Important Dates

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

23 February Working Bee 9am-1pm

26 February Parent Teacher conferences 12-6pm

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

Changes to newsletter in 2025

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. As there is so much happening with the beginning of the school year, this one is a little lengthy...

Information session for parents on Bushfire Danger Ratings

& School Relocation 5pm 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. This will be an important opportunity for sharing of information on how the bushfire danger ratings are made and why the DET uses the local government area danger rating to determine relocation. 

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.

Whole School Picnic

Every year we come together to celebrate our community with a picnic at the beginning of the year. 

Next Wednesday, February 19th we have our whole school picnic from 5-7pm. Bring your own food, rug or chairs. No alcohol please. We gather at the Outdoor stage. 

Uncle Rick will do a Welcome to Country and Smoking ceremony at 5pm sharp. 

We will present our School Captains and House Captains with their badges. This is always a special occasion and we look forward to seeing you there.

Parent/ Teacher/ Student conferences

On Wednesday 26th February we will have parent/ teacher/ student conferences from 12-6pm. 

Children will attend classes as normal and will join parents for the conference. This is an important opportunity to share information about your child, to chat about how they are settling into the new year and for students to share their learning goals. You will be able to book a time on Compass next week.

For families who have Student Support Group meetings, these will be scheduled separately to allow allied health and support personnel to join us.  

The work begins..

Huge thanks to Serena, James, Dan, Damian, Andy, Shaun, Steve, Dan, Brock, Clare and Marc for coming along last weekend. Four of the round wicking beds and the wooden edgings for winter beds are well underway! Serena has done an incredible amount of planning with students, successfully applied for grants and ic coordinating the project. This new garden is designed to have at least a twenty year life span! Come along and join the fun.

From the Office

Parent/ Teacher/ Student conferences

Parent Payments

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.

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.

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.

 First Peoples connections and information

Community Notices