Good Shepherd Primary School Captain Christian Durante’s moving speech about the devastating impact of child slavery has seen him win the highly competitive Voice of Youth title for 2018.
The Voice of Youth Grand Final was held at Our Lady of Lourdes, Seven Hills on Wednesday, 26 September. It was the conclusion of an event that saw students from 57 schools take part.
The judging panel included retired Principal Moya McGuiness, retired teacher librarian Judy Jordan, CSPD Team Leader Literacy Kathy Ferrari and CSPD Mission Teaching Educator Scott Carroll.
The six grand finalists were:
- Emma Biviano from St Mary’s Rydalmere who spoke about Deforestation
- Tara Stoll from Bethany Glenmore Park who spoke about Gender Equity
- Makalita Liutai from Holy Trinity Granville who spoke on Pacific Paradise
- Christian Durante from Good Shepherd Plumpton who spoke about Child Slavery
- Dana Adan from St Angela’s Castle Hill who spoke about Poverty; and
- Dianne Palma from St Joseph’s Schofields who spoke on Let me get to the Top!
Good Shepherd’s Christian Durante was announced the winner with his highly emotive first-person speech which gave the audience an understanding of what it would be like to be a child sold into slavery.
Runner up was Bethany Primary’s Tara Stoll whose provocative speech highlighted the pay gap between women and men, the struggles girls and women face just to get an education and the confronting issue of domestic violence.
The Social Justice prize was given to St Angela’s Dana Adan whose compelling speech on poverty was inspired by a recent trip to the Philippines.
Event organiser Attila Lenvai said that the event is a wonderful showcase of student talent, and a powerful reminder to us all how important the voices are young people are in today’s complex and challenging world.
The Voice of Youth Shield will now stand proudly at Good Shepherd Primary in Plumpton until 2019 winner is announced!
Good Shepherd Primary Plumpton
www.gsplumpton.catholic.edu.au
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11 Sep 2026
From Facebook
🚨 Have you forgotten to enrol for Kindergarten 2027? 🚨 Please contact the school urgently if you are looking at enrolling your child at Good Shepherd in 2027, places are limited and we are nearing capacity! We are also accepting enrolments in other grades, with limited places across grades 1 - 6. Please complete the enrolment forms online, or contact the school for support. We can't wait to meet you!09 Sep 2026
From Facebook
STEM Showcase 👩💻👨💻 Thank you to Mr Rainert, Mr Pestano and our brilliant STEM Group students for presenting their work to us during our recent STEM Showcase! Students from across Primary grades had the opportunity to explore a range of student work created by our STEM Group, including STEM challenge projects, interactive Scratch programs, Ozobots and RVR+ rovers. Students were able to see how coding, design and engineering can be used to create, test and improve exciting solutions. During the Showcase, there was a short demonstration of the school’s 3D printer. Students were able to see how a digital design becomes a physical object using Tinkercad. We look forward to presenting a similar Showcase later in the year, targeted towards our Infants students.
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11 Sep 2026
From Facebook
🚨 Have you forgotten to enrol for Kindergarten 2027? 🚨 Please contact the school urgently if you are looking at enrolling your child at Good Shepherd in 2027, places are limited and we are nearing capacity! We are also accepting enrolments in other grades, with limited places across grades 1 - 6. Please complete the enrolment forms online, or contact the school for support. We can't wait to meet you!
09 Sep 2026
From Facebook
STEM Showcase 👩💻👨💻 Thank you to Mr Rainert, Mr Pestano and our brilliant STEM Group students for presenting their work to us during our recent STEM Showcase! Students from across Primary grades had the opportunity to explore a range of student work created by our STEM Group, including STEM challenge projects, interactive Scratch programs, Ozobots and RVR+ rovers. Students were able to see how coding, design and engineering can be used to create, test and improve exciting solutions. During the Showcase, there was a short demonstration of the school’s 3D printer. Students were able to see how a digital design becomes a physical object using Tinkercad. We look forward to presenting a similar Showcase later in the year, targeted towards our Infants students.
07 Sep 2026
From Facebook
As we reflect on our mission here at Good Shepherd Primary, we are guided by scripture and the wisdom of inspiring leaders 💚 Isaiah 1:17 calls us to "Learn to do right; seek justice. Defend the oppressed." Taking this message to heart, our wonderful staff recently put faith into action, living out Mother Teresa’s reminder that "Not all of us can do great things, but we can do small things with great love." Demonstrating this spirit of everyday kindness, our team generously donated their own resource money and personal time to gather together and make fresh sandwiches for Carevan Blacktown who take pride in supporting vulnerable members of our local community. We are so proud of our Good Shepherd staff for leading by example and showing how small acts of love can make a big difference! 🥪💚🥪💚🥪 Catholic Schools Parramatta Diocese
06 Sep 2026
From Facebook
HAPPY FATHER’S DAY! To all of our Good Shepherd Fathers and Father Figures, we wish you a very Happy Father’s Day! Thank you for everything that you do for your children.
04 Sep 2026
From Facebook
TEACHER AIDE APPRECIATION WEEK! A massive thank you to all of our incredible teacher aides at Good Shepherd. Each day, our TA’s work with our students across the school to support them in the classroom and on the playground, demonstrating their care and compassion, and their commitment to helping each child be their very best. From the bottom of our hearts, thank you!
03 Sep 2026
From Facebook
A quick update from us 💚 You may notice a few changes to how we share moments from Good Shepherd Primary School on social media, and we wanted to explain why. We love celebrating our students and school community, their learning, achievements, creativity, friendships and special moments. In response to the recent online safety guidance from the eSafety Commissioner, and as the digital landscape continues to change, including the increasing use of artificial intelligence and the potential misuse of images online, we are taking a more mindful approach to sharing student photographs publicly. Protecting our students’ privacy and online safety remains a priority. But this doesn’t mean we’re going quiet! We’ll still be sharing the wonderful things happening at Good Shepherd, including sporting events, classroom learning, liturgies, excursions, performances and celebrations. You may simply notice that we are more intentional about the images we share and how identifiable individual students are. Thank you for your understanding and support as we navigate the ever-changing digital world. We want to continue celebrating our school while ensuring our students’ privacy and safety remain at the heart of what we do. Same Good Shepherd. Same community. Just a little more mindful about how we share it 💚 Good Shepherd Catholic Primary School 💚
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From Facebook
30 Aug 2026
From Facebook
A Prayer for Nepal ❤️💙 Loving God, Be close to all those caught in the devastation of the floods in Nepal and Tibet. Comfort those who have lost loved ones, strengthen those waiting anxiously for news, and guide rescuers and emergency workers as they search for survivors. Give courage to displaced families and compassion to communities offering shelter, food and care. May those who are missing be found, and may those who mourn know they are not alone. God of mercy, hear our prayer. Amen.
28 Aug 2026
From Facebook
Book Week has been a huge success at Good Shepherd this week! Students have loved sharing their love of reading across the school, with a range of events happening across the week organised by our librarian, Mrs Joseph. Students have enjoyed: 📕 An author talk by acclaimed author, Kristin Darell 📘 A performance by Perform Education, on the shortlisted books from 2026 Book Week 📗 A colouring in competition and guessing competition 📙 And of course, a parade, featuring a whole range of costumes worn by students, teachers and little brothers and sisters Our STEM club also got into the spirit of book week, by conducting lunchtime races using BeeBots, featuring images of shortlisted books on the top. We have never heard our students cheer so loudly for books before!
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Happy Principal’s Day Ms Knezevic! Good Shepherd came together yesterday to have a belated celebration for our school principal, Ms Knezevic. The students presented her with cards and drawings, and our kindergarten students decorated her office with donuts! Thank you Ms Knezevic for all that you do for the students, staff and families at Good Shepherd.