28 February 2019

Newsletter Articles

Principals Report

On Wednesday 20th of February we held our Commencement and Commissioning Liturgy. It truly was a wonderful celebration to start the year and the participation and enthusiasm of our students was outstanding. All staff and students received a special blessing from Father Suresh for our school year. Our Grade 6 students in School and House leadership positions received their badges and a special blessing from Father Suresh. Thank you to Mrs Libby Piesse for her organisation and coordination of this very special celebration.

On Friday 1st March we will be holding our 2019 Welcome BBQ for our families. This BBQ has become a tradition over the past 6 years and is a marvellous way to meet staff and other families. I would like to extend my deepest appreciation to Tam Wiggins who has taken over the coordination of this event. I look forward to seeing many families at this event on Friday commencing at 5.30pm.

I thank all parents who have being so proactive in downloading Compass, our new portal. As a pilot school for this new management database we are all still learning the many different options it provides. If you would like any assistance with the portal please call into the Office. Our Parent Student Goal Setting bookings are occurring through this portal so please don't hesitate to contact us if you need assistance.

Our school community sends its deepest sympathies to Mrs Donna French and her family on the passing of their much loved Father and Grandfather.

Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon them. May the souls of the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace. Amen.

Kind Regards
Bernadette Brooks
Principal

Reflection

The Golden Rule

Lent is coming, as you are probably aware from the requests regarding Pancake Tuesday next week. By now, the New Year has well passed, and quite likely so have your New Year’s Resolutions. Lucky for you the Church offers us Lent as a time of renewal. Many of you would remember the ‘older’ practices that we took up, for example giving up something nice. I would like to suggest something a little different.

Recently in the Gospel we heard Jesus recommending to us all the Golden Rule: do to others as you would like them to treat you. What a good practice for Lent…if we get it right. Too often we can interpret this as being nice to people. I think this is a mistake and we make this because we give little thought to how we really want other people to treat us. Oh yes, we would like them to be kind, to be generous, to be easy on us. But is that all we want?

We all labour under certain failings, even sins, that we wish we could face and deal with. Maybe it is not will power that we lack but rather a realistic programme for dealing with them. We could find we watch too much media, eat, drink, smoke too much. We could be getting angry with our children too readily. You know your weaknesses as I know mine. Now sit down, take a little time with yourself and imagine how you would like a loving person to treat you with regards to these failings. What would a truly caring person recommend to you? Be prepared to be surprised. We could well find that the cause of our failings comes from something different, a pain within ourselves that needs to be lovingly dealt with. When we discover how to offer ourselves compassion, we will find we have compassion for others.

Loving Jesus,
In this coming time of Lent,
let me face the failings that undermine the happiness of my life
and make me difficult for other people.
Give me your wise Spirit to teach me with a deep and genuine love.
I ask this in your name confident that you will hear me.

Sr Kym Harris osb

Good News Story

I must admit there are times when I open my emails with trepidation. This week however I have the absolute pleasure to read 4 separate emails, three of these were from parents thanking our staff for a wonderful start to the year and letting me know how happy and settled their children are. The fourth email was from a Grandmother who took the time to send an email to acknowledge the help that four of our students gave to her when the family had lost their dog. Jesse, Jai, Emmersen and Nate assisted the family in looking for their lost dog and held the dog with them until the family returned.

“It is with pleasure that I endorse the lovely behaviour of 4 of your students and as I was not in the position to give them due praise on the day, I hope that maybe they may get a mention possibly in the next assembly, emphasizing 'give and you receive'.”

Well done Jesse, Jai, Emersen and Nate who received a special acknowledgement at our assembly.

Learning and Teaching

Each fortnight in our newsletter this year we will be focusing on different aspects of our commitment to learning and teaching and sharing these with our school community.

At Holy Rosary Catholic School we recognise the need to implement a whole school, consistent and co-ordinated practice to literacy. The ultimate goal is to develop independent and creative lifelong learners who comprehend and communicate respectfully and effectively.

Compass

School Manager is a student information system that will be used by all Catholic Primary Schools, as well as some Colleges in Tasmania. It will be used by the school to streamline many school operations, from attendance, communication, event management and parent - teacher goal setting interviews.

Compass is a web-based system that is accessible on any modern web browser (Internet Explorer, Firefox, Chrome & Safari) or by using the Compass iOS or Android App.

Every family will have received a separate login to Compass, as well as a booklet to explain how to connect to this portal. By regularly logging in to Compass you will be kept well informed about what is happening in the school, including information specific to your child.

Parent Handbooks

Last week our Grade level Parent Handbooks were sent home to all families. These handbooks have administrative information for the whole school, as well as content relevant to your child's specific grade. Please read these handbooks carefully and retain for future reference. Copies are available at the Office or on our website if you missed your copy.

Please click on the link below to access our school website.

Parent/Teacher/Student Goal Setting Conferences

From the 4th to 7th March we will be holding Student/Parent Goal Setting Interviews with the class teacher. Each student must accompany their parent/guardian to these 10 to 15 minute interviews and work together to set goals for the 2019 school year. The process of setting goals allows students to choose where they want to go in school and what they want to achieve. By knowing what they want to achieve, they know what they have to concentrate on and improve. Goal setting gives students long-term vision and short-term motivation. Having sharp, clearly defined goals, which students can measure, will allow them to take pride in accomplishing those goals. They can see clear forward progress in what might have seemed a long drawn out process. By setting goals students can: improve their academic performance, increase their motivation to achieve, increase pride and satisfaction in performance and improve their self-confidence.

Goal Setting appointment times this year will be done through the Compass Learning Manager. Please see your child’s teacher if you are unable to access this or need help in setting up a conference time.

Ruler for Parents

From our Kinder Classrooms

We welcome all our new Kinder students and their families to Holy Rosary Catholic School. Over the last few weeks our Kinders have been learning new routines, making new friendships, exploring our inside and outside play spaces and developing their sense of belonging within our community.

We have so much fun in Kinder

From the PE Dept

What a huge year awaits us in PE! Firstly, a big welcome to the Holy Rosary family for our new AFL Sports Ready Trainee Melanie Wise! We wish you all the best in your first year here at Holy Rosary Catholic School.

Term 1 brings with it the annual 3-6 House Cup Swimming Carnival at the Glenorchy swimming Pool on March 22. Competition is sure to be thick and fast with the Wolfpack of Doyle looking for the coveted three-peat. Maybe they should be renamed the Hawks?

Wear your house colours with pride and participate fully to the best of your ability and encourage others! Every point counts! Remember you can order and purchase a variety of House items from the office, simply check out the catalogue available in the office.

The inter-primary carnival follows soon after on Friday the 5th of April.

Big congratulations to our 2019 Sports Leaders who received their hats and certificates at our recent assembly. I’m really looking forward to working with this year’s Sports Leaders as they inspire and encourage our K-2 students in PE sessions, carnivals and in the playground.

All in all its going to be another big year for Physical Education here at Holy Rosary, look out 2019!!

Ben Johnson
PE / Sports coordinator

NAPLAN Review

A national review on NAPLAN reporting is under way. If you want to make a submission, head to the link below and have your say. #education #naplanreportingreview To what extent are NAPLAN data and the MySchool website used to inform teaching? This and other questions related to NAPLAN are currently being addressed through a national review of NAPLAN reporting. Written submissions are welcome until Thursday 14 March 2019.

Find out more at:

Students of the Week

Kindergarten Enrolments

Welcome BBQ

Dress in Green Day

The Village – Birth to 5 Program

Uniform Shop

Families have been provided with a brochure in their information packs for house sports uniform items, if you wish to receive your house order in time for the swimming carnival in March please return the payment slip with details by 28 February 2019.

St Virgil’s College Open Day 2019

Austins Ferry campus, Thursday March 7 from 9.00 am to 5pm for guided tours. Come and experience Grade 7 to 10 students at work and play during an interactive tour of the College. Meet staff and students and learn about the exciting learning opportunities available to boys at St Virgil’s College.

Grade 7 enrolments for 2021 (current Grade 5) will close during Term 3 2019 so it is a great time to visit St Virgil’s. Vacancies may also be available at other secondary grade levels.

Opportunities also are available to tour the College at 2019 Principal’s Tours which are conducted from 9am – 10.30am on Friday April 5, Friday June 21 and Friday July 26.

For all Open Day and Principal’s Tours information or to complete an online enrolment please visit the website at the link below or email mnugent@stvirgils.tas.edu.au to arrange a tour at a time that suits you.

Community Information

TCSPC

Welcome to the latest edition of the Tasmanian Catholic Schools Parent Council eNewsletter.

Visit the link below to view your newsletter.

Get into Hockey

Tasmanian Hockey Centre, Bell Street, Newtown

Term 1 2019 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.

Term 1 2019 Upcoming Events