Week 10 Term 3 2022

Dear Rosary Families

I had the opportunity to attend the Year 5/6 Camp at Ankara. Over 70 children and 8 staff travelled to Walker Flat for the aquatics camp  My reflections following the camp was the extraordinary children we have here at Rosary. Yes – they were excited and stayed up way too late on the first evening, however they were kind, caring, inclusive and respectful to each other. I believe that this reflects the excellent partnerships established between families and the Rosary School staff. The Year 5/6 teachers should be congratulated, not just for the camp organisation but for the work they do to support children to establish positive peer relationships. Every child should be congratulated on their participation and behaviour.

Another highlight on the weekend was the Soccer Presentation on Saturday morning. Over 110 children participated in School Soccer on Saturday mornings, and we celebrated their participation with a sausage sizzle and trophy presentation. School soccer and the presentation would not be possible without our parent volunteers on the Sports Committee, team coaches and managers, and Mr Brenton Campbell.  A very special thank you to Vanessa Roberts. Vanessa is a parent volunteer who works tirelessly to ensure that as many children as possible can participate in school sports at Rosary School. Thank you Vanessa!

On Wednesday night our Catholic School’s Music Festival Choir performed at the Festival Theatre in 'Hear Us 2022'. This is a highlight on the Catholic Education calendar each year where primary school children have the opportunity to join a combined choir and sing in front of an audience of around 2000 people. In addition to this our Catholic Secondary Colleges showcase the many opportunities they offer students. Thank you to Kimberley Slattery for the work she does to prepare the Choir for their performance.

I hope you all have a wonderful break from the routine of school life and find some extra time to spend with friends and family.

Regards

Susan

As a relatively new member of the Rosary School community, one of the first things I noticed about our community was the warm welcome offered to all people and the rich diversity of our students and our families.
The diversity in our school population, which is largely reflective of the diversity in the wider society, provides us with endless opportunities to learn and appreciate cultural difference, linguistic difference, and societal difference amongst many others in our immediate context.

As Archbishop Prowse (Archbishop of Canberra) explained recently, our embracing of migrants and refugees in Australia should be seen as extremely positive as they are a "source of enrichment" in the variety of ways that our life experiences and society is enhanced.

Last Sunday (September 25) was Migrant and Refugee Sunday in our Church. Pope Francis constantly advocates for accepting and embracing the 'outsider' in our midst. He recently stated the Kingdom of God is to be built with migrant and refugees, “for without them it would not be the Kingdom that God wants”. Pope Francis goes on to talk about the inclusion of the most vulnerable as being essential for entrance into God's kingdom. I hope and pray that the acceptance, inclusion and diversity that is so obvious for all to see at Rosary School continues to enrich us on a daily basis, as we progress further as a Catholic community.

In our Catholic tradition, the entire month of October is dedicated to the Holy Rosary. The Feast Day of Our Lady of the Rosary is celebrated on Friday October 7. Central to our Parish and our community is the belief that Mary entrusted the Rosary to St. Dominic in the 13th century. It subsequently became a Feast day in the 16th century.

Our Mass of the Roses will take place on Thursday October 20 at 9:30am at Our Lady of the Rosary Church. This is a wonderful celebration of the heritage and story as a Dominican School and our strong links to our local Dominican parish. As always, we encourage all students to bring roses and rosary beads to school on this day for our Eucharistic celebration. All parents/carers/family members are more than welcome to join us.

I hope that all members of our community have a restful and rejuvenating break over the next two weeks.

Regards

Stephen

During Week 9 of this term RSM students participated in a Swimming Program at Thebarton Aquatic Centre. During the 3 days of swimming lessons students learnt how to be safe around water and developed a range of swimming skills including safe entry into a pool, underwater swim, dog paddle, breaststroke and more. Students had a wonderful time learning different swimming techniques and building upon their overall confidence when around wate

Students were even treated to a dance aerobics class and free play on the last day of the swimming program – so much fun!  

In English this term students have been learning about Narrative texts. Linking this with Design and Technology, students have been participating in STEM challenges each week centred around a chosen fairy-tale. Some STEM challenges included building a new house out for matchsticks for the three little pigs and designing a bridge for the three billy goats gruff to safely cross the stream and get away from the Troll. Each STEM challenge had a range of constraints that students had to follow in order to be successful along with use their communication and teamwork skills to collaborate as a group.  

"Dress to Party" casual clothes (gold coin donation) and a free sausage sizzle.