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)
Building Works A significant point in the construction of the new Administration Building was reached this week with the pouring of the concrete slab. Nevin Parade was closed for the day with many builders on site and significant construction traffic. The building really takes shape with the steelwork being erected next week, giving a real sense of its presence and location in the landscape. We continue to move furniture into the new Grade 3 and 4 area and hopefully we will be teaching and learning in there by this time next week.
Enrolments I trust and hope we have all 2024 enrolments from our current families received at the General Office by now, but if not can we implore you to complete this paper work NO LATER than Friday, July 28 please?
Dome Shelter Many grateful thanks to the team of volunteers who have spent the best part of the last two Saturday mornings installing a new dome shelter between our two shipping containers within our new vegie patch area. This will provide excellent shelter for our Grade 3 and 4 students as they work in the garden, with new seating being assembled in the next few weeks to reside underneath and serve as an outdoor (but sheltered) teaching space. Specific thanks to Michael Parrent, Anthony Spence, Ben Bailey, Jason Hemingway and Roger Schmidt for all of their wonderful work in assembling this structure. In addition, ex-Viewbank PS parent and Buildings and Grounds Convenor Nicholas Deane returned to our school to lend his expertise and height to get the job done. A bit like Hotel California, you can check out any time you like, but you can never leave!!! Grateful thanks to all.
Junior School Council It was a highlight of the assembly on Monday when Semester 2 Junior School Councillors were presented with their JSC badges. The JSC work with two of our teachers, Ashleigh Walker and Kirsten Yates, to coordinate a range of activities (including fundraisers) across our school and to provide and act on feedback from their peers. We wish them well in their roles for the remainder of 2023.
I hope everyone has a great weekend.
Kind regards,
Bill Kersing
Principal
Weather - and Recess and Lunch It appears that we are in for some cold and wet weather over the next few weeks. If the oval is too wet and muddy, we may need to close it at recess and/or lunch. In Term 3, we have 6 play areas that are supervised by staff 10:40 – 11:10am and 1-1:50pm. These areas are:
- Oval
- Tiger Turf area
- Year 2 Courtyard/Playground
- Foundation/Year 1 Playground, including the Pirate Ship
- The Foundation Playground (Foundation students only)
- Library (lunch time only)
There are also 3 staff rostered on before school (8:50- 9am) and 2 staff members after school (3:30 – 3:40pm).
It is not unusual for some students to need to change their clothes after playing outside. If your child seems to be able to find the puddle of mud wherever they go, it would be great if they could have a change of clothes in their bag ready to go.
National Assessment Program – Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) We have received some very preliminary results from the recent NAPLAN assessments in Term 1. Hard copy individual results for parents have not arrived at the school at the time of writing. As mentioned in last week’s Viewbank Voice, there are changes to the way results are going to be reported. The report will look somewhat similar, but will have clearly identified areas of achievement (see sample report below):
- Exceeding
- Strong
- Developing
- Needs Additional Support
The table below shows a combined percentage of students in the Strong and Exceeding category and compared to ‘similar’ schools from across Victoria (Viewbank PS and similar schools are generally much higher than State results):
Other results will be reported as the data becomes available.
You can find information about reports here https://www.nap.edu.au/naplan/results-and-reports
Sample reports for parents look like this:
Nationally Consistent Collection of Data on School Students with Disability (NCCD) Every year, all schools in Australia participate in the Nationally Consistent Collection of Data on School Students with Disability (NCCD). The NCCD process requires schools to identify information already available in the school about supports provided to students with disability. These relate to legislative requirements under the Disability Discrimination Act 1992 and the Disability Standards for Education 2005, in line with the NCCD guidelines (2019). Since 2018, the NCCD has been used by the Australian Government to inform aspects of funding for schools, known as the ‘student with disability loading’.
Information provided about students to the Australian Government for the NCCD includes:
- year of schooling
- category of disability: physical, cognitive, sensory or social/emotional
- level of adjustment provided: support provided within quality differentiated teaching practice, supplementary, substantial or extensive.
In our context at Viewbank Primary School, students will be included in the NCCD process if they have (amongst other things) evidence of an Individual Education Plan (IEP) in 2022 or 2023, notes from parent teacher interviews or emails that outline adjustments in the classroom, participation in Literacy and/or Numeracy support classes, had an educational assessment (cognitive, hearing, speech etc) that outlines particular strategies that need to be implemented, the school receives funding for a students under the Program for Students with Disabilities, etc.
This information assists schools to:
- formally recognise the supports and adjustments provided to students with disability in schools
- consider how they can strengthen the support of students with disability in schools
- develop shared practices so that they can review their learning programs in order to improve educational outcomes for students with disability.
The NCCD provides state and federal governments with the information they need to plan more broadly for the support of students with disability.
The NCCD will have no direct impact on your child and your child will not be involved in any testing process. The school will provide data to the Australian Government in such a way that no individual student will be able to be identified – the privacy and confidentiality of all students is ensured. All information is protected by privacy laws that regulate the collection, storage and disclosure of personal information. To find out more about these matters, please refer to the Australian Government’s Privacy Policy (https://www.dese.gov.au/about-us/resources/department-education-skills-and-employment-complete-privacy-policy-0).
Further information about the NCCD can be found on the NCCD Portal (https://www.nccd.edu.au).
If you have any questions about the NCCD, please contact the school.
Have a great weekend,
Patrick
NAIDOC Week is an opportunity for all Australians to learn about First Nations cultures and histories and participate in celebrations of the oldest, continuous living cultures on earth.
Classes have recognised NAIDOC Week in a variety of ways, celebrating and recognising the history, culture and achievements of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.
This year, the theme for NAIDOC Week was For Our Elders, recognising the important role and prominent place Elders have played, and continue to play, in communities and families across every generation.
Enjoy the rest of the week.
Gill
KEYBOARD TEACHER We are currently looking for an additional keyboard teacher (instrumental music teacher) for one day a week. If you are interested or can recommend a teacher, please contact Lucy Addati on 9459 1512 or lucy.addati@education.vic.gov.au
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.
TheirCare (Outside School Hours Care) Please be aware that if your child is not registered with TheirCare they will be unable to access the program in an emergency. Therefore, it is highly recommended that you register your child/ren for TheirCare in case you may need it one day.
SICK BAY Sometimes it can be tricky to discern whether your child is fit to attend school. If your child is feeling unwell with cold/flu like symptoms, have been vomiting or had diarrhoea in the last 24 hours please keep them at home until they are well again. Sick bay tends to be a busy hub so if we call for your child to be picked up and you are unavailable, please make other arrangements as it not acceptable or practical to accommodate a sick child at school for the whole day.
Public Health and Wellbeing Regulations 2009 It is the parent’s responsibility to advise the school if their child is away from school via and alert us of notifiable diseases as per School Exclusion Table. https://www2.health.vic.gov.au/public-health/infectious-diseases/school-exclusion
DISPENSING MEDICATION If your child requires prescribed medications a signed parent Medication Authority Form is required. Medications such as antihistamines and paracetamol are not stored or dispensed to students unless they are supplied from home with a signed parent Medication Authority Form.
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
Year 5 Inquiry As a tuning in activity for our Geography Inquiry, we did an activity using chocolate chip cookies.
The children had to predict what the activity was going to be about.
They were given a cookie and had to draw a “before” picture.
The children were then given a toothpick and asked to predict again what they might be doing with the cookie.
After this, the children were given their instructions. They had to remove the chocolate chips with the toothpick without ruining the cookie. (An extra cookie was offered as an incentive to whoever picked out the most chocolate chips!)
After about 10 or so minutes, the children were asked to now think about what we were trying to achieve. After a few unsuccessful guesses, we finally established that we were ‘Mining’ and that the chocolate chips represented ‘coal’.
The children wrote about what they learnt. They understood that mining has a big impact on the earth and that once things are dug out of the land, it’s never the same.
Save the Date! Book Week will soon be upon us. Start planning your favourite book character costume for our Book Parade on Monday 21st August. There are other activities planned for that week including visiting Author sessions on Thursday 24th August.
Further details will the sent out in the next few weeks.
Book Club Issue 5 brochures will be sent home. Online ordering through LOOP will close on Thursday 27TH July.
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TRIVIA NIGHT is back!!! The schools fundraising Trivia Night is being held on Friday 8th Sept at the school to help raise much needed funds for the new Stephanie Alexander Kitchen Garden classroom. Tickets will go on sale early next month so now is the time to find some trivia friends and a babysitter. You will be able to book full tables of 10 right down to just 1 seat at a table so no one is left out. It is just as much about fun as it is about the Trivia. If anyone has any questions please contact the school office and we will pass on to P&F Committee who are organising the event.
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 27th July (Orders closing on 24th July, 3:00pm)
- Thursday 3rd August (Orders closing on 31st July, 3:00pm)
- Thursday 10th August (Orders closing on 7th August, 3:00pm)
- 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