Dear Families,

It is hard to believe that we are only a few short weeks away from the summer holidays! There are lots of exciting projects and events happening across the school as we squeeze as much learning and fun into the year as we possibly can.

Our Year Six students and teachers left for Canberra camp on Tuesday. The wet weather that greeted them did nothing to dampen their enthusiasm for visiting the Australian War Memorial, the Australian Institute of Sport and Parliament House. The kids even met with our local member for Nicholls, Sam Birrell and let their opinions be known on local affairs such as an upgrade to the Shepparton Basketball Stadium. With a bit of luck, the rain will clear for visits to the Zoo, Aquarium and Questacon before coming home on Friday.

The Year 2s are very excited to learn more about design and technology at their ‘World of Robotics’ incursion on Friday. Many year levels have been exploring the concept of creativity throughout their Inquiry learning this term. This has seen some amazing robots being constructed in Years 1 and 2 as well as stop motion animations in Years 3 and 4. Foundation students have been exploring book making and learning about how authors and illustrators creatively engage their audience. There are some wonderful new books appearing in classroom libraries, created by our very youngest authors. Creativity and curiosity are recognised as vital skills to prepare students to engage with the significant challenges and opportunities of the future. Attitudes such as curiosity and openness to new experiences and attributes such as resilience and risk-taking all help students to be more creative. While developing these skills and attributes, students (and teachers) are certainly having lots of fun and enjoying opportunities to work on projects collaboratively.

Our Year 5 students have been channelling their creativity while building their very own businesses and preparing to launch new products and services at the Kidpreneur Market on December 14th. Some of our budding entrepreneurs have been pitching their ideas during staff briefings and I have been impressed not only by the quality of products but also the skills students are developing throughout the process, such as financial management, critical thinking and problem solving. Be sure to come along to the Family Christmas Evening and check out all the wonderful Kidpreneur market stalls.

I’m sure your children will be very excited to share their impressive creations from this term!

Best regards,

Lisa Logue

On Wednesday the 22nd of November Foundation students travelled to Kyabram to visit the Fauna Park. We saw lots of animals including kangaroos, emus, dingos, a koala and lots of reptiles. We also got to play on a great playground after lunch. It was a big day and the students were quite tired in the way home with some of them falling asleep, but everyone really enjoyed it.

Bourchier St Primary School would like to congratulate former student Oscar Ryan on being selected 27th overall in the AFL Draft by the Adelaide Crows. We look forward to watching Oscar’s development at the elite level in Australian rules Football.

Last week the Year 4 students were lucky enough to participate in an engineering workshop conducted by ‘Engineers without borders’.

In small groups the students had to design and build a home to withstand some natural disasters such as, cyclones, earthquakes and thunderstorms.

They had a budget of $45 to purchase their resources to build their models. At the end of the lesson they tested their designs.

I think we might have some budding engineers for the future!

Thanks to the team at the University of Melbourne for visiting us.

All stationery and materials will be in the classrooms for students on their return in 2024.

Stationery is included in the Parent Payment along with ICT/Stem/Subscriptions & events.

Parent payment can be made via QKR

Parent payment $220 per student

Excursion Levy $80 per student

If you have a Health Care Card and claimed CSEF, you will receive $150 credit which can be used for camps and excursions only.

It's nearly a wrap for 2023!

Book Club Issue 8 is now open and catalogues have been handed out. It's full of books to spark magic and joy in students so they read more for fun, including

• Christmas and Holiday Gift Ideas
• Hot New Releases
• Over 350 Summer Reading Ideas
• Big Savings on Packs
• $3 Value Books, and much, much more!

Book Club - Parents | Scholastic Australia

Orders close Friday 1st December

The easiest way for families to order and pay for Book Club is to use the online LOOP platform. Please use the link to register and start your order www.scholastic.com.au/loop

LOOP is also available as an app, for both apple and Android devices.

For cash payments, please ensure you have the correct money in a securely sealed envelope with your completed order form and child’s details.

Unfortunately our supplier has had distribution problems, and we have only received S/M size. You can go to the uniform shops in Shepparton to purchase a Bourchier Street Hat in the mean time. Students can wear an appropriate hat from home in the interim.

If your child/ren is in Foundation to Year 5 and will not be returning to Bourchier Street next year, can you please contact the front office as we need to attend to the administration

documents, and this will also effect allocating students to classes.

If you have a NEW Health Care Card, please complete CSEF application form attached below.

Families who have a Health Care Card are eligible to claim $125 PER STUDENT for Camps, Excursions and swimming, and money is paid directly to the school.

If you wish to collect your child(ren) early from school you must contact our front office prior on 5821 3488 to advise what time.

The office staff will arrange for your child(ren) to be waiting at the front office at the required time.

Having notice avoids any disruption to our students learning time in the classroom.

Please try to arrange any appointments outside of school hours (8.45am-3.15pm)

Your child’s attendance at school is critical for their learning and development.

The wearing of school uniform helps children develop a sense of identity with the school community.
The school uniform helps promote a positive image of both students and the school to the general community. The wearing of school uniform promotes equality.

The school uniform is to be worn during school hours, while traveling to and from school, and when the students are on school excursions.

All school uniform must be clearly named so that lost items can be identified.

Jackets and hats can be purchased from the school. Several retail shops stock the entire uniform. The school endeavors to provide pre-loved items at the cheapest possible cost.

Please refer to our Student Dress Code Policy

Please do not pull into either STAFF CAR PARK to drop your children off or pick them up.

The staff car park is out of bounds and choosing to use these areas is endangering
our children.

We have many teachers entering and exiting the car park before and after school, so this is a child free zone.

The Balaclava Rd. child care centre is a private park, so please refrain from parking there.

Kiss & Go

This is designed for parents to pull in, say goodbye to their children and exit within
2 minutes. Parents are not to leave the car. The council will be monitoring time
limits and will issue fines if parents are not adhering to the rules.

Please respect other people’s private driveways, and adhere to parking signage or you may receive a fine.

Thanks so much

Every child is welcome to our Breakfast Program each morning (except Monday), from 8am to 8.40am.

We serve toast, milo & fruit cups for all kids. Something warm just before they go into class during winter, is great for the kids.

This is just a top up, even if they have already had breakfast at home. It is OK for them to come and enjoy the atmosphere with their friends to have just a little more breaky.

When your child is absent from school, please log onto the parent portal, COMPASS and enter the absence along with the reason.

You need a username and password which has been distributed to families, but we can easily resend you the logon details by phoning or emailing the front office Bourchier.ps@education.vic.edu.au

Refer to the instructions below

We have had reported cases of students with live head lice so we are asking parents to be vigilant and check your child/ren’s hair.

We do regular checks at Bourchier Street and any child that is found to have live lice, parents/guardians will be contacted for the child to be collected and treated before returning to school. On returning to school the child will be checked again by staff. This is in accordance with school policy.

Children with long hair are required to

have it tied back.

Please ensure that your child’s, clothes, lunch box, drink bottle and property are CLEARLY named. All named property will be returned to the student in the classroom. Unnamed items will be sent to lost property in the hall foyer.

Our Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) Program allows devices to be brought into the school, and connected to our secure network

Our school has an online BYOD portal organised by JB-Hifi where you can access discounted rates on approved devices. THE PASSWORD IS BSPS24

If you would like more information on the program, please visit the BYOD page on our website or open the attached BYOD toolkit for parents.

Often Bourchier Street communicates to our families via the Compass app, important information of what is happening within the school. Sometimes you are prompted through your email to open important news items. Please make sure your email is up to date, so you do not miss valuable information. Please phone front office 58 213 488 if your email address needs updating. If your child is absent from School, please logon to Compass to document this.

Every family needs to download the Qkr! app which will enable you to pay school payments, purchase hats/jackets, order lunch through the canteen and purchase tickets for special productions etc.

Simply download on your phone and you will see how easy it is to manage!

Attached is the updated Parent Payment Arrangement Policy which was approved by School Council.

Bourchier Street Primary School has a zero tolerance of any form of child abuse. The school is committed to acting in children’s best interests. The safety and wellbeing of children at this school is our highest priority. We want children to be safe, happy and empowered.

Email: bourchier.ps@education.vic.gov.au
Website: bourchierps.vic.edu.au
Location: 1-19 Bourchier Street, Shepparton VIC, Australia
Phone: (03) 5821 3488
Facebook: facebook.com/bourchierps
Twitter: @bourchierps