School Council 

Dear Parents, 

We have now made a second call for school council nominations.  If you are interested in being a part of school council and helping to shape and support the school, please contact the school office for details.

At our last meeting we spent a lot of time agonising over a decision that we struggled with.  It regarded whether to keep organising school camps or not.  

Based on data from a Mackellar Parent Camping Survey last year, parents were keen to have their children attend camps so long as it was within a certain price bracket for the number of days in attendance. Parents were also keen for a mixture of camps where there was adventure and curriculum based links. 

In addition to the camp survey, teachers were also asked their views, for at present, attending camp is done so voluntarily. Coupled with this is the ongoing prevalence of COVID-19 and the time away from their own families which staff were understandably not able to commit to. 

As a result, school council has decided to postpone school camps for the foreseeable future, or until such time as an alternate model or pricing becomes apparent. What was proposed for this year would have amounted to a cost of approximately $600+ for two nights away which we felt was not inclusive for families.

As somewhat of a compromise, council has asked the Education sub-committee to review our excursion policy to try and provide more excursions for students throughout the year to somewhat offset this change.  

I know this will be disappointing for students and families, and it was a very difficult decision to make. We will make every effort to review this position if circumstances change.

Regards,

Gurpreet Thiara 

School Council President