Dear Parents and Friends,

Welcome back – albeit virtually! I hope that everyone had opportunities to enjoy some special family time over the break; perhaps exploring close by recreation spaces as an alternative to travelling further afield. We welcome the Groves and Passmore families who have joined us this term. What a way to start – getting to know the classes and teachers in a remote context! We hope both families will enjoy many happy years of association with Rosary School. 

Devotion to Mary in October

The months of May and October are especially devoted to Mary, the mother of Jesus. In October, we focus on Mary as Our Lady of the Rosary which has special relevance for us – the Rosary School and Parish community. We are blessed to have Mary as our helper and guide and as a model for us contributing to the realisation of a gentle, nurturing church. You might like to focus on saying the Hail Mary together as a family before dinner or at bedtime over the coming weeks.

FUN PHYSICAL FRIDAY and PERFORMANCE ASSEMBLY

These were two wonderful ways to have a bit of fun during lockdown and remote learning prior to the holiday break. It was great to see all the children dressed up in sports gear or wearing their favourite team colours! The Performance Assembly was a real treat and I was delighted with the variety of great talent on show! It was lovely to have a bit of light-hearted fun and the comic acts certainly brought a smile to my face. Thank you to everyone who auditioned and congratulations to all who appeared in the final video – you all did an amazing job and I am so impressed with your talent and your confidence.

BABY CONGRATULATIONS

Emily Henderson-Allard is wearing a very big smile on her face because she has a new baby sister, Clara, who was born on 18 September. Congratulations to proud big sister, Emily, and Mum and Dad too!

CONDOLENCES

Sincere condolences are extended to Mr Peter Ederle, our school janitor, on the loss of his father, Rene Pierre Ederle, at the beginning of the school holidays. May Rene rest now in eternal peace and may Peter and his family be comforted and strengthened by the grace of God during this sad and difficult time.

Prayer to Mary – Memorare:

The Memorare is a beautiful prayer that expresses our confidence in the Blessed Virgin Mary. It is attributed to St. Bernard of Clairvaux. I think we need this prayer now more than ever!

The Compass parent portal will be launching soon. As part of the setup process, we have recently reached out to all families to confirm student and parent details currently on file.

Thank you to all those families who have responded.

If you did not receive an email with the subject 'IMPORTANT: Student information checks', please contact the front office so that we can ensure we have the correct contact details.

If you have not yet responded to the email, please do so as soon as possible.

Thank you for your assistance in this important administrative task.

We will be launching the Compass Parent Portal this week!

An individual email will be sent to each parent containing the following information:

• Compass username
• Temporary password
• School portal link

The email also contains a link to the Compass parent guide. Please note that this is a generic guide created by Compass and includes details of some functions that are not in use.

If you have any questions, please direct them to the front office.

Upon receipt of the email, please log in to the Parent Portal. You will be asked to confirm your email and phone number. If they are incorrect, please update them.

You will then be asked to change your password.

Please note that it is recommended to use the desktop version for greater functionality.

Please do not share your login details with anybody. Each parent has their own login which provides them access to their child’s records and their own email and phone numbers only.

What to do in Parent Portal?

• View school announcements

• Some school communications will be included within the My News section of your Home Page.

• Submit absences and view attendance record – once Parent Portal is active, this is where you will submit all absences for your child.

• You can submit known future absences. These will appear on the roll, for the teacher, for the specified days.

• If your child has been marked absent on the roll, it will appear as an unexplained absence. You can complete the absence notification to explain it. This should be completed within 7 days of the absence.

• If an unexplained absence appears that you believe to be incorrect, please send an email to the front office for investigation. Please note that during remote learning, the roll may not be marked until the end of the day.

• You will have access to view your child’s attendance record.

• Event Permission – if an event is loaded that requires permission, this can be granted through the Parent Portal

• You can provide your consent for school events via the Parent Portal

• IMPORTANT: payments MUST NOT be made via the portal. Payment options for events will be specified within the event details.

• View details of medication administration

• If your child is required to have scheduled medication administered, and you have completed the Request to Dispense Medication form (available from the website), you will be able to see a record of the medication administered. Please note that this is ONLY for scheduled medications and not for medication, such as paracetamol, that is used as part of a First Aid response.

• Book parent/teacher learning conversations

• Bookings will be made through Parent Portal for all future parent/teacher learning conversations. Please note that this is not for adhoc meetings with teachers, please continue to make these via email directly with your child’s teacher as required.

• View student reports

• Student reports will be available electronically via the Parent Portal only.

• Send emails to your child’s teacher/s

• There is a link to send an email from the Parent Portal. Please note that this will send to the teacher’s email address and any responses will be sent to your email. They will not appear in the Parent Portal.

If you have any questions regarding the Compass Parent Portal, please contact the front office.

If you would like to purchase a copy of our Year 5 wonderful Wakakirri performance, it is available via the below link:

https://www.wakakirri.com/product/dvds-photos/dvds/

Rosary performed on Tuesday 20th July 2021.

Due to the current ACT lockdown, there are no events planned for the follwoing two weeks. Updates will be provided once new dates are known for postponed events.

The school counsellor, Jessica O'Rourke, is available every Monday and until 1pm on Tuesdays.

You can refer your child for counselling by filling in a referral form available on Catholic Care’s website or follow this link: https://catholiccare.force.com/housing/s/school-referral-form

After you have filled out the referral form you will automatically be sent an email requesting your consent for your child to access the service. In the case of families where parents are separated, consent of both parents is normally required. If this is difficult for you please feel free to discuss with Jessica.

The Rosary Community Council Representatives for 2021 are:

Should you wish to contact the council please email: rosarycouncil@gmail.com

The school year is divided into four terms. Term dates for the year 2021 are as follows:

Term 1 (9 weeks)     Monday 1 February - Thursday 1 April

Term 2 (10 weeks)   Tuesday 20 April - Friday 25 June (Monday 19 April is a system wide Pupil Free Day)

Term 3 (10 weeks)   Tuesday 13 July - Friday 17 September (Monday 12 July is a system wide Pupil Free Day)

Term 4 (11 weeks)   Tuesday 5 October – Friday 17 December