What an amazing start we have had to the year at Chatham! As mentioned in my previous Compass communication, I hope you all enjoyed a wonderful break over the summer holidays and I extend a very special Chatham welcome to all our new families who are commencing their Foundation year or have joined our community at other levels across the school for 2026.

I am absolutely thrilled to be undertaking the role of Acting Principal as I am truly passionate about leading our wonderful school into the future. It has been just brilliant to observe how enthusiastic our students are to reconnect with both their peers and teachers after the long break, with all classrooms filled with energy and excitement, and a real readiness to learn.

A Fantastic Start for our Foundation Students

It has been marvellous to observe how engaged and settled our Foundation cohort of students have been over the last two weeks. It was also wonderful to get to know our new families at our annual ‘Tears and Cheers’ event for Foundation parents and carers. Thank you to Kate and Daylan James for hosting this great event and to our brilliant Parents’ Club for all their organisation towards this experience. It was also lovely to see so many families attend our annual Foundation Picnic on Wednesday afternoon and I thank Ms Kirstie Briggs for all her organisation towards this event, along with Ms Leda Semercioglu and our Specialist Team of teachers who also assisted on the day.

Kitchen Garden

Our wonderful Kitchen Garden Specialist Ms Leda Semercioglu, has undertaken an absolute power of work in our garden beds over the summer break. I could not believe the prolific growth that had occurred during this time, particularly in our corn field and pumpkin patch! As our new Foundation students pointed out to me in the yard – “There are pumpkins hiding everywhere!” Students also noted that they cannot wait for the pumpkin soup and other pumpkin-related delights to follow. Please stop by this vibrant patch located on the northern side of our Junior Building, to bask in the gorgeous sight of humongous, lush pumpkin leaves and meticulously constructed scarecrows diligently watching over proceedings in this space. We thank Leda for her unwavering dedication to this space and look forward to our students engaging in both gardening and cooking sessions in the weeks ahead.

We also thank the families who volunteered to care for our famous Chatham chickens over the break – Eric Chin and Leanor Le, David Xiao, Felicity Holmes, Lauren Oetemo, Kelly Hauser, Jessica Parker and their families all kindly gave up their time to report for ‘chicken duty’ over the holidays and the chickens and I say a heartfelt ‘thank you’ for sustaining their existence over this time. As you may be aware, our chickens really are regarded as school pets to our students, so it is brilliant to have families able to assist in this regard.

House Swimming Carnival – Tuesday 10th February

Did someone say, “Take your marks…?” Yes, it’s that time of year again! Time for our Year 4-6 students to get out their goggles and swimming caps, and channel their friendly sense of competition for our annual House Swimming Carnival! Next Tuesday 10th February our students will take a 'deep dive' into all things team spirit, camaraderie and aerobic fitness at the Bialik College Pool. All students are encouraged to participate and Mr Walter Boulton has done an amazing job of pulling this event together so early in the year to ensure not only a fun experience for students, but also to ensure selected students are ready to participate in the subsequent District level of competition scheduled for Tuesday 17th February.

Mr Boulton would really appreciate any parent/carers who are able to help with proceedings on Tuesday 10th February. Please email Mr Boulton at: walter.boulton@education.vic.gov.au if you are able to assist.

Arrival and Dismissal Times and Supervision

Just a reminder that students are supervised in the yard from 8:45am – 9:00am before school and 3:30pm – 3:45pm after school. Please ensure students are supervised by parents/carers outside of these times. When the 8:50am music plays, students enter classrooms to set-up for the day’s learning before the 9:00am bell. Parents/carers are very welcome to visit classrooms during this time each morning. All class teachers will accompany students out to the yard at 3:30pm each day and will be available to chat from 3:30pm to 3:45pm at the class dismissal area. If you would like to arrange a meeting time with your teacher, please send an email to your class teacher or phone the School Office who will arrange for your class teacher to return your call as soon as possible. Teacher emails will be available on the bottom of our Year Level Newsletters, which will be distributed later this afternoon.

Hats and Sunscreen

Please ensure your child has a Sun Smart hat at school, as students are all required to wear a hat outside during recess and lunch play times, as well as during outdoor class activities. Students are also encouraged to bring their own named sunscreen to school if you would like your child to reapply during the day. This is entirely optional and has been put in place as a Sun Smart initiative, as communal sunscreen is not offered due to allergies and family preferences of sunscreen type. In accordance, please remind students not to share their sunscreen with others if they bring it to school.

Parent-Teacher Discussions

I am pleased to advise that the Parent-Teacher Discussion booking platform is now open to parents/carers as of 10:00am this morning. These discussions will run for 10 minutes and further information can be found via the Compass communication sent out yesterday. Of particular significance is the option to book a time and then email your classroom teacher if you prefer for your meeting time to be conducted online via Webex, rather than in person. Offering this hybrid model of engagement is in response to feedback garnered through a recent survey of parents/carers last year. If no email is received by teachers requesting an online meeting, the meeting will be assumed to run in person.

We strongly encourage all families to book a Parent-Teacher Discussion time, as the purpose of these meetings is to share information important to your child’s progress and wellbeing for the coming year.

Parent-Teacher Discussions will be running on the following dates/times for students in Years 1-6 commencing next week:

Tuesday 10th February 2026	3:40pm – 5:30pm
Wednesday 11th February 2026	3:40pm – 4:30pm
Tuesday 17th February 2026	3:40pm – 4:30pm
Wednesday 18th February 2026	3:40pm – 4:30pm

Please note that parents/carers of our Foundation students will have Parent-Teacher Discussions as part of their allocated testing time over the month of February, and parents/carers of students in 5/6H have a slightly adjusted timetable which has been communicated to 5/6H families via Compass.

Parent Information Afternoons

Information afternoons are fast approaching and will be conducted on the following dates/times:

Foundation	Tuesday 24th February 2026	3:45pm – 4:30pm
Year 1/2	Tuesday 24th February 2026	3:45pm – 4:30pm
Year 3/4	Wednesday 25th February 2026	3:45pm – 4:30pm
Year 5/6	Thursday 26th February 2026	3:45pm – 4:30pm

The purpose of these sessions is to inform parents/carers about the classroom program at each year level and to clarify matters regarding arrangements for 2026. Again, we very much encourage parents/carers to attend if they are able to.

Term 1 Year Level and Specialist Newsletters

Please be advised that our Term 1 Year Level Newsletters will be distributed to families via Compass this afternoon. These informative newsletters outline information pertaining to the level or specialists’ specific operations and programs. Teacher emails can also be found at the bottom of these documents.

We look forward to brilliant times ahead at Chatham!

Georgina Kirwan

Acting Principal

Parents' Club