Principal's Report

At the time of writing, we have so much occurring in our school. The calendar of events on our website continues to grow in scope and detail, and our students are enthusiastically involved in so much. The timetabling and communication that is required with this detail is considerable. Again, I strongly encourage parents to review this website on a regular basis as we endeavour to update it in a timely manner.

House Athletics – Thursday 25th July 2024

Unfortunately, last Thursday 25th July we needed to cease midway through our House Athletics Carnival at Hagenauer Reserve, Box Hill. Despite our early optimism, the weather conditions deteriorated and we needed to return to school. I thank Mr Walter Boulton, staff and volunteers for their persistence in endeavouring to make this work in cold and difficult conditions. Nonetheless the safety of our students in these conditions was of paramount concern, along with the Occupational Health & Safety of staff and volunteers.

Nevertheless, together with our Physical Education and Sport Teacher, Mr Walter Boulton, we have devised a wonderful plan moving forward. Fortunately, Mr Boulton has been able to secure additional funding in recent times for the purposes of developing our Athletic skills in students during Term 3.

Throughout the term and intensely for the next three weeks, we will be using the funding available to develop students in all track and field events. This ultimately will involve students in Years 3-6 in House competitions. The results of course for each House will accumulate over the period and ultimately the winning House will be announced.

This will put our students in a tremendous position to prepare for the District Athletics Carnival to be held on the 9th September. I am pleased to advise that there will be no further cost to parents.

Open Afternoon for Foundation Parents 

The experience of opening our classrooms and specialist areas on the 23rd July was greatly appreciated by parents seeking to enrol in our school for 2025. Whilst this was also an opportunity for some of our existing families who had younger siblings, it was also an opportunity for new parents to see our Visual Arts Centre, Performing Arts and Music area, our Japanese room and the new areas of the school. Again, I thank our Foundation teacher, Ms Kirstie Briggs and staff involved for availing themselves to create this opportunity.

Confirmation of Enrolments for 2025

I am delighted to advise that on Monday 29th July 2024, parents of Foundation 2025 students were offered a place at our school. This process is somewhat controlled by the Department of Education. This included those families both in and outside our designated zone. I have made it clear to families that given the completion of our Capital Works Program, we are in a position to take additional enrolments. I would encourage parents who have received a placement offer to log back into the Vic Student Portal to accept their placement. In this way we will be in a better position to undertake all manner of planning for our Transition Program and class structures for 2025.

For those parents who have not yet submitted an application, we strongly advise you to do so as soon as possible. Please refer to our website and link at: https://www.chathamps.vic.edu.au/s/Digital-Enrolment-ParentCarer-Quick-Reference-Guide.pdf

Foundation 100 Days of School – 31st July 2024

On Wednesday we marvelled at our Foundation students achieving their 100 days of school. What a wonderful milestone! This involved Ms Kirstie Briggs and our students dressing up as ‘old people’ resplendent of course in their necklaces, old dresses and moustaches, bushy eyebrows, vests and shawls. On Wednesday 7th August we will have a special assembly from 9:10am to share in the celebration. We are hopeful that our parents can join us in the hall for the celebration of this wonderful milestone.

Aero Schools Aerobics Competition – Thursday 1st August 2024

After months of preparations and practices before school, at lunchtimes and on weekends, our five teams competed so capably at the Aero Schools’ Aerobics Competition (Victorian Championships), held at the Community Bank Stadium, Diamond Creek. Of our five teams, two teams made the finals scheduled for 2:00pm on the day. This was extraordinary!

The contributions of all students were exceptional and we congratulate the following students for their dedication, focus, hours of practice and achievements. Remarkably, and most importantly this is only the first time our students have entered this competition and the second year they have competed in such events.

Team 1 - Chatham Chippies – Leah Redfern, Grace Barnett & Molly MacKenzie.

Team 2 - Chatham Cheezels – Ella Egan, Madeleine McEwan & Zara Foxley-Conolly.

Team 3 - Chatham Chipmunks – Grace Clayton, Zara Heath & Georgia Lomer.

Team 4 - Chatham Chihuahuas – Charlotte Gangell, Jessica Stambe and Katrina Poon.

Team 5 - Chatham Cherries – Sadie Donald, Maya Henry, Hayley Ng, Jasmine Rodriguez & Lyla Toone.

Most significantly, we also convey our appreciation of the sheer commitment, efforts and skills of Ms Georgina Kirwan who has given a great deal over many months to bring this to fruition for our students and their families. We also thank Ms Vivianne Twigg for her support of the program and acknowledge the support of our families and drivers who ensured our students arrived at school at 7:15am on the day and were transported in a safe and timely manner.

Year 5 Day of the Notables – 8th August 2024

Over the last few weeks our Year 5 students have been assiduously preparing for this opportunity. This is a magnificent opportunity for these students who are required to research a notable Australian, develop a diverse presentation, pose interesting questions for an audience and confidently project and present the information they have derived. This is very much part of the rites of passage of Year 5 students in our school and is a tradition that prepares our students for the leadership growth to follow with our program ‘Speaking with Confidence’ in Term 4 and Year 6 Leadership roles in 2025.

We invite parents to visit our School Hall between 11:30am - 1:00pm on Thursday 8th August. Again, we advise parents to enter the school from the Weybridge Street gate and proceed to the main office. We look forward to you joining with us to celebrate the efforts of our students.

Excursion to CERES – Years 5 & 6 – Tuesday 30th July 2024

This proved a highly informative and worthwhile experience for our students who advised me that they learnt much regarding the atmosphere and biosphere, the challenges regarding climate change and alternative forms of renewable energy options. This was in the context of what as a country we have been developing over the last one hundred years. We look forward to our students using this experience to further develop their concepts of these matters over the coming term. Later this will lead on to their work on electricity circuits and of course our highly enjoyed Year 5 & 6 Fantastic Racers Day.

Student Voice and Plans Ahead – STEAM Fair

Currently we have a number of Years 4 & 6 students working together to plan the Science and STEAM Fair at the end of the year with both Ms Hannah Scantleton and myself. The enthusiasm and focus of these students is infectious and we look forward to some communication later in the term.

Addition and Subtraction Mastery

We are delighted that a number of our students in Years 3 & 4 put themselves forward to achieve mastery of addition to sums in excess of a million and to the hundredth decimal value. This challenge is open to our students who achieve mastery of their twelve times tables. We will progressively acknowledge these students at our School Assemblies in the weeks and months ahead.

School Security Matters and Child Safe

Please be advised that access to the school during the school day is through the Weybridge Street entrance. All parents and visitors to the school are required to enter and leave through this access. In this way we know entirely which persons are on the premises at any time and who we should be accounting for in the case of an emergency. Throughout the day the Banool Road gates are locked. All teaching staff have a key to these locks.

Whilst we allow dogs to enter the school grounds at drop off and collection times, we respectfully request that dog droppings are collected and dealt with. In recent times we have had a number of incidents where our students have had their shoes or clothing covered in such mess, which then is a great inconvenience to all as it ends up in classrooms. 

Parent Opinion Surveys for 2024

For 2024 the Parent, Caregiver and Guardian Opinion Survey will be available to complete online from Monday 29th July to Friday 30th August. This is an annual survey provided and designed by the Department of Education. The survey seeks feedback from parents on school climate, community engagement in learning, and teaching practices for student engagement and outcomes. Consistent with Department of Education advice, approximately eighty parents have been randomly selected to participate in this valuable opportunity. Please be assured that the data collected is not identifiable to individuals. Parents who are randomly selected will have received a link in an email on Tuesday 30th July. 

The responses obtained will contribute to identifying areas for improvement and professional development needs in the school.

Library Developments

We are continuing to develop this area with a great deal of enthusiasm and interest from all involved. A number of our students have devised a survey which they are doing with students across the school and have put some very thoughtful questions into the design. Additionally, Ms Andrea McLeod, one of our Education Support Staff is assisting us in this area and has kindly produced an article for this newsletter. We look forward to reporting about further improvements in the coming weeks.

Christopher Cotching

Principal

Library News

Following the completion of the painting and recarpeting of the library, this week it has been exciting to see students back in this wonderful space attending their regular weekly library sessions!

The library is also open at lunchtimes on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday. On Wednesdays at lunchtime, it is open to those who attend Chess Club.

Each month we purchase new books and the following are some of the titles we have added to our collection this month:

The Riding Gallery by Sally Murphy

Superheroes For a Day by Dr Craig Cormick

Doubles Disaster by Ash Barty and Jasmin McGaughey

Finders Keepers by Mackenzie Arnold

Caught in the Middle by Mackenzie Arnold 

We also have some fabulous new picture story books, both fiction and non-fiction, for the students to enjoy.

Ms Kirstie Briggs reminded us at assembly on Monday morning that the Premiers’ Reading Challenge continues until the 6th September. In the Library, we have many 'Challenge' books and they are easily identifiable by their colour coded stickers on both the front and spine of each book as follows:

Prep to Year 2 - Red

Years 3 to 4 - Green

Years 5 to 6 - Purple 

Years 7 to 8 (and beyond) - Orange

Andrea McLeod 

Education Support Officer