Attendance

It is important the school is notified of any student absences at the earliest possible convenience via Compass.

If you receive an email or an alert at the top of your News Feed regarding an ‘unexplained absence’, it means that your child has been marked ‘Not Present’ but a reason for the absence has not been provided in Compass. It is a Department of Education requirement that we have a reason for EVERY day (or part day), a student is absent.

We ask parents to routinely check their Compass each week for any 'Unexplained Absences' and follow the steps to add an attendance note.

Apply now to enrol your child in Foundation (Prep) for 2026

The Department of Education has a statewide timeline for enrolling in Foundation (Prep) for the 2026 school year.

If you have a child starting primary school in 2026, it’s time to enrol. Make sure to submit your enrolment application by Friday 25 July 2025.

If you are enrolling the sibling of a student at our school for Foundation in 2026, and both children will be attending our school at the same time, your child is prioritised for a place at our school as per the department’s Placement Policy.

It is important to follow the statewide timeline to enrol your child in Foundation. Enrolling your child in line with the timelines allows us to plan our classrooms, staffing and transition activities and ensures your child has the best start to school.

For more information, please read about when and how to enrol your child in Foundation at vic.gov.au/enrolling-foundation-prep.

If you are seeking to enrol your child into Foundation next year, please contact our school office on 5429-2307 or lancefield.ps@education.vic.gov.au to request an application form.

2026 Year 7 Enrolments

Year 7 placement is decided by secondary schools using the Department of Education’s Placement Policy.

You will receive notification of your child's Year 7 placement offer on Tuesday 1 July 2025.

School Saving Bonus

The Victorian Government is delivering the School Saving Bonus (SSB) – a one-off support of $400 for eligible government school students from Prep to Year 12 in 2025.

The SSB can be used for uniforms and textbooks until Monday 30 June 2025.

Any funds remaining after 30 June 2025, including online voucher amounts that have not been redeemed, will become a credit to use on school activities. However, the credit will not be available on your family account at our school until August. To use any remaining SSB funds to cover the cost of school activities in July, please refer to the SSB online system www.schoolsavingbonus.vic.gov.au and allocate the funds to school activities before 30 June 2025. To learn more about the SSB online system, download the step-by-step System guide for parents and carers

or watch this School Saving Bonus video.

System guide translations are also available in 14 languages.

The Department of Education’s SSB contact centre will remain available until 30 June 2025. The contact centre can be reached by: completing the School Saving Bonus enquiry form or calling 1800 338 663, between 8:30 am and 4:30 pm on weekdays.

After this date, please contact our administration team for any SSB related questions.

Prep 2025 Autumn/Winter CSEF Uniform Package

Students eligible to receive the Prep 2025 Autumn/Winter Uniform Package must be a Camps, Sports and Excursion Fund (CSEF) recipient. For further information, please refer to the flyer below:

What’s in the package? The Prep 2025 Autumn/Winter Uniform pack contains the following items:

Tops x 2 pcs (i.e., windcheater / polo shirts / rugby top)
Bottoms x 2 pcs (i.e., trackpants / leggings)
Outerwear x 1 pce (i.e., jacket / parka / puffer)
Socks x 2 pairs
Shoes x 1 pair

Please note: a) PE items are not included as part of this package; b) Shoes must be requested in UK sizes (please see our shoe size conversion chart).

Cost to families: Where State Schools’ Relief is unable to provide a uniform item directly that contains a logo (due to contractual agreements with uniform retailers) the student will receive a voucher for $85 that subsidises the cost of these items. The voucher can be redeemed at your school uniform shop or independent uniform retailer. Please note: vouchers do have an expiry and must be used before this date.

To apply for the package please complete the form below and submit to the school office before the end of term 3 2025.

Camps, Sports & Excursions Fund (CSEF)

The Camps, Sports and Excursions Fund (CSEF) provides payments for eligible students to attend activities like:

school camps or trips
swimming extension activities and other school-organised sport programs
outdoor education programs
excursions and incursions
graduations/valedictories.

Families can list more than one student in the one application form if they are attending the same school.

Parents/carers wishing to apply for CSEF payments for 2025 must submit their application form to the relevant school by 4 July 2025.

However, a parent/carer will only be required to submit an application form to the school in the following circumstances:

the parent/carer is applying for the CSEF payment for the first time – i.e. an application form was not lodged with the school in the previous year; or
circumstances have changed – e.g. there has been a change in the care arrangement of the student, a change of name or CRN, or a new sibling has commenced at the school and the parent/carer wishes to apply for the CSEF payment for the new sibling.

Those that are eligible to apply for the CSEF are:

families holding a valid means-tested concession card
a student over 16 years who is considered a mature minor and holds a valid concession card (such as a Youth Allowance Health Care Card or Disability Support Pension Card).

A special consideration category also exists for refugee and asylum seeker families and students placed in temporary care.

Means-tested concession cards must now be valid on either:

the first day of Term 1 – 28 January
the first day of Term 2 – 22 April

Conveyance Allowance

Conveyance allowance is a contribution towards transport costs and is not intended to cover the full cost of transporting children to and from school.

The conveyance allowance may be available to students attending government or non-government schools and:

travelling by public transport or by private car, motorbike, bicycle or bus, and
whose nearest school is not serviced by a free school bus provided under the School Bus Program

To be eligible for the conveyance allowance a student must reside 4.8km or more from the school/campus they attend. This distance is measured as the shortest practicable route from the student’s residence to the school/campus using all-weather public roads drivable by car.

The Student Conveyance Allowance System (SCAS) assesses this eligibility criteria by:

determining the shortest route between the student’s address and the school/campus attended (whereas other public mapping tools commonly measure the shortest travel time)
producing a table showing distances to nearby like schools, for comparison, which assists schools to determine whether the student is attending their nearest school/campus.

The distance measured does not include private driveways.

Applications can be completed using the form below and submitted to the school by the following dates:

Claim period	Claim submission closing date	Estimated pay run date

Term 1	14 March 2025	28 March 2025
Term 2	13 June 2025	27 June 2025
Term 3	28 August 2025	12 September 2025
Term 4	21 November 2025	5 December 2025

Travel Passes

30-Day Travel Passes are available to all Victorian Government schools at no cost to support students in crisis.

Schools can provide a Travel Pass to primary and secondary students who are experiencing a crisis, such as family violence or sudden financial hardship, to ensure that they can continue to attend school, receive an education, participate in school activities, and access support services.

Where the eligible student requires an adult to accompany them on public transport to school (for example, due to young age, disability or mental health), the student is eligible for an additional Travel Pass for their caregiver to travel with them.

The distribution of the Travel Passes to students in crisis is managed by State Schools’ Relief (SSR) in consultation with schools.

	JUNE 2025
23	Division winter sports- Netball (Castlemaine)
27	School Athletics Day (Year 3-6)

	JULY 2025
1	School Council
3	Thursday 3rd July - Last day Term 2 - Finish 3.15pm
4	Friday 4th July - Teacher/Parent/Student Conference Day - Pupil Free Day

21	First day Term 3

	AUGUST 2025
11-15	Year 1 & Year 4/5 Swimming- Aqua Aware Program - Kyneton Aquatic Centre

Calendar of Events

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