Wednesday June 6 - A parent training workshop on entering absences will be held in the staff room, 3pm.
Monday June 11 - Queen's Birthday Public Holiday
Tuesday June 12 - Pupil Free Day
Wednesday June 27 - Variations to hours day, 3 Way Conferences 11am to 7pm
Annual Working Bees — Saturday August 11 (Term 3), Saturday November 3 (Term 4)
PUPIL FREE DAYS — Tuesday June 12, Monday December 17
TERM DATES — TERM 2: Monday 16 April - Friday 29 June, TERM 3: Monday 16 July - Friday 21 September, TERM 4: Monday 8 October - Friday 21 December
CAMP DATES — Year 4 Anglesea Camp 30 May - 1 June, Year 5 Lady Northcote Camp 9 - 12 October, Year 3 Urban Camp 10 - 12 December.
STUDENT DISCO What a wonderful night was had last Friday night when our annual student disco was held at school in the gymnasium!! Over 500 students attended and had a wonderful time due to the planning, attention to detail, and commitment of our Parents and Friends committee. Many thanks to everyone who made this night such a special event for the children – it is certainly an annual event eagerly anticipated!!
WORKING BEE We were back the next morning for the Term 2 working bee, blessed by a perfect day (albeit a tad cool to start). Under the direction of the Deane brothers, lots was achieved, including the construction of a concrete path near the Winston Road entrance, opening up of the area outside the Art Room, after the removal of the ‘seen better days’ paling fence, and general spreading of mulch and general tidying. Grateful thanks to Michael, Max & Gwendolyn Parrent, Joseph & Livinia Armstrong, Andrea Ditoro, Alan Lu, Holly, Maya, Lachlan, Kerri-Anne & Nicholas Deane, Dani King, Will Roweking, Hoang, Vic & Suri Nguyen, Nga Pham, Mark Prowse, Shannon McLear, Dot Underwood, Charlie Scerri, Robert Cahill, Bethany, Amaya, Joshua, Narelle & Riley Cadusch, Stella, Shannon & Dylan Rose, Simon Gandolfo, Joel & Hamish Dare, Chris, Kate, Damon & Lana Parkin, Jada , Chris & Grace Olufeso, Jessica Russell, Maisie Drowse, Madison & Christine Symes, Nam & Lam Tran and anyone else who attended but overlooked the sign-in process.
OPEN MORNING Whilst the working bee was going on the Foundation team, Gill and myself conducted tours all morning for prospective 2019 and even 2020 families. Right now, it appears our whole school numbers will hover around the 650 mark next year (currently we are at a recent years high of 664), and once again I implore parents of students already in attendance with siblings attending next year to complete the enrolment process asap to assist us with the complicated planning process.
CAMP ANGLESEA As you read this, 100 students and 11 adults (teachers and parents) are enjoying all that Anglesea has to offer as Grade 4s participate in the annual school camp. I will be spending today down at camp, and look forward to sharing the highlights with staff and students.
PUPIL FREE DAY A reminder that Monday, June 11 is the Queen’s Birthday Public Holiday, to be followed on Tuesday, June 12 by a pupil free day at Viewbank Primary School. Staff will be working with renowned maths expert, Michael Ymer, to continue to develop our maths teaching skills with a day’s professional development activities. Michael will return in early term 3 to consolidate the day’s activities with staff in classrooms. A reminder that Oshclub offers a full day’s care on Tuesday, June 12.
BON VOYAGE MRS NICHOLLS I would like to take this opportunity to wish Gill Nicholls all the best as she heads overseas on Monday for a well earned long service leave trip. Gill returns at the start of Term 3. Her role will be filled by, in successive weeks, Bec Andrew (1 week), Narelle Taylor (1 week) and Sandy Farley (2 weeks).
Welcome to Winter everyone!
Kind regards,
Bill Kersing
Principal
PROFESSIONAL PRACTICE DAYS All staff are currently in the process of taking their term 2 Professional Practice Day. The majority of staff have chosen to use this day for the assessment of student progress as well as data collection and analysis. assessment of student learning as well as data collection and analysis. This day has allowed teachers the time to assess students one to one as well as assess writing samples and collate data, all in preparation for the writing of mid year student reports.
HAPPY HOLIDAYS This week is my final week for the term as I am taking the last four weeks as Long Service Leave and heading overseas with my husband to England, France and various Eastern European countries. I’m very much looking forward to the break and know those who are helping out in my absence will do a wonderful job in the acting AP role.
I look forward to seeing you all on my return at the start of term 3.
Enjoy the rest of the term.
Gill Nicholls
PARENTS: TO EXPLAIN A STUDENT'S WHOLE DAY ABSENCE OR LATE ARRIVAL
Late Arrival to School If your child is sick, absent or late, you are required to notify the school before 9am on the day of absence, via Compass. Please do not telephone the school. It is a legal requirement that the school receives an explanation from a parent/carer for all absences, late arrivals and early departures via Compass.
If your child is late to school:
- All students who are late to school MUST report to the office before going to class.
- The office staff will enter the late arrival time and parent explanation.
- If students arrive late to school without a parent/caregiver, an unexplained absence note will be generated on Compass which then the parent/caregiver must provide an explanation.
Changes to ‘Early Leavers’ Procedures Parents are required to come to the office when collecting their child early from school and fill in the ‘Early Leavers’ book at the front desk. The Office Staff will ring the classroom and ask for your child to come to the office with their bag. Children are only to be collected by their parent from the front Office (not the classroom). This will minimise disruptions to the children's learning.
STUDENT ABSENCES If your child is sick or absent, you are required to notify the school before 9am on the day of their absence via Compass. Notifying the school of your child’s absence either prior to, or on the day that they will be away, helps ensure the safety and wellbeing of children and will fulfil your legal responsibility.
Why do I need to notify the school if my child is absent? Schools need to know when and why a child is absent and you need to know if your child isn’t at school. From the end of Term 2 2018, all Victorian government schools are required to contact parents/carers as soon as practicable on the same day of an unexplained student absence. If your child is absent on a particular day and you have not contacted the school to explain why, the absence will be marked as unexplained. This system also promotes daily school attendance. Going to school every day is the single most important part of your child’s education, they learn new things every day – missing school puts them behind.
What is your responsibility? You are legally required to ensure your child attends school every day or you must provide an explanation for their absence. You should let the school know in advance of any upcoming absences or let them know in the morning if your child won’t be at school. In order for schools to implement the same day notification requirement, it’s essential that you provide the school with your most up-to-date contact details.
Please ask the office if you require any further assistance in entering your child's absences on Compass. A parent training workshop on entering absences will also be held in the staff room on Wednesday 6th June at 3pm.
Kind regards
Lucy Addati
ENTERTAINMENT BOOK AND DIGITAL MEMBERSHIP Purchase your Entertainment Membership NOW to help Viewbank Primary School raise much needed funds! Viewbank Primary School are again fundraising with the very popular Entertainment Book or Digital Membership. You'll receive hundreds of valuable offers for everything you love to do, and help our fundraising at the same time. Hurry, Entertainment Memberships sell out quickly.
ICY POLE FRIDAY Students are able to buy icy poles over the counter at lunchtime. All icy poles cost $1.00 each. We are asking for parent helpers to assist with the sale of these icy poles on Fridays from 1pm to 1:30pm.
DISTRICT CROSS COUNTRY Well done to everyone who competed yesterday at the District Cross Country. What a great achievement by all!
DRUM KIT There will be no drum lessons Thursday 7th June. Ben will make up for lessons on Wednesdays throughout the remainder of Term 2. Thank you.
BOOK CLUB Issue 4 catalogues have sent home this week. All orders are due by Wednesday 13th of June. Every dollar you spend earns points to buy more books for the Library. Thank you for your support.
The next batch of Anniversary books have just arrived. Get in early as when they are gone there will be no more printed. Don't wait! Contact the school office now to secure your copy. Don't miss out!
Camps, Sports and Excursions Fund (CSEF) The Government assisted ‘Camps, Sports and Excursions Fund’ provides payments for eligible students to attend camps, sports and excursions. Applications for the Governments ‘Camps, Sports and Excursions Fund’ can be accessed by filling out the form available on Compass, at the office or via the link below. To be eligible for this funding, you need to hold a current Pension or Health Care Card. Please note: as this funding is means tested, the Parent/Guardian MUST be the card holder, no Medical Health Care Cards in the student’s name will be accepted as it will be rejected by the CSEF system. Funds will be automatically allocated to the Term Expenses unless otherwise stated by the parent at the start of the year.
TRANSITION DATES Please download the below timeline for your future reference.
HATS ON From 1st September until 30th April school hats must be worn outside during all outside activities.