Dear Parents and Carers,

Learning Journeys Week 10 - You're invited!

In week 10, we invite parents and carers to an open classroom session from 8:30am to 9:30am on Monday 23rd of September.  The students will be able to show you work that they are proud of and the things they are learning about in class. There are also lots of displays around the school for you to look at.

Enrolments

We still have a few places available for next year in Kindergarten so please spread the word to all you know who have children of pre-school age. Your assistance in spreading the message is much appreciated because we know that ‘word of mouth’ is so powerful.

ACT 12 and Under Track and Field Championships

This Tuesday,17 September, saw 8 Rosary students compete in the ACT 12 and Under Track and Field Championships in Woden. Our students performed well in their individual events and enjoyed the day.  We are very proud of the students who represented our school.

Upcoming School Assemblies

We look forward to the upcoming whole school assemblies - presented by Kinder this Friday 20 September, followed by the Year 2 assembly on the Friday 18th October. We will also have a performance by our lunch time Danceclub students at our morning assembly on Wednesday 25 September.

Unexplained Absences

As per the Catholic Education Office Attendance Policy - Parents/carers must provide an explanation to the school for any absence, ideally on or before the day of absence, and no more than five school days after the absence occurs.

If your child has an unexplained absence you will receive a notification on the day of the absence and weekly reminders until the absence is explained. You will be provided specific dates of the absence/s that need to be explained. 

We would appreciate your prompt action in completing and returning the attendance explanation request that you receive. Alternatively, you can email the school with the explanation.

We appreciate your support with this importanat matter.

Have a lovely week ahead.

John O'Brien

Assistant Principal

• Year 6 Mass (Holy Rosary Church) Friday 20th September at 10am
• Kindergarten Assembly (School Hall) Friday 20th September at 2.20pm
• Learning Journeys Monday 23rd September 
• Danceclub Performance - Wednesday 25th September 9.00am Morning Assembly
• Colour Fun Run Friday 27th September
• Last day of Term 3 Friday 27th September
• Term 4 Commences Monday 14th October 

Hi everyone! The Colour Run is happening next Friday, September 27, 2024! 

All students are encouraged to wear old clothes and/or dark clothing, as we’ll be getting colorful! 

More details will be shared on Monday, September 24, via Compass. Get ready for a fun day! 

With ONE week to go until the Rosary Colour Run we'd like to invite any willing parents/carers/families to get involved in the event day. 

The kids are so excited to take on the course and get sprayed with colour - we need people to do the spraying!

Some wonderful Kindy families have put up their hands to help run the event (thanks Kindy!) and we now need many more hands on deck to make this the best experience possible. 

Please volunteer for our Colour Run:

Volunteer information

Date: Friday 27th September (last day of term)

Time: 1pm - 3.30pm approximately 

Contact the school office at office.rosaryps@cg.catholic.edu.au

*Thank you to all those who have already emailed to express their interest- more info is coming soon!

The School Counsellor is at Rosary all day Mondays and Tuesdays during each school term.

How to make an appointment

If your child was seen by the School Counsellor last year and you would like them to receive support in 2023, we require you to complete a new counselling registration form. Please either contact your child’s class teacher or Greg Walker- the Principal for further information.

Similarly, new referrals and requests can be made by contacting your child’s class teacher or Greg Walker- the Principal for further information.

Parent consent for counselling continues to be required for all primary school students and will be sought and provided via email. Where parents are separated, we require the written consent of both parents. Once the referral has been received by myself- School Counsellor- I will make contact with parents on my next day at Rosary to further discuss the referral.

More about School counselling/how to access school counselling at Rosary Primary School

As part of the pastoral care program for students at Rosary, students have access to a Student and Family Counselling service provided by MaryMeadCatholicCare Canberra & Goulburn (MCCG). MCCG are contracted by the CEO to provide a counselling service to students and their families on site. There is no fee to access this service. The service offers short term counselling support (roughly up to six sessions per referral issue) to children and their families – the counsellor can also provide referrals for more complex issues requiring intensive or long term therapy/support.

The role of the counsellor is to focus on the emotional, social and educational well-being of the students. Counsellors welcome contact with students having difficulty with some part of their life, the problem does not have to be a big one. It is better to seek help sooner rather than later. Some typical

concerns that counsellors work with include: anger, anxiety, behavioural problems, low mood, family changes/separation, grief and loss, learning and educational challenges, parenting challenges, peer and other social relationships, school avoidance, stress and study skills. As well as individual sessions with students, counsellors can run groups, consult with parents and teachers and make referrals to other services and supports.

Student and Family Counsellors subscribe to a set of professional ethics that include duty of care and respect for the individual rights to privacy and confidentiality. The counsellors’ obligation is to ensure the safety, well-being and confidentiality of the student they are working with. All counsellors are mandated to report any disclosure or sign of abuse (including self-harm) or neglect to Child Protection Services. Outside of our mandated requirements, all counselling sessions are confidential and the details will not be discussed with other parties unless written consent is given by the client.

Sarah Foley- is onsite at Rosary Mondays and Tuesdays during term.

Whole Day Absences

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.  There is no need to adjust times for whole day absences.

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.

Covid and Cold and Flu season are now upon us. To assist in preventing the spread of illness, we seek your co-operation keeping children at home if they are unwell and regularly reminding children about basic hygiene practices including:

Hand Hygiene: frequent washing of hands with soap and water. Using hand sanitizer where apporpriate.

Coughing/Sneezing Etiquette: covering of the mouth and nose with a tissue when coughing or sneezing, disposing of the tissue in the bin and washing hands. Alternatively, coughing into the elbow.

We thank you for your cooperation with this important health and safety matter.

Last weekend, Emma W competed in the AASCF State Championships in Sydney. In addition to two of her teams getting 2nd place in very tough divisions,  her Senior Level 1 team (Icy), came 1st place making them State Champions (NSW & ACT). They also achieved the highest score of all ACT Level 1 teams, making them ACT Grand Champions!! 

Now it's time to tighten up their routines, add in extra complexity, and make any other changes ready for the National Championships at the end of the year!

Well done!

Access to the clothing pool will now be as follows:

Monday - Friday - Before and after school only

Thank you to our wonderful parent volunteers who maintain the space for our community.

Please note: All donations of preloved uniforms (in good wearable condition) are welcome at the front office.

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 - 4.20pm (continuing) / Wednesday 8.00am - 9.00am (beginner)
• Action Tae Kwon-Do - Monday 6.30pm Children class / 7:30pm Adult class
• Chess Club - Tuesday 3.10pm - 4.30pm (Weeks 1-9)
• Zanshin Martial Arts - Tuesday 6.30pm Junior class / 7:30pm Senior class
• Artkids - Thursday 3.15pm - 5.00pm
• Italian Lessons - Friday 8:00am - 9:00am (beginner) 
• Musicorp (various instruments) / Piano Lessons - Friday 8:20am and during class time throughout the day
• Block Crafters - Tuesday and Wednesday Week 2 - Coding and Robotics After School Programme for interested students aged 8-12 years 
• Dance Club - PLAY - The Dance Agency - Tuesdays at Lunchtime from Weeks 2-10 - Kinder to Year 4

Please contact the school if you require further information.

Canteen Menu

What is GPN?

• The Girls' Programming Network is a workshop series for girls in grades 6-12.
• It is a community of women and girls interested in computer science, programming, and information technology.
• The workshops are led by GPN tutors and local women studying or working in IT across industry, academia, and government.
• In the workshop, girls will use coding skills to play a game of ‘Guess Who’? using a software package called Replit. Students of all skill levels are welcome—whether new to Python or already proficient. Tutors will cover the basics for beginners and introduce advanced concepts for those with more experience.
• The Australian Signals Directorate has a long-standing relationship with the GPN and supports the Canberra node of this fantastic program.
• The workshops are free, and no prior coding experience is required.
• Lunch, snacks, and computers will be provided for students.

Registration details:

• Opens: Now open
• Closes: 13 September 2024, at 5:00 PM
• Register here: GPN Canberra Term 3 | Humanitix