• Monday 23 March - Bakery Lunch Orders to be place by today - Order Now
• Friday 27th March - Bakery Lunch Orders Day - Order Now
• Friday 27th March - Last Day Of Term 1 (2:30pm dismissal)
• Tuesday 14th April - Student Free Day
• Wednesday 15th April - First Day Of Term 2 For Students
• Saturday 20th June - Parents Trivia Night
• Saturday 14th November - School Fair

PUPIL FREE DAYS

• Tuesday April 14th, 2020
• One extra day yet to be confirmed in 2020

TERM DATES

• 2020 TERM 1: Tuesday 28th January - Friday 27th March (2:30pm finish)
• 2020 TERM 2: Tuesday 14th April - Friday 26th June (2:30pm finish)
• 2020 TERM 3: Monday 13th July - Friday 18th September (2:30pm finish)
• 2020 TERM 4: Monday 5th October - Friday 18th December (1:30pm finish)

CAMP DATES

• Year 6: Canberra Camp (Mon 25May to Fri 29May 2020)
• Year 4: Anglesea Recreation Camp (Wed 27May to Fri 29May 2020)
• Year 3: Arrabri Lodge Camp (Mon 27July to Wed 29July 2020)
• Year 5: Lady Northcote Recreation Camp (Tue 06Oct to Fri 09Oct 2020)

COVID-19 Many thanks to staff, parents and guardians for working together cohesively and sensibly during these challenging times. I’d like to offer my sincere thanks for everyone’s hard work, patience and resilience. Victoria’s Chief Health Officer has advised that all schools should continue to operate as planned for now, and that’s what we have been doing. We understand some families have elected to keep students home and we definitely respect your decision, and as a staff we will continue to take our directions from our employer, and in a changing landscape we will advise any new directions by Compass. Please find below a summary of a Compass notice put out earlier in the week:-

Camps and excursions have been cancelled until further notice. We are unable to say whether planned for camps in late May will go ahead, and our best advice is to hold off on deposits until further notice. State Swimming events, District Athletics and Round Robin Soccer events have all been cancelled or postponed.

National Young Leaders Day has been postponed (was scheduled for Friday).

All school assemblies have been cancelled until further notice.

If schools do shut down, the Department is working on a range of online resources to support ongoing (albeit off-campus) instruction. A general statement on what we currently provide online has been distributed and clearly there will be responsibilities at a school level to maintain continuity in education if that eventuality happens.

Some families are seeking refunds for events that may be missed. Please give due time for us to work through these, and to process where appropriate.

WORKING BEE We had a wonderful turnout on Sunday to our first working bee for the year. A mountain of softfall, and mulch, was moved during the morning, as well as a completely new deck or ‘pier’ constructed on the Foundation and Grade 1 playground (as the photo pays testament to). Many thanks to everyone for your attendance and support under the indefatigable leadership of Nick Deane and the Buildings and Grounds Committee.

BUILDING WORKS We have purchased two more shipping containers for short and long term storage and these are currently being filled in preparation for the demolition of our Northern Classrooms over the Easter break and into Term 2. Please monitor the newsletter and Compass carefully for changed arrangements as the building company moves in – as you will imagine, there are many contingent factors on when this might happen.

That’s it from me this week. Take care.

Kind regards,

Bill Kersing

Principal

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RESPECTFUL RELATIONSHIPS IN THE CLASSROOM Respectful Relationships acknowledges that children of any age have challenges to overcome, teaching social and emotional skills appropriate to their age and level of maturity. In the primary years, Respectful Relationships focuses on treating everyone with respect and dignity. It is taught as part of the Health and Physical Education and Personal and Social Capability areas of the Victorian Curriculum.

The supporting Resilience, Rights & Respectful Relationships teaching and learning materials that our teachers use across the school have been developed by world-leading experts from the University of Melbourne. These age-appropriate resources align to the Victorian Curriculum and include lesson plans and activities that help students learn and practise social skills and apply them in a positive way to learning, life and relationships. The resources support a whole of school approach to creating equal and respectful attitudes, behaviours, structures and practices across the school culture and ethos.

The Resilience, Rights & Respectful Relationships resources cover eight topics for each year level.

• Topic 1: Emotional Literacy Topic 2: Personal Strengths
• Topic 3: Positive Coping Topic 4: Problem Solving
• Topic 5: Stress Management Topic 6: Help-Seeking
• Topic 7: Gender and Identity Topic 8: Positive Gender Relations

Next week I will provide an outline of each topic.

Below are three original work samples created and edited by students from 5M demonstrating their understanding of Respectful Relationships at Viewbank PS.

Have a great week

Gill Nicholls

Self-care

*Information below is from https://www.lifeinmindaustralia.com.au/for-the-sector/self-care

As we move into a period of great uncertainty, it becomes increasingly important that parents, guardians, staff and anyone who looks after others, practice a degree of ‘self-care’. To use an example from the airline industry – you need to put your own oxygen mask on first, before you put anyone else’s on – you can’t help if you are also gasping for breath.

Self-care refers to activities that preserve and maintain one’s physical, emotional and mental health. It is an ongoing commitment to look after yourself through helpful behaviours that protect your health during periods of stress. However, in a ‘best case’ scenario, the activities that work for you should be done all year round, and not just during periods of stress.

Select this link https://s3-ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/lifeinmind/assets/src/user-uploads/Life-in-Mind-Self-care.pdf for more information on:

• What is self-care?
• When should you practice self-care?
• How can self-care be incorporated into your life?
• Ways to incorporate self-care into your life?
• Support services
• Self-help Apps
• Self-care action plan

There are also a range of resources available from Beyond Blue https://www.beyondblue.org.au/ , including their online forums covering topics such as https://www.beyondblue.org.au/get-support/online-forums/staying-well/coping-during-the-coronavirus-outbreak

Have a great weekend everyone,

Patrick

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CSEF (Camps, Sports and Excursions Fund) CSEF (Camps, Sports and Excursions Fund) is a government assisted fund which provides payments for eligible students to attend camps, sports and excursions ($125 per child). Applications for the Governments ‘CSEF Fund’ can be accessed by filling in the attached form and return to the office with a current Health Care card. To be eligible for this funding, you need to hold a current Centrelink Health Care Card or Pension Concession Card or Veteran Affairs Gold 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 are paid to the school and will be automatically allocated to the Term Expenses unless otherwise stated by the parent at the start of the year.

COMPASS If you have any questions or require assistance with Compass, please do not hesitate to contact the office or refer to the Compass Parent Guide on your Compass Newsfeed.

Kind regards

Lucy Addati

Business Manager

The School Fair Committee is working hard to deliver the School Fair in November 2020 but we need your assistance as a liaison or co-ordinator. No matter how big or small you can contribute we would love to hear from you.

If you can assist with any of the following please contact the listed co-ordinator for more information.

Communications and Sponsors - Dale Armstrong 0417402432 or emal: armstrong.dale70@gmail.com

• Sponsors
• Marketing and promotions

Stalls - Jules Kent 0437423260 or email: juliennekent@gmail.com

• Food vendors
• Market stalls
• School stalls
• Rides & attractions

Programming & Logistics - Neralie Cadusch 0412551430 or email caduschconsulting@gmail.com

• Permits
• Risk Management Planning
• Stage Programming
• External contractors

If you are unsure who to contact and wish to offer your assistance, we would love to hear from you. You can contact Dale Armstrong (Fair Convenor) on 0417402432 or email armstrong.dale70@gmail.com

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SECOND HAND UNIFORM SALE - Every Friday, 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.

Uniforms can be purchased online at www.aplusschoolwear.com.au with one of three delivery options:

• Free collection in store during trading hours.
• Postage to address of customer’s choosing, at $12.50 for two items or less, or $17.50 for three items or more.
• Free delivery to school, to an existing student at Viewbank Primary. Please note, this option is not available if the customer does not already have a student at the school.

The Viewbank Primary School Council has approved for the Lower Plenty Bakehouse to provide the school with a bakery provided Lunch Order on the last Friday of each month.

Parent assistance is required on this day to collect the food from the bakery and sort juices. If you are available to assist in any way can you please email your details to viewbank.ps@edumail.vic.gov.au

ORDERS MUST BE PLACED BEFORE MONDAY 23RD MARCH, 2020

Please contact Lower Plenty Bakehouse in regards to any dietary information 9435 1603

All food is halal, pasties, sandwich and rolls are vegetarian.

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2020 VIEWBANK PRIMARY SCHOOL EASTER RAFFLE

$1.00 per raffle ticket, great prizes to be won!! Please return all sold tickets to school by Friday 20th March, 2020. Raffle to be drawn on Monday 23rd March, 2020. Please ensure name and phone number are clearly written onto all sold tickets.

All money raised will be going towards our schools fundraising oval project.

Thank you for your support.

A little bird told me about this month’s bonus offers with Entertainment. You can spend and save, get extra membership months and receive a gift with purchase. Don’t forget you would also be supporting Viewbank Primary School fundraising. https://www.entertainment.com.au/orderbooks/1891w37

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.

VEGETABLE SALES On Wednesday afternoons at 3pm in the Rotunda students from 4M will be picking produce to sell to the community. We are also looking for donations of plastic buckets and pots to re plant some of our plants in before the Northern Building is demolished.

OXFAM Trailwalker Melbourne 2020 100km We are a team of four Viewbank PS mum’s crazy enough to be tackling the 100km Oxfam Trailwalker Challenge 2020 on 27-29 March. We are aiming to complete the 100km in approximately 26 hours, have been in serious training and are ready to walk!

Our team is called “The Wannabe Warriors” consisting of Kate Coleman, Jodi Cook, Muireann Lambe & Jess Martin (with special thanks to our support crew of Vanessa Buttigieg & Tracey Muir).

If anyone would like to donate to this worthy cause, please click on the link below to donate to our team. Thank you for your support!

HATS ON From 1st September until 30th April school hats must be worn outside during all outside activities.

RUNNING GROUP Starting from week 3 every Tuesday and Thursday from 8:35am on the oval, for any student. All abilities welcome. Pack a spare pair of socks/shoes in case the oval is damp. Hope to see you there!

SCHOOL CHOIR Every Wednesday, 8.30am, in Miss Lane’s room. Everyone from Year 2 to 6 are welcome!

PHONE NUMBER: 0448 075 422

EMAIL: viewbank@oshclub.com.au