Welcome to Good Shepherd Primary School Amaroo
I warmly welcome you to Good Shepherd Catholic Primary School Amaroo, where we, in partnership with the Holy Spirit Parish, strive to make Jesus’ vision and mission central in our lives. We value and respect the sacred dignity and uniqueness of each individual. Our school celebrates our diversity and strives for excellence and success for all. We promote the safety, wellbeing and inclusion of all children.
Good Shepherd Catholic Primary School is a Kindergarten to Year 6 Catholic primary school located in the northern suburbs of Canberra, ACT. There are four classes per Year Level. In partnership with the parish of Holy Spirit Parish, we work to provide quality Catholic education through effective teaching and learning experiences that will enable our children to engage successfully in today’s rapidly changing twenty-first century environment.
Good Shepherd Primary School primarily serves children living in Amaroo, Bonner, Forde, Jacka, Moncrieff and Taylor. While the school population is predominantly Catholic the school does accept enquiries from families of other faith backgrounds that support our ethos.
We work in partnership with the Archdiocese of Canberra and Goulburn and this enables us to be supported by system wide policies as well as ensuring that we are part of an inclusive community based on the life of Jesus Christ.
As Principal, I feel privileged to be part of the Good Shepherd story. We have a strong sense of community at Good Shepherd. With a dedicated staff, a supportive parent body and an active and visionary Community Council, the school is part of a vibrant and supportive parish led by Fr Mark Croker.
As educators, we acknowledge that we share the responsibility of education with parents. Learning is a partnership and we will warmly welcome your participation and support.
At Good Shepherd we offer our students the challenge of achieving personal excellence in all areas of school life and encourage them to become independent learners, equipping them with the skills necessary for life-long learning. This is a community that encourages all students to value and respect themselves and others in their journey of faith, learning and life.
We warmly welcome enquiries from all prospective families seeking a Catholic education and will happily arrange tours on request. Please contact us for further information. We hope to share with you the difference that a Catholic education at Good Shepherd can make to your daughter or son.
God bless,
David Austin
Principal
Newsletter
Latest News
ACT Election letter from Director of Catholic Education
Friday 25 September
To: Parents and Carers of Students in Catholic Schools
Re: ACT Election
Dear Parents and Carers
In the lead up to the 2020 ACT Election, the Catholic Education Commission of Canberra and Goulburn endorsed three policy priorities for all parties to consider related to:
- Equitable School Funding
- Fund Catholic schools at 25% of the per-student cost of education in an ACT Government school.
- Land Release and Planning
- Make land available for new Catholic schools.
- Improve planning policies to include new Catholic schools.
- Support for Catholic Early Learning Centres
- Provide financial support to Catholic Education Early Learning Centres to support equitable access and construction of new centres.
Our priorities are designed to ease cost-of-living pressures of families, ensure that Catholic schools can continue to be affordable and accessible, and serve the needs of families.
Catholic school communities have been advocating for these priorities over the past six months, hosting visits from the Chief Minister, Andrew Barr, Opposition Leader, Alistair Coe, and every MLA who is contesting the 2020 ACT Election. We have also provided detailed education policy briefings to both ACT Labor and the Canberra Liberals, and met with the Greens.
Recently, Alistair Coe and the Canberra Liberals committed to supporting our funding and land release policy priorities. The Liberals plan supports families, while also committing to a review of the curriculum in the ACT. You can find information regarding the Canberra Liberals education policy commitments here.
ACT Labor has decided not to support the most important of our policy requests. Continuing with a policy of cutting school funding will inevitably put upward pressure on school fees. Labor has committed to continue capital improvement grants to non-government schools, and announced equity grants to support disadvantaged families. You can find information regarding ACT Labor’s policy commitments here.
Similar to Labor, the Greens are not supporting our funding commitment but support the proposed land release for non-government schools. The Greens have stated their priorities as providing ‘nature-based’ play spaces for older schools, sustainability upgrades, and infrastructure available to all schools.
It would assist Catholic schools if you could encourage all candidates in your electorate to adopt the policy priorities of Catholic Education. I have attached both a fact sheet and education report and that may be useful for any conversations you have with candidates.
Together, we can ensure that supporting your children and Catholic schools is a priority for the next ACT Government.
Good wishes
Ross Fox
DIRECTOR
Book Week, Term 4, Dress Up day.
Friday 25 September
Book Week Dress Up
Book Week will be celebrated in Week 2 next term. On Friday October 23rd, Week 2.
The children can dress up with this year’s theme in mind, or as a character from a book. If they choose a book character, we ask that they have a copy of the book or a print of the cover to bring with them.
Animals of all kinds featured in this year’s book list; domestic, wild, flying and insects.
The coming school holidays may be the perfect time to rummage through the dress up box and see what you can put together.
Yours,
Bernadette Aitken
Teacher Librarian
Tomorrow Subway and Uniform Free
Thursday 24 September
