10 September 2025

From the Principal

Spring has sprung! And so too has the wind and some rain… and snow!

A huge thank you to our parent volunteers for a fantastic Father’s Day Stall last week which made a whopping $1759! A special thank you to Kelly Beeson for taking the lead to organise the stall for all the students and families. We appreciate the energy and effort.

At the end of August our SRC helped to put on a fantastic SPACE Disco which raised $660.25 for the Make-A-Wish Foundation. We really appreciate the crafting, the decorating and the amazing homemade outfits that came on the day – it was a fantastic time.

Pre-Kinder has started up again for this year, and we have had a great first two sessions. Our Pre-Kinder program has consistently delivered a fantastic introduction to our school and our spaces. We love welcoming our newest families and students – I’m looking forward to seeing them all again tomorrow.

Redevelopment Update – Stage 2

As we messaged last week, Stage 2 of our Redevelopment has been rolled into some Council works for the oval and surrounding areas. This means, the Project Working Group will oversee some oval works and carparking such that when the project is finished, the school community will be able to use all the facilities that are in the area.

The scope of Council’s works to the area and the amount of work that they do to the area (such as the level of oval finish and supporting buildings about the oval) is up to them and yet to be determined. We won’t be commenting or sharing on this.

We will continue to give you updates on the project and keep you informed of the progress.

At this stage, we are looking to formulate the design brief (what we want, in what order of priority) and then some initial designs, leading to a development application around April next year. The design phase will be faster than it was with Stage 1; there is simply less to design! Construction should start at the end of next year. The construction timeline and completion should be around 18 months (or hopefully less). This is never determined until the tender is completed and awarded.

The most important thing for you to know right now is that we are underway and we are using the previous community consultation information to form our initial ideas and then plans. The initial plans will be shared with the community for feedback when they are completed sometime early next year.

Reading – Instruction and supports at school

Throughout the term we have shared about the parts of successful reading: fluency (week 2), word recognition (week 4), language comprehension (week 6). This week is about our screening, tracking and tiers of instruction (week 8). Next week we will discuss our theory of improvement for our school and our Driver Diagram (week 10). There’s a lot to share.

There is a phrase in education and especially reading at present that you might hear: Multi-Tiered Systems of Support, or MTSS. This approach aims to clearly outline what instruction and supports are provided by who, in what frequency and with what intensity. Importantly, it is a proven theory of action in regard to school resourcing of supports. It can get quite academic in its description, but if you’d like to read more, I’d suggest here: https://mtss4success.org/essential-components

Under this model, students are regularly screened for future risk using verified and proven tools. Staff then provide a consistent instruction with consistent curriculum and resources (it does not need to be identical). Staff then monitor student progress and data informed decision making is at the core of working out which students need additional supports.

Supports and instruction are “Tiered” across school. Tier 1 is around 85% of students at school who receive the support and instruction of what goes on in the classroom through good instruction (which we have been implementing in fluency, word recognition and comprehension to come).

Tier 2 supports are a bit extra to what is normal in the classroom and should be for about 10% of students. Often it is the same content, just delivered either again or with more support (with a Teacher’s Assistant nearby, for example). Another example of a Tier 2 support is our reading interviews that we are conducting for some students with Tina in the library to find a good fit book to read. The way we structure reading groups allows us to provide much of our Tier 2 supports – we put more adults in more rooms for reading blocks.

Tier 3 supports are a lot extra and should be for about 5% of students. In our school they are predominately the intervention reading groups that happen from 8:10am until 9am. They are for select students for one term at a time (no more than 2 terms in a year) and we are aiming to get around 20 hours or more of intervention into a student in a block. This level of intervention should hold for 12 months. Due to our efficiencies, effectiveness and good budgeting, we have more than 5% of students receiving this intervention.

We spend a lot of our school budget on reading instruction, resourcing, planning, tracking and assessment. We have done so for over a decade. We were one of only 18 government schools in the State to achieve a high growth target in our reading work last year. We have, and continue to have, success.

Does this mean everyone can read well? No. We perform a screening assessment across our whole school three times a year to keep a track on our students and to know where they are at. It is predominately this screening that lets us know who might get the Tier 2 and 3 interventions. We can then perform “progress monitoring” in between screens to see if the changes we are attempting to make are having a positive impact or not. Our measures in these progress monitoring efforts of late have been extremely positive for us to know that for the 15 % of students at our school who aren’t quite where we’d like them to be, nearly all of them are making growth and more than the growth of their peers (they are catching up).

In the world of schooling, there are students who we continue to work with who aren’t making the gains we’d like. Importantly, we know who they are, we have a plan for their improvement, and we are tracking the impact of our efforts. We have recently had 2 nearby schools come visit us to learn from our approaches and how we have built this successful school over the past 10 years.

Crucially, we want to celebrate our successes AND make sure that we are humble and earnest in our endeavour for continual and further growth. We know we can get better, and we don’t stop trying to do so. Not for us and any accolades, but for the students in our care - for your children.

Supporting Instruction at Home

1. Engage in any home reading program that you are receiving. It really makes a difference.
2. When you find the time, read to and with your children, regardless of their age in primary school. You simply won’t get better at reading unless you read and often.
3. If we make contact about additional supports, such as Speech Sessions, Early Morning Intervention, extra home practise – please move whatever you can to make it work. It makes a difference.

If you have any questions about your child’s reading success – let us know. Reading is the biggest determinant of future life outcomes. It matters.

Courtney.

Every School Day Matters

We love seeing your children at school, every day. Going to school every day gives your child every chance to learn, grow and connect with their friends and teachers. It gives our staff and students a chance to engage with your child.

We all play a part in helping our kids get to school every day. Please know that if you’re struggling to get your kids to school, help and support is available. Talk to us at school or visit:

The 2025 School Satisfaction Survey

Every year the Department for Education, Children and Young People conducts a School Satisfaction Survey to find out what your child(ren)'s school does well and where it may improve. Your feedback is very important to help us inform our school improvement planning and decision-making.

If you have not had the opportunity to complete the survey about Cambridge Primary School yet, it is open until Friday 19 September 2025 and should take about 5 minutes of your time.

Each family should nominate one person to fill in this survey for their child(ren).
Take the online survey by clicking this Link, or pasting it in your browser: https://nam.dcv.ms/PpJndsboQ1
The survey is carried out on a secure website and all responses are anonymous and confidential.

All families in this school received the same survey link and no identifying information is collected. A summary of the survey results will be provided to schools. Responses from individuals or small groups will NOT be disclosed to any Department for Education, Children and Young People staff.

Please contact your school if you require any assistance.

Thank you for taking the time to fill in this survey.

Cambridge Swimming Carnival 2025

The School Swimming Carnival will be held on Thursday 18^th September at the Hobart Aquatic Centre from 10am – 2pm. All able students in Grades 3-6 are expected to participate, where possible.

Students will be leaving school at 9.30am and returning after 2pm in time for the buses. Parents may take children home from the pool but must inform class teachers. 

Students will need to bring the following:

Bathers – to be worn under school uniform where possible to save time
A towel
Goggles (if needed)
Swimming cap – the school can provide one if needed
Plastic bag - for their wet gear

Their own packed lunch as they will not be allowed to use the canteen.

Students from grades 3-5 have completed the Swimming and Water Safety Program earlier in term 3. It will be great to see our students put their skills to the test a fun, competitive environment. A school team will be selected for the SPSSA Division B Carnival on Tuesday 4^th November.

Parents and friends are encouraged to attend.  We would appreciate hearing from anyone who can assist with judging and recording on the day.  If you can help, please contact the school office.

Click on the link below for the program.

James Dudgeon, HPE Teacher

Schools Triathlon Challenge 2025

The Schools Triathlon Challenge, for all interested students from Grade 3 to Grade 6, will be held on Friday the 28^th of November 2025 at Bellerive Beach from 10am – 2pm (all bikes will need to be racked by 9:45am). Although we will have staff present on the day, students are expected to make their own way to and from the event. The day promises to be a fun day full of action-packed races, with spectators being most welcome.

Students have a choice whether to enter the individual race in which they swim, cycle and run all on their own, or they may find a group of three and enter the teams race. For those super keen triathletes, they can even enter both the individual and the team races!

To enter, students will need to collect an entry form from the school office and return the completed form to the school office with the $25 entry fee (cash only please). The entry fee of $25 does not change, regardless of the events being entered.

If students need more information or if they are needing help finding a team, please direct them to see Mr Dudgeon.

For more information, please visit https://schoolstriathlonchallenge.com

Footy Colours Day – Friday 26 September

Friday 26 September (the last day of term) will be Footy Colours Day! Come to school wearing your best team attire. No donation required.

Assemblies in Term 3

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

Friday 26 September (rescheduled from 12 Sept)

Let’s Celebrate!

Community Notice Board