Chewton Primary School

Newsletter 22nd February 2024

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 follow Bunjil's teaching: Care for self, care for others, care for Country.

We commit to Be Brave and Make Change.

We will be a voice for generations.

Now, more than ever

Biderap Season: Hot dry weather, very little rainfall, Ballambar (female Common Brown Butterflies) are flying. Walurk (tussock grass) is long and dry. Tchingal (The Southern Cross) is high in the south at sunrise.

Upcoming Events

Preps have every Wednesday as a rest day till the end of February

23 February Swimming Carnival 1-3:30pm Join us at the Chewton Pool tomorrow! Students wear house colours to school!

26 February Curriculum Day: pupil free day - Teachers: 6+1 Writing Traits w Narissa Leung

28 February: 1-6pm Parent / Student/ Teacher conferences

6 March Catch up Swimming lesson

8 March School Photo Day - see info below

Sushi lunch

11 March Public Holiday Labour Day

15 March AFL/Netball/ Basketball grade 3-6

13-25 March NAPLAN Grade 3, Grade 5 students

21 March Harmony Day

22 March Ride 2 School Day

27 March Bike Ride 2-6

28 March Easter Bonnet Parade and Easter Egg Hunt

Early finish - 2:30pm

Can you do Friday morning Brekkie Club from 8:30-9am? Thanks to Wendy who has been doing this for the past 12 months! We need a new person to take this on please.

From the Office

Parent Teacher Interviews

Bookings are available through the compass app. Please contact your child/ren's teacher or Kitty if you need assistance with booking. Please make the time to come and look at your child's learning goals with their teacher.

Curriculum Day - 26th Feb

Please remember Monday is a pupil free day.

Notes

Please ensure you have returned the permission notes for Annual Excursion Permission & Media Consent - Please return these notes to the office asap.

Sushi Fridays

Please remember to update your child/ren's class through the ordering portal to assist with distribution at school.

Digital Compass Poster.pdf

NAPLAN

Testing for students in Year 3 and Year 5 commences on Wednesday 13th March. All NAPLAN testing is online via a locked-down browser, with the exception of Year 3 Writing which is pen and paper.

naplan-information-brochure-for-parents-and-carers.pdf

Emergency Management

Communicating with you in an emergency

In the event of an emergency, Chewton Primary School will communicate with you via Compass notification and/or email, and using our school emergency mobile to text you.

When we have a drill you receive a text and are asked to respond with YES to acknowledge you have received the message.

In an emergency, the text will alert you to the type of emergency and our response: These are examples of what you might receive.

eg: Chewton PS have activated our evacuation plan. We are evacuating to Castlemaine Primary School. Wait until further notice. Do not collect your child until advised to do so. Emergency vehicles need clear road access.

eg: Chewton Primary School have evacuated to Chewton Senior Citizens car park due to an onsite emergency.. Wait until further notice. Do not collect your child until advised to do so.

eg: Chewton PS are Sheltering in Place at school. Wait until further notice. Do not collect your child until advised to do so. Emergency vehicles need clear road access.

Our teachers and students practice emergency drills in order to ensure that in the case of an emergency we are able to maintain a safe and calm environment.

Bushfire preparedness

We prepare for the bushfire season by:

clearing vegetation near buildings (schools on the Bushfire At-Risk Register receive funding for essential vegetation clearance works under our Bushfire Preparedness (Vegetation) Program)
updating our emergency kit and practising emergency response procedures through drills at least once every term
encouraging our school community to download the VicEmergency app to receive emergency warnings.

Emergency support for schools

Our school is supported by an incident management team which works with emergency services throughout the year to ensure school communities are kept safe. The teams have surge staff to help respond to emergencies.

We strongly encourage you to use the CFA website to develop your own fire plan.

Our schools use Local Government area fire danger forecasts to activate our emergency plan.

School Council

Hard copy nomination forms are available at the office. We have a few people already interested. Don't be shy!

School Council Info.pdf

School Council Self nomination form.pdf

Volunteering at school in 2024

Volunteers who are onsite with children during school hours are required to have a current Working with Children Check. The Working with Children Check is a screening process for assessing or re-assessing people who work with or care for children in Victoria. At Chewton Primary School all volunteers must have a current Working With Children Check, as part of our Child Safety requirements. You can find more information on our website under our policies.

Volunteer WWCC are free to obtain and can be applied for here. Take the application form to the post office and bring your receipt to the school. When you receive your card, bring it in to the office and we will take a photocopy of it for our records.

An important reminder for volunteers: on arrival, you will need to sign in in the visitors folder in the hall, and then come back to sign out when you leave.

Any questions/queries about any of this, please contact Kitty or Bernadette.

If you wish to be put on the list to help with volunteering with a range of tasks, please contact us.

Thanks to those who have completed a volunteer induction for 2024. Please contact Bernadette if you have not yet had a volunteer induction.

Over 30 people have committed to helping us in 2024! If you were not at the picnic and would also like to volunteer, please get in touch with Marian, Kitty, Dan or Bernadette

Thanks for helping!

Parent Club

This year we are organising a parent group which will organise social gatherings, market stalls, fundraising and make us more visible in the community.

We already have a number of parents involved. If you are interested, please get in touch with us.