Dear families and carers,

Welcome to Term 4!  What an exciting start to the term with a whole school excursion to Floriade!  Thank you to our families for supporting the opportunity for our entire school to come together as a community and enjoy connecting with our local environment. Please remember we have our STEM night on Thursday 27 October between 4:00pm-6:00pm.

P&C and student leader partnerships

The school would like to express our gratitude to the P&C for reviewing and allocating funding to support two student led initiatives. Student leaders prepared proposals to present to the P&C highlighting resources they would like to see in the school.

As a result of the generosity of the P&C funding, the students are now sourcing podcast equipment to create a podcast studio and work will commence on the construction our worm farm in Week 3.  Global Worming Today will be delivering 10kg of worms in Week 4 and will provide continued support to ensure our worms are thriving.

Congratulations to our students who have been so actively engaged in their learning.  It is wonderful that the students have had an opportunity to have a voice in the development of initiatives at Campbell Primary School and to see the positive outcomes of their efforts.

Supporting an anxious child video series for families

In support of Mental Health Month, the Directorate has produced a short video series to help families support their child if they are feeling anxious. The three videos are presented by a senior psychologist. They cover understanding and responding to a child’s anxiety and tips about supporting a child when they’re feeling anxious. 

They are available now on the ACT Education website at Wellbeing Support Resources for students and families.

ACT Transport Canberra:  Staying safe around schools 

Traffic management and road safety around Canberra schools is a matter for everyone in the community. Speed, illegal parking and the volume of cars on the road all reduce safety for children, so it is important to drive cautiously near schools.

School communities can help to reduce congestion and improve safety in the vicinity of the school by encouraging children to walk or ride to school. Alternatively, try reducing the number of days you drive or varying the drop off and pick up locations, which can make a significant difference to improve traffic management and safety.

Parking Operations, police and mobile speed vans regularly patrol school zones to enforce safe behaviours. If you choose to drive, remember to park in dedicated car parking spaces and to be patient and always follow the road rules, because road safety is everyone’s responsibility.

It is Ride Safely to School Week Monday 24 to Friday 28 October 2022, we encourage all students who can safely ride to school to do so!

Paula Kinsman

Principal

On 12 October Preschool to Year 6 attended Floriade for our first ever whole school excursion. We had the absolute pleasure of listening to our incredible school choir and our Year 5 and 6 band. These performances were the first opportunity the students were able to share since the beginning of COVID 19. A very big thank you to Cathy Dee, Helen Scott, Pete Lawson, Kylie Cheater, Kristy Nguyen and Rachel Thane for their work with the choir and the band.

At the conclusion of the performances our students then explored Floriade with the teachers and all the amazing volunteers. With 100% student attendance, we will definitely be looking at this excursion becoming an annual event.

Dear Families and Carers,

Campbell Primary School is hosting a Scholastic Book Fair on Monday 7 and Tuesday 8 November (Week 5) with 2 time slots for families to come and purchase books.

Before school: 8:15am – 8:45am

After school: 3:15pm - 3:45pm

Both days are in the old Library space.

We would love to see you there!

Students will have the opportunity to look at the books available the week before with their teachers and may bring home a wish list to share with you. If books sell out off the shelf, we will be able to order more just like the regular book club catalogue. You are also able to order books using the brochure that will come home with your child in Week 4. Every book sold earns points for Campbell Primary to spend on new books for our Library and learning spaces.

We are also running a colouring competition to redesign a book cover. Entry sheets are available in the front foyer and 6 winners will each receive a $10 voucher to spend at the book fair. Entries due; Thursday 27 October in the boxes in the front foyer.

As Dr Seuss says,

Last Tuesday in an effort to beat the forecast rain, Taylor and Shane from NRL NSW/ACT came out to run a 30-minute League Stars introduction session for all 7 classes from Years 1-4. This consisted of a range of specially designed high energy fast and fun games while sneakily also teaching fundamental movement skills specific to NRL, like evasion.

Students laughed, cheered, and learned throughout the sessions and it was fantastic to see maximum participation from all the classes.

This session was an introduction to the full program being offered on the Campbell Oval after school from next week (Week 3). While this program is not associated with the Campbell Primary P&C Clubs and activities, it does provide another option for those who are keen on learning, developing or keeping up skills over the summer months. Students brought home information flyers for this program, or it can also be found below.

We thank Taylor and Shane for coming again to share their passion for NRL with Campbell Primary School. We can’t wait to see them again soon.

We are hosting a special STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) Evening for students to attend with their families Thursday, 27 October.

Think Virtual Reality Headsets, Lego Wedo workshops, science experiments and lots of other fun exhibitions to engage us all in STEM activities!

It is so exciting that we can begin considering events like these again, as they were such an important fixture of the Campbell calendar pre-Covid!

If you have any contacts in the STEM world, or would like to host an activity for students and families to visit, please email me at kate.herrington@ed.act.edu.au

We are currently looking for volunteers to assist us on the day of the STEM evening on 27 October.

The P&C are hosting a sausage sizzle that day and require assistance in setting up, packing down, cooking and handing out the sausages on the day.

If you would like to help out with this, please email us at contact@campbellpandc.com and let us know!

Kind regards,

Daniel Rolfe | Executive Officer

Campbell Primary School Parents & Citizens Association
Chauvel St, Campbell ACT 2612
Phone: 0479 099 070 | Email: daniel.rolfe@campbellpandc.com

Now is a great time to tell us want you want to see happening at your school in 2023. We’d love to see you and hear your ideas and opinions so we can get planning.

Your friendly P&C will meet at the CASAC building for nibbles and refreshments 6:00pm Thursday 3 November, please come join us.

Any questions, please contact Danielle at secretary@campbellpandc.com.

We look forward to seeing you there.

Kind regards,

Danielle Hawley

Campbell P&C Secretary

2022 Climate Choices Schools Awards – nominate today

Due 31 October 2022

The annual Climate Choices Schools Awards (previously known as the Actsmart Schools Sustainability Awards) is hosted by the Environment Planning and Sustainable Development Directorate’s Sustainable Schools Program. Schools play an important role in teaching sustainability practices and concepts, and the impact of this teaching spreads beyond the classroom walls to the broader community.

The Climate Choices Schools Awards recognises the people, projects and schools that are making a difference. If this sounds like you or someone you know – a teacher, student, group or school-community member – nominate them for an award. Learn more about the award categories on the Everyday Climate Choices website. Nominate online by 11:59 pm, Monday 31 October 2022.

Contact Madeleine Gisz on 02 620 52538 or madeleine.gisz@act.gov.au.

Register for Mix 106.3 Pack the Bus – Christmas fundraising activity by 31 October

Due 31 October 2022

Transport Canberra and Mix 106.3 invite schools to participate in the Christmas community activity: Pack the Bus. Schools can host donation collection points for new toys and non-perishable food items. At a prearranged date between 28 November and 18 December, Santa will drive a bus to each school and children and parents will help Pack the Bus.

This year’s event is collecting for Communities at Work, an organisation that distributes food parcels and toys to Canberra families in need. For more information or to register your school, email promotions@canberrafm.com.au. Registrations close on 31 October 2022.

Did you know that we have a Campbell Primary School Facebook page?

If you don’t already follow us on Facebook, please do! We share lots of exciting posts throughout the week, including school highlights and special events, interesting happenings from our learning communities and also helpful reminders for families.

You can find our Facebook page at this link: https://www.facebook.com/campbellprimaryschoolcbr

A message from the ACT Education Directorate: Updates to the management of COVID-19 in ACT public schools

Term 4 planning days (pupil free)

Two staff planning days (pupil free) will again be in place in Term 4. The dates are Friday 28 October 2022 and Monday 28 November 2022. 

These planning days provide an important opportunity for our staff to undertake training, plan for the remainder of the term and the year ahead and finalise end of year student reporting which can’t be done during class time.

While students may wish to use these days to catch up on homework and / or assignments, no additional work will be allocated to them on these days. Families may like to use these as wellbeing days for their children.

Changes to exposure advice in ACT public schools

Since the beginning of Term 1, ACT public schools have been providing families with email advice when a positive COVID-19 case within a cohort/class group has attended school during their infectious period.

From the beginning of Term 4, families will no longer receive an email every time a positive case is reported. Instead, families will be notified when there is an outbreak of COVID-19.

This change aligns with the recent change in public reporting by ACT Health.

Schools will continue to have COVID Smart measures in place to support the health and wellbeing of everyone at school.

Do I still need to tell my school if my child has been at school while potentially infectious?

Yes. Anyone who has attended school while positive with COVID-19 must still notify their school. Schools provide this data to the Education Directorate and ACT Health each week and it remains an important tool to help identify any potential outbreaks or areas of concern in our schools.

How will I know if there is an outbreak in my school?

You will be notified by text message when there is a higher number of cases in a particular cohort/class group or if a confirmed case is deemed as high risk. This will enable appropriate measures to be put in place to manage these exposures.

Your school will let you know if they need to make any temporary changes to learning.

A reminder to stay COVID smart at school

To help reduce the impacts on learning as a result of illness, please remember to:  

• Stay up to date with COVID-19 and influenza vaccinations.
• Do not attend school if unwell or if you have tested positive to COVID-19.
• Practise good hand and respiratory hygiene.
• Wear a mask when appropriate.

If your child or young person is a household contact, they may still attend school as long as they do not have any symptoms and have tested negative for COVID-19. Please follow ACT Health advice and let your school know by contacting their front office.