Dear Parents and Friends,

The heavy rain and storm activity last Thursday night, sadly, caused some damage at the school. The library and the corridor outside the staffroom as well as the OSHClub office in the hall saw large amounts of water come through the ceiling. Unfortunately, the carpet tiles in the library and staffroom corridor will have to be replaced and some ceiling/roof repairs are needed. We also lost a good number of books due to water damage so your support of the upcoming Book Fair will be very much appreciated as this will bring us some additional funds to help with replacing lost titles. Whilst this was a most unfortunate event, at least it is only property that has suffered. There were only a few staff members at school at the time and the students and staff of OSHClub. The children there were reassured that everyone was safe and they were excited to see the firefighters arrive! I take this opportunity to thank Catholic Education and their associated services, the Fire Brigade and SES for their great and immediate support. At this stage, we are not sure when everything will be fully restored. Library lessons continue to take place but in an alternative location.

Carols Evening

We are unable to run the Carols Evening in the way that was originally planned. Unfortunately, we cannot have families come with a picnic dinner as we need to comply with the student cohorting. Students will still be able to perform their carols items in grade groups in the quad where a stage area will be set up. Seating will be placed in the quad. Please remember to maintain physical distancing wherever possible.

When students arrive, from 5.15pm for a 5.30pm start, they will need to go straight to their classes to meet their teachers and prepare for their item. After their performance, they will return to their classrooms until the end of the evening. We expect the performances to conclude at approximately 6:30pm. At that time, students will be called in alphabetical groupings to be dismissed from their classrooms and taken home by their parents.

This arrangement is not the ideal that we were hoping for but it is the best way that we can try to ensure everyone enjoys a safe and happy Christmas with their loved ones.

Class Lists

Class lists for 2022 will be displayed at the end of the school day on Thursday 16^th December. Please be aware that not all considerations from parents may have been met as a number of factors have to be taken into account when placing children into groups. I encourage parents and children to look at the class groupings in a positive light as an opportunity to get to know different people and experience new things.

Staffing News

At the end of this year, we will say goodbye to two staff members. Mrs Ammie Dellosa is moving back to Queensland with her family and Miss Rachel McKerrow is moving to a teaching position at Saints Peter and Paul Primary School in Garran. I take this opportunity to wish both ladies all the very best with their respective moves and to thank them for the wonderful contribution they have made to the Rosary School community.                                                                  

Messages between Parents and Students

Please be aware that the school has a duty of care for students whilst they are on school grounds and that any messages between parents and students must go via the front office. It is important, for safety reasons, that the school is aware of arrangements for students. Students are not permitted to use their devices whilst on school grounds to message their parents directly nor are they permitted to receive messages directly from parents. To ensure cyber safety, no child is allowed to be on a device (this includes phones) on school grounds without teacher permission. Before and after school, students can use their devices before arriving and after leaving school grounds, such as on the school bus, in the car or on their way as they walk home as long as parental permission has been granted.

Readers and Library Books

Staff are now collecting all home readers and library books. We would appreciate all families taking a very close look at home to find any outstanding school readers or library books and returning them as soon as possible.

Candy Canes and Christmas Cards

At this time of the year, children like to give one another candy canes and Christmas cards; which is a lovely thing to do. However, we ask children to place cards into their bags as soon as they receive them so that they don’t become lost and we ask them to take the candy canes home to eat. We inform the children that it is not appropriate to eat candy canes at school for a few reasons:

• Parents provide certain foods and expect that their children will eat these foods and not fill up on ‘other’ things
• Parents need to know what their children are eating
• The school discourages consumption of foods containing high levels of sugar, colourings and preservatives for health reasons
• Some children may have allergies to certain foods
• The wrappers are often hard to peel off the cane, coming away in ‘bits and pieces’ which often don’t find their way to the bin and thus create a litter problem.

I ask that you also speak with your children about these things and ask them to bring candy canes and cards home so that you can see what they have received. Many thanks. 

At the recent Principals’ Association Meeting, I was privileged to view a presentation by Dr James Muecke who is an ambassador for the Macular Disease Foundation and Defeat Diabetes. I was rivetted to the screen and consider the presentation to be essential viewing for all parents. Please find the link below:

 Dont turn a blind eye.MP4

Thought for the week:

“It is more blessed to give than to receive.”

                        Acts 20:35

REPEAT NOTICES:

Semester Two Reports

Semester Two Reports will be available via the Compass Parent Portal at the end of the school day on Friday 10 December. Please note that hard copies of the Report will not be distributed.

This Report for this Semester will include grades for the following Key Learning Areas:

• Religious Education
• English – all strands
• Mathematics – all strands
• Music

Two other learning areas per grade level as identified by the teaching team in accordance with what is possible to mark given the combined remote and face-to-face learning period.

The Semester Report will not include comments but will include ‘Engagement with Learning’ which is based on the Australian Curriculum General Capabilities and covers four key areas of learning engagement: Creative and Critical Thinking, Communication, Responsibility and Collaboration.

NB: Please note that Indonesian will not be reported on this Semester due to the fact that Mrs Jo Chilver has had a major health scare and has been unable be at work to teach or assess the students. I am sure you will join me in wishing Mrs Chilver a strong return to full good health.

The Bookfair will run from Monday December 6 to Thursday December 9. The Bookfair will be held in Egypt, due to the storm damage in the Library. Access will be via the external Egypt door, near the front office. A flyer has been sent home this week. We are happy to take orders from the flyer or in person between 8:30am and 3:30pm Monday to Thursday next week.

The annual dress-up as a book character day will be on Monday December 6, next Monday! Children will parade through the corridor in their grade cohort, showcasing their costumes and books.

Please think about, or find, a costume that fits a book that can also be brought along to school on the day.

Please return all outstanding Library books and readers as soon as possible.

Sandy Vincent and Jodie Dawson

Congratulations to the following students who received a BEST Award:

Hazel Sheehy
Dradul Dorji
Lily Huntly
Maggie Grove
Louis Butler
Tenzen Densel
Alexander Clarke
Sirat Dhillon
Elijah Caoile
Emma Woodhouse
William Suitor
Tom McAlary
Anureet Dhaliwal
Simeon Omosigho

Please disregard the flyer sent home earlier this week requesting donations for the Vinnies Christmas Appeal.

Thank you to families who have already brought in a donation. However, we have since been informed that our assistance is not required this year.

With the uncertainty of lockdown earlier this year, a number of pre-made hampers were able to be secured.

We are sure there are other places in Canberra who will be accepting donations to help support families in need in our community.

Hayfever season has arrived with the weather being particularly windy and the pollen count high. We have had many children coming to the front office with hayfever symptoms. If your child is prone to hayfever please consider the treatment you would like them to receive. If you would like your child to be given hayfever medication please fill in a Request to Dispense Medication Form and provide the medication to be stored in the First Aid area. Parents will be contacted prior to any medication being administered. On particularly windy days you may like to consider treating your child before they attend school. 

The Request to Dispense Medication Form can be accessed via this link: Request to Dispense Medication and on the school website. 

Unfortunately, there are still a large number of parents that are yet to log in to the Parent Portal. Currently just over half of the accounts have recorded a login.

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.

Login emails have been re-sent today for accounts that have not yet logged in.

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.

Please see below for the remaining planned events for 2021. Should there need to be any changes made, communication will be sent out as soon as possible.

• Year 6 Grade Mass - Thursday 1 December 10am at Holy Rosary Church
• Book Fair Dress Up Day - Monday 6 December
• Book Fair - Monday 6 December to Thursday 9 December
• Carols - Thursday 9 December 5:30pm
• Year 6 Graduation Dinner - Tuesday 14th December
• Year 6 Big Splash Excursion - Wednesday 15th December
• Last day of Term 4 - Friday 17th December

If your child is absent from school for a whole day or longer, 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.

If your child will only be absent for a partial day, the absence will be recorded as your child is signed in or out via the kiosk at the front office. You do not need to add an early pick up or late drop off via the Parent Portal.

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.

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

The school year is divided into four terms. Term dates for the year 2022 are as follows:

Term 1 (10 weeks)     Monday 31 January - Friday 8 April

Term 2 (10 weeks)   Wednesday 27 April - Friday 1 July (Tuesday 26 April is a system wide Pupil Free Day)

Term 3 (10 weeks)   Tuesday 19 July - Friday 23 September (Monday 18 July is a system wide Pupil Free Day)

Term 4 (10 weeks)   Monday 10 October – Friday 16 December