After 8 weeks leave I arrived at the airport at 4.15 am on Monday 2nd September to travel to Canberra with 49 students and 4 other staff.  Many people commented on what a challenging way this was to return from a very leisurely break. However, for me it was a wonderful way to return after a break.

I have always seen my role as a Principal as a privilege and a responsibility. Each day brings new challenges, new problems, and new adventures. This can be exciting and keeps things fresh. You can go into a day with a solid plan of things to do and fail to accomplish a single thing that you expected. You never know what will await you on any particular day.  As a Principal, there is never an established routine. Each day has its own unique routine that dictates itself as time passes. 

However, during my trip to Canberra with our Grade 6 students, I had the opportunity to take time out from the demands of the school environment, the meetings, staffing, budgets, building projects and the many other things that can keep me from time with children. I had time to enjoy a group of 49 students as they experienced the joys of visiting our capital city and learning about the history of our unique country. I had time to sit and talk with students, laugh at the many adventures we had and support them if they were feeling homesick. In essence, I had the time to do what I used to do as a classroom teacher and it was amazing.   

Thank you to our incredible students who never fail to make me proud. From our first check-in at Hobart Airport we received so many positive comments on our students and their behaviour, attitude and the respect they showed to others. We all owe a huge debt of gratitude to Mrs Catherine Midson, Mr Matt Luttrell, Mr Brent Pearce and Mrs Sarah Dance who gave up their own family time to travel with our students. Spending 95 hours and being on call 24/7 is a commitment that we should all recognise. Thank you to Mrs Sharon Goldsworthy who organised our entire itinerary and ensured we had everything we needed and to Mrs Sue Reardon and Mrs Jacki Jones for their additional administrative support. 

Finally to all our parents thank you for your support and trust that you have in us to look after your precious children. To those parents who sent a text or email on our return to say thank you or took time to personally say this to us please know how much this has been appreciated. 

As I return fully to my role as Principal this week I would like to thank Mrs Lauren McCallum for the outstanding role she did as Acting Principal, it is not an easy role to step into and Lauren did so with absolute commitment, compassion and care. Thank you also to Mrs Gemma Bennett as Acting Deputy Principal for her support in this role and the many additional responsibilities she took on. Lauren and Gemma were supported fully by our fantastic Leadership team and the staff of Holy Rosary Catholic School.

Bernadette Brooks

We congratulate our students who will celebrate their First Holy Communion on Sunday the 15^th of September. This celebration will be held in our Parish Church St Bernard’s at 9:00 surrounded by our parish and fellow Grade 3 and Grade 4 students.

The word 'communion' means to be united with; Catholics believe that in Holy Communion we are united in a special way with Jesus Christ. At his last supper, Jesus said of the bread that he shared among his followers, "Take and eat, this is my body." When we receive Holy Communion, Catholics believe that in a mysterious way we are sharing in the body and blood of Christ.

Holy Communion and the whole celebration is also known as Eucharist, from a Greek word meaning thanksgiving. First Eucharist is a special occasion - a further step in becoming one with Christ and united with the People of God.

We congratulate Amie, Grace, Susannah, Raymond, Cillian and Lucas.

On Saturday 7th September our team of 7 students, Shin, Mitch, Alessio, Lilith, Lily, Ella and Penny competed in the Tournament of Minds competition held at Ogilvie High School. Our team joined 66 other schools from across the state to compete in different challenges. TOM offers teams of students the opportunity to solve authentic, open-ended challenges that foster creative, divergent thinking whilst developing collaborative enterprise, excellence and teamwork. Challenges are set in the following disciplines... The Arts, Language Literature, Social Sciences and STEM. Shin, Mitch, Alessio, Lilith, Lily, Ella and Penny competed in the STEM area and their preparation and presentation were outstanding. Thank you to our parents who supported the students in the 6-week preparation and on the day. A huge thank you to Mrs Catherine Midson who worked tirelessly with the team over the past weeks and spent all day Saturday at the Ogilvie supporting our students. We are so lucky at Holy Rosary to have such dedicated staff who give so much of their time to ensure our students have the opportunity to be involved in these experiences.

On Friday morning August 30th, over 300 families joined us to celebrate our Family Breakfast. Families were treated to a varied menu and spent time enjoying each others company prior to the commencement of the school day.  A huge thank you to our wonderful Canteen Manager, Alison and Assistant Kylie for the many additional hours they spent preparing. Thank you also to IGA Austins Ferry who assist in so many ways with our orders and supplies.  To all our staff who were on site from 6.30am to prepare and cook breakfast we thank you most sincerely.

In response to a  survey sent earlier in the year,  combined with data gathered from other Catholic and Independent schools, a decision has been made that students will move into the formal uniform at the commencement of their Primary Year's Education in Grade 3.  This decision has been made in consultation with the Board. Students from Kindergarten to Grade 2 will wear the sports uniform each day. As with any change to the uniform, we are conscious of the need to transition to this change for parents who may have already purchased a uniform for students in Grade 1 for 2020 and propose the following:

In addition to this change and once again in response to feedback the decision has also been made to make the purchase of the school formal jumper and or formal vest an optional extra. These items will continue to be on sale and we strongly encourage the wearing of the school formal jumper on cold days as no other jumper will be permitted to be worn in its place. However, we acknowledge that this as an additional cost when the majority of the students are wearing the navy softshell jacket.

The navy blue soft shell jacket will, therefore, become a compulsory item and we will also be including a navy blue soft shell vest as an optional extra.  

As previously advised when the decision was made to change the rugby top all students should be completing the transition into the new navy rugby top by the commencement of 2020. 

Doyle (red), D'Arcy (sky blue), and Young (yellow) House polos and other House items are now available for order through QKR.  To have the items stocked in time for the Athletics carnivals in Term 4, the final date for ordering will be Friday 13 September 2019.  Ordering can also be done at the Uniform Shop, by phone to the office, or by completing the attached form and returning by the due date.

 All Schools Basketball Tournament

Holy Rosary will be competing in this tournament.

• 19^th & 20^th October 2019.
• Games will be played between the hours of 9.00am & 6.00pm.
• Training sessions will be held at St Virgils College Austins Ferry on

September 4, 11, 18 and25 & October 18.

• Games are held at either Moonah or Clarence.
• They will play a minimum of 4 games over the weekend.
• It is a great opportunity to give basketball a try without the club commitments.
• The cost is $35.00 per student payable at the school office.
• Please contact Kate Clark for more information: 0437 172 500.

**Join the Holy Rosary School Basketball Page on Facebook**

 If you can please confirm by text or email your child’s interest by the 29^th August 2019

 Mobile: 0437 172 500

email:  Kate.allison76@outlook.com

 Training will commence on Wednesday 4th September at St Virgil’s College.

Grades 3/4 BOYS & GIRLS       4.30-5.30

Grades 5/6 GIRLS                    5.30-6.30

Grades 5/6 BOYS                    6.30-7.30

 We currently have 3 grade 5/6 boys teams.

 After the first training session we will place boys into appropriate level.  

One team will train at 5.30-6.30 instead of 6.30-7.30

Exciting times indeed! As you may have noticed, our building works have finally started.  The first step to this was placing and plumbing in the portable toilet blocks, the demolition of the existing toilet block and partial demolition of the two terrapins. The builder’s site office and their access to the school off Westfield Street will mean that there will be no student or parent access from the school to Westfield Street and vice versa.  Those students who meet parents there, or walk home this way, will need to make alternate arrangements.

The fencing will also block access between the hall and the demountable building that was used as the library.  Students will need to enter the school from the other side, down past the Grade 1 classrooms. Those students in 4CL can still enter their classroom from the front of the school.

We are endeavouring to make this process as disruption-free as possible to our students and families and we will continue to update you when further works commence or when any access to the school changes.

Staffing preparations for 2020 have commenced. In the coming weeks you will see advertisements for a number of teaching staff positions in Catholic Schools in Tasmania. We have a number staff who are on replacement contracts in our school community and it is a requirement that all replacement and limited positions are advertised each year.

If parents know that they will not be continuing enrolment of their child/children at Holy Rosary Catholic School in 2020 please let the Office know as soon as possible, as we have students on a waiting list for positions.  

As we approach the End of Term 3 we ask that all school fees are brought up to date, with all fees being finalised by the end of November.