Kaleen Primary School

We are awaiting official communications which will come via email to families this evening.

Please see the information below.

📢 FURTHER UPDATE
Please visit the act.gov.au website for the latest on this evolving situation - a link in the yellow bar at the top of the page at https://www.act.gov.au/education-and-training will take you to the most up to date information.
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📢 UPDATE FOR FAMILIES

Yesterday Kmart and Target issued a voluntary recall for one of their sand products, stating asbestos has been detected in some samples.

This followed a number of ACT public school closures on Friday due to the recall of Kadink Sand.

The Education Directorate commenced an audit of all ACT public schools today (Sunday 16 November 2025) for this product.

ℹ️ We have found that use of this product is widespread across ACT public schools.
▪️ 69 schools have been identified as stocking this brand of sand.
▪️ 3 schools have small stocks but these are isolated and not impacting learning.
▪️ 20 schools do not have this, or any craft sand products.

While we understand the health impacts of these products to be low, the health and safety of our staff and students is our highest priority and we continue to make all efforts to keep everyone safe.

👉 In line with our regulatory obligations, and in the interest of the safety of our students, staff and community we have decided to close public schools that have this product to allow for assessment, clean-up and remediation to occur.

We will continue to follow all advice from WorkSafe ACT and recommendations from licenced contractors.

Teams have been working around the clock across our impacted ACT public schools to safely identify, isolate and remove recalled sand products and clean learning spaces and many of those schools are now cleared to re-open.

🔗 A full list of impacted schools is on the Education website: https://www.act.gov.au/education-and-training/latest-articles/act-public-school-closures-friday-14-november-2025

ACT public school staff and families should keep an eye out for an email from your school for specific information.

Every effort is being made to have as many schools ready to re-open as soon as we can. A HUGE SHOUT OUT to the many teams working late into the night and all day again today for your hard work.

Thank you to our school communities for their support.

Today, we honour the courage, service, and sacrifice of all who have served and continue to serve.

As a school community, we pause to reflect on their legacy and to teach the importance of remembrance to future generations.

Lest we forget.

Big thank you to our wonderful P&C for putting on a delicious Staff Appreciation Breakfast! We’re so grateful for your thoughtfulness and all you do for our school.

The Year 6 Band represented Kaleen Primary with excellence at the IMP Celebrates concert last week. After rehearsing at Llewellyn Hall, students performed first on the program alongside Maribrynong, Giralang, and Gold Creek Primary Schools, impressing the audience with Stratford March, Somewhere Out There, and Havana. A big thank you to families for supporting this memorable experience.

Save the date for Grandparents and Grand-friends Day on Monday, 20 October, from 9:00 to 10:30 AM.

This day is a chance for grandparents and grand-friends to visit classrooms and share a favourite story with their grandchild, and for students to do the same in return.

We look forward to celebrating this special occasion!

Don't forget tomorrow is our first learning expo session. We can't wait to see you there!

Don't forget to save the date. We can't wait to see you there!

Don't miss out on having your say. The school satisfaction survey closes this Friday!

The School Satisfaction & Climate Survey is now open. It's an opportunity for parents and carers to provide feedback to help shape their student’s school.
An email with a survey link has been sent to parents and carers and is available in 13 languages: English, Arabic, Chinese, Hindi, Korean, Urdu, Vietnamese, Punjabi, Bengali, Spanish, Telugu, French and Italian.
A paper version is available from your school’s front office in the following languages: Dari, Dinka, Farsi, Karen and Mon.
For more information visit: http://ow.ly/PE0X50AUXFB
The survey closes 5 September 2025.

Today, we kicked off the start of our Book Week celebrations with a visit from local author Jack Heath. He delivered engaging writers workshop sessions to our senior school, teaching our students tip and tricks for their own writing.

We are all feeling motivated after Jacks visit. In Jack’s words “Every one can be a writer- all you need is pen, paper and an idea”!

Lowes has recently taken over our uniform supplier Aplus Schoolwear. That means that uniforms will be available for purchase at the Lowes shop in Belconnen Westfield Shopping Centre or online via https://www.lowes.com.au/schoo...

Any existing orders with Aplus Schoolwear will still be fulfilled and delivered to the school.