Dear Parents and Friends,
This week, we welcomed two ACU undergraduate teachers into our midst. I warmly welcome Miss Grace Bright to Yr 6 Athens and Miss Jayme O’Brien to Yr 3/4 Cairo and to the Rosary school community as a whole. The undergraduate placement program is an important partnership between the Australian Catholic University and our Catholic system of schooling in developing top quality teachers for the future. I sincerely wish the ladies all the very best as they complete the practicum component of their studies this year.
St Vincent de Paul COVID-19 Crisis Appeal
Vinnies has launched a Crisis Appeal to raise funds for additional need due to COVID-19. Due to restrictions of operation, it has not been possible to run an appeal in the traditional manner. Vinnies is accepting donations to the appeal online at https://donate.vinnies.org.au/donation-hub or by calling 13 18 12. The Vinnies Night Patrol Vans are still seeking physical donations of warm items such as blankets, jackets and new socks etc. If you are unable to contribute financially, you may be able to donate these items to your closest Vinnies shop for the Night Patrol. All donations are quarantined for 72 hours before being sorted. For a list of open stores, please visit the Vinnies website. Any help that you can provide will be greatly appreciated.
Petition – That the Catholic Community be permitted to conduct religious services with 50 persons
The Archdiocese of Sydney has successfully petitioned the NSW Government to allow 50 people to attend Mass (excluding priest and those involved in liturgical ministries) effective from Monday, 1 June. However, Masses in the ACT can only be celebrated with no more than 20 people (excluding priest and those involved in liturgical ministries) effective Saturday 30 May. The Archdiocese has asked that we please share the link to a petition with our school communities.
Sports Equipment from Home
Please ensure that your child does not bring his/her own sports equipment to school – with the exception of the little rubber bouncing balls that are used for playing handball at school. Please ensure these are labelled with your child’s name. The school has a generous supply of sports equipment for the children to use during the breaks. When children bring their own things, it creates problems on the playground with regard to issues of property going missing or being damaged and of ownership/power e.g. ‘I own the soccer ball, therefore I’m the boss of the game’.
Do you know where your fees go?
It is that time of the term when fees are due and I thought it timely to remind you of how these monies are disbursed:
The Catholic Education Office Tuition Fee is a payment that is made to cover the cost of teacher salaries within the system. Regardless of how much of this fee is received by the school, there is a requirement to remit 80% of the total amount due to the Catholic Education Office.
The Catholic Education Office Building Levy is in fact a tax deductible donation that is used for the maintenance of school buildings in the system (not to build new schools).
The School Resource Fee covers the costs associated with administration of the school e.g. utilities, cleaning supplies, office equipment and grounds works and maintenance. It also includes purchase, upgrade and maintenance of technologies within the school as well as covering some subscriptions for software and licensing. It is also used to cover both visits to the school by third parties offering educational programs and visits by students to venues outside of the school and covers the costs associated with sporting events requiring transport and venue hire.
The Student Resource Fee is spent on text books, stationery, art supplies and all other consumables used by the students as required for their classes.
As you will appreciate, it is very important to the successful operation of the school and the education of the students that fees are paid in full and in a timely manner. However, we do understand that times are particularly challenging at the moment. For any family experiencing genuine financial hardship, the process is to contact the Principal in the first instance. Please be assured that all matters are handled in strict confidence.
Thought for the week:
"We make a living by what we get. We make a life by what we give."
Winston Churchill
Vicky van der Sanden