Principal's Report

At the time of writing, we continue to implement a number of planned curriculum programs across the school and plan for the remainder of 2022. It is also a time that whilst we are doing this, we are also considering our needs for 2023.

There is an enormous amount occurring in our school as we involve ourselves with Preparatory and Year 6 transition the role and function of Parliament at Year 6 the considerable leadership opportunities for students and a range of other extracurricular experiences or enrichment activities. Additionally, our Instructional Music Provision continues to develop and at the time of writing, we do look forward to these students being involved in planned concerts during late November and /or December.

It is an extremely engaging period and we have continued to enjoy the usual events and happenings at this time. It was wonderful to see the large number of parents who attended our Year 6 Racers event and the considerable STEAM immersion that occurred on Friday 14th October. These students used the energy source provided to produce a vehicle to race. This was done with great thought to the engineering, design, materials and the mathematics involved. Similarly, our Year 2 students enjoyed their Science and Toys incursion last Friday and used the experience to learn all about design, purpose, engineering, construction, centrifugal force, levers and amongst other matters, pulleys, to create a toy. Again, the insights here are designed to inspire students with their own design and creations in the weeks ahead.

Additionally, we have a STEAM Fair planned for later in November and similarly a ‘Chatham’s Got Talent’ event in late November. Our students are preparing for this eventuality and are supported and guided by our staff at this time.

Australian Teachers’ Day – Friday 28th October

At the time of writing, we are looking forward to celebrating Australian Teachers' Day with our staff. This is a fabulous time to reflect and recognise the contribution made by teachers to the education, wellbeing and life and times of students in their care, but also in terms of their contributions to community. We will celebrate with a special morning tea and other events over the course of the day.

Media Representations – Channel Nine

Recently I was pleased to be visited by the Channel Nine News who sought my views regarding changes to the employment arrangements for teachers in Victorian schools. We are hopeful that the Minister for Education will be reviewing the impact of the most recent Victorian Government Schools Agreement 2022 so that schools and teachers are able to provide a range of extracurricular activities, including Camps, Concerts, Information Evenings and other after school happenings. I will be following up my concerns in relation to such matters with the Deputy Secretary, Mr Tony Bates – Finance and Information Services – on Friday 28th October 2022.

I am pleased to advise that we will be conducting a Year 6 Camp between 6th – 10th February 2023. More information about these arrangements will be provided to parents of Year 5 students shortly. 

COVID Matters

Whilst there has been some relaxation of the rules regarding COVID in schools, we continue to have staff that are being diagnosed with the condition. Where this occurs the Department of Education and Training recommends that they isolate for 5 days and not attend school during that period. We currently have personnel affected by COVID. Where this occurs, we do our best to obtain teaching staff to replace the teacher with those who are well known to our students, and there for the duration. However, this is not always possible and becoming less so as schools struggle to find and /or fund casual relief staff.

NAPLAN Results – Year 3 & 5

By this stage, all parents will have had some weeks to review their child’s report against the NAPLAN testing that occurred earlier this year. In some cases, my staff have contacted parents where they believe there is a need to discuss the results. On most occasions such students are already on an Individual Education Plan.

Whilst we are pleased with the broad nature of our student achievement across reading, writing, spelling, grammar and punctuation, and numeracy at Years 3 & 5, we are more focussed upon the results of individual students and how this aligns with the comprehensive assessment program we have at all levels. Interestingly, whilst we can compare our results with other years and other cohorts in our own school, no state-wide data has been available to schools. We are aware of course that the movement to online testing for all schools did create some unreliability in places, and therefore would put state-wide average means and associated data in question. 

Professional Practice Day – Monday 31st October 2022

Please be advised that this day is provided to all Victorian Teachers as part of the Victorian Government Schools Agreement 2022. The purpose of such days is for teachers to be involved in a range of tasks including Curriculum Development, Assessment, Analysis of Student Achievement data, compliance tasks and a range of other demands. There will be two of such days provided in 2023 and one in 2024.

All staff will be on site at Chatham Primary School on this day and we look forward to using the time and opportunity for a range of collaborative tasks.

Community Support and Involvement – Chatham and Bread Street

Last week we received an invitation from the Rotary Club of Mont Albert and Surrey Hills  to support them with their promotion of the Steam Train visit to Mont Albert Station last Sunday. Most of our students participated in a colouring activity to promote the experience and we were delighted when our Art Captains, Kieran Talbot and Finley Faithfull-Smith visited Mr David Winter, at his bakery: Bread Street in Mont Albert. Both Finley and Kieran were able to present Mr Winter with over 120 colouring sheets from our students. We were very overwhelmed by David’s generosity when on Monday morning we were supplied with a finger bun for every student who completed the colouring sheet. Again, I convey our appreciation for David’s extraordinary kindness of our school, but also the many other charities and organisations he supports.

Year 5 – Speaking with Confidence Program

In the coming weeks, our students in Year 5 will be preparing for their speeches for the Speaking with Confidence opportunity. On this occasion our students in Year 5 will provide a speech to parents on a topic of their choice and speak in a timed manner for three minutes. This is a long-standing tradition of our school. We look forward to the opportunities that this creates for our students. As indicated on Compass on Wednesday 26th October the arrangements are as follows:

4:30pm – 5:30pm                    Monday 28th November – Student in Years 4/5Y

4:30pm – 5:30pm                    Tuesday 29th November – Students in Years 4/5S

4:30pm – 5:30pm                    Wednesday 30th November - Students in Years 4/5M

These sessions will be conducted in the school hall.

This is a great opportunity for our students to further develop their leadership skills in preparation for the leadership roles that they will enjoy as they move to the upper section of the school.

Additionally, for this year our Year 4 students will be involved in the recital of poetry by Banjo Paterson. This will be done at School Assemblies at around this time.

Chatham Christmas Market

Many of you may be aware that Chatham Primary School continues to be a registered venue by the Victorian Electoral Commission for the purposes of voting. Our resourceful Fundraising Committee is in the process of planning a Christmas Market for Saturday 26th November 2022. This will be occurring from 8:30am to 2:30pm with a BBQ, Cake Stall, Music, Jumping Castle, Face Painting and other attractions to bring out the sense of fun and anticipation in the Chatham precinct. A flyer is attached to the newsletter and promotional boards have been kindly provided by Marshall White. We look forward to this being an all embracing and lively experience for our students, parents and community.

School Library

We are delighted that this is now open for our students to visit and enjoy.  Our students are now borrowing during their weekly class visits and are also able to visit the library at lunchtimes and enjoy the games provided.

Canteen

Again, we are delighted that we have an extraordinary Canteen facility for our students. Please be advised that we do however need volunteers to assist with its operation. It is so exciting for our students to see Mum or Dad in the Canteen and so influential in communicating that school is important and valued by their family. If you can assist this Term, please email our Canteen Manager Ms Jo Paterson at jopatto1@gmail.com

Carpets Replaced in Year 3DW and 3SN

We were pleased to be able to replace the very thread bare carpet in these classrooms on Saturday 22nd October. We are grateful for the support of Nathan McEwen, Kate James, John Walker and Caitlin Bunthong who at very short notice removed all the furniture on Friday 21st October. Apart from ensuring the safety for students and greater comfort, this was a significant improvement to these classrooms and the adjoining corridor. I am pleased to advise that this was possible because of the funds available in our Tax-Deductible Building Fund. Our parents contribute to this fund on a yearly basis and usually at the time we seek educational contributions.

Building Works and Progress

This continues to be on schedule with both the major works projects, with considerable works being undertaken at the front of the school including a ramp that meets disability standards and building codes. Additionally, the work in the Preparatory to Year 2 area is continuing and I expect that the new vinyl floors will be laid in the coming days after the joinery work is completed.

I expect that within two weeks works will commence on the new Visual Arts Centre. At this stage we are waiting for the Visual Arts Centre joinery to be completed. I expect that we will obtain another storage unit to store the relevant tables, chairs and other furniture in the coming days. This will be located along the southern wall of the Mod Five building on the grassed area. We look forward nonetheless to getting our Visual Arts area up and going, along with installing the kiln and other resources.

Again, wonderful matters are occurring in our school each and every day.

Christopher Cotching

Principal