Dear Parents and Friends,

It has been a shorter term than usual (9 weeks instead of 10) but I cannot believe that we are already at the end of it! I take this opportunity to thank the staff for their professionalism and their dedication to the students and I thank all our parents for the many ways in which assistance and support have been provided to the school. I thank the students for the wonderful ways in which they have engaged with their learning and embraced school life.

In the lead up to Easter, tomorrow we will participate in liturgies commemorating the events of Holy Week. I thank all the teachers involved in the preparations for their efforts in making these meaningful for the children. I hope that parents will take the opportunity to attend the Easter Ceremonies with the children over the coming weekend so that they can make the connection between what they have participated in at school and the events of Holy Week as they are commemorated in the Church. Easter is the high point on the liturgical calendar in our Catholic Tradition.

 “The resurrection was intended to be given to all the living, to be carried out in the world, to all the dark places where people need the reassuring presence of the risen Christ embodied in a caring, loving, compassionate person. Easter is a beautiful day to ground ourselves in the message and power of the resurrection and recommit ourselves to the endless task of renewing God’s creation and a broken, fragile humanity. The living one is not in our churches but in the hearts of all believers.” (From: Mindful Meditations for Every Day of Lent and Easter. Savage and McSweeny.)

Pupil Free Day

Please see the Letter from the Director of Catholic Education, available further in this newsletter, regarding the Pupil Free Day scheduled for 19 April.

OSHClub is not licensed to open for vacation periods (including whole days such as this) at Rosary and so cannot take enrolments for out of school hours care on that day located here. The closest OSHClub service that families can access is St Thomas Aquinas as it is running an extended Holiday Program for 19 April. Parents would need to contact OSHClub to book ahead of time.

Cyber Safety

With the holidays upon us, it is timely to think about cyber safety for your children. Parents need to be aware that ‘Facebook’ and other social networking sites recommend that users be over the age of 13 years, placing users in the secondary age group or older. Do you know if your child is on ‘Facebook’ (or part of some other internet group) or has been invited to be a member of someone else’s social media site? It is recommended that your child is in an open area of the household when using digital applications. There is the potential for online sites to promote bullying and create child protection issues if used inappropriately and without adult supervision. I strongly recommend you speak with your child if they are in Year 4 or above to find out what they are ‘up to’ in the digital world. Students should never give their name, address, age, photo or personal details to anyone online and should not accept invitations to join online sites without your knowledge. Please speak with your child about respectful behaviours at all times whether they are interacting in the real or the digital world. More information can be accessed at www.staysmartonline.gov.au

Start of Term Two

Term Two begins on Tuesday 20^th April. Monday 19^th is a system wide Pupil Free Day which means that staff will be at school engaging in professional learning but the students will not be in attendance.

When students return to school, it is time for them to be wearing the winter uniform. However, there is a period of two week’s grace when either the summer or winter uniform can be worn to accommodate fluctuating weather conditions at this time of the year. Please see the tables below which detail uniform requirements:

Disco Thanks

All the children had a wonderful time at the Disco last Friday evening and were beautifully behaved. They loved the food, the dancing, the lights and glowsticks, the music and the company of one another. Thank you so much to the many volunteer parents who were there to supervise, serve in the canteen and set up and pack up. Special thanks to Justine Tansley and David Chapple for all the hard work that went into ensuring the success of the Disco.

Parent/Teacher Learning Conversations

From my perspective, the Parent/Teacher Learning Conversations went very well. Thank you to the many parents who took this opportunity to discuss their child’s progress and set goals for future learning. If you missed the chance and would still like to see your child’s teacher, please make an appointment through the front office for a meeting next term.

Lost Clothing

Please check (or ask your child to check) the lost property boxes in the area next to the door that leads from the quad into the foyer for any missing items of clothing, lunchboxes and drink bottles before the end of term.

School Counsellor

Our current School Counsellor, Kate Dean, is leaving to take up a new role. Yesterday was her last day at the school and she spent time handing over to our new Counsellor, Jessica O'Rourke. I take this opportunity to thank Kate for her wonderful work with the students and families this term and to welcome Jessica to the school. I also thank Catholic Care for providing this valuable service to our school. If you wish to make contact with the Counsellor, please leave a message at the front office and Jessica will return your call. Jessica will be working at Rosary every Monday for full days and on Tuesdays from 9am to 1pm. Parents can also access counselling services by filling in a referral form available on Catholic Care’s website or by following this link: https://catholiccare.force.com/housing/s/school-referral-form

REPEAT NOTICE:

Catholic Schools Enrolment Period For All Catholic Schools

The Catholic Schools Enrolment Period is from Monday 3 May – Friday 21 May (Weeks 3 – 5 inclusive, Term 2) for students commencing in 2022. If you know of anyone outside of our school community who has a child at a Pre-school or Early Learning Centre, please notify them of the opportunity to enrol at Rosary Primary School during the above period.

I wish everyone a truly happy and holy Easter and an enjoyable, restful break with loved ones. Stay safe and well. I also hope the Easter Bunny will bring lots of chocolate smiles to little faces!

Our students have had a busy and engaging term with their literature and information literacy lessons this term. I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate Year Five and Six students who have embraced the SORA eBook platform that is available to them free of charge through Catholic Education. The Catholic Education Library and IT department announced yesterday that our borrowing statistics are outstanding for a small cohort in a school of our size! Well done to our senior students!! We have encouraged our Year 5/6 students to continue with their consistent reading of eBooks over the coming holiday break.

All RPS students are enrolled in the Chief Minister's Reading Challenge for 2021. We always participate, though didn't due to covid last year. We hold the reading records at school here in the Library. Students record their books at least fortnightly. We encourage any reading done out of school hours to be recorded and then brought into school to add to their recording sheet. Each child is required to read at least 30 books before August 6. There are book prizes donated by Paperchain Bookshop when we complete the challenge! Please contact either of us for further clarification.

Happy Easter and holiday break to you all! 

Stay safe and find multiple opportunities to curl up in the sunshine with a book in hand.

Sandy Vincent and Jodie Dawson

Congratulations to the following students who received a BEST Award:

Sebastian Brusic
Noah Wilson
Marcelo Valdivia
Anna Stein
Aiden Wong
Lily Kain
James Stein
Charlie Gareffa
April Stoker
Jake Harmer
Callum Melville
Hugo Pochi
Spencer Mostyn

We have been able to reinstate most of our events for the 2021 calendar year. However, due to the ongoing Covid-19 situation, some events may need to change or be conducted differently. If there are changes, we will advise you as soon as practicable.

• Ride and Walk to School - Thursday 1st April 8:30am departing Watson Shops
• Holy Thursday Liturgies - Thursday 1st April
• Last day of Term 1 - Thursday 1st April
• Pupil Free Day - Monday 19th April
• First day of Term 2 - Tuesday 20th April
• First Eucharist Formation Evening - Thursday 22nd April 5:30pm at Holy Rosary Church

There will be NO school banking this week (Week 9).

School Banking will resume in Week 1 of Term 2.

THURSDAY 1ST APRIL (Final day of Term 1)

This year Rosary will AGAIN participate in the ACT Government’s Ride or Walk to School program. The program suggests that we all consider our transport habits and try to incorporate more walking or riding as part of a healthy, active way to get around. And although walking or riding all the way to school isn’t realistic for many of us, it’s quite easy to figure out how you can build a walk into your family’s daily routine.

You can teach your child the healthy habit of walking or riding more by:

- Walking or riding with them the whole way to school

- If they get the bus, walk past your usual stop and get on at the next stop

- If you have to drive, park the car a few blocks away from the school and walk the rest of the way.

Regular exercise like walking and riding with your child not only helps them (and you!) beat chronic problems like obesity, heart disease, behavioural and mental health issues and diabetes, it also gives you a great opportunity to teach your child safe ways to behave around roads and traffic.

Please join us on the last day of term by using your legs or wheels to get to school. Remember that helmets must be worn if your child is cycling or riding a scooter.

Some of the staff will be at the Watson shops ready for an 8:30am departure. Parents are welcome to walk with us. This is always a well-attended event and builds school and community spirit. We hope to see many children and parents arriving at school without their car!

Kind regards,

Julie Godfrey

Coordinator

Thank you to everyone who was involved in putting together our first edition of “Supporting Local Businesses”.  Our first edition was sent out in November last year and it is now time for an update!

For those families not aware of this initiative, or to refresh your memories, this initiative arose out of a desire to assist Rosary families dealing with the economic impacts of the pandemic by promoting Rosary family businesses within our local community. 

The current flyer will be updated to include any additional businesses and will be sent out early next term, so for all families wishing to promote their business in the next edition, please email the Rosary Council at rosarycouncil@gmail.com

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 Rosary Community Council Representatives for 2021 are:

Should you wish to contact the council please email: rosarycouncil@gmail.com

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
• 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
• 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
• Musicorp (various instruments) / Piano Lessons - Friday 8:20am and during class time throughout the day

Please contact the school if you require further information.

Not sure if the sudden interest has come from the Netflix series The Queen's Gambit, but we have been over-subscribed with students wanting to join our after-school program. I have been supporting this program for over 20 years and this year's 32 participants is our highest number yet!! The coaches do a splendid job of creating various activity stations that engage the students in all things chess. We are very lucky to have their skill base and creativity.

Sandy Vincent

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)   Monday 5 October – Friday 17 December