Chewton Primary School
Newsletter 05/02/2026
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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.
Barramal (emu) and MilakukTime (January- March) Djaara seasons
Important Dates
Important Dates
6th February Sushi
6th February: Victorian High Achievers program commences (grade 5-6 students)
13th February- Swimming Carnival 1pm-3:30pm please join us!
13th February Anniversary of Apology to Stolen Generations
18th February Parent/Teacher/ student learning conferences. No classes. OHSC available
20th February Meeting Place
6th March- Meeting Place
9th March: Labour Day public Holiday
20th March Castlemaine State Festival opens (Schools are partnering with Nalderun for an amazing opening performance- stay tuned!)
23rd March Harmony Day
25th March Castlemaine State Festival excursion grade 1-6
27th February Sushi
27th March Sushi
2nd April- Easter Hat parade 9am
Please make sure you check our school calendar each week to see what is coming up. We have our swimming carnival, parent/student/ teacher conferences, welcome picnic all fast approaching!
Bushfire Risk Rating and school relocation information
Bushfire Risk Rating and school relocation information
Chewton Primary School is a Bushfire at Risk Rating (BARR) 2 school. This means that if our local government area (Mt Alexander Shire Council) is given an extreme fire danger rating, we are required to relocate to Winters Flat Primary School for the day.
Communications are sent out to parents as soon as we know we will have to move, via text, Compass and email, with instructions and information.
Parents drop off and pick up their children at Winters Flat Primary School.
Teachers meet the children at the front of the school.
We will use the art room and a spare room in the main building.
Bernadette and the DET Student Support Services psychologist have prepared a Relocation booklet for children to assist with the relocation process.
Teachers have made workbooks that we will use at Winters Flat on relocation days. Students who are unable to attend and are supported at home by their families will also recieve this workbook to complete. We are hoping that this will assist with continuity of learning, reduce stress on our staff, students and families and build resilience.
A big thanks to school council for their work in lobbying the DET and government, which resulted in a fuel assessment being undertaken in our LGA.
Parents will receive a text message from our school emergency mobile. Please put it into your contacts. We use this in case of an emergency, during our emergency drills and on camps and excursions. It is not used as a general communication tool except in these instances.
If you wish to contact the school, please ring the office or send an email.
You will have noticed that on Wednesday, it was an Extreme Fire danger day in the North Central CFA district, but in our Mt Alexander local government area it was High fire danger rating, which meant we did not have to relocate. Bernadette will always give as much notice as possible prior to relocations, but when the rating is on 49 or 50 we may have to wait till the morning's rating to see what we are required to do.
Ways to be involved at Chewton
Ways to be involved at Chewton
All volunteers at Chewton Primary School must have a current Working with Children check and complete a Volunteer induction prior to starting.
See our Volunteer Policy for more information.
Garden Club: Friday mornings with Serena from 8:30am
Classroom reading: see your child's teacher if you are able to help listen to children read
Breakfast Club: parents volunteer a morning a week or fortnight from 8:30am-9am at the outdoor kitchen. Please contact Bernadette if you would like to do this.
One parent has volunteered to run a bird watching club. If you have any other ideas for clubs that you can run once a week during lunchtimes get in touch!
We regularly ask volunteers for special occasions such as excursions and fundraising. We have our school fair this year, we have a stall at Wesley Hill market each term and locals have been begging for another music trivia night...
School Council: We have two vacancies this year. More information in next week's newsletter
Grounds and Buildings: we need one or two parents who can meet with Bernadette once a month to discuss maintenance and projects. This year we will be looking at putting in a gaga pit, upgrading the outdoor kitchen area and our new playground. The role does not involve you doing all the work, but discussing what is needed and assisting in getting volunteers where required.
Grant writing: a big thanks to Amelia who worked with Bernadette on the successful grant application for a playground upgrade! If you are able to write grants we are currently looking at one to assist schools to take part in First Nations activities, including our annual Reconciliation walk.
Child Safety
Child Safety
At Chewton Primary, Child Safety is everyone's responsibility. Staff are all trained in reporting and responding procedures.
Our Child Safety policies can be found on our website.
At our February School Council meeting we are updating our Bullying prevention policy, Statement of Values & School Philosophy and Administration of medication policy. If you have any suggestions or feedback, please let Bernadette know prior to 19th February. Our current policies can be found on our website.
What's happening in the Prep Class?
What's happening in the Prep Class?
With Erin, Lewis and Cat
With Erin, Lewis and Cat
Grade Prep students have made a wonderful start to the school year, settling into learning routines with confidence and enthusiasm. It has been lovely to see new friendships forming and students showing kindness and respect in their classroom community.
In Sustainability, students have been busy getting their hands dirty while building a worm farm! They have enjoyed learning about caring for living things and discovering how worms help keep our environment healthy.
Swimming lessons have also been a highlight, with students participating in daily sessions. They are showing great resilience, confidence, and a willingness to give new skills a go in the pool.
Looking ahead, students are very excited to begin the Little Learners Reading Program next week. We’re looking forward to launching this important part of our literacy learning and supporting students as they continue to grow as readers.
It has been a positive and busy start to the year, and we’re excited for all the learning still to come! 🌱📚🏊♂️
What's happening in the 1-2 Class?
What's happening in the 1-2 Class?
With Kitty and Kahu
With Kitty and Kahu
Everyone has been settling into the school routine again & enjoying our new classroom space. Each day we have been reviewing our SWPBS Matrix of our school values, Kindness, Community & Respect and what these values look, feel & sound like across the school & in our classroom.
We have been reading our School Relocation Social Story & adding illustrations to our own copies. This will support students to know what to expect should we need to relocate.
Finally, the Year 1-2s have been enjoying our daily swimming lesson.
What's happening in the 3-4 Class?
What's happening in the 3-4 Class?
With Renee, Shaun and Eloise
With Renee, Shaun and Eloise
A very warm welcome to Shaun and our new students Marlin, Hugo and Tully. We are enjoying settling into our new room and getting to know everyone. It is wonderful to see how everyone is so inclusive and working together to create our learning community! Swimming is a lot of fun to finish the day with!
What's happening in the 5-6 Class?
What's happening in the 5-6 Class?
With Kirra and Esther
With Kirra and Esther
This week in Grade 5/6, we have been spending lots of time getting to know each other. Our days have been filled with plenty of team-building activities, setting up our classroom, and building our routines. Swimming has been fabulous, although we all tend to come back to school feeling exhausted, so quiet activities like reading, drawing, and fingerknitting have been very popular!
We have also been making cards for the new Prep buddies (shhhh don’t tell them yet!), and we are super excited to welcome them to Chewton PS. We are also very excited to welcome a new student, Mary, and a new education support staff member, Esther, to our class!
Our new carpark
Our new carpark
Please observe road signs and take good care!
5km per hour speed limit
5km per hour speed limit
Be careful backing in and out
New emergency access to western end of school
New emergency access to western end of school
Do not park in the no parking zones.
Fantastic to have our car park sealed and with parking bays installed! Thanks to Dredge Earthmoving for their fantastic assistance with both our car parks and emergency access roads. Please take good care. We are workign on a Traffic management plan and will share it with you when finalised. If you are interested in writing a letter asking for a school crossing at the school and the post office, or footpaths to improve the safety around our school, please do so! Letters can be addressed to Mt Alexander Shire Council and to Vic Roads.
Annual privacy reminder for our school community
Annual privacy reminder for our school community
Our school collects and uses student and parent personal information for standard school functions or where permitted by law, as stated in the Schools’ Privacy Policy and the Schools’ Privacy Collection Notice.
Our Photographing, Filming and Recording Students Policy Photographing, Filming and Recording Students Policy 2024 describes how we collect and use photographs, video and recordings of students. The policy also explains when parent consent is required and how it can be provided and withdrawn.
We ask parents to also review the guidance we provide on how we use Microsoft 365/Google Workspace for Education safely at the school and what parents can do to further protect their child’s information. Digital Technologies 2025 If after reviewing the guidance, you have any questions or concerns regarding your child using Microsoft 365/Google Workspace for Education, please contact the school.
For more information about privacy, refer to: Schools’ privacy policy: information for parents.
Please ensure that you update your permissions as we only include photographs of your child on our newsletter, website or socials if you give us permission to do so. New families will get this form with enrolment papers. If you have not received it, please see Stacey in the office on Monday, Thursday or Fridays.
Outside School Hours Care
Outside School Hours Care
Monday- Friday 7am-9am
Monday- Friday 3:30pm-6pm
contact Kerrie 0410 734 733
Available for our Curriculum Days
This is a fantastic service and we need to make sure we use it in order to keep it!
Read more here!
2025 Winner Lynette Russell History prize Teaching First Nations History
2025 Winner Lynette Russell History prize Teaching First Nations History
History Council of Victoria
Sushi
Sushi
Register for Sushi https://schoollunchonline.com.au/
We have sushi 3 times each term.
Next Friday is our first one for the year.
Orders must be placed by Thursday 5pm.
Community Notices
Community Notices
Songlines and Seasons Exhibition
Dumawul, Hargreaves Mall, Bendigo
First Peoples connections and information
Djaara (Dja Dja Wurrung Clans Aboriginal Corporation) https://djadjawurrung.com.au/ DJAARA - Home | Facebook https://www.facebook.com/DjaDjaWurrung/ Nalderun Education Aboriginal Corporation https://nalderun.net.au/ Anti-racism https://racismnoway.com.au/ https://alltogethernow.org.au/racism/racism-in-schools/how-to-discuss-racism-with-children/ Treaty https://www.firstpeoplesrelations.vic.gov.au/treaty First Peoples connections and information
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
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
February 13-26 Anniversary of the 1967 Freedom Ride
March 21 National Close the Gap day
April 5th: Anniversary of Bringing them home report
April 15th anniversary of the Royal commission into Aboriginal Deaths in custody
April 25th ANZAC Day
Term 2
May 26th: Sorry Day
May 27th - June 3rd: Reconciliation Week
May 29th: 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
August 13th: Anniversary of the Yirrkala bark petitions
august 23: Anniversary of the Gurindji Wave Hill Walk off
September 7: Indigenous Literacy Day
Term 4
October 26: Anniversary of the Uluru handback
December 10: Human rights day
Meeting Place Dates 2025
TERM 1 - 20 February
06 March
20 March
Dja Dja Wurrung Seasons
Dja Dja Wurrung Seasons
Fire and snake time
Fire and snake time
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.
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