Principal's Report

What an extraordinary event we had on Saturday with the Grand Fair at our amazing school. The energy, excitement, sunshine and camaraderie was second to none on this most memorable and uplifting day. It seemed a miracle that the rain held off until past eight o’clock and despite the buckets of rain that fell, we still were able to enjoy an auction of sorts in our new classroom area. This day was successful because it was ably led by Kristy McIlvenna, Kate Rippon and an army of willing lieutenants who were dependable, hardworking, available and selfless. There are just so many people to recognise and I am hopeful that we can have a night where we celebrate the contributions of our Fundraising Committee and the many keen participants who brought it together. We were delighted that on Tuesday 28th November the Member for Kew, Ms Jessica Wilson, also raised in the State Parliament the exceptional efforts of our parents in bringing this wonderous event to fruition. In due course we will be able to announce the funds raised from this superb event.

Class & Specialist Structures and Staffing for 2024

As I write to you, we are in the process of organising arrangements for 2024. We expect that this will involve up to ten classes in 2023 with Specialist programs in Physical Education, Music, Japanese and Visual Arts. The organisation of classes is based upon considerable consultation with staff and importantly on a range of complex factors. These include the actual numbers at each level, the curriculum provision that can most effectively, and efficiency be delivered, the social and emotional needs of students and the nuancing of peer groups in places, specific teacher skills and capacities at Year Levels and so on. Whilst it is customary to implement straight classes at Chatham this is not necessarily the most effective construct in current times. Long gone are the days where a student in Year 5 could be expected to be given a standard curriculum at Year 5. Many of our students at this level are well into some Mathematics areas at Year 8. Similarly, we have some students at Year 6 who are well into Number and Alegra at Year 9 and in some areas, Year 10. This is in no doubt due to a range of factors, not the least the insatiable drive to develop Mathematics at the highest level in our school and highly nuanced teaching of specific and particular skills at the right time and in the right learning circumstances.

Whilst we are thinking carefully about what on balance is the best structure for our students for 2024, we also have comprehensive student achievement data on every student and therein acknowledge increasingly the range of experience available and needed to meet their skills. The implementation of the new Victorian Curriculum 2.0 as released progressively by the Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority is also well within our horizons.

I am pleased to advise that I will announce our Class and Specialist structure on Friday 8th December. I am pleased to advise that I am in the process of confirming staffing arrangements. Given Department of Education protocols around advertising and appointment of positions it is still some time before I can confirm teacher names again major roles. Suffice to add, I believe we are in an extraordinary place at this time. We largely have arrangements in place at our school when there is a chronic shortage of teachers in both many primary and secondary schools. The stability we have at Chatham is not to be taken for granted, for without it, it is impossible to implement lasting change or effective school development and improvement for each and every one of our students.

Mathematics Curriculum

We are delighted with the progress we are making in this area. We have reviewed, reorganised and distributed the mathematics materials at Years Preparatory to Year 2. Again, I thank Mr Zac Barry for his leadership here and the staff and parent volunteers who brought this to fruition. On Monday night of 27th November, we immersed our teaching staff in an exploration of these materials, which included such items as cubits, unifix, pattern blocks, multilink, playing cards, Wainright kits, MAB, tiles and a plethora of other resources. The versatility of some of these materials is extraordinary with even square plastic tiles having potential use in the application of counting and numeration, the teaching of area and perimeter, the teaching of fractions, tessellations, symmetry and measurement, amongst other concepts. 

Our Mathematics Leader Mr Zac Barry together with Senior Regional Curriculum Leader, Ms Lisa Cuthbert reacquainted us all with the possibilities of these materials and how they could be applied in the development of number, seriation, place value, multiplicative thinking, decimals, fractions, data and so on. We look forward to exploring these possibilities more fully in 2024 and enabling our students to gain greater benefit from these materials. Suffice to add our teaching staff are increasingly acquainted with the six new strands of the mathematics Curriculum 2.0 as released by the Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority. We look forward also to the release of English 2.0 in the coming weeks and will be reviewing this in light of our practice in 2024. I am grateful for the rigour with which our personnel are attending to this important task.

Science Curriculum

In recent times there has been increasing interest in the media about the status of science teaching in Australian Schools and where we are placed against international comparisons. I believe that at Chatham we are well aware of science provisions of the current Victorian Curriculum however I am looking forward to receiving the new Science curriculum 2.0 in 2024 and considering how we can further enhance our practice. Whilst Science is covered across every level, I would expect greater scope to be provided from 2024. Certainly, our focus upon events such as Science Week and our STEAM Fair contribute here, as do some of our incursions, but nevertheless I would look forward to progressing matters further here in 2024 and 2025.

Year 3 & 4 Camp to Arrabri Lodge, East Warburton – Monday 20th – Wednesday 22nd November 2023

The experience of a week of three days at a School Camp followed by a Grand Fair seems almost surreal in the barometer of common sense and capacity. At the last moment we needed to make some staffing changes and we were grateful for the support and flexibility of those involved. Nevertheless, we achieved it, and our eighty-eight students had an exceptional time. This was a mammoth undertaking for our school, and I convey our appreciation of Mr Clarke and Ms Kirwan who took an active role in leading and planning the Camp together with Ms Aikman, Mr Manning, Ms Spivak, Ms Anne Geddes, and Mr Michael Ouliaris who joined us over the three-day period. Apart from the magnificent activities of the giant swing, ropes course, damper making, mini golf, archery and amongst other matters, orienteering, these students needed to organise their clothing, prepare their beds, attend to personal hygiene and develop greater independence and resilience through this wonderful time. They also used their resources to prepare for and engage in a talent show and take responsibility for their cabins and setting up of tables. I am convinced that apart from the sheer fun involved, this experience afforded students so many long term and lasting benefits.

Year 5 & 6 Camp – Lakewood Park, Forge Creek, East Gippsland

I am pleased to advise that we anticipate attending this camp from 5th - 9th February 2024. This is an extraordinary Camp and because of the smaller numbers at Year 6 in 2024 we have decided to involve the Year 5 cohort as well. This of course reduces the cost significantly and makes the experience possible. The program for the Year 5 students will be somewhat different to the highly specialized Year 6 program, but there will be common activities and elements. I hope to get a notice to you shortly about this wonderful opportunity.

Installation of New Solar Panels - BER Building

At the time of writing, we are witnessing the installation of new Solar Panels for placement on the northern side of the BER Building Roof. We are hopeful that in time these will be easier to access and able to be routinely cleaned. These panels replaced the former panels located on the northern side of the main building roof. Unfortunately, the location of these former panels made them inaccessible and impossible to maintain and clean. We look forward to these panels supplementing the cost of our electricity. We will keep you informed in due course about the contribution these make to our burgeoning energy costs.

Speaking with Confidence – Year 5

This was a marvellous experience and I convey our appreciation for the work of Ms Twigg and our Year 5 students in this typical rite of passage in the preparation for the further development of leadership skills in Year 6. The speeches provided by our students were inspiring and so too were the values of persistence and endeavour that all students grappled with as they spoke for the first time to a large adult audience. We were very proud of their efforts and the range of topics covered. It was with some chagrin that I listened to Jeremy Loong’s wonderful speech regarding ‘Pigeons.’ It was particularly poignant for some of us who have perhaps a different perspective on these creatures and the impact they have on our facilities. Moreover, the work that we do here is extraordinary as we prepare every one of our Year 5 & 6 students for a broad range of leadership skills and which clearly give them poise and confidence as they move into Years 7-12.

Christopher Cotching

Principal