Dear Parents,

The children are settling well and work on all units of work is well underway. We have been impressed with the quality of work being completed by the children in classrooms. It is great to see the pride the children are taking in their book work.

Congratulations to our Term 1 Student Representative Council class elected members who are;

Support - Harper Rowlands and Thomas Callan

2I - Asha Melo

2/3F - Lori Hegvold

2S - Abbie Emanuel

3/4B - Ellie Surawski

3/4S - Frankie Klein

3/4W - Lawson Glasgow

4/5D - Miah McCluer

5/6A - Harish Arul

5/6B - Charlotte Morris

5/6L - Olivia Somerville

5/6T - Hailey Milne

Good luck to our children representing Bathurst Public School at the District Swimming Carnival this Friday, 23rd February. We know they will enjoy a day of supporting each other and being outstanding representatives of our school. Mrs Francis is our team manager. All children should go to Mrs Francis on their arrival at the pool and sit in the designated Bathurst Public School section.

As a staff, we continue to modify our Assessment and Reporting practices so we can ensure parents obtain feedback each term on their child’s progress from their child’s classroom teacher. At any time, if parents have any concerns or issues about your child’s learning, you are encouraged to contact the school to make an appointment to speak with your child’s classroom teacher. The Assessment and Reporting schedule for 2024 is:

Term 1 Week 5 – Thursday 29th February – Support Unit Parent/Teacher Interviews
Term 1 Week 6 - Tuesday 5th March- Friday 8th March – Parent/Teacher Interviews
Term 2 – Semester 1 Reports home
Term 3 – Parent/Teacher Interviews
Term 4 - Semester 2 Reports home

Parent/Teacher Interviews have been organised for Thursday 29th February for the Support Unit classes and Tuesday 5th March - Monday 8th March for all other classes. 5/6T will occur on Wednesday 13th March. These meetings will allow parents to: meet teachers, talk about what is to be taught this year and how your child has settled into the 2024 school year, plans for the school year, class expectations, and parent expectations. The parent portal has been set up and will open at 3.30pm this afternoon. Interviews can be booked until the day before the scheduled interview date. If parents cannot attend a face to face interview, teachers will contact parents by phone.

Interview Dates for the calendar;

Thursday 29th February- Support Class Parent Teacher Interviews
Tuesday 5th March - Stage 2 Parent Teacher Interviews (4/5D, 3/4W, 3/4S, 3/4B and 2/3F)
Wednesday 6th March - Stage 1 Parent Teacher Interviews (1C, 1G, 2I and 2S)
Thursday 7th March - Stage 3 Parent Teacher Interviews (5/6A, 5/6L and 5/6B)
Friday 8th March - Kindergarten Parent Teacher Interviews (KM, KD and K/1K)
Wednesday 13th March - Stage 3 Parent Teacher Interview (5/6T)

Attendance is a major focus of the Department of Education in 2024. A media campaign will commence this week highlighting the importance of regular attendance for every child. As such, attendance at Bathurst Public School will also be an ongoing focus for us this year. The evidence is clear that consistent attendance is the essential first step for your child to have a positive experience at school. We ask parents to make sure your child is achieving their best and stays ahead in their learning with regular school attendance. The more time your child attends school, the greater their opportunity to learn, make new friends and improve their well being. Together, let's build positive attendance habits for a lifetime.

Week 3 Attendance Update

Congratulations to these classes for their attendance achievements last week:

KD, K/1K, and 5/6A - Highest percentage of attendance

K/1K, K-3H, 1G, 3-6R, 5/6A, 3-6R and 5/6L - No unexplained absences

We are currently tracking above State in our attendance rate and the percentage of students attending above 90%.

Last night we held our first P&C meeting for the year. Thank you to all parents for attending. The next meeting will be the Annual General Meeting (AGM) followed by the March meeting. This will take place on Wednesday 20th March commencing at 6.30pm in the staff room at school. We hope to see lots of parents at the meeting.

If any parent has any concerns regarding any aspect of school life, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Kate White

Principal