8 November 2018

Newsletter Articles

Principals Report

On Monday October 29, Holy Rosary Catholic School were fortunate to welcome Lucy and Baydon from Education Services Australia (ESA). ESA is a not for profit education service that provides support for schools with key Government initiatives, teacher professional development and provides a common place for schools to access resources and support materials.

One of the key aspects of their service is supporting schools in the collection of data for the National Consistent Collection of Data (NCCD). This is a process whereby schools are required to submit evidence of adjustments that have been made to support students with a disability or a diagnosis. The adjustments are necessary to support student learning and enable all students to access the curriculum and school programs. Making adjustments to support student access is a legal requirement through the Disability Standards for Education (2005), which has its basis in the Disability Discrimination Act of 1992. Participation in the NCCD process is a national initiative and a requirement for all Australian schools.

Holy Rosary has been recognised for having exemplary processes in place for supporting our students with adjustments to facilitate access to school programs. We were nominated to showcase the processes and procedures we have in place to support our students. Several staff including Class Teachers, Teacher Assistants and Leadership, were interviewed to share the process for identifying students who require support, outline the support systems in place and the school processes for collecting evidence to support the adjustments made.

The important partnership between home and school was highlighted, as it is through working together with open communication for a common goal that we see the greatest success for students. We were fortunate to hear from some students about the impact adjustments have on their ability to participate positively and effectively in learning programs at school. We were in awe of how clearly they were able to articulate the importance of the supports in helping them to learn. Members of the parent community also shared their insights into how the partnership and communication between the school and home is integral in supporting their child in their learning.

A common message of those interviewed was the strength of the Whole School Team Approach to everything we do at Holy Rosary. No-one works in isolation and staff are continually reflecting and refining processes and practices to ensure that our students receive the best opportunities to achieve academically, socially, emotionally and behaviourally.

The visit from Educational Services Australia was a wonderful opportunity for us to stop, reflect and celebrate the incredible procedures and practices that are in place at Holy Rosary Catholic School to support our students, teachers and families. As a school community we can be very proud of the contributions of the students, parents and staff to enable all students to have the support they need to reach their potential and be the best that they can be.

I would particularly like to acknowledge the work of Mrs Megan Rea whose organisation and planning was superb and made the day run smoothly and seamlessly. Thank you also to Jacinta Waddington, Adrienne Reeve and Cheryl Weily from the TCEO and the staff, parents and students who participated and shared their experiences.

Kind Regards
Bernadette Brooks
Principal

Reflection

What type of Saint would you make?

Before you laugh, no wait till you finish laughing and then think. If the person you imagined yourself to be seems staid or boring, stop and wonder why. We tend to think that being good closes us down and makes us dull. But what happens to you when someone loves you deeply and passionately? Looks out for your best interests? Encourages you to be the best person you can be? You certainly don’t become boring. You become your best, brightest and most loving self.

‘Think of the love that God has lavished on us.’ That is the essence of our Christian faith. Saints are people who live their lives believing that to be true. They live lives lavished in love. Basing their lives on God’s love for them, they can be loving to the unlovable and do things others deem difficult or impossible. In other words, they live their lives dancing to the music of God’s love.

This week the Church celebrates the Feast of All Saints, all the wonderful people who have lived their lives by love. Let us celebrate these great ‘lovers’ we have known and try to live by them. As we face challenging situations, we can think, ‘I am lavished by God’s love’ and let that love inspire us to do things differently. When we feel fear, we can say to ourselves, ‘I am wrapped in God’s love,’ and step out across our fears. When we feel dull and boring, we can imagine how God wants us to be lavished in divine love.

Loving God,
you lavish me with your love.
Let me rest in that love,
be inspired by that love
and then show that love to those around me, especially my family.
Let me become the saint you want me to be.

Sr Kym Harris osb

GLENORCHY AWARDS

Congratulations to Niah, Bree, Abbie, Lucinda, Maggie and Halle who each received an award at the Glenorchy City Council Neighbourhood Support Awards. It was an absolute pleasure to support these students and their families on Tuesday 23rd October when they were presented with their awards. Listed below are the citations written on each students award certificate and read out by the Mayor of Glenorchy.

We are very proud of what our students can and do achieve

GRADE 6

Niah

Niah is mature beyond her years. She constantly puts the needs of others before herself, and looks for areas that need improvement. She leads her classmates by treating all with respect and equality. Niah is active in the school community taking on positions and roles to implement change. She has been a driving force in the creation of our SRC, showing pride in her responsibilities. Within the greater school community, Niah participates in school fundraising events, volunteering her time and cheerful smile. Niah is a role model to all.

GRADE 5

Bree

Bree is one of the Grade 5 Student Representatives and she was voted in by her peers because they know that she cares about them and will do her best to help anyone in the classroom or the playground who is in need. She is also the person who brightens the school every day with a happy greeting and a thoughtful gesture, who does the right thing without being asked and who shows great sportsmanship in games.

GRADE 4

Abbie

Abbie consistently shows respect towards her peers and teachers. She cares and considers the needs of others in all her interactions. Abbie is community minded and is always looking for ways she can improve the life and situation of others. She is a positive role model and leader amongst her peer group. Recently, she displayed environmental stewardship through creating a ‘Bee Bright’ day at school. This is as a result of her project on Bees and their possible extinction if action to help preserve their legacy isn’t taken. She is eager to volunteer her time to assist others and is an inspiration to us all.

GRADE 3

Lucinda

Lucinda is a devoted member of the St Therese’s Parish, going to Church on Saturday nights with her family. She is inspired by Sister Margaret and recognises in her the Spirit of Jesus because of the work she does with children in helping them to prepare for their Sacraments. Lucinda too lives out the spirit of Jesus every day, always offering to help out her teachers and her peers. She is consistently kind and caring towards others.

GRADE 2

Maggie

Maggie consistently shows kindness and empathy beyond her years. She is proactive and takes action when she sees someone in need, in school and the wider community. She has more recently seen a need for help through witnessing homelessness and showed compassion and care in trying to assist people in need. She is also the youngest member of the Vinnies team at School.

GRADE 1

Halle

It is wonderful that Halle has been recognised in the Glenorchy Junior Neighbourhood Program as she consistently displays respect towards all peers, teachers and school community. Halle volunteers around the classroom whenever possible. She always displays initiative when seeing the needs in others and freely gives her time to assist.

Student Representative Council

At the start of Term 3 we began our Student Representative Council (SRC). A Student Representative Council (SRC) is a group of students elected by their PEERS to represent all students in the school. SRCs represent the student body in school decision-making and organise ways for students to participate in school life. This term we thanked the previous term’s leaders and welcomed in new representatives. The student representatives for Term 4 are: Lachlan Seabourne, Riley Brown, Noah Bowring, Penny Meyers, Lily Klap, James Hutchinson, Isabella Whelan, Thomas Quinn & Abbey Hopson. Our Student Representative Council are led by our School Captains Niah and Jack and our Vice School Captains Shelbii and Tyson.

Fire Education Program

Over a two week period we have been fortunate to have Fire Fighter Todd in our school delivering the Fire Education Program. The program is designed to teach children from Prep to Grade 6 about basic home fire safety. The key safety messages delivered designed to keep you and your family safe and protect what you value were Prevention and Action, where the children participated in the Actions to be used when a fire occurs in their home. Parents and other family members are encouraged to participate by reading the information and assisting your child with the after school activities.

We learned what to do when a fire occurs in our home

Grade 5

In Grade 5 we have been studying some of the most important stories from the Old and New testament to uncover the background to the story of Jesus . We have been reflecting about the messages in these stories and how these messages are relevant in our lives through prayer. As part of this work we are making ornaments for a Jesse Tree in the classroom, an old tradition that tells the story of Jesus' family tree during Advent, the season leading up to Christmas.

Grade 6 Canberra Trip

This week students from Grade Six are undertaking an educational tour of the national capital, Canberra. Students have had the opportunity to participate in a variety of educational programs that have helped them develop knowledge of Australia's history, culture, heritage and democracy.

The Australian Government recognises the importance of all young Australians being able to visit the national capital as part of their HASS education. To assist families the government contributes $150.00 per student towards the program costs.

We would also like to thank the school community for their support with our fundraising efforts, which has allowed us to provide each student in Grade Six with $100 spending money.

We will provide more details of our amazing trip in the next school newsletter.

Children’s Mission Day Mass

On Wednesday 24th October, our Grade 6 students attended the Children’s Mission Day Mass at St Mary’s Cathedral with other students from Catholic schools around Hobart. The Children’s Mission helps 160 countries around the world by raising money to support healthcare, education and to provide fresh drinking water. Father Martin Aye Ngwe, from St Francis Church is Riverside, spoke to the children about growing up in Myanmar (Burma) and the challenges he faced being part of a large and poor family. The money raised from this year’s Children’s Mission Day will be going to support the country of Myanmar. Father Martin spoke about the wonderful things that will be done in his home country with the money raised. Our Grade 6 students were wonderful representatives of the school.

Grade 3 Camp

First Lego League

On Saturday 3rd November, some of our students travelled up to Launceston to compete in the First Lego League Robotics Competition with Mrs Midson and Mrs McCallum. We left school at 5:30am and it was a big day of competing in the different challenges involved. The students had to program and control our school robot “Rex” to complete different missions based on the space theme ‘Into Orbit’. They also had to present their presentation about loneliness in space and their solution to this problem which involved a digital pet that was programmed as an interactive companion. The students last challenge was core values. We presented a poster about how we had worked together as a team and the different roles that each member had in contributing to the team. We ended up taking out the core values award for best teamwork. Well done to Niah Bester, Noah Burton, Thomas Quinn, Lachlan Coen, Mitchell Dobson, Joshua Fogarty, Lara Batchelor and Cooper Tarvydas for the way in which you proudly represented our school.

We are very proud of our achievements

2019 Preparation

If parents know that they will not be continuing enrolment of their child/children at Holy Rosary Catholic School in 2019 please let the Office know as soon as possible, as we have students on a waiting list for positions.

Students of the Week

HRCS Soccer 2018 Trophy & Pizza Night

Christmas Raffle

Entertainment Books

Holy Rosary Catholic School is fundraising with the Entertainment fundraiser this year, and we’d appreciate your continued support.

Your 2017 | 2018 Entertainment Membership expired on 1 June 2018. Please continue supporting our School by purchasing the 2018 | 2019 Entertainment Membership from us today. Hundreds of great value offers are ready for your enjoyment, while also helping our fundraising!

Child and Family Centre Chigwell

Please find attached our monthly program, our current program Kinderbeat is a closed group but we still have room for families to enjoy this wonderful music and singing session. We also have Care for Kids which provides information and skills to manage everyday emergencies, numbers are limited.

Music Therapy Workshop:

CFC Chigwell will be hosting Dr Vicky Abad, a Registered Music Therapist, researcher and an internationally regarded speaker & presenter on November 12th for a session for parents, carers, community members , teachers, service providers, (see flyer attached)

Dr Vicky Abad brings to these seminars her expertise in clinical and research practice in the areas of parent-child music therapy, family music therapy, community music therapy and music early learning, with a particular focus on families with young children.

UTAS seminar: Vicky invites you to a public evening seminar at UTAS on “Mapping landscapes of music making in early life and learning: affordances and constraints.”

For more information please contact Alkeiya on 0431962728 or 0415332293

Mission Australia

Hanging @ the House

Term 4 2018 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.

2018 Upcoming Events