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
-
10 Jul 2026
From Facebook
Sporting Superstars at Good Shepherd! ⭐️ We have some incredible athletes at Good Shepherd. Here are just some of the recent sporting achievements by our students. Congratulations to: 🎖️ Elias and Raphael, who recently represented our school at the NSWCPS Cross Country Championships 🎖️Abel on his selection in the MacKillop Rugby Team 🎖️Elizabeth and Levae for securing first place in the Nepean Oztag Winter Competition 🎖️Jackson for competing in and winning the Junior Oztag State Championships 🎖️Vita for being named Captain of the Under 12 Boys Parramatta Diocese Rugby League Team We are so proud of you!
08 Jul 2026
From Facebook
Our Primary Athletics Carnival was this time last week! 🥇🥈🥉 We were so lucky that the weather held off and we were able to run races, compete long jump, high jump, shot put and discus, with a few extra activities thrown in for fun. Well done to our super (fast) students and thank you to the families who were able to join us.
Latest News More news
10 Jul 2026
From Facebook
Sporting Superstars at Good Shepherd! ⭐️ We have some incredible athletes at Good Shepherd. Here are just some of the recent sporting achievements by our students. Congratulations to: 🎖️ Elias and Raphael, who recently represented our school at the NSWCPS Cross Country Championships 🎖️Abel on his selection in the MacKillop Rugby Team 🎖️Elizabeth and Levae for securing first place in the Nepean Oztag Winter Competition 🎖️Jackson for competing in and winning the Junior Oztag State Championships 🎖️Vita for being named Captain of the Under 12 Boys Parramatta Diocese Rugby League Team We are so proud of you!
08 Jul 2026
From Facebook
Our Primary Athletics Carnival was this time last week! 🥇🥈🥉 We were so lucky that the weather held off and we were able to run races, compete long jump, high jump, shot put and discus, with a few extra activities thrown in for fun. Well done to our super (fast) students and thank you to the families who were able to join us.
08 Jul 2026
CSPD students recognised in Refugee Week Creative Competition
Over 125 students from 10 Catholic Schools Parramatta Diocese (CSPD) schools have been recognised for their empathy and powerful storytelling as part of the Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS) Australia Refugee Week Creative Competition.
06 Jul 2026
From Facebook
Thank you to our Parent Group for the Jersey Day fundraiser last week! Students loved coming to school in their favourite team jersey and having photos taken at the photo booth. We had soccer on the screens at lunch and even the teachers got into the spirit, wearing their own favourite team jersey!
03 Jul 2026
From Facebook
Another amazing term of learning at Good Shepherd! We have had so many wonderful experiences at school this term; from excursions, incursions and sports days, to award assemblies, reward activities and special celebrations. Inside the classroom, students have grown in confidence and as learners. We are wishing everyone a lovely school break and cannot wait to see everyone back on Tuesday 21st of July.
01 Jul 2026
From Facebook
Kindergarten had so much fun on their recent excursion to Calmsley City Farm! 🐄🐖🐑 They were able to go on a tractor ride around the farm, milk a cow, visit the baby animals, and some of our teachers even had a go at cracking a whip! This was a great way to wrap up the learning that took place in Science and Technology this term, following on from our recent Hatch N Grow duckling experience.
26 Jun 2026
From Facebook
GO AUSTRALIA! 🇦🇺 Students (and staff) loved supporting the Australian Socceroo’s today. What an exciting match and positive moment of Australian and community spirit!
23 Jun 2026
From Facebook
An amazing day was had on Friday at our Infants Athletics Carnival! The students participated in running races on our own running track, three-legged races, parachute games, long jump, high jump and more! We are so lucky to have our own ENORMOUS oval at Good Shepherd, complete with its own running track and long jump pit, which make these events possible on our own school site. Thank you to our Year 6 leaders who helped run the different events, and to the families who joined us for the morning. We are looking forward to our Primary Athletics Carnival, happening this Friday!
17 Jun 2026
From Facebook
School Photo Day is on Tuesday 23 June! Please ensure that your winter school uniform, school shoes and hair are looking photo-ready ahead of this day.
12 Jun 2026
From Facebook
We have a Parent Group Fundraiser coming up! The celebrate the FIFA World Cup, and to have a bit of fun, we are inviting all students to wear their favourite jersey or sportswear to school on Thursday 2nd July. This is a gold coin donation event. Let's kick off the fun together!
10 Jun 2026
From Facebook
We've been busy! There has been so much happening at Good Shepherd over the past few weeks, and we're not slowing down! We have had the Diocesan Cross Country for our runners, Year 5 music students attended the Sydney Symphony performance at West HQ, the teachers prevailed in the Teacher VS Year 6 Students netball game, and we danced all night at the annual Winter Disco! A big thank you to the Parent Group and all of their helpers for running the disco for our students, we are so grateful for the way in which you support our school.
05 Jun 2026
From Facebook
QUACK QUACK! Kindergarten are loving having the Hatch N Grow program in their classrooms this fortnight! This week, Kindy have watched as their little ducklings have hatched from their eggs and begun to grow. This program is helping our Kindergarten students to learn about life cycles, as a part of their Science and Technology program called Backyard to Bush. We can't wait to see how much they grow next week (and for more chances to hold the ducklings!)