Dear Families,

As Term 3 draws to a close, I can’t help but reflect on the past 10 weeks with a sense of pride. Our accomplishments have been many, and it's been a delight to witness the incredible growth of our children. Term 3 is often when we see the greatest strides in learning, and this year has been no exception. Those "lightbulb" moments, when everything clicks, remind us as educators of why we do what we do!

As we head into the holidays, I encourage you to take a moment to appreciate your children's achievements. I’d also like to extend my heartfelt thanks to our parents for your continued support throughout the term. It’s well known that when parents and teachers work together, children flourish.

A special thank you to our staff for their dedication, professionalism and passion. We are truly fortunate at Holy Rosary to have such a committed team who care deeply about their role in shaping young minds. And to our children, thank you for your hard work, kindness, and respect towards one another and your teachers. You make coming to work a joy every day!

I wish everyone in our school community a wonderful, restful break. For those travelling, stay safe. Enjoy the slower mornings, and take a moment to smell the Spring roses!

MACSSIS Survey

Last week each family received an email (to one member of your family) containing a link and password for the MACSSIS School Improvement Survey. This email may have landed in your SPAM mailbox. We ask that you take the 15-20 it takes to answer the survey questions, giving us essential feedback on the important components that make up the structure of our school. The surveys are completely anonymous and the data collected will contribute to the forward planning and goal setting for Holy Rosary moving into 2025 and beyond. The survey closes on Friday 20 September. Remember to send your completion Statement to competition@hrkensington.catholic.edu.au by Friday 20 September for your chance to win a $150 voucher to spend at place of your choosing. Good Luck!

Farewell

We say au revoir to Maeve (5/6S), Tommi (1/2N) and Zoe (1/2N) who are leaving our school on Friday. It’s been our pleasure to be part of their educational journey and we wish them well in their new schools where they’ll be valuable assets. Thank you for the friendships and bonds made in our community. Good luck to you all!

Illnesses

We’ve been struck with many and varied illnesses from gastro to whooping cough (which unfortunately has continued to spread through our community). We ask that parents continue to keep children at home if they are ill. The spread of germs only results in further illnesses which prolongs a healthy environment. We have sent a number of children home who have presented to the sickbay with

Sun Smart

Towards the end of this term as the UV reached above 3, we encouraged the children to wear hats and stay in shaded areas if they didn’t have a hat. From the beginning Term 4 term we will be enforcing the “No Hat, No Play” rule. We ask that children are supplied with a school hat to wear outside during play breaks and for PE lessons. Children will be asked to sit in the Welcome Place or play in the hall during break times should they not have a hat. Don't forget to put your child's name on their hat.

Further Information may be found here in our SUNSMART school policy. Thank you for your cooperation.

Should parents require any uniform pieces, including hats, they can be purchased from Noone online or instore: https://www.noone.com.au/school/holy-rosary-school.

Team colours

This Friday, being the last day of Term 3, children are welcome to wear their favourite team colours from their favourite sport. We’re looking forward to a colourful playground!

Cancer Council Raffle

Over the past week, Caterina and her band of many helpers have sold raffle tickets in support of the Cancer Council Biggest Morning Tea. We’re pleased to announce that this has been quite a popular enterprise and we’ve managed to sell many tickets. We have 4 hampers on offer, worth over $150 each. There’s also a beautiful plant and painting making up the 5th Prize. We say thank you to the staff who have donated many of the items that made up the hampers and to the local businesses who have generously contributed goods and services. Tickets will be sold up until Thursday before school. The raffle will be drawn on Thursday, winners will be notified and prizes can be collected on Thursday afternoon or Friday. We are grateful for your support.

Swaddle drive

Thank you to the families who have donated swaddles to the Mercy Hospital neonatal unit. These will be presented to the hospital early in Term 4. It’s not too late to bring a swaddle along. Donations are being accepted up to 20 September. More information can be found in the Community section of this newsletter.

Help Us Plan for 2025

We are planning for 2025. It is critical that we employ the correct number of staff and ensure these teachers are the highest quality candidates. To help us to achieve this goal, we ask you to support us in these two ways:

If you are leaving Holy Rosary in 2025, please let us know as soon as you know. Even if you think leaving is a possibility, please tell us to assist with our planning. Please let the office know.
Please promote Holy Rosary in the local community. Classes that have optimal numbers ensure the best learning opportunities across the board.

Dismissal on Friday 20 September and Return to School Term 4

Please note that this Friday, being the last day of Term 3, children will be dismissed at 1pm. We would be grateful if children can be picked up on time. If Team Kids is required, please book with them via the usual channels https://www.teamkids.com.au/

We will return ready for Term 4 on Monday 7 October at 8:50am.

The Victorian Premiers’ Reading Challenge 2024 is closed. Congratulations to 23 students who completed the challenge.

23 students completed, 1184 books Finished

Top Favourites at Holy Rosary are James and the Giant Peach, Pig the Pug, Hush, Little Possum, Hairy Maclary, the Gruffalo's child, Diary of a Wimpy Kid, Mummy, You’re special to me, and Mr Skip.

Art Show

Andrea and the children are working hard to prepare Artworks for our bi-annual Art Show. We’ve attached a flyer giving you all the details. More information to follow in the coming weeks. This event is one not to be missed!

Explicit Teaching in Term 4

Last week, the teachers, along with Sarah and Maria, dedicated time to planning learning sequences for the first few weeks of Term 4 in Maths and English. Through rich discussions, they developed English units focused on the explicit teaching of phonics, spelling, and grammar, all supported by beautifully written texts. Our Year 3/4 students will study Matilda by Roald Dahl, while our Year 5/6 students will explore Rivet Boy by Barbara Henderson. Both units will incorporate Ochre resources sampled this term, but these have been adapted to fit our specific context. The teachers have also drawn from our earlier experience with the Intensive Partnership with MACS and insights from Vision for Instruction. Teaching will continue to emphasise explicit instruction in reading and writing, and the use of rich texts will engage and inspire students. Our Prep to Year 2 students will follow a similar approach, with a strong focus on mastering the alphabetic code through rich picture books. We look forward to sharing children’s learning progress with you in Term 4.

Working in year level teams, Maths units were planned with a focus on building student capability in the four mathematical proficiencies of understanding, fluency, reasoning and problem solving. During term four, students will engage with a range of challenging tasks through the Launch, Explore, Summarise teaching model which will focus on building student knowledge, application and mastery of the key concepts outlined in the Victorian Curriculum. Students will engage with Ochre resources in the form of daily reviews, with the intention of building their long-term mathematical memory through the retrieval of key concepts taught throughout the year.

Have a wonderful week, everyone.

Maria

Prayer