Dear families,

This week is my first week back after being on long service leave for a brief period.  I would like to thank and acknowledge the amazing work of Erin Minehan as acting principal, Kate Stear as acting deputy and Kate Herrington and Alistair Scherer as acting executive teachers.  They all eagerly took on higher duties and continued to lead the school in my absence to an excellent standard.

Due to the continued staff shortages this has not been an easy task and the school would like to also recognise the flexibility and commitment of the teaching and support staff.  It is the continued commitment and adaptability of the staff at Campbell Primary School that has enabled us to keep the doors open and continue engaging students in face-to-face learning.

Thank you to all the parents who have supported us through this complex time. It was wonderful to be able to host onsite parent interviews, it is such a brilliant opportunity to meet and celebrate your child’s educational journey and discuss strategies for continued growth.  Please also remember to like our Facebook page as this is another small way, we keep you updated with all the wonderful learning taking place at school.

Next week families will be able to support the school’s improvement journey by completing our Annual School Satisfaction Survey.  We ask that that ALL families take the time to complete the survey so that we can capture the voice of all our parents.  The data attained through the survey is very valuable and helps the school recognise areas of improved growth and identify goals for the future.

Information for families

A message from the ACT Education Directorate: Keeping our students learning in Term 3

Every ACT public school is working hard to manage the impacts of COVID-19 and the flu in our schools to ensure minimal disruption for everyone and keep students learning.

Face-to-face learning in the classroom remains the core way students are learning this term; however, staff shortages may see them learning a little differently from time to time.

What can parents and students expect?

When schools do not have appropriate staffing levels to support students in their usual classrooms the following measures may be put in place:

• Older students may learn online in a supervised setting.
• Students may be engaged in a modified program of learning in their regular classroom with supervision from school staff.
• Students may participate in self-directed learning (supervised by other classroom teachers this may be via Google Classrooms or a pre-prepared activity).
• Students may be split into classes across the school, where children may engage in self-directed learning and/or the learning of their host class.
• Some activities may be put on hold (eg lunchtime clubs)

Where schools are no longer able to manage using the above strategies students may move to learning from home for short periods of time.

If this is the case your school will work with the Directorate ahead of time to make this decision and families will be provided with learning activities for use during this time.

Sometimes this decision will need to be made quickly. We appreciate that the short notice is difficult for families and, where we can, will ensure we give as much notice as we are able.

Non-essential events and excursions

There may also be the need to postpone/cancel planned activities and events offsite (eg camps, excursions, sporting days etc) from time to time, sometimes at short notice.

We appreciate any cancellation is disappointing and wherever possible schools will reschedule these missed opportunities.

Thank you once more to our parents, carers and staff for their ongoing support and commitment again this term.

Academy of Future Skills

Kristy Nguyen, our Year 5 and 6 science specialist has been working with teachers from the ACT Education Directorate’s Academy of Future Skills. The Academy provides consultation, planning, lending, mentoring, co-teaching, and professional learning with a focus on science, technology, engineering, arts, mathematics (STEAM). Motivated by our new STEAM learning areas, Kristy completed an expression of interest to partner with the Academy to plan and teach an engaging unit on ‘Light’ for Year 5 and ‘Electricity’ for Year 6.  

With the support of Jim Riley, who is an instructional coach from the Academy of Future Skills, Year 5 and Year 6 students will work through their science units with some of the most up to date resources and equipment. One of the resources that Year 6 students will be using is LittleBits.cc. It is a mini magnetic circuit that allows students to build a workable electrical circuit.  Year 5 will be exploring light and the amount of energy it has when encountering with surrounding materials using PASCO wireless light sensors. Through an online app called PARKvue, students will collect and analyse data from the sensor using their Chromebook.  

For the next 6 weeks, Year 5 and Year 6 students will have learning opportunities that incorporate great contents and resources to enhance their interest and learning in science within our amazing new space. 

Parent/Teacher Interviews 

Thank you to all our parent/carers who attended last week’s Parent/Teacher Interviews. It was lovely to see families back on school site. I wanted to also wanted to acknowledge our teachers who spent hours in preparation for these interviews. If you were unable to attend your child/ren’s meeting, please contact your child’s classroom teacher.  

NAPLAN 2023 – move to Term 1 

Earlier this year, the Education Ministers announced NAPLAN testing would be brought forward to Term 1 from 2023. Bringing the test forward means this valuable data set will be available earlier in the year to inform teaching and learning programs and to give parents information about their child's performance earlier. 

The NAPLAN testing period in 2023 is Wednesday 15 March to Monday 27 March. 

Lost property is being relocated to the new location of the BER.

The volume of items being deposited in the lost property buckets has become overwhelming.  During Week 6 we will be going through and donating any unclaimed, and unlabelled items.  We encourage you to motivate your children to look for any of their lost items.

Please use this as a timely reminder to ensure any property your child brings to school is clearly labelled with your child's name.

We also ask for families to have the conversation with their children making them aware, lost property is not a place to 'borrow' hats or jackets.

As you will all be well aware, the Covid-19 safety considerations mean that no excursions are guaranteed to be able to go ahead, and contingency planning is occuring up until the last minute.  This puts additional pressure on the management of any excursion we attempt to hold for our little people.

We ask that you kindly support us by honouring the return-by date on all excursion forms sent home.

We want for all of our students be able to participate in every extra curricular activity organised by the school, but this is only possible with your support.

Please note, as of Week 5, any excursion permission forms that are not handed in by the due date, will no longer be able to be accepted.

When notes are lost or damaged in school bags, you can download additional copies from the Campbell Primary School website Dropbox in the 'Notes sent home' folder.  

Thank you all for your continued understanding.  We are so grateful to have the support of our families to be able to continue to provide the very best learning experiences possible for our little people.

In compliance with the Education Directorate policy on attendance records, any student who is not in attendance in the classroom while the roll is being marked  (straight after the bell at 9:00am), will be listed as absent.

In this instance, an absence notification (email/sms) will be sent to the nominated contacts.

Any students who arrive at school after the 9:00am bell, need to present at the front office so their attendance and arrival time can be recorded accurately. 

Any students arriving without:

• a parent/carer in person,
• a written note from the parent/carer,
• the school receiving a phone call from the parent/carer, or
• the school receiving an email or absence report via the smartphone app

will have their lateness marked as "unexplained".  In this instance a late arrival notification will be sent to the nominated contacts.

The school cannot accept absence/late arrive explanations from a student/sibling.  This advice must be received from a parent/carer or other contact we have listed for that child on our database.

Has your child ever wanted to invite a friend home and you don't know their parent's number? Have birthday invitations disappeared into backpacks, and guests not turned up? Or have you just wished you could give another parent in the class a call when you are running late for pick up? Particularly during COVID times, it is often difficult for class parents to connect.

The P&C is looking for one or two parent volunteers to solve this problem for everyone! We would like to develop opt-in class list for each class/year group with contact details for the children, which will then be shared with parents. We need some help to put in place a system that allows parents to easily input and update their details, and for class lists to be circulated and updated. If you think that is you, please get in touch by emailing president@campbellpandc.com. We look forward to hearing from you!

Kind regards,

Daniel Rolfe | Executive Officer

Campbell Primary School Parents & Citizens Association
Chauvel St, Campbell ACT 2612
Phone: 0449 099 070  | Email: daniel.rolfe@campbellpandc.com

This time of the year is always a busy time for our school when enrolments commence for the following school year.

We already have a strong interest for Kindergarten next year and need to carefully plan ahead before accepting any new enrolments for Years 1-6.

We have sent the form home to all families so that we can anticipate enrolment numbers for 2023 in order to make decisions about class and staffing arrangements.

Thank you to our families who have already returned their forms.  If you not yet done so, would you kindly complete and return the form to the front office at your earliest convenience.

2022 School Satisfaction & Climate Survey - 19 August to 9 September

Each year, the Directorate surveys all parents and carers, school staff and students in Years 4 to 12 about their experience of public education. The 2022 School Satisfaction & Climate Survey will be available online from 19 August to 9 September. The survey results will help us to continue to make quality informed decisions about how to improve our school. No personal identifying information will be provided to any school or college.

For each child in their family who attends an ACT public school, parents and carers will receive:

• An email about the parent survey, including a unique link to access the survey. Genuine survey invitation emails will have the title "The 2022 School Satisfaction & Climate Survey is now open!" and will be sent from EDU Surveys & Evaluation with 'from' address EDU@qualtrics-survey.com.

If you do not receive the survey invitation, please check your Junk email folder; if it is not there, send your contact details to EDUSurveysandEvaluation@act.gov.au to request a survey invitation.

The Parents and Carers Survey will be available online in other languages: Arabic, Burmese, Chinese, Hindi, Korean, Urdu, Vietnamese, Punjabi, Bengali, Spanish and Telugu. Respondents can select their preferred language when they start the survey. A shortened paper-version of the Parents and Carers Survey is also available in the following 5 languages: Dari, Dinka, Farsi, Karen and Mon. These surveys are available at the Front Office.

For the results to reflect the opinions of our whole school community, we need as many parents and carers, staff and students as possible to complete the survey. Your feedback is important, and we hope you will take part. For more information, visit: https://www.education.act.gov.au/public-school-life/school-satisfaction-and-climate-survey

All families who complete the 2022 School Satisfaction & Climate Survey will receive a gel pen.

Kind regards

Alistair Scherer

A/g School Leader C

ACT Instrumental Music Program

Secondary Student Extension Ensembles - 2023

The ACT Instrumental Music Program is seeking students who will be in Year 7 to Year 12 in ACT public schools in 2023 to audition for secondary extension ensembles.

Current Year 6 students continuing to a public secondary school in 2023 can apply for:

Junior Concert Band: Years 7-8 students in ACT public schools in 2023

Percussion Ensemble: Years 7-12 students in ACT public schools in 2023

Senior Concert Choir: Years 7-12 students in ACT public schools in 2023

Auditions will be held online in Term 4 (31 October – 4 November).

All audition requirements and pieces will be available on the IMP website by the end of Term 3.

The ensembles are an excellent opportunity for hard-working, skilled and committed young musicians to work together in an enriching environment. The groups are active performance ensembles and the families of students auditioning will need to be prepared to make a strong commitment to rehearsal and performance attendance for the year.

Further details and information about how to apply for an audition are available from the Instrumental Music Program website at http://www.imp.act.edu.au/our_ensembles/auditions

Complete your online application at                       

https://forms.gle/dyQw7nsevxQHALxNA

or scan the QR code for a direct link.                                   

Information cards and posters are available at your child’s school.

Applications close Monday 17 October.

This year’s Winter Walk to School Week is just around the corner so it’s time to brave the cold and kick start those healthy habits by incorporating physical activity into your daily routine.

From Monday 8 to Friday 12 August 2022, we’re encouraging our school communities to walk, ride, scoot or skate to school. Winter Walk to School Week is also a great opportunity for schools to reinforce safety messages around walking while encourage their students to walk (or ride) to school.

Don’t let the chilly weather put you off just make sure to rug up before you head out! Layers are a great way to stay warm without needing a big heavy winter coat. Foggy mornings can also lower visibility so we encourage students to don a high-vis jacket or vest or some reflective straps on their bag will make the walk a little safer and ensure cars and other commuters can see them.

Walking, riding, or scooting to school is a great way for kids to incorporate physical activity into their day, teach independence all while reducing the environmental impact caused by car travel. Children who ride or walk to school are also more likely to arrive at school alert and ready to learn.

For kids who live too far from school to walk or ride the whole way, part way is ok too. Part way points are designated drop off areas within a short walking distance from schools where students can walk from if walking from home is not practical.

Learn more about traveling safely to school here: Travel safely to school - Transport Canberra (act.gov.au)