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Dear Parents and Friends,
Today is the feast of St Valentine. We tend to forget that this day has its origins in Christianity as it has become so commercialised over the years – even to the point that we omit the word ‘saint’ from the title! Following is the story of St Valentine that you may find interesting:
The first representation of Saint Valentine appeared in The Nuremberg Chronicle, a great illustrated book printed in 1493. Alongside a woodcut portrait of him, text states that Valentinus was a Roman priest martyred during the reign of Claudius the Goth [Claudius II]. Since he was caught marrying Christian couples and aiding any Christians who were being persecuted under Emperor Claudius in Rome [when helping them was considered a crime], Valentinus was arrested and imprisoned. Claudius took a liking to this prisoner – until Valentinus made a strategic error: he tried to convert the Emperor -- whereupon this priest was condemned to death. He was beaten with clubs and stoned; when that didn't do it, he was beheaded outside the Flaminian Gate [circa 269].
Saints are not supposed to rest in peace; they're expected to keep busy: to perform miracles, to intercede. Being in jail or dead is no excuse for non-performance of the supernatural. One legend says, while awaiting his execution, Valentinus restored the sight of his jailer's blind daughter. Another legend says, on the eve of his death, he penned a farewell note to the jailer's daughter, signing it, "From your Valentine."
He is the Patron Saint of engaged couples, bee keepers, epilepsy, fainting, greetings, happy marriages, love, plague, travellers and young people. He is represented in pictures with birds and roses.
Opening School Mass
The Opening School Mass, which took place last Friday, celebrated a wonderful start to the school year. The students sang with gusto and participated with great reverence. Thank you to the many parents and other family members who came along to celebrate this special Mass with us and thank you to Father Kieran for welcoming and blessing us all.
Parent Information Night and Welcome BBQ
Thank you to all the parents who came along on Tuesday evening to hear all about what the children will be learning this year in the various classes. If you were not able to be present to see the Term Overview, it can be accessed on the school website. I take this opportunity to thank the teachers for the hard work they have already put in to preparing for the year’s learning and for their enthusiasm for teaching and commitment to the profession. From all accounts, it has been a very smooth and happy start to the year for the students, staff and families.
Special thanks to Kirsty Saunderson and the team of Year 6 parents as well as the Community Council for hosting the Welcome BBQ. It is always nice to gather as a community, to catch up with old friends and to make new ones!
Year 6 Leadership Assembly
I am looking forward to celebrating the Year 6 Leadership Assembly with the students, teachers and parents on Friday afternoon. This is a special time when we recognise and encourage the leadership attributes of our senior students. I have every confidence in the students as they take on new roles and responsibilities within the school to do their very best in rising to challenges and supporting others in a range of ways.
Medication at School
Should your child require medication to be administered during the day, a written note with instructions for dispensing must accompany the medication and these must be taken to the front office. The central storage area for medications is in the sick bay where there is a fridge and a medicine dispensing register that must be filled out by the appropriate staff member whenever medication is administered. The only medication that may be kept with the child is an asthma inhaler. Should any child need to carry a spacer as well, a personalised waist-bag is available from the front office for $6. The waist-bag allows the child to work and play uninhibited by the items.
Allergies and Anaphylaxis
As there are children enrolled at Rosary who have allergies to a variety of substances, we ask that children do not share food or buy food for one another at school. We appreciate your support in especially avoiding sending any foods that contain nuts. A few children may experience very serious and even life threatening symptoms if exposed to certain foods.
Car Park Safety
Please be aware that the speed limit in the car park is 5k/ph. Students who leave vehicles which are parked in marked bays need to be accompanied across the car park by an adult to enter through the gates to be supervised in the quad in the morning. Likewise, students need to be collected by an adult from inside the quad and then supervised all the way to parked vehicles at dismissal time in the afternoon.
I ask that drivers also resist the temptation to park alongside the kerb in front of the gates on the basketball court as this is a drop off zone only in the morning. Parking is not permitted along this kerb in the afternoon unless there is a medical reason or there is a baby asleep in the vehicle.
I ask all drivers to be mindful of the car park rules and to adhere to them on every occasion for the safety of the children and all others in our community.
Cybersafety
Keeping safe online is a very important and highly relevant topic for all of us in the digitally connected world in which we now live. At Rosary, the teachers are always looking for ways to instruct students about cybersafety and there are many worthwhile digital resources available to them. The ones we have used at Rosary include ‘thinkuknow’ and the Alannah and Madeline Foundation’s digital licence. We have also had the AFP come in and address the students. We will be looking into doing this again this year. Year 5 will be completing digital licensing as part of their homework so that parents can be involved. Each Yr 5 cohort completes this on entry to the ipad program. At the beginning of each year, students sign an acceptable use agreement for ICT which is discussed with their parents and discussed in class. Students are trained to shut down their screens and report anything that may appear that makes them feel uncomfortable or that they know to be inappropriate. Our internet is filtered by the Catholic Education Office which provides an added level of security for students using technology at school.
Year 5 and 6 Camps
Our Year 5 and 6 students are getting very excited about their upcoming camps. They will enjoy a few days of fun and exciting challenges as part of this leadership development experience. Yr 6 students will be attending Milson Island Camp on the Hawkesbury River from 19th to 22nd February and the Year 5 students will be attending the NSW Sport and Recreation Camp at Jindabyne from 27th February to 1st March. The Year 6 class teachers, Mrs Hanratty and I will accompany the Yr 6 students on their Camp. The Year 5 class teachers, Miss Blom and Mrs Godfrey will accompany the students on the Yr 5 Camp. I take this opportunity to wish all the campers a happy, safe and enjoyable time. I am sure the teachers will have a wonderful time getting to know the students better in a completely different environment. I am certainly looking forward to the opportunity to learn a little bit more about each child and to participating in some special, adventurous activities with the group. During my absence, Mr O’Brien will be leading the school with the support of Mrs Higgins and Mrs Godfrey. I’m confident that all who remain at school will also enjoy a wonderful few days in their very capable hands.
Believe Explore Strive Triumph (BEST)
Today, the students gathered in ‘vertical groups’ (mixed ages across the school) in various classrooms to complete special activities related to our first element of our school-wide Vision for Teaching and Learning – ‘Believe’. BEST stands for: Believe, Explore, Strive, Triumph. At the beginning of each term, we explore the respective element to help embed it into the culture of the school, refresh the Vision and keep it uppermost in our minds as we work towards doing our BEST together as a community of learners.
With every best wish for a lovely St Valentine’s Day evening,
Vicky van der Sanden
Principal
Opening School Mass - thank you!
We celebrated the beginning of the school year with Mass last week. The students participated reverently and sang so beautifully. Thank you to Fr Kieran and to Jim Smith for assisting as acolyte. Thank you also to John O’Brien and Rachel McKerrow for your musical talents. A special thank you to all the parents, grandparents and parishioners who were able to attend.
Rosary Community Family Mass
Rosary Community Family Masses aim to promote a sense of belonging within our parish community. There are four Rosary Community Family Masses throughout the year. On each of these Sundays, the parish will organise a free sausage sizzle after mass especially for us. This is always popular with the children and provides a great opportunity for families to catch up. It would be lovely to see as many people as we can being active in our faith and participating in community building opportunities.
Sacramental Programs
At Rosary, students receive the Sacraments in the following grades:
Year 2 Reconciliation
Year 3 Eucharist
Year 6 Confirmation
As part of the preparation for any sacrament, the candidate and his/her parent/s are expected to attend all sessions. Please prioritise the following dates on your calendar.
New Students
If any students (Baptised Catholic) have come to Rosary in the higher grades not receiving these
Sacraments, and wish to do so, please let me know.
Peace and best wishes
Liz Higgins
Religious Education Co-ordinator
Blessed are you, O Lord our God.
You have made the sun to light the day and the moon and stars to light the night.
Help us walk in your light.
During this season of Lent, renew us through the gift of your Holy Spirit.
Help us grow in faith, hope and love.
During this special time, we remember that Jesus died and rose from the dead,
So that we might be free to love.
Help us to grow to be the people you call us to be … letting go of old habits of selfishness,
Forgiving those who have hurt us, giving quality time to our families,
And spending time in quiet prayer.
Amen.
Congratulations to the following students who received a VERITAS award in week 7:
Max Pedregosa, Hugh Anderson-Moore, Taula McAlister, Jasper Chapple, Noah Fleming, Bob Nguyen, Zara Wilson, Augie Walsh, Patrick Curran, Bradley George, William Coote, Madeline Balogh, Remy Frawley and Billie Withers.
DATE | EVENT | TIME | LOCATION |
Sunday 24th February |
Rosary Community Family Mass |
10.00am | Holy Rosary Church |
Monday 25th February |
Swimming Carnival Years 2-6 |
9.00am | Dickson Pool |
Tuesday 26th February |
Gelato Day |
|
|
Wed 27th Feb—Friday 1st March |
Year 5 Camp |
8.45am |
Jindabyne |
Wednesday 27th February |
Rosary Rugby ‘Come and Try’ |
3.30pm |
Rosary Oval |
Wednesday 6th March |
Ash Wednesday Mass |
10.00am |
Holy Rosary Church |
Friday 8th March |
Year 6 Cairo Assembly |
2.30pm |
School Hall |
Monday 11th March |
Canberra Day Holiday |
|
|
Thursday 14th March |
Year 4 Grade Mass |
10.00am |
ACU Chapel |
Melissa Thornton from Alpha Catering has taken over the canteen at Rosary and has a new, healthy, fresh menu for both children and parents. The canteen is open for service Tuesday through Friday from 8.30am for before school snacks and recess and lunch. Our menus are on the school website under Notes and Forms / Whole School section. Orders can be placed on Flexischools or manually on a paper bag through the slot at the front of the canteen. Please place orders by 9.15am.
We look forward to a wonderful year.
A friendly reminder that all students are expected to bring a library bag to and from school to protect our valuable and expensive books. Even a short stint in a school bag with a cold drink bottle with condensation can render a book destroyed. Any bag is fine; we do have a limited number of Rosary Library bags for sale in the library for $5 if you would like to purchase one.
Library days for this term are as follows:
Tuesday- 3 Barcelona, 3 Osaka, 6 Cairo, 6 Bangkok, 1/2 Paris
Wednesday- 1/2 Nagoya, 1/2 Tokyo, 5 Panama, 5 Washington
Thursday- 4 Athens, 4 London, Kinder Dublin, Kinder Rome.
Rosary Chess Club
Chess club started up this week! It's not too late if your child/ren are interested in attending this after school hours activity. Please contact me directly through the school and I will give you further information about ACT Junior Chess League and their program! We operate by the term, every Tuesday 3.10-4.30pm in our Library at a cost of $90 per term.
Kind regards,
Sandy Vincent and Jodie Dawson
School Banking will take place on Thursday. Students are asked to bring in their bank books on Thursday and they will be processed by our parent volunteers and returned to the classrooms on Friday for students to bring home. If you would like to sign your child up to school banking please collect an application form from the desk at reception.
Happy Banking
As part of the new Makerspace we are setting up shortly, we are asking for donations of specific items. Over the term the requests will vary, but to begin with we would happily accept any of the following items that may be lying around at home and no longer needed:
- Hot glue guns
- Hardware tools (e.g. lightweight hammers, screwdrivers, chisels, pliers)
- Egg cartons (must be clean)
- Straws
- Maths compass or other drawing tools
- Old xrays (that will be cut up)
- Corrugated cardboard (clean and flat)
- Empty plastic bottles (clean and dry)
- Small elastic bands (loom band size)
All donations can be sent to 4 London or left at the front office.
More information will be available shortly about our Makerspace Invention Lab. Watch this space!
Thank you in advance
Kath Watson
ROSARY RUGBY: TRAINING GROUND FOR FUTURE BRUMBIES
Rosary Rugby Club was proud to be part of the Plus 500 Brumbies family fun day at University of
Canberra last Sunday. Pictured (above) are members of the club with members of the 2019 Brumbies squad, Mack Hansen (second from left) and Jordan Jackson-Hope (second from right), both of whom are former Rosary students.
Would you like your children to make new friends, stay fit and active, be part of a team and develop life-long skills? Who knows, one day they might even emulate Mack and Jordan.
In 2019 Rosary Rugby Club will once again field teams in the ACT Junior Rugby Union competion. Games, which are played on Saturday mornings, will commence at the beginning of Term 2.
Registration is now open for the season and all interested, eligible players are invited to join:
All boys and girls are welcome;
- NO TACKLING for players in the U7s age group;
- equal opportunity provided for all players especially beginners in all age groups;
- fully-supervised training sessions are held on the school oval after school each Wednesday during the season - this means pick-up isn’t required until 4:30pm (wet weather activities take place on rainy days); and
- players receive free junior membership and entry to Brumbies home games.
Background
Rosary Rugby Club, established in 1964, is the only stand-alone primary school rugby club in Canberra. A number of our former players have gone on to represent the ACT Brumbies and the Australian Schoolboys rugby teams.
Rugby ‘come-and-try’ day: 27 February
Rosary Eagles will be holding a registration and ‘come-and-try’ day on Wednesday 27 February from 3:15pm to 4pm on the school oval. All interested children and parents are invited to attend.
For enquiries or more information, please contact: Eamon O’Donoghue (club president) on 0406 566 463 or Philip O’Brien (secretary/treasurer) on 0401 903 637.
NOTICEBOARD