Dear Parents and Carers

Welcome to Week 8 news.

Chief Minister Andrew Barr Visit to Rosary - Thursday 20 June

This week Rosary School is delighted to host a visit by Chief Minister Andrew Barr and Mr Ross Fox, Director of Catholic Education Canberra and Goulburn. Our guests will undertake a tour of the school and discuss our teaching and learning, before sharing morning tea with our staff. This is a wonderful opportunity to showcase our school community and our Rosary and System initiatives.  

Ms Hanratty Thank You

At the end of this term Ms Janet Hanratty completes her role on Kinder Paris. This is a planned process as Mrs Ann-Maree Hinds is returning from maternity leave and will teach the class for the remainder of 2024.

I would like to thank Ms Hanratty for teaching Kinder Paris for the first two terms this year.  She has ensured that all of the students settled in well to school and established important routines.  The students have also participated well in their learning thanks to the strong emphasis placed on this area by Ms Hanratty.  The class is very settled and performing well.

I wish Ms Hanratty all the best, she will continue her long association with Rosary in the form of relief teaching in the future. 

Rostrum Public Speaking Finals

Congratulations to Eve Andonovski (Year 5) o n speaking in the Rostrum Quarter Finals this week at Lyneham School. Eve was our school Rostrum final winner and our representative at this next level. Eve spoke really well at the quarter final event and should be very proud of her presentation. The standard of the speakers was very high and in the end two students from other schools were selected to progress to the upcoming semi-finals.

Congratulations also to James Stein (Year 6) who was the runner-up in our school Rostrum final held at school.  James’ speech was also excellent in the school final.  Well done to the other finalists who spoke in the school final - Evelyn Box (Year 4), Leo Spaccavento, Paige Longworth (Year 4) and Charlotte Woodhouse (Year 6).  

Thank you to Mr Read and Mrs Hillsdon for organising our Rostrum event this year. 

Increased Number of Staff Absences 

For much of the year, Rosary School is able to cover teachers and staff away from school with a relief teacher to take the class/role. However, in the last 2 weeks we have had an increase in the number of teachers and staff away with illness. I think all workplaces may be experiencing this in the ACT at the moment.  With the availability to relief teachers being stretched across all schools it is not always possible to find replacement staff.  This has resulted in more classes needing to be split or shared so that they can continue to work and be supervised. 

Fortunately, there has been minimal disruption in the running of the school.  Our staff have been very professional and generous in their efforts, often taking on extra responsibilities to ensure that student learning continues.  I thank them for this commitment. Thank you also for your understanding as parents too.   

ACT Cross Country Results

Congratulations to the Rosary students that participated in the A.C.T Cross Country Carnival at Stromlo last Friday.  Our students all ran very well, with some performing strongly and placing in their event:

Semester One Reports will be available next Wednesday 26 June

You are reminded that your child's Semester One Report will be available via the COMPASS portal next Wednesday 26 June. 

The report is followed by Parent/Teacher Learning Conversations to be held on Monday 1 July and Tuesday 2 July (Week 10).  We strongly encourage every parent and carer to meet with their child’s teacher to discuss their grades and receive a more detailed summary of their successes and areas to develop.  

A booking sheet with each teacher’s availability to meet will come out online very shortly.  

Principal Long Service Leave - Weeks 9 and 10 Term 2

I will be away on planned Long Service Leave for the last 2 weeks of this Term. During this period Mr John O’Brien will be Acting Principal and Ms Liz Higgins Acting Assistant Principal.  I wish everyone a good end to Term 2.  

Wishing you a wonderful week ahead.

God Bless

Greg Walker

Principal

• Semester One Reports Available on Compass - Wednesday 26th June
• Year 3 Assembly - Scheduled for Friday 21st June - Postponed - New Date to be Advised
• Parent Teacher Learning Conversations - Monday 1st July - Tuesday 2nd July 
• Term 2 Ends - Friday 5th July
• Term 3 Begins for Students - Tuesday 23rd July

Kinder Paris - Harding L, Ava H

1 Hague - Lexi S

3 Bangkok - Skye B

4 Rome - Henry B

5 Washington - Amelia M-G

6 Athens - Ari T

6 London - Rebecca L, Jean-Louis M

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.

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.

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.

Rosary Netball Club will be holding training sessions this term on Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday afternoons between 3.30pm and 4.30pm on the school netball courts. 

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 - Wednesday Week 2 - Coding and Robotics After School Programme for interested students aged 8-12 years (currently fully booked).
• 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.

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