2026 Parent Payment Arrangements

Parent Payment Arrangements for 2026 were sent home last Friday with students and via Compass.

Lancefield Primary School is looking forward to another great year of teaching and learning and would like to advise you of Lancefield Primary School’s voluntary financial contributions for 2026.

Schools provide students with free instruction to fulfil the standard curriculum requirements and we want to assure you that all contributions are voluntary. Nevertheless, the ongoing support of our families ensures that our school can offer the best possible education and support for our students.

We want to thank you for all your support, either financial or volunteering your time. This has made a huge difference to our school and the programs we can offer.

The environment and resources that we enjoy at Lancefield Primary School represent the contributions made by our parent and carers. Parent/carer voluntary

contributions make a significant difference to the quality of our programs. This financial support ensures that we can continue to provide the excellent range of facilities and resources for your children for example:

Provide high quality programs and specific subject materials and equipment for English,
Mathematics, STEM, Art, Topics, Auslan and PE;
Maintain sufficient class sets of books for students to develop their reading skills including phonics program;
Provide online learning subscriptions as well as Oliver library system;
Arrange for student supplies and class bulk supplies;
Develop our Wellbeing School Wide Positive Behaviour approaches including Kimochis;
Maintain our high quality, bespoke SAKG Prep-6 program.

Please find attached Lancefield Primary School’s voluntary financial contributions schedules for 2026 which include an overview of what your contributions will help us to provide. As for 2025, 2026 student/classroom supplies will be provided for each year level/class rather than individual student packs. Providing resources in this way reduces wastage (supplies are ordered taking stock on hand into account). We have worked very hard to keep costs down as compared to previous years to reduce financial burden on families.

We invite families to make a voluntary financial contribution and indicate on the attached schedule/s how much you would like to contribute. Please provide this to the school office when making a contribution so that contributions can be receipted as per your wishes. The school office will be open on Tuesday 27th January 2026 between 9am – 11am for families to make contributions if they wish, collect student contact details information for updating, submit forms eg. Bus travel.

For further information on the Department’s Parent Payments Policy please see a one-page overview attached.

Health - Gastroenteritis

Gastroenteritis is a short-term illness triggered by the infection and inflammation of the digestive system. Symptoms can include abdominal cramps, diarrhoea and vomiting.
Some of the causes of gastroenteritis include viruses, bacteria, bacterial toxins, parasites, particular chemicals and some drugs.
Good old-fashioned handwashing with soap and water is still the best defence against spreading the bug.
Clean kitchen tops, toys, toilet seats, nappy change tables and taps to ensure you don’t spread the infection to others at home.
If you or anyone in your household is ill, stay home for 48 hours after symptoms have stopped to ensure you are clear of infection.

Fact sheets are available from the Royal Children's Hospital, Better Health Channel, Loddon Mallee Public Health Unit.

Kids Health Info : Gastroenteritis (gastro)

Gastroenteritis | Better Health Channel

Bendigo Health Website - Gastroenteritis in the community

EduThreads Price Update

Effective 1st December 2025 that there will be a 2.5% price increase on all products within our schools range.

While EduThreads continue to do everything they can to keep their prices as low as possible, significant cost increases in clothing production, overseas shipping, and local manufacturing have made a small adjustment necessary. This change will help them maintain the quality and service you expect from them.

To assist families, this notice provides ample time to purchase uniform items for next year before the increase takes effect.

In addition, due to rising postage costs from Australia Post, their flat-rate postage charges will be adjusted as follows:

Standard Post: $9.00
Express Post: $14.00

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.

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.

Community Notices