Dear families,

As Term 3 comes to a close, I want to take a moment to celebrate what has been a really positive and busy term for our school community. Our values of connection, courage, growth, respect and responsibility have shone through in so many ways and I couldn’t be more thrilled with how our year is going.

One of my highlights this term has been to observe the progress we are making with reading fluency. Across the school, students are becoming more confident, expressive readers, and it’s wonderful to see them enjoying the doors that reading opens—whether that’s diving into a story, tackling new information, or sharing their ideas with others. This improvement hasn’t come by chance; it’s the result of students showing courage in their learning and teachers working with focus and care to implement rigorous practices. Please continue to encourage your young person to read to you at home; combining a mix of challenging texts and texts that they can read comfortably with a high success rate.

When students return next term, they will complete PAT (Progressive Achievement Testing) and DIBELS (Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills) testing and monitoring in the first few weeks, which will give us a detailed insight into the impact of our teaching and the success of our strategic work this year. I look forward to sharing snippets of this data with you when I can.

As well as rich learning in the classroom, this term has also been full of extracurricular opportunities. The number of activities and the energy students have brought to them has been inspiring to watch. These moments remind us of the value of connection —coming together, trying new things, and building friendships that make school life so rich and a place that our young people are happy to come to every day.

When risk management plans come across my desk for approval, I am often left in wonder at the breadth of opportunities offered to Campbell Town DHS. I want to thank our staff for the energy and dedication they’ve poured into creating these opportunities to ensure our students don’t miss out by the nature of our regional school.

Last Wednesday I was able to find time in my calendar to join our Grade 3s on their excursion to Hollybank Treetops Adventure. This is an incredible venue and our staff and students were very well looked-after by staff there. The one thing I really loved about this day is that it was an opportunity for each young person to challenge themselves and experience growth. With grit and courage, some students overcame their initial reluctance and were soon climbing, swinging and ziplining through the trees. I heard students and staff encouraging each other and could see that even though they are currently split across two separate classes, our Grade 3 cohort is a very cohesive and supportive group.

I wish you and your family a safe and restful term break and I look forward to working with you again in Term 4.

David Bryant,

Acting Principal

Congratulations to the following students who received certificates at our Primary Assembly on Friday 19 September 2025.

On Monday 15 September 2025, our Grade 5 and 6 students embarked on an exciting excursion to Hollybank Treetop Adventures. It was a fantastic day filled with teamwork, encouragement, and personal growth. 

Many students challenged themselves by stepping out of their comfort zones and trying something new. It was inspiring to see them overcome fears and support one another with kind words and uplifting energy. The spirit of companionship was truly evident throughout the day. 

Several students described it as “the best excursion ever,” and we couldn’t agree more. The experience not only fostered resilience and courage but also strengthened the bonds within our school community. 

Mrs Fry, Mr Brown and Mrs Rattray

Grade 6 and 5 teachers 

Earlier this week, we celebrated the inspiring learning and growth we have seen from our fantastic students enrolled in the MacqLit program this term. 

We have seen students go from strength to strength, and there were so many highlights to celebrate.  

• We acknowledged an increase in reading fluency of more than 100% for most of our primary students who have been able to attend regularly. Our secondary students have reached outstanding fluency rates and are now reading above benchmark, or are very close to their target. 

• We also celebrated the confident learners who are emerging both in and out of the MacqLit sessions. This was demonstrated most recently when our team of instructors were proudly invited by our Year 6 MacqLit cohort to watch their courageous performances in Mrs Fry’s fabulous Readers’ Theatre. Our students not only read confidently in front of their usual classroom peers, but also in front of multiple class groups and staff. Their confidence was outstanding! 

• We celebrated student engagement, connection, and attendance, all of which we have seen a huge increase in all. This is an important element in making the MacqLit program successful. 

Congratulations to these students for working hard to make such significant gains in reading and engagement. Your progress has been truly inspiring! 

Mrs Bennett

Education Support Specialist

On Wednesday 24 September, over 20 students from grades 5 to 10 participated in our third Write A Book In A Day challenge. The day is a test of teamwork, patience and resilience as teams, beginning at 8:00am, create their own book from scratch to submit before the deadline 12 hours later. Every participant demonstrated fantastic focus, determination, creativity and encouraged collaboration. Thanks to you all for such an enjoyable and inspiring day. We can’t wait for this worthwhile event to appear on our calendars next year! 

Tom Hodge 

Secondary Leader

Woo hoo, we won!!!! Campbell Town took out the Fleece competition, the most engaged award and took out the overall day with the smallest of margins from Scottsdale.  

Excited students arrived at the brand new shearing facility at the show grounds at 8.00am on Wednesday 24 September 2025 to commence our day of judging of the wethers in three areas – carcass value, fleece value and presentation. 

We were pleased with how the sheep were looking. Charlotte, Ruby, Makaya, Dane and Callum had been working on tidying up the fleeces while Sophie, Hollie, Aydon, Liliyana, Lachlan and Roselina have spent the last couple of sessions cleaning faces and tags. Regular weighing of the wethers this year allowed us to alter their diet as required and Number 79 (Landcruiser) has led the way, reaching over 80kgs. The graph below shows their weight gain throughout the last couple of terms. 

The secondary students completed all the challenges set by the organiser, Lachie West. These challenges saw students measuring the wool for length, dust, micron and colour. We did this twice and were surprised by how much the wool had grown. Other challenges included an exercise in working out the scoring process which involved lots of maths. Hats off to Makayla who led the way and enabled us all to have a great understanding of the scoring used on the day. Students looked at parasites and what it could be like to be a wether in another location. Completion of all these activities resulted in students winning $500. 

Our day started with a final clean up and our sheep were the first to go through the carcass judging where they are weighed and measurements are taken of the fat and eye muscle. Next, students took mid-side samples and we watched as they were measured to get a final micron score for each sheep. The sheep ranged from 15.8 micron to 19.9 micron, all under 20 which was great. As all this was happening, more and more schools were arriving and the space was getting crowded as more people poured in, looking and comparing the sheep. Good time for a watermelon break! Mr Bryant checked in to see the presentation judging where four schools were lined up, with 3 judges assessing conformation, wool and the presentation of the sheep. 

Finally our sheep were shorn and fleeces weighed. It was great to see students helping each other out from different schools, especially with the younger students. 

Students spent the rest of the day visiting the stands – AWI, Elders, RAW, TIA and the Ross Wool Centre. Through these presentations we learnt about the processing of wool, the creation of the end products, the importance of pasture variety and mental health. 

The presentations were held at the end of the day. We were excited to take out the Fleece competition with a first, and to also receive the $500 engagement award. And we didn’t think we had any chance at the big award, as Scottsdale A team had been placed in all three of the sections. It was a very excited group of students who stepped up to the stage to receive the champions ribbon and prize. Great work from them all and a very excited return to school to share their joy. 

A big thank you to all the people who have supported us this year with the wether program. Thanks to Mel Morris (Elders) for helping teach us about wool handling, Georgina Wallace (Trefusis) for her tips on preparing the sheep and tipping the horns, David Taylor (Kennilworth), Sam Lyne (Riccarton) and John Taylor (Winton) for donations of grain & hay. 

Jill Bennett 

AG Teacher 

Last week, we celebrated the outstanding achievements of our secondary sports teams in what has been one of the most memorable seasons in recent years. 

Both our netball girls and boys teams won their grand finals, with the boys’ team securing their third consecutive premiership — an incredible achievement that speaks to their consistency, teamwork, and determination. The girls netball team also made history with their first grand final win in many years, capping off a season filled with growth, leadership, and unity. 

What made this season truly special wasn’t just the trophies, but the way our teams came together. Players supported one another, took on feedback from coaches and teammates, and played with heart and sportsmanship. This strong team culture was reflected in the overwhelming support at the grand finals — with past teachers, staff on their day off, parents, grandparents, and many others coming along to cheer our teams on. It was a proud moment for our school community. 

A huge thank you to Ms Albers and her catering class for the delicious food provided for our celebration — your efforts added a wonderful touch to the celebration. 

Congratulations to all our trophy recipients: 

CTDHS Div 3 Girls 

• Best and Fairest – Elvie 

• Runner-Up Best and Fairest – Makayla 

• Team Spirit Award – Ava 

• Coaches Awards – Bella & Atiria 

CTDHS Div 1 Boys 

• Best and Fairest – Cooper 

• Runner-Up Best and Fairest – Zach 

• Team Spirit Award – Tom 

• Coaches Award – Tom 

Thank you to all players, coaches and supporters for making this season one to remember. We look forward to building on this success in the seasons to come! 

Ashlee Lowe

HPE Teacher

On Thursday 4 September 2025, the Grade 11-13 Sport & Recreation class headed to Chauncey Vale Wildlife Reserve due to the poor weather report for our trip to Cradle Mountain. Chauncy Vale was home to Nan Chauncy, a childrens author who wrote several books based in Tasmania during the 1940’s to early 60’s, one being “They found a cave”. Todays bush walk took us up to some the sandstone caves used in Nan’s story.  

We completed the Caves Loop track, which has a steep climb to the caves. Luckily we could use them to shelter from a brief hail storm whilst enjoying hot chocolates and snakes. Much fun was had hiding in caves and observing the weathering patterns in the rock. There was a great shelter area where we enjoyed our lunch before heading back to school. Thankfully the predicted snow didn’t fall till later in the day and we made it home safely. 

Thanks to Jill Bennett for driving the bus and carrying the hot chocolate supplies! 

Jodie Clegg 

Grade 11-13 Teacher