Emergency Management

This week we did a Shelter in Place Drill and Steve Walmsley and Rob Blamey from Chewton CFA cam to observe. Children were all calm and the drill was successful. I discussed that in the event of an emergency we may evacuate to Castlemaine Primary if safe to do so, or Shelter in Place at school. Can you please check in with your child and discuss your home Bushfire Safety plan. It is a great idea to get the Vic Emergency app and set notifications to 10-15km from your home so you get early alerts.

There are two information sessions at the CFA shed next Tuesday. At 5:30 there is a presentation on evacuation mapping that has been undertaken and the message to leave early is very clear. Following this at 7:30 there is a general information session on Fire Safety essentials.

Star Gazing night/ School sleep over under the stars: due to our ongoing wet weather we won't be able to have a sleep over under the stars. If the weather is ok on the night we may be able to have a late night stay and do some star gazing.

Parent Payments

Have you finalised your parent payments for 2022?

These payments ensure that the school can offer the best possible education and support for our students and makes a huge difference to our school and the programs we can offer.

Please contact Kitty in the office if you have any questions.

Outstanding Excursion Permissions and Payments

A reminder to return any permission notes and payments for past and upcoming excursions and incursions.

This includes the following excursions:

• P-2 Kickball - $5

• Y3-6 Cricket & Netball Carnival - $5

• Whole school Life Education Incursion - $16

Please follow up with Kitty if you are unsure if you have paid.

Carpark and access to the school

The builders have set up their fencing in the western carpark. This is no longer available for families to use.

If you want to kiss and drop your child, you can use the bus zone after 8:30am. You must not exit your vehicle.

If you want to pick your child up without exiting your car, you can use the bus zone until 3:45. You must not exit your vehicle.

A teacher will be on hand to assist from 8:45-9am and 3:30-3:40pm at the front gate to facilitate safe movement.

Please only use the eastern carpark if you intend to exit your vehicle and enter the school grounds. There is still temporary fencing in place and space is limited.

Bikes: students enter via the emergency gate on the eastern end and walk their bike around to the bike shed.

Entrance to the Prep-1-2 room and the 5-6 room is via the front stairs and ramp.

Prep 2023 Transition Dates

29th November 9-11:30am

6th December 9-11:30am

13th December 9-2:30pm

Welcome to our 2023 Preps

We were so excited to meet Oscar, Solomon and Lila this week. A few more prospective families are touring in the next few days. Make sure you are welcoming new neighbours and telling them to come and have a look. Welcome also to our new Prep-1-2 teacher Sue Pearson. Sue is taking all the transition sessions and will commence in 2023.

Have you looked at our beautiful new classrooms? They are an amazing blend of old and new. Pop in!

In the Year 5/6 Room

Personification- BLACK HOLE

I am a matter filled void, a vast, inky shadow, my immense form of a desolate vacuum inhales celestial objects to their end. Others call me narcissistic, a bully even, maybe I am those things. I know I’m bleak, possibly malevolent, my sweeping catastrophic pull is fatal. So watch out!

By Otis

School Uniform

I believe that school uniforms restrict kids' personality and independence. If kids can wear the clothes that they feel most comfortable in, then they can work without feeling uncomfortable.

On the other hand, school uniforms may be helpful on school camp or excursions so teachers/parents can identify the school simply by looking for the school uniforms color. Maybe there could be optional dress but you have to wear the school hat.

In conclusion I believe that we should have an optional uniform but a required school hat of some sort.

By Frankie N

The Horror of the Uniform

You're late for school, you scramble to your closet, there's no uniform, it's in the wash. You realize you need to buy another set of uniforms, but why spend money on something you don't like. It's already 8:30am!!!! I put on my favorite clothes instead. Personally I think uniforms are a waste of money, I also think it makes everyone the same and not unique.

Firstly everyone at school needs to spend money on clothes that they don't like or get to choose, if we get to dress free clothes it will be a cheaper cost. We choose clothes that we wear to places like a city or town so why not wear the same clothes to school as well as places we go.

Furthermore everyone has their own style or fashion in clothing but when we go to school it makes everyone the same and no one has a unique way of dressing.

In conclusion I think uniform takes away unique styles …and is a waste of money!

By Cody

The Great Debate

It's morning, and the sun is peeking over your window sill, you roll over and check the time, it's 8 o'clock, and you are late, you spring up out of bed, and you are searching and searching for your school uniform but there isn’t any to be found…if only I could just put on my favourite hoody and shorts!

Hello, my name is Arkie. I am an eleven-year-old girl at Chewton Primary School. I have been at Chewton for six years and I have loved every moment of it, but, there has always been one downside to going to school, the uniforms.

Personally, I think that we should not wear school uniforms because it restricts us from expressing our creativity and individuality. We are young, creative and unique individuals who need to be able to express this daily.

However, school uniforms do encourage structure in the classroom, if we were to stay in school uniform I think that we should at least update the uniforms to match our present society, for example, we could invest in school rain jackets, or even a school jumpsuit- something to keep Chewton up with the latest new fashions. I know many of us would love to have a say in some new designs!

Thirteen years we have had uniforms and I think it is time to have a change in spirit, style, and direction. We have an opportunity to embrace a new chapter for our school community, united in our desire to be free from uniform!

Should We Have School Uniforms?

Have you ever gotten ready for school and wished that you could just wear anything that wasn't your school uniform, to just be able to wear what you want? That, just for one sweet day to be allowed to look how you want to and express yourself? Of course you have,and it's not just you either. Millions of children and teenagers go to school every day, forced into clothes they don't want to wear that could easily be fazed out. This needs to change, and here's why.

First off, the main reason uniforms are mandatory is to make students easy to recognize, for instance, if a student got split up from everyone else on a excursion in a city, when everyone realizes they are missing they can find the student in a crowd and get them back with the group ,a better way to solve this would be to wear something smaller, such as a badge or a hat with the school colors and logo. This way they will still stick out in a crowd but they are mostly wearing what they want.

My second point is cost. When you come back from school you will probably want to change clothes. This means that you are going through lots of clothes very quickly which means spending more money on clothes washing powder and on the clothes themselves as you wear holes in all the clothes you wear. Once again, just a hat or a badge would be better than full uniform, as two or three hats costs far less than multiple shirts, pants, shorts,ect. And less washing and powder is also much more eco friendly.

As you can see I think minimizing uniforms is beneficial for parents and students, and hopefully you do too?

By Tycho

From the parents:

Students overwhelmingly say they would like school uniform to be optional. Parents are split, with even numbers expressing a desire to have full school uniforms or just the top half, with slightly less preferring optional or no uniform. It would be great to hear from some parents: would you be happy to write about why we should or should not have uniforms? Would you be willing to be part of a debate at school?

Community Notices

REMEMBER THE DIGGERS’ 1851 MONSTER MEETING

CELEBRATE THE 20 BIRTHDAY OF THE CASTLEMAINE DIGGINGS NATIONAL HERITAGE PARK.

SUNDAY 11 DECEMBER @ CHEWTON

MONSTER MEETING SITE GOLDEN PT RD

1.30 JUNIOR RANGERS PROGRAM

3.00 TRADITIONAL WELCOME & MUSIC & WORDS FROM THE DRAY

Again we will are gather at the Monster Meeting site in the Castlemaine Diggings National Heritage Park to remember the Diggers who began a democratic protest movement that spread across the goldfields and kick-started the development of parliamentary democracy in Victoria . Their Meeting is a part of the Park’s unique history.

The Park, on DjaDja Wurrung land, is the largest historic mining landscape in Australia, and 20 years ago, in December 2003, it was listed in the Victorian Heritage Register . It uniquely still shows authentic traces of the tens of thousands who came to find gold at Forest Creek, the richest shallow alluvial goldfield ever discovered, and changed the land of the Djaara people who lived there for thousands of years and left the gold unwanted in the ground.

At 1.30 we will there will be some gold panning organised by Parks Victoria for Junior Rangers – pans will be provided.

At 3 pm there will be a traditional Welcome and then we will celebrate the Diggers’ Meeting with music from the Brasselmania Brass Band, including some of the music that the Saxe Horn Band played to the Diggers in 1851. And speakers will tell the Diggers’ story from the dray, including with the words from 1851.

Remember. Bring a hat ,water & a chair if you don’t want to sit on the grass.

Organised by Chewton Domain Society & Parks Victoria.

Dja Dja Wurrung websites

Dja Dja Wurrung Clans Aboriginal Corporation https://djadjawurrung.com.au/

Nalderun Education Aboriginal Corporation https://nalderun.net.au/