16 August 2017

Newsletter Articles

Principals Report

Next week we celebrate Book Week at Holy Rosary Catholic School. Each year, schools and public libraries across Australia spend a week celebrating books and Australian authors and illustrators. Classroom teachers, teacher librarians and public librarians develop activities, offer competitions and tell stories relating to a theme to highlight the importance of reading. Book week offers a perfect time to reflect on the importance of reading to and with your children.

One of the most common questions asked of educators is how can I help my child, what can I do to assist them at school. The most crucial and import thing you can do is READ.

“If there is one single factor which indicates how well a child will do with reading when they start school it is the involvement of the parents”
(Paul Jennings).

As a parent, you have the power to boost your children's learning potential simply by making books an integral part of their lives.

There are numerous studies and statistical evidence to show the impact on children’s progress at school if they are read to at home. Children four to five years old who are read to three to five times a week have the same reading ability as children six months older (who are read to only twice or less a week). Reading to children six to seven days a week puts them almost a year ahead of those who are not being read to. Children whose parents frequently read with them in their first year of school are still showing the benefit when they are 15.

If daily reading begins in infancy, by the time the child is 5 years old, he or she has been fed roughly 900 hours of brain food. Reduce that to just 30 minutes a week and the child’s hungry mind losses 770 hours of nursery rhymes, fairy tales, stories and vocabulary development. A kindergarten student who has not been read aloud to could enter school with less that 60 hours of literacy nutrition. So in the words of Dr Seuss

“The more that you read, the more things you will know.
The more that you learn, the more places you'll go.”

Since the commencement of this term we have had a significant number of staff and students away with illness. We are extremely fortunate that we do have a number of relief teachers who work often in our school and are familiar with our processes and students. Our students have been absolutely amazing with adapting to changes of teachers and working with relief teachers and they are to be congratulated on their resilience when things change.

Of course catching coughs and colds is often unavoidable, but this sudden explosion of sickness is a timely reminder to keep your children as well as possible by ensuring they are warmly clothed, and that they get plenty of sleep and healthy food. If your child is sick, the very best place for them is resting at home.

Bernadette Brooks
Principal

Prayer and Reflection

NAPLAN

NAPLAN individual student’s results were sent home last week. We are very proud of the way all of our students tried their very best during the test week. NAPLAN tests are done on a single day and scored by people who do not know our students, like their teacher or family does. They do not know how great our students are at so many different things They do not know that they are kind and considerate; true friends. The scores on the test will tell something ... but they will not tell everything.

Grade 3 Poetry

Swings

Our students just love their new swings

On Wednesday there was great excitement as students were able to use the swings for the first time. After viewing a video of safety on the swings created by our Grade 6 students and Mr. Pearce all students have a very clear idea of our expectations for using the swings.

We would like to extend a very big thank you to our Parent Circle for coordinating the many fundraising activities that allow us to purchase additional resources and equipment for our students. Thank you also to Mr. Scott Mackenlay and Mr. George Simonetis for their preparation of the area around the swings.

NO WASTE WEDNESDAY

It is amazing what a group of dedicated students can do. Thanks to the initiative of Molly, Amelia, Thomas and Charlie in Grade 5 we held our first No Waste Wednesday. These students have spent considerable time developing an action plan with the support of their parents, teachers and myself. Their passion and belief in this project towards helping our environment and promoting change in our school is an absolute credit to them.

It was wonderful to see the students pride in showing their lunch boxes. Our near empty rubbish bins were certainly a testament to the success of this initiative.

A positive attitude from our students

VIEW GALLERY

A positive attitude from our students

Click images to enlarge

School Disco

Thank you to our Grade 6 students and staff for organising and coordinating our Disco on Friday 4th August. The K to Gr 2 students had a wonderful time with lots of fun, games and dancing. The Grade 3 to 6 students even got a surprise fire evacuation and visit from the fire brigade. The smoke machine was working just a little too well! Thanks to all our helpers and staff.

Disco “Inferno” Fever

VIEW GALLERY

Disco “Inferno” Fever

Click images to enlarge

Positive Detective

This term our whole school social and emotional program is called Positive Detective. Keep an eye out in classrooms for the Positive Detective toy dogs who have been hired to become private investigators. Their task is to help us find the positive moments that are all around us.

Friday Football

The roster for Friday football games can be accessed via the link below.

Soccer News

Students of the Week

SWPBS Awards

Bronze Award

Congratulations to the following students who have constantly displayed our three expectations of Respect, Safety and Learning and received their Bronze Award for 100 Bernies.

Bronze Award Winners

VIEW GALLERY

Bronze Award Winners

Click images to enlarge

Gold Award

Congratulations to the following students who have constantly displayed our three expectations of Respect, Safety and Learning and received their Gold Award for 300 Bernies.

School Banking

If you have not signed your child/ren up for School Banking already it is not too late. Please enquire at the school office for further information.

HRCS Website

ANNOUNCING OUR WEBSITE

We are happy to announce that Holy Rosary Catholic School has a new website. It is supported by the Schoolzine platform and therefore has many interactive and multi-functional capabilities.

One of the wonderful functions is a parent calendar where parents can access their grade information, as well as other school events. One of these capabilities is that Excursion forms can be accessed under the “Calendar” tab. Locate your child’s Grade at the top of the calendar, click on the appropriate date and click on the relevant excursion. Then download the digital permission form to be digitally signed.

It is a portal of information about our school, with the ability to download and print off forms, report absences, and newsletters are also accessible from the website. This is a wonderful collaborative platform for existing and prospective parents.

A very big thank you to Mrs Jacki Jones who has devoted numerous hours to the development of our website

Parent Notice Board

Medical Certificates

It is a requirement from the Department of Education that any child who misses 5 consecutive days or more must bring in a Doctor’s Certificate upon their return to school.

Extended Holidays

Families wishing to take their child/ren out of school for a holiday longer than 2 weeks must now send an email or letter to the school requesting this absence for their child/ren. Upon receipt of your correspondence the school will reply with a written acknowledgement to your request.

Woolworths Earn and Learn

Earn & Learn is back. Get your families and friends on board with Woolworths Earn & Learn stickers. Get one sticker for every $10 you spend. Place your stickers and or full sticker sheet into the Holy Rosary Earn & Learn box at your local Woolworths outlet, or drop them into the Woolworths Earn & Learn box located in the school foyer between 26 July and 19 September. The more you earn, the more we learn. All completed sheets earn points for our school to purchase amazing educational resources from Modern Teaching Aids. So get busy shopping and collecting your stickers to enable us to receive wonderful resources for your child/ren to use at school.

Kindergarten Enrolments

Enrolments are now being accepted for our Kindergarten classes for 2018. If you have a child to enrol or know of someone who does, please pass this information onto him or her. The Education Act states that Kindergarten students must turn four years of age on or before the 1st January of the year commencing Kinder. Please contact the school office (6275 5200) for an enrolment form.

The Village

The Holy Rosary Catholic School Birth to 4 program has commenced on Wednesday’s from 9:00am – 10:30am.

Book Fair

Save The Date

Holy Rosary Catholic School Fundraisers

Entertainment Book – LAST CHANCE

The Entertainment Book closes for purchases this week. So if you have not already purchased one get in before it is too late.

Books can be purchased at the school office or by following the link below.

HRS Scrapbook Workshop

Do you have school photos hiding in drawers? Would you like to add those precious memories to something you have created of your very own to treasure those moments of your child(ren)’s school years?

We are taking expressions of interest for a monthly scrapbooking workshop.

Screenagers

Are you watching kids scroll through life, with their rapid-fire thumbs and a six-second attention span? Physician and filmmaker Delaney Ruston saw that with her own kids and learned that the average kid spends 6.5 hours a day looking at screens. She wondered about the impact of all this time and about the friction occurring in homes and schools around negotiating screen time—friction she knew all too well.

In SCREENAGERS, as with her award-winning documentaries on mental health, Delaney takes a deeply personal approach as she probes into the vulnerable corners of family life, including her own, to explore struggles over social media, video games, academics and internet addiction. Through poignant, and unexpectedly funny stories, along with surprising insights from authors, psychologists, and brain scientists, SCREENAGERS reveals how tech time impacts kids’ development and offers solutions on how adults can empower kids to best navigate the digital world and find balance.

The Tasmanian Catholic Schools Parents Council in conjunction with the Australian Parents Council would like to invite you to an exclusive Q & A screening of Screenagers.

The tickets cost $18.00, however we are offering free tickets to the screening to the first 40 people who contact us via email.

Email: catholicparents@bigpond.com

Please follow the link to view the Screenagers Movie Trailer

P.A.U.S.E

Parenting Adolescents with Understanding, Sensitivity and Engagement.

TCSPC Newsletter

Please click on the link below to read the latest news and happenings from the Tasmanian Catholic Schools Parents Council.

Term 2 Assemblies and Liturgies

Parents and Friends are most welcome and kindly invited to join us for our School Assemblies which are held at 1.45pm and our Liturgies which are held at 12.00 noon on the following dates in the School Hall or St Bernard’s Church unless noted differently.

Upcoming Events