Principal's News

Good morning Families,

As we approach the final days of the year, I am pleased to share important staffing updates for 2026. This year we farewell Maree and Emily who are moving on to new opportunities, and Zoe who will take leave without pay for 12 months. We thank them for their dedication, care, and the many contributions they have made to Holy Rosary, and wish them every success in the future.

We are delighted to share that we have successfully appointed wonderful new staff members who will join us next year. Emma Saliba is already a familiar face to students, staff and families, having completed a pre-service placement with Allison and more recently working with us  as a Learning Support Officer. The second is Joshua Fairey, an experienced educator with a rich background across primary and secondary settings, in Australia and overseas. Joshua currently works at Flemington Primary School and is therefore familiar with our local context. We look forward to the passion and care that Emma and Joshua will bring to our community.

We are also in the final stages of employing a music teacher for 2026 and following our reference checks we anticipate that we will confirm this appointment next week.

Holy Rosary Staff  2026

                                                                      Class Teachers                                                                    

                                                                   Specialist Teachers

Admin/Office/Library

Learning Support Officers

                                                                Leadership Team* 

*Leadership Team members are also the Child Safety and Wellbeing Team.  Child Safety Lead Officers are Christine Shaw and Michaela Mackie. 

Step Up Day 

Your child will be familiar with their new teacher, classroom and peers following our Step Up Day this Friday. Year 1/2 classes will exchange classrooms with Year 3/4.  Aside from this, all classes will remain where they are this year. After the Step Up Day where they will spend the middle session of the day, your child will bring home a page introducing their new teacher so you can share in their excitement for the year ahead.

Baby News

We are delighted to share the joyful news that Sophie and her family have welcomed their beautiful baby daughter and sister, Nina.

Nina arrived safely and is already bringing much love and happiness to the family. We wish them every blessing as they enjoy this precious time together, and we look forward to meeting Nina in the future.

Social Media Age Restrictions

As already reported via the newsletter, Federal social media age restrictions legislation take effect this Wednesday.

From 10 December 2025, the Online Safety Amendment (Social Media Minimum Age) Act 2024 will require social media platforms to:

·   prevent children and young people under 16 from having a social media account

·   deactivate or freeze existing accounts held by people under 16.

Delaying access to social media protects the health and wellbeing of young people and gives them extra time to build real world connections and digital literacy skills. The responsibility will be on the social media platforms, not parents, carers, children or schools, to implement these new restrictions.

Most popular social media platforms will be age restricted. These include Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok, X (formerly Twitter), Reddit and YouTube. Messaging services and online games, as well as apps and platforms that support health and education, can still be used.

How to help under 16s prepare for the change

Parents and carers play an important role in supporting their children to be safe online.

To help get under 16s ready for the social media minimum age requirements, you can go to the eSafety website to learn more about the social media age restrictions and find tips on how to talk about social media age restrictions with young people.

At HR, all age-restricted social media platforms are blocked for student use on the school network.

To keep up to date about the new social media age restrictions, visit the eSafety website and subscribe to their newsletter.

Thank you Shelagh

On behalf of our school community, I sincerely thank Shelagh for her valuable contribution to the School Advisory Council. We are truly grateful for Shelagh’s thoughtful insights, honest opinions, and the feedback she has shared on behalf of families at HR. Shelagh’s commitment has helped strengthen the partnership between home and school, and we deeply appreciate the time and care she has given. As Caitlin transitions to high school, we wish you and your family every happiness in the years ahead. 

Fr Andrew Jekot

Last Monday we had the pleasure of a visit from our new parish Priest Father Andrew Jekot. Father Andrew will lead our FlemKen parish in addition to his role as Co-ordinator Clergy Life and Ministry to Retired Priests. He will begin in our parish on 12 January and we warmly welcome his arrival. Families will have the opportunity to meet father Andrew at our school opening Mass on 3 February 2026 at 9.15am.

Volunteers Morning Tea  

We are so grateful to the extraordinary number of volunteers in our school community. To show our appreciation for your generosity of time and service to our school we warmly invite you to morning tea on Monday 15 December at 9:00am in the staffroom. Please use this link to rsvp by Friday 10am. 

rsvp https://forms.gle/c5B9iDvrJL5CAaMf7

Last Day- Tuesday 16th December

Our last day for the end of school year is fast approaching! This is a casual clothes day for children. Please remember that children must have their school hat on this day and they must be dressed in sun smart clothing with closed shoes. 

We will begin our day with a prayer service at 9:15am in the church. 

Following this, Year 5 and 6 students will participate in a netball match. 

At 12:45pm, we will come together in the school yard for a much loved tradition, a guard of honour to celebrate our wonderful Year 6 students and those moving on from other year levels. This is followed by our whole-school sing-and-dance to Tina Turner’s Nutbush City Limits, which always ends the year on a high!

Children will be dismissed from the school yard at 1pm, ready to begin the summer break. We kindly ask that all children are collected promptly.

I also remind families that as part of our privacy policy you must refrain from photographing children other than your own, unless you have the parents’ express permission. 

Beginning of the Year testing: Amended date for appointments

We will be conducting Literacy testing for children in Years 1-6, during the first week  of the 2026 school year. Each child will spend half an hour with their teacher. By gathering this important data early, teachers can begin the year with timely, targeted teaching tailored to the needs of their class. Parents will receive an email from School Interviews Online on Monday 15 December (after STEP UP Day) with further details about booking an appointment, not 3 December as previously advertised.  Should families not be able to attend these appointments, testing will be made available in the following weeks.

“nPortal for Parents”App  & Medical information

The app has been activated and data was transferred from Operoo last Tuesday. Some medical details were not included in the transfer, so all student records including Year 6 students attending Big Day Out need to be checked and updated by families. Two PDFs (installation instructions and an app guide) were emailed to parents on 4 December for your information.

Merry Christmas

As I finish up for the year to begin my leave, welcome my new grandchild and spend some cherished time babysitting Maisie, I wish you all a joyful end to the 2025 school year, a warm and wonderful Christmas, and God’s abundant blessings in 2026. May the peace and hope of the Christ Child dwell in your homes and hearts throughout the year ahead. Thank you once again for the privilege of educating your children. See you in the new year!

Christine