School Council

School Council @ Chilwell PS

To email the School Council: Tony.Lee2@education.vic.gov.au

 

What is the role of school council?

All government schools in Victoria have a school council, which is a legal entity in its own right. School councils operate under the framework of the Education and Training Reform Act 2006 and The Education Regulations 2007.

• Establish the broad direction and vision of the school within the school’s community

• Develop and monitor the school strategic plan 2020 – 2024 Chilwell Primary School Strategic Plan  and Annual Implementation Plan 

• Develop, review and update school policies

• Develop, review and monitor the Student Code of Conduct and the School Dress Code

• Raise funds for school related purposes

• Approve the annual budget and monitor expenditure

• Help to maintain the school’s grounds and facilities

• Enter into contracts (e.g. cleaning, construction work)

• Report annually to the school community and to Department of Education and Training.

• Stimulate interest in the school generally

If you would like to know more about the process of school council please make contact with any of our School Council representatives.

Do you know who your members of the Chilwell School Council are and how to contact them?

There are a number of ways to raise any ideas, concerns, etc. within the school community. One of these avenues is your School Council.  You can approach any of the School Council Representatives. Ways you can contact your Representative’s include; face to face contact at school or emailing via the school council email address.  The matters raised can be taken by your Representative to the next School Council meeting.

Current Council Members

President: Tony Lee

Tony Tony Lee 219x300is the father of Diana (Grade 5) and past student David. He is a very proud member of the school community and contributor of the running of Chilwell Primary school. He works as a project manager for nbn and enjoys cycling in his free time.

 

 

Vice President:  David Meade

Treasurer:  David Meade

DM David has two Children attending Chilwell PS, one in grade five and one in grade 3.  He joined school council a number of years ago and enjoys being able to positively contribute to the school community. He works for the Victorian Department of Health and outside of work coaches basketball and follows the Hawthorn football club.

 

 

Parent Representatives:  Domhnall McInerney,  Evan Williams, Jo Cook, Nicky Muxworthy, Emma Lawrie and Kristy George

Domhnall McInerney 2 274x300Domhnall has two children attending Chilwell in prep and grade one. He joined the council with the aim to help the school and make positive decisions that ultimately help the students.  Domhnall moved to Australia after Uni, lived in Sydney for 15 years and has been living in Geelong just over a year.  Domhnall works for the ABC in the Product and Technology division as a Program Manager. He is sports fanatic, plays soccer for Barwon soccer club and follows Aston Villa in the EPL. He is also a Sydney Swans fan.

 

Evan Williams 217x300Evan has two children at Chilwell, a son in grade 4 and a daughter in grade 3.  Originally from the eastern suburbs of Melbourne and moved to Geelong to be closer to family.  Evan really enjoys living in Geelong – it’s a city, but with a more relaxed way of life. He worked at Ford in Geelong for about 7 years and was involved with the 4WD electronic features of the current Ranger and Everest where he had many a cold day sitting in a prototype vehicle at the proving ground in Lara amongst the warning beeps and alarms of a not-yet-working vehicle.  Evan has begun his second term on the Chilwell school council and is looking forward to making our school even better for the students, staff, and the wider community.

 

Jo CookJo is delighted to be part of the School Council again this year. Her youngest son, Daniel is in Grade 6 and his brother, Matthew graduated from Chilwell in 2018.   Jo has worked in the tertiary and vocational education sector for over 20 years, leading a broad range of areas related to student experience including communications, transition, students at risk, international student support, event planning and primary prevention.  She is currently working as a Project Manager, Student Experience at The Gordon TAFE. With her children getting older, she is cherishing every moment, enjoying the simple things like playing games or getting out in nature. In recent years, Jo has also been working with others in the local community members to set up a Community Garden at Claremont Park.

Nicky Muxworthy 300x288

Nicky has a daughter in Grade 6 at Chilwell and 2023 is their second year at the school.  Nicky has had extensive experience on school councils and parent associations both here at Chilwell but also at the Lorne P-12 College and The Geelong College.  Nicky loves “giving back” to the community through her volunteer work and enjoys meeting the other volunteering parents and getting easy access to the school’s leadership team.

 

Kristy George 2 197x300

Kristy has two children at Chilwell Primary in grades 4 and 6 and has been a School Council member since 2022. Kristy and her family moved to Geelong six years ago and are grateful for the warm and friendly welcoming received from the Chilwell community. They now have many wonderful friendships in both of their children’s grades.  Kristy works in Business Development at Energy Australia, mainly focusing on renewable energy. When not working, she loves to catch up with family & friends, watching kids sport, gardening, and visiting her hometown Deniliquin.

 

Emma Purdue 2 237x300Emma, with husband Hugo, is the parent of Elsie Lawrie (grade 2) and Samson Lawrie (grade prep) at Chilwell Primary. Youngest daughter Matilda is waiting in the wings to start school in 2025. Outside of work and parenting, Emma enjoys reading books, practising yoga, going to the beach, and eating good food – preferably that somebody else has prepared and with a nice glass of wine.  Professionally, Emma is a lawyer and partner of a national law firm in the area of workplace relations and safety.  2023 will be Emma’s first year on the school council. She previously served on the board of the Geelong Children’s Centre

 

 

DET Staff Representatives:

Principal: Meg Bone

Meg Bone 204x300

Meg joined the Chilwell community as principal in Sept 2022.  She was principal in her previous role in Geelong for 7 and a half years prior to working in the Western Suburbs for 10 and London for 5 years.  Although Meg has a strong curriculum knowledge leading and driving innovation and change within learning and achievement, her passion lies around inclusive practices within schools and community; ensuring all students have every opportunity to achieve success. Meg is passionate about building capacity of staff, students, and parents around understanding of individuals, celebrating that we are all unique and creating a community that is welcoming and inclusive of all. Meg has also led multiple major works projects, including school modernisation projects, Inclusive schools’ funds, and grants.

Assistant Principal: Sarah Jeffreys

SJ00 200x300Sarah has been lucky to be a member of the Chilwell PS staff since 2011. Initially, in a classroom, before commencing a Leading Teacher role (Literacy) and now the Assistant Principal.
She loves the whole school community, especially the students who demonstrate our values of kindness, respect, persistence, and resilience to a high standard. Prior to teaching, Sarah was a registered nurse. Initially a psychiatric nurse before specialising in anaesthetics/recovery. Away from school, she enjoys watching her children play their chosen sports and loves the performing arts, especially musicals. Sarah looks forward to serving on the School Council to work collaboratively with parents to further develop our school, the facilities and the learning opportunities and outcomes for      our students.

Staff Representative: Louisa Blamires

Louisa BlamiresLouisa is a Learning Specialist at Chilwell, working with teachers to build capacity through curriculum leadership, leading the Coaching and Learning Walks program.  One of her key roles as Learning Specialist is also to work with small groups of students through the Tutor Learning Initiative Program.  She thoroughly enjoys working with students, teachers, and families to build a learning environment where challenges are readily accepted, and new learning is experienced with a growth mindset and sense of self belief.  Louisa has two children that attend Chilwell, Nina in Grade 3, and Dionne in Grade 6.  Louisa looks forward to working with School Council members this year to continue building strong parent and community partnerships.

Sub Committee Member:  Sara Brennan

SB00 200x300

Sara is the Chilwell Business Manager and has been with the Education Department for 9 years.  Prior to this Sara worked in finance at Target Head Office.  Sara enjoys walking, travelling, spending time with her family and following the Geelong Cats.  Sara is passionate about working with staff, parents and the school community to further develop our school.

 

 School Council Sub-Committees 

School Council has a range of Subcommittees that School Councillors may lead or be a part of. We would also encourage other parents and families who want to help out, contribute and improve the school, to contact the various members of the committee if interested. The more the merrier! Please email us on Tony.Lee2@education.vic.gov.au if you are interested in joining any of these committees at any time!

The School Council Sub-Committees:

Each sub-committee reports to School Council making recommendations within their area of responsibility.    All members of the School Council are expected to join a sub-committee which generally meet twice each term prior to School Council meetings.

  1. Finance and Fundraising  – meets prior to each School Council Meeting.  The scope of this committee covers the preparation of an annual budget, monitoring of expenditure, administration of school funds and the review and co-ordination of fundraising activities.  Meetings are held at time convenient to members and are open to all interested people either as a source of information or as an active participant.  Committee members are David Meade, Meg Bone, Sara Brennan, Louisa Blamires, Kristy George and Nicola Muxworthy.
  1. Facilities. Responsible for the maintenance of the grounds and buildings keeping them in a safe and attractive condition, sometimes through working bees.  As well the sub-committee carries out planning for projects of improvements and works closely with the Finance Committee in monitoring the use of funds in School Council reserves.  Committee members are Domhnall McInerney, Evan Williams, Jo Cook, Emma Purdue and Sarah Jeffreys.