Week 5 Term 1

Dear Rosary Community

This week I had the opportunity to attend swimming trials. It was wonderful to see the children showcase the learning they participate in out of school hours. One of the things I noticed on both mornings was the way in which the children supported and encouraged each other. I look forward to supporting the Rosary Team at the Catholic Primary Schools Sports Association swimming competition on 3rd April, 2024.

The Year 3 and 4 children have also participated in tennis clinics. These are made available through Sporting Schools Grant funding. I thank Brenton Campbell for his organisation and  co-ordination of these opportunities for our children.

School Board

The AGM will be held on at 7.00 pm in the Staffroom. All parents are welcome to attend. Each year we invite people to nominate for the School Board. The school board does not require a huge commitment.There five meetings each year. If you wish to nominate for the School Board please email karin.skinner@rosary.catholic.edu.au. Information about the role of the School Board can be found on Catholic Education South Australia’s website: https://schoolboards.cesa.catholic.edu.au.
Please do not hesitate to speak with me if you require any additional information.

Parents and Friends
The Parents & Friends is a sub-committee of the School Board.  The P&F is the main community building and fundraising body of the School. Please read the P&F report that appears later in this newsletter.  We are looking for someone to take on the role of Secretary in 2024.  Being part of the P&F is a great way to make connections and contribute to the school community. Meetings are on Tuesdays in Weeks 3 and 7 each term and all are welcome.

Volunteers
At Rosary we school, we highly value your input and support of various activities that take place.  As a volunteer you play a vital role in not only supporting initiatives but building a sense of community. 

In order to be a volunteer, the following is required:

• Completed Volunteer Application Package 
• Provided evidence of WWCC check 
• Present Catholic Archdiocese of Adelaide Clearance 
• RAN training certificate 
• Complete onsite Volunteer induction 

Our Induction Pack for Volunteers is available from the front office.

Margaret Moshos co-ordinates our Volunteers Register and is on-site to assist you Tuesday – Friday 8.30am – 4.00pm.

Child Safety

Each year it is a requirement that I share with you information about our responsibility to ensure that Rosary School is a child safe environment.  Every child has the right to be safe.  Schools are mandated child safe environments with legal, policy and procedural requirements for staff and volunteers.  The South Australian Commission for Catholic Schools (SACCS) requires its schools to implement child safety policies and practices including child safety education.  For further information, please visit Save Environments for All on the Catholic Education South Australia website.

Child Protection Curriculum

The Keeping Safe Child Protection Curriculum is taught in all Catholic schools in South Australia.  It provides a framework to teach children and young people to recognise abuse, talk to trusted adults and understand ways to keep themselves safe.

The primary school curriculum reminds students to be wary of approaches from strangers, especially when they are unaccompanied or travelling to and from school. The children are taught that if they are approached by an unknown adult, they should not respond and should not accept offers of rides or gifts. The children are taught to seek the assistance of other nearby adults if they feel unsafe and should report the event to a trusted adult as soon as possible.

Please continue to reinforce this message to your child if they are walking to and from school unaccompanied.

Thank you
Susan

We are now in the second week of Lent and the second week of our support of the Caritas Project Compassion Appeal. We raised $634 from our Shrove Tuesday's gold coin donation for our pancakes. Thanks to all students and families for your generous response.
All students have their Caritas box and we would love for this to be returned full by all students, to enable us to make a significant donation to Caritas at the end of Lent.

We commenced the Season of Lent at Rosary last Wednesday with Mass at Our Lady of the Rosary Church for our Year 3-6 students and a beautiful liturgy at the Rosary Jubilee Centre for our Reception-Year 2 students.

Many Christians throughout the world observe Lent. Catholic, Orthodox, and many Protestants benefit from this annual season of sacrifice and simplicity. In doing this, Christians are simply imitating the practices and teachings of Jesus. 

In reality, Lent ends up being different things, depending on the person. For some, it is a period of giving up certain food items; for others, it is when we as Catholics receive ashes on our foreheads on Ash Wednesday.

Lent is the season before Easter, lasting from Ash Wednesday until the Mass of Holy Thursday. The evening of Holy Thursday begins the Easter Triduum, which lasts from Holy Thursday to Easter Sunday. However, Lenten fasting and penance continue until the end of Holy Week, and all of Holy Week is included in the traditional 40-day Lenten fast, despite Lent ending liturgically on Holy Thursday.   

The purpose of Lent is to be a season of fasting, self-denial, and simplicity. Lent can be viewed as a spiritual spring clean: a time for removing those things from our lives which negatively impact on our relationship with Jesus Christ.
It is therefore entirely appropriate that the season of Lent begin with a symbol of repentance: placing ashes on our forehead. However, we must ultimately remember that our Lenten sacrifices are supposed to transform us and help us become more like Christ. 

Stephen Campion

APRIM

Visual Arts in Year 3! We have been investigating abstract art and the creativity and freedom that flows when creating such artworks. After analysing some of the works by Canadian artist, Sandra Silberzweig, we created our own self portraits. We focussed on the position of shapes, lines and patterns along with using our knowledge of the colour wheel to determine what colours we wanted to incorporate in our artwork.

Our portraits were created by using a range of mediums including, water colour paints, pencils and paint textas. While creating these pieces, we discussed the special gifts and talents we each share and how it amazing it is that we are all unique.

The Parents and Friends Committee is an integral part of the Rosary School community and provides formal structure and support network for the parents to participate in activities and to work for the benefit of their school and their children.

Acknowledgements

On behalf of the P & F committee I would like to thank the departing members for their efforts and contributions to the P & F Committee.

Lora Papa (former Chairperson), Nicole Mertens, Jake Graziani, Christina Borg, Helen Lynn, Catherine Schumacher, Georgia Tucci and Kim Truong. These people have volunteered their time and effort to assist to make events happen in our school community and we thank them for their efforts.

2024 P & F Members

This year I will continue to stay on as Chairperson. Lisa Pannuti (Secretary) and Tess Cocca (Treasurer) will step down from their positions after 3 years. I thank them for their contribution and look forward to their continued support on the P & F Committee. We welcome Cherie Lane to take on the new role as Treasurer.

The Secretary role is yet to be filled, this is an important role and is key to running our meetings. If you believe you are fit for this role please contact us, you will be guided by the committee and given any support required (rosarypandf@gmail.com).

Current P & F members and associated children’s classes -

• Chairperson – Anthony Graziani (6CM, 5PM, 2MP)
• Secretary – TBC
• Treasurer – Cherie Lane (4CB)

Hamish Mackenzie (6BB,3CW), Teresa Cocca (6BB,4GO,2NP), Paola Buchan (2NP), Mel Melino (2NP), Elle Mellor (1SM), Lisa Pannuti (6CM,2NP), Ricki Briggs (4CB,2NT) Kelly Martin (5LD,3CW), Nicole Smith (2AF,1RM), Christina Pagano (1SM), Sally Loader (RAR,2AF), Nadia Looker (5HA,3CW), Sonia Morgante (3HB), and our staff representative, Bern Basile (6BB)

We currently have no members from the following classes: ROH, ROC, 1AD, 1EE, 3BB, 4AP. If your child is in any of these classes and you would like to join the P & F, our next meeting is week 7, Tuesday 12th of March, 7pm in the staffroom. We welcome all new members and support each other to make a successful committee.

Moving Forward

This year moving forward we plan to get more of the community involved, not just the P & F members. For example, Mother's Day stall and breakfast. We plan to have two P & F members running the events then reach out to the school community for extra volunteers to help out. If you wish to help out you will need a Catholic clearance. If you do not have this, please see Margaret on the front reception desk and she will guide you what to do.

We plan to have some positive changes moving forward in 2024 on the P & F Committee, our plan is to get the school community involved as much as possible and have our organisation for events as streamline and efficient as possible.

There is lots of exciting things happening this year, stay tuned!

Anthony Graziani

Chairperson
P and F Committee