Principals Report Week 8 Term 3
Dear Parents and Carers
Sacrament of Confirmation Friday Evening
Good luck to our Year 6 candidates receiving the Sacrament of Confirmation on Friday evening at 5.30pm in our parish. Our Archbishop Christopher Prowse will confirm the students in this special Eucharistic celebration with our community. Thank you to the parents, Fr Renoir and the teachers who have prepared the students for this sacrament.
We pray for all of the students being confirmed.
Holy Spirit, strengthen our candidates with your gifts of Wisdom, Understanding, Right Judgement, Courage, Knowledge, Reverence, and Wonder and Awe in God’s Presence. May they be filled with the joy of your presence and serve as a disciple of Christ. Grant that they grow through your unconditional love and the fruits of your Spirit be an example to others. Help them to trust in you so they can count on your guidance today and every day. Show them the way to help one another, become better disciples of Jesus Christ, sharing your love with our world and with each person they meet.
Come, Holy Spirit, Come! Amen.
RUOK? Day Focus
“RUOK?” is an abbreviation of "Are you okay?" The focus is on encouraging people to have meaningful conversations with others who may be struggling by asking the simple question "Are you OK?". “RUOK” Day was founded in 2009. Students did some activities in class today and were encouraged to check in with their friends and also our staff.
There was a splash of yellow around the school to celebrate and promote this day's important messaging. Given the rain over the past 24 hours, the students were fortunate to be able to go to the new playground in Watson for a play. It was our first formal school event there but I'm sure there will be many more opportunities in the future.
Rosary Community Council Update
On Wednesday 3 September the Rosary Community Council held an open meeting for new parents and carers to attend. It was really nice to welcome two new parents to the meeting and they had an opportunity to meet our group and also see how we operate and what is on our agenda.
We look forward to sharing more information about the Community Council and its structure and plans for 2026.
CS#1 Collaboration
I wanted to share with you that the Community Council and I are committed to liaising with our Community Services #1 leadership team to get updates on their ‘out-of-school -hours’ service and provide them with your feedback on how to improve their program, communication and service.
We will provide another parent/carer survey mid-term 4 to give you an opportunity to share your ideas and feedback on the second half of the 2025 year.
Term 3 Learning Journey Coming Up
On Monday 22 September (Week 10), between 8.30am and 9.30am, we have our Term 3 Learning Journey at Rosary School. For those parents and carers new to our school, you are invited into your child's classroom and the school in general to view some of their Term 3 work and other examples of their activities they have been working on recently. Some students take their parents to other classrooms such as their specialist rooms for subjects like Library, Music, STEM and Indonesian. There has been a very good turn out for learning Journey’s in the past.
You are very welcome to come along, all you need is for 15 or 20 minutes in the morning to drop by. Your partnership in educating and supporting your child is valued by the Rosary staff.
Year 5 in ACT Wakakirri Finals Night
Good luck to our Year 5 students for their upcoming performance in the ACT Finals Night at the Canberra Theatre next Thursday night,18 September. This will be an amazing experience being able to perform again with all of the top schools.
Transition from Winter Uniform to Summer Uniform
After some wet and cool weather it looks like the daytime temperatures are warming up from next week. Therefore, if students wish, they are permitted to wear their summer uniform to school from Monday 15 September (Week 9). I encourage them to have a jumper available for those times when the temperature is still a bit cool. The wearing of the summer uniform officially begins in Term 4 and is also worn for Term 1, 2026.
Please remind your child that they must wear the broad-brimmed blue school hat each day.
Thank you.
Issues around ‘Roasting’ Practice in Society and Flow on Effect in Schools
This week the teachers and I have been speaking to Rosary students around the negative impact of a practice called ‘roasting’. It does happen at our school and it upsets the students when it occurs. I just wanted to bring it to your attention.
‘Roasting’ is not new but has found its way into homes through comedy shows, TV shows, radio programs and in online gaming activities. It is the practice of using put down language and comments and criticising people as a form of humour or entertainment. This practice is often done in front of peers and has a negative effect on children and their social setting. Sometimes these ‘roasting’ games or sessions come with rules, one often being that you cannot tell a teacher or ‘dob’ on a person for what they say.
Unfortunately, there are no winners in these games when this practice occurs in schools or with children. Children cannot differentiate between this type of intended humour and bullying. Developmentally children are not ready to handle the type of comments potentially made by another person. Comments are often about their appearance, their sports skills, their academic level or their friends.
At Rosary we are attempting to STOP this practice - which is difficult as it goes against the culture of what is happening in society more broadly. When spoken to by staff about what they have said that has upset someone, students often say - “I was only joking!”
You can support your child and the school by talking with them about this negative activity. At Rosary, we certainly do not want to accept or normalise this behaviour and way of speaking.
If you are interested in learning more, I have attached some information and links about the practice of ‘roasting’ and its impact on children.
https://medium.com/netsanity-posts/roasting-is-it-glorified-bullying-33a07e992aaa
Wishing you well for the week ahead. Go RAIDERS!
God Bless.
Greg Walker
Principal