Week 3, Term 1

This week, our 2026 House Captains were elected. Congratulations to Mary (Blue), Sid (Red), Beau (Yellow) and Eliza (Green). Their first duty was to represent their teams at today's House Swimming Carnival.

CAMPS, SPORTS & EXCURSIONS FUND (CSEF) 2026

School camps provide children with inspiring experiences in the great outdoors, excursions encourage a deeper understanding of how the world works and sports teach teamwork, discipline and leadership. All are part of a healthy curriculum.

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.

CSEF payments cannot be used towards voluntary school charges, nor towards books, stationery, school uniforms, before/after school care, music lessons, etc.

The annual CSEF amount per student is $400 for primary school students.

HOW TO APPLY:

New applicants should contact the school office to obtain a CSEF application form.

If you received CSEF funds at your child's school in 2025, you do not need to complete an application form in 2026 UNLESS THERE HAS BEEN A CHANGE IN YOUR FAMILY CIRCUMSTANCES.

You MUST complete a new 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, SIBLING/S HAVE MOVED ONTO SECONDARY SCHOOL (and need to be deleted from your Application) OR NEW SIBLING/S have commenced school this year.

We cannot apply for the CSEF on your behalf - check with the school office if you are
unsure.

Applications must be received by 30th April, 2026.

NO LATE APPLICATIONS CAN BE ACCEPTED

 Hello from the Prep Rooms!

This week in Literacy, we met Milo Monkey’s friends, ‘Felix Frog’ and ‘Ally Alligator’, learning their sounds /f/ and /a/ and practising correct letter formation in both upper and lower case. We also learnt about rhyming words. 

We have begun exploring our big question, “How can we contribute to our community?” This week we focused on our classroom community and learnt that we are all unique, each with special qualities to share. 

In Maths, we explored time by learning the days of the week, sequencing daily events, and sorting activities into morning, afternoon and night. After reading The Very Hungry Caterpillar, we created our own caterpillars by ordering the days and matching the foods eaten each day. 

In Wellbeing, we focused on our second Play is the Way concept: Be brave – participate to progress. We use these concepts through-out the school to anchor and guide social-emotional development. 

A highlight of the week was welcoming our buddies into the classroom to help create personalised name displays for our entryway. We’d love you to pop in and take a look at these collaborative creations.  

Next week in Literacy, we will meet two more characters that Milo invites to his surprise birthday party and will further explore rhyming words. In Maths, we will continue learning about time and sequencing daily classroom routines. In BQT, we will explore our family communities, noting that these are as unique as the individuals in our class communities.  

Have a lovely weekend,  

Laura and Nicole

Hola Parents and Carers of Grade 1 and 2! 

This week, our students have started good routines and habits, such as participating in spelling groups and practising reading daily for their books to be sent out next week in week four.

During Literacy, we have continued reading our story The Enchanted Wood and found out some of the exciting things that the three main characters have been up to in the book. One of the things that the characters did was meet “Moon-Face”. Moon-Face is someone who lives in the Enchanted Wood who loves Toffee! This week we have also created a class acknowledgement of country. Students got to design their own feathers which will be placed on our own acknowledgement of country display.

In numeracy, we have been exploring place value. Students have been playing different place value games which have required them to identify numbers in the tens and one’s places. One of the highlights for students was playing “Battle”. This is where they get two cards and try to make the highest number out of these cards. We have also done activities that have required students to practice their recognition of two-digit numbers on a number line and hundreds chart.

While completing wellbeing sessions this week we have started with playing Islands, which is part of the Wilson Games. We have also been looking at what it takes to be brave and participate to progress as part of our school philosophy. We read a story called Giraffes Can’t Dance by Giles Andreae, and students drew a Giraffe and put in a speech bubble ways that they can be brave.  

Next week, we will continue reading The Enchanted Wood and we'll look at place value and representing hundreds, tens and ones. In wellbeing next week, we will be looking at pursuing personal best, as part of our Play is the Way Life Raft lessons. Don’t forget, reading starts next week! 

Have a great weekend! 

Lauren, Claire, Sarah and Peter

This week in the Ironbark building, our classes have continued to embed and practice new routines that will help us to be productive. In Maths, we have continued with our focus on place value, working with six-digit numbers to expand, regroup and rename numbers. In Literacy, we have been reading Kensuke’s Kingdom by Michael Morpurgo. Students have been exploring how to use adjectives to make their writing more descriptive and have begun to describe a character for their own adventure tale. In Wellbeing, classes have discussed our Play Is The Way concepts and collaboratively developed classroom agreements, setting out the behaviours and attitudes that will be expected in their class. 

We ended the week with the house swimming carnival, where students participated in swimming and water events for house points. It was great, as always, to see so many of our students having a go, doing their best and supporting their teammates.

Next week, in Maths, we will look at addition and subtraction, building on the place value, renaming and regrouping skills that we have developed over the past two weeks. In Literacy, we will continue to read Kensuke’s Kingdom and further develop our own stories. Spelling will continue to explore the different vowel sounds and codes to match. In Wellbeing, we consider the 'Play Is The Way' concept – "Pursue your personal best, no matter who you work with." 

Have a great weekend everyone.

The weeks are certainly flying by, with Week 3 already coming and going. 

This week, we held our elections for SRC and House Captain. Well done to all students who bravely put themselves forward and delivered a speech. It’s an exciting opportunity and, for many, a nervous experience. We are proud of the confidence and leadership shown. 

During Wellbeing, we’ve continued exploring our Play Is The Way program, supporting students to become empathetic, independent, self-managing and self-motivated learners. While playing the game Snake, students navigate an obstacle course together, helping and encouraging teammates while practising resilience and self-regulation skills.

We have also been completing and publishing our personal Acknowledgements of Country. Here is Evie’s thoughtful contribution.

Swimming Grade 3-6 

Gr 3-6 Swimming Lessons continue on Mondays in February at the Castlemaine Outdoor Pool. Please remember your sunsmart swimming top. Parents and carers are required to walk the class to the outdoor pool and back – please contact your class teacher if you can help. Monday, 23rd February will be our water safety day and your child can bring additional clothing to wear over their bathers on this date. We also encourage students to go without their goggles on this day to simulate scenarios that might happen when we’re not expecting or prepared to enter the water.

Class schedule: 

3/4S depart 11:00, class 11:30, return 12:30 

3/4L depart 11:35, class 12:05, return 1:00 

3/4JC depart 12:00, class 12:30, return 1:30 

5/6R depart 12:40, class 1:05, return 2:00 

5/6PS depart 1:05, class 1:30, return 2:30 

5/6BN depart 1:40, class 2:05, return 3:00 

5/6HT depart 2:05, class 2:30, return 3:25 

House Swimming Carnival for all Gr 3-6 students was today – report and pics next week.

(Goldfields Division Swimming for our select 10-12 year old students is on Friday 27th February.) 

School Sport Victoria Team Vic State Representative Teams 

The Team Vic representative program provides a development platform for Victoria’s emerging student athletes to participate in the annual School Sport Australia Championships. School Sport Victoria coordinates the selection process for Team Vic teams in partnership with relevant state sporting organisations which is delivered by a network of more than 140+ Team Vic Officials. Depending on the sport and team, the selection process involves: State trial(s), progressive or conference model, results from event(s), or based on rankings/results or talent identification. For further information and sports registration dates please see https://www.ssv.vic.edu.au/team-vic.

Please note that, for some sports, the registration closing date is February or March.

Castlemaine Gift Athletics 

Present the flyer below in the Community Noticeboard for free adult entry with a junior runner. There’s also a handful of flyer hard copies on the school office foyer table – please help yourself. 

Sunday 22nd February at Camp Reserve. Junior sprint heats for 5-13 year-olds begin at 10am. Turn up on the day. All junior runners receive some giveaways. The handicap final for junior heat winners will be on in the afternoon.

Prep L

Marli M - for the effort you put into painting your beautiful Ally alligator and the pride you showed in your work.
Ezra J - for always looking out for others and taking care of friends when they need help.

Prep N

Pamela H - for the brave way you arrive each day with a big smile and ready to learn.
Ari W - for showing a wonderful positive attitude to learning in all classroom tasks.

1/2 CS

Will E - for the enthusiastic way you aproach challenges in Maths.
Nala L - for the kind and thoughtful way you supported a table partner.

1/2 E

Amelie E - for the kind and caring way you always listen respectfully and demonstrate the Golden Rule.
Minka D - for your enthusiasm and eagerness to challenge and extend yourself in Maths this week.

1/2 S

Gloria A - for being thoughtful by including others in maths games.
Dallas E - for the engagment you have shown during literacy this week.

3/4 J

Xavier B - for having the strength to persevere with a challenging task.
Pranavi K - for showing strength by seeking teacher support when you needed help.

3/4 L

Nash E - for your exceptional organisational skills and consistently being one of the first ready for learning.
Evie M - for your exceptional manners and always taking the time to say goodbye to your teacher.

3/4 S

Leo J - for the consistent way you support your friend, no matter what it takes.
Clancy K - for the courage and commitment you've shown to your learning when recording your SRC speech at home.

5/6 BN

Mathilde T - for persisting through challenges to produce your best work.
Elijah A - for the quiet and thoughtful way you reach out to help your classmates and teachers.

5/6 HT

Sadie B - for courageous efforts during our swimming program.
Freddie A - for your focus and effort during class discussions and your reflections during our history unit.

5/6 PS

Evie R - for encouraging your peers to be brave and have faith in themselves.
Quinlyn N - for being brave and going for SRC.

5/6 R

James C - for starting the year strong and having the courage to make new friends.
Mary C - for your engagement in class and contributions during sharing time.

Indonesian

Ava M - for your focused and calm approach to your work when creating a poster for the VILTA competition.

Community Noticeboard