Chewton Primary School
Newsletter 16th March 2023
Newsletter 16th March 2023
Chewton Primary School is situated on Djaara Country.
We acknowledge the Dja Dja Wurrung people, the custodians and caretakers of the land. We thank them for the care they have taken and continue to take of Country: the rivers, mountains, trees and animals. We pay our respects to elders past, present and emerging.
We commit to Be Brave and Make Change.
16 March Lisa Chesters visiting to deliver new flags 11:30am raising ceremony Australian, Aboriginal, Torres Strait Islander Flags.
19th March Working Bee 9:30am-11:30am
13th March Public Holiday
23rd March Special lunch with Judy Hill
24 March Meeting Place
30 March School Council AGM followed by March meeting. 6pm
30 March Garden cook up with Serena: Parent helpers needed
31 March Grade 5-6 AFL 9s and netball
5 April Castlemaine State Festival Gallery tour Times TBC
6 April Last day of Term 1
24 April Curriculum Day
25 April Anzac Day holiday
26 April Term 2 Commences
5 May Meeting Place
12 May Sushi, Tabloid Sports P-2
19 May Meeting Place
1 June Reconciliation Walk
2 June Meeting Place
9 June Sushi
Staff have been undertaking professional development with the DET Inclusive Classrooms: supporting students with diverse learning needs this term. This has been a mix of online and in person led by Jarrod Hogan and Kerry Carman. Staff are implementing strategies from this learning which will be helpful for all students. More information in coming weeks.
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.
School Council meets on the last Thursday of each month at 6:30pm.
Time line for School council elections
9th March: Call for nominations
20 March: Close of nominations and assess whether ballot is required (more nominations than positions available)
23 March: Send out ballots
28 March: Poll closes
29 March: Count and declare election results
30 March: AGM 6pm and March School Council Meeting 6:30pm with new councillors
Nomination forms are available in the office: parents can self nominate
Lisa Chesters, our Federal member for Parliament visited on Thursday with new flags. She also presented our House Captains with their badges and asked students if they could tell the Prime Minister anything, what would it be?
Students responded with a range of suggestions which included: cut single use plastics, stop littering, make housing cheaper, make more electric vehicles, make petrol cheaper and why are there nuclear subs that cost so much?
Meet Cloud!
Cloud has been introduced to your child's classroom to teach us about the feelings happy, sad and mad. Cloud is the character who can be moody, so sometimes it's hard to get along with friends. When Cloud is happy, everyone feels fantastic, but when Cloud is sad or mad it can be difficult. Cloud has a hard time controlling anger, so people may be hurt even though it's not intentional. Cloud can help children develop patience, tolerance and understanding for friends who are still learning to express upset feelings in a positive, healthy way.
Some ideas you can talk about and try with your children
Common Language
Calm-down breath: Strategy of taking a deep breath to calm feelings before speaking or acting
• Remind your child to take a calm-down breath when needed. “Stephen, let’s take a calm-down breath.” (Take one yourself so you are doing this together.)
• Model and tell your child when you need to take a calm-down breath. “Aunty Sue is going to take a calm-down breath so I can make sure I can talk calmly because I feel mad.”
• Acknowledge when you see your child use a calm-down breath. “Did you take a calm-down breath? I notice you are feeling mad, and you are talking to me so calmly! Thank you.”
Family Fun: Playful Ways to Practice
Blow Out the Candles This is the same action as using the calm-down breath. For fun, light as many candles as you can find, or bake a cake and add candles. Take turns with your family using your calm-down breath to blow out the candles!
Marching Madness With your family, describe things that can make you feel mad. Show your child how you can use your body in positive ways to shift the madness to a smaller place. March in place and say, “I feel so mad because …” (name something that can make you mad). Let your child march out madness by imitating your marching model.
Basket of Comfort Talk to your child about sad feelings. Explain that everybody feels sad sometimes, so we need to learn ways to soothe/comfort those sad feelings. Share what you say and do to feel comforted when you feel sad. Ask your child to describe what he/she does. Use a basket to collect things from around your home that might comfort feelings of sadness. Some suggestions: happy pictures, comfort toys, a favourite storybook, a stuffed animal, music. Now you have this “go to” basket of comfort next time your child needs soothing and comfort for sad feelings.
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 not access Sentral on the day please phone in or email your child's teacher and cc Bernadette/Kitty.
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.
School Council have decided to have a trial in Term 1.
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.
Serena needs access to the compost bays as students will be learning about composting in coming weeks!
Can you take a load of green waste to the tip?
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1XaBY5PpytuXhLlmffMAMG752ysMIo-QsEzgzS9pJCcE/edit?usp=sharing
Can you join us for our sustainability class with Serena on Thursdays?
P-2 9-10am
3-4-5 10-11am
5-6 11:30-12:30pm
Djaara (Dja Dja Wurrung Clans Aboriginal Corporation) https://djadjawurrung.com.au/
Nalderun Education Aboriginal Corporation https://nalderun.net.au/
Register here: https://www.playhq.com/afl/register/fbdd52
Like Chewton, Naro Moru is a small village near a bigger town, approximately 170 Km from the Kenyan capital of Naiorbi. However, this is where the comparison ends.
The residents of Naro Moru and surrounds are mostly subsistence farmers, eking out a living on small plots of land, relying on the increasingly unreliable rains to irrigate. In 2012 when the Mt Kenya Schools Program started, about 20% of local families struggled to feed their children breakfast. Today this is well over 50% as ever-smaller plots are worked to provide food despite a four-year drought. And food has become prohibitively expensive as the Ukraine war inflates the price of wheat.
From 2011 to 2016, Phillip Walker, now the operations manager at our local swimming pool, managed an Australian government aid project in northern Kenya. He was accompanied by his partner, Sandy, a teacher who volunteered at two local primary schools. Seeing the impact of hunger on the children’s attendance and concentration, she resolved to find a way to ensure that each child had a cup of uji – a staple porridge of maize meal, supplemented with ground sorghum and soy, and prepared with milk. And so, the Mt Kenya Schools Program began.
Kihato and Gatwanyaga Primary Schools each have Early Childhood Development (ECD) classes for children between the ages of three and six. Our program focuses on these ECD children, and those in Years 1, 2 and 3. Approximately 250 children get a cup of uji every school day through this project.
It costs about $10,000 each year to run the program. In Kenya the finances are voluntarily managed by a retired PWC accountant, and Esther Wairimu, a Naro Moru local and fantastic community worker. In Australia all work is voluntary.
Since settling in Chewton Sandy and Phillip have held an annual fundraising dinner (during COVID the program just survived due to donations from a range of supporters). This year the fundraiser will be at the Seniors Citizens Hall on Saturday 4 March at 6pm. Find out more here or contact Sandy on sandyjoffe@duck.com.
Tickets can be purchased and donations made at: https://events.humanitix.com/mt-kenya-schools-fundraiser/tickets