Dear families,

We are now well and truly in the depths of winter and I often take a moment to appreciate the beautiful winter days we get in inland areas such as Campbell Town. There is something special about the sun being low in the sky and often peeking through wisps of cloud or fog and the warmth when the sun comes through a window. I hope you pause to value the beautiful part of Tasmania we live in, too. 

Typical to the season, we continue to be affected by staff and student absences caused by various bugs and viruses. I want to thank families for their proactive communication with us regarding student absences and your desire to see students attend school as regularly as possible. Although our school’s annual attendance rate is tracking on par with 2024, it is still well below pre-Covid levels. Our Department recognises 90% as regular attendance and believes that anything lower than that is likely to have a detrimental impact on a young person’s educational outcomes.  

If you need any support with your young person being reluctant to come to school, please reach out to their Classroom Teacher or the Sector AST in the first instance. 

External School Review next week: 

You will have received various communications from me over the past few weeks about our External School Review. We are looking forward to this opportunity for feedback and growth and I will share the findings of the review with you in our next newsletter. The review will look into diverse parts of our school operations, including how we drive an explicit improvement agenda, how we have built an expert teaching team, how we build partnerships with families and our community and how our culture promotes learning. 

If you haven’t already replied to my email inviting you to participate in a family session, I encourage you to consider doing so. 

NAIDOC Week: 

I was thrilled to see the way students and staff came together to learn about and celebrate NAIDOC Week. First Nation’s perspectives were incorporated into various classes and there were a number of other activities for students to engage in. 

2026 planning: 

I am now beginning, in earnest, the discussions within our school about planning for 2026, including staffing, class structures and specialist classes. 

Several families have raised with me their appreciation for the straight-grades model in the Primary School this year.  

Although in schools nothing can be locked in until it is locked in (as enrolment numbers, staffing and funding is subject to change right up until February), I want to use this opportunity to communicate my strong preference that straight-grades continue into 2026. Achieving this will be high on my priority list as we make the decisions that go into planning for next year. 

To assist with our planning, I would ask that as soon as possible you notify me (through our office) if your young person will not be attending our school in 2026. 

Fire drill 

We held our second fire drill yesterday. This time, Tasmania Fire Service was in attendance and they tested our emergency procedures and evacuation efficiency. I’m pleased to say that we passed. Within four minutes the school was evacuated to the oval and everyone was accounted for just a few minutes after that. 

Grade 10-11 transition 

If you haven’t already, can I please ask families of Grade 10 students to tune into Grade 10-11 transition planning. Whether students are taking advantage of our senior secondary offerings or looking further afield, now is the time to be having discussions about class selections. I note there are flyers from Launceston College and Newstead College in this newsletter too. Mr Tom Hodge leads our Grade 10-11 transition processes.  

StoryBox Library

Tasmanian primary school students are being provided free access to StoryBox Library - a fun and educational digital library you can enjoy at home!  StoryBox Library is a subscription-based website and app featuring Australian storytellers reading hundreds of much-loved children’s books. It’s a fantastic way to nurture your child’s love of reading and support their literacy development. With features like Read-Along, Closed Captions, Auslan stories, and engaging audio-visual content, StoryBox Library is designed to be inclusive and accessible for all children.  Login details and further information will be shared with families as soon they become available to us.   

Finally, I want to acknowledge families for the way they have adapted to changes in how adults move around the school at afternoon pickup; as a consequence of our recently published Respectful Visitor and Volunteer policy. With our necessary focus on Safeguarding over the past few years, I sometimes worry that it might seem to families that schools are trying to push you away. This is not the case – we welcome and in fact need your support, engagement and partnership. The changes we have made make it easier to identify any adult behaviour around our school that should cause us concern, which is something I think everyone will celebrate. I genuinely appreciate your ongoing support with this.  

David Bryant,

Acting Principal