Dear Parents,

The children are settling well into the 2024 school year. We still have tentative classes in place until we finalise enrolments across the school. We have experienced extremes in the weather in the first week of school from heat to wet weather. Thank you to our amazing parents who have prepared the children by having all equipment, bags, lunchboxes, drink bottles and items of clothing labelled with your child's name. It makes finding owners much easier.

The Induction Ceremony for our 2024 Leadership Team occurred on Tuesday. It was a beautiful assembly where all our children witnessed our new Captains and Vice Captains making their pledges. We thank all of our parents and friends for the assembly and presenting and pinning the badges on their child. Thank you for coming along and making this occasion special.

Our 2024 Leadership Team consists of:

                   School Captains – Hannah Skein and Max Naylor

                   School Vice Captains - Tilley Cole and Beau Francis

                   Evans House Captains – Holly Gillespie and Lincoln Klein

                   Evans House Vice Captains – Clara Wood and Xander Swift 

                   Chifley House Captains –  Charlotte Falconer and Cooper Jones

                   Chifley House Vice Captains – Cindy Ngo and Issac Gafa

                   Macquarie House Captains – Alexis Hickey and Lachlan Abbott

                   Macquarie House Vice Captains – Adelaide Fulthorpe and Jax McPhee

                   Hargraves House Captains – Aurora Davis and Theo Lyle

                   Hargraves House Vice Captains – Ava Williamson and Moaaz Ahmed

Leadership Team

School Captains

House Captains

Sentral Parent Portal - All of our notes for all activities are published on the Sentral Parent Portal. Please ensure you have access to the portal. You can give permissions and pay for activities also using Sentral. Please refer to the Sentral page for further information on how to access the Sentral Parent Portal.

Breakfast and Lunch Club - operates every school day from the room under the Lambert Street Hall in the Kinder quad. School staff assist in preparing breakfast for any child who would like breakfast when they arrive at school. Lunch Club involves combinations of cheese toasties, sandwiches and toasted sandwiches provided to students. Donations of items such as margarine, bread, spread (vegemite, honey and jam), fruit, poppers, juice, cereal and cheese are always welcome. 

Library - apart from children attending the Library each week for a Library lesson, children can also attend the Library during Break 2 every day. The Library is supervised by Mrs Morris, our Librarian, and children can read, play chess or colour.

Community Room - children can attend the Community room during Break 1 Tuesday-Friday to play with lego, games or colour in. The Community room is supervised by a staff member.

Extra Curricular Activities - we have a number of extra curricular activities planned that children can take part in. Some of these are; 

**Choral Festival and Schools Spectacular Choral group - will be conducted and supervised by Mrs Cafe. The children will meet weekly to work on a repertoire that is set by the NSW DoE Arts Unit. The Choral Festival group will perform at the Opera House later in the year. The Schools Spectacular Choral group, if successful after audition, will perform at Schools Spectacular in Term 4.

**Recorder - Children interested in learning and playing the recorder will have the opportunity to work with Mrs George, 1 break time a week. Children will need to purchase a recorder (which Mrs George will organise through the school) to participate in this activity.

**School Band - The school contact for the Band program is Mrs Ivory. Information is attached to the Newsletter about any child in Years 2-6 interested in learning an instrument in our School Band program. The Mitchell Conservatorium have been asked to oversee this program again in 2024. The Mitchell Conservatorium will have highly trained musicians attend our school to conduct lessons every week. Instruments we can offer lessons in are saxophone, violin, keyboard, drumming, flute, clarinet and guitars. 

**Junior AECG - will be coordinated by Mrs George and Miss Carr. More information will be available once we receive it from the Bathurst AECG.

**Multicultural Public Speaking - Ms Roberts will coordinate the Multicultural Public Speaking Competition in 2024. More information will be available as soon as it is received from the NSW Arts Unit.

**Student Representative Council (SRC) - Ms Lloyd will coordinate the SRC in 2024. Each term, each class (Years 2-6) will nominate an SRC representative. The children will receive an SRC badge that they will wear each day for the term they are their class representative. The children will attend meetings during 1 break time each week and will work on issues in the school and coordinate a whole school event each term.

**Public Speaking - Ms Roberts will coordinate the CWA Public Speaking Competition in 2024. More information will be available as soon as it is received.

**Dance Groups - Mrs McClements will supervise the Dance programs in 2024. Stage 3 will begin Dance in Term 1 so they can prepare and audition for Schools Spectacular in Term 4. From the start of Term 2 and all of Term 3, Stage 1, Stage 2 and Stage 3 will have Dance Troupes operating. These groups will attend the Bathurst Eisteddfod later in the year.

**Sport - Bathurst Public School has entered a number of sporting teams into the PSSA Knockout Competition. The coaches/managers of the teams are listed beside each team. Trials for teams will be posted in the Newsletter, posted on the daily messages for children and announcements will also be made at school.

• Boys Soccer - Mikayla McPhee and Leah Barber
• Cricket - Jeremy Thackray
• Girls Basketball - Kylee Francis
• Boys Basketball - Jay Datt
• Girls Touch Football - Sarah White and Kate White
• Netball - Nicola Reedy
• PSSA School Team Rugby League Stage 3 - Sophie Tilburg and Stephanie Solinas
• Peachey/Richardson Shield Stage 2 - Sophie Tilburg and Stephanie Solinas

In addition to the PSSA Knockout Sporting teams, children can also be nominated to attend Bathurst District Trials so they can be considered for Western Region selection in a variety of sports (eg Hockey, Netball, Basketball, Tennis, Touch Football, Rugby League, AFL, Rugby Union, Cricket, Girls Soccer, Boys Soccer, Golf, and Softball).  Mrs Francis will coordinate the sporting trials and all nominations for children at Bathurst Public School. We have rules in regards to how many children we can send to some trials so for some sports we will need to run school trials before nominating children to go to District Trials. Again, trials for teams will be posted in the Newsletter, posted on the daily messages for children, and announcements will also be made at school.

Our School Photos will be taken on Thursday 15th February. We will be using Advanced School Photography. Envelopes for school photos have been sent home. Family photo envelopes are available from the front office. Please contact the school for any further information.

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. 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 will be set up soon ek to allow parents to book their meeting time.  Teachers will contact parents regarding your allocated time prior to the interviews.

Interview Dates for the calendar;

• Thursday 29th February- Support Class Parent Teacher Interviews
• Tuesday 5th March - Stage 2 Parent Teacher Interviews
• Wednesday 6th March - Stage 1 Parent Teacher Interviews
• Thursday 7th March - Stage 3 Parent Teacher Interviews
• Friday 8th March - Kindergarten Parent Teacher Interviews

Food Allergies - We do have several children at our school who have peanut and nut allergies and have severe reactions if exposed to this food. Parents are asked to be mindful of this when packing recess and lunch and are encouraged not to send products that contain nuts in them to school.

General Reminders:-

• All items of clothing and personal belongings should be clearly marked with your child’s name.
• All children require a broad-brimmed hat each day as our school has a “No Hat, No Play” policy.
• When parents, friends and visitors come to the school during the day, they should QR code before entering the premises. This is a Legal and Health and Safety requirement and is followed for the safety and security of all children and staff. There are no longer pen and paper sign in sheets; the QR coding is now an electronic visitor register for each school.
• We continue to encourage parents to make appointments to come and talk about your child’s progress, problems that may arise, ideas etc. It is reminded that the education of your child is a team effort with teachers and parents being the main stakeholders. With this in mind, it is an important reminder that the parent/teacher relationship always needs to be cohesive and supportive and one of mutual respect. I am sure we will continue to work with one another in a positive manner for the betterment of every child at our school.
• All permissions and payments for activities can now be made on the Sentral Parent Portal. 

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

Kate White

Principal