Welcome back

After two weeks of taking life at a slower pace, I hope everyone feels rested and ready to dive into an exciting and productive term ahead. Term 4 is always a busy time, filled with activities and opportunities to consolidate the learning that has taken place throughout the year. It’s a chance for us to reflect, solidify key skills, and prepare for what lies ahead in the coming school year.

This term also brings the anticipation of… dare I say…. Advent and Christmas. These special celebrations help to bring our school community together in reflection and gratitude. For our Year 6 students, this term marks the end of a significant chapter in their school journey. As they prepare to move on to secondary school, we will celebrate them, cherishing the memories we’ve created and wishing them well as they embark on new adventures.

Let’s continue to work in partnership to make this final term a success. Through collaboration, commitment, and care, we can ensure that Term 4 is filled with growth, achievement, and memorable moments for all. Together, let’s make this our best term yet!

Christine’s return next week

Christine is due back at school next Monday. We know she’s had a wonderful holiday and look forward to hearing about all the magical places she visited during her leave. We hope she’s well rested and ready to hit the ground running!

Competition winners for the Cancer Council Fundraiser

Towards the end of Term 3, Caterina and her dedicated Year 3/4 helpers took part in selling raffle tickets to support the Biggest Morning Tea fundraising initiative. Thanks to the generosity of our school community who purchased tickets; we successfully raised $617.70, which has been donated to the Cancer Council.

We had five wonderful prizes on offer, including four hampers, a beautiful plant and painting. Congratulations to our raffle winners:

Alessia
Brendan
Nadia
.Julia
Tim

All prize winners have been notified and we’re sure they’re enjoying the hamper contents, the painting and the plant.

A huge thank you to everyone who purchased raffle tickets, as well as to Caterina and her helpers for their diligence in selling tickets before and after school. We would also like to extend our gratitude to the staff and local businesses who generously donated goods and services to make the raffle prizes possible. Each and every contribution helped make this fundraising effort a great success!

MACSISS Survey

Thank you to our families who have taken the time to answer the MACSISS Survey. We had 35 responses. To show our appreciation we ran a raffle where the prize on offer is a $150 voucher to spend anywhere the winner chooses! This will be drawn on Wednesday afternoon.

To be included in the draw, please send your completion message to competition@hrkensington.catholic.edu.au Good luck!

No Hat, No Play and No PE!

This term, we will be strictly enforcing the ‘No Hat, No Play’ rule due to high UV index levels. It’s essential that we all prioritise being sunsmart. While the children are great at following this rule during break times, we will also be enforcing it during PE lessons as per our SUNSMART policy.

If a student does not have their school hat for PE, they will need to sit out of the lesson in the shade, and will not participate. Parents will receive an email notification if this occurs. Please note that only school hats are acceptable—baseball caps are not allowed. Thank you for your cooperation in helping us keep your children safe from the sun.

A reminder to put your child's name on their hat.

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.

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

It is highly recommended that the children also use sunscreen as a sunsmart measure. We ask that your child learns to independently apply this for themselves. We have communal bottles of sunscreen around the school and in classrooms however, parents may like to supply their own.

Swaddle Drive

Thank You to the families who supported the Mercy Hospital’s Swaddle Drive. These will be presented to the Neonatal Nurses soon. The donation hamper has a generous selection of swaddles which enable babies in the neonatal unit to feel snug, safe and loved. We have decided to continue collecting donation until Friday 11 October.

Art Show Parent Helpers

Thank you to the parents who have volunteered to help Andrea with the Art Show. It’s not too late to enlist. Please email Andrea at adurand@hrkensington.catholic.edu.au should you be able to lend a hand.

Celebrating Sport- Colours day

The last day of Term 3 was a fabulous celebration of our favourite sporting team colours. It was wonderful to see such a variety of sports represented. Check out the photos which brightened up the playground!

Prep Transition Program

Our Transition Program for Prep 2025 began late last term with our “Getting To Know You Interviews” followed by a picnic in our Adventure Playground. Parents became acquainted with one another and it was a pleasure seeing parents mingling while the children began forming connections. This term we have three sessions where the children will work in the classrooms with the Prep teachers, to get a taste of school life. These sessions will run from 9:15 - 10:30 on 18 October, 1 November and 15 November from 9:15 -10:30. We’re convening for a parent information evening on Thursday 31 October at 6:30 pm at school for parents, where we look forward to talking about all things Prep!

We are pleased to announce that the Prep teachers for 2025 are Emily Barnes and Lauren Dow. They are excited to be working together and we’re sure it’ll be a successful year.

Holy Rosary Day Celebrations

On Monday 14 October our we will celebrate Holy Rosary Day. The children will experience the Professor Bunsen’s Science Show as well as Holy Rosary focused activities with their teachers. On Tuesday 15 October at 9:00am as a school, we will gather in the church to celebrate a prayer service followed by the presentation of the 2024 Mercy Spirit Award. We welcome families to join us at the church.

The parish will further celebrate the Feast of the Holy Rosary on Sunday 27 October at 10:30am with a parish Mass officiated by Bishop Martin Ashe followed by a morning tea in the Holy Rosary School Hall.

Arrival at school Reminder

We have noticed that we are seeing students arrive at school quite early in the morning. While we do not want to stop this enthusiasm to come to school, please be aware that the school yard is open to students from 8:30. This is when teacher supervision begins, so for the safety of our students we ask that they are supervised by their parents if arriving early.

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.

Chess Club

Congratulations to Term 3’s Chess Club champions, Anthony, Tycho and Keith. These boys are superstars at Chess and thoroughly deserve their trophies and medals.

Have a great first week back.

Maria