PUPIL FREE DAYS

• Monday 17th August, 2020
• Monday 2nd November, 2020

TERM DATES

• 2020 TERM 3: Monday 13th July - Friday 18th September (2:30pm finish)
• 2020 TERM 4: Monday 5th October - Friday 18th December (1:30pm finish)

WELCOME BACK – SORT OF! Hello everyone. In this, the first newsletter of Term 3, we all find ourselves back in lockdown world. I’m always big on perspective, so whilst it isn’t what we want, it’s better than a few other possible scenarios (think the U.S.A.), and it is clearly critical, as our first priority to keep healthy and to keep safe. In terms of the phase of remote learning we are now in, our staff used last week to plan for a return to remote learning, and have increased the emphasis on WebEx catch-ups as well as video posts to better enable instruction for online tasks. We trust that the programs delivered this term, as well as the increased aptitude and ability of staff and students to use the online tools, will enhance the remote learning experience this term – how ever long that may be!

BUILDING WORKS We are always on the lookout for silver linings, but especially in a Covid world! So here’s one!! I am very happy to report that our new school buildings are approaching practical completion, with the official handover expected at the end of Week 3 – that is, July 31. After that we will allow a further three weeks to ‘outfit’ our new classrooms with data projectors, new furniture and heating/cooling so that (fingers crossed) when we all return to onsite learning in mid to late August, the Grade 5 and 6 students will return to the new buildings.

Hopefully by the same time, our specialist programs (Japanese, Music and STEM) will be back where they were at the end of last year (remember then??). Grade 1 classes will move from the Music Room and Library and occupy the top floor of the double storey building (Rooms 1-4 where the Grade 5s are now). And the last piece of the puzzle – the 3D (Ms Deery) and 3G(Mrs Groves/Ms Ruddock) classes will move into the much larger classrooms of the portable on the Winston Road side of the school.

I am also happy to report that the Grade 2s and 3s will get a lovely additional playground adjacent to the shade sail area, funded under the building program and hopefully that will be complete by the potential onsite resumption in mid to late August.

Something positive to look forward to!!

I hope everyone has a safe weekend. Please look after each other.

Kind regards,

Bill Kersing

Principal

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Welcome back to Term 3.

Sadly, I can’t say this in person but I do hope you managed to enjoy the holiday break and you are ready for another block of remote and flexible learning.

This week, it has been wonderful to see the smiling faces of so many of our students via WebEx and I hope you have found this experience as well as the use of pre-recorded videos a positive for your child’s learning. We understand that from time to time there will be technology glitches (we had our fair share at school during the week) so if your child misses a scheduled WebEx, don't stress, reassure your child and email the teacher. In this situation, we certainly need to keep things in perspective.

Thank you parents and carers for coming along last Friday and this week to collect learning material packs for your child. Being able to send these resources home certainly helped our teachers, especially in the junior grades.

Take care and be grateful.

Gill Nicholls

Contacting Teachers In my final Viewbank Voice piece in Term 2 https://spark.adobe.com/page/BwyPjpl9qsRcr/, I informed you that our @viewbankps.vic.edu.au email addresses would not be monitored in the future. As with all of our communications, this was correct at the time. However, due to the rapidly changing situation with coronavirus (COVID-19), and the return to Stage 3 restrictions in Melbourne; including remote and flexible learning, these email addresses will once again be monitored

Mental Health Support There has been a huge surge in people who are reaching out for support from mental health services. If you or anyone you know needs support, the following services may be of use:

• Kids Helpline: 1800 551 800 www.kidshelpline.com.au/
• Lifeline: 13 11 14 www.lifeline.org.au/
• Mensline: 1300 789 978 www.mensline.org.au/
• Beyond Blue: 1300 224 636 www.beyondblue.org.au/
• Mind Australia: https://www.mindaustralia.org.au/

There is also advice for parents, carers and guardians available from the

https://www.education.vic.gov.au/parents/Pages/coronavirus-advice-parents.aspx and on our school website http://www.viewbankps.vic.edu.au/wellbeing

Have a great week everyone!

Patrick

Remote Learning: Limited Access Access to school grounds is limited to:

• school staff
• students attending on-site learning
• contractors, including cleaners and maintenance workers
• outside-school-hours-care (OHSC) staff, enrolled children and their families.

If you need to collect anything from the school please call the office and a staff member will meet you at the gate at the top of the ramp on Lascelles Avenue.

Year 3, 4 & 6 Camp Refunds We are currently in the process of providing refunds to families who have made payments towards these camps.

Due to the large number refunds there may be a slight delay in refunds being processed. If you have not already provided your bank account details please email them to our school email address asap.

Your understanding of this matter is appreciated.

Thank you

Lucy Addati

Buisness Manager

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Unfortunately, our Transition event for Foundation 2021 students “Storyland" has been postponed due to current restrictions. This event was scheduled to run on Tuesday, 11th August.

We thought we would begin the Transition process online as we couldn’t wait to share a fun story with you. We hope you enjoy this video.

We are still accepting enrolment forms during Term 3, please call the office once you have arrived and a member of staff will greet you and accept your enrolment form.

PHONE NUMBER: 0448 075 422

EMAIL: viewbank@oshclub.com.au

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