Principal's Report

At the time of writing, we continue to be immersed in the developments in and around our school. Whilst the major capital works project is largely completed, we continue to be involved in the maintenance and enhancement of our roof in the main building.

Whilst there are many other matters of significant educational attention at this time, it is probably important for you to be aware of the major matters of interest before us.

At the time of writing, we are expecting the following to occur by the end of next week and /or thereafter:

• The portable toilets are to be removed. From Friday 6th October students have had access to the new toilets.
• The scaffolding at the front of the school will be removed as the works to the flashings, tiles, guttering and fascia are complete. We are delighted that through some negotiation with the Victorian Schools Building Authority we were able to get the front of our school and the façade restored and painted. This looks wonderful and the patio area will be painted next week.
• The scaffolding areas that have been placed on the basketball court will be removed so that students can access this area. I am expecting that a crane will be in place from 7:00am tomorrow so that this scaffolding can be removed from site.
• On Saturday 7th October the area that was previously covered by the former Music room will be concreted. Thereafter the temporary fencing will be removed and students will have access to this area at play times.
• By Friday 27th October we are expecting that all works on the northern side of the main building will be completed and the scaffolding removed. On Monday 16th October the existing solar panels on the northern side of the roof of the main building will be replaced. 

Let us hope that all these works continue as scheduled. Please note that whilst works are undertaken, the entry points to the school will be all locked over the weekend periods.

School Grand Fair – Saturday 25th November 2023

As we finish off all building works, our school will be in a great position to conduct the Chatham Grand Fair. We continue to meet regularly with the Grand Fair organisers and in the coming eight weeks we will have continued and timely communications about what is planned for this exceptional event. Some detailed information in this regard will be distributed on Friday 13th October 2023.

Annual Chatham 'Kindness' Colour Run – Friday 13th October

Our Assistant Principal, Ms Kirwan has been in close liaison with our organisers here from the Chatham Fundraising Committee and we are looking forward to this magnificent event. Whilst the allocation of funds raised is the province of the School Council, there is a real expectation that the funds raised will be to support the replacement of playground equipment and perhaps that a focus will be on replacing the tired equipment at the front of the school.

School Structures and Classes for 2024

Typically, at this time we immerse ourselves not only in the immediacy of the current Term ahead, but also the plans and considerations for 2024. During the last week of Term 3 schools generally receive their indicative student resource package for the coming year. On this basis, Principals consult with their staff in the formation of class structures and specialist teacher provision. The structure and staffing arrangements are then usually announced in early December. The exception to these arrangements is that we usually announce the Preparatory teacher (s) ahead of that time and by the end of the transition period.

The reasons for these arrangements are both practical and real. Teachers in the Victorian Teaching Service have the opportunity to apply for teaching positions at any time and some will use the opportunity to do so close to the end of any given calendar year. At Chatham we have been fortunate to be able to keep our valued staff, however we are aware that given the significant shortage of teachers, Assistant Principals and Principals, there are now considerable opportunities for change. Please be advised that this is not the case for the Principal and Assistant Principal of this school!

On Tuesday I advised parents of Year 4ME that Ms Sarah Medland would be commencing family leave from Wednesday 4th October. This of course is no surprise given Sarah’s circumstances and we wish her well for the birth of her first child. We are delighted to advise that Ms Hannah Spivak will assume responsibility for Year 4ME for the remainder of the school year. Ms Spivak is well known to our staff and many students, and we look forward to he role as class teacher of Year 4ME and her contribution to the life of our school. Today we were also delighted to welcome back Ms Madeline Barry in a casual relief teacher capacity who assumed responsibility for Year 4ME.

Year 3 & 4 School Camp

The arrangements for this wonderful camp are continuing and we are looking forward to our 85 students attending Arrabri Lodge in East Warburton. Our Assistant Principal, Ms Georgina Kirwan together with Mr Tim Clarke are coordinating this experience. The planning and organisation of school camps is an enormous undertaking and considerable due diligence and compliance must be observed to ensure expectations are met as required by the Department of Education and Training. We expect that by the16th October we will seek final approval for the school camp at the School Council meeting.

School Review and Child Safe Matters 

Please be advised that we are currently preparing for a School Review. This occurs in all schools and is conducted approximately every four years. Our last School Review was conducted by the Department of Education and Training in September 2019.

As part of the review process, schools are required to ensure that there is a review of Child Safety Practices on a regular basis.

There are now currently eleven Child Safety Standards, which all schools are required to demonstrate.

Previously the review of our Child Safe documents occurred in August 2022. Our focus was on three main policy and/or procedural documents.  These are the following and reflect the eleven new Child Safety Standards effective from July 2022:

• Chatham Child Safety Code of Conduct
• Child Safety and Wellbeing Policy
• Child Safety Responding and Reporting

Please note that these policies and procedures are on our web site at www.chathamps.vic.edu.au

There are a number of related policies that are also on the school website, which we continue to update on a regular basis. There are a number of these including our Visitors Policy and Volunteer Policy.

These policies and procedures need to be formally reviewed by August 2024. Nevertheless, we would be interested in any feedback you may have about these documents and/or whether you believe there are further matters to consider.

Please forward your comments to the convenor of our Education Committee of School Council, Ms Georgie Kirwan at Georgina.kirwan@education.vic.gov.au by Monday 16th October.

Divisional Athletics – 10th October 2023

We are delighted that the following students will be involved at the Divisional Athletics event at Tom Kelly Athletics Track, Doncaster, after progress from their House Athletics competition to the District Athletics competition.

Again, we look forward to progressing our wonderful school in the weeks ahead.

Christopher Cotching

Principal