

During this year I have been reading a lot about the importance of kindness. Obviously this has always been important but as the global pandemic has started to progress from weeks to months and (dare I say?) years, kindness and compassion have never been more important.

Over the course of this year so much has changed and many of us are questioning what the short and long term future holds. What borders will open? When can I get married? What if Grandma dies? When can I book that overseas trip? What if I lose my job? It is tempting to put up walls, focus on survival and getting through this difficult time but that leads to a spirit of self-preservation and ‘battening down the hatches’. That’s not who we are called to be either as a school or a community. I have read several articles about ‘emotional contagion’. In a nutshell this refers to our moods and emotions being contagious. As I often remind the staff at Good Shepherd, ‘we set the weather’. If we are constantly stressed, judgmental or critical it slowly permeates our classrooms and school community. We see our behaviours reflected back at us. We may not have control over many things right now but there is one thing that each of us has in our power and that is our choice to reject an attitude of negativity and instead show kindness and compassion to each other.

This can take so many forms. There are the obvious big initiatives such as Challenge for Charity and the various SRC projects but there are also numerous smaller acts of kindness that have a cumulative and powerful effect on our school culture and individual wellbeing. A note of appreciation. A caring word of encouragement. Picking up litter (not your own…) Inviting the kids who never get invited over. Praying for the teacher. Including the new parent in your friendship circle. Offering a skill or some spare time to help out in some way. It all adds up. Over the coming weeks and into next term we intend to visibly promote and encourage acts of kindness at Good Shepherd by establishing a ‘kindness tree’ on the notice board by the junior primary classrooms. Students, staff and parents will have the opportunity to write down acts of kindness that they witness around the school on a heart which they can then pin on the tree. One by one we can each make a difference!

We are now in our 7th year since the implementation of 1:1 iPads for years 4 -7. In addition, it’s been 4 years since the school gained a $50,000 Federal grant to purchase supplementary technology including the 3D printer, the Wacom boards, robots, probes, vinyl printer, beebots, laptops and spheros. While we are richly blessed by all these resources and they are well used throughout the school we are also committed to monitoring global trends to ensure that we stay at the forefront of curriculum and teaching. Over this year I have been investigating best practice in the use of technology to promote teaching and learning in education. As one part of this process I have spent time in classrooms observing the ways in which students use technology. I have also interviewed the teaching staff and the students at every year level to gain their insights on what works well to enhance learning and creativity and what we need to look into further. I have spoken with some parents about their perspectives on this subject but I’d love to talk to more of you. On Wednesday morning, 16th September between 9.00–10.00am there will be an opportunity to come along to the staff room, hear what I’ve found out and consider how the School might reimagine the way in which technology is provided for and utilised to improve teaching and learning. 

Blessings,

Anne Marschall
Principal 

Classroom Snapshot – Mrs Naomi Guglielmo’s 5/6 Class

 

Year 5/6 Christian Studies

Our class have been learning about ‘service’ in Christian Studies this term. We have been focusing on what the Bible says about how Jesus served others. To demonstrate their understanding, the 5/6 students were asked to create a resume for Jesus, to show how He served others, and the skills that He has. It was so exciting to see their creativity flourish, and we hope you enjoy taking a look at some of our best pieces!

Naomi Guglielmo
5/6 Class Teacher

Tom Noack

Leo Abdelmalek

Casey Rowe

William Linke

Jaslyn Grundel

Georgia Leggett

IB PYP Learner Profile Awards

 

Week 7 – Monday 31 August 2020
FDN Isla Emmett Knowledgeable Isla has demonstrated an excellent knowledge of our ‘word of the day’ sight words and has been applying her knowledge of these in her daily reading and writing.
1/2 Rylan Barry Reflective

Rylan has been demonstrating considerate behaviours this term in his learning, having a go and asking for help when necessary. He is developing a good understanding of his growth areas and his strengths.
3/4 Michael Lewis Balanced It was great to see Michael improve his attitude and effort towards his class and homework last week. 
5/6 Mitchell Harvey Knowledgeable Mitchell has been putting in one hundred percent effort into his written work. He has used class time effectively to produce quality pieces of writing.
6/7 William Alexander Communicator William has demonstrated great communication skills this past year through his work as school captain. The time, effort and detail he puts into his assembly devotions is outstanding.

 

 

Week 8 – Monday 7 September 2020
FDN Rachel Doering Inquirer/ Knowledgeable

Rachel has settled into school life with such ease. She has quickly picked up the class routines and always puts her best effort into her work. She asks questions to learn more and regularly shares her knowledge with the class.
1/2 John Lewis Communicator

John shares his thoughts and ideas with confidence and honesty. He is also willing to work with all members of the class and does so positively and effectively.  
3/4 Karlo Scholz Knowledgeable Karlo has been an enthusiastic and passionate participant during unit of inquiry class discussions and has demonstrated growth in his knowledge of what causes and effects erosion. 
5/6 Emma Scholz Risk Taker Emma has been taking risks in her learning in Maths. We have been learning about angles and she has experimented with using a protractor and hasn’t been afraid to make mistakes.
6/7 Maya Klose Inquirer Maya has shown a great ability to be an inquirer throughout the start of Exhibition and has worked hard to discover and find out information to help answer her group’s question.

 

Building Has Begun

You may have already noticed that our school is looking a little different each day as the builders have started working on our latest building project. We apologise in advance for some of the minor disruptions that will be occurring over the next few months and we all look forward to seeing the end result.

Copies of the building plans will be displayed throughout the school for our families to look over.

Library News

International Day of Charity

‘Challenge for Charity’ has been a great success! Thank you so earnestly to those families who donated to the cause/challenge. George, Fife and Angas house captains all did an amazing job rallying the troops and getting the donations happening.

Donated items were counted on Tuesday by the house captains and two houses drew with 134 items in their boxes:

Congratulations Angas and George houses!!

Special mention to Fife house who took the lead early last week and managed to collect 117 items for Backpacks 4 SA Kids.

We are grateful to the whole school community for their efforts and good sportsmanship!

Book Week

Book Week is back!

Theme: Curious Creatures, Wild Minds

When: October 17-23 with our school parade occurring on Tuesday 20th October 2020.

Each year since 1945 the CBCA (Children’s Book Council of Australia) has brought children and books together across Australia through CBCA Book Week. During this time schools and public libraries spend one glorious week celebrating books and Australian children’s authors and illustrator (cbca.org).

Shortlisted books in the picture book category are:

Hello Lighthouse by Sophie Blackall
Nop by Caroline Magerl
I Need a Parrot by Chris McKimmie
Three by Stephen Michael King
The Good Son by Jules Ober
Tilly by Anna Walker

Shortlisted books for younger readers are:

The Little Wave by Pip Harry
The Thing about Oliver by Deborah Kelly
The Dog Runner by Bren McDibble
Catch a Falling Star by Meg McKinlay
The Glimme by Emily Rodda
The Secrets of Magnolia Moon by Edwina Wyatt

In the coming weeks we will have some student reviews (and one from me too!) of the books from this younger reader section.

I will be chatting with each class in the coming weeks about the theme for Book Week. This years theme could be a difficult one to dress to however I rather see that it lends itself to a wide range of possibilities; curious creatures like the Gruffalo, Charlotte from Charlotte’s Web or the Gizmo, and wild minds like Albert Einstein or Matilda (from the book by Roald Dahl). The options are actually endless and I’m so excited to see what our school families will come up with this year! 

Book Returns

Overdue notices have been sent out this week. If your child has overdue books please help them to have search of their bags/maroon folders, the car/house and so on.

NEW LIBRARY TIMES for the remainder of the year:

F – Wednesday 12.10pm
1/2 – Thursday 9am
3/4 – Wednesday 11.40am
5/6 – Thursday 3pm
6/7 – Tuesday 10.30am

Rachel John
Resources Coordinator

Father’s Day Stall


Last week we held our annual Father’s Day Stall. Thank you to Mrs Gripton and our school Captains and Leaders for facilitating the stall setup and sales.

Drink Bottle Reminder

 

With the weather warming up it is really important that all students bring sufficient water into school to keep them well hydrated.  The water fountains are still unable to be utilised due to COVID-19 restrictions.

Chaplain’s News

Dear ‘Good Shepherd School Community’,

Hope you are all going well, and enjoying life. 

This weeks Chaplaincy article ‘ A Topic You Cant Ignore‘, is about an important subject on respectful relationships, one we can not ignore.

Michael Gross from Parenting Ideas has written this article on respectful relationships, giving parents and caregivers ideas on how to tackle this topic well.

Gods richest blessings,

Fiona Lloyde
Chaplain

A topic you can’t ignore

by Michael Grose

 

Respectful relationships is currently a topic of conversation in schools across Australia and New Zealand. Encouraging children and young people to develop relationships with each other based on mutual respect and equality is at the heart of gender quality.

In a recent wide-ranging interview I asked prominent Australian psychologist Collett Smart to identify the impediments parents face when teaching kids about respectful relationships. Collett identified pornography as the biggest challenge parents had to overcome when developing respectful attitudes to gender and sexuality.

Smart says, “Children as young as nine have been exposed to pornography, even when they did not intend to access it. It’s safe to assume that most kids already know what it is. The flood of porn, so easily available online, has become our children’s primary source of sexual education.”

Talking to children and young people about sexuality is often challenging particularly when they don’t wish to engage in such conversations. But Smarts warns, “If pornography is not specifically addressed, it is likely to erode young people’s healthy development.”

Smart points out that many parents discover that their upper primary school or secondary school aged child has accessed porn, so the topic can’t be ignored. She provides this advice for parents who discover their child or young person has accessed porn:

Be ready

Be armed with knowledge. Take your time, but don’t avoid talking about it.

Expect denials

Most kids are very embarrassed or fear adverse parental reaction so don’t be surprised if they deny accessing porn.

Reassure

Let your child or young person know that you are not angry. Explain calmly what you found and tell them that you are there for them and you will now work through this together.

Check the tech

Check that you’ve set up blocking software and parental controls on children and teens’ devices. Although difficult, keep internet connected devices out of bedrooms.

Create a plan

Sit with your child or young person and draw up a plan for what they can do when future exposure occurs.

Smart believes that no matter how well prepared parents may be, they never feel ready when they realise that porn infiltrates their own family. She advises, “It’s okay to feel confronted by the fact that this ‘statistic’ is now a reality in your house. Take a little time before responding. Don’t jump straight in and blurt out your fears. Go for a walk if necessary, to think about what you might say next. If you messed up, clammed up or even yelled – apologise and start again!”

Smart is correct. Your kids won’t remember that you fumbled the parenting ball. They will remember the overarching atmosphere of your relationship – that you cared and that you were prepared to talk to them about anything, including the hard stuff!

Related webinar

Our school has a membership with Parenting Ideas. As part of this membership, you can attend the upcoming webinar ‘Teaching young people about healthy relationships’ at no cost.

About

In this webinar Collett Smart gives parents the tools to build a strong relationship with their child where no topic is off-limits and they can come to them with any questions.

When

9 September 2020 8:00pm AEST

To redeem

1. Click this link: https://www.parentingideas.com.au/parent-resources/parent-webinars/webinar-teaching-young-people-about-healthy-relationships
2. Click ‘Add to cart’
3. Click ‘View cart’
4. Enter the voucher code HEALTHY and click ‘Apply Coupon’ Your discount of $37 will be applied.
5. Click ‘Proceed to checkout’
6. Fill in your account details including our school’s name to verify your eligibility. These are the details you will use to login to your account and access your webinar and resources
7. Click ‘Place Order’

This offer is valid until 9 December 2020. If you’re unable to make the broadcast time, just register anyway and you will get access to the recording. The recording will be available in your Parenting Ideas dashboard so you can refer to it at anytime.

Michael Grose

Michael Grose, founder of Parenting Ideas, is one of Australia’s leading parenting educators. He’s an award-winning speaker and the author of 12 books for parents including Spoonfed Generation, and the bestselling Why First Borns Rule the World and Last Borns Want to Change It. Michael is a former teacher with 15 years experience, and has 30 years experience in parenting education. He also holds a Master of Educational Studies from Monash University specialising in parenting education.

Please Note:

Due to current guidelines amid COVID-19 we are unable to share homemade baked goods with children at school.  If you would like to bring in something to share with your child’s class it must be purchased from a store and be indivdual pre-packaged goods. Thank you for your understanding.

Finance News

School Fees

School fees for Term 3 are now overdue.  Please contact Sarah Loveday if you would like to discuss payment arrangements.

We are very mindful of the continuing economic impact that COVID-19 is having on many of our school families. Please be assured that we understand. We have directly contacted those families that we are aware of who are experiencing financial stress to offer support. If you are also finding this time financially challenging,  and have not yet been contacted, please make it a priority to contact our Finance Officer, Sarah Loveday, for a confidential discussion about how we will support you. 

School Card Scheme 2020

Did you know that limits for the school card have now been increased. So you may now be eligible if you have not been in the past. Applications for the School Card Scheme are available online. To check if you are eligible click on the following link or contact Sarah Loveday for further information.

https://www.sa.gov.au/topics/education-and-learning/financial-help-scholarships-and-grants/school-card-scheme

Golden Years at Good Shepherd

 

Coffee Giveaway!

It’s time for another giveaway…

This week all you have to do to win our next D&M’s coffee voucher is to share with us a memory from your past years at Good Shepherd.  Thank you to Amanda Pech for sharing with us this great photo of the Pech siblings ‘Virginia, Michael and Andrew’.  The Pech’s connection with Good Shepherd remains strong with both Virginia’s and Andrew’s children also currently attending our school.  

Along with any memories or stories we would love for you to include a photo, drawing, award or artwork.

Our Principal will decide on the winning entry and we would love to be able to share your stories in future newsletters.

So… start going through your old photo albums and school records to find some treasures to share.

All stories and photos can be emailed to gsls@goodshepherd.sa.edu.au by Friday 18th September 2020. 

We invite you to join our new Facebook group: Good Shepherd Alumni Angaston. This is a group for past students of Good Shepherd Lutheran School from 1962 to present. Members are invited to use this space to catch up, share and reminisce. If you are in contact with Good Shepherd old scholars, please encourage them to take a look and join the group or they can share their contact details with the School directly on 08 8564 2396.

Local Church Service Times

Angaston Parish Service Times

Date

Angaston

Gruenberg

Gnadenberg
September 13 8.45am HC
Traditional		 10.30am HC
Traditional		 Rob Borgas
September 20 10.30am
Contemporary		 8.45am
Contemporary		 Lay Reading

 

KEVS Service Times

Date

Keyneton

Eden Valley

Springton
September 13 11.00am 9.00am HC 1.30pm
September 20 9.00am HC 4.30pm 11.00am