PUPIL FREE DAYS 2023 (TheirCare will be running their day care programs at school on all student free days)
- Monday 6th November - Report writing day
2023 TERM DATES
- Term 3: 10th July - 15th September (2:30pm finish)
- Term 4: 2nd October - 20th December (1:30pm finish)
WORKING BEE A reminder that the Term 3 working bee is scheduled for Sunday, August 20 commencing at 9am. As always all welcome, with the working bee affording the perfect opportunity to ‘check out’ the new Grade 3 and 4 classroom area. The focus of the morning will be on making that area of the school the best it can be with lots of work scheduled for our vegie patch.
PARENT OPINION SURVEY You will have seen an invitation to participate in this year’s parent opinion survey via email on Monday. A reminder that the survey opened on August 7 and is open all the way through to September 8.
BOOK WEEK Just letting everyone know that due to a rescheduling of our author visit (Ron Murray), Book Week will be celebrated at Viewbank Primary School during Week 8 – that is, the week beginning August 28. There will be a book parade on Monday, August 28 with Grades F-2 parading from 9.00am to 9.50am and Grades 3 to 6 from 9.50am to 10.40am. The author visit is now scheduled for August 31.
SCHOOL COUNCIL NEWS School Council met on Tuesday night discussing, among other things, recent NAPLAN results and approving various spending priorities to support our Capital Works project. Speaking of building works, you will have noticed that the frame on our new Administration building is now largely complete with roof trusses being the focus of work this week. Further ‘south’, the Grade 2 classrooms are now finally accessible at either end with steps and fencing completed earlier in the week.
TRANSITION FOUNDATION 2024 The first of our Term 3 transition sessions took place on Tuesday with Story Time from 9.30am in the school library. Whilst we are presuming that all sibling enrolments for 2024 are now in, if perchance you have forgotten to complete the enrolment formalities please do so asap. It would appear we have sufficient numbers to ‘run’ four Foundation classes in 2024 and our term 3 transition sessions are a great way for students and families to meet each other as they prepare for next year. Other sessions for Term 3 are Maths Land on August 23 and PMP Land on September 5.
NEW YEAR 3-4 CENTRE OPEN AFTERNOON We would like to extend an invitation to the school community to visit the new Grade 3-4 classrooms, as well as the Stephanie Alexander Kitchen and Garden up at Jilinga on Tuesday 15th August from 3.15pm-3.45pm.
This area is still a ‘work in progress’ with extensive landscaping still to occur, bike storage to install and gates to add but we are very happy to provide an opportunity to look around prior to a more formal unveiling next year.
Please meet at the playground on the oval in order to enter the site. You will be able to view the rooms, visit the garden, hear about plans for the kitchen refurbishment and view the landscaping plans.
If you are unable to attend on Tuesday, the area will also be open on Sunday 20th August during the scheduled Working Bee.
I hope everyone has a lovely weekend with days lengthening and not much rain around. Three weeks until Spring!
Kind regards,
Bill Kersing
Principal
SunSmart Policy - Hats This is a gentle reminder to start looking for the school hat that you have not seen for the last 5 months! Each year in August, we make a decision regarding hat wearing that is in line with our SunSmart Policy. http://www.viewbankps.vic.edu.au/s/SunSmart-Policy-9rp9.pdf. Hats will be required to be worn daily from Friday 1 September 2023 until Tuesday 30 April 2024. All students must wear a sun protective hat that shades the face, neck and ears for all outdoor activities.
Second Hand Uniforms and Lost Property Second-hand uniform sales take place at our school every Friday between 8:45am and 9:15am during the term. You can find our ‘shop’ next to our Music Room at the top of the Lascelles Avenue ramp.
Before purchasing another clothing item, please check the lost property box, also located next to the Second-Hand Uniform shop. Items can sometimes be left at our Specialist lessons and lost library bags are often found outside the library. The best way to almost guarantee that an item will be returned is to ensure that your child’s name is clearly marked on the item.
Have a great weekend.
Patrick
Principals’ Day Thank You Thank you so much to the Viewbank staff and community for the messages of support and appreciation received for Principals’ Day. Viewbank is an amazing school to be a part of and it's a privilege to work alongside Bill and Patrick leading Viewbank Primary School.
Fundraising Day for Bella Congratulations and a huge thank you to the entire school community for supporting the JSC ‘rainbow of colours’ out of uniform fundraising day for Bella and her family. The generosity and kindness shown are what Viewbank is all about.
A reminder that all money raised from the sale of icy poles tomorrow will also go towards the school’s fundraising efforts courtesy of the Parents and Friends group.
Building Friendships The following information is from the Raising Children’s Network regarding how to support your child to build positive friendships. This week the focus will be on children 5-9 years.
About school-age friendships Your child’s world gets bigger when they start school. Relationships with other people – like the children in your child’s class at school – become more important.
Friendships are good for your school-age child’s self-esteem. When your child has close friends, your child feels like they belong. Your child’s friends care about your child, and this helps your child feel good about themselves.
Friendships also help children develop important life skills like getting along with other people and sorting out conflicts and problems. Children with these skills are less likely to have social and emotional difficulties later in life.
Play is a big part of how children connect with others and make friends at school. Taking part in playground games can help your child get to know their schoolmates and settle into school more easily. Your child will learn about taking turns, sharing and cooperating.
School friends and parents: why children need both
Young children enjoy playing with their friends, but they still need their parents. In fact, during the early school years, family relationships are still the biggest influence on your child’s development. Good family relationships are what your child needs to learn and grow.
Family relationships give your child a stable, safe base through the ups and downs of making and losing friends. In fact, the care and love you give your child at home helps your child manage other relationships.
If your child is upset at being left out or has had a fight with a friend, your child knows that you’re still there. You can help your child work it out by talking with your child about what happened, how they felt and how to handle situations like this in the future. For example, ‘How did you feel when Ali wouldn’t let you play?’ This helps your child understand and manage their own feelings. Or sometimes just listening or giving your child a hug can be enough.
If you’re not sure who your child’s friends are, just ask, or watch who your child goes to in the playground before or after school. You could also talk with your child’s teacher. If you’re able to help at school sports, or in the classroom, this can also give you a chance to see who your child gets along well with.
Supporting school-age friendships: tips for playdates Playdates outside school can be a great way to create new school friendships and strengthen existing friendships.
You can help your child arrange playdates and sleepovers by asking your child whether there’s anyone they’d like to invite to your home. You could encourage your child to invite their friend, and you can talk to the friend’s parents at school drop-offs or pick-ups or other school activities.
Here are tips to help playdates at your home go smoothly:
Before the playdate, help your child to put away any precious belongings that they might not want to share or that might get damaged. This can prevent any upsets.
Invite the friend’s parent to stay. Some parents feel more comfortable if they can stay for a little while and get to know you.
Start with a snack or drink. This can help children feel comfortable with each other.
Talk with the children about what areas of the house or garden they can use. This can help to prevent tension about what children are allowed to do in your home.
Be available in case the children need help, but give your child and their friend time and space to learn how to get along with each other.
Plan some activities. It could be craft, cubbyhouses, ball games and so on. You might not need to use these activities, but it’s good to have them ready in case you sense children getting restless.
If your child finds playdates tricky, try keeping them fairly short – for example, 1-2 hours.
Sometimes you can use digital technology to support your child’s social life. For example, depending on your child’s age, your child might be able to have a virtual playdate that involves playing a video game online with a friend.
When children need help to make friends or keep friends
Most children find it hard to make friends sometimes. If your child is finding it hard, there are a few things you can try.
Sometimes a simple social reminder might help. For example, you could encourage your child to introduce themselves when they meet new children – ‘Hello, I’m Kaia. What’s your name?’
Often children make friends at school through playing the same game together – but it’s hard if you don’t know the rules. You could make sure your child knows the rules of games they want to join in with. If your child doesn’t like the games other children are playing, you could suggest your child starts a game that they do like by asking classmates to play it with them. Some children find it helps to take a ball or game to share.
If your child needs help finding their friends or isn’t sure of what to play, your child could try asking their buddy for help, seeing the Peer Mediators or talking with their teacher.
If your child has additional needs, your child might also need extra help with friendships. You could try making friends with other parents and getting together after school at a playground. Give the other parents and children some ideas on how to include your child. For example, ‘Bill loves watching people play soccer. He can throw the ball in and be the scorer’.
If your child finds it hard to make friends at school, you could look for extracurricular activities that give your child opportunities to meet children with similar interests. There are many things your child could try – sports, dance, art classes, Scouts and so on.
Friendship troubles: what to do
If you can tell your child isn’t happy about going to school, isn’t eating lunch or seems to be socially anxious, this could be because your child is having trouble making and keeping friends.
Talking with your child gives you a chance to hear about what’s going on. Some children will be happy to tell you, but others might find it hard. You can encourage your child by telling them about a friendship trouble you had as a child or by reading a story about friendship troubles. If your child isn’t ready to talk, let your child know they can always come to you.
It can also be good to ask your child’s teacher whether they’ve noticed anything different in class or in the playground.
If you suspect your child is being bullied or your child is bullying others, you need to help your child by speaking with their classroom teacher.
If you’re concerned about your child’s friendships – for example, your child and your child’s friends are doing things that are unsafe – talking with your child is the best first step. For example, ‘Is it a good idea to jump from the top of the slide? You might get hurt’. This can help your child learn to make their own decisions, rather than just following friends.
Having friends who don’t go to the same school – for example, children from art class, neighbours or family friends – can boost your child’s confidence, especially if they’re having friendship troubles at school.
Some children might prefer their own company. They might not need a big group of friends or want to play with others at lunch time. If your child seems happy with their social life, you might not need to worry about trying to find friends for them.
Have a great week,
Gill
LATE ARRIVALS Please ensure children who arrive late go straight to the office to be marked as present. If the child does not come to the office for a late pass a text message will be sent to the parent/carer notifying that the child is absent. Late arrivals can only be time stamped at the office. When Parents/carers record the late arrival in Compass it provides us with the explanation but does not mark your child as present. When your child presents at the office, staff will record your child’s actual arrival time which updates the class roll.
WORKING WITH CHILDREN CHECK (WWCC) A ‘Working with Children Check’ is just one part of creating and maintaining a child-safe environment. It is a requirement that all parents/careers who wish to volunteer or participate in school activities have a current WWCC. https://www.workingwithchildren.vic.gov.au/
Kind regards,
Lucy Addati
Viewbank Primary School’s Term 3 News Report
Each child who wears a costume will go into a raffle with some fantastic book prizes!
Here are some links to some simple costume ideas, if you’re in need of some additional inspiration:
- https://www.familiesmagazine.com.au/childrens-book-week-costume-ideas/
- https://www.theguardian.com/society/2022/aug/22/easy-book-week-costume-ideas-do-you-have-a-box-there-are-lots-of-cubes-in-childrens-books
- https://www.simplifycreateinspire.com/book-week-costume-ideas/
- https://www.bountyparents.com.au/expert-advice/easy-book-week-costumes/
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Foundation to Year 2 Cross Country 2023 Tuesday 15th August will be the F-2 Cross Country, taking place on the oval from approximately 9.15am -10.40am.
Foundation and Year 1 students will run one lap, and Year 2 students will run two laps. All children will be encouraged to participate. If for any reason your child is not able to join in, please let your classroom teacher know.
Children are encouraged to dress in their House colours. Your child’s House group can be found on compass.
In case you are new to VPS or need a refresher, here are our house names and colours;
(Diamond - Blue), (Darebin - Red), (Yarra - Yellow), (Plenty – Green)
Parents are welcome to come and watch their child race.
The order of events will be as follows;
- 1st - Foundation girls
- 2nd - Foundation boys
- 3rd - Year 1 girls
- 4th - Year 1 boys
- 5th - Year 2 girls
- 6th - Year 2 boys
If you would like to assist on the day as a parent helper, please inform the office via email viewbank.ps@education.vic.gov.au or contact Mr Prell - Lucas.Prell@education.vic.gov.au
Get a group together, purchase a table of 10 or if you are on your own grab a seat to enjoy our long awaited trivia night.
Friday 8th September, 2023 - 6:45pm.
This event is 18 years and over, BYO drinks, a great night to be enjoyed by all.
There will be a silent auction on the night with a number of great items to be won. This will be opened up to all prior to the event if you can't make the night and wish to pop a bid in for an item. More details of the items will be announced closer to the night.
We will have rounds of trivia questions and also some local knowledge questions, games through the night and also lucky seat draws and raffle prizes to be won.
Please see attached flyer with some general Q&A questions about the night.
Tickets are $30 per person and can be purchased through this link
https://www.trybooking.com/CHXLA
We would love to see you all there to enjoy what plans to be a great social community event to raise money for our Stephanie Alexander Kitchen.
Parent And Friends Committee
VPS Parents and Friends Committee Father's Day Stall 2023 - Thursday 31 August 2023
Thanks to the generous volunteers who signed up so quickly to the Father's Day Stall. We only have one further spot in the morning session to fill, so if you feel you can offer your time, please see the volunteer link: https://volunteersignup.org/DRL8B
With only 3 weeks to go until the Father's Day Stall, Dads and special carers can start dropping some hints for eager student gift-buyers!
The VPS Parents and Friends Committee is looking forward to seeing interested students at the Stall on Thursday 31 August during school hours.
Lower Plenty Bakehouse will be providing the school with fundraising Lunch Orders every Thursday. These lunches have been implemented via our Parents and Friends Committee. All money raised will be used towards our major school upgrade.
Our Term 3 Fundraising Lunch Order Dates are:
- Thursday 17th August (Orders closing on 14th August, 3:00pm)
- Thursday 31st August (Orders closing on 28th August, 3:00pm)
- Thursday 7th September (Orders closing on 4th September, 3:00pm)
- Thursday 14th September (Orders closing on 11th September, 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 3 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.
Entertainment Book 20% of the membership goes directly to support our fundraising at Viewbank Primary School. https://www.entertainment.com.au/current-promotion
Lunches must be ordered online using the CLASSROOM CUISINE website.
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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 $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
STRINGS - MR CAI
- Email: cai66@optusnet.com.au
- Phone: 0403 490 078
GUITAR/BASS GUITAR - Alec
- Email: alec.stalder@gmail.com
DRUMS - Michael
- Email: michaelfindlaymcnab@gmail.com
- Phone: 0451 394 540
PIANO/KEYBOARD – Tiaryn Griggs
- Email: tiaryngriggs@gmail.com
Our school has partnered with an independent provider called TheirCare to provide exceptional Outside School Hours Care services for our school community.
The program is available for all children at Viewbank Primary School from 6:30am until 9:00am in the morning and from 3:30pm until 6:15pm each school day.
During School Holidays & Pupil Free Days the service will operate from 6:30am until 6:15pm.
Families wishing to use this service can visit the TheirCare website: www.theircare.com.au
Families are eligible for a Government Rebate called the Child Care Subsidy which can reduce the cost per session by up to 85%.
More information can be obtained by contacting the school or ringing TheirCare Support Team on 1300 072 410.
TheirCare provides a stimulating and safe environment for all children. During sessions, children develop life-skills, friendships, confidence and creativity through play-based programs.
A PLUS SCHOOLWEAR
Shop Details:
- Unit 3/30 Heaths Court, Mill Park
- T: 9436 4005
- E: info@northernregionaluniforms.com.au
Opening Hours:
- Monday to Thursday 9am to 5pm
- Friday 9am to 3pm
- Saturday 9am to 12pm
Online Ordering Please Visit: www.aplusschoolwear.com.au