PUPIL FREE DAYS 2023 (TheirCare will be running their day care programs at school on all student free days)
- Monday 8th May - Staff professional development
- Monday 10th July - Three way conferences
- Monday 6th November - Report writing day
- One further pupil free day to be advised in due course.
2023 TERM DATES
- Term 1: 27th January - 6th April (2:30pm finish)
- Term 2: 24th April - 23rd June (2:30pm finish)
- Term 3: 10th July - 15th September (2:30pm finish)
- Term 4: 2nd October - 20th December (1:30pm finish)
CAR PARKING Thank you to everyone for your tolerance and understanding as we negotiate car parking, and the dropping off and collection of students during the building and construction program. By now, I hope everyone is becoming well-versed in identifying the gates by number. Gate 1 will re-open in time for the start of Term 2, but as we enter the next phase of the building program, Gate 5 (on the turning circle) will be closed for an indefinite period. This will be closed as of the first day of Term 2. With that in mind, there will be permanent changes to parking on Nevin Parade. Please observe the changed signage that should be in place in time for the new term. During peak drop off and pick up times, it will now revert to a 2 minute ‘kiss and drop’ zone (indicated in blue on the aerial photo). The turning circle is not to be used for dropping off or collecting students (red). We ask that you turn and then drive down as far as possible towards the front gate, drop off your children, and then keep moving (near the shade sails). Big thumbs up to families who have their children ready to go in the mornings when dropping off– bags either next to them in the back seat or in some case on their backs. The quick drop off enables traffic to flow and avoids congestion. For those who absolutely must park in the mornings, there are limited spaces available on Lascelles, but many in the neighbouring courts and roads slightly further away from the schoolgrounds.
Gates open this week – 2,3,4 and 5.
GRADE 6 CAMP COONAWARRA My contributions to this week’s newsletter were written well in advance of the publication date as I have been lucky enough to attend the Grade 6 camp for all three days this week. I hope that the technology has been supportive and a few photos have managed to make their way to Viewbank Voice for this week.
REGIONAL SWIMMING It’s been a big week for two of our Grade 6 students, Joshua Cadusch and Anne Carpenter who arrived back yesterday from school camp to then go today to the Regional Swimming Championships at Water Marc in Greensborough. They were joined by three of their Grade 5 colleagues, Harrison Kent, Luke Cullen and Johan In. I am sure that they all acquitted themselves in great fashion and I look forward to providing their results in next week’s newsletter. Well done and you should all be very proud of your efforts.
WORKING BEE Many thanks to everyone who found time to join us on Sunday for the first working bee of the term. Always greatly appreciated. Thank you to all the families who attended.
END OF TERM ARRANGEMENTS Term 1 officially ends at 2.30pm next Thursday, April 6. Students will be dismissed from a whole school assembly commencing at 2.15pm in the gymnasium.
Enjoy your weekend.
Kind regards,
Bill Kersing
Principal
Inclement Weather Policy From time to time we are required to keep students inside during recess and lunch times in accordance with our Inclement Weather Policy. For the purposes of this policy, inclement weather is defined as extreme heat, rain, lightning, dust, wind, cold or any other condition that is considered by the Principal or Assistant Principals to be unsuitable for students to be outside.
You can find our Inclement Weather Policy on our website here: http://www.viewbankps.vic.edu.au/forms-policies
Parents and Friends In 2022, our fundraising efforts organised by the P&F, and wonderfully supported by the Viewbank Primary School community, stepped up a notch after the interruptions and uncertainty in 2020 and 2021.
One place the P&F funds raised in 2022 was spent was on new readers - initially for the Year 1 and 2s, but more are coming for other year levels. More than 200 new readers have arrived at school, designed to spark a love of reading among our early and more developed readers. You will know these books as they have been stamped with a special message of thanks.
We are incredibly grateful to the P&F committee for organising the fundraising events, (and for stamping all the books!). A big thanks to all the Viewbank Primary School families for your ongoing generosity to the school. You really are making a difference.
Have a great weekend.
Patrick
Student Leadership As term 1 draws to a close, it is timely to highlight and congratulate the positive contributions our Year 6 student leaders have made around the school during their first term. Active leadership is about being directly engaged, energetic and forming connections with the team you represent and our leaders have certainly demonstrated this.
This term our House Captains – Beau, Jacqui, Karsten, Zara, Harry, Lana, Lucy and Zoe have assisted at the school athletics and swimming days and coordinated lunchtime sport activities for students in the gym. Each week, they responsibly attend to the values flags and secure the perimeter gates each day.
Our Engagement and Wellbeing Captain and Communications Captain - Zara and Taya, have recently coordinated and implemented a very successful week of activities to recognised and build understanding of Harmony Week. Please make sure you read their article in the newsletter next week.
The Sustainability Captains - Alex and Gwendolyn, have been busy promoting sustainability practices across the school and helping to coordinate the recently formed Green Team.
Our JSC Leaders are also actively assisting in leading the JSC team and today have successfully held their first fundraising event, raising money for the Epilepsy Foundation.
The Peer Mediation team have received their training and are out in the junior playground each lunchtime assisting the younger students, promoting and modelling our school values and guiding friendly social interactions.
Finally, our School Captains – Lily, Lexi, Josh and Michaelangelo continue to demonstrate wonderful leadership skills and contribute across the school on a daily basis. They are on hand at assembly each week to present certificates and lead our School Oath and Welcome to Country and are often called upon to welcome visitors to the school.
As the year progresses, I’m confident we will continue to see these students excel in their roles.
Have a great week,
Gill
LOST PROPERTY We would like to remind you to check lost property if your child has misplaced any items on our school premises. We have collected several items over the past few weeks, including uniform, water bottles, toys and lunch boxes.
Lost Property is located between the second-hand uniform shop and music room. We recommend labelling all your children’s personal items. Thank you for your cooperation.
SCHOOL TOURS We will be running school tours on a Tue, Wed, Thu at 9.30am for prospective families. Please call the office to make a booking. 2024 enrolments open on the 24th of April, 2023.
Kind regards,
Lucy Addati
Business Manager
Who Are We?
We are the Year 5 team - Narelle Taylor, Kara Lane, Bonnie Boness and Zoe Birse.
Between us we have 6 Bachelor Degrees, 4 Graduate Diplomas and a Master of Education! These are: a Bachelor of Teaching, a Bachelor of Education, a Bachelor of Health/Science, a Bachelor of Arts (Honors), a Bachelor of English Literature, Master of Education, 3 Graduate Diplomas in Teaching, a Graduate Diploma in Publishing and Editing and a Bachelor of Dramatic Arts. Phew!
We have been teaching as a collective for over 40 Years!
Our hobbies include: reading, singing, beach volleyball, weightlifting, gardening, hockey, running, traveling, book clubs, acting and making movies.
Can you guess?
- Who was a gym coach?
- Which two teachers have done Irish dancing?
- Who has had a song written about them?
- Who has made two award winning movies?
- Which two teachers have hiked Machu Pichu?
- Who has played piano and trumpet?
- Which teachers have had parents who were teachers?
- Who owns a pair of rollerblades?
- Who has done a cartwheel on Mt Kilimanjaro?
- Who has ten nieces and nephews?
Inquiry Learning Are you interested in becoming involved in Inquiry Learning at VPS?
Community involvement plays an essential role in Inquiry Learning at Viewbank Primary School. As a result, there are many ways you can join in and help inspire and educate our students. All classes from Foundation to Year 6 have now well and truly started their first inquiries for 2023 and are beginning to reach out to the community to invite you in to share your knowledge and expertise as well as direct experiences with our students.
Involvement can take various forms including, but not limited to; volunteering to speak with a small group of students in the classroom and responding to their questions, setting up a table at an ‘expo’ for displaying or demonstrating and having small groups of students move around to view, discuss and ask questions, assisting with hands-on activities in the classrooms or school yard, offering to be a ‘direct line’ for students to contact with questions (with teacher supervision) or bringing in artefacts such as models/examples, photos, video footage or even demonstrations to promote curiosity. We welcome your suggestions!
The following table represents the stages of Inquiry. As you will see, the ‘Finding Out’ stage encourages our students to collect information from a range of primary sources. This is where you or someone you know may come in!
How can you keep up to date with opportunities to become involved?
- Check Compass regularly for invitations from our teachers. You are more than welcome to offer to join in with any year level, not necessarily the level your child is in this year.
- Have a discussion with your child about what they are currently learning about in Inquiry. If you are able to share expertise in this area reach out and let us know. Offers may be sent through to the school email address (viewbank.ps@education.vic.gov.au) and will be forwarded appropriately. Simply state which year level the offer is being extended to and a brief description of how you would like to assist.
- Look out for notifications from your Class Representative or discussions on your year level Facebook page surrounding opportunities to join in. This can be a great way to gauge who is getting involved, especially if you would prefer to work with others when sharing or presenting. We understand that it’s often much more comfortable to join in when you are part of a group.
*Please note that all guests will be required to provide a current Working With Children’s Check as well as a completed ‘Child Safety Standards Induction Checklist 2023’ to participate.
If you do not already hold a Working With Children Check, you can apply for one online at https://www.workingwithchildren.vic.gov.au
All policies and documents relating to the ‘Child Safety Standards Induction Checklist 2023’ can be found on the Viewbank Primary School website ( http://www.viewbankps.vic.edu.au/forms-policies) along with the Child Safety Standards Induction Checklist 2023, which must be completed, signed and returned to the school office once all of the documentation has been read.
Looking forward to seeing you up at the school soon!
Jamie Ruddock
Learning Specialist – Teaching and Learning
ANZAC APPEAL BADGES 2023 ANZAC Appeal badges can be purchased from the school's general office, ranging from $2 to $10.
YEAR 6 COONAWARRA RESORT CAMP
Inquiry The Year 4 students would like to thank Mrs Crowe (our School Nurse) for teaching us all about the digestive system.
We are so lucky to have had the opportunity to listen to Mrs Crowe and to ask her questions. Your session has really helped our Health and Wellbeing inquiry!
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 8 September 2023.
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 6 are challenged to read 15 books.
Books included in the Challenge book list can be found online. Books borrowed from the Library, read at home, read with parents and read in the classroom can all be counted in your Challenge total. Students must read the required number of books from the Challenge list to complete the Challenge.
All students who meet the Challenge will receive a completion card at Assembly and a certificate of achievement in late November.
There will be a reward for the first ‘whole class’ that meets the Challenge.
All VPS students have been registered to participate in the Challenge. Classroom teachers will issue username and password details to enable students to log into their account online.
To login into your student account, view the booklist and for more information about the Victorian Premiers’ Reading Challenge, visit: https://www.vic.gov.au/premiers-reading-challenge
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 1 Fundraising Lunch Order Dates are:
- Thursday 6th April (Orders closing on 3rd 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.
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/BEGINNER KEYBOARD - 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 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