Sunday 17th November - Working Bee, 9am to 12pm

Monday 18th to Friday 22nd November - Viewbank Primary School Book Fair

Thursday 21st November - Hot Lunch Day Orders Due Today (Dumplings & Rice) - ORDER NOW

Friday 22nd November - Year 1 Late Night Experience

Thursday 28th November - Hot Lunch Day (Dumplings & Rice) - ORDER NOW

Tuesday 3rd December - Viewbank Primary Parents, Guardians and Friends Dinner Out - Sir Henry Barkly Hotel, 7:30pm (All Welcome) - R.S.V.P. HERE

Wednesday 4th December - Think U Know Parent Education Session, 2pm & 7:30pm - BOOK NOW

Thursday 5th December - Think U Know Parent Education Session, 7:30pm - BOOK NOW

Friday 6th December - Carols By Candlelight

Tuesday 17th December - Year 6 Graduation at Loyola College

PUPIL FREE DAYS

• Monday December 16, 2019
• Tuesday January 28th, 2020
• Wednesday January 29th, 2020
• Two extra days yet to be confirmed in 2020

TERM DATES

• 2019 TERM 4: Monday 7th October - Friday 20th December (1:30pm finish)
• 2020 TERM 1: Tuesday 28th January - Teachers start (All students start Thursday 30th 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 Wed 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)

UPCOMING EVENTS It’s hard to believe the school year is just five weeks from completion – it seems only yesterday we were having our Foundation Welcome BBQ, and settling all classes in for another school year! And, of course, the final five weeks will be action packed with a range of activities and end of year celebrations. Please consult this newsletter, and check COMPASS regularly for alerts, to ensure nothing is missed in the countdown to the final day!

STUDENT LEADERSHIP – SCHOOL CAPTAINS One of the highlights of the school year, for me, is the speech making afternoon where Grade 5 students address their peers as they ‘campaign’ for the positions of school captain. It took place last Friday, and all teachers and staff in attendance were ‘blown away’ by the passion, ideas and self confidence displayed or articulated during the session. At the conclusion of the speeches, all students voted on their preferred candidate for the positions, with peer votes tallied and then determining the shortlist of five girls and five boys to be interviewed by school leadership. Interviews took place on Monday, with captains and vice captains announced tomorrow to all of the shortlisted candidates. There will be an official badge presentation in upcoming weeks at Assembly.

CHESS SUPERFINAL On Monday, six of our students competed in the final chess event for the year – the NSC Primary Open super final at St Bridget’s PS in Balwyn North. Viewbank PS placed 8th out of 49 schools competing – a tremendous effort. Congratulations to Tedric Li (15th overall and Grade 3/4 Bronze Medallist), Huy Ho (58th), Luke Whitby (60th), Yue Shan Gao (72nd), Ewan McLauchlan (99th), and Topaz Tong (110th). Everyone is so proud of your efforts.

WORKING BEE I hope to see you at Sunday’s Working Bee – the final one for 2019. Plenty to do, and we really encourage you to come along. A sausage sizzle and morning tea is on the cards and plenty of people to chat to and get to know.

2020 FOUNDATION INFORMATION NIGHT The 2020 Foundation Information Night is scheduled for next Thursday, November 21 in the Stephanie Alexander Kitchen Garden Program room from 6:30pm.

LATE NIGHT EXPERIENCE And the final event in our extensive camping program takes place on Friday, November 22 with the Grade 1 late night experience held at school until around 7.30pm. The best detention ever!! Looking forward to it.

That’s it from me this week – I hope you have a great weekend.

Kind regards,

Bill Kersing

Principal

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SECOND HAND UNIFORM SALE AT WORKING BEE Please make sure you come along to the Working Bee this Sunday from 9.00-12.00. There are a range of different jobs to be completed and as the saying goes, ‘many hands make light work’.

We will also be holding a huge second hand uniform sale from 9.00am until 10.30am in the Japanese Courtyard. We have a large assortment of second hand uniform items in stock in all sizes. All jumpers with the school logo, summer dresses and winter pinafores will be $5.00 and all other items including polo tops will be $2.00.

ASSISTING YOUR CHILD’S LEARNING

NUMERACY: BIRTH TO YEAR 2

Measuring things

Understanding measurement and scale are crucial to your child’s understanding of maths.

Here are some tips and activities:

• Use a wall measuring chart to measure the height of people in your family.
• Talk to your child about objects around them and help them judge which is bigger or smaller, taller or shorter.
• Cut a piece of string for your child – any length will do. Use the string to measure the objects in your house to find out what is longer or shorter than your ‘string measuring tape’. Ask your child to identify anything that is the same length.
• Explore other ways of measuring, such as using a cup, jug, teaspoon, icy pole sticks, footprints or hand lengths.
• Help your child to build a tower of blocks that is taller than a favourite toy. Ask your child to count the total blocks to measure the height of the tower.
• Estimate and measure who can jump the furthest, or stand on one foot for a longer period, or how many buttons might fill a jar.
• Explore the size of different containers by pouring and filling. Estimate, then check to see which holds more or less.
• Notice changes in the weather and the time of day. Use an old bottle and create a ‘rain gauge’ to measure and monitor how much it rains.

Asking questions to investigate

Ask your child questions like these to encourage them to investigate maths:

• What shapes can you see?
• How could we measure the...?
• How will we find half?
• What is the best way to share the...?
• How do I get from … to …?
• Which is closer: the sandpit or the swing?
• How tall can you build a tower before it falls?

NUMERACY: YEAR 3 – YEAR 6

Understanding fractions

Fractions is a maths topic that is very relevant to everyday life. We use our knowledge of fractions to solve problems and make decisions all the time.

Support your child by using mathematical language to talk about fractions.

Here are some maths language terms your child uses at school:

• Fraction – any part of a whole, a group or a number (for example, ⅜ )
• Numerator – showing the number of parts of the whole (for example, in the fraction ⅜ , the numerator is 3)
• Denominator – shows how many equal parts the whole is divided into (for example, in the fraction ⅜ , the denominator is 8)
• Proper fraction – when the value of the numerator is less than the denominator (for example, ⅜ )
• Improper fraction – when the numerator is greater than or equal to the denominator (for example, 5/3)
• Equivalent fraction – fractions that have the same value or amount (for example, 2/3 = 4/6)
• Mixed numbers – a whole number and a fraction (for example, 1 ½)

Children begin by learning that there are many numbers between whole numbers. A number line is an effective model to help your child understand this:

0-------------⅜ -------------⅝-------------1

Your child also begins to develop an understanding of the relationship between fractions, decimals, ratios and percentage.

• Decimals – a fraction that is made by dividing a whole into ten equal parts (tenths) or one hundred equal parts (hundredths). For example, 75 red pens of 100 total pens can be rewritten as 0.75 or .75
• Ratio – a comparison of two or more amounts. For example, in a fruit bowl there are 3 apples and 4 pears. This ratio of apples to pears is represented as 3:4.
• Percentage – is the number of parts out of 100. For example, in a collection of 100 buttons, 75 are red. This can be represented as 75 per cent or 75%.

Talk positively about how you use fractions in everyday life. Making models of fractions for your child will support their understanding of fractions.

Try some of these ideas by making use of everyday objects:

• Can you show me halves and quarters as you cut the orange?
• Can you cut up the apple to make six equal pieces? What fraction of the whole apple is one piece? Four pieces?
• How else could you say that?
• What percentage of the glass is filled with water? What is the ratio of water to air in the glass?
• How do the hands on the clock face show the time quarter past? Why do we use the word ‘quarter’ when telling the time?
• If you fold a towel three times equally, what fraction does it show?

Have a great week

Gill Nicholls

Attendance Continuing my piece from last week on school attendance, the below table shows the percentage of students at each grade level who have had between 0.5 - 9.5 days absence, 10-19.5 days, 20 -29.5 days and 30+days. The below figures are from all absence types – illness, holidays, medical appointments etc. All figures are rounded and are current as of 11th November. The number of students are in the brackets.

And at a whole school level, this equates to:

The main causes of absenteeism from Foundation to Grade 6, and the equivalent days lost of school, is below:

Our primary focus on reducing absenteeism type is ‘Unexplained’ and ‘Parent Choice (Unauthorised)’.

We strongly encourage any child who is ill, to please stay at home. We thank the parents who can make alternative arrangements for themselves and/or their children when this is the case – we know it is not easy!

This week’s article is from Beyond Blue and the full text can be accessed by clicking this link https://healthyfamilies.beyondblue.org.au/healthy-homes/building-resilience/create-opportunities-for-personal-challenge

Create opportunities for personal challenge

Provide your child with opportunities to build their confidence and learn how to deal with obstacles, success and failure when they undertake personal challenges.

It is important to remember the following:

• One idea that is very relevant to building children’s confidence by taking personal challenges is ‘healthy risks’. Healthy risks are age and developmentally appropriate risks such as walking to the shops with a sibling or alone. Healthy risks are not only about the risk of getting physically hurt, but also about the risk of losing, failing or making a mistake.
• As a parent, you need to define what you consider to be a ‘healthy risk’ for your child – depending on their age, maturity and your own comfort level. It may be useful to ask yourself what risks you have let your child take in the past. What was the outcome? Would you encourage your child to take that risk again? It may be helpful to discuss ‘healthy risk-taking’ with other parents.

Further information in this article covers:

• Teach your child to ‘have a go’
• Allow your child to experience everyday adversity
• Encourage your child to do free play
• Encourage your child to build independence
• Talk to your child about self-talk
• Help your child deal with difficult situations
• Explore the benefits of community based organisations.

Have a great weekend everyone!

Patrick

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OSHClub (Before/After School and Vacation Care provider) is open all day on the pupil free day Monday 16th December.

SCHOOL BANKING After discussions at the School Council last week it was decided that Student School Banking with the Commonwealth Bank of Australia will no longer be available at Viewbank PS.

Thank you

Foundation — Morgan, Liv & Kate

Year 1 & 2 — Luke, Orlando, Shawn, Lucy, Maya & Yueshan

Year 3 & 4 — Reece, Sehaj, Adele, Jopi, Aryan & Rebecca

Year 5 & 6 — Jacinta, Blaise & Hamish

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Watch this space for Viewbank’s upcoming MUSIC SOIREE!

Tuesday 26th November

GYM:

• Gabriella’s singers – 6pm performance
• Strings with Mr Cai – 7.15pm performance

MUSIC ROOM:

• Ella’s piano/keyboard students - 1.15pm performance & evening performances starting at 6pm

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.

END OF YEAR DINNER All parents, guardians & friends of Viewbank Primary School are invited to an end of year celebration dinner at Sir Henry Barkly Hotel in Heidelberg. Tuesday 3rd December, 7:30pm.

This is a great opportunity to get together with other school parents and guardians to finish off the school year. Everyone welcome!

For restaurant booking purposes can you please indicate via Trybooking your intention to attend the dinner before November 26.

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.

COLGATE COMMUNITY GARDEN CHALLENGE A huge congratulations to all of the students and families of VPS. Of the 1100+ pre, primary and secondary schools, VPS placed 18th in the Colgate Community Garden Challenge. Together, we have diverted close to 200,000 pieces of oral care waste from Australian landfi lls. Although the competition is over for this year, we will continue to do our part in recycling toothbrushes, toothpaste tubes, toothpaste caps and floss containers! Please drop any empty oral care waste (any brand is accepted) into our recycling monster located at the office. We will ship to Terracycle to be recycled.

ENVISION HANDS This term, VPS will begin to collect bottle caps for Envision Hands. The Envision Hands project recycles plastic bottle lids bound for landfill, and turns them into colourful, superhero hands for children in need, in Australia and around the world.

What sort of bottle caps are accepted?

Currently, Envision Hands use all flat soft drink, water and milk bottle tops, including those from long life containers. The tops should be numbered either No 2 or No 4 in the recycled triangle but not all are marker. Please ensure all caps are cleaned before they are donated and no extra plastic, metal or other material is attached.

You can find more information about the project here: https://envision.org.au

Reverse Advent Calendar Some 6W students have chosen to run a Reverse Advent Calendar as their action for Inquiry.

The idea is to do an advent calendar in reverse!! Instead of taking something each day, we are asking people to give. The donations will go to Diamond Valley Food-share and The Big Group Hug. 2 local organisations that help those less fortunate.

So instead of getting stuff like lollies, we will be giving things to people that can’t afforded to buy a lot of things this Christmas. You can bring things in like packeted food that will last and things that don’t need to be refrigerated. As well as pre-loved goods such as clothing, blankets, toys, books, or new unwanted toiletries.

Each year level will have a day to give and we will pick up any late donations at the end, so don’t worry if you forget or miss your day.

These are the days for each year level:

• Year 6 will be on Monday the 18th
• Year 5 will be on Tuesday the 19th
• Year 4 on Wednesday the 20th
• Year 3 on Thursday the 21st
• Year 2 on Friday the 22nd
• Year 1 on Monday the 25th
• And Foundation on Tuesday the 26th
• Plus a final back-up collection on Wednesday the 27th.

Thank you. All these items will go to Diamond Valley Food-share and Big Group Hug. We would love the support and so would these amazing charities as it is coming into the Christmas season.

2019 VIEWBANK PRIMARY THINK U KNOW PARENT EDUCATION SESSION

Three sessions to choose from:

• Wednesday, 4th December - 2:00pm
• Wednesday, 4th December - 7:30pm
• Thursday, 5th December - 7:30pm

Venue: Viewbank Primary School

The final Book Club for this year (Issue 8) orders close on Wednesday 27th November. No late orders can be accepted as Scholastic Warehouse closes soon after our last delivery. Thank everyone who has supported Book Club this year, enabling us to obtain many free books for the Library.

Psychology service for students at Viewbank Primary School This is just a reminder about our new psychology service that may be of use to you - DBT in Schools.

Areas that DBT in Schools can help with (from http://dbtinschools.com.au/individual-therapy/):

• emotional stress such as depression and anxiety
• grief and sadness
• bullying
• sexuality issues
• substance abuse issues
• trauma
• family breakdown or parent problems, or
• friendship and relationship issues

If you would like any more information and may like to access this service, please contact the school (9459 1512) or send an email to viewbank.ps@edumail.vic.gov.au

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

RUNNING GROUP Every Thursday from 8:15am on the oval, for any students in years 4-6. All abilities welcome. Pack a spare pair of socks/shoes in case the oval is damp. Hope to see you there!

SCHOOL CHOIR Every Wednesdays, 8.30, in the Music room. Everyone from Year 2 to 6 are welcome!

Spring has definitely hit and our vegetable garden is overloaded with produce. This Monday, we will selling produce after assembly in the vegetable garden. All money raised will go back into our Stephanie Alexander program.

We have broad beans, radishes, asparagus and lots more!

The program is scheduled on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. Of course, volunteers are essential to the success of the program, so we are always looking for anybody willing to work with a small group, in the kitchen or garden. You do not need to be a ‘masterchef’ or have a green thumb! Enthusiasm is the only requirement.