PUPIL FREE DAY
- Thursday 2nd June 2022
- Wednesday 13th July 2022
- Monday 31st October 2022
FUNDRAISING BAKERY LUNCH ORDER DATES - Lower Plenty Bakehouse
- Thursday 19th May (Orders closing on 16th May, 3:00pm)
- Thursday 26th May (Orders closing on 23rd May, 3:00pm)
- Thursday 9th June (Orders closing on 6th June, 3:00pm)
- Thursday 16th June (Orders closing on 13th June, 3:00pm)
- Thursday 23rd June (Orders closing on 20th June, 3:00pm)
2022 TERM DATES
- 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: Camp Coonawarra - Monday 18th July to Friday 22nd July
CAMP ANGLESEA Our Grade 4 students headed down to the Bellarine Peninsula yesterday for a three day school camping experience at Anglesea. Our camping program spans (in normal times) six Grade levels – Grade 1 enjoy a late night experience where they take part in a range of experiences after school on a night later in the year before being collected by parents around 9pm. Grade 2 enjoy a sleepover at school (usually on a Friday night in Term 4), Grade 3 head to Warburton East in August, Grade 5 journey to Lady Northcote camp in Bacchus Marsh (Term 4) and in normal times Grade 6 venture to Canberra. For this year they will be travelling to Camp Coonawarra in Bairnsdale in July. Patrick Walsh and myself have tag-teamed down at Anglesea this week and joined the other ten staff and ninety six students where all have have enjoyed canoeing, the Giant Swing, archery, Crate Climbing, Orienteering and a night walk amongst other activities. They arrive back tomorrow and I am sure they will regale you with tales of their adventures, as well as unloading lots of dirty clothes and sleeping soundly until midday on Saturday (staff and students!).
NAPLAN The online NAPLAN testing program was completed fairly seamlessly last week, due in part to the excellent planning and preparation led by Patrick Walsh and the Grade 3 and 5 teams and in equal part to the technology that worked well. From 2023 onwards, NAPLAN testing will occur in March in Term 1 so that results can inform teaching throughout the remainder of the year. This year’s results are due in August.
FOUNDATION TO GRADE 2 CROSS COUNTRY We hope Friday, May 20 dawns with the promise of good weather as the Foundation to Grade 2 students take part in their cross country run on the oval. It is always a highlight of the school year and parents are welcome to come and watch the activities from 9.00am. For this week only, the Foundation to 2 assembly will be held after the running to incorporate the presentation of medals. For other weeks in Term 2, Foundation to 2 assemblies will revert to the 9am on Friday timeslot.
FEDERAL ELECTION POLLING Viewbank Primary School is a polling booth on Saturday, May 21 for the federal election and our Parents and Friends group have coordinated a sausage sizzle and cake stall on the day. Voting takes place in the gymnasium.
OPEN DAY A reminder that Tuesday, May 24 is an Open Day at school from 9.30am until 3.00pm with student leaders conducting tours for new families in particular. There is also an Open Morning on Saturday, May 28 which coincides with our Term 2 working bee. Please see elsewhere in this newsletter for further details on the working bee and the tasks that will be the focus of the morning.
DISTRICT CROSS COUNTRY And to complete a full book of activities for the upcoming week, my heartiest best wishes to the sixty students who will journey down to Banyule Flats next Wednesday, May 25 to take part in the district cross country.
It’s all happening (but in a good way!)
Have a great weekend and don’t forget to vote!
Kind regards,
Bill Kersing
Principal
Election BBQ and Cake Stall Further to Mr Kersing’s piece above, thank you so much to the members of school community who have been able to volunteer some of their time on Saturday to help out with the BBQ and Cake Stall. Election days are really busy, trying to find time to vote, commitments with our own children and just the post week slump that some of us have! Thank you also to those who have made something for the cake stall.
The Parents and Friends Committee work tirelessly to organise these events. I know that the committee is always looking for members of our community to join – we love new ideas and welcome other ways of doing things that may be more beneficial for our students and/or more efficient.
The Resilience Project *FINAL REMINDER* For those who tuned into the parent webinar 'Discovering Resilience' presented by Martin Heppell of The Resilience Project, we hope you enjoyed it and took away some helpful hints.
Due to our participation in the program at a school level, The Resilience Project has made a recording of the session available to our parent community. You can access this here: https://us02web.zoom.us/rec/share/u_XIYTXaQBkNzlcJO5z3_hKCZ4_Wk6wJAxSIZn6Kl_KRDWR7td-FWbbmnZ-ziD8.vO4gemYaonhsjghj Please note, this link will expire at midnight on 24th May 2022.
Social Media Have you ‘Followed’ our school Facebook Page yet? We are almost at 1000 followers! You can search for it on the web at https://www.facebook.com/viewbankps or @viewbankps within the Facebook app.
Have a great weekend!
Patrick
School Tours We run school tours on a Tue, Wed, Thu at 9.30am for prospective families. Please call the office to make a booking.
Enrolments We are currently accepting enrolments for 2023 and are happy to assist with any queries.
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
School Wide Positive Behaviour Support At the start of this year Viewbank Primary School introduced our reward system for our Government supported program called School Wide Positive Behaviour Support. We have been so thrilled by the participation of staff and students. At this point in time, we have recorded 620 ‘Viewbank Bees’ which means that the students have displayed our school values of Respect, Responsibility, Resilience and Kindness over 6000 times. This also means that our teachers have made a lot of confetti from all those hole punches!! On the documents below, you will see our reward system and our matrix of expected positive behaviours. We were so thrilled at the end of last term to achieve our first ‘small’ school wide reward (which was our amazing Crazy Hair Day)and look forward to getting our first ‘big’ school wide reward soon!
Thank you for ‘Bee’ing amazing! Keep up the good work Viewbank.
Tara Dean
EDUCATION WEEK 2022 – You’re Invited!
From Sunday 22nd May to Saturday 28th May (next week) Viewbank Primary School, along with the state of Victoria will be celebrating Education Week 2022.
This year’s Education Week theme, ‘150 Years of Public Education’, commemorates the past, celebrates the present and imagines the future of education in Victoria.
Every school, educator and student today continue the story started in 1872 when Victoria become one of the first jurisdictions in the world to offer free, secular, compulsory education.
The students and staff of Viewbank Primary School proudly invite you, our school community, to be a part of the celebrations which will mark this year’s Education Week and thank you for the important part you play in Victoria’s education story.
We will be offering a range of opportunities for you to be involved in throughout the week including:
- Our Open Day presents a chance to see our school ‘in action’ on Tuesday 24th May with School Tours being led by our Student Leadership Team from 9.30am until 3.00pm. School tours will depart from the front office (please make sure you sign in upon arrival).
- Our Open Morning will be held on Saturday 28th May with School Tours being led by our Student Leaders as well as the Foundation and School Leadership Teams from 9.00am until 12.00pm. School tours will depart from the front office (please make sure you sign in upon arrival).
- Working Bee – We will be holding a Working Bee on Saturday 28th May to prepare the ‘staff carpark’ for future development as our school’s new vegie garden. In addition, we will be spreading softfall and undertaking a range of routine ‘working bee’ tasks. Please see flyer later in the Newsletter for further information.
A range of Foundation to Year 6 classroom, Specialist as well as Instrumental Music programs will be able to be seen and enjoyed during Open Day.
The history of Viewbank Primary School If you would like to find out more about our wonderful school’s past over the last 56 Years and would be interested in purchasing a copy of the VPS 50th Anniversary book another print run of these books would be available if enough interest is shown.
Please contact the school office to register your interest – It’s quite the read!
Looking forward to seeing you join in the celebrations!
Kind regards,
Jamie Ruddock
Year 4 Inquiry News The Year 4 students have been busily exploring their Health inquiry unit. They have investigated many areas of Health through the inquiry cycle and have developed an understanding that:
- there are many factors that influence the decisions we make to keep a healthy mind and body
- sleep is vital for maintaining a healthy lifestyle and impacts on our ability to function effectively
- a balanced diet and a regular intake of water helps maintain a healthy body
Students showcased their findings to their peers and had a lot of fun doing so.
See below for examples of students delivering speeches, Keynote presentations, fitness circuits, quizzes, posters, advertisements, recommendations for healthy meal planning. The list goes on!
Victorian Premiers’ Reading Challenge The Victorian Premiers’ Reading Challenge is now open and Viewbank Primary School is excited to be participating. The PRC application offers a range of exciting features including:
- access to a library catalogue (including book images and blurbs)
- a modern user-friendly interface
- rewarding students with badges as challenge milestones are achieved
- the option for students to mark books as a favourite, give them a star rating or complete a book review
The Challenge is open to all Victorian children from birth to Year 10 in recognition of the importance of reading for literacy development. It is not a competition; but a personal challenge for children to read a set number of books by 2 September 2022.
Children from Prep to Year 2 are encouraged to read or ‘experience’ 30 books with their parents and teachers. Children from Year 3 to Year 10 are challenged to read 15 books.
All children who meet the Challenge will receive a certificate of achievement signed by the Victorian Premier and former Premiers.
To read the Premier’s letter to parents, view the booklist and for more information about the Victorian Premiers’ Reading Challenge, visit: https://www.vic.gov.au/premiers-reading-challenge
2022 Student Attitudes to School Survey
Dear Parent / Caregiver / Guardian,
This letter is to inform you about the 2022 Student Attitudes to School Survey (AtoSS), that your child is invited to participate in.
About the survey
We value student voice as a means to improving student engagement, wellbeing and quality instruction and are conducting a survey to find out what your child thinks of your school.
The AtoSS is an annual student survey offered by the Department of Education and Training to assist your child’s school to gain an understanding of students' perceptions and experience of school. Students will be asked about their thoughts and feelings in relation to their school, their learning, peer and family relationships, resilience, bullying, mental health and wellbeing, physical activity, and life in general.
This year, the AtoSS will be conducted at your school over the period Monday 23rd May – Friday 3rd June.
What are the benefits?
In our experience, young people enjoy having their say. We have been running this survey for nearly 20 years and it has been invaluable in helping schools understand student views. Your school will use the survey results to plan programs and activities to improve your child's schooling experience.
What are the risks?
While we do not anticipate many risks of participation, some students may find some of the survey questions too personal and sensitive in nature. Should you agree for your child to participate, they are still free to skip questions or to withdraw at any stage if the survey makes them upset or uncomfortable.
The survey has been approved by a Human Research Ethics Committee. The questions are selected from validated survey instruments used in Australia and around the world, are strength-based, and tailored for each year level group.
What will my child be asked to do?
Your child will be invited to complete the survey online during class time using a purpose built secure online survey tool. It is important to note that we are not in any way “testing” your child. Please note:
- Student participation in the survey is voluntary and students may withdraw at any time.
- The survey will take around 20-45 minutes to complete.
How is my child’s confidentiality protected?
Your child will be provided with a unique login to complete the survey from their teacher. The student login is an assigned identifier that may be used to link data for statistical and research purposes only. Personally identifiable data will not be recorded in the survey response file. This ensures that the confidentiality of your child’s responses is protected at all times.
How will results be reported?
The survey results will be reported back to the school in an aggregate form throughout the survey period. All survey data that is made available in reports are for groups of students only so that no individual student can be identified. Data suppression rules are used for schools with low student numbers per year level.
Your school may share the results of the survey with parents, in documents such as the School Annual Report.
Options for participation
Participation in this survey is voluntary. If you do not wish for your child to do the survey, please opt out via email to your school: viewbank.ps@education.vic.gov.au. Please do so before Monday 23rd May, stating that you wish to opt out of your child’s participation, along with their name and year level.
If your school does not receive a Refusal of Consent email from yourself before the survey commencement date mentioned within this letter, it means that you give your consent for your child to participate in the 2022 Attitudes to School Survey.
A copy of the survey that we are asking your child to complete is available from your child’s school. Please contact the administration office if you would like to see the survey before making your decision about whether you would like your child to participate.
If you would like more information, please speak to your child’s teacher, or contact the Department at school.surveys@education.vic.gov.au.
Yours sincerely,
The Victorian Department of Education and Training
Your help is needed for Saturday 21st May, 2022 - Election Day Sausage Sizzle & Cake Stall
Viewbank Primary School Parents and Friends Association will be having a fundraising Sausage Sizzle and Cake Stall on Saturday 21st May (Federal Election Day), at Viewbank Primary School.
We are asking for people to offer 2 hours of their time on the day between the hours of 7:00am to 6:00pm. Remember the money raised will go directly to our school upgrade.
- Click here to volunteer at our "2022 Federal Election - Sausage Sizzle"
- Click here to volunteer at our "2022 Federal Election - Cake Stall"
Could you help us by making a cake/slice or biscuits for our Election Day cake stall?
This is a very popular event for the school as many locals come to vote and know we have freshly baked goods for sale, this is also a fantastic fundraiser for the school.
All you have to do is make your favourite cake, slice, biscuits or sweet treat. Place them on a single-use plate and return them sealed in a freezer/glad snap-lock bag. Please ensure your items are baked or made as close to the drop off date as possible so they are fresh and enjoyed once sold.
Please name and list all the ingredients of your cakes/slices etc. on the sticker and attach it to the outside of the freezer bag. Seal the bag and drop off your baked goods at the school's General Office.
Please ensure that you fill in your details in the registration book when dropping your donation off, otherwise we won’t be able to sell your lovely offerings.
We will be available to accept your plate and register your details in the office from
- 8.45 am till 9.30am and 3 pm till 3.45pm on Friday 20th May
- Saturday morning between 7:30 and 8:30am (at the cake stall)
We thank you in advance.
All the children also thank you for your fantastic support we really can’t do it without you!!!
Due to parent request the Lower Plenty Bakehouse will be providing the school with fundraising Lunch Orders every Thursday during Term 2. These lunches have been implemented via our Parents and Friends Committee. All money raised will be used towards our major school upgrade.
Our Term 2 Fundraising Lunch Order Dates are:
- Thursday 19th May (Orders closing on 16th May, 3:00pm)
- Thursday 26th May (Orders closing on 23rd May, 3:00pm)
- Thursday 9th June (Orders closing on 6th June, 3:00pm)
- Thursday 16th June (Orders closing on 13th June, 3:00pm)
- Thursday 23rd June (Orders closing on 20th June, 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 2 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 - 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