Dear Parents and Carers

Thank you to everyone for a great Term 3.  

Learning Journeys 

Thank you to those who were able to attend our Learning Journey on Monday morning this week.  

It was great to see so many visitors join their children on a tour of their classroom and a look at their school work. There was a real buzz around our school, with students very proud of their achievements and your presence.  

2024 Major Event/Fundraiser - Colour Run

Excitement is building for the Colour Run this Friday afternoon!  This new event should be a lot of fun as well as raising funds to go towards new resources for students in the school. Money raised will go towards purchasing special resources that will enhance learning and fun at school.  Items will be selected from the wishlist collated from ideas from students, staff and parents.   

All of the relevant information has been disseminated via COMPASS.  Parents are welcome to attend, and many parents and carers have nominated as volunteers.  Thank you.

Thank you also to our Community Council Fundraising member, Tesse Crozier.  Tesse has worked tirelessly to make this new event a success. Thank you also to Mrs Mara Pangallo and Miss Nicole Rich for helping organise the event as well. 

The colour run starts at 1.30pm on the school oval. Parking will be limited with the school courts closed until the end of the school day, so please consider parking in nearby streets or the parish car park.          

Staff News

Mrs Julie Godfrey Long Service Leave

Good luck to Mrs Godfrey who is taking long service next term.  This is well deserved and will be a great break. 

Mr Damien Hinds will take the Year 3 Bangkok class full time for Term 4. 

Thank you to Mrs Emily Meagher who has taught Year 3 Bangkok for 3 days per week this term. We really appreciate Mrs Meagher’s teaching and work with these students. 

Acting Coordinator Appointment (Executive Teacher) for Term 4

With Mrs Godfrey on leave, Mrs Emma Hillsdon has been appointed as Acting Primary Coordinator for next term. I wish Mrs Hillsdon good luck in this role, she has a great deal of experience in teaching and learning and is our current Year 3-6 literacy leader. 

Mrs Emily Meagher will teach Year 4 Dublin on the days when Mrs Hillsdon is released for her executive role.  As mentioned above,Mrs Meagher has been supporting Rosary in various contract roles in other classes and I know she will be an asset to this class. 

New Classroom Support Assistants to start at Rosary in Term 4. 

With the change in the career opportunities for some classroom support assistants who graduated from university recently, I am pleased to announce that 4 new classroom assistants will begin working at Rosary in Term 4. There are also two current casual classroom assistants working at Rosary who have been offered formal hours for Term 4. I will announce and welcome these staff formally at the start of next term. 

These appointments will ensure that  all of our students and classroom teachers will have plenty of support in Term 4. These new staff will also gain experience working at Rosary as we plan for the 2025 school year. 

New Projector in School Hall

This week a new projector has been installed in the school hall. The new picture quality is exceptional and vastly improved from the image projected from the old machine.  Those attending future school assemblies and events will certainly notice the difference and detail in the presentations.    

Reminder - First Day of Term 4 2024 

You are reminded that the first day for all students in Term 4 is Monday 14 October.  There is no staff development day to start this term.

Also, the last day for students in Term 4 is Monday 16 December.    

2025 A.C.T. Systemic Catholic School Term Dates

Catholic Education Canberra and Goulburn have released the school term dates for 2025.  Please note that our Director has approved some extra pupil free days for 2025. These days are for all Catholic Schools in our system and provide school staff with more time for professional learning and planning to support our students. 

ACT 2025 STUDENT ATTENDANCE DATES

I wish everyone a restful school holiday break and hope families can spend some extra time together. 

God Bless

Greg Walker

Principal 

• Colour Fun Run Friday 27th September
• Last day of Term 3 Friday 27th September
• Term 4 Commences Monday 14th October 
• Constable Kenny Koala Visit - Kinder, Year 1 and 2 - Monday 14th October
• Year 2 Liturgy - Friday 18th October - Holy Rosary Church 10.00am

All students are encouraged to wear old clothes and/or dark clothing, as we’ll be getting colorful! 

A Live Webinar with Australian Astronaut Katherine Bennell-Pegg

Yesterday the students in years 4, 5 and 6 were able to watch a live webinar interview with Katherine Bennell-Pegg, Australia’s first astronaut to be trained under the Australian flag.  We learnt about Katherine's path to becoming an astronaut, her current work as an astronaut and her work with the Australian Space Agency.  She is truly an inspiration to us all, especially for any student who may wish to follow a path in one of the many areas of STEM.

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 - 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 - Tuesday and Wednesday Week 2 - Coding and Robotics After School Programme for interested students aged 8-12 years 
• 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.

Canteen Menu

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.

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.