Principal's Report

Access to Classrooms and Learning Spaces at Chatham 

It was wonderful to be able to allow our parents to visit classrooms before school from Tuesday 28th February. With the completion of the works in the Junior Building and the removal of all COVID restrictions, we are now able to resume a long-held Chatham tradition. Therefore, as soon as the music commences at 8:50am parents and students are welcome to enter classrooms. This is a wonderful opportunity for our parents to meet with teachers and for their children to share their work and the experiences of their classrooms. I would also encourage our parents to visit the new Visual Arts Centre which is brimming with colour, vitality and opportunity.

At this stage we have only one staircase to the upper level of the main building. This level includes classes for Years 3-6. Whilst we can access the former internal staircase in the construction zone, this will only be used in an emergency. It is my intention to enable parents to also visit these classrooms before school in due course. Again, I would like our parents to enjoy this opportunity, it is just not safe to do so with all at present at Years 3-6.

Chatham Website Calendar

Please refer to this as a priority to confirm arrangements at any time. We endeavour to place events and details on this calendar as soon as we are able and it is updated on a very regular basis.

Parent Information Sessions – Preparatory to Year 6

Over the last few weeks, I have been in consultation with my teaching staff about the opportunity to provide Parent Information Sessions for each Year Level in the school. Prior to COVID we did provide such sessions for parents. The purpose was to provide parents with an insight into the Curriculum and Assessment Program at each Year Level along with some of the important matters on the Level Year calendar. It is imperative that parents attend these sessions as they are scheduled. The following times have been set aside for parents to attend:

Preparatory                               4:00pm Monday 20th March 2023 

                                                corinne.slade@education.vic.gov.au

Year 1                                       4:00pm Monday 20th March 2023

                                                kirstie.briggs@education.vic.gov.au

Year 2                                       4:00pm Thursday 16th March 2023

                                                lorraine.mclean@education.vic.gov.au

Year 3                                       4:00pm Wednesday 15th March 2023

                                                    sam.norris@education.vic.gov.au

Year 4                                       4:00pm Wednesday 15th March 2023

                                                sarah.medland@education.vic.gov.au

Year 5                                       4:00pm Tuesday 14th March 2023

                                                hannah.scantleton@education.vic.gov.au

Year 6                                       4:00m Tuesday 14th March 2023

                                                zachary.barry@education.vic.gov.au

Please email the teachers listed above if you would like to attend these sessions.

Year Level Picnics

It was fabulous to see the relaxed experience of a picnic after school with the Preparatory and Year 2 staff, students and families in recent times. Fortunately, the weather was suitable and we were able to all enjoy a different pace and experience. Again, I convey our appreciation for the enthusiasm of our staff in bring this to fruition. I am pleased to note that we will also have an opportunity for our Year 1 students to enjoy a Year Level picnic from 3:30pm on Thursday 9th March. 

At the time of writing, our Year 3 students are attending Maranoa Gardens to explore some flora and to extend their map reading skills. Our parents of Year 3 have also been invited to join for a picnic lunch at this wonderful venue.

Preparatory Tours for 2024

Please be advised that these will be commencing from Wednesday 8th March and will be occurring on a weekly basis at this stage. This information will be placed on our website and distributed to our Kindergartens and Childcare Centres. If you would like to book for a School Tour, please email tina.casey@education.vic.gov.au

Student Achievement and Development

We have a constant focus upon our student achievement data for Literacy and Numeracy for every one of our students. The source of this data is comprehensive and informs teacher judgement on student achievement to a high level.

At Chatham, our teachers follow a detailed assessment schedule over four Terms which includes a wide range of test instruments and assessment tasks. This has been lodged with the Victorian Regulation and Qualification Authority previously and continues to be nuanced at a high level. Our assessment regime is highly scheduled over the course of the four terms. Whilst comprehensive, this includes use of assessment instruments including but not limited to, the Oxford High Frequency Word List, Phonemic Awareness, Fountas and Pinnell, Single Word Spelling Test, Essential Assessment platform in Reading and Viewing, the Online English interview, Probe, Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority online testing in all areas of Mathematics and English, and PAT testing in Mathematics and English along with a range of other applications. The rich data that is provided continues to inform our teaching and planning across the school. Both the Principal and Assistant Principal continue to review this data in ongoing collaboration with teaching staff. Additionally, we also refer to NAPLAN test results for individual students and ICAS testing data as applicable. 

Year 3 & 4 Camp - Arrabri Lodge, East Warburton

Despite the significant challenges in making this possible I am pleased to advise that we have confirmed Monday 20th – Wednesday 22nd November as the date for our Year 3 & 4 School Camp. This was also supported in principle at our School Council meeting on Monday 20th February 2023. I expect that we will continue our planning with subsequent communications to parents over the coming months.

Student Leadership – Year 6

The process of determining Student Leadership positions at Year 6 is a very involved but rewarding process for our students. By this stage, our students seeking to be School Captains and / or House Captains have presented their carefully crafted speeches and their peers have voted. At this stage the students have also nominated for the leadership positions that are allocated on a preference basis. Importantly, every student has a leadership role and a staff member who works with them. In our school the following staff have a role in the support of our students. This is very particular to Chatham, but really special in developing our student public speaking, organisational skills, sense of responsibility and organisational skills.

We will announce to all Year 6 students their Leadership role for 2023 next Friday 10th March. We expect that on 20th March we will formally present Leadership badges to these students at our School Assembly.

Parent-Teacher Discussions – Monday 20th, Tuesday 21st and Monday 27th February 2023

It was fabulous to see that many of our parents took the opportunity to join a WebEx session with their class teachers. We are aware that whilst many parents enjoy the convenience of WebEx others have expressed the view that it is preferable for them to meet the class teachers in person. Our next Parent-Teacher Discussions will be conducted in late June. Our intention will be to make arrangements for parents to meet with teachers and/or if practicable make WebEx sessions available.

Professional Practice Day – Monday 27th February 2023 - Big Ideas in Mathematics

This was an extraordinary day as we explored and reflected upon current research and practices regarding the teaching of Mathematics. We were joined by senior Department of Education and Training personnel and reviewed the work of Di Siemon, Emeritus Professor at RMIT, and drew also on the work of Professor Peter Sullivan. As a Principal I am highly conversant with current thinking in Mathematics and have actively provided professional development for teachers together with Di Siemon, Professor Peter Sullivan and numerous others in my role on the Council of the Mathematics Association of Victoria. More importantly, our focus upon such themes as Trusting the Count, Place Value, Multiplicative Thinking, Partitioning, Proportional Reasoning and Generalising Algebraic Reasoning all resonate for our approaches to teaching and learning, and the logical progressions involved for Mathematics sequencing and progression. In the coming weeks I will be providing more information about our enduring focus on this important area for your child and our school.

Parents Club Annual General Meeting – Friday 3rd March 2023

This morning we were delighted to engage and enjoy the Annual General Meeting of the Chatham Primary School Parents Club. This was the final event for Ms Belinda Dalton in her role as President of the Chatham Primary School Parents Club. We are all very appreciative of the extraordinary contribution of Belinda over many years. We look forward to confirming the office bearer positions for the Parents Club early next week.

Canteen Volunteers Needed

Our school canteen is moving from strength to strength and operating now on Wednesdays and Fridays. Today a flyer was distributed courtesy of the creative and amusing skills of Bree Knight to encourage you to volunteer. Your children delight in Mum, Dad or other family members being involved in the Canteen. Your assistance here will make an enormous difference to our school.

Thank you again,

Christopher Cotching

Principal