Staff PD Week Wrap Up

What a fantastic start we've had to Term 1!

The level of service that we as staff provide to the students at Good Shepherd would not be possible if it weren't for a whole heap of time spent planning and attending professional development workshops.

'Week Zero', as we call it – the week before students return to school at the beginning of each year – is reserved for just that. In 2024, the workshops were wide-reaching, varied, informative, and of course, fun. 

On Monday 29 January, all staff from all campuses converged at Howard Springs for a day of community-bonding and College-wide learning. As the week progressed, staff split off into their relevant groups to focus on role-specific development, which included workshops related to topics such as:

• learning area coordination;
• year level coordination;
• curriculum/teaching and learning;
• pastoral care;
• learning enrichment;
• behaviour development and restorative practices; and
• AI in education.

We were also very lucky to attend a day-long collaborative planning workshop at the Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory (MAGNT). In addition to the planning session, we learnt from MAGNT Education Officer Jude Dawson how the College can work in collaboration with MAGNT to utilise the many educational resources and programs they have available.

A number of guest speakers joined us at the College, including Jocelyn Seamer, who ran her fantastic Science of Reading and Learning workshop with our Junior School staff, and Jo Robertson, who ran an equally as informative session with our Administration teams.

The week ended on a high as we were joined by the 2024 Senior Student Leadership team for a 'Meet the Leaders Lunch', followed by the start-of-term staff function where we came together and regrouped before diving head first into Week 1.

A massive thank-you is extended to all staff who put in a huge effort to organise Week Zero, ensuring its raging success. 

And with that – let's commence the school year!