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- Principals Report Week 7 Term 1
- Religious Education News
- Protective Behaviours – Tips For Discussing Protective Behaviours With Your Kids
- Dates for your Diary
- Veritas Awards
- Extracurricular Activities at Rosary
- Clothing Pool Open during School Hours
- Parentline
- School Counselling Services
- Whole Day Absences - please submit via Parent Portal
- 2022 Term Dates
- Rosary Eagles Come and Try sessions wrap up
- Saverplus
- Holiday Happenings
- Daramalan College 2023 Enrolments
- Merici College Enrolling Now
- Coughing and Sneezing Etiquette Poster
- Hand Washing Poster
Principals Report Week 7 Term 1
Dear Parents and Carers
I hope you are all doing well and you and your family enjoyed the Canberra Day long weekend. The nice autumn weather has also been lovely!
Yesterday we had school photos that went well and the students continue to engage in their learning and activities at school. Everyone is very settled in their classrooms and school routines are going well. Staff continue to undertake various professional learning sessions and are implementing a range of activities and pedagogical approaches to learning in their classrooms.
We look forward to being able to share more information at parent/teacher learning conversations in Week 10 this term. We will have more information on this in the coming weeks.
Rosary Worm Farm Reducing Landfill Waste and Generating Compost
Global Worming at Rosary
Recently I was delighted to be able to have a first hand tour of our Rosary worm farm. This is one of the many exciting and educational initiatives at Rosary school. Cid Riley, who has provided the information below, is the father of two students at Rosary. We are so lucky to have an expert like Cid to manage the worm farm and educate our students and the school community on the many benefits this process provides to our local and global environment. Cid also supports our students in conducting the process safely and correctly. We all waste some food each day so it is reassuring to know that through worm farming we are reducing other environmental issues and also creating some benefits too.
Well done to our students on their environmental practices. Read on for more information.
Rosary has an active worm farm in operation
Did you know that worms have a brain, five hearts and regulate their population size based on how much food and space is available? And did you know that during the last 12 months, worms have consumed almost 3 tonnes of the food waste from Rosary Primary School.
Rosary has a worm farm that is 4 metres long and 1 metre wide set up by Cid Riley (founder of Global Worming) in February 2021. The farm can handle up to 100kg of food waste per week and Rosary has consistently been producing around 75 kilograms of food waste per week. The worm farm is home to tens of thousands of composting worms which are specialists at converting food waste into worm castings (black gold). There are 3 varieties of worms in the farm – red wrigglers, Tiger worms and Indian blues. These composting worms are about 7.5cm in length – much smaller than the earth worms you see in the garden.
Why are worm farms important?
On average, a third of all food produced is wasted. Not only does this have implications for our farmers and our pockets, but there are huge implications on our environment. When organic waste breaks down, it produces high quantities of methane, which is 25 times more potent than CO2. These gases, particularly methane, trap heat in the atmosphere, which increases the temperature of the atmosphere, leading to climate change.
Worm farms are a much more efficient tool to break down the food waste. By chomping on all our food scraps, the worms stop the food waste from rotting and fermenting, preventing the creation of greenhouse gases. And the worms produce vermicast (worm castings) which is nutrient rich and smells beautifully earthy. These castings can be found at the bottom of the worm farm and can be harvested once or twice a year and used as a nutrient rich soil supplement in your garden. Worms also produce worm juice (not drinkable) which is seven times more potent than seaweed extracts that are available on the market. You can feed the worm juice to your indoor plants, your fruits and vegies and herbs, to make them grow super-fast and fruitfully!
What you can do:
When you are at the school, remember that you can put the following things in the worm bins:
- All Food scraps (avoid raw meat)
- Tea bags
- Paper towel
- Newspaper
- Biodegradable packaging and cutlery
If you would like to find out more, Global Worming on Instagram at global_worming. Global worming manages large worm farms at 15 schools in the ACT and they also collect food waste from another 60 clients (including many Government departments).
You can also join the ACT Government’s Food Waste Challenge if you would like to work on reducing food waste in your home.
Morning Student Drop Off Reminder - Please do not leave your car
You are reminded that the morning drop off lane adjacent to the school gates is a drop and go zone only.
You are not permitted to park your car in the drop off lane and then get out of your car and walk children to the gate or attend to other matters like assisting with school bags, hats etc. The traffic in the drop off lane needs to keep flowing. Please also ensure that you drive up to the furthest available point of the drop off zone so that all cars can move up together and avoid any other safety concerns.
If you wish to assist your child in any way or wish to walk them to the gates, please park in the marked bays on the court. We do expect the students alighting cars in the drop off lane to be fairly independent and able to access their bag and carry items etc.
Thank you.
I wish all well for the coming week. God Bless
Greg Walker
Principal
THIRD SUNDAY OF LENT
Year C | Sunday 20th March | purple
"I will fertilise it to make it grow."
Click on the link below to go the readings and activities for this Sunday.
March 20 - Sunday 3 LENT (yearcprayingwithchildren.org)
Saint Patrick’s Day – 17 March
Saint Patrick was born in England, but when he was a teenager, he was captured by Irish pirates who took him to Ireland as a slave. After six years, Saint Patrick escaped and returned to England and his family.
When Saint Patrick became a priest, he travelled back to Ireland as a missionary so that he could teach the people about God. He used examples to explain the mysteries of the faith in simple ways. One day, Saint Patrick compared the Trinity to a shamrock. He said that the shamrock has three leaves, but it is only one plant. In the same way, God is three persons - Father, Son, and Holy Spirit - but one God.
Taken from: https://mycatholickids.com/ 15.3.22
Project Compassion
Thank you to families who have already donated to project compassion. Your donations to Project Compassion enable Caritas Australia, the Catholic Agency for International Aid and Development, to work with local communities around the world to end poverty, promote justice and uphold dignity.
We are encouraged to put our compassion into action this Lent through prayer, fasting and almsgiving by supporting Project Compassion. Each classroom has a Project Compassion box for donations. All donations will be greatly appreciated!
Peace and best wishes
Liz Higgins
Religious Education Co-ordinator
Protective Behaviours – Tips For Discussing Protective Behaviours With Your Kids
Dear Parents,
Soon our Protective Behaviours Program will conclude for this year. The following tips may help you when discussing the program with your children.
1) It can be useful to start any discussions with reassuring the child that they haven’t done anything wrong, and that they are safe, and that you would like to spend some time talking about ways you and they can be safe and happy and feel good.
2) Ask your child what ‘safety’ means to them, and use as many everyday examples as possible to talk about the times they do and don’t feel safe, exploring what they can do in those unsafe times to help them feel safe again.
3) Share your experiences with them (age appropriate level of disclosure), emphasising that we all have times when we don’t feel safe.
4) When we discuss safety with children it is important that we do not leave them feeling afraid and disempowered, but instead that we provide them with awareness of their own safety and help seeking strategies regarding what to do if they feel unsafe.
5) Listening to children and carefully observing their body language will allow you to pick up on any signal from your child that something is not ok. Children may not be able to tell you that they are feeling unsafe or something is not ok for them.
6) Parents quickly learn to avoid asking a child, ‘How was your day?’ as they get the universal answer, ‘Fine’ and when asking, ‘What did you learn?’ get the answer, ‘Nothing’. Parents who comment on a child’s body language, ‘You look sad, happy’, etc., have more chance of opening up the channels of communication to allow the child to share.
7) The most important factor when discussing safety with your child is keeping the communication channels open, letting your child know they can talk to you about anything. It is also vital that you help your child identify a ‘safety network’ of trusted adults who they can talk to if you are unavailable.
8) You could use ‘Even if…’ or ‘What if’ questions to discuss safety with your child, e.g. How could you keep yourself safe even if you heard a strange noise at night? Someone bullied you? You got lost? Someone was late in picking you up from school? Someone you don’t know asked you to go somewhere with them? Using ‘Even if’ questions removes the child from their actual reality and may be less likely to frighten them.
9) Children need to know the importance of their ‘body signals’ or ‘early warning signs’ that act like an internal alarm bell to tell us when we don’t feel safe, and also to have strategies for what to do when the alarm bell rings.
10) It is important to resist the language of ‘stranger danger’ with children, as the reality is that many people who pose a risk to children may not be strangers at all, but may be well known to the child. Instead, children need an awareness of their own feelings of safety and skills to seek help in times when they do not feel safe.
11) Make the learning fun! For example, using games, art, craft, humour, physicality. Young children especially respond to these ways of learning and it can reduce the level of fear significantly.
12) Always finish discussion/activities with reinforcing that children CAN have power to keep themselves safe, and providing lots of praise and encouragement for their efforts, abilities and solid plans for keeping themselves safe. Ending positively, with an understanding that they are safe now and can stay safe, is important.
Kind regards,
Julie Godfrey
Coordinator
http://www.glenbrookpreschool.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/protective_behaviours.pdf
Due to current restrictions, there are limited events planned for the following two weeks. If any events are able to proceed, information will be provided via Compass.
- Community Council Meeting - Wednesday 16th March 6pm
- Rosary Swimming Carnival - Thursday 17th March - CANCELLED
Polly Young
Axl Ravanparsa
John Brooker
Harry Pasmore
Ram Rachakonda
Sofia Brusic
Karma Wangchuk
Charlotte Woodhouse
Eleanor Mair
Thien Vu
Jed Perks
Caleb Buckely
Harriet Larson
Extracurricular Activities at Rosary
There are many extracurricular activities available onsite for our Rosary Students. Please note all of these activities attract a fee and are delivered by external providers. Please see the timetable below for details:
- French Lessons - Monday 3.10pm - 4.25pm (continuing) / Wednesday 8.00am - 9.00am (beginner)
- Tae Kwon-Do - Monday 6.30pm Children class / 7:30pm Adult class
- Mandarin Lessons - Tuesday 3.10pm - 4.25pm
- Chess Club - Tuesday 3.10pm - 4.30pm (Weeks 2 - 10)
- Zanshin Martial Arts - Tuesday 6.30pm Junior class / 7:30pm Senior class
- Artkids - Thursday 3.15pm - 5.15pm
- Italian Lessons - Friday 8:00am - 9:00am (beginner) and 3.10pm - 4.25pm (continuing)
- Musicorp (various instruments) / Piano Lessons - Friday 8:20am and during class time throughout the day
Please contact the school if you require further information.
Clothing Pool Open during School Hours
The Rosary Clothing Pool is open to families to purchase second hand uniform items for $5 per piece. Please note that currently only one family is allowed in the room at any one time and hand sanitisation is required upon entry and exit. A key is available from the front office to access the room during school hours for your convenience.
All new uniform items can be purchased from Personally Yours. They are located at 218 Gladstone St, Fyshwick ACT 2609 and can be contacted on 6280 4166.
The school counsellor, Hilde de Raadt-Abma, is available every Thursday and 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 Hilde.
Hilda can be contacted via the school or email (hilde.deraadt@catholiccare.cg.org.au) on Thursdays and Fridays.
Whole Day Absences - please submit via Parent Portal
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.
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 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
Rosary Eagles Come and Try sessions wrap up
Rosary Eagles Come and Try sessions wrap up.
This week we wrapped up our come and try sessions, we would like to thank the following people for their support, without the generously of these people's time these events would not be possible:
- The Brumbies for running the sessions
- Ann-Maree Hinds our woman's ambassador
- Rebecca van der Sanden and Colleen Welsh for all administration support, and
- The KIDS - you were all amazing and showed so much pride and respect for the club and School.
We had over 70 children try out over the two sessions which was fantastic to see, 21 of these children were in the under 7's cohort and over 10 girls across the ages groups - how good is that!?. They had a great time running drills, learning new skills and playing with friends. This is a promising start to the season.
If you missed out on these sessions but still want to join in it's not too late, please contact us on rosaryrugby@gmail.com
For registrations
How to sign up: https://help.australia.rugby/s/article/Signing-up
How to Register: https://help.australia.rugby/s/article/Registering-to-a-club (look for Rosary Primary Jrfc)
MERICI COLLEGE ENROLLING NOW CAMPAIGN
A wonderful opportunity for prospective families to see the College in action, meet our students and attend the Principal’s Address, Year 7 and 11 Information Evenings and lots more.
We are enrolling now for 2023 and beyond!
Please visit www.merici.college for all dates and information for our Open Day, Be a Merici Girl Days and Talk and Tours. Register online now!
Open Day, Principal’s Address and Year 7 2021 Information Night: Tuesday 3 May
Be a Merici Girl Days: 29 April, 2 and 9 May
Talk and Tours: 30 March, 7 May, 20 August, 22 October
NOTICEBOARD