Dear Families
It is hard to believe that I have spent 10 years at Rosary School and that I will not be here next term! The time seems to have gone by so quickly. I should not be surprised, as I run into young adults in the shops in Prospect and they proudly remind me of their days at Rosary. Once they have told me what they are currently doing, I often like to tell them how proud I am of them. I also run into many ex-parents and have similar conversations.
At the other end of the scale, we have 30 little five-year-olds, bursting at the seams, to start school next term. A number of them I have known almost since birth! The excitement they have shared over this year about starting school is contagious and just another reason about why you do this job. Of course, telling them I was not going to be here was a difficult moment.
In between these two groups are 100’s of students that have past through Rosary School, in my time here and about double the number of parents. Interacting with all these people is what makes the job unlike any other and the reason you jump (mostly) out of bed each day and head to work. By 8:45 am you have said hello to about 200 students coming in the gate, most smiling back and quite happy to be at school.
The adults working in our school are a dedicated group of educators, all the way from the front office staff to the class teachers. These adults all contribute to the education of your children. The way the front office staff help children who are hurt or have forgotten their lunch or are just looking for someone to chat to at recess or lunch is marvellous modelling for your children. Mark our groundsman, has quietly helped, almost unnoticed, with some children who were having some difficulties, setting them up for gardening and other activities. The ESO's who support children for a variety of reasons making such an impact on those children's lives. And lastly, our teachers who spend so many hours, beyond the eyes of our community, working away to help our children learn in a great environment.
While it is still quite surreal, that I will not be here on Monday, July 20th, it is all the people that I know I will miss the most. And it is to you all, that I thank, for the wonderful time I have had a Rosary School.
The core business of a school is education. Our teachers have “rolled up their sleeves” and have been involved in looking at so many areas of the curriculum and the best methodology to convey learning to the children at our school over the last 10 years. The major focus areas have run over three years.
Our journey began 10 years ago in the area of numeracy. Firstly, several pairs of teachers were involved in a three-year professional learning program in this area. We soon gained support from the Catholic Education Office to run a three-year program in our school, where all our teachers were involved in sessions, on the best practice in the teaching of mathematics.
Literacy was the next area that became a major focus in our school, again over three years. As a lead-in, we looked at literacy practices around the world and the research in each country. Interestingly, this research was very similar in countries like the USA, England and even Australia. These informed practices led us to introduce the concept of a Literacy Block and in particular Guided Reading.
STEM was the next major area that we tackled and over three years, as our teachers bravely tried many new concepts and in particular the engineering component that was quite foreign to us. I remember the mid-year Transition class constructing a plane big enough for everyone to sit in, in their classroom!
Over the years there have been many smaller projects undertaken in the area of curriculum. I thank the teachers for their dedication, to the continuous improvement to their craft of teaching, over the last 10 years.
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