Dear Parents and Friends,

It was so very exciting for the staff and the students to see one another in person on Monday and for me to welcome half the school student population back to learning in the regular classroom! We are now all eagerly awaiting the return to school of Years 3/4 and 5 next Monday. We are sure it will be an equally exciting time for the students and teachers of these grades. I am quite sure that parents are also very happy to see the return of regular schooling after such a long period of remote learning!

Next Monday is All Saints Day. This feast day was instituted to honour the saints collectively as there were too many for the number of days in the year to celebrate each individually! I think it’s just marvellous that there are many more saints than days in a year and it makes me think that it’s possible for everyday people to become saints. There is a tendency to think of saints as people who never make mistakes and who spend all their time dealing with spiritual matters. People who are now saints did live and work in the ordinary world but did extraordinary things out of a great capacity for love. May they inspire us to grow in love too.

The following day is All Souls Day. This day is dedicated to the remembrance of all those who have left the world before us. It is also a time to reflect on our own lives and think about the ways in which we too would like to be remembered. We pray that all those who have died will rest in the eternal peace of Christ.

Classes for 2022

The process of allocating children to classes for 2022 starts now. The allocations are based on the following considerations:

• Friendships
• Learning abilities
• Balance of gender
• Behavioural considerations
• Personalities
• Religion – so that a balance of Catholic and non-Catholic children is achieved especially in Sacramental years.

As part of the process of allocating children to classes, the children are given the opportunity to nominate 5 friends with whom they would like to share a class next year. They are guaranteed to have at least one of these friends with them. These nominations are based purely on friendship and not on any other factors and are the child’s decision to make. The ‘Friendship 5’ lists will be completed by the children at a suitable time, in class, later in the term.

My firm belief is that teachers are in the best position to decide a child’s placement because they know all the children in their classes and have a view of the ‘big picture’. However, I invite parents to inform me of anything that you feel needs to be considered, for your own child’s well-being or development. I have allowed 3 weeks’ time in which to notify me of your concerns, in writing. After the cut-off date of Friday 19^thNovember, it will not be possible to take further wishes into account.

Information needs to be provided each year as circumstances can change. I will do my best to accommodate your wishes but will not promise anything! Please be aware that requests for particular teachers will NOT be considered.

Indonesian and STEM 2022

Next year, Indonesian will be offered over two days of the week. All classes will rotate through Indonesian language classes over the course of the year. On a third day, Years 3 to 6 will engage in STEM lessons (Science, Technology, Engineering, Maths). Our vision is to have a clear and strong focus on both disciplines to give the students every opportunity to nurture and develop skills and understandings that will see them thrive as global citizens of the future.

Students leaving Rosary at the end of the year

Please ensure that you have informed me, in writing, if your child will not be returning to Rosary in 2022. Obviously, this does not apply to students in Year 6. It is imperative, for planning purposes, that I have accurate information with regard to enrolment numbers. I also need to know the destination school as part of system accountability requirements. Thank you to those who have already provided this information.

Thought for the Week:

“To be saints is not a privilege for the few, but a vocation for everyone.” Pope Francis

Reminder Library and Chess Messages

Library News

We are so looking forward to seeing and teaching our classes in the coming weeks! We have so missed engaging with the children; online learning is not our preferred teaching style! Please have a look for any Library books that were borrowed months ago, so students can return and borrow again- thank you so much.

Library classes are on the following days this term (please note there are changes from Term 3):

Tuesday: Year 1, 3/4 Casablanca, Year 6

Wednesday: 3/4 Cairo & Bangkok, Year 5

Thursday: Kinder, Year 2

Chess Club

Sadly, Covid-19 has meant that our beloved Chess Club has finished for the year. I will gather students and give them their term 3 ribbons and winner’s medallions. Our current conveyors/coaches have retired so I will endeavour to find another wonderful team to teach our students in 2022. I have been running RPS Chess Club for over 20 years, so I see it as a priority to retain this valuable program.

Sandy Vincent

Unfortunately, there are still a large number of parents that are yet to log in to the Parent Portal.

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

Every parent has been sent 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

When logging in, 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.

Please note that all absences should now be notified via the Parent Portal. You will also need to log in to Parent Portal to view reports at the end of the Term.

Due to current restrictions, there are no events planned for the following two weeks. Updates will be provided once known if we can proceed with previously postponed events.

• Yr 3, Yr 4 and Yr 5 return to face-to-face learning at school - Monday 1st November

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

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