22 October 2025

From the Principal

We hope your Term 4 has started well and that you haven’t all lost your trampolines in this windy weather!

Next week we have a quieter week while we wrap up some testing before Week 4 with Inter-School Swimming and Grade 5 Camp on Maria Island!

Independence Month – November

As we started to explain last Newsletter (if you didn’t read it, please do); in November we will be running Independence Month. It’s not that we don’t want our community here with us, we just know that there are a real strength and chance for growth when our students are given space to grow into. When there is a chance for them to do things for themselves, they really rise to the occasion.

Each family’s negotiation on this might look different. Importantly, you can scale up the expectations and/or start early so you hit your plan in November. Ideally, it looks like fewer adults about our school in the mornings and afternoons. For our younger students, we know that afternoon pick-ups can be challenging without being outside the room. We understand this.

Try to maximise use of the bus, drop off and pick up spots away from school, walking to and from school, saying goodbye at the gate, or whatever other plan you can make with your child. If you or your child has questions or are feeling hesitant, feel free to talk with your classroom teacher to make a plan.

Start talking to your children now about what plans you might all make for them to walk themselves to and from class, to be more independent in their morning routines and to gain some strength from success in being more independent at school.

Reading at Home

Our theory of improvement in student reading is pretty simple; students who read more often will become better readers. This statement means that we need to improve the skill, thrill and will of students to read – therein lies the challenge, they are three big parts to learning.

One thing that makes a huge difference is reading at home. To be clear, the majority of our students who are successful at reading, read regularly at home.

To assist this, we are improving the skills of students at school (that’s our job!) and on the whole, this is tracking well. We are slowly working on improving the engagement of students and we are having some emerging positive signs of this.

We need your help now.

Students who have a regular routine for reading, are the ones who read. We can make some suggestions, but it is your domain and area to support this. We can’t stress enough about how reading more at home amplifies the learning done at school.

So far to date we have been able to increase the number of students who self-report that they read at home regularly (on the weekend) by nearly 20%. We are tracking well.

We really want to increase this number and for it to become a routine. The more you can do to support a regular reading routine, the better off your children will be.

Reminder - 2026 Uniform indication & Class Placement Information

Please check our email from last week regarding these two important points and see both links below if you wish to engage

For uniform - https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/2026UniformIndication

For 2026 class placement - https://cambridgeps.schoolzineplus.com/form/70. More information below.

Enjoy your extra-long weekend and we’ll see you back with just 39 days to go for 2025 at school!

Courtney.

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

Invoices were posted by the Department in February. Please pay promptly if you have not already done so. 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.

Volunteering at School

If you are volunteering in our classrooms and/or coming along on an excursion this year, you MUST obtain a Working with Vulnerable People Card and complete the Safeguarding training via this link.

When you have completed your training, please send your certificate via email to cambridge.primary@decyp.tas.gov.au and take a screenshot of your certificate and save it on your phone.

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. Re-write names if they become illegible. Any un-named items that are left will be disposed of at the end of each term.

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. 

Class Times

School commences 8.40am
School concludes 2.40pm

Duty of Care

It is important to note, before 8.10am and after 2.40pm, your children need to be supervised by an adult (unless they are at after school care or waiting for a bus to go home). To be clear, please do not drop your child off before 8.10am and please collect them at 2.40pm, as our duty of care is not before 8.10am or after 2.40pm. We appreciate your support in keeping everyone safe with supervision.

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. If you take your child after Assembly please sign them out at the office.

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

For enquiries about Outside School Hours Care please email Clarence City Council at the email address below:

OSHC@ccc.tas.gov.au

Or click on the link below for information regarding all care services Clarence City Council have to offer.

Term Dates 2025

Term 1:  Thursday 6 February to Friday 11 April

Term 2:  Monday 28 April to Friday 4 July (Student Free Day Friday 6 June, Public Holiday - Monday 9 June)

Term 3:  Monday 21 July to Friday 26 September

Term 4:  Monday 13 October to Thursday 18 December (Show Day Public Holiday – Thursday 23 October, Student Free Day Friday 24 October)

Student Free Days 2025

Friday 6 June 2025

Friday 24 October 2025

School Association News

The dates of the Term 4 School Association meetings are Wednesday 29 October and Wednesday 3 December.

Leaving Cambridge Primary in 2026?

Kinder – Grade 5 families please let the Office know if your child or children will not be attending Cambridge Primary School in 2026. Email cambridge.primary@decyp.tas.gov.au or call 6248 5168.

2026 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 26 October 2025. 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 down anything you think that is important. 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 (15 December 2025).

This is the same successful process as the past 10 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 26 October 2025.

Please provide the information on the web form provided, or email cambridge.primary@decyp.tas.gov.au (subject: Class Placements 2026). Alternatively, you can put your input in writing and leave at the office.

CPS Open Day – Tuesday 11 November

Do you know anyone who lives in the catchment area for Cambridge Primary School who maybe considering Cambridge for their child’s education?

Perhaps their child currently attends another school. However, if they are interested to see what’s on offer at their local school, please encourage them to book a tour on 11 November and they will be given a very warm welcome. They will be able to:

View our new classrooms and our flexible learning spaces.

Understand how our Early Years Literacy Support works.

Find out about Bush School.

Hear about the whole school Cooked Lunch Program.

Visit our school garden.

Chat with staff about questions they may have.

They can call 6248 5168 or click on the link below to book a tour.

2025 End of Year Presentation Assembly

This year’s End of Year Presentation Assembly will be held on Monday 15 December at Rose Bay High School, commencing at 11.30. More details to follow in later newsletters.

Scholastic Book Club

We will be sending home two lots of brochures this term – Issues 7 and 8. Our school library benefits greatly from the Reward Scheme that Scholastic operate, and you might be able to get some great Christmas gifts! You should already have received Issue 7 and orders for this issue close on 28 October.

Combined Primary Schools Annual Concert

2026 Term Dates

Term 1  Thu 5 February – Fri 17 April
Term 2  Mon 4 May – Fri 10 July
Term 3  Mon 27 July – Fri 2 October
Term 4  Mon 19 October – Fri 18 December

State Library Exhibition

The State Library of Tasmania invited students to help create a display of bees to accompany their Histori of Bees Exhibition. Our Prep students stepped up to the task and their beautiful bees are now on display as part of the media wall on the ground floor of the State Library and Archives, 91 Murray Street, Hobart, until February 8.

Congratulations

During the school holidays Amelia and Lucy represented Tasmania as part of the U12 Girls Tassie Thunder Touch Football team at the 2025 Doordash Touch Football National Youth Championships held in Coffs Harbour, NSW. The girls played 8 really tough games over four days, ending with a win against the ACT to finish the championships. Both girls gave their all against very tough competition. Lucy and Amelia gained greater skills and confidence playing at national level! Lucy was awarded MVP for the team.  

Let’s Celebrate!

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 31 October
Friday 14 November
Friday 5 December

Community Notice Board