PUPIL FREE DAYS

• Two extra days yet to be confirmed in 2020

TERM DATES

• 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 5: Lady Northcote Recreation Camp (Tue 06Oct to Fri 09Oct 2020)
• Year 3, 4 & 6: As Camps are closed due to COVID 19 we are looking at rescheduling these 3 camps to later in the year. If this is not possible a full refund in term 3 will be provided to families who have already made a payment.

BACK TO SCHOOL It was lovely to see our Foundation to Grade 2 students back on Tuesday and it was readily apparent they were excited to be back. Thank you so much to our school community for abiding by the rules and guidelines we put in place for the safety and wellbeing of everyone. Lots to digest and take on board but beautifully done by everyone. The reward on the first day, Tuesday, was the most glorious afternoon imaginable for the early dismissal at 3pm – the downside was the weather at 8.45am with the school shrouded in fog and a chilly 5.6 degrees to boot! Never mind – perspective is a wonderful thing, and we would all rather be chilly than unwell for sure. We will continue with these arrangements for Foundation to 2 for the rest of term unless there are changes announced by the Premier and/or the Education Minister.

COMMUNITY SUPPORT The staff returned ‘en-masse’ on Monday and were very appreciative of the message of grateful thanks and appreciation conveyed to them by School Council President Ian Sherlock, as well as a gift on behalf of the school for the massive amount of work that had been done as we all adjusted to remote learning. We were similarly buoyed on Tuesday by a generous and spontaneous gift from Liz Walker and the team at Nelson Alexander Ivanhoe – the most beautiful cupcakes from Cupcake Queens. We have also been in receipt of a large number of thank you emails and words of thanks from our community – in these difficult times, heartful gestures like these are so appreciated! Thank you in kind for your support!

BUILDING WORKS There really hasn’t been much action of late, after the excitement of the demolition during the first half of the term. I have been advised that, at this stage, the final week of term will be an exciting one. A dozen heavy haulage vehicles will be delivering the building on one to two days that week with each section craned in over the rotunda, put in place and ultimately ‘pieced’ together! It will be ‘high’ excitement for everyone, but of course if delayed, it might become some holiday viewing from the oval. We still anticipate a ‘handover’ during August of the final build, with occupation by the Grade 5 and 6 classes by September. Fingers crossed!

Short and sweet this week. Hope everyone is getting to enjoy a little more normalcy – at a social distance, of course.

Kind regards,

Bill Kersing

Principal

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Reports Last week, the Department of Education and Training (DET) provided information about the adjusted expectations of Student Reports for Semester 1 in recognition of the transition to remote and flexible learning during Term 2. While we have continued to deliver our teaching and learning programs, and monitor the achievement and progress of each student as best we can, there have been some unprecedented changes to our usual program.

We will have more information on the reports in the coming weeks, including a publish date. At this stage, we will not be having 3-Way Conferences this term.

Please note, our staff have been instructed to focus primarily on wellbeing, we will be attempting to encourage and support happy, healthy and socially connected students. What we do between now and the end of Term 2 will be vital in providing a strong foundation to launch into learning in Term 3. While this time of year is normally busy with assessment, this will not be the case in Term 2, 2020.

While we do not know what the future holds in regards to COVID-19, if the school remains open and operating as per the new ‘normal’, a more comprehensive academic report will be provided at the end of the year.

Have a great weekend everyone!

Patrick

In recent weeks, it has felt like we are fitting together the pieces of a very important puzzle. Since the Premier announced the return to school timeline, we have been busy constructing the borders of our puzzle – writing and implementing the Return to School Guidelines, developing the new day structure and timetables, planning the learning program and setting up enhanced hygiene routines to name a few. This week, we began to fit some of the middle pieces to the puzzle with the return to site on Monday of our resilient and highly valued school staff. And on Tuesday, more very important puzzle pieces were fitted into place with the return of our Foundation, Year 1 and Year 2 students. Our ‘Viewbank Puzzle’ still has quite a way to go. We eagerly await the return to site of our Year 3 to 6 students and know their return will help to fill a large portion of the puzzle. But there are still the ‘tricky’ pieces - parents and volunteers returning on site, instrumental music lessons returning and interschool sport, assemblies and school events returning. Knowing when and how they fit into the puzzle will require patience.

Luckily, we like a good puzzle, so we will persevere until all the pieces are in place. Together we can do this!

Have a great week

Gill Nicholls

On behalf of the School Council and the Parent and Carer community we would like to echo the thanks and appreciation of the leadership team of the school. We recognise the relationship and influence that you have with our children, your students. As people who are not teachers ourselves this pandemic has made us walk a mile in your shoes. This has served for all of us to better appreciate and understand what teaching is really about. And it is with this clarity that we say “thank you” and we are grateful of your efforts and professional commitment. Have a wonderful first week, and a fruitful term 2 and beyond.

Regards

Ian Sherlock

Late Arrivals The gates will be locked at 9.30am, if you arrive after this time please go to the top of the ramp at Gate 2 on Lascelles Ave and call the office and a staff member will meet your child at the gate.

Early Leavers If you need to collect your child early please call the office and a staff member will arrange for your child to meet you at the top of the ramp at Gate 2 on Lascelles Ave.

New School Email Address Viewbank Primary School’s new email address is viewbank.ps@education.vic.gov.au

Classroom Cuisine Classroom Cuisine lunch orders will not be offered at school for the remainder of term 2 and all of term 3.

Thank you

Lucy Addati

Buisness Manager

Hi everyone,

We hope that the foundations, 1s and 2s are enjoying being back at school! This week there will be a sudoku, a maze, a crossword and a colouring in for you to enjoy. We hope that you enjoy doing these!

Luke, Phoebe, Joel and Annabella

Week 2 Answers

The answer to the riddle was “e”

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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