Chatham Newsletter Issue 25—17th August 2017 chatham.ps@edumail.vic.gov.au www.chathamps.vic.edu.au Phone: 9830 1933

FROM THE PRINCIPAL’S DESK GREAT NEWS! Thanks to the community support of our Parents Club fundraising efforts, together with the efforts of Ms Orr and Mrs Lane last term, School Council approved the installation of our new playground this week! The bad news is that it will take 10 weeks to install! There will be elements suitable for all age groups and it will replace the old equipment next to the shed. This will be welcome addition to the facilities at Chatham and I know our kids will love it! STUDENT ACHEIVEMENT: Max Goold (5SM) competed in the recent Victorian Time Trial and Road Race Championships which were held in Glenrowen on August 5th and 6th. The weather was not kind - it was cold, rainy, windy and only 6 degrees on both days during the races! The first race was the Time Trial, and each rider started one minute apart, Max was able to catch and overtake the rider in front, and was the first placed Victorian with the fastest time. On the Sunday he competed in the Road Race and rode away from the pack with another rider and was again the first Victorian to cross the line. He was awarded 2 gold medals and is the current Under 11’s Victorian Time Trial and Road Race Champion! Max will be competing in the upcoming Victorian Inter School Road Cycling Championships and will represent Chatham Primary School. He is really hop-ing for a good result and is proud to be representing Chatham Primary! ENROL NOW FOR 2018 We are continuing to take enrolments for Prep in 2018. If you have a child who will be starting school in 2018, please collect an enrolment form from the school office ASAP so that we can continue our planning for 2018. Continued on Page 2….

FROM THE PRINCIPAL’S DESK PAGE 2 DOGS IN THE PLAYGROUND I am so pleased to see that Chatham is one of the few schools still allowing dogs in the grounds before and after school. They help create a family friendly environment and they are great for kids who don’t have a dog or pet at home. However, please be mindful that not all children are comfortable around dogs and that dogs that jump or growl can scare some of our students. Obviously all dogs must be on a lead at all times and held by a parent (not a student). I have noticed that some parents are leaving their dogs unattended and tied up in the grounds while they go into the classrooms. I would not like to be the owner of a dog that bit a child and caused the banning of dogs from our grounds. Most schools have now banned dogs from playgrounds and I would not like to be put in the position of having to do that here! (My dogs, Buddy and little Lily, not paying much attention to the footy match going on behind them!) WHAT I’VE BEEN UP TO THIS WEEK:

Year 5 have moved back into their classrooms. Year 4MB not too far away!

I signed off on the new playground as you have read.

I attended my first School Council meeting and was very impressed with the manner in which it was run. Our new presi-dent, Liz Walker and the council, are to be commended for their obvious care and passion that they show for our school.

Our students have attended the State School’s Spectacular rehearsal and Hooptime competitions.

The final Parent Information Session was extremely well attended and provided parents further opportunity to ask and clarify any query they had about our school. A reminder that the correct place to gain the latest and most accurate in-formation about Chatham is from my office, so please feel free to make a time to drop in for a coffee and chat anytime.

I continued to meet with members of our community who organise and run various activities or committees at Chat-ham. I thank all our parent volunteers for all their hard work. It doesn’t go unnoticed and it is very much acknowledged and appreciated.

WORKING BEES Our Working Bee Schedule is available for the remainder of 2017. We are doing things a little differently to encourage more parents to get involved. We are rotating the day and time around and identifying key projects/tasks for each working bee to ensure we are well organised and have all the tools and skills that we need for an enjoyable and productive volunteering effort. Working Bee Schedule 2017

Please sign up for at least one Working Bee before the end of the year. It is a terrific way to meet new parents and contrib-ute to the school community. We would like as many parents as possible to sign up for 1 working bee for 3 hours OR you can sign up for 2 Working Bees for 1.5 hours each instead.

You can sign up online by clicking on the link which will be provided asap or in person on a manual sign up sheet at the office. We are also organising sausage sizzles for these working bees. However they will only go ahead if we have sufficient interest so please indicate when you sign up if you are able to hang about for 30 mins or so at the end of the Working Bee for a Ben the Butcher snag! Have a great weekend!

ROD MCKINLAY - ACTING PRINCIPAL

Date Time Projects Sausage sizzle

Tuesday 22nd August 3:30pm – 5:30pm Filling skip bins/Clearing storage areas No

Sunday 27th August 2:00pm – 5:00pm Clearing Easement/ Filling Skip Bins/Pruning and general clean up

Yes

Saturday 16th September 2:00pm – 5:00pm Tree Planting with MASH Rotary Koori Garden

Yes

Saturday 21st October

9:00am – 12:00pm Chicken Run and general clean up Yes

Sunday 19th November

2:00pm – 5:00pm General clean up Yes

This week’s newsletter art is brought to you by Maia Cusdin from Prep SJ.

Dates for the diary Thursday 17th august year 3 billy cart incursion Monday 21st august book week Story time for Prospective Prep students 9:15am Tuesday 22nd august year 2 robotics incursion Year 6 acmi excursion Wednesday 23rd August Book Week Parade 9:10am to 9:40am Thursday 24th August House Athletics—Year 3 to 6 only Sunday 27th August Whole School Working Bee 2pm to 5pm Monday 28th August Parents’ Club meeting @ 9:10am in the library Tuesday 29th August Year 6 Graffiti Incursion 11:30am to 12:15pm Thursday 31st August Fathers’ Day breakfast Friday 1st September Fathers’ Day stall Thursday 7th September Footy Day free Dress and hot dog lunch Story time for Prospective Prep students 9:15am Saturday 9th September Kids Movie Night—school hall Monday 11th September Intensive Swimming Program commences School Council @ 7:00pm Tuesday 12th September District Athletics Carnival Saturday 16th September Chatham/MASH Rotary Club tree planting/working bee State School Spectacular Monday 18th September Parents’ Club Meeting @ 9:10am in the library Thursday 21st September Last day of swimming Friday 22nd September Last day of term—school finishes at 2:30pm Monday 9th October First day of Term 4 Thursday 12th October Boroondara Council bird workshop in the hall @ 7pm Walkathon (NOTE CHANGE OF DATE) Monday 16th October Year 3 Excursion to Werribee Mansion Tuesday 17th October Prep Excursion to Chesterfield Farm Saturday 21st October Afternoon Whole School Working bee 2pm to 5pm Monday 23rd October School Council Wednesday 25th October Year 2 Excursion to Melbourne Zoo Monday 30th October Parents’ Club Meeting @ 9:10am in the library

RENOVATING NEXT YEAR? NEED TO MOVE OUT FOR A

WHILE?

Large fully furnished Edwardian family home in Canterbury avail-able to rent for 5 months in 2018 (from July - November). Contact Anna on annabadcock@gmail.com

THREE BEAUTIFUL HENS for sale $10 each to a loving home. These hens, known as "Denim Hens" are derived from a herit-age, Andalusian breed. Named Rosie, Chrissy and Nugget, they are 2.5 years old, in perfect health and collectively produce 2-3 lovely white eggs per day when happy and settled. They're just about to come into lay after their annual Winter molt. If you are interested and can provide them with a happy home, please call Deb (0499725253) Will not separate and can deliver to Eastern suburbs, pref Sur-rey Hills community.

Backyard Biodiversity event - join Melbourne's Powerful Owl project Have you heard or seen a Powerful Owl? Come along and hear Dr Caroline Wilson from Bird-Life Australia speak about the Powerful Owl and other amazing nocturnal birds found in Mel-bourne's suburbs. Find out how you can take part in the Powerful Owl citizen science project. Thanks to Nick Bradsworth for the stunning Powerful Owl image. Where: Chatham Primary School Hall When: 7pm, Thursday 12 October Light refreshments will be provided. To book, please vis-it Eventbrite