Dear Parents and Carers

My Retirement

You may have seen the message in COMPASS this week from Pam Betts, Executive Director Catholic Education, announcing my impending retirement at the end of this school year. 

It was a big decision and one that I came to just recently, after a period of leave. It is time to  step back from the permanent principal role, reduce my workload and spend some more time with my family.  

Catholic Education will advertise the principal position at some point soon to allow time to find the best person to take over the position from 2026. Making my decision now enables this process to begin.  

Thank you all for continuing to make Rosary School a great place. It is a special school and a wonderful community.  

Thank you for your support over the past 4 years and I look forward to the next 7 months or so at Rosary and will enjoy each day.  I am blessed to have had this role and a career in Catholic Education. 

National Simultaneous Storytime

Classes were encouraged to participate in the National Simultaneous Storytime individually in their classrooms on Wednesday. This is the 25th consecutive year of this shared book reading experience.  

The book read nationally this year is titled 'The Truck Cat'.  Students were also invited to the Library during lunchtime to engage in some activities on the book.  Thank you to our teachers and Mrs Dawson for supporting this event and encouraging enjoyment in reading. 

Recent Author Visits to Rosary 

The Library has been a busy place lately -students have enjoyed visits from 3 authors highlighting a series of their books. 

One of our Rosary parents, Sandy Bigna, presented a workshop on her first children’s book, written in verse, titled Little Bones. Little Bones is a unique and lyrical verse novel for middle-grade readers that speaks to our childhood joy of collecting small, intriguing objects and creating connections in the most unlikely places.

Recommended age: 9 - 12

We are delighted that Sandy is part of our community and that we could host her sessions and promote her book for children to read.  Thank you Sandy for visiting Rosary.

We also had well known authors Kate and Jol Temple do workshops on their very popular series of books. Kate and Jol Temple are the internationally awarded authors of more than 26 books for children. Their work has been translated into over 20 languages. They write picture books (including the smash-hit series Bin Chicken) as well as bestselling junior fiction. The students loved the interactive sessions and learnt so much about writing and also illustrating their work.  

Thank you to our librarian, Mrs Jodie Dawson, for organising these sessions for organising these quality visits for our students.  Thank you to Kate and Jol for visiting Rosary School.  

Kinder Assembly this Friday 23 May

This Friday we look forward to the Kindergarten assembly which is always a lovely event.  It will be good for the kindergarten students and teachers to showcase their learning  journey in their first 14 weeks at primary school.  This is the first year level assembly for 2025 and I wish them well.   

Rosary Rostrum Final

On Thursday this week we had the Rosary Rostrum public speaking final in the hall.  This year, following year level presentations, 8 students from Years 4-6 were successful in making the school final.  The quality of the speeches was extremely high this year with all speakers presenting their chosen topic with good tone, expression and volume.  Their preparation was of a high standard and their individual personalities and skills were on display.

Congratulations to our 8 school finalists:

Dorothy Fryar, Annabelle Power, Elora Morgan, Anastasia Lewis, Paige longworth, Millie Conlin, Eve Andonski and Leo Spaccavento 

The judging panel selected the school winner as Eve Andonoski and the school runner-up as Paige Longworth. 

Eve will progress to the regional final shortly and Paige will be a reserve and on standby to speak if required.  

Kinder Zoo Excursion

On Monday this week our Kindergarten students and teachers enjoyed a terrific excursion to the National Zoo and Aquarium.  Students learned lots about many animals and creatures in their tour with a real life zoo keeper.  They also enjoyed some free time to revisit their favorite enclosures and spend time at the zoo’s playground. Thank you to the parent volunteers who attended and assisted on the excursion. 

Rugby/Netball Gala Days

Over the last week or so Rosary students have participated in a range of sporting Gala Days, including the Matt Giteau Rugby Union Cup and the midweek inter school Netball Competition for Years 5 and 6 students. Next Tuesday is the Netball Gala Day for students in Years 3 and 4.  

Well done to all students for the way they have played and represented Rosary School. Thank you to teachers and volunteers who have helped with the events and made it possible to participate. 

 Student Lunchtime Clubs and Activities 

Quite often parents say to the school that they're not aware of the lunchtime clubs and extracurricular activities the school offers. So I thought I'd take this opportunity to share with you the activities that are happening in term 2 during lunchtimes and also before/after school.  Rosary has always supported extracurricular activities that enhance students’ interests. 

I hope parents may now be able to encourage their child to take part in activities of interest and benefit to them. You could also send a message to their child’s teacher to see whether the child can make it into one of these activities this term.  

The following clubs are currently offered:

STEM Club - lunch time on Tuesdays

Gym Club - lunch time on Wednesdays

Agricultural Club - lunch time on Thursdays 

The Library is also open every day of the week and students can participate in:

• Lego Building
• Playing Chess
• Creating drawings at the art tables
• Learning to fly in Aero Club on desktop computers 
• Finding a nice comfy chair to sit in and reading a book.

School Day Tuition (*fees apply):

Piano Lessons taught by Kerrie Yard - Thursday and Friday

Instrument Lessons facilitated by MUSICORP and taught by Steve - Fridays 

Dance Club - PLAY - The Dance Agency - Tuesdays at Lunchtime 

After School Extracurricular Activities (*fees apply) currently include  : 

Art and Craft Club facilitated by Art Kids - Thursday afternoon

Chess Club facilitated by ACT Chess coaches and Mrs Dawson - Tuesday afternoon

STEM Clubs, one session on Tuesday and another on Wednesday afternoon

Languages Classes including French Lessons - Wednesday before school (beginner) from week 2 and Italian Lessons - Friday before school (beginner) 

Wishing you all the best for the week ahead.

God Bless.

Greg Walker

Principal