Chatham Happenings

Our Year 6 students recently returned from a five-day camp experience at Camp Lakewood Park, and it is safe to say that everyone had an incredible time! The camp offered a wide-ranging selection of water-sport activities, including canoeing, stand-up paddleboarding and donutting. They also enjoyed a range of team-building activities, such as raft building, low ropes course and orienteering, which helped to build camaraderie and trust among the cohort.

The camp staff were absolutely fantastic, ensuring that the students were well-fed, safe and having fun at all times. Their dedication and commitment to making the camp a success was truly outstanding. We would also like to thank the staff who supported our Year 6 camp, especially our grounds manager, Peter Manning, who attended the camp for the first time and quickly became a beloved member of our group. Additionally, the behaviour of the Year 6 cohort was exceptional throughout the entire trip. They demonstrated maturity, responsibility, respect and were a credit to our school. We are incredibly proud of them, and we are sure that they will look back on this experience with fond memories for years to come.

Mr Zac Barry and Mr Rafael Fernandez

Year 6 Teachers

Prep Picnic

On Wednesday 15th February, Chatham hosted a Picnic for our new Preparatory families. Everyone had an enjoyable time getting to know each other and participating in fun activities. The students enjoyed going on a Scavenger Hunt around the Chatham Primary School grounds, as well as being challenged to an Egg and Spoon race. 

We thank all families for coming along to this wonderful event and we look forward to holding similar events at Chatham Primary School in the future.

Ms Corinne Slade and Ms Kirstie Briggs

Preparatory Teachers

Silly Scientist

Year 2 Science Incursion Term 1

The Year 2 students were involved in the Silly Scientist incursion on Tuesday 14th February.  The presenters, Michael and Nicky, were fun and entertaining. The students were so engaged and excited as they watched the many experiments and optical illusions performed. Some students were fortunate enough to be assistants and have the ‘hands-on’ experience as well. 

There were many scientific elements explained and shared through each activity. The students saw:

• a balloon and ping-pong ball floating on an airstream, to demonstrate air pressure
• the 'pencil in the bag' of water trick
• an air-pump rocket
• Michael and his electric guitar sound waves
• how a didgeridoo is created through biological sciences
• the Pepsi and Mentos chemical reaction explosion … and more

These experiments demonstrated qualities of solids, liquids and gases such as the density of water compared to oil and break-down of solids and gases releasing to push liquid out of a bottle with force. 

The incursion was an exciting introduction to our Science Inquiry unit, which we will be exploring throughout Term 1. In this unit students will participate in learning about the different states of matter and how they can be affected in many ways through mixing different combinations.

The students had lots of fun during our incursion and so far have enjoyed our focus on the Science Curriculum! 

Maybe you can try some Science experiments at home too. 😊

Ms Lorraine McLean and Ms Sophie Semerdjian 

Year 2 Teachers

Japanese

Sensei Rampant says: 

"Don’t forget to visit www.spacekoala.com to practise all the Japanese we learn in class! You can play games to learn Japanese, watch Japanese videos and undertake Japanese craft activities”.

Mr James Rampant

Japanese Teacher

Student Sustainability Leadership Summit wrap-up

At the end of last year our Year 6 Environment Leaders attended the annual Student Sustainability Leadership Summit at the Hawthorn Arts Centre.

Delivered by Earthwatch Australia, the summit gave primary school students the opportunity to develop their sustainability leadership skills and share ideas about how to live more sustainably.

One hundred students from 8 local primary schools participated in the summit. Students who attended were in Years 4, 5 and 6. 

Before the summit, students developed their own interactive, educational and fun sustainability activities. They then delivered their activities to the other students at the summit.

The topics presented included:

• the wonderful world of worms
• plastic no way!
• rewilding the world
• make an eco-brick
• nudie foodies
• cool composters

One group of students from Chatham Primary School developed an activity called 'How to layer hot compost'. Hot composting is a sustainable activity which is said to produce greater volume than cold composting. Hot compost also contains less weed seeds and is richer in substances, which help plants grow.

To create a hot compost at home, you will need:

• a small bin (to collect compostable waste in your kitchen)
• a compost bin or shaded area outside (for your compost to go)
• gloves
• a shovel or compost stirrer
• dry foliage

Once you have the materials you need, follow these steps:

1. Place dry foliage at the bottom of your compost heap/bin
2. Add shredded paper (brown waste) on top of dry foliage
3. Collect your composting food scraps (green waste)
4. Layer your compost scraps (green waste) on top of the dry foliage
5. Stir weekly to keep your compost aerated
6. Continue to alternate layers of green waste and brown waste. You’ll know when your compost is good because worms will appear.
7. Add newspaper to the top of the container and spray with water (this step is optional).

Try to keep your compost covered, so that it doesn’t attract unwanted pests.

The students’ top tips are:

• choose nutritious food scraps for your worms
• think about what you put into the compost
• educate others about layering green and brown waste to create hot compost

Thank you to all of the students who participated in this year’s summit. We look forward to next year’s event!

For more information, contact our Sustainability team by emailing boroondara@boroondara.vic.gov.au or call 9278 4444.