Chewton Primary School
Newsletter 6th March 2025
Newsletter 6th March 2025
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 teachings: 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.
Iuk Season (Kulin seasons)
Read more here!
7 March Meeting Place
8 March International Women's Day
10 March Public Holiday
11 March Volunteer Inductions 9am, 3pm
14 March Sushi
16 March Working Bee 9am-1pm
17-23 March Neurodiversity Week
17-23 March Cultural Diversity Week
21 March Harmony Day Wear Orange 28 March AFL/ Netball Grade 5-6, Skills 3-4 (TBC)
27 March AGM and School Council meeting
4 April Meeting Place
4 April Last day of term - 2:30pm finish
Thanks so much to everyone who has given up Sunday mornings for this amazing project!
9am-1pm
We need lots of helpers!
If you have not scheduled your conference time, please contact your child's teacher
Our wonderful spring bulbs fundraiser is back again!
Share the link with family and friends. Flyers with QR codes will be sent home with students.
Orders can be placed online here.
If you are able to help put up posters in Chewton and surrounds, please let Kitty know.
In 2025 there will be some changes to the newsletter. Every second week we will have our main newsletter with samples of children's work and what is happening in our classrooms and across the school. Week 2, 4, 6, 8 and 10 will be the longer newsletter week.
The alternate week will be a short information newsletter with any updates of coming events.
11th March 9am, 3pm
Here is what is in the works…
Term 1
- Bulb fundraiser (no help needed)
- Market stall
Term 2
- Reconciliation walk (30 May)
- Lantern walk / soup night (19 June)
- Market stall
Term 3
- Music trivia night (29 August tbc)
- Market stall
Term 4
- School production (17 Oct)
- Market stall
- Toilet paper fundraiser (no help needed)
I have put my hand up to lead the coordination of the music trivia night which will be our main fundraiser for the year. I will be seeking people to help specifically with raffle, food, bar and music and will reach out early next term to get support. But please let me know if you already know you’re keen!
In addition to this we need the following roles filled throughout the year…
Market stall coordinator/s - to organize 4 market stalls during the year, one each term
Reconciliation walk assistant - to assist Bernadette with coordination of event and volunteers
Lantern walk and soup night coordinator/s - to organise this event including sourcing of soup/dessert donations and volunteers for the night (I am happy to help on this too but don’t want to lead it)
School production - seeking Theatre, music and tech people (you know who you are!!) to put together our biennial school show!
Lots going on as you can see and we need as many hands on deck as we can get!
From Krista
The key functions of school council with regard to the school are:
to establish the broad direction and vision of the school within the school's community
to arrange for the supply of goods, services, facilities, materials, equipment, other things or matters required for the conduct of the school, including the provision of preschool programs
to raise funds for school related purposes
to regulate and facilitate the after-hours use of the school premises and grounds
to exercise a general oversight of the school buildings and grounds and ensure they are kept in good order and condition
to provide for the cleaning and sanitary services that are necessary for the school
to ensure that all money coming into the hands of the council is expended for proper purposes relating to the school
to provide meals and refreshments for the staff and students of the school and make charges for those meals or refreshments
to inform itself and take into account any views of the school community for the purpose of making decisions in regard to the school and the students at the school
to generally stimulate interest in the school in the wider community
to prepare the School Strategic Plan and review the Annual Implementation Plan — to be signed by the president and the principal
to report annually (the Annual Report) to the school community and to the department on the school’s financial activities, the School Strategic Plan, and any other matters that are determined by the Minister
to manage the hire, licence and shared use of school facilities
to determine the dates for the school’s student-free days:
in accordance with the number of student-free days each calendar year specified by the Secretary of the department
https://www2.education.vic.gov.au/pal/school-council-powers-and-functions/policy
This year we have two positions that are open. The current councillors are happy to continue. If you would like to nominate and there are more people than vacancies, we will hold an election. Please chat to Maz or Bernadette if you are interested in running for school council. Nomination forms are available at the office from Tuesday.
This year we have nominated Serena for Teacher of the Year award.
As part of the application we produced this special newsletter that showcases some of the amazing work she does with us! Follow the link below.
Serena is working with all students and staff to try to reduce our waste. We have some packaging from our brekkie club milk, soft plastics that are a concern. If you have any idea on how to reuse tetra packs we would love to hear from you! If you are going towards Macedon and can put them into the recycling bin there that would be amazing!
Can you take our soft plastic waste to Eaglehawk Recycling Centre? We have a big bag ready to go. Thanks to Justin for taking this on in 2024. Looking for a new volunteer this year..
We’ve had a busy couple of weeks in the Prep/1 room. Everyone enjoyed a very fun and successful swimming carnival. Thank you again to Patsy and Kahu for the amazing swimming lessons!
Last week in Literacy, the Preps began their reading journey and were introduced to Milo the Monkey. The Preps practiced sounding out /m/ and found words that begin with this letter. They enjoyed making a Milo the Monkey craft. This week they met two more of Milo’s friends- Sally the Snake and Felix the Frog. We did lots of practice making the /s/ and /f/ sound, practiced writing the letters, and more character crafts!
The Grade 1s have been busy reviewing some sounds from last year. We first reviewed the sound /ck/ as in duck, lucky, and trick. We followed with reviewing the /ai/ & /ay/ sounds, as in play, snail, train, and day. We practiced writing words and sentences using these sounds, as well as reading our focus books. The Grade 1s have also started work reading their leveled cards from our new Comprehension Reading Boxes. We knew these boxes were a hit when the Grade 1s kept asking to read another card!
Both the Preps and Grade 1s enjoyed our mentor text: Jabari Jumps. We made connections to times in our own lives when we felt nervous to try new things- especially in a swimming pool. They created some lovely drawings to reflect these connections and wrote a sentence about a time when they felt brave.
In Numeracy, the Preps continued to explore the numbers 1-5 and used manipulatives (counters, popsicle sticks,etc) to represent these numbers. The grade 1s continued to explore numbers up to 120. They looked at different ways they can represent a number, including number lines and with the use of manipulatives.
And if that wasn’t enough… We've also been having a lot of fun in our amazing specialist classes! We’re making some marvelous mushrooms in Art with Kate, we created some beautiful ochre drawings of Country with Kath, we’ve borrowed lots of books from the Library, and have learned lots of new words in Auslan with Bernadette.
We also held a class election to choose one Prep and one Grade 1 student to represent the class on the SRC (Student Representative Council.)
In the 5/6 room in maths we have been working on number patterns, factor trees and have converted common metric units of length to ‘scale up’ an object demonstrating ratio.
In writing we have been working on introducing ourselves through “anecdotal” letter writing to the 5/6 class at Taradale School and exploring landscape and weather adjectives for our descriptive narrative writing. Meanwhile we have been busy completing assessments in all domains for the beginning of 2025.
Congratulations Quincy and Xanthe, yarram yarram house on receiving their House Captain badges
Kath comes in each week and has been sharing teachings. The children have shared their favourite part of Country, who is in their community and their ancestors. They have made beautiful ochre paintings.
Today we were really lucky to have some First Nations visitors from Canada join the P-1 class.
Grandmother Shirley is a proud member of Alderville First Nation and is Turtle Clan. She is a descendant from a long and strong line of Anishnawbe and Haudenosaunee Ancestors. Their ancestral legacy of resilience through the colonial, institutional regime has gifted her the position to humbly stand on their shoulders as she works to support Indigenous well-being for the next seven generations. Reclamation of her familial circle in the present is foundational to her work within Indigenous communities and her work supporting educational practitioners on their journeys toward Truth and Reconciliation.
Dr. Jennifer Brant, first and foremost a mother of two boys, belongs to the Kanien’kehá:ka (Mohawk Nation) with family ties to Six Nations of the Grand River Territory and Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory. Jennifer is a Mother-Scholar and an Associate Professor in the Department of Curriculum, Teaching and Learning at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education of the University of Toronto.
7am-9am
3:30pm-6pm
Please go online to register. If there are technical difficulties, please call Kerrie on 0410734733
Please support this fantastic opportunity
First Nations Days of Significance:
Term 1
February 13th: Anniversary of Apology to Stolen Generations
Term 2
May 26th: Sorry Day
May 27th - June 3rd: Reconciliation Week
May 31st: Reconciliation Walk
July 7th -14th: NAIDOC Week
Term 3
August 4th: National Aboriginal and Islander Children's Day
August 9th: International Day of the World's Indigenous People
Meeting Place Dates 2025
TERM 1 - 21 February, March 7, April 4
TERM 2 - 9 May, 23 May, 13 June, 27 June
TERM 3 - 25 July, 15 August, 29 August, 12 September
TERM 4 - 24 October, 7 November, 28 November, 12 December.
January-mid-March. The warmest and driest time of year, many plants become dormant but animal activity is still high, as the young of many species disperse. This is peak bushfire season. Occasional La Nina years bring heavy summer rains.
The bark of Biyal (River Red Gum) is used to make canoes, shields and other tools, the leaves have medicinal properties, while the seeds can be eaten.
Berries of Dhurunguk Gurrka (Flax Lily), Kangaroo Apple and Apple Berry are ready to be eaten.
As the water recedes, Old Man Sneezeweed grows with other small herbs on the mudflats of Bells Swamp and other local wetlands. Tiger Snakes hunt for frogs along the Loddon River.
• Cicada calls can be heard throughout the bush
• Old Man Sneezeweed grows with other small herbs on the floors of drying wetlands
• Tiger Snakes hunt for frogs along creeks, rivers and wetlands
• Geckoes and Blind-snakes hunt on warm humid nights
• White-striped Freetail Bats can be heard in the sky on warm nights
• Jewel Spiders spin their webs between shrubs and trees
• Biyal (River Red Gum) and Lightwood flower
• Yabbies dig deep tunnels as waterholes dry
• Nomadic, dry-country birds such as Black Honeyeater and Yellow-plumed Honeyeater can appear in some years
• Male butterflies congregate at high points in the landscape – this is called ‘hill-topping’
• Red-browed Finches feed on fallen grass seeds
• Wasps feed on nectar produced by mealy bugs on Wattles
• Furry caterpillar trains march across the forest floor in search of new feeding sites
• Dodder Laurels fruit.
• Lorikeets arrive to feed on flowering eucalypts.
Register your interest here: https://www.chewtonpool.com.au/chewtonswimeoi2025