CATHOLIC EDUCATION SA STRENGTHENS SUPPORT FOR STUDENTS WITH DISABILITY
Catholic Education SA is conducting a Students with Disability Review to identify how Catholic schools across South Australia can strengthen the inclusion, learning and wellbeing of students with disability.
The Review, endorsed by the South Australian Commission for Catholic Schools, will examine policies, programs and support arrangements for students with disability.
Semester 2 PE Program
We thank you for your patience and adaptation to changes in the PE program during term 2 and we are pleased to share with you a busy and exciting term 3 ahead.
Rosary School Sports Day
Sports day at Rosary school is highly valued by our students and families and so we are pleased that we are able to reschedule our 2020 sports day to term 4 (date to be confirmed). The sports day program will run as it was for last year. Following Sports day, it will be timely to review the model of the day with families, students and staff to provide feedback via a survey to inform our planning for 2021.
Alongside our sports day events, our Athletics program will be running through terms 3 and 4 as part of the PE program. Children will be selected for the SAPSASA District Athletics Championships for students in Year 4-7.
Gymnastics
A major component of the Physical Education program at Rosary is the ‘gymnastics’ unit. We are extremely fortunate to have amazing facilities and a huge range of equipment to develop skills. The program has 2 components – Movement, skills and development, followed by team skills and presentations.
Dear Families,
I wish you all a warm welcome to Term 3, especially those who are beginning their time with the Rosary School Community. The transition students and Kenneth in year 3 and Jacob in year 1 who all arrived with very big smiles and have settled well into the school day.
We also welcome two new staff members, Amanda Coombe and Anna Schultz who are the transition class teachers.
I am very excited to join this community and I look forward to meeting and working with you all. I have really enjoyed this week meeting the students, staff and parents and would like to thank you for your generous welcome. The children were so excited to be back at school and I enjoyed hearing their stories about their families and their holidays. Please feel free to come up and introduce yourselves. I will be in the yard each morning and afternoon, or if you wish to see me to discuss something please make a time at the front office.
On my first visit last term I was very impressed by the staff and students who were engaged in their learning activities and their willingness to share their ideas with me. One of my passions is students’ thinking, especially mathematical thinking and I look forward to spending some time in classrooms with students as they engage in their learning.
Next week we are offering Parent / Teacher meetings - these meetings provide an opportunity to meet and discuss the progress towards your child’s learning goals and report, as well as any other relevant information. If you have not already made a time, please ensure that you do because we value our collaborative partnership in supporting your child’s learning. The letter that came with your child’s reports and the school website also has a link to the information about how to book into the interview meeting.
From the beginning of Term 3, Rosary school in accordance to Government Health advice has seen an easing of some restrictions. Please note:
CONDITIONS INCLUDE:
Not entering classroom buildings – this includes the Reception classes' communal area where school bags are placed.
Parents may see teachers in their classrooms for meetings that are made by appointment contacting the teacher directly.
Gates will only be opened at 2:55pm and will close at 3:20pm. Entry for pick up is through the gates only.
Reconciliation
A reminder that Reconciliation Liturgies for 2020 will be held in week 3.
Rosary School children who have prepared to receive the Sacrament of Reconciliation in 2020 are invited by the Parish to choose one of the following evenings to come along to St Laurence's Church in North Adelaide.
Please note, only immediate family will be able to attend due to the current physical distancing requirements.
Mindful of the current situation and in consultation with our school, MSP Photography will be instigating a new process for the taking of school photos this year.
Please read the relevant information below:
A creche will be available in our library during interviews for those who require it for children not involved in interviews. We also encourage you to use the library if you have long gaps between your interviews, as it will be warm and cosy. Please read the following information:
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.
