Chewton Primary School
Newsletter 18th September 2025
Newsletter 18th September 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.
Poorneet (tadpole season) - September to October
Kulin seasons
Read more here!
Patsy will be finishing her regular Tuesday and Thursday after school care at the end of this term. A huge thanks to Patsy who has provided this service to our school community over many years. You are much appreciated.
For parents and carers who have students currently enrolled with Patsy, please contact Kerrie Patrick to enrol in the OSHC Adventures program. this runs Monday-Friday both before and after school.
18 September School Performance 6:30pm Phee Broadway
19 September Footy Colours Day. End of Term 2:30pm
Hot dog lunch rescheduled for Friday 10th October due to performance
6 October Term 4 Commences
7-15 October Somers Camp
10 October World Mental Health Day, Hot dog lunch.
17 October Goldfields Cricket Blast/ Basketball (9/10-12/13 YO)
18 October Music Trivia Night Major Fundraiser Wesley Hill hall 7pm
19 October Chewton CFA open Day
Tuesday 21 October Vaping prevention session for Grade 5-6 students
Wednesday October 22 + Thursday October 23 I Am Mindful (I.A.M) program yr 5/6 students
Wednesday October 22nd Parent workshop on Zoom 7.30pm-8.30pm I am Mindful
Wednesday 29th October Vaping prevention session with Bron Grieves 2:30pm
Friday 31st October: Halloween dress up day
Preparation for Puberty Grade 5-6 students
Tuesday 28th Oct 9:30-11am
Friday 7th November 2.30- 3.30
Thursday 13th November 9.30- 11am
Tuesday 18th Nov at 9,30 a- 11
Tuesday 25th November 9:30-11am
3 November Curriculum Day: Assessment and Reporting. There will be OSHC available
10-12 November Grade 5-6 Anglesea camp
7 November Kickball P-2 (change of location to Maldon)
11 November Remembrance Day
19 November Bike Ride 3-6 (we need 3 parents for this to go ahead)
18, 25 November, 2, 9 Dec Prep Transition
3 December International Day of persons with disability
9 December Whole School Step Up Day
10 December Human Rights Day
16 December Xmas Carols, Yabbying
17 December Graduation/ End of year picnic 5:30pm
18 December Year 6 Big Day Out
19 December Pool Day 12-2:30
Parentline Victoria 132289 8am-midnight 7 days For counselling and support for parents and carers or for any parenting concern.
The Orange door https://www.orangedoor.vic.gov.au/
The Orange Door helps and supports parents and families if you are worried about your child's wellbeing, you need support with parenting skills, you need a chat about a parenting problem, your child is showing challenging behaviours or your family is going through stressful times.
Safe Steps: 24 hour family violence hotline https://safesteps.org.au/ 1800 015 188
Jobs done: clean up wood at rear of shed and move sleepers.
Wooden tops on one of the outdoor tables
Spreading rock in the new outdoor seating area
Jobs still to be done: completion of table tops, Clearing leaf litter
Please complete the short survey to let us know whether you will attend an information session and what format best suits you: 4pm, 6:30pm, in person or online.
Bushfire Information session survey
Don't forget the Chewton CFA will have a fantastic Open Day on October 19th. Lots of things to help you prepare for the coming summer! Put it into your calendar!
10am-2.30pm, 19 October
1 Mount St, Chewton
In preparation for the fire season, Chewton CFA is hosting an open day on the 19 October. A number of activities are planned for all ages, including presentations from local groups on fire-resilient plants and evacuation modelling for the Chewton community by Dr Dhirendra Singh (CSIRO). The brigade is also currently running a poster competition for Chewton PS students in P-1, 2-4 and 5-6, and winners to be announced on the day. Come down for a fun and informative time!
Hey folks, we are full steam ahead with planning our fundraising music trivia night scheduled for Saturday 18 October. We will reveal a bit more creative detail in the coming weeks but for now we are looking for some commitment of help as follows....
Raffle - Alice and Laura are busily organising raffle prizes, if you have any prizes or contacts of people who can give prizes please be in touch with either of them. We are aiming to have all prizes finalised by 15 September so that raffle tickets can go home with kids and be distributed to local sellers in that week before school holidays.
Helpers needed for day and night of the event....
Catering - Clare and Taryn will be organising the catering for the night, we are planning supper platters to be served to each table as part of the ticket price. We would like parents to help prepare these platters on the day of the event.
Decoration - we have had offers of help to decorate the venue on the afternoon of the event and are looking for a couple more people to help with this.
Bar - as we have some great wine and beer associates in our midst as parents of the school we will be hitting them up for some grog that we can sell on the night 🤞 (pending liquor license, work in progress). We will need people to work the bar on the night and hopefully some with RSAs.
General help - we will need general help on the night with greeting, serving food, selling raffle tickets etc.
Please let Clare or Taryn know if you are able to help with any of the above jobs on the day or night of the event. We realise we also need people buying tickets and joining a table at the event so the more helpers we have, we can make shifts shorter so people can also enjoy the night.
That's all for now folks! Hope you can help out in some way and we look forward to hearing from you.
Krista (mum of Teyo and Toshi)
There is a new electronic sign in on the shelf at school. It is very easy to use. If you are late dropping your child or early picking them up, please do this electronically. You are also able to do this from your Compass app.
CSC 2026
Thank you to those families who have chosen Enrichment and Language classes for next year. If you have not received the welcome email, please check your junk folder or contact 8824-Transition@schools.vic.edu.au
If you have any questions about Bus Travel for Orientation Day or 2026 please contact kellie.veall@education.vic.gov.au
The Castlemaine Secondary College will be hosting a Family Information Evening for students new to year 7 in 2026.
Monday 8 December 6:00 to 7:00pm
Orientation Day will be held at Castlemaine Secondary College
Tuesday 9th December 9:00am - 3:15pm
Monday- Friday 7am-9am
Monday- Friday 3:30pm-6pm
contact Kerrie 0410 734 733
Available for our Curriculum Days
You can find out more about Yoorrook here
https://yoorrookjusticecommission.org.au/ and Four Corners have an excellent program on Yoorrook.
https://iview.abc.net.au/show/four-corners/series/2025/video/NC2503H008S00
We also heard about the current Treaty work being undertaken in Victoria. You may have heard that Djaara have begun Treaty negotiations with the Victorian government.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-05-28/djaara-treaty-first-nations-state-australia-victoria/105337078First 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 30th: 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.
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September-mid-November – as the weather warms, the peak flowering season for many wildflowers begins. Frosts and rainy days are often still common.
As the water warms over spring, River Blackfish and Murray Cod become more active. These are caught in traps constructed along waterways using stone and woven baskets.
Watjarang (Platypus) along Campbells Creek breed and lay eggs. This is peak flowering season for many wildflowers, such as Murna (Yam Daisy), Gitjawil Matom (Chocolate Lily) and Bam (Bulbine Lily), which can be seen at the Muckleford Nature Conservation Reserve, Kalimna Park and Castlemaine Diggings National Heritage Park. Gurndi (Cranberry Heath) berries ripen and are ready to eat.
• This is peak flowering season for many wildflowers, such as Murna (Yam Daisy), Gitjawil Matom (Chocolate Lily), Bam (Bulbine Lily), Sticky Everlasting, Clustered Everlasting, Grey Everlasting and Orchids, as well as for shrubs such as Downy Grevillea, Rough Mint-bush, and Fairy Wax-flower.
• Watjarang (Platypus) breed and lay eggs
• Brushtail Possums carry their young from nests
• River Blackfish spawn
• The bush is bright with yellow daisies that provide a landing pad where insects can warm up on cold mornings
• Australian Reed-warblers begin calling along creeks and rivers
• Rainbow Bee-eaters arrive from northern Australia to nest along creek and river banks
• Large flocks of White-browed and Masked Woodswallow arrive from northern Australia and can be heard calling in the sky
• This is peak frog breeding season – large frog choruses can be heard in wetlands and along creeks and rivers
• Black Wattle and Red Box flower.
http://www.schoollunchonline.com.au
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24/10
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Term 4 6 Oct – 19 Dec
7-15 October Somers Camp selected 5-6 students
10 October World Mental Health Day
10 October Goldfields Team Tennis/ softball (9/10-12/13 YO) TBC
17 October Goldfields Cricket Blast/ Basketball (9/10-12/13 YO) TBC
Tuesday 21 October at 2.30pm Vaping prevention session for Grade 5-6 students
Wednesday October 22 + Thursday October 23 I Am Mindful (I.A.M) program yr 5/6 students in 2 x 2hr sessions, Teacher PD 3.30-4.30 and Parent education workshop on Zoom 7.30pm-8.30pm
Wednesday 29th October Vaping prevention session with Bron Grieves 2:30pm
Preparation for Puberty grade 5-6
Tuesday 28th Oct 9:30-11am
Friday 7th November 2.30-3.30pm
Thursday 13th November 9.30-11am
Tuesday 18th Nov at 9.30-11am
Tuesday 25th November 9:30-11am
4 November Curriculum Day
10-12 November Grade 5-6 Anglesea
7 November Kickball P-2 (change of location to Maldon)
11 November Remembrance Day
Bike Ride 3-6 Date TBC
Halloween dress up (week of 31st)
18, 25 November, 2 Dec Prep Transition
3 December International Day of persons with disability
9 December Whole School Step Up Day
10 December Human Rights Day
16 December Xmas Carols, Yabbying
17 December Graduation/ End of year picnic 5-7:30pm
18 December Year 6 Big Day Out
19 December Pool Day 12-2:30