Dear Parents and Friends,

Last Thursday, it was the Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary. As I mentioned in last week’s newsletter, the month of October is a special time of devotion to Mary, the mother of our Lord Jesus. This Feast Day is special for us at Rosary School as, though not our official Feast Day, it celebrates the special relationship we have with the Marian tradition which is one of love, care, compassion and nurturing. All qualities to be proud to develop in our students through our Religious Education Curriculum, our relationships with one another and through our membership of Rosary Parish.

Floriade at Rosary School and Rosary Church

The tulips are in bloom and looking splendid in the two garden beds – one at the front of the school and the other at the round-a-bout at the church. If you get a chance, take a walk or a drive past to see them and take a moment to appreciate the beautiful colours and give thanks to God for his gifts to us of creation. Such vibrant colours are very hard for artists to reproduce – God’s colour palette is truly amazing!

Connected Outdoor Learning Space

I am so very excited to let you know that the Connected Outdoor Learning Space, along the wing of the junior corridor, is complete! With the ACT lockdown and the shutdown of construction, the builders only fell behind schedule by a couple of weeks. The spaces are looking wonderful and are ready for the students and staff to use and enjoy when we return to face-to-face learning. I take this opportunity to thank the ACT Government and the Block Grant Authority, Catholic Education and Territory Building for the various parts they played in making this vision for the school a reality. This work now completes the school’s master plan for building works and I am so proud and so pleased that it was accomplished before my retirement at the end of this year. I urge you to do a drive-by or a walk-by to view this exciting addition to the school.

Kindergarten Orientation

I am not yet in a position to confirm arrangements for Kindergarten Orientation in November. All Kindergarten enrolments are secure and we are looking forward to greeting and engaging with our newest school members as soon as we are able. Specific advice regarding orientation sessions for students across our Catholic system schools should be forthcoming next week from our Directorate. I will then be able to advise what our particular orientation will look like for this year. I thank all parents for your patience during this unpredictable time.

Condolences

Sincere condolences are extended to Ms Janet Hanratty on the loss of her uncle and to Miss Nicole Rich on the loss of her grandmother in recent days. May the ladies, and their families, be comforted by the fond memories they share of time with their loved relatives.

Thought for the Week:

“I don’t regret the things I’ve done, I regret the things I didn’t do when I had the chance.”

                                                                                                Anon

 

Compass Parent Portal launched last week.

Every parent should have now received an email with their login details. If you did not receive the email, please contact the school.

Please direct all enquiries regarding the Parent Portal to the front office. office.rosaryps@cg.catholic.edu.au

If you have not already done so, we ask that all parents log in to the Parent Portal as soon as possible to verify details.

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 your child is absent from school, please submit details of the absence via the Parent Portal. This should be completed within 7 days of the absence.

Please note that Schoolzine absence notifications are no longer functional.

Unexplained absences for your child will be displayed on your homepage when you log in to Parent Portal.

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.

The Compass parent portal launched last week. 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.

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