From the Office

Swimming Payments

Thank you to all who have paid for swimming.  If you have not already paid, payments can be made by bank transfer or cash to the office.

Cost: $60 or $20 if student has a Chewton Pool pass.

School Photo Day

Our school photo day is next Friday, the 10th of March. Please remember to return photo envelopes with online order number or cash enclosed to the office before or on the day.

Family photo envelopes and spare envelopes can be collected from the office.

Absences

Please remember to promptly record student absence reasons. This can be done through Sentral. Please see Kitty in the office if assistance is required.  

Alternatively, if you can no access Sentral on the day please phone in or email your child's teacher and cc Bernadette/Kitty.

Camps, Sports & Excursions Fund (CSEF)

CSEF is provided by the Victorian Government to assist eligible families to cover the costs of school trips, camps and sporting activities.

If you hold a valid means-tested concession card or are a temporary foster parent, you may be eligible for CSEF. A special consideration category also exists for asylum seeker and refugee families. The allowance is paid to the school to use towards expenses relating to camps, excursions or sporting activities for the benefit of your child.

 .The annual CSEF amount per student is:

• $125 for primary school students

• $225 for secondary school students

• New applicants should contact the school office to   obtain a CSEF application form or download from the website below.

• If you applied for CSEF at your child's school last year, you do not need to complete an application form this year unless there has been a change in your family circumstances. 

• You only need to complete an application form if any of the following changes have occurred:

• new student enrolments; your child has started or changed schools this year.

• changed family circumstances; such as a change of custody, change of name, concession card number, or new siblings commencing this year.

Check with the school office if you are unsure.

Sushi Fridays

Sushi on Fridays

We are continuing Sushi once a month Fridays again this year. Dates are in the calendar above.

Here is a reminder of the steps you need to do to order Sushi.

1. Go to www.schoollunchonline.com.au to register your family

2. Choose ‘My orders’ and select ‘Create order‘

3. Select the date of the Friday you wish to order for

4. Add items to order by clicking on the ‘tick’

5. Select ‘add to bag’

6. Review order and check it is all correct, then click ‘next’

7. Choose how you want to pay and then select ‘submit’

   *Update your billing details under the tab ‘my account’

*Pay as you go or top up your account regularly

*No minimum order or long term commitment

*Order ahead up to any time within the current term

Orders need to be made by 5pm on Thursday to ensure order is placed for Sushi at lunchtime on Friday.

Annual privacy reminder for our school community

Our school collects, uses, discloses and stores student and parent personal information for standard school functions or where permitted by law, as stated in the Schools’ Privacy Policy.

Please take time to read our school’s collection notice, found on our website here. We ask parents to also review the guidance we provide on how we use Google Workspace for Education safely at the school and what parents can do to further protect their child’s information. If after reviewing the guidance, you have any questions or concerns regarding your child using Google Workspace for Education, please contact the school. For more information about privacy, refer to: Schools’ Privacy Policy — information for parents. 

Sustainability with Serena

Serena is going to make cloches for planting winter vegetables and would like clean 2L plastic milk containers. Can you please collect and send in for next Thursday's session?

Friends Of the Box-Ironbark Forests and Art class

Students in Grades 5/6 were recently invited to participate in a 25th Anniversary exhibition created by members of Friends of the Box-Ironbark Forests.  

Students were asked to create drawings in the bush behind the school, using ochres, charcoal and watercolour paints. 

All students in grade 5/6 will have their work on display in the Exhibition which runs until Monday the 13th March at the Newstead Arts Hub. 

Please try and visit the exhibition to see our lovely school represented in the wider Arts community.

For more information on the exhibition and on FOBIF see here:

https://newsteadartshub.org/portfolio/responding-to-country-friends-of-the-box-ironbark-forests-1998-2023/

School Uniform Trial

School Council have decided to have a trial in Term 1.

First 4 weeks of school: Full school uniform

Week 5 and 6: School top/jumper and choice of pants/shorts (February 27th -Thursday 9th March) Students can wear optional pants/shorts this week and next week but must wear school tops and hat.

Friday 10th March Full school uniform for our school photos

Week 7 and 8: Optional- choice of wearing uniform or casual clothes (clothing must be appropriate for school) (13th March-24th March)

Week 9 and 10: Survey of school community- students, parents and staff to find out views on uniforms. Final date for survey response

School Council to review staff feedback and initial parent survey response at our 30 March meeting.

Jobs that need doing... 

Working Bee 9:30am-11:30am Sunday 19th March 

Lots of gardening to be done

Can't make a working bee? Have a spare hour or two that you can offer the school? 

Can you take a load of green waste to the tip?

We have a google doc that shows jobs that are needed. Please put your name to one and mark when complete. Many hands make light work. 

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1XaBY5PpytuXhLlmffMAMG752ysMIo-QsEzgzS9pJCcE/edit?usp=sharing 

School council elections – information for parents

This year we have 4 vacancies for School Council: 2 for returning councillors and 2 new vacancies. Please consider nominating for council. We also have a vacancy for a community member to join our council. If you know of someone with a connection to the school and local community who would have skills to offer our council, please encourage them to contact the school. Nomination forms will be available from the office on Monday 6th March. Our AGM will be held on 30 May at 6pm, followed by the March School council meeting.

What is a school council and what does it do?

All government schools in Victoria have a school council. They are legally constituted bodies that are given powers to set the broad direction of a school, in accordance with Ministerial Order 1280 Constitution of Government School Councils, and the Education and Training Reform Act 2006. In doing this, a school council may directly influence the quality of education for students.

Who is on the school council?

For most primary school councils, there are several possible categories of membership:

A mandated elected parent member category – more than one-third of the total members must be from this category. Department employees can be parent members at their child’s school providing that they are not engaged in work at the school.

A mandated elected school employee member category – members of this category make up no more than one-third of membership. The principal of the school is automatically one of these members.

An optional community member category – members are co-opted by a decision of the council because of their special skills, interests or experience. Department employees are not eligible to be community members.

A small number of school councils have nominee members.

For all schools with a Year 7 and above cohort, there is an additional category of membership:

A mandated elected student member category, two positions.

Generally, the term of office for all members is two years. The term of office of half the members expires each year, creating vacancies for the annual school council elections.

Why is parent membership so important?

Parents on school councils provide important viewpoints and have valuable skills and a range of experiences and knowledge that can help inform and shape the direction of the school.

Those parents who become active on a school council find their involvement satisfying and may also find that their children feel a greater sense of belonging.

Do I need special experience to be on school council?

Each member brings their own valuable skills and knowledge to the role, however, in order to successfully perform their duties, councillors may need to gain some new skills and knowledge.

It is important to have an interest in your child’s school and the desire to work in partnership with others to help shape the school’s future.

Code of conduct for school councillors

School councils in Victoria are public entities as defined by the Public Administration Act 2004.

School councillors must comply with the Code of Conduct for Directors of Victorian Public Entities issued by the Victorian Public Sector Commission. The Code of Conduct is based on the Victorian public sector values and requires councillors to:

act with honesty and integrity – be truthful, open and clear about their motives and declare any real, potential or perceived conflict of interest and duty

act in good faith in the best interests of the school – work cooperatively with other councillors and the school community, be reasonable, and make all decisions with the best interests of students foremost in their minds

act fairly and impartially – consider all relevant facts of an issue before making a decision, seek to have a balanced view, never give special treatment to a person or group and never act from self-interest

use information appropriately – respect confidentiality and use information for the purpose for which it was made available

exercise due care, diligence and skill – accept responsibility for decisions and do what is best for the school

use the position appropriately – not use the position as a councillor to gain an advantage

act in a financially responsible manner – observe all the above principles when making financial decisions

comply with relevant legislation and policies – know what legislation and policies are relevant for which decisions and obey the law

demonstrate leadership and stewardship – set a good example, encourage a culture of accountability, manage risks effectively, exercise care and responsibility to keep the school strong and sustainable.

Indemnity for school council members

School councillors are indemnified against any liability in respect of any loss or damage suffered by the council or any other person in respect of anything necessarily or reasonably done, or omitted to be done by the councillor in good faith in:

a. the exercise of a power or the performance of a function of a councillor, or

the reasonable belief that the act or omission was in the exercise of a power or the performance of a function of a council.

In other words, school councillors are not legally liable for any loss or damage suffered by council or others as a result of reasonable actions taken in good faith.

How can you become involved?

By participating in, and voting in the school council elections, which are held in Term 1 each year. However, ballots are only held if more people nominate as candidates than there are positions vacant.

In view of this, you might consider:

standing for election as a member of the school council

encouraging another person to stand for election.

What do you need to do to stand for election?

The principal will issue a Notice of Election and Call for nominations in Term 1 of each year. Council elections must be completed by 31 March, unless varied by the Minister for Education.

If you stand for election, you can arrange for someone to nominate you as a candidate or, you can nominate yourself in the parent member category. You can only be nominated by another member of the same electorate that you are eligible for (e.g. a member of the parent electorate may only nominate another parent of that electorate)

Department employees with a child enrolled at a school where they are not engaged in work, are eligible to nominate for parent membership at that school.

Return your completed nomination form to the principal within the time stated on the Notice of Election. You will receive a Nomination Form Receipt via post, email or by hand delivery.

Generally, if there are more nominations than vacancies a ballot will be conducted in the two weeks after the call for nominations has closed.

Remember

Consider standing for election to school council.

Ask the principal for instructions if you are not sure what to do.

Be sure to vote if the election goes to ballot.

Contact the principal if you are unsure about what is required at any stage of the election process.

Community Notices

Dja Dja Wurrung websites

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

DJAARA - Home | Facebook 

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

Chewton pool news

Dear Chewton Swim families and supporters,

Chewton Swim Family Day

On Sunday 5 March we will be holding our Chewton Swim Family Day at the pool from 3.30pm!

We would love to see you all there, to celebrate the achievements of our swimmers across all of our 2023 programs - including the presentation of Swim and Survive Level Attainment and Participation Certificates.

It's a super casual affair... there will be a BBQ and kiosk goods (for purchase), as well as some music and fun activities.

Bring your swimwear all!!

FREE ENTRY for all Chewton Swim participants.

Pop it in your diaries and we look forward to seeing you there!