Dear Parents and Carers 

This Friday 8 August we celebrate the Feast Day of our only Australian saint - Saint Mary MacKillop. 

St Mary of the Cross MackIllop Feast Day 

This Friday 8 August is the Feast Day of Saint Mary of the Cross MacKillop. 

Australia's first saint is Saint Mary of the Cross MacKillop. She was canonized on October 17, 2010, by Pope Benedict XVI in Rome. She was beatified in Sydney in 1995. Mary MacKillop is celebrated for her work with the poor, especially in education, and her founding of the Sisters of St Joseph of the Sacred Heart.   

We Pray:

God, through the intercession of Mary MacKillop, we pray that the fire of your compassion will ignite many hearts. 

May Mary's attentiveness to your dream inspire us. 

May her energy to overcome injustice empower us. 

May we, like her, make manifest of your presence in our troubled world.

Amen

(source: bbbcatholic.org.au)

Welcome to Mrs Sylwia Ward - University Student Teacher on Kinder Paris

This week we welcomed Mrs Ward who will be observing and co-teaching in Kinder Paris for 4 weeks. This is a wonderful period of the year to be in Kindergarten and our school. It is also great to have an extra pair of hands in the classroom.   

Congratulations to our Year 5 Wakairri Team

Well done to our Year 5 students and staff for an amazing Wakakirri story and dance production at the Canberra Theatre on Monday night.  Their performance was mesmerising and perfect! Their story was based on ‘The Secret Garden.’ Their dance and movement told the story clearly and creatively. Their costumes were spectacular.

A huge thank you to Rob Wilson, a very kind and talented Rosary parent who again helped with our Wakirri production. Rob created and produced amazing digital backdrops for our dance and story presentation.  The digital images really complemented the performance of our students and provided a visual context for our story. This is the fourth year Rob has assisted our Wakakirri Team - thanks Rob, we couldn’t do it without you! 

Author Visit to Rosary - Katrina Nannestad

This week we had a fantastic and informative author visit from Katrina Naanestad.  Katrina ran sessions for all students from Kindergarten to Year 6. I was fortunate to attend the Year 5/Year 6  session and it was very interesting for the students to hear about how Katrina writes her historical fiction books from start to end.  The topics and themes in her books explore the lives of ordinary children caught up in some of the most challenging events/times in history.  Her characters are fictional but based on historical context.  Truly amazing to read.  I think our students were blessed to have listened to Katrina’s presentations. 

More information can be found at: 

https://www.katrinanannestad.com/

School hats back on from Week 4 (next week)

From next week students will need to wear school hats before school, at recess and at lunch.  This is from Monday 11 August. Sunsmart and The Cancer Council advise that people don't need to wear hats in Canberra for the months of June and July but people should wear hats from August onwards - as UV ratings increase. Students were informed of this earlier in the week at morning assembly so they have time to prepare. 

Term 3 Focus on Students’ Lining Up and Transitioning into School/Class to Class

This term Rosary School is having a strong focus on lining up and moving around the school and transitioning between classes and lessons quietly and orderly.  You'll hear myself and staff using the term "voices off".   When students are moving around in an orderley fashion with their voices off, it will create more head space for their learning and we'll be safer at school. 

Whole School Social Skills Program - Term 3

This year Rosary has introduced a couple of social school programs for students in Kindergarten to Year 6.  Each program is tailored to the developmental levels and the social skills stage for each age group.  In Term 3 we are using a resource called ‘URSTRONG’, and in particular, one of their programs called ‘Friendology101.’ 

How does URSTRONG work?

URSTRONG is all about empowering kids with friendship skills!  They have developed a proven, skills-based strategy that teaches kid-friendly concepts, skills and language to help them build and maintain healthy friendships.

Athletics Carnival this Friday

Good luck to everyone participating in the Rosary athletics carnival this Friday at Dickson Playing Fields. I hope everyone has been training up for the range of events and will enjoy participating in the various events and activities.  The carnival should be a lot of fun and for those who are a bit more serious and into their athletics, there is an opportunity to try and perform well and maybe go on to be selected to represent Rosary School at the district and/or ACT level carnivals. 

Thank you Mrs Elizabeth Fryar, our sports coordinator, who has spent a great deal of time organising the carnival. Thank you to all of volunteers coming along to assist too.   

Rosary Competing in Northside Chess Competition

This Thursday Rosary students will compete in the 2025 ACT Primary Chess Championship- Gungahlin Zone at  The Valley Campus, Burgmann College. 

The students in our chess club at school continue to impress with their level of skill and the way they commit to further their game strategy and fair play. Many students from our chess club at school will be part of the team that participates on Thursday.  We wish all these students good luck against the very good competition from other students and schools.   What a great opportunity! Thank you to Mrs Jodie Dawson and the evergreen Mrs Sandy Vincent for their continuing support for the Rosary Chess Club. Have fun everyone. 

‘Healthy Harold’ visiting Rosary next week!

I wonder how many of our Rosary parents and carers remember Healthy Harold from their primary school days?  Does this picture ring a bell?

Life Education presents health education to a range students through the character of Healthy Harold!  The education team and van will be here at Rosary for the week. 

Wishing you well for the week ahead.

God Bless.

Greg Walker

Principal