Dear Parents, Guardians and Students,

Warm greetings! My name is Matthew Cavanagh and I am the new Wellbeing Coordinator for Years 6 & 7. Regretfully an
injury prevented me from occupying this role during Term 1, but I am now fully fit and very keen to provide the best of
care and teaching for students at Good Shepherd Lutheran College.

A bit about myself. I originally hail from Melbourne but have been living in Darwin since 1996. The schools I have
previously taught at were Kormilda College and Haileybury Rendall School. I specialise in Humanities and English, but am
trained to teach all subjects from Transition to Year 10. My previous management roles at Kormilda College were: Head
of House, Head of Years 6 & 7, and Head of Years 7 & 8. When Haileybury Rendall took over from Kormilda College in
2018, I occupied the position of Deputy Head of Middle School.

On a personal level, I have a 13 year old son and a 12 year old daughter so being around students of this age bracket has
become second nature to me, and I am very familiar with the issues and concerns of this demographic. I believe that
these ‘tween’ and early teen years are extremely important in shaping the lives of our future leaders and I greatly enjoy
being able to positively influence students through these delicate years.

I also believe that student well-being is vitally important and underpins every facet of the learning experience. Put
simply, a content and happy student is far better placed and far more likely to succeed in his/her learning journey than
an unhappy student or a student with personal concerns that distract from their learning.

Structurally, the Management of students in the Middle Years has not changed and Mr. Faraone is still the Head of
Middle School and in charge of the overall management of these years. My role is to support him, the students in Years
6 & 7, guardians and other teachers in achieving and maintaining wellbeing in this school.

I will endeavour to be available either immediately or in a timely manner to all of your concerns, and please don’t
hesitate to contact me directly at any time if you have any wellbeing concerns regarding your son or daughter. And I will
of course be available for all of our students every day in the school environment.

Finally, for once our isolation from the rest of the country seems to count in our favour! Out of the 28 COVID-19 cases
diagnosed in the NT, more than half have already recovered and there has been zero community transfers of this
disease and zero deaths. Statistically speaking we are the safest place in the nation and it is fantastic to see so many
students attending school.

Thank-you for taking the time to read this and I very much look forward to the remainder of this year and getting to
know our students and their families.

Matthew Cavanagh

Classroom teacher

Y6 & Y7 Wellbeing Coordinator