Important Dates

9th February Working Bee 9am-1pm (Veggie garden rebuilding & wicking bed workshop)

11th February Volunteer Induction 9am-9:30am

14th February Sushi

17 February Volunteer Induction 9am-9:30am, Swimming Carnival 1-3:30pm

18 February Information session for parents on Bushfire Safety/ School Relocation 4pm

19 February Volunteer Induction 3-3:30pm

19 February Welcome Picnic 5-7pm Welcome to Country with Uncle Rick 5pm prompt start

21 February Meeting Place

26 February Parent Teacher conferences 1-6pm

7 March Meeting Place

10 March Public Holiday 

14 March Sushi

28 March AFL/ Netball Grade 5-6, Skills 3-4 (TBC)

4 April Meeting Place

4 April Last day of term - 2:30pm finish

Warm Welcomes

A big welcome to all our new staff, students and families this year.

We have Erin Cook returning. Erin will work Wed-Friday teaching Prep/1. Sue will work Monday-Tuesday teaching P/1.

We have Melanie-Jane Thurston teaching 2-3-4 Thursday and Friday

We have Catherine Barry teaching 5-6 Monday- Friday.

We have Kath Coff teaching First Nations Ways: Country and Place every Thursday. Kath will also work with teachers to grow our understanding of First Nations pedagogies.

Our prep students: Isla, Ned, Fox, Minnie, Ruby, Obi, Oscar and Maeve

Our new students across the school: Ramona, Lenny, Josie, Arlo, Finley, Albi and Miro

Information session for parents on Bushfire Safety/ School Relocation 4pm Tuesday 18 Feb

We have representatives from the Department of Education coming to visit on Tuesday 18th February for a parent information session about the Fire Danger Ratings and school relocations which are required when we have an extreme fire danger rating in the Mt Alexander local government area.

Volunteer Inductions

Every year as part of our OHS and Child Safety obligations, we conduct brief Volunteer Inductions. If you would like to help at the school in any way: with the brekkie club, listening to children read, helping on excursions, cooking with the children, we need you to have a current Working With Children Check and do an induction. There will be several times available over the coming weeks. See the Important dates section of the newsletter and Compass calendar. If you can't make either of these dates, please contact Bernadette to arrange a time.

From the Office

Parent Payments

Voluntary parent payments are now open for payment on Compass. Payment plans are available through Compass also.

Hard copies will be available at the office if required.

Please note: The parent payments were made live in Compass with the incorrect 2024 information and amounts, this has since been rectified and now shows the correct 2025 amounts that were approved by School Council in late 2024. We apologise for the inconvenience. If you paid through Compass before 10am this morning and would like your payment to reflect the 2025 amount, please see Kitty or Bernadette.

The ongoing support of our families ensures that our school can offer the best possible education and support for our students. We want to thank you for all your support, whether that’s through fundraising or volunteering your time. This, and the money we receive through parent payments, has made a huge difference to our school and the programs we can offer.

Within our school, this support has allowed us to provide students with a wider offering of subjects and special curriculum experiences, such as Auslan, Sustainability, Art, MARC Library, Cultural Learning, Music, and other activities such as school cook ups and excursions. We are also able to provide digital learning opportunities through our netbook program and access to online learning programs and software that enhance student learning across the curriculum. 

School Saving Bonus

The School Saving Bonus is a State Government initiative that provides a one-off $400/student to help Victorian families cover the costs of their kids’  2025 school uniforms, textbooks, excursions, and activities. 

The School Saving Bonus is available for parents and carers of each Victorian government school student from Prep to Year 12 in 2025, except for full-fee international students, home-schooled students, and TAFE students. 

As Chewton Primary does not have any external uniform or stationery providers, this amount can be allocated towards uniforms purchased at school or upcoming excursions, activities and camps. The amount will stay on your account each year until it has been exhausted.

Please note the June use-by date is only relevant to parents purchasing through external providers, which we do not have.

Sushi Fridays

We are continuing Sushi approximately once a month Fridays again this year. 

Dates: 14/2, 14/3, 16/5, 13/6, 8/8, 12/9, 24/10, 14/11, 12/12 (please note that dates are subject to change and notice will be given if this occurs)

Dates will also be in the Compass calendar

Please remember to update your child's class before ordering.

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.

Brekkie Club

Brekkie club is starting next week. We are lucky to have parent volunteers coming in every day to serve up breakfast to any student requiring it. Brekkie club opens at 8:30 and shuts at 8:55 so that students have enough time to get back into class.  Huge thanks to the parents who give up their time each week to make sure all our students start the day with food and a smile!

Monday: Kellie

Tuesday: Jamie and another helper needed

Wednesday: Inez and Krista

Thursday: Lily and Wendy

Friday: Laura and Justin 

Camps, Sports & Excursions Fund

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:

• $154 for primary school students

• $256 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.

Compass

If any families are having issues with logging onto Compass, or trouble navigating the app, please contact the office.

Copies of the Compass parent user guide are available from the sign in desk in the hall.

Currently, the app gives you access to: 

• Email (send and receive emails to your child’s teachers)

• Calendar

• News

• Attendance (to add a reason for an absence on the day of absence, or to provide a reason for previous absences)

• Events, Camps & Excursions (and the ability to approve events)

• Payments (to pay for any camps/excursions)

• Parent Teacher Interview Bookings (ability to book)

• Reports

We encourage all families to be regularly logging into Compass, either via the website or the app.

We recommend turning on notifications for Compass in your phone settings, as we do use this feature regularly to communicate information.

Happy to be back in the pool!

We are so happy to be enjoying the pool. Patsy and Kahu are our instructors this year. A big thanks to Chewton Pool for making the program so affordable for our families.  We will have an extra day on Monday 17th February to make up for the missed session. That date will be our swimming carnival. Come and join us at the pool 1-3:30pm!

 First Peoples connections and information

Community Notices