Chewton Primary School
Newsletter 24th April 2025
Newsletter 24th April 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!
2 May Tabloid sports P-2, Grade 5-6 Bushfire Education Learning Expo for parents and carers.
16 May Cross Country 3-6
17 May Wesley Hill market stall
20 May Frida Kahlo exhibition and workshop excursion 5-6 with Kate
26 May Sorry Day ceremony 10am Venue TBC
27 May Reconciliation Week opening: school captains & student council
29 May Reconciliation Week Schools activity day with Kath Coff in town
30 May Reconciliation Walk 10am
Put this in your diary
Music Trivia Quiz night fundraiser: Saturday 18th October!
This has been a major project for a small school on a very modest budget. It included 4 working bees to demolish the previous garden and build the new garden of 11 new garden beds, including a bushfood garden. Parents who participated in the working bees were excited to learn how to build functional wicking beds. There is a palpable level of excitement amongst the students, parents and staff about the new garden which creates so much learning potential.
Teachers have expressed their appreciation for the garden and sustainability classes which take learning from the classroom into the real world, increasing the authenticity of learning, especially with topics such as understanding the water cycle, soil health, the growth of plants or the changing of the seasons and most importantly, our connection to the local Dja Dja Wurrung. As part of this and other grants, we have visited Murnong Mummas https://www.murnongmummas.com.au/ where children learnt about bushfoods, cooked a delicious edible snack and learnt about propagating a number of edible plants. This focus on bushfoods will continue into Term 2 with more propagation activities and integration into Chewton's Reconciliation Walk.
There is a noticeable calming and regulating effect of physical work such as digging or moving soil in wheelbarrows for many children, which leads to more positive emotion.
For all children, the garden creates the opportunity for increased connection with home through discussions about food preferences/dislikes and family members/neighbours who grow and share food.
Consequently, we feel a huge sense of achievement.
This project has been a huge success on many levels. Parents and the local community feel a strong sense of achievement and ownership of the garden.
Teachers notice that children are being more adventurous when tasting and eating new food.
The garden is in its early stage but already we are experiencing the benefits of ease of maintenance, and the new plants are flourishing.
For many children, there is a noticeable calming effect associated with physical work in the garden. This allows for increased focus and curiosity about food and the external natural world.
Thanks Serena for all your amazing efforts. If you haven't seen our special newsletter edition celebrating Serena's work, you can find it here.
Thanks Justin for the pictures!
Our students wrote a range of poetry and reflective pieces to commemorate ANZAC day this year. We held a ceremony at Memorial Park in Chewton on Thursday and some students shared their poetry. Our school captains Athena and Edan placed the wreath by the flagpole in readiness for the service on Friday. We hung our writing on the fence for you to look at together. We hope you can find some time over the next week to look at the amazing reflections.
ANZAC day ceremonies mark the landing at Gallipoli in World War 1 and also now honour all who have fought and died in wars and peace keeping missions, including the Frontier Wars.
Thanks to James and Tilly and families for representing our school at the Chewton service on Friday morning. James read his poem, Bernadette read Miro's poem and James and Tilly placed flowers under the flagpole.
If we don't use it we will lose it!
Monday- Friday 7am-9am
Monday- Friday 3:30pm-6pm
Please support this great opportunity!
Reconciliation Walk: event planning, organisation of volunteers and equipment: contact Bernadette or Kellie Tori.
Hands on Learning: Can you help one or two Thursdays a month from 12-3:30? Margot would love some assistance.
Library: Returning and reshelving books.
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 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.
Mid-March-April – the bush responds as the first autumn rains rehydrate the often dry landscape.
wurrak (Tree Banksia) flowers are soaked in water to extract the nectar and make a sweet drink. This is also a good time to collect sap from wararak (Silver Wattle) and Black Wattle, which can be eaten or mixed with ash to be used as glue for tool-making. gurndi (Cranberry Heath) berries ripen and are ready to eat.
At Liang-a-nhuk (Mount Alexander) mosses spring to life with the first autumn rains, while fungi send up fruiting bodies on animal dung, through leaf litter and on logs. Flowering Yellow Gums in the Muckleford Nature Conservation Reserve attract Swift Parrots, honey-eaters and lorikeets.
• Some Orchids flower – including Parsons Bands, Autumn Greenhood, Striped Greenhood
• Spreading Wattle flowers
• Brushtail Possums breed
• Mosses spring to life with first autumn rains
• Fungi respond to rain and send up fruiting bodies on animal dung, through leaf litter, and on logs
• Swift Parrots arrive from Tasmania and join many other honey-eater and lorikeet species feeding on flowering eucalypts such as Yellow Gum, Yehrip (Red Ironbark), and Grey Box
• Bibron’s Toadlets can be heard in wet gullies
• Eastern Spinebills arrive from cooler habitats to the south and feed on nectar-rich flowers
• Flame Robins and Golden Whistlers arrive from cooler habitats
• Female Common Brown Butterflies become active after summer aestivation
• Grey Currawongs arrive and are signalled by their noisy call
• Rain Moths emerge from underground larvae and scatter eggs from the air around eucalypt trees.
TERM TWO 2025
0-11 YEARS PARENT SUPPORT AND EDUCATION SESSIONS
The Loddon Children’s Health & Wellbeing Local will be offering weekly education sessions related to mental health and wellbeing for parents of children 0-11. These are available in person. The session is run by a lived experience parent and mental health clinician.
Sessions are open to any family with children 0-11.
Why join in?
· Meet and mix with other parents.
· Talk to mental health staff about your child.
· Ask any practical questions you have about parenting at the moment.
· Gain support for yourself as a parent.
Where: Activity Room 2, Downstairs, Bendigo Library, Hargreaves St,
BENDIGO 3550 Note the *dates are in an upstairs room at the library. Use the lift to find us.
Dates and topics: Thursdays
*Apr 24th 1pm face to face Sleep issues
May 1st 1pm face to face Stop the tech
*May 8th 1pm face to face ADHD What is it and how can I help?
*May 15th 1pm face to face Managing big feelings
May 22nd 1pm face to face Parent wellbeing
May 29th 1pm face to face Anger in kids
Jun 5th 1pm face to face Anxiety in kids
Jun 12th 1pm face to face What is autism and how can I help? Presented by Daniel
*Jun 19th 1pm face to face Setting limits and family rules
Jun 26th 1pm face to face Building social skills
If you have any questions, please contact Annette Clemments on 1800 433 977.
Book in here: using the QR code or email icfhwlocals@bchs.com.au