In Brief:

• The 2025 public school year begins for new students on the 3 February and continuing students on 4 February.
• This story contains key dates and information for families.

Canberra families are about to start another school year.

Here is everything you need to know to help you plan for the 2025 school year.

Student-free days and start of term

There are four student-free days each year for ACT public schools. These are the first day of each school term.

Student-free days are for staff development, enabling teachers and schools to plan in a student-free environment.

Friday 31 January will be a student-free day.

On Monday 3 February, new students will start school. Continuing students will return to school on Tuesday 4 February 2025.

Other term dates for the 2025 school year:

• Friday 11 April – Term 1 ends
• Tuesday 29 April – Term 2 begins (students start school)
• Friday 4 July – Term 2 ends
• Tuesday 22 July – Term 3 begins (students start school)
• Friday 26 September – Term 3 ends
• Tuesday 14 October – Term 4 begins (students start school)
• Thursday 18 December – Term 4 ends.

Visit the Term Dates page for all school term dates.

Financial assistance

The Future of Education Equity Fund (Equity Fund) offers eligible families financial support to help with school essentials. It supports the more vulnerable families in our community.

Low-income families of students – from preschool through to year 12 – can receive a one-off, annual payment. This is to help cover the costs of schooling, such as:

• uniforms
• sport equipment and activities
• tuition
• music lessons.

The Equity Fund payments are $400 (preschool), $500 (primary school), and $750 (high school and college level, including CIT Year 11 and 12).

Equity Fund applications for the 2025 school year are now open.

Families can apply for all eligible students in their family in the one application, regardless of whether they attend different schools.

School staff are also able to help families to apply.

Applications close in November 2025.

Find out more about eligibility criteria and how to apply online.

Parent Portal

The Parent Portal is now available across all ACT public schools.

The portal allows secure sharing of information between parents/carers and teachers/schools online or via the Sentra for Parents app.

Parents and carers only need to sign up once, and can add multiple children to one account.

Find out more about the Parent Portal app.

Building Strong Foundations for literacy and numeracy

ACT public schools with preschool to year 2 students will receive extra funding for additional evidence-informed literacy and numeracy resources.

These resources will be in place for preschool to year 2 classrooms for the start of the 2025 school year.

Read more about the ACT Government’s Strong Foundations program.

Wellbeing for students

A new school year can be tough for some students, whether they are:

• starting a new school
• moving into high school or college
• just dealing with any of the life changes thrown their way.

The ACT Government has online resources that could be helpful in starting conversations on finding ways to support them.

Visit the Education website to watch a video series on supporting an anxious child, and to access a mindfulness podcast series.

Asthma management

If your child has asthma, the start of the school year is a good time to make sure you’re managing it.

You may wish to:

• book an asthma review with your child’s GP
• update your child’s asthma action plan with their GP
• make sure the school has your child’s reliever medication and spacer
• talk to school staff
• book an appointment with one of the asthma nurse educators at Canberra Health Services.

Learn more about children’s asthma education services.

Child development

Are you concerned about your child’s development? The start of a new year is a good time to contact the Child Development Service, to access free drop-in clinics and assessments.

Find out more about the Child Development Service

Healthy lunches

Find tips on how to pack a healthy lunchbox on ACT Health’s Fresh Tastes Lunchboxes website.

It includes a Grab and Go shopping list and tips for a waste-free lunchbox. You’ll also find tips on which food groups to include and how to swap for healthier options.

Looking for more healthy lunchbox tips? Try the Cancer Council’s Healthy Lunch Box Builder. It’s a great tool to help build a lunchbox so your child can get a healthy brain boost throughout the school day.

Free three-year-old preschool

ACT three-year-olds can now benefit from 300 hours of free preschool at over 140 locations.

This will save the average family around $1,329 a year.

Read more and find where to access three-year-old preschool.

Period products at all schools

In 2023 the ACT Government passed new legislation to make free period products available at a range of community locations across the ACT for anyone who needs them.

This includes at every ACT public school, which is something we already do as a system, and will continue to do.

Pads and tampons are available in ACT public high schools, colleges, and combined schools. Pads are available in ACT public primary schools.

They can be accessed at any time during the school day from the school front office.

The Education Directorate will continue to work with ACT Health to ensure age-appropriate information on menstrual hygiene is available for students through our schools.

Read more about free period products.

40 km/h school zones

Road safety is everyone’s responsibility. As students return to school, remember to slow down and stick to the 40 km/h limit around schools between 8am and 4pm.

Mobile speed vans and police regularly patrol school zones. Let’s all slow down and support kids’ safety.

Back to school with Transport Canberra

The regular bus network and timetable will return from Monday 3 February 2025 including dedicated school services and ‘S’ trips which divert into schools. Please check your timetable so you are prepared and ready.

Students can download the MyWay+ app and use the real time journey planner for a simply way to plan and pay for their trip to school.

All school students receive a discounted fare when using MyWay+. Student concession MyWay+ travel cards purchased in 2024 and 2025 have an extended expiry date until 1 January 2026. If you would like to check the concession status of a card, please create a MyWay+ account and link the travel card to it. Alternatively, go to a MyWay+ retail outlet to check.

You can get a new student concession MyWay+ travel card for your child from MyWay+ retail outlets. Please note that secondary and tertiary students must provide proof of concessions at time of purchase to get the correct concession applied to the card.

To top up their MyWay+ travel card please go to a MyWay+ retail outlet or top up online through a MyWay+ account or the ‘quick top up’ option on the portal.

Whilst Transport Canberra are not charging penalty fares at the moment, it wants to obtain the most accurate data possible and encourage best practice for all students. Please remember to tap on and off with the same device when your trip starts and ends.

*Secondary students will need to carry their student ID card with them when travelling on the bus and light rail if they are using a MyWay+ concession account/travel card.

Transport Canberra is working to improve the MyWay+ system by allowing primary account holders, like parents or carers, to link multiple MyWay+ accounts. This is about to undergo testing with the community prior to launching over the next couple of months.

Transport Canberra will be taking an educative approach whilst the community and its workforce adjust to the change. Please be assured that kids can continue to travel on buses and light rail services. No child will be left behind.

Parents of primary school students, please refer to your school’s pack for travel details.

You can also plan your trip back to school with Transport Canberra’s Journey Planner.

Parking around schools

The start of the school year is a particularly busy time in Canberra’s school carparks and surrounding streets.

Unsafe and illegal parking reduces visibility for students and motorists. This creates a hazard when students cross the road.

Parking inspectors and license plate recognition vehicles will be out and about enforcing safe parking around schools.

For drop-offs and pick-ups, arrange a meeting spot, arrive after the rush, or park a little further away from the school and walk with your kids the rest of the way.

Read more like this:

• Parent Portal app now available
• Equity Fund applications open for 2025
• Strong Foundations literacy and numeracy resource grants launch

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