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Dear families,
It has been lovely to welcome back so many smiling faces and to watch all the children settle quickly into their classrooms with their teachers. Welcome to all our new families, we are very excited to have you join the wonderful Campbell Primary School community. It is looking like it will be a busy year full of authentic learning experiences with many opportunities to get involved.
I would like to take a moment to thank Erin Minehan, Kate Herrington, Al Scherer, Fiona McKellar and the entire Campbell Primary School staff for their exceptional professionalism and continuous commitment to learning. I am especially grateful for all the preparations made last year while I was on unexpected medical leave to ensure the children had a smooth start to 2023. I am extremely privileged to work with a highly effective team and I am grateful that in my absence, Erin Minehan seamlessly transitioned into the role of Principal to lead our school improvement journey.
Communication
At Campbell Primary School we have numerous avenues for communication. We strongly encourage all families to ensure they read communication sent home as often there is key information being shared.
Newsletter: The electronic newsletter is emailed Fridays on even weeks of term. It has a wealth of information and includes information of upcoming events.
Website: We are currently updating content on our website, but it continues to have valuable information regarding the school. Perhaps most importantly it has a link to access replacement classroom notes and excursion letters.
Seesaw: All classes have a Seesaw platform to post year group specific information and share learning experiences. This is a fun and quick way to find out what is happening in your child’s classroom.
Facebook: Please follow and like our Facebook page! This is another fun way we celebrate and share the learning experiences of our children. This page is also used to remind families of upcoming events and to share posts from the ACT Directorate of Education.
Email: The school also utilises emails to send information and supports the distribution of P&C information.
How can parents contact the school?
Do you have a burning question? Have we missed something? Do you need to talk? Please do not sit at home worrying for weeks before reaching out. We have many avenues in place to support families.
- Contact the front office either face to face, by email or via the telephone. The wonderful ladies are very supportive and can often direct your queries to the correct person.
- Contact the classroom teacher via email, by appointment or by a request for a phone call. If you require information or need to share information regarding your child’s learning and wellbeing, then the classroom teacher would be your first avenue of support.
- Contact an executive member. Executive staff are available to talk on ANY matters that may be of a sensitive nature or require support beyond the classroom. Please contact the front office to book an appointment.
We are always striving to improve, and we welcome constructive feedback. We also love to hear when we have “hit the mark” and made someone’s day!
*Please be mindful of the work/life balance of our staff and wherever possible only send emails during working hours. The health and wellbeing of staff is essential, and it is important they have protected time with their families. Teachers do not check emails while teaching children, please allow a 48hour reply cycle. All URGENT or time sensitive communications should go through the front office.
NAPLAN- Year 3 and 5
NAPLAN is a national literacy and numeracy assessment that students in Years 3, 5, 7 and 9 sit each year. NAPLAN assess the literacy and numeracy skills that students are learning through the school curriculum and allows parents/carers to see how their child is progressing against the national standard and over time.
NAPLAN assessments have been brought forward to Term 1, Week 7 (week starting 14 March). We will be sharing with families a timetable of when the assessments will be administered closer to the date.
If families would like further information, please click on the link:
Please contact me if you would like to discuss withdrawing your child from all or some of the NAPLAN assessments.
Getting to Know you Yarns - Weeks 2 and 3
Our Preschool teachers have spent the week yarning with their families. The teachers have reflected on the importance of the Yarns, as a way to quickly build effective partnerships with families. The teachers appreciate the information and time that families have shared.
Kindergarten to Year 6 Yarns will start next week. If you haven’t already booked, please find required information in the Setting the Scene email sent out last week. If you didn’t receive that email, please reach out to our front office staff.
PAT Testing
This week PAT testing has commenced for our Year 2 students and any new enrolments to Campbell Primary School. Data from these assessments provides a helpful insight into the starting points of our learners, allowing for targeted teaching. Aside from providing baseline data, PAT is also a tool for us to monitor student growth over time due to its progressive achievement scales. This allows us to track the progress of learners and triangulate data with A-E grades and other, school-based assessments.
At Campbell Primary School, students participate in the following PAT assessments:
Year 2 - Mathematics and Reading
Year 3 - Mathematics, Reading and Grammar & Punctuation
Year 4 - Mathematics, Reading, Grammar & Punctuation and Science
Years 5 and 6 - Mathematics, Reading, Grammar & Punctuation, Science and Writing (narrative)
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Positive Behaviour for Learning (PBL)
During Week 0 (before students returned to school) Campbell staff participated in a highly engaging professional learning day with Susan, our Positive Behaviour for Learning (PBL) coach. This was a fantastic session which gave staff the opportunity to reflect on our existing practices for encouraging positive behaviours and work on further developing consistency across the school. You might notice that we are gradually replacing our old PBL posters with updated versions to suit our beautiful new school environment. The new posters still feature our beloved mascot, Stanley Stag!
During the first few weeks of term, classes are spending time setting up expectations to support learning and encourage harmony at school. At Campbell, we encourage students to be a ‘safe, respectful learner’ at all times. As a way to encourage students to make good choices by demonstrating the qualities of a ‘safe, respectful learner’ throughout the day, they have the opportunity to earn ‘Dojo’ points. Recipients of points are eligible to earn some very special lapel pins - you may see many students wearing them on their uniforms with immense pride!
Swimming Carnival
After a hiatus due to Covid restrictions last year, we are looking forward to the 2023 swimming carnival on Thursday 23 February! I would like to thank all families who have returned their permission note and payment. A friendly reminder that permission notes and payment are due back by Friday 17 February.
The carnival is our first opportunity for our students to participate in a whole school event and it would be amazing to have as many students there as possible. As well as the race events for students aged 8-13 years, there will be opportunities for all students to engage in structured water activities, including the always popular waterslide.
We can’t wait to make a huge splash!
Year 5/6 Camp
The Year 5/6 camp at Berry Sport and Recreation Centre will take place from 8‑10 March. Camp will be a fantastic opportunity for students to build relationships and participate in a range of fun and challenging activities. It is also a great chance for students to be physically active and get outside their comfort zone.
Thank you to all families who have returned their permission and medical notes and the online registration form. It is vital that all notes, payment and the online registration are completed by Wednesday 15 February so that we can confirm numbers with the camp.
If you have any questions regarding the camp, please contact Alistair Scherer via email: alistair.scherer@ed.act.edu.au
Year 6 shirts
Year 6 students will have the opportunity to purchase a Year 6 shirt. The shirt complements the existing school uniform and include the names of our graduating 2023 class on the back. Your child will be bringing home a note regarding the cost and process for ordering a Year 6 shirt this afternoon.
To ensure that the Year 6 shirts can be ordered and delivered in a timely manner, we ask that you return the order form as soon as possible. Orders close on Friday 17 February.
We would like to remind our families there is no staff supervision on the playground until 8:45am. If you need your child/ren to be at school earlier than 8:45am, please contact CASAC on 0479 099 070 to make a booking.
Children who are not collected from school by 3:20pm will be directed to CASAC and a casual booking will be arranged on your behalf.
Being COVID Smart remains a priority for all ACT public schools in 2023.
Students, staff and visitors are reminded to:
- Stay home if unwell and get tested for COVID-19
- Stay up to date with your vaccinations
- Practise good hand and respiratory hygiene
- Physically distance from others when in public places
Individual schools may implement additional measures to manage COVID-19 if deemed necessary in a particular setting. Any changes will be communicated to parents and carers.
If your child has COVID-19, you must let the school know. We recommend keeping your child home for at least five days.
RATs are again available from the school for students in Term 1 from the front office.
You can read more about how we are being COVID Smart in ACT public schools at https://www.education.act.gov.au/public-school-life/covid-school-arrangements
The start of the school year is a particularly busy time in our school carparks and surrounding streets. It’s important that we park safely and legally to support the safety of students.
Parking on a footpath, nature strip or roadside verge can:
- Cause safety risks for pedestrians as they are less visible to oncoming cars
- Increase the risk for vulnerable members of our community like children, people who are visually impaired, and those using a wheelchair or pram
- Restrict the line of sight for other road users
- Restrict access for emergency services vehicles.
Parking on nature strips can also damage trees, footpaths, gutters and underground pipes and cables. Please also remember not to park across driveways or block neighbouring residents’ properties.
As students return to school remember to also slow down and stick to the 40km/h limit around our schools between 8am and 4pm.
Parking inspectors regularly patrol school zones to support safe parking and keep students safe.
If you cannot find a car park in our school car parks, we suggest parking a little further away and walking or riding the rest of the way – it’s a quick and easy was to get in some exercise too.
Let’s all work together to keep our kids and community safe!
More information about travelling safely to school is available on the Transport ACT website.
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