Acting Principal's Report

What a brilliant time we had showcasing our school throughout Education Week! Our families thoroughly enjoyed the opportunity to visit classrooms, chat with staff and engage in STEM activities during our Open Afternoon, and our Grandparents’ and Special Friends’ morning evoked the usual sense of school pride, awe and wonder that it always has done, with extended families truly relishing the opportunity to not only visit their loved ones at school, but also reflect on how much school environments have changed over the decades! This is a Chatham tradition that really does stand the test of time.

2026 State Principals’ Conference – Thursday 28th and Friday 29th August 2026

Over the last two days I have been attending the State Principals’ Conference at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre. All Principals are expected to attend this important annual event, with key note speakers including Professor Matt Bower, who addressed current innovations pertaining to AI use in schools, and Dr Simon Breakspear, who spoke of strategies to ensure the prioritisation of deeper implementation of the Victorian Teaching and Learning Model 2.0, amongst many other relevant matters. Such events are also brilliant for networking with other school leaders and ensuring Chatham is at the forefront of innovation, opportunities and best practice. I also thank Mr Zac Barry for his stewardship of our school during this time. 

Victoria’s Top Public Primary Schools Publication – Herald Sun 6th May 2026

It was wonderful to be advised that our school was ranked 66th out of some 1,224 public primary schools in the Herald Sun’s education piece entitled, ‘Victoria’s Top 100 Public Primary Schools: Where your kids will get the best state education’. This assessment of performance was based on a formula that placed emphasis on academic achievement, but also took into account student engagement, class sizes and school community demographics. As referenced in the article, the following was assessed:

• 2025 NAPLAN Year 3 results across five subjects

• 2025 NAPLAN Year 5 results across five subjects

• Student attendance levels (proportion attending school at least 90 per cent of the time)

• Student-teacher ratio (based on full-time equivalent teaching staff and enrolments)

• ICSA (Index of Community Socio-Educational Advantage) rating

   

2026 Year 5 Day of the Notables Exhibition 

I could not believe my eyes as I entered the School Hall on Tuesday morning… there, right in front of me, were notable Australians… everywhere! Some from my childhood, some from more recent times, but all eagerly awaiting to engage in a chat. Whether it be sports, pop culture, politics, medicine… you name them, they were there and I was truly starstruck!

Yes, our Year 5 students did such a remarkable job of not only dressing-up as their chosen ‘notable’ Australian, but also absolutely becoming them, in personality, demeanour and spirit. I managed to interview every notable as I circulated the hall, learning everything about these remarkable Aussies from career highlights, to fun facts, to family history. The hall was buzzing with notoriety, and it was wonderful to have so many of our Year 5 families and friends visit across the day. Of course, embodying the soul of another can be hard work and cannot go without reward… as a result, by 1:00pm our famous Australians had departed, and our Year 5 students enjoyed (and devoured) their much-anticipated pizza lunch. Thank you to Ms Sue Minshull and the Year 5/6 teaching team for organising our Day of the Notables event, and to all our brilliant parents for assisting with the wonderful displays and costuming. Amazing!

2026 Kew School Leaders’ Forum at Parliament House

It was lovely to accompany our School Captains, Harriet B and Thomas K, along with their wonderful parents last Friday, for a brilliant morning at the annual Kew Leaders’ Forum at Parliament House. Member for Kew and State Opposition Leader – Jess Wilson hosted this event where students engaged with a tour before presenting speeches about local and state issues that are important to them. Hariett spoke about gender equality as a state and broader issue and Thomas spoke about the importance of constructing more inclusive playgrounds in the local area. Both students spoke extremely confidently, engaging the skills they had learnt previously as part of our Year 5 Speaking with Confidence program and other regular public speaking opportunities they have engaged with, such as our weekly assemblies and other competitions. Student public speaking and leadership is certainly something that Chatham is recognised for in the wider community. 

Year 3/4 Bee Incursion – Tuesday 19th May 2026

This was another great experience relating to sustainability that had our students thoroughly engaged through a very hands-on approach. During the incursion, students discovered more about the life of bees, their biology and the critical role they play in creating a sustainable and productive world. Thank you to Mr Tim Clarke for organising this experience for our Year 3/4 students. 

Open Afternoon for Education Week – Wednesday 20th May 2026

On Wednesday 20th May, we opened our doors to our current families for our annual Open Afternoon in celebration of Education Week. Our students and their siblings loved moving through the school collecting stamps on their passports, and in turn trading in their passports for lollypops! Students did of course also enjoy the opportunity to show their work and classrooms to their families and our Open Afternoon is always a great opportunity to showcase our learning spaces to families, whilst also enabling parents and carers to chat with teachers while children enjoy engaging in activities. This year, activities all shared a STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) focus and I thank our staff for putting this experience together for our students and families.

Grandparents’ and Special Friends’ Day – Thursday 21st May 2026

As mentioned in my introduction, our guests relished the opportunity to join our students in their classrooms and reflect on how schools have changed over time, and the buzz and excitement that could be felt throughout the school was truly invigorating. I wish to thank Ms Danielle Roberts and Ms Jo Haddock for organising this lovely event, and all the parents and carers who volunteered to set-up, facilitate and clean up the morning tea, and who also organised the raffle, produce sale and book dedications in our Library, as well as all those families who responded to the call-out from our class parent representatives to donate a plate of food to share. I would also like to acknowledge Ms Pam Nasiakos and Ms Lucy Bray for organising the wonderful raffle prizes – I cannot tell you how much all your efforts are appreciated. 

During the morning tea, our guests also delighted in hearing our Foundation students sing Do Re Mi from The Sound of Music and our Year 5/6 students performing our Chatham Song on the marimbas an xylophones. I thank Ms Anita Buccieri for preparing our students for these lovely performances and the Foundation and Year 5/6 teachers for all their assistance with rehearsals. I also thank Ms Leda Semercioglu for organising and assembling packets of seeds and produce to sell from our Kitchen Garden.

National Walk Safely to School Day – Friday 22nd May 2026

It was wonderful to see so many students using this opportunity to ‘actively travel’ to school last Friday for this annual event. The periodic focus on road safety that these opportunities provide and promote is invaluable, and our House Captains also love being a part of the organisation of these initiatives due to their additional focus on living healthy and active lives. Thank you to Ms Lisa Gilbert for organising this community awareness activity for our students and families.

State Schools’ Spectacular Rehearsal 3 – Tuesday 26th May 2026

On Tuesday Ms Kirstie Briggs accompanied our Year 6 Mass Dance troupe to Mont Albert Primary School for their third and final area rehearsal in preparation for this ‘spectacular’ event, set to be staged at John Cain Arena on Saturday 29th August. Weekly school rehearsals and costuming preparations are well underway, with Mr Zac Barry tending to costumes and rehearsal matters in readiness for the larger-scale regional rehearsal at Maroondah Nets Sports Centre on Friday 7th August. Please see photos and an article from Mr Barry in the ‘Chatham Happenings’ section of this newsletter.

National Simultaneous Story Time Session – Thursday 28th May 2026

From 9:15am - 10:00am on Thursday morning, students across our school and the whole of Australia heard the story, 'Luna Roo: the Kangaroo Baller', written by Adam Jackson and Adrian Lloyd. It was reported that laughter could be heard echoing from classrooms during this time and the photos of our Foundation students below exhibit our students’ enjoyment of this activity. We always look forward to getting involved in this Literacy initiative each year and I thank Ms Kirstie Briggs for organising this engaging experience for our students.

NAPLAN 2026

At this stage, we have been able to access the Preliminary Reports for our 2026 NAPLAN from the Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority. Whilst these are only preliminarily results, they are very positive regarding our achievement in Numeracy, Reading, Spelling, and Grammar and Punctuation at Years 3 and 5. The results for writing are not available at this stage and the final results for students in Years 3 and 5 will arrive ahead of our mid-year Parent-Teacher Discussions, enabling teachers to share these results with our parents and carers during this time.

School Instagram Account – @chatham_primary

This account is proving to be a fabulous marketing tool for our school and I thank Ms Lucy Bray for all her work in this area. I am aware that it takes a lot of time to put together the engaging clips highlighting recent events and we are very grateful that Ms Bray has volunteered to continue this work for us this year. The account captures what we are about in terms of culture, whilst also providing insight into classroom and specialist activities. I am aware prospective families look to this platform to garner a feel for our school, in addition to the school website. If you have the opportunity, please take a look! 

School Website

We have been working to also update our school website, with new photos and updated information to again enhance the engagement experience for prospective families. With the recent attestation of our Annual Report and subsequent Department of Education quality assurance received, I am also pleased to report that both our Annual Report and current School Strategic Plan are now available for public viewing via the school website.

School Camps 2026

We are proud of our camping program at Chatham, offering four diverse outdoor education experiences for all students in Years 3, 4, 5 and 6. At Year 3 and 4, our focus is facilitating an experience that develops independence and a sense of wellbeing away from the home, whilst at Year 5 and 6, we endeavour to further build on these life skills, but also create an opportunity to learn a particular new skill in the outdoor education space, such as surfing or sailing.

Our Year 3/4 Camp is set to take place at Lyrebird Park from Wednesday 2nd – Friday 4th September, whilst I am happy to advise that our Year 5/6 Camp to Lakewood Park in East Gippsland is now tentatively booked for Tuesday 17th – Friday 20th November. On this particular camp, students will enjoy an array of outdoor activities including sailing, ‘donutting’ and stand-up paddle boarding, all from the picturesque shores of Lake Victoria. 

School Production 2026

I am pleased to advise that plans are underway for a school production to take place in November of this year, with dates and venue arrangements to be finalised in the coming weeks. Our Performing Arts teacher, Ms Anita Buccieri, will be working with a team of teachers including Mr Tim Clarke, Ms Lisa Gilbert and Ms Hannah Spivak, as well as Mr Zac Barry and myself to bring this opportunity to fruition for our students, and more information will be provided to families before the end of term. Watch this space!

We look forward to more fantastic times ahead at Chatham!

Georgina Kirwan

Acting Principal