Forrest Primary School eNewsletter

Message from the principal

School budgets

You may have seen recent media coverage about pressure on ACT public school budgets. Please be assured there are no cuts to school budgets in 2025 and our school will continue to provide an excellent education for all students.

The Education Directorate is working with us to develop a budget management plan for 2026 and the Minister for Education and Early Childhood, Yvette Berry, is proposing to establish a review of ACT public school system resourcing. The review will look at the resourcing needs of the ACT public school system and ensure funding is directed to meet need, fairly and sustainably, across the ACT public education system. We will keep you updated on this work.

Taiwan Visit

It has been an absolute honour hosting 11 students from Kinmen, Taiwan this week. We’ve enjoyed their sense of humour and playful attitude! Regrettably, there has been some sickness in their group so some of them haven’t been able to have such a wonderful experience as planned but they have done their best and not given up. We wish them safe travels on their return to Kinmen and hope to host another school group next year if the possibility eventuates.

Supervision at school

Please remember students are supervised at school from 8.40 until 3.15. If you are running late, please let us know as we understand these things can happen from time to time. If you struggle to get to school by 3:15, please contact Ali in FOOSHC who will be able to assist you in an application for after school care.

IB Evaluation

Nicole and I met with the IB evaluation team this week and look forward to them being on site in week seven. The evaluation team would like to meet with parents to discuss the implementation of the IB program at Forrest. They will be in the library from 8.30am to 9.00am on Wednesday 3^rd September and we would love to see as many parents there as possible to let them know your views.

Personal Electronic Devices and social media legislation

Please remember that phones and smart watches, anything that can record or connect to another device, are banned in schools across Australia. The ACT was the last jurisdiction to bring this in at the start of 2024 and we have seen very positive effects on children over this period. However, I do still have to remind children that if they have brought these devices into school they need to be left at the front office throughout the day and not used whilst they are still on school grounds. Your reminders of this at home to support this for all children is appreciated.

Recently there has been discussion in the media about age limits to using social media, including YouTube in schools. I thoroughly support this. Yes, there can be wonderful benefits but there are also many challenges. I have a mantra: you can’t unhear something you’ve heard, you can’t unsee something you’ve seen. For these reasons, to protect our children for as long as possible, I support changes to the legislation. Sometimes parents will say that their children need to access these things. My response is that most of us did not have access to social media when we were younger and we turned out alright… If my views can help you in the inevitable discussions at home, please feel free to let your children know.

Chris

Recess for Resilience

On Thursday August 7, we introduced an exciting new wellbeing initiative, Recess for Resilience (R4R). This programme is designed to foster mental health, wellbeing and connection. It will take place every Thursday at the beginning of Break 2. R4R aims to provide students and staff with an opportunity to engage in physical activity while also promoting open conversations about wellbeing.

Recess for Resilience is an optional walking/running initiative that draws inspiration from the successful Running for Resilience program, which has already gained momentum in promoting mental health and wellbeing within the Canberra community. It will take place on the Forrest Primary School oval with students and staff joining small groups for a casual walk/run around a designated route. After completing a lap of the course, participants will have the opportunity to continue their conversations before returning to class. The programme is entirely optional, offering students the flexibility to participate according to their comfort levels. It is designed to create a relaxed, supportive atmosphere that allows everyone to join in without any pressure.

To ensure the safety and wellbeing of all participants, the programme will be supported by a team of staff and student leaders. We look forward to walking with your child/ren towards better mental health, stronger connections and improved resilience. We would like to extend a huge thank you to Ben Alexander, one of the founders of Running for Resilience, who has helped us launch R4R at Forrest.