17 October 2025

Principal’s Messages

A Big Term Ahead at Burnside!

Teaching and Learning in Full Swing 

Welcome back to the final term of the school year — always one filled with energy, reflection, and anticipation. Our teachers are excited to dive into this last term of teaching and learning, continuing to build on the progress and successes achieved so far this year.

Year 6: Preparing for the Next Chapter

For our Year 6 students, this term marks an especially significant milestone as they prepare to complete their primary schooling and begin their transition to high school. There will be many opportunities ahead for them to celebrate their journey and look forward to the new adventures that await in 2026.

Emerging Leaders: Year 5 Captain Nominations

Meanwhile, our Year 5 students are beginning to step up into leadership roles. Nominations for 2026 School Captains will open shortly, and we are excited to see so many emerging leaders expressing interest. With such outstanding potential among our students, these decisions will not be easy — a true reflection of the talent, character, and responsibility shown by our senior students.

Enrolling Now for 2026

It has also been wonderful to see such a strong start to our Prep enrolments for 2026. Families have been joining us for tours and interviews, and we are already very excited to welcome our newest Burnside learners next year. If you have friends or family wishing to enrol their child at Burnside for Prep or any other year level, please encourage them to contact the office soon to secure a placement.

Celebrating in Week 10

Our final week of Term 4 is shaping up to be a fantastic celebration of the year that was! We’ll enjoy our end-of-year Concert on Tuesday, the Year 6 Graduation Ceremony on Wednesday, and finish the week with a whole-school Colour Run on Thursday. It will be a joyful way to recognise the efforts, learning, and achievements of our students in 2025.

Thank You to Our P&C

A heartfelt thank you to our wonderful P&C Association for their ongoing dedication and support throughout the year. Their contributions make a big difference to the life of our school. If you are looking for a way to get involved in 2026, please consider joining this great team or registering to volunteer at events.

Please note that the Tuckshop will be closed during Week 10 as they wrap up another busy and successful year of service.

Working Together for a Strong Finish

Thank you for your ongoing support as we work together to make Term 4 a memorable and purposeful finish to the year. It’s shaping up to be a busy and rewarding term for everyone in the Burnside community!

Warm regards,

Deputy News

Swimming carnival

On Tuesday 2^nd December our Year 3-6 students will be participating in the annual swimming carnival at Nambour Aquatic Centre.  Students are strongly encouraged to participate if in attendance, and the focus is on earing points for the house.  Final costings for this excursion are being confirmed and invoices will be received in the coming week.  Below is a guide only of the order of events and is subject to change.  Students are encouraged to get in their team spirit and be ready to cheer for their team. 

Please ensure that students nomination forms are returned and that students will compete in events that are within their swimming abilities. 

Burnside Rocks - Date claimer  

On Tuesday 9^th December Burnside SS will celebrate Burnside Rocks with each year level presenting a Dance inspired (choreographic devices and symmetry) piece in the hall.  Students will be practicing their item in their The Arts lessons.  Some year levels may request a particular item of clothes, or prop to support the performance (please check with your class teachers). We  look forward to seeing you there!

Prep in 2026

Our Prep transition program for 2026 is well underway.   We have completed our first official transition session for 2026.  We have two upcoming transitions left for:  

Week 4  - Wednesday 29^th October  9-10.30am

Week 6 – Thursday 13^th November  8.45-10.45

Our uniform shop will be open for both of these sessions for parents/ caregivers to be able to source uniforms.  Parents are required to stay onsite during these sessions but may choose to participate in one of the parent workshops our tours.  Ideally these sessions are building in time, as the students grow in confidence and independence within the Prep classroom context.  Weather permitting – we will conclude each session with a sneaky play at the end so parents are able to leave as their commitments allow.

Thank you to the many who have already completed their Enrolment interview for Prep 2026 – this assists us to effectively form classes prior to the end of the year.  If you have not already completed this process please contact the office as soon as possible on  - admin@burnsidess.eq.edu.au  or 07/ 54410888.

BASES news

Welcome back to term 4!

Everybody is travelling on TRACK and we’re so excited to see what the rest of term 4 brings after a really positive start. We just wanted to mention a few key items to help make term 4 the best it can be.

Sun Safety

As we return to Burnside for Term 4 we remind all families to assist students to bring a hat each day. Hats are essential for outdoor play and learning investigations. Hats should be navy and broad brimmed. This is a requirement for all students in all schools under the Sun Safe Policy. 

As the weather heats up, and it looks to be a hot one, we also ask for support to ensure that students have adequate hydration. Each classroom has their own classroom management system for water bottles and we encourage students to have one handy. We have many bubblers around the school to refill as required. 

Uniforms

Students have been reminded in week 1 Yarning Circle about wearing the correct school uniform. All shorts/skorts should be navy and of a modest length. Whilst long pants and jumpers are permitted in the cooler months of Term 2&3, they are not part of the endorsed school uniform for Term 1 & 4 due to workplace health and safety requirements. Students who wear winter apparel may be required to play in indoor areas to ensure they do not overheat. 

Our P&C endorsed uniform policy also clearly states that jewellery or other accessories should be in keeping with the school tone and that hair should be of a natural appearance. Hair ribbons, bands and ties are welcome, when in the Burnside colours. 

We are all incredibly proud of our school and love to see when all students are embracing a sense of belonging. Burnside celebrated a positive and successful term 3 with the Burnside Bonanza and we hope to see our students again enjoying the end of Term 4 with our Colour Run. If you have not yet logged on and created a profile there is still time. 

Celebrating Attendance at Burnside – Every Day Counts

Throughout Term 4, we will continue to recognise and celebrate students who achieve 100% attendance each fortnight during our school Parades. These students will be entered into a draw to win tuckshop vouchers — a popular and well-loved reward!

At Burnside, we place great value on consistent attendance, especially during Term 4 when students across all year levels are engaged in their Narrative units for English. Many classes are also undertaking book and novel studies, which build sequentially each day. Regular attendance ensures students stay on track and are well-prepared for their assessment tasks.

We understand that illness and family commitments may occasionally prevent attendance, and we sincerely appreciate families keeping us informed via School Stream or by contacting our school office directly.

Thank you for your continued support — together, we’re helping every student make the most of every learning opportunity.

Before School Supervision

Our wonderful school staff are available for supervision from 8:15am each morning. Students who attend before this time should be enrolled at Before School Care at our OSHC. We have recently had an increase in the number of students who are arriving before 8am. Please help us to ensure that all students are in the care of an adult until 8:15am. 

If you have any worries or concerns about how your child is tracking, my door is always open for a chat.

News from Head of Curriculum

Burnside Brilliance

As we begin Term Four, we encourage our students to take time to reflect on their learning journey so far and set new goals for the term ahead. We are pleased to share that our Burnside Brilliance Academic Excellence Awards will be proudly announced and celebrated in week 10. These awards recognise students who have demonstrated outstanding academic achievement and commitment to their learning.

For your reference, the criteria for the Burnside Brilliance Academic Excellence Awards are attached below.

We look forward to seeing our students continue to aim high, embrace every opportunity, and finish the year with a strong sense of pride and accomplishment. Let’s make Term Four a brilliant conclusion to a wonderful year of learning at Burnside.

Sports News

Maddi trialled at the State Championships in Townsville for shot put this week. She threw a 7.73m finishing 13^th in the State! Well done Maddi P.

What’s On At Burnside – Term 3

Chappy Chat

Hey Brilliant Burnsiders,

Trust everyone had a great school break and you got to get out and about… we had some brilliant weather.

I was very privileged to have 7 of our Year 5-6 students join me on the S.U. King of the Mountain Camp in the first week of the holidays. I have been involved in this camp for the last 16 years and is always a highlight of the year and it was great to have some of our own boys join in this year. It’s a great week of tech-free fun.

As you are all aware, we are in the middle of our biggest fundraiser of the year – the School Colour Fun Run. There is still time to get involved with one full week before the prize window opens – so 2 weeks to get all donations finalized. We currently have under a third of the school registered. So far we have raised just over $6000 which is only a third of our goal of $18,000. We have some great prizes still to give away as well as a teacher soaking this week. So, let’s give it a big push in these next 2 weeks to see if we can get as close as possible to our target goal.

I have also recently started in a role at Hope Community Church as their Kids & Youth Co-Ordinator and would love to invite anyone who would like to come along to a Friday afternoon Kid’s Club for all Primary ages and for term 4 Year 6 students can join the Youth Group as a trial before High School.

I love being involved in all aspects of the community, whether its as Chappy in the schools or as part of the young people’s ministry of my local church!

Love & Peace
Chappy Paul

P&C News

How quickly is this year going? We hope you had a nice and relaxing 2-week break and are ready for a busy end of year.

Important Announcement

Sadly, due to unforeseen circumstances we have had to postpone our Movie Night. We are working on a new date for this term. We will confirm the new date as soon as it is locked in.

Thank you to those families that have purchased tickets, we appreciate your support.

Bookclub

Issue 7 of Bookclub is now available. Catalogues were sent home this week & orders close 9am Friday 24th October

Uniform News

We still have a few 2025 Senior Shirts with names on the back.  If you'd like another one as a memento, we are selling these for $10 each. Purchase through the tuckshop only.

Tuckshop and Uniform Shop News

Tuckshop News

Online and over-counter orders now close at 8:35am.

This decision was made due to lack of volunteer support and will assist our convenor to make and pack all lunches for a 10:45am eat time.

Tuckshop will be closed week 10 so we can complete a deep clean and stocktake.

OSHC

This Term at Helping hands, we are starting up 2 different clubs, one for our morning group and one for our afternoon group. The morning club is going to be an Art Club run by our lovely morning staff this will be where children will learn different art skills with different art mediums this will be run Tuesdays and Fridays from 7:30am - 8:30am. The art the children do will all get displayed in the room and we will be having an art show at the end of the term for parents to come through and have a look at what they have been up to for the term. 

Sports club is our afternoon club this will be run by our lovely staff where the children will get to learn different sports skills and will work towards playing different sports games. This will be run on Mondays and Fridays from 3:30pm - 4:30pm. 

If you have any questions, feel free to stop by or call us. 

Stacy Jacobs 
Coordinator 
Phone- 0474 462 948 
Email - Burnsideqld@helpinghandsnetwork.com.au 

Helping Hands Opening hours 
Rise then Shine - 6:30am- 8:45am 
Stay and Play - 3pm - 6pm 
Holiday HQ - 6:30am - 6pm 

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