Dear readers,

I hope everyone has been able to manage the fluctuating weather that our area has experienced this week. We started the week with two consecutive days in the high thirties, which saw the implementation of our first 'extreme heat' policy. On days where extreme heat is present, students stay inside in the comfort of our air-conditioned classrooms. How lucky are we? It is a far cry from my own time at school where we had to sweat our way through 40-degree weather without air conditioning.

Our Year ones and threes certainly got their fair share of heat during their swimming lessons at Aquamoves. While the kids were fine in the pool, I do want to shout out the attending staff who sat in the very sticky, sauna-like conditions inside the building. Well done! Apart from the conditions, the lessons have been going well. It has certainly reminded me of the importance of swimming lessons in young people. Lots of exposure to water, coupled with regular swimming lessons with a trained swim instructor, is a vital tool to prevent drownings and ensure safety for our kids. I cannot encourage families enough to get your child involved in swimming lessons if you haven't already. Aquamoves has great instructors and lots of options when it comes to lesson times. Feel free to give them a call on 58 32 9400.

This week, our Friday assembly is going to be a special one. Our Student Voice team and house leaders will be presented to the school community and will be given a special badge that is symbolic of their leadership role in the school this year. We put tremendous importance on student leadership at Bourchier. We believe that all students have the potential to be leaders and may have great ideas that could benefit our school as a whole. Our student voice team has been charged with the responsibility of collecting ideas from students right across the school and then taking action. The team will meet regularly with teachers and school leadership to put forward their ideas on how to make our school even more awesome than it already is. We look forward to presenting the kids with their badges and are even more excited to hear about their ideas for our school this year.

I really appreciated catching up with so many families on our Welcome Night last week. Thanks very much to everyone who attended the Welcome Night. I hope that you got to spend some quality time with your child's teacher and learnt something about the classroom. As it got really busy on the sausage serving station on the night, I was worried people might have been waiting too long, but everyone I have spoken to since has said it was fine. If you have any feedback on any part of the evening, please don't hesitate to reach out!

We will have another opportunity to have a more formal catch up with your classroom teacher at the end of this term during our Parent Teacher conferences. These are held in the last week of Term, and details on how to book in for these conferences are included in this newsletter.

Thanks for reading, and as always, if you need anything, please let us know.

With gratitude,

Gary D'Arma

Families are welcome to join us tomorrow, Friday 16th for a whole school assembly at 2.20pm in the school hall. We will be welcoming the Foundation students and Year six student leaders will be receiving their badges!

Lots of awards and performances happen at our assembly, so we hope to see you there.

What a great start to the year from all of the Foundation classes here at Bourchier Street PS! We have been so impressed at how quickly they have settled into the class routines and to follow the expectations that we have at school.

It has been wonderful to see all of the students so engaged in their daily activities and make some lovely new friendships. Already we have seen them learn so many new things and make so much improvement and development in such a short time.

We can’t wait to see this continue throughout the term.

Shepparton News will be taking class photos on Monday 19th February for a special Foundation feature. Be sure to be on time with your beautiful smile!

Student learning conferences will be held on:

Wednesday evening, 27th March - 3.30pm - 8pm

Thursday 28th March - 8am 1.30pm

Bookings can be made via Compass from 5pm Monday 19th February 2024

You need a username and password to log into compass - please phone front office if you need us to reset for you.

It is importance for every parent/carer to attend SLC with your child as it is a great opportunity to learn about your child's academic, emotional and social development. You also get to know your child's teacher and talk about how you can both support your child.

Their Care will operate on Thursday for any family who wishes to use their service.

Click to say YES as a volunteer

Welcome to BSPS all our new families and especially if your child is starting in our Foundation classes. Also welcome back to all our families as we begin 2024. I hope and pray that together in our community we have a great year of learning and enjoyment.

We will be resuming visiting families with food hampers soon. If you have regularly received food hampers last year, you are automatically on our list this year. If you don’t require to be on the list, please let me know via school office.

To our new families and others, if you would value a food hamper for your family, we can put you on the delivery list. Only to happy for additions to assist our school community.

Breakfast Program

Our school provides breakfast EVERY MORNING from 8am in the portables. All children are welcome even if kids want a top up before class begins.

For breakfast, we serve Milo, toast, and fruit cups for all kids.

Richard Poole

CHAPLAIN

Dear Parents,

We are hoping to re-establish a walking school bus for Bourchier Street Primary School children.

Initially we will operate one day a week, starting on Thursday 29th February and determine the need to possibly extend to more days.

Our walking school bus will depart from the Tarcoola end of Batman avenue in the mornings, travel along Balaclava road collecting children at Gowrie Street Primary, Wyndham Street corner (near the toy library), Maude Street corner, Corio Street corner and Dunkirk Avenue corner. We aim to leave Tarcoola by 7:30 am and it will take us from between 30-40 minutes. The children are able to have breakfast at school at our Breakfast Club!

After school the bus will work in reverse with children meeting in the junior playground for departure at 3:30pm.

The school bus is available for all ages, however initially will be restricted to 10 children so will be based on a first in basis. We hope to be able to extend the ratio as we go on.

Our walking school bus ran several years ago and was a happy, fun way to walk to school. We are happy for any suggestions and ideas you may have.

If you think you would like to be a part of this or can offer any suggestions, could you please email us ASAP, or contact the school as we are eager to start travelling by walking school bus!!!

Jane Shattock

Jane.shattock@education.vic.gov.au

Monday 29th & 30th January – Staff PD

Thursday 28th March – Parent Teacher conferences

Monday 4th November – Report Writing Day

There will also be one Professional Practice Day later in year – it has been suggested that this be a collaborative day with all schools in Shepparton participating – no confirmation of date or details at present.

Parent Payment Arrangement forms went home to families this week.

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.

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 $150 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. Shepparton 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 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.

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

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.

Click here for BYOD PARENT HUB

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!

Click here to register

Children planning on playing netball with Bourchier St need to register before March 4th. Please click on the link to register your player (you can also purchase uniforms as well). March 4th the link will be closed and teams will be made so please register prior!

Our school collects and uses student and parent personal information for standard school functions or where permitted by law, as stated in the Schools’ Privacy Policy and the Schools "Privacy Collection Notice below.

Our Photographing, Filming and Recording Students Policy below, describes how we collect and use photographs, video and recordings of students. The policy also explains when parent consent is required and how it can be provided and withdrawn.

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.

Bourchier Street Policies

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