A HUGE welcome to 2024! Welcome back for our returning families and a very special welcome to all our new families.

My name is Karyn Penney and I am the Defence School Mentor (DSM) for Campbell Primary School. I am employed by Campbell Primary School and funded by the Department of Defence to support students from active service Australian Defence Force (ADF) families, particularly through the challenges of frequent relocation and parental absence. My role also includes connecting families to local community and defence support and opportunities. I am privileged to form part of the Campbell Primary School support team that also includes our wonderful admin staff, dedicated Learning Support Assistants (LSA’s), and our school psychologist. Together we work to provide the best possible support to all members of our Campbell Primary School community.

We are so very proud of all of our new students, who have showed great courage and resilience during their first two weeks at their new school. It can be an incredibly stressful time for students and families both and all should be commended for their efforts so far. There will be up and down days, but they will become progressively easier as the term goes on. I encourage any families with any concerns around transition to please get in contact early so we can check in and provide additional supports if needed. A huge shout out to our returning students as well that have been amazing buddies for these first few weeks and made school days much less scary for our new friends – you should be very proud (we are!).

For those ADF families that have come to us on posting from interstate please be aware of the ability to access education support via Defence Member and Family Support’s (DMFS, formerly DCO) Education Assistance Scheme. This allows those impacted by relocation to access reimbursement for tutoring support in areas identified as requiring extra tuition or where a subject wasn’t previously offered (for example Japanese). Additional information is available via the link  here. The application form AD301 is available via webforms for the serving member, or via the DMFS helpline on 1800 624 608 at any time. Recent changes mean you will require a supporting letter from Campbell Primary School which I am happy to arrange, as well as a report card from your previous school. Kindergarten students are ineligible unless posting occurred after the commencement of the school year. Please let me know if you have any questions. DMFS are also hosting a welcome event for those new to Canberra - you can find the details and secure tickets here.

I hope that you have been able to take some time to have a look at our school website for lots of information about the school. There are also two facebook groups connected to the school with exciting updates from our P&C and the school. You can find them here: https://www.facebook.com/campbellprimaryschoolcbr and here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/campbellprimarypc as well as the website https://www.campbellps.act.edu.au/. It can be very valuable to have a look through the photos to find some events and activities to get excited about – we have a lot! Musicals, discos, sports, excursions, carnivals, concerts, clubs and much more! It’s going to be another big year.

I am at Campbell Primary School full time from 9am until 4pm and can usually be found either in the playground or supporting within classrooms. I am always happy to meet with parents to answer any questions you may have - please check in with the front office and they will locate me for you. I am also available via email at Karyn.heitmann@ed.act.edu.au.