FUNDRAISING BAKERY LUNCH ORDER DATES
- Thursday 10th February (Orders closing on 7th February, 3:00pm)
- Thursday 24th February (Orders closing on 21st February, 3:00pm)
- Thursday 10th March (Orders closing on 7th March, 3:00pm)
- Thursday 24th March (Orders closing on 21st March, 3:00pm)
- Thursday 7th April (Orders closing on 4th April, 3:00pm)
2022 TERM DATES
- Term 1: 28th January (Students start 31 January) - 8th April (2:30pm finish)
- Term 2: 26th April - 24th June (2:30pm finish)
- Term 3: 11th July - 16th September (2:30pm finish)
- Term 4: 3rd October - 20th December (1:30pm finish)
2022 SCHOOL CAMP DATES
- Year 3: Arrabri Lodge Camp - Monday 8th August to Wednesday 10th August
- Year 4: Anglesea Recreation Camp - Wednesday 18th May to Friday 20th May
- Year 5: Lady Northcote Recreation Camp - Tuesday 4th October to Friday 7th October
- Year 6: Canberra Camp - Monday 6th June to Friday 10th June
WELCOME A very warm welcome back, and first time welcome, to current and new Viewbank PS community members! Once again the spectre of Covid remains, but the fervent wish of all is the steady return to normal and we will endeavour to manage the school year as efficiently (and as flexibly) as possible.
We welcomed 80 new Prep/Foundation students at Viewbank PS on Monday, along with more than 30 students and their families commencing at different grade levels across the school. We trust your stay with us will be a long and productive one.
We welcome Tayla Mason (Grade 2T) and Renee Deeth (Grade 1R) to our school as new appointments, and welcome back Meredith Kearney (Grade 4NK) and Lisa May (STEM) after periods of leave.
As always, Term 1 offers a number of highlights with ‘Getting To Know You’ interviews, Information Nights (virtual), School Swimming Trials, Foundation Family Welcome Night, Junior School Council Elections, School Council Elections, House Athletics and more. Our newly appointed school captains will receive their badges at open air assemblies in the first few weeks and parents of students receiving badges will receive invites to attend these important presentations. We encourage you to keep informed by reading the newsletter religiously each week, bookmarking and visiting Compass and the school’s website frequently and asking any questions if still in doubt by contacting the General Office. A brief summary of the latest Operational Guidelines appears later in this newsletter, and these guidelines issued by the Department Of Education and Training will continue to frame arrangements at our school whilst the pandemic remains.
As we navigate our way through the year, we encourage you to ‘get involved’ in any way you can . Initially you can become involved in membership of any of the many sub-committees we have (Parents and Friends, Buildings and Grounds, Education, Engagement), membership of School Council (I will be calling for nominations in next week’s newsletter!), submitting an expression of interest to attend camps as a parent helper, attending working bees, being a ‘reading’ parent, and more. Clearly, some of these events and activities are stymied just at the moment by the current restrictions, but optimistically they will happen in due course.
COVID RESTRICTIONS AND DET/LOCAL OPERATIONAL GUIDELINES I wrote this piece last year at this time and much of the advice offered then continues to apply, at least for the month of February.
We will continue to need to adapt, modify or defer higher-risk activities. For example, until further notice, assemblies will be held outside for half of the school at a time (e.g. Foundation to Grade2, then Grade 3 to 6). You will be invited to attend if your child is to receive an award or some other recognition, but otherwise for the month of February these will not be open for parental attendance.
You will have read in a Compass post last Friday of our rules on dropping off in the morning (and not coming on site), and a limitation to just the Tiger Turf and preferably the oval as pick up points at the end of the day if you must come on site. Physical distancing will be enforced.
The same guidance will apply to our 2022 Information Nights and Getting To Know You Interviews which means that these will be held remotely, or via information disseminated through Compass or email. Parents wishing to visit the school office, or seek an interview or conversation will need to call ahead or email and book an appointment time. At this stage, as much as we love parent helpers, there is no provision for this involvement until the guidelines are relaxed further. We ask that parents do not enter the school buildings, unless approval has been given.
Positive cases will happen as we return to school, and it is important that these are advised to us as soon as possible so that we can then advise those who may have come into contact to be extra vigilant in monitoring for symptons, and to continue with testing regimes with The Rapid Antigen tests provided.
BUILDING WORKS 2022 It is anticipated that our Building Works will commence by July this year, and we remain on schedule for this. We are now at the stage of finalising designs before drawings are prepared and the tender process commences. The first stage involves the demolition of the current Art/Japanese room and the installation of 8 classrooms in two double storey classrooms in its place. Our Grade 2 and 3 students will move into those buildings upon completion. The second stage will be the relocation of the three double room portables on the Nevin Parade side of the school to the Staff Car Park/vacant land in the North west corner of the school and then the building of a new administration block, with this stage due to commence in the second half of 2022. There will naturally be an impact on school operations, especially traffic flow and parking, and arrangements for these will be communicated well in advance.
EMAILING STAFF AND ENHANCING COMMUNICATION With today’s newsletter you will find a copy of our emailing staff policy. Staff education email addresses will be provided to parents to assist with communication, but it is extremely important that this communication occurs within the framework of the parameters of the policy. Please read this policy, and use this form of communication only for the purposes and reasons intended and expressed.
SCHOOL COUNCIL The first School Council meeting for the year, and the last for this current School Council, will be held remotely via WebEx on Tuesday, February 8 from 7.00pm. To all Council members, all paperwork will hopefully be emailed out by tomorrow and also be accessible from our shared Google drive.
YARD SUPERVISION You will be aware that all of our staff are timetabled on for yard duty supervision at various times throughout the day. Supervision hours extend from 8.50am through to 3.40pm. Outside of those hours, if you cannot care for your child, we have an exemplary Out Of School Hours Care program (OSH Club) that can cater extremely well for your child’s supervision. At morning recess (11.00am-11.30am), there are 4 teachers on yard duty at any time proudly wearing that much sought after fashion accessory (the fluoro vest!!) for easy recognition by our students. Similarly at lunch time (1.10pm – 2.00pm) there are 4 teachers on duty. At least for the first four weeks of 2022, the Principal Class and education Support staff members will be at each of the entrance gates into the school grounds to meet and greet our students and to enhance the ‘please just drop off your child in the mornings’ protocol referenced earlier. In the afternoon there will be two staff members on duty to ensure our school grounds are cleared by 3.45pm and to enhance Covid-safety.
STAFF CAR PARK A reminder that the school property on the Northern side of the turning circle is the designated staff car park, and it is not to be used for parent car parking. Access in and out is one- way, and parents flaunting this rule, particularly at the busy pick up and drop off times, compromise the safety of our students and others. Please adhere to this request!
MOBILE PHONE POLICY Just a reminder of our school’s mobile phone policy. Mobile phones and any device that may connect to or have a similar functionality to a mobile phone such as a smart watch, must not be used at Viewbank Primary School during school hours, including lunchtime and recess, unless an exception has been granted. Mobile phones owned by students at Viewbank Primary School are considered valuable items and are brought to school at the owner’s (student’s or parent/carer’s) risk. Students are encouraged not to bring a mobile phone to school unless there is a compelling reason to do so. Where students bring a mobile phone to school, Viewbank Primary School will provide secure storage. Secure storage is storage that cannot be readily accessed by those without permission to do so. At Viewbank Primary School students are required to store their phones. These should be handed in to the school administration office to be placed in a lockable cupboard. Classroom teachers will assist in ensuring this policy is enforced. Students who use their personal mobile phones inappropriately at Viewbank Primary School may be issued with consequences consistent with our school’s existing Student Wellbeing and Engagement Policy.
NOTICES FOR APPROVAL Each year we distribute information via Compass seeking blanket permission for students to undertake a range of activities – for example, permission to undertake local excursions within walking distance of the school, permission to publish photographs in the newsletter and so on. If you did not complete your permissions online can you please contact the office within the next week.
GETTING TO KNOW YOU INTERVIEWS AND INFORMATION NIGHT – HELD REMOTELY Given the current directions from the Department Of Education And Training, both of these events will be held online this year. Please refer to Patrick Walsh’s newsletter piece this week for all of the details.
Kind regards,
Bill Kersing
Principal
Welcome to all of our new and returning students and families.
I hope you all had a safe and relaxing holiday break. It was certainly lovely to enjoy some down time and recharge the batteries ready for a productive school year.
After all the disruption our students have had over recent years, it was amazing to see how quickly and happily they all settled into class yesterday. A true indication of the resilience these children have developed.
Congratulations to all our new Foundation students who finally got to put on their uniform and come to school. I’m sure they will have lots to tell you each day as they settle in at Viewbank.
As Assistant Principal, I have numerous roles with my major responsibility being Welfare.
If you have any concerns regarding your child’s wellbeing, mental health or progress please speak with your child’s teacher in the first instant (personally or via email) and/or contact me. There are many avenues for support if we know there is a concern.
The Department of Education provides many relevant Parent and Carer resources to assist with student mental health and well-being which you can access online, and I often share in the newsletter.
Tips to support your child’s health and wellbeing
Tips and resources available for parents and carers to support their child’s mental and physical health and wellbeing.
- Looking after your child’s wellbeing
- Looking after your child’s mental health
- Wellbeing activities for parents of primary school students
- Wellbeing activities for parents of secondary students
Raising Learners Podcast Series
The department has partnered with the Raising Children Network on a series of podcasts providing expert advice and information to parents and carers on a range of health and wellbeing topics.
Topics include how to connect with your child’s school and community, how to best support your child’s learning, what to expect for VCE and VCAL students and how to keep your child safe online.
If looking after yourself is challenging and you have concerns about how you are coping, support is available. Talk to someone you trust, contact your general practitioner (GP), a counsellor or psychologist or visit a hospital emergency department. You can also access external help through: Parentline, Lifeline, Beyond Blue
Information and resources
Talking to your child about coronavirus (COVID-19)
Advice on having a safe and reassuring conversation about coronavirus (COVID-19), available in a range of community languages.
Wearing Hats at School Just a reminder ALL students must wear a school approved hat at school each day.
As outlined in our school Sunsmart Policy (available on the school website)
- From mid-August to 30 April, all students must wear a sun protective hat that shades the face, neck and ears for all outdoor activities. Hats may also be worn for all outdoor activities outside of the August to April time period, by parent or student choice.
- A ‘No Hat, No Play’ rule will be enforced from mid August to the end of April. Students without hats will be restricted to playing in designated shaded areas during scheduled recess breaks. During PE and sport lessons or during excursions a hat may be provided by the school for the duration of the activity if you child does not have their own.
School Policy Information School policies are developed in line with Department guidelines and the community’s educational aspirations for its children. Policies are statements of purpose, which are implemented on School Council’s behalf to achieve many of the objectives stated in our School Strategic Plan as well as areas, which need to be addressed to ensure our programs and practices are followed in accordance with the needs of the community in mind.
A range of operational, curriculum and health and wellbeing policies are available on our school website, providing detailed information about how the policy topic is implemented at our school. All policies are reviewed and updated on a cyclical basis.
Annual Privacy Reminder Our school collects, uses, discloses and stores student and parent personal information for standard school functions or where permitted by law, as stated in the Schools’ Privacy Policy.
Please take time to remind yourself of our school’s collection notice, found on our website.
For more information about privacy, refer to: Schools’ Privacy Policy — information for parents. This information is also available in nine community languages:
- Amharic
- Arabic
- Dari
- Gujarati
- Mandarin
- Somali
- Sudanese
- Turkish
- Urdu
- Vietnamese.
I very much look forward to catching up with you as the term progresses.
Be kind and caring
Mrs Nicholls
Get To Know You Interviews You can now access Compass to book your child’s 2022 ‘Get To Know You Interview’ time. Due to the requirement to have meetings remotely, these will be held via WebEx on Tuesday 15th February and Thursday 17th February.
These 10-minute meetings are an excellent opportunity for you to share important information regarding your child, information that will help the classroom teacher best support them to ensure that they can succeed after a challenging 2021. As it is very early in the year, the teacher will be able to provide information on how your child has settled into their 2022 class, as well as some very preliminary information regarding initial academic performance. A comprehensive report and interview regarding academic and social progress will be offered mid-year.
The booking system will close to further bookings on Monday 7th February at 12pm. If you have any difficulties booking a time, feel free to contact the Office (94591512 or viewbank.ps@education.vic.gov.au).
Staff will email you a WebEx link to access the meeting by Friday the 11th February at 5pm.
Viewbank families who have children in Foundation G (Miss Grant) or 2T (Miss Mason), please ensure that you check their times carefully as there are some different options available.
Viewbank families who have children in 1SW (Mrs Sargeant and Ms Walker) and 4NK (Mrs Noakes and Mrs Kearney), both teachers for each grade will be in attendance for most, if not all, meetings offered during the 2 sessions.
I would like to thank the teachers for giving up their evenings with their families and other commitments on these nights. Our staff do this because they recognise the importance of a strong school-home relationship, and that they value your input. We are fortunate to have such committed teachers and support staff at Viewbank PS!
Air Purifiers We have distributed the Department of Education and Training (DET) provided air purifiers around the school, in line with DET guidelines. These, and adequate air flow, are a welcome addition to ensure the best possible environment for our students and staff.
Swimming Trials For our students in Grades 3 to 6, the Viewbank Primary School Swimming Trials are scheduled to be held on Friday 4th February at WaterMarc in Greensborough. All families with children in Years 3-6 have received information about this already. For those of you with children who are participating, please ensure you read all the information carefully. We have had to implement a number of Covid Safe protocols to ensure we can still conduct this event. These have been outlined in the permission and payment notice.
Student accident insurance, ambulance cover arrangements and private property brought to school Please be aware, the Department does not provide personal accident insurance or ambulance cover for students. Parents/carers of students, who do not have student accident insurance/ambulance cover, are responsible for paying the cost of medical treatment for injured students, including the cost of ambulance attendance or transport as well as any other transport costs.
Private property brought to school by students, staff or visitors is not insured and the Department does not accept any responsibility for any loss or damage. This can include mobile phones, ‘wearables’, calculators, toys, sporting equipment and cars parked on school premises. As the Department does not hold insurance for personal property brought to schools and has no capacity to pay for any loss or damage to such property, students and staff are discouraged from bringing any unnecessary or particularly valuable items to school.
Parents/carers can purchase insurance policies from commercial insurers.
Patrick
Face Masks Please remember to provide masks for your children as the school only has a limited number of disposal masks available.
2022 Parent Payment Arrangements – School Contributions I would like to thank all the families who have thus far made Curriculum Contributions & Other Contributions.
Extra-Curricular Items & Activities & Extra Curricular Camps/Excursions/Activities - ENHANCING AND BROADENING THE STUDENT EXPERIENCE The school provides camps, excursions, incursions and other activities that enhance or broaden the schooling experience and these are provided on a user-pays basis. Families will be invoiced for these activities via Compass and run on a user-pays basis. We have support for families facing financial hardship to attend these activities.
Camps, Sports and Excursions Fund (CSEF) The Camps, Sports and Excursions Fund helps eligible families to cover the costs of school trips, camps and sporting activities.
If you have a valid means-tested concession card, such as a Veterans Affairs Gold Card, Centrelink Health Care Card or Pensioner Concession Card, or are a temporary foster parent, you may be eligible. There is also a special consideration category for asylum seeker and refugee families.
Payment amounts this year are $125 for eligible primary school students. Payments are made direct to the school to use towards expenses relating to camps, excursions and sporting activities for the benefit of your child.
It is important that funding made available in 2022 supports students to participate in school trips, camps and sporting activities this year rather than being held for future years. This funding can also be used in conjunction with any funding accrued from previous years. Please note these activities will only take place if they meet COVIDSafe requirements.
If you applied for CSEF through our school last year, you do not need to complete an application form this year, unless there has been a change in your family circumstances.
If you would like to apply for the first time, please complete the attached application form and return to the office with a copy of your card.
You can also find out more about the program and eligibility, on the Department of Education and Training’s Camps, Sports and Excursions Fund web page.
Check with the school office if you are unsure, and please return completed forms to the school office as soon as possible.
Kind regards,
Lucy Addati
Business Manager
Lower Plenty Bakehouse will be providing the school with fundraising Lunch Orders every second Thursday during Term 1. These lunches have been implemented via our Parents and Friends Committee. All money raised will be used towards our major school oval upgrade.
Our Term 1 Fundraising Lunch Order Dates are:
- Thursday 10th February (Orders closing on 7th February, 3:00pm)
- Thursday 24th February (Orders closing on 21st February, 3:00pm)
- Thursday 10th March (Orders closing on 7th March, 3:00pm)
- Thursday 24th March (Orders closing on 21st March, 3:00pm)
- Thursday 7th April (Orders closing on 4th April, 3:00pm)
Orders need to be placed in advance via Compass Canteen. Ordering will close the Monday before the lunch date at 3pm. All of Term 1 lunch dates are now open for orders, and can be placed in advance for the whole term if you choose to do so.
Please see attached a Parent User Guide on how to order via Compass Canteen. Please note a 35 cents order fee will be charged at check out.
Parent assistance is required on Lunch Days from 10:30am to 12:30pm to assist with the packing of our orders. If you are available to assist in anyway can you please email the school at viewbank.ps@education.vic.gov.au so your name can be added to our roster.
Thank you for your support.
ICY POLE FRIDAY Students are able to purchase icy poles over the counter at lunchtime every Friday. All icy poles cost $1.00 each. Due to COVID-19 Guidelines, this event has been cancelled until further notice.
Lunches must be ordered online using the CLASSROOM CUISINE website.
.
WEEKLY SECOND HAND UNIFORM SALE - Every Friday 8:45am to 9:15am, next to the music room. Jumpers with the school logo, long and short sleeve school polo tops and school dresses will be $5.00 and all other items $2.00. We are currently asking for donations of any unwanted reusable school uniform items to sell at our stall.
Instrumental Music Enrolments Can all students who would like to join our school instrumental music programs please inform the relevant teacher below of your expression of interest.
SINGING WITH GABRIELLA - Gabriella
- Email: favrettogab@gmail.com
- Phone: 0413 676 733
SINGING WITH JADE - Jade
- Email: jadefaving@gmail.com
- Phone: 0413 834 933
STRINGS - MR CAI
- Email: cai66@optusnet.com.au
- Phone: 0403 490 078
GUITAR/BASS GUITAR - Alec
- Email: alec.stalder@gmail.com
- Phone: 0422 690 842
PIANO/KEYBOARD - Ella
- Email: ellac.blackburn@gmail.com
- Phone: 0410 938 840
DRUMS - James
- Email: orangejimmy@gmail.com
- Phone: 0405 845 628
PHONE NUMBER: 0448 075 422
EMAIL: viewbank@oshclub.com.au
A PLUS SCHOOLWEAR Our uniform supplier is A Plus Schoolwear which is located at 41-43 Northern Road Heidelberg West. Open hours are Monday, Wednesday and Friday’s from 9am to 4.30pm (closed on weekend and public holidays).
You can also purchase your uniform online at www.aplusschoolwear.com.au