Dear Parents and Carers

 World Teachers’ Day - Reach out with a message of thanks and appreciation!

This Friday is World Teachers’ Day!  Or as I like to call it - World Staff Day!  We work as a team at Rosary and all staff support our students and families in some way.  Every child matters and every staff member matters.

If you can spare a few minutes before Friday or on Friday, maybe you or your child could write a note of thanks or appreciation to a teacher or member of our staff. It could even be a picture or even a chat in person. That's the best acknowledgement we like!

We are all blessed and privileged to be able to educate and work with our students and your support and encouragement means so much.  Thank you.     

This message of support and thanks for all teachers and staff also came through from the National Catholic Education Commission.

Hats off to teachers!  

Tomorrow on World Teachers’ Day (31 October), we celebrate more than 112,000 dedicated staff in Catholic schools across Australia. Each one plays a vital role in forming the minds and hearts of our young people. Their work is not simply a job – it is a vocation of deep service, hope and love. 

In classrooms, playgrounds, staff rooms and communities, our teachers accompany students as they learn, grow and discover who they are called to be. They help each child flourish, nurturing knowledge, wellbeing, faith and the inherent dignity of every student. In doing so, they share in God’s plan for fullness of life, both here and in eternity. 

We are very grateful for the patience, wisdom and compassion our teachers offer each day. Their influence reaches far beyond the school gate, it shapes lives, strengthens families and enriches the common good. 

To all our teachers and school staff, thank you. Your vocation makes a lasting difference today and every day. We hope you enjoy your special day! 

 Jacinta Collins
Executive Director
National Catholic Education Commission

Chief Minister’s Annual Reading Challenge Awards

Rosary students again picked up Awards in the Chief Minister's Reading Challenge held this year. Last week two of our Year 5 students, Sangay and Eve, attended the awards ceremony with Mrs Green and Mrs Watson.  The ceremony was at the National Library of Australia. Students also had a special tour of the Library to places not often open to the public.  They also took part in some writing and reading activities.      

 The Awards we received were in the categories for Kindergarten to Year 2 and also the Year 3 and Year 4 division.  Well done to all of the students for reading so many books as part of the challenge!  Well done. 

Coming Up - ‘Principal for a Day’ Reward

Shortly we will have the Principal for a Day Fun Day Reward as well as a special treat for the highest earning class for donations. We are looking forward to having the final celebrations of our major fundraising event - the colour run!  

Advance Notice - Lockdown Drill Coming Up next Wednesday

I would just like to give parents and carers a heads up that as a school we will be having a Lockdown Drill next Wednesday 5 November. We are required to have these drills to ensure students, staff and visitors are prepared in the event of a ‘need’ to stay really safe and quiet inside the school or the classroom.  For example there may be an incident within the school, an outside threat or something happening in the community where people can’t be outside the school buildings. These events are rare but do happen in some of our schools at times.

If you feel your child may be anxious about our practice drill, please feel free to talk to them in advance of next Wednesday and reassure them that their teacher and the school staff do this together and we will all be safe. The drill does involve turning lights off, closing all classroom blinds and curtains, locking their classroom door and sitting still and quiet so they do not draw attention to their presence in their room. We will only do this for 5-6 minutes but in a real scenario it can be longer.   

We also did regular evacuation drills earlier in the year and last term even had a couple of ‘false alarms’ where the fire brigade attended and we evacuated to the oval.   

If parents and carers find themselves at school at one of these times during an emergency, please follow the staff and the school routines.  Thank you.   

 Wishing everyone a great week ahead.  God bless.

Greg Walker 

Principal

RELIGIOUS EDUCATION NEWS

Catholic Mission - Socktober Fundraiser

 This year we were raising awareness and funds for communities in Zambia, to help ensure children have access to food and education, giving them the chance to build a brighter future.

This Friday 31 October, students are encouraged to attend school in crazy/odd/old socks and bring a GOLD COIN or more donation to support the work of Catholic Mission.

 

Change of Dates for Masses and Liturgies

Please note of the following changes:

Postponed (Fr Renoir away)

31 October - Year 5 Mass

14 November - Kinder Liturgy

New Dates

7 November - Year 5 & 6 Mass

21 November - Year 4 Mass

28 November - Kinder Liturgy

5 December - Year 1 & 2 Liturgy

All Souls

Year C | Sunday 2 November | purple

 “Young man, I say to you, arise.”

Please click on the link below to access the readings and reflections for this Sunday

November 2 - All Souls

Peace and best wishes,

Liz Higgins

Religious Education Coordinator

• Crazy Sock Day fundraiser - Friday 31 October 
• World Teacher's Day - Friday 31 October
• Lock Down Drill - Wednesday 5th November
• Year 5 & 6 Combined Mass - Friday 7 November
• Remembrance Day - Tuesday 11 November 
• Year 6 Excursion Mulligans Flat - Wednesday 12th November
• Kinder 2026 Orientation (Session 1) - Thursday 13th November
• Kinder 2026 Orientation (Session 2) - Thursday 20th November
• Year 2 Liturgy - Friday 5th December - New Date
• Year 1 Liturgy - Friday 5th December - New Date

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.

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 - Wednesday 8.00am - 9.00am (beginner) from week 2
• Italian Lessons - Friday 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 3.10pm - 5.00pm
• Musicorp (various instruments) / Piano Lessons - Friday 8:20am and during class time throughout the day
• Block Crafters - Tuesday and Wednesday from Week 2 - 3.15pm - 5.00pm Coding and Robotics After School Programme for interested students aged 8-12 years 
• Dance Club - PLAY - The Dance Agency - Wednesdays at Lunchtime from Weeks 2-9 - Kinder to Year 4

Please contact the school if you require further information.

ACT 2025 primary stuent attendance dates

ACT 2026 primary stuent attendance dates

Just a few reminders about the car parking and drop off / pick up arrangements:

• The speed limit is 5 km/hr in the car park and all road rules apply.
  
  
•  Pedestrians always have the right of way. 

• Park only in the designated parking spaces, facing forwards towards the university. 

• The white markings relate to traffic flow and parking (coloured markings relate to the children’s playing spaces.) 

• The area closest to the Peace Gates is reserved for Set Down Only in the mornings. Parents can stop in the marked bays long enough for children to alight from the vehicle on the quadrangle side and then enter the school through the Peace Gates. 

• For pedestrian safety there is no parking or stopping against kerb near Peace Gates after school. 

• Please note that no reversing is allowed from the bays marked on the courts. 

• Please follow the white arrows and drive in and drive out again in a forward direction only. This is to reduce the risk to children who cannot be seen by reversing vehicles. 

• Due to the spacing of the bays, parallel parking is only available in the area adjacent to the shade shelter on the oval. This area should be used by larger vehicles and trucks wherever possible. 

• Parallel parking is not available adjacent to the university grounds as this space is needed for vehicles to exit the parking area in a forward direction. 

• Parking on the courts is not permitted between 9:15am and 2:45pm as they are used for play at recess and lunch and by classes for sport throughout the day. 

• There is ‘Long Stay’ parking available in front of the hall for parents who spend time at the school after 9:00am. (This is the only area in which reversing to exit is permitted.) This ensures that the courts area is free for classes to use for sports lessons. 

• After school, some parents may need to see teachers or the front office staff. If this is the case, please leave your cars outside in the bus bay or behind the hall on Higginbotham Street as the gates are locked at 3:30pm. 

• All students travelling home by car are to wait in the quad until collected by a parent/carer. 

• Parents waiting for their children after school are asked to move well into the quad to assist access. 

• When children arrive at school, they are to enter via the Peace Gates in the quadrangle. Children are not to enter through the front office foyer. Likewise, children are not to leave through the front office at the end of the day unless catching a route bus. 

• No child is to meet a parent/carer anywhere other than the quadrangle area at the end of school. 

• The children must be supervised in the car park – they are not permitted to go to a parked vehicle without a parent/carer with them.