Principal’s News

Dear Parents,

In the first week of the holidays the staff from Good Shepherd joined with the Staff from Redeemer for professional development delivered by International Baccalaureate presenters Joanne Pearn and Sean Watt. The focus of this workshop was ‘collaboration’ . Collaboration is integral to the Primary Years Programme (PYP). We know that by planning together and being open to new ideas and experiences, we develop much richer Units of Inquiry leading to deeper learning for our students. During the two day workshop the teachers explored our present collaborative practices and discussed ideas for improving collaboration in our schools using a range of strategies.

We also joined with staff from St. John’s Lutheran School, Eudunda and Vineyard Lutheran School, Clare for further professional development. Staff from our three schools have been working in teams preparing collaborative learning projects that incorporate STEM (science, technology, engineering, maths) in transdiscipinary units of inquiry.  This is part of an exciting two year project between our schools which we intend to maintain into the future.

We are very blessed to share strong and positive partnerships with our sister schools and value the opportunity to develop collegial relationships where we can share our understandings, learn from others and celebrate our successes. Stronger together!

The final day of the professional development week had a more practical emphasis. Fueled by our staff breakfast we all ‘rolled up our sleeves’ and set to work in the F/1 and 2/3 classrooms ruthlessly culling old and broken items until the skip couldn’t take anything more.  Anything not needed in those rooms that could be removed and stored was taken out. The junior primary classes will be temporarily relocating to the library and German room during the upcoming refurbishments and the major clean out will make this process somewhat easier.

And finally, we received some fantastic news this week. Good Shepherd was successful in receiving a very significant grant from the Australian Government through the National Landcare Program.  This grant is for the continued development of EDEN and will greatly assist with the costs of revegetation, weed control, further development of the outdoor learning and play spaces, safe access across the creek and erosion control.  Our children are so very blessed to have this wonderful resource right on our own grounds and they love to use this space. We are also delighted to see it being utilised by others in our community such as the Angaston Early Learning Centre and the Building Blocks playgroup. Full credit for securing this grant goes to Tammy Leggett. Tammy spent considerable time preparing an outstanding submission that highlighted the value of EDEN for our children and our vision for its future. Thank you Tammy!

Blessings,

Anne Marschall

Principal