26 October 2023

From the Principal

Happy Long Weekend!

By all reports, a camp for the ages was just held over the last 3 days on Maria Island with our Grade 5 students! What an incredible experience and opportunity. We are immensely proud of them all giving Bishop & Clerk a go! School camps are a wonderful addition to the normal curriculum of school life. We have worked hard to bring them back to our school, now holding regular Grade 4 and 5 Camps. One of the most important parts of our camps is the parents and staff who come along and bring it all together. We could not run our camps if it wasn’t for the staff agreeing to be away from their families and the parents coming along to help with supervision and support. As such, a massive thank you to Joe Pearson, Ali Cato, Erin Fenton (her second camp this year!) and Liam Smith, as well as; Scott Oram, Jayne King, Katrina Gregg, and Carolyn Smith. We sincerely appreciate your efforts and commitment to our camp program – it quite literally cannot happen without you!

Class Placements Process

As per the message sent out last week, and repeated below, we will close off parent submissions for class placements at the end of this weekend. This is so we can begin our processes here at school.

Over a period of roughly 6 weeks (leading right up until the end of week 9), class teachers will be following a set of protocols to mix and match classes for next year. Class teachers know their students best, and in our school, they do the vast majority of work to set next year’s classes up. Mrs Cato, Mr Pearson and myself will spend some time also going over the class placements and then finally, allocating teachers to the classes for next year. We always start this process before our staffing for the next year is fully finalised as placing students together is always more important than whom the teacher is going to be. Additionally, to do the process right, we do a little bit at a time, allowing us the chance to stop and think repeatedly about any changes and adjustments we might be able to make.

The whole process is very thorough and takes a lot of considered energy and effort. The timing of the process is also really important as we need to take our time to give us lots of thinking and reflection time. We really value the time we put into this and the information that staff and (where needed) parents bring to the process. Some schools use a computer system to code the solution, we think our processes generate much better outcomes. One key success is if any parent has valuable information they wish to share, please get this in before the cut-off time. Due to the extremely puzzle-building nature of this task, late information, unless we have already accounted for it (which most of the time we have), often cannot be worked into the already started solutions.

School Communications

In alignment with the message above, it is vitally important that all of our parents are regularly reading the newsletter and any messages sent to families via email. This is our communication platform and if anyone may be unhappy with a process or outcome if you were informed and did not read or action the information in the Newsletter or direct email, the forms of redress for yourself via the Department’s complaints and enquiries process are limited. Please read the Newsletter and any emails and then always send us your feedback or responses. As a default, you can always email cambridge.primary@decyp.tas.gov.au.

Redevelopment Update

Our redevelopment is moments away from being sent out to tender! As such, there are not a lot of updates from me as the architect team has been busy completing the final documentation. Look out for the tender in a Saturday paper soon! I’ll be sure to update you in a few weeks’ time when the tender has been completed and a builder has been awarded. This should be sometime in December.

It was great to see our school have a write-up in last Sunday’s paper with some imagery and comments from the Minister. Not long now until shovels (excavators), digging and loud noises!

Have a great long weekend and I hope you get a chance to get your tomatoes in the ground. See you soon.

Courtney.

2024 Class Placements

In a couple of weeks, we will start our school-based processes for planning for classes for next year. Sometimes parents like to provide input for their child’s placement. Class teachers will then use this information to assist with placements for next year. Class teachers know their students well, there is no need to put in a placement form, it is a choice if you would like to, using the webform below.

If the information is sensitive, it will only be viewed by Leadership Team members. If you would like to make a submission for next year, we need this in writing by Sunday 29 October 2023. Please understand that anything received after this date may not be able to be taken into account, as our processes will have started. Please write anything you think important down. Please do not rely on the memory or knowledge of any staff member from previous years or from past events. In working with nearly 400 children, staff do forget things from time to time that may be very important to you and your family. It certainly is not intentional, it’s just an outcome from a busy workplace. We destroy previous years’ submissions so they will not be able to be used and you may have to re-write information that you have provided in the past. 

Click below to access the webform and fill in the Additional Information section.

Important Points:

At this stage we are unsure of our exact class numbers and compositions for next year.

After Kinder and Prep – we will have all composite classes (ie, 1-2, 3-4) throughout the school as we have done, successfully, for over a decade.

Requests for specific teachers will not be taken into account (this is common across all State Schools). Teacher staffing make up will not be confirmed for some weeks yet, neither will allocation of teachers to classes. There will be changes for next year from this year.

All requests must be for an educational reason.

Sometimes “best friends” may not be kept together if we deem this important for social and academic developmental purposes. Best friends may not be best learners. It is very important to us that your child does have a friend or someone who they can become friends within their class.

Families will be informed of their class teacher on the final Monday of this term. This will be the same date that reports go home (18 December 2023).

This is the same successful process as the past 8 years.

We will try to accommodate all requests, but this may not always be possible as we may have competing considerations with all of our children and families. We will be able to share our thinking with you after we make the placements.

It is imperative that you make the submission on time. The cut-off date is Sunday 29 October 2023.

Please provide the information on the web form provided, or email cambridge.primary@decyp.tas.gov.au (subject: Class Placements 2024). Alternatively, you can put your input in writing and leave at the office.

Start of Term Reminders

We are a Nut and Egg Aware School

A reminder to families that we are a ‘nut and egg aware school’. There are several students within our school community that are highly allergic to nuts as well as students highly allergic to eggs.

Please do not send nuts, or foods containing nuts in your child’s lunch box.

Please do not send egg sandwiches, or hard-boiled eggs in your child’s lunch box.

SunSmart Program

Children are required to wear hats when outside at all times from September to April.  Digger, Legionnaire or “Bucket” hats are the only hats to be worn at school and children without a SunSmart hat will be required to remain under the shaded area.  Sunscreen will also be available to students and this will be located in classroom areas and at the office.  Application of school sunscreen is your child’s responsibility so please ensure they can confidently apply this to themselves.  Please also feel free to apply sunscreen at home in the morning prior to the school day. This is in line with the SunSmart Program sponsored by the Cancer Council.  Hats are available for purchase from the School office for $10.

Levies

2023 Levies are now overdue. Please contact the office if you wish to discuss payment options.

Contact Details

Has your phone number, email or address changed? Please inform the office of any changes as they occur.

Lost Property

Lost property is located at the MPR end of the main corridor. Please clearly name items of clothing, drink bottles and lunch boxes. If students are recycling second-hand clothes, please delete the old name. Any un-named items that are left at the end of each term will be disposed of.

Car Park Safety

Please drive slowly and with care in the carpark. Do not park in the bays allocated to buses, even for a short time.

Disabled Car Park

We have two disabled carparks near the school gate. We also have several families who either have disabled children or carers. These families need the car parks. We understand that the carpark can get full at times, but please, do not park in the signed spots unless you have a valid disabled parking sign.  

School Gates

As we all know, manners are very important, but we ask that when opening the school gates, please only let out the child that is in your care.

Office Hours

8.10am – 3.30pm

Uniform Shop

Opening hours 8.10am – 3.30pm. Alternatively, uniform can be paid for via Qkr. Items can be collected from the office or handed to students. See side panel of newsletter for Qkr instructions. 

School Opening Hours

8.10am – 3.10pm

Class Times

School commences 8.40am
School concludes 2.40pm

Student Absences

Please notify the school office by 8.40am each day your child is absent from school. There is a link to an absentee form on the sidebar of the Schoolzine newsletter.

Or call, or leave a message, on 6248 5168.

Student Late Arrival or Early Departure

Students must be signed in/out by a parent/carer using the Kiosk electronic sign in/out at the office, if they arrive late or are leaving school early.

Qkr App

The Qkr phone app gives parents the opportunity to pay for uniform, canteen orders and the Cooked Lunch Programs on smart phones and other devices. Instructions are on the side panel of the newsletter.

Clarence Children’s Services

Please see link below for information regarding all care services Clarence City Council have to offer.

Student Free Days this Year

Thursday 6 April 2023
Monday 24 July 2023
Friday 27 October 2023

Turning up matters

Welcome back to Term 4! We hope you enjoyed school holidays, and are ready for another exciting term.

We all want the best for our children – for their futures to be as bright as possible. Showing up every day to school really matters. It gives your child every chance to learn, grow and find their interests.

This last stretch of the school year can sometimes be tricky. Keep it up, because each day is another chance to:

• be around friends
• learn new things
• find interests
• create dream futures (whatever that may be!).

If you’re looking for tips on how to create better attendance habits, visit the Anything can happen website.

Please always talk to us if you’re having trouble getting your child to school. We’re here to help.

Reminder – Student Free Day

A reminder that Thursday 26 October is a Public Holiday and Friday 27 October is a Student Free Day.

Champions Athletics Carnival

Congratulations to the Cambridge Primary School Champions Athletics Carnival team that competed at the Domain on Monday 16October.  The students participated with great effort and fantastic sportsmanship.  Highlights of the results included:

First in 1500m, second in 400m and third in 800m – Zach KS

First in 100m, first in 200m – Lucy C

3^rd in Gr 3 boys relay – James KS, Elijah W, Blair A, Archie A, Sam B, Will M

2^nd in Gr 4 girls relay – Lucy C, Amely W, Olivia W, Grace C, Yasmin A, Amelia B

2^nd in Gr 6 boys vortex – Lucas A

There were many other fantastic efforts by Cambridge students and to qualify for the champions carnival is an amazing feat in itself and all participants should be extremely proud of their efforts.

Ryan Thomas, Physical Education Teacher

2023 Combined Primary Schools Annual Concert Tickets

School Health Nurse – Meegan Richards

Hello school community!

I would like to introduce myself. My name is Meegan and I will be the school nurse for term 4 and 2024.

I have just spent a lovely twelve months off work on maternity leave and I have returned to my role with three primary schools. Previously I have worked at five district schools and have been a school health nurse for almost six years.

What I love about being a school health nurse is the interaction with healthy, lively children about a range of health topics. The health topics have a direct impact on students’ lives, and I enjoy making these topics, such as hand hygiene, fun and exciting to learn about.

I am also busy completing kinder health checks and targeted vision and hearing screens, ensuring students are growing healthily, and assisting with physical disadvantages such as needing glasses or hearing devices. These screens are so important for students to be able to engage, focus and enjoy school learnings.

I am at Cambridge Primary every Wednesday and invite families to speak to me about questions or concerns regarding their child/ren. Please contact the school office to make a meeting.

Assembly Certificates

In Term 4 we will be using Schoolzine to notify Parents/Carers when their child will be presented with an Achievement Award in Assembly. The Schoolzine message will be sent out on the Monday before the Assembly on the Friday, and it will be titled Achievement Award. You may need to right click and hold to download the picture and text.

Cambridge Primary School Open Day – Prospective families

Do you know any families who live in our catchment area who might be interested in a tour of our school? Let them know about our Open Day on Tuesday 31 October. They can book in by calling the office on 6248 5168.

Free NBN Internet for Eligible Students

The Australian Government School Student Broadband Initiative (SSBI) follows a commitment to deliver access to 12 months of free broadband for up to 30 000 families with school-aged children who are not connected at home to a retail service via the NBN network.  SSBI is a targeted affordability measure to help boost education opportunities.

To be eligible for the SSBI, families must have at least one child studying in a Tasmanian school in grades K-12 and live at premises with no active broadband service over the NBN network.

School Gates

Please be careful when using the entrance gates to school. We are trying new mechanisms which are a little more sensitive than the old style and are to be closed with care.

Assemblies in Term 4

Assemblies are held in the MPR and start at 1.40pm. All are welcome to attend. This term’s Assemblies will be on:

Friday 3 November
Friday 17 November
Friday 15 December

Cambridge Primary School end of year Presentation Assembly will be held on Monday 18 December at Rose Bay High School.

Congratulations!

Congratulations to Griffyn in Gr2/3A who has been selected to represent Tasmania at GKR Karate's National tournament in November. The tournament will be held on the Gold Coast in Queensland and will consist of over 800 Karate students from all over Australia coming together to compete in their various age groups and belt levels. Griffyn is the youngest member of the Tasmanian state team and has been training all year for this event. He is the current Under 9 State Champion in Kumite (combat) and Kata (a predetermined set of 20+ movements) and he is excited to test his skills against the competitors from the other states. Well done, Griffyn!

Let’s Celebrate!

Community Notice Board