PUPIL FREE DAY (OSHClub available)
- Monday 31st October 2022
FUNDRAISING BAKERY LUNCH ORDER DATES - Lower Plenty Bakehouse
- Thursday 6th October (Orders closing on 3rd October, 3:00pm)
- Thursday 13th October (Orders closing on 10th October, 3:00pm)
- Thursday 20th October (Orders closing on 17th October, 3:00pm)
- Thursday 27th October (Orders closing on 24th October, 3:00pm)
- Thursday 3rd November (Orders closing on 31st October, 3:00pm)
- Thursday 10th November (Orders closing on 7th November, 3:00pm)
- Thursday 24th November (Orders closing on 21st November, 3:00pm)
- Thursday 1st December (Orders closing on 28th November, 3:00pm)
- Thursday 8th December (Orders closing on 5th December, 3:00pm)
- Thursday 15th December (Orders closing on 12th December, 3:00pm)
2022 TERM DATES
- Term 3: 11th July - 16th September (2:30pm finish)
- Term 4: 3rd October - 20th December (1:30pm finish)
2022 SCHOOL CAMP DATES
- Year 5: Lady Northcote Recreation Camp - Tuesday 4th October to Friday 7th October
Term 3 draws to a close tomorrow and it has been a busy one as always and not without its challenges. Nonetheless, we are pleased that we have navigated through the ‘winter’ term and enabled school camps, interschool sports events, student discos and more with a pervading sense of normality returning. Term 4 will dawn with a Grade 5 camp in week 1, transition and graduation events, end of year music concerts, end of year assessments and reporting to look forward to with the building program commencing in the background. Busy times!
CONGRATULATIONS To Tara Dean (Grade 5D) and her soon to be hubby Daniel Sawyer on their nuptials this Friday. We wish you a long and happy life together.
STUDENT DISCO The gym was rocking last Friday night with student discos in full swing. Many thanks to the Parents and Friends group for coordinating the event which certainly got a big thumbs up from all students in attendance.
BUILDING WORKS Whilst at time of writing we still don’t have any official word on the building company contracted to undertake our building works, I can advise that a provisional date has been set for the demolition of the art room and Japanese room as October 20. New relocatable classrooms will be placed on site on November 16, with existing portables relocated by December 7. Presumably, construction of the new Administration building will commence early in the 2023 school year.
HOLIDAY HAPPENINGS As is customary, there will be lots of activity around the school during the break, especially with the building program getting into gear. We have our usual grounds crew coming in over the break to mow, whipper snip and tidy and we have daily cleaning as well as new carpets being installed in Grade 1 classrooms. We are also having a pergola installed on the eastern aspect of the Grade 5 and 6 building. With vacation care and builders setting up it will be a busy time, but as always if anything untoward or unusual is noticed, please don’t hesitate to contact the local police.
END OF TERM DISMISSAL TIME A reminder that Term 3 officially ends at 2.30pm tomorrow when students are dismissed from classrooms. We look forward to seeing everyone back on deck on Monday, October 3.
I hope everyone has a great holiday break, with plenty of time to refresh and recharge and enjoy some lovely spring weather.
Kind regards,
Bill Kersing
Principal
Once upon a time, term 3 was considered ‘the quiet term’. That certainly isn’t the case anymore!
This term has seen many school wide and year level special events being held, with our very lucky students being at the centre.
Term 3 highlights included - School camps in Grade 3 and 6, excursions to Healesville and the Melbourne Museum, Grade 5 Family Life sessions, Foundation 2023 familiarisation sessions, a range of sporting events from interschool sport to athletics and our Foundation 100 days of school party.
The JSC conducted their first and very successful Book Swap day during Book Week when we all got to dress up, have fun and Dream with our eyes open.
Our brilliant students continue to collect SWPBS rewards and collectively earned a movie day and an icy pole day. The School Disco was a huge success thanks to our Parents and Friends volunteers, lots of excited students and a cool DJ.
And just in case Monday to Friday hasn’t been busy enough we’ve also squeezed in several working bees, with our school community working hard to move our school vegetable garden in preparation for the upcoming building works.
As the term concludes it only seems right to finish with another celebration. Don’t forget to come dressed in your favourite footy or sporting club team colours tomorrow.
Parenting Seminars with Berry Street
Family support agency Berry Street, are offering two further online programs for our school community:
1. Supporting Children with Anxiety – 12 October
We know that many children are experiencing anxiety at the moment. Individual and group evidence based parenting support is available to help parents/carers support their children (aged 6-14) around anxiety through the Fear-Less Triple P Group. This can be particularly helpful whilst on the waitlist for psychological services.
2. Parenting With Confidence – 19 October
Join the Berry Street Matters Family Therapy team for a friendly discussion about the challenges and opportunities of parenting.
Registrations must be completed by 5th October.
Please see the Berry Street Seminar Flyer for further content and registration details.
Have a fantastic holiday, seems like we have all deserved a break.
Stay safe and see you in term 4.
Gill
Staff Professional Learning Our school motto is 'Love of Learning, Learning for Life'. This motto is not something that we take lightly, or just give 'lip-service' to. We do our best to instil this in our students, and all staff at Viewbank PS are expected to reflect this motto too.
Over the past few weeks, the staff have participated in professional learning sessions. These occur on Wednesday afternoons immediately after school. Our most recent activity was an introduction to Minecraft. Our own 'in-house' experts shared their knowledge and the way they have used Minecraft in their classrooms. We saw co-created 'worlds' that linked curriculum outcomes with Minecraft (e.g. Respectful Relationships Curriculum, Civics and Citizenship, and Personal and Social Capabilities in the Victorian Curriculum). During a Year 2 Inquiry topic on conflict resolution, the students had to work together to create a community. Each student was allocated a role within the community and had to make a plan to work collaboratively with others. As they moved through various stages, they had to negotiate and solve problems. We also have a comprehensive Viewbank Primary School made in Minecraft that was made a few years ago!
Minecraft Education has many pre-built templates that can be downloaded and worked on. One such template some Year 6s have worked on in recent years has been the Australian War Memorial. Mini-Melbourne is another template that has been created and is a Minecraft representation of our city.
We are very grateful to our staff who always approach these after school sessions with an open mind and a personal commitment to learn something that may improve the educational outcomes for your children.
Holidays Please stay safe if you are out and about on the roads these holidays. I am looking forward to seeing you on all on Monday 3rd October at 9am!
Stay safe!
Patrick
Term Expenses Term 4 Events and Activities (Term Expenses) will be posted on Compass on Friday 16 September and permissions and payment are due Friday 14 October.
Any families experiencing financial hardship please contact me for a confidential discussion to make alternative arrangements.
If a family has credit with the school and do not wish to use the funds towards the Term 4 Expenses, please contact the office tomorrow.
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
Business Manager
FOOTY COLOURS DAY - Friday 16th September, 2022 On Friday 16th September 2022 the children are invited to dress in their footy colours. Please no gold coin donations at the school. If you would like to support the Fight Cancer Foundation Footy Colours Day, donations can be made online.
https://www.fightcancer.org.au/get-involved/donate/donate-to-fight-cancer-foundation
YEAR 4 - Salvation Army Donations
Junior School Council News What a productive term we’ve had! This is what we’ve been up to this term:
Indigenous Garden Our Semester 2 JSCs are continuing to care for the Indigenous Garden that the Semester 1 JSCs put in place earlier in the year. AND the plants are growing!
Book Swap Fundraiser Thanks to the generosity of the school community, our Book Swap was a success and we raised $141 for the Indigenous Literacy Foundation! Our donation will help provide books, books in First Languages, and learning resources to children and families living in remote Communities all across Australia.
Pocket Library With leftover books from the Book Swap, JSCs have implemented a lunchtime Pocket Library for all students to enjoy. Each lunchtime, JSCs position a green tub of books on the stage in the middle courtyard for the duration of lunch time play for students looking for a quieter break to relax and recharge.
Toilet Concerns The issue of vandalism in the toilets is concerning our JSC. As a means to make students more accountable, JSCs are asking all students that use the toilets during class time to sign out of their classrooms. This will take effect from Term 4 but resources have already been prepared and distributed to all Year 3-6 classrooms.
JSC Meeting Structure As a group, we discussed possible options of how and when meetings take place and then voted on each decision. JSC decided that meetings will continue on a weekly basis, starting at lunch-eating time but will conclude at 1.25pm sharp. As well as having two Chair persons (one F-2 JSC and one 3-6 JSC) we will now have an official Timekeeper – these roles will be rotated between volunteers.
As you can see, it’s been a very busy and productive term and we thank and congratulate our JSC for all of their efforts.
JSC Mentors,
Ashleigh Walker & Kirsten Yates
Smile Squad six month fluoride varnish visit The Banyule Community Health Smile Squad team are returning to our school from the 10th -21st October 2022 to complete six-monthly fluoride varnish applications for those students who have provided consent. Fluoride varnish applications help make sure students have the best chance of preventing tooth decay, so we’re excited Smile Squad are coming back.
Consent for this fluoride varnish application was provided when students’ initial consent forms were returned. However, if anyone has changed their mind and do not wish to receive a fluoride varnish application, they can contact Banyule Community Health directly to let them know.
Please contact the Smile Squad team via: CONTACT PHONE NUMBER: 03 9450 2000
The Smile Squad team look forward to visiting soon.
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Thank You Thank You Thank You The Parents and Friend Committee wanted to say a big thank you to all the parents that helped out last Friday night at the School Disco. These types of events cannot happen without dedicated parents willing to offer their time and attention to help give our children an enriched educational experience. Thanks, and we hope to see you again at our next event!
On The Horizon In Term 4 we have 2 key fundraising events planned to keep an eye out for and pencil in your diary if you can help. They are:
- Walkathon – Tuesday 25th Oct 22
- State Election BBQ – Saturday 26th Nov 22
More specific information will be sent out regarding these events next term.
Please Join Us Our committee has only recently reformed with most members being new so if you would like to get involved and join The Parent and Friends Committee, please speak with the Office Staff and they can put you in touch with us or simply look out for a link early next term to join our next Meeting Online (Tues 4th Oct 7.30pm).
Our ‘meetings’ are very informal, and we would love to see you there. Everyone is welcome!
Lower Plenty Bakehouse will be providing the school with fundraising Lunch Orders every Thursday during Term 4. These lunches have been implemented via our Parents and Friends Committee. All money raised will be used towards our major school upgrade.
Our Term 4 Fundraising Lunch Order Dates are:
- Thursday 6th October (Orders closing on 3rd October, 3:00pm)
- Thursday 13th October (Orders closing on 10th October, 3:00pm)
- Thursday 20th October (Orders closing on 17th October, 3:00pm)
- Thursday 27th October (Orders closing on 24th October, 3:00pm)
- Thursday 3rd November (Orders closing on 31st October, 3:00pm)
- Thursday 10th November (Orders closing on 7th November, 3:00pm)
- Thursday 24th November (Orders closing on 21st November, 3:00pm)
- Thursday 1st December (Orders closing on 28th November, 3:00pm)
- Thursday 8th December (Orders closing on 5th December, 3:00pm)
- Thursday 15th December (Orders closing on 12th December, 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 4 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.
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 $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
PIANO/KEYBOARD - Ella
- Email: ellac.blackburn@gmail.com
- Phone: 0410 938 840
DRUMS/UKULELE - Michael
- Email: michaelfindlaymcnab@gmail.com
- Phone: 0451 394 540
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