As I sign off as Campania District School’s Acting Principal, I take this opportunity to express my appreciation for all the support and encouragement. I genuinely feel supported, valued and appreciated, and I have in turn appreciated the opportunity to support our school community in this leadership capacity. It has been a privilege to lead Campania District School off to a strong start to the 2023 school year.

And what a start to the year it has been:

Whilst maintaining a strong focus on quality teaching and learning, we have had two camps (Grade 7 and Grade 8), held our Athletics Carnival, Our Grade 3-6 students engaged with Learn to Swim, our secondary and primary students attended their respective SPSSA Athletics competitions. Teams and individuals performed well and deserve to feel proud of their efforts. Our students, at both events, were commended on their behaviour and participation.

We have completed NAPLAN. That’s always a huge undertaking.

We submitted our School Improvement Plan (which identifies our priorities and targets for 2023). Our 2022/2023 Student Leaders completed their leadership tenure this term, with new students elected in leadership positions for 2023/2024. It was great to see several students have been re-elected and it is equally great to see that there will be new faces and voices joining. Our House Leaders are off the mark and have already come up with a great plan for running activities in the gym during wet weather.

At the time of writing this, we head into our External School Review process (this review takes place in all government schools, every four years). For us, it will occur over two days and from it we gain insight into our ways of working; with recommendations provided that aim to help us on our continuous improvement trajectory. On Wednesday, 5 April, our Student Rewards Day takes place.  On Thursday, while our students commence their Easter holiday break, our teachers will be taking part in Moderation Day; meeting with staff from across the south of the State on Thursday 6 April. Moderation Days help us to gauge and discuss our assessment practices.

Wishing all our students and families a safe, happy Easter.  I will be back next term for two weeks, after which I plan to take some Long Service Leave.

In closing I wish Angela Burbury, who brings considerable leadership experience, every success in her role as Acting Principal for the remainder of 2023. Angela has kindly provided a short bio that is included.

Best wishes to one all.

Some words from our new Acting Principal, commencing in Term Two

Hello,

I would like to take this opportunity to introduce myself. My name is Angela (Ange) Burbury and I am very much looking forward to working with the staff, students and the wider school community for 2023.

I live in New Town with my youngest son, Chester who is 19 years old and currently in his second-year apprenticeship at INCAT and my two dogs, Whinnie and Molly. My eldest son is Thomas, he is 22 years old and is a farmer in the southern midlands area. I love fishing and staying at my caravan on the East Coast.

I started my teaching career at Oatlands District School (my hometown) and then worked at Fairview and Snug Primary as a teacher, AST and AP. My first principal position was at Kempton Primary School. I have been the substantive principal at Collinsvale PS for the last 5 years and in 2022 I had a 6-week appointment at Lindisfarne Primary and I was acting principal of Blackmans Bay Primary for term 4.

As a leader, I am committed to seeing every student and learner grow and achieve under my leadership. I will bring the same commitment to Campania, as well as, building relationships with colleagues, staff and the wider community.

I know how important it is to build rapport and relationships while leading key actions for improvement. I am able to quicky build connections, demonstrate strong leadership, and provide a seamless transition in a change of principals. I will successfully lead the team at Campania to ensure both student attainment and achievement are ongoing and improved.

I am a rural girl at heart, and I look forward to meeting the team, the students and the community as we work together to build on and provide continued success for all of our learners.

Please do not hesitate to contact me via the school office at the start of term 2 if you have any questions or concerns.

Kind regards

Ange Burbury

Campania District School has recently appointed Karen Gatehouse as our current Safeguarding Lead. 

Safeguarding Leads have been appointed in all Tasmania state schools to help ensure all children and young people in Tasmania are known, safe, well and learning.

Karen will support the wellbeing of all our students and help us all understand that keeping children and young people safe is everyone's reponsibility. 

Please support Karen in this new role!

For further infomation on Safeguarding in Schools  https://www.decyp.tas.gov.au/children/safeguarding-children/

Congratulations to our Gr3, Gr5, Gr7 and Gr9 students on completing NAPLAN last week. It is a very busy time through the week for our students having to do 4 tests including Writing, Reading, Language Convrntions and Numeracy. 

Parents please remember NAPLAN is only a small part of the assesment we use thoughout the school year. To really understand how a student is progressing schools use a variety of methods such as observation, work samples and feedback from students. 

Parents please congratulate your child on their effort throughout the testing period of NAPLAN. 

Book Fair for 2023 will be in Term 2 Week 5 Wednesday and Thursday. More information to be advised. 

A reminder that students finish this Wednesday 5th April with Thursday 6th April being a Moderation Day. 

On the Moderation Day teachers will be working together with other schools looking at planning and assessments relating to the Australian Curriculum, as well as taking part in online learning run by Curriculm Services.