PUPIL FREE DAYS (OSHClub will be available on these days)

• Monday 1st November

TERM DATES

• 2021 TERM 3: Monday 12th July - Friday 17th September (2:30pm finish)
• 2021 TERM 4: Monday 4th October - Friday 17th December (1:30pm finish)

2021 CAMP DATES

• Year 5: Lady Northcote Recreation Camp - Tuesday 5th October to Friday 8th October

TERM 3 PARENT AND FRIENDS BAKERY LUNCH DAYS - All Term 3 dates are now open for ordering via Compass Canteen.

• Thursday 19th August (Cancelled due to Lockdown)
• Thursday 2nd September (Orders closing on 30th August, 3:00pm)

SCHOOL CAMP I had the privilege of attending school camp last Thursday, and experienced immense pride seeing the amazing organisation and commitment of staff and volunteer parents, and witnessing all of our Grade 3 students really enjoying the school camp experience. Manners were exemplary, enthusiasm was enormous and we were all so thrilled to once again ‘sneak’ in a camp in between lockdowns. Given that the traditional ‘lead-in’ to the Grade 3 camp (a Grade 2 sleepover) didn’t happen last year and also that possibly a number of students hadn’t really slept away from home before (because of the restrictions of Covid), there were relatively few bouts of home sickness, and significantly more achievements. We thank Arrabri Lodge, run by Jenna and Luke, for hosting us so brilliantly and we look forward to returning in 2022.

SCHOOL COUNCIL School Council met remotely on Tuesday evening and discussed a range of matters. They were kept informed of our Capital Works Project which is now at the selection of architect phase. As mentioned before, once selected, the architects will be consulting with our community to assist in determining the scope and ‘shape’ of the project before developing concept drawings, putting the project to tender and finalising contracts. We are hopeful that works will start in or at the end of second term next year.

School Council also endorsed a survey which will be distributed in the very near future looking at the languages program offered at school and asking if it continues to serve the needs of our community. In addition, school Council endorsed the installation of a data projector and screen in the gymnasium to service a range of functions in the future – assemblies, information evenings, graduation, student discos and the like.

DANCE GOES ONLINE I know that our students enjoyed the dance program offered online this week. Grateful thanks to Stomp Dance Company who resourcefully modified their program to continue to offer it even in a lockdown. I am reliably informed that some Foundation parents got as much out of it as their children did!!

ENROLMENTS We have commenced planning for 2022 in earnest and ask that if there are any ‘sibling’ enrolments out there, would you please download an enrolment form (or contact the General Office for one) and submit it at your earliest opportunity.

REMOTE LEARNING Whilst by now we would have all heard that our latest lockdown will be extended by at least another week, we trust that everyone remembers that we are all in this together and that we are all doing our very best. Thank you for messages of support and thanks received. Please ensure that your children attend WebEx meetings if at all possible, dress appropriately for these and encourage and support them to complete as many tasks as possible. Families are doing an amazing job, managing to supervise home learning and commit to their own employment and we take our hats off to you!

STORYLAND Congratulations to the Foundation team for a beautifully presented online transition event on Tuesday night – it’s great how we constantly ‘pivot’ and adapt!!

That’s it for this week – fingers crossed for a quick return to face to face teaching sometime soon.

Kind regards,

Bill Kersing

Principal

PRINCIPALS’ DAY THANK YOU Thank you so much to the Viewbank community for the messages of support and appreciation received for Principals’ Day. I feel privileged to work alongside Bill, Karen and Patrick and very proud to be part of the team leading Viewbank Primary School. I was attending the Year 3 Camp last week and was surprised on Friday morning to a lovely Principal Day breakfast, complete with personalised placemat and later that morning had the amazing experience of holding the python at the Reptile Show. Wonderful memories and I felt very special.

STAY SAFE ONLINE

The THINK info graphic is a timely reminder for us all of the importance of communicating respectfully when online. With many people working remotely, much of our communication is online. Our teachers frequently discuss with our students the importance of thinking before posting on social media, sending an email, texting or writing in an online chat. Please take the time to discuss this with your family so that everyone remains safe and communication is positive.

Thank you for all that you do,

Gill

Principal Conference Last week the Principal Team had an opportunity to participate in the first of two online Principal Conferences. Throughout this session, there were many opportunities to explore what we have learnt over the last 18 months and how can we apply this to new learning. One of the presenters, John Hattie (award-winning education researcher and author), provided participants with research related to teaching and learning pre and post COVID-19. This engaging presenter reminded us of the dedication and hard work that is given each and every day by students, parents and staff. We then engaged in a presentation from Kristen Douglas - National Manager, Schools – Headspace, who discussed the importance of Wellbeing and supporting school communities. Considering the continually changing times, it has been great to learn and revise strategies to foster health and wellbeing.

Remote Learning With the lockdowns / remote learning continuing for another week, staff at Viewbank will continue to have daily meetings with their class. All classwork will be assigned daily on the Google Classroom platform. Class teachers will assign various activities including literacy and numeracy tasks. Our specialist teachers are also providing opportunities for students to attend a meeting. We encourage students to attend these specialist lessons, as well as other classes that may include dance lessons and support lessons. This diverse program helps students to have a varied education and develop their passions and love of learning. If you are having problems accessing Google Classrooms or any school work, please contact the class teacher or alternatively the office can assist.

2021 Parent/Caregiver/Guardian Opinion Survey

We want our parents, caregivers and guardians to tell us what they think! Viewbank Primary school is conducting a survey to find out what parents, caregivers and guardians think of our school. The Parent/Caregiver/Guardian Opinion Survey is an annual survey offered by the Department of Education and Training that is conducted amongst a sample of parents, caregivers and guardians (previously known as the Parent Opinion Survey). It is designed to assist schools in gaining an understanding of families’ perceptions of school climate, student behaviour, student engagement and experiences of remote and flexible learning. Our school will use the survey results to help inform and direct future school planning and improvement strategies.

All parents will be invited to participate in this year’s survey. All responses to the survey are anonymous. This year, the Parent, Caregiver and Guardian Opinion Survey will be conducted from Monday 19th July to Sunday 22nd August.

The survey will be conducted online, only takes 20 minutes to complete, and can be accessed at any convenient time within the fieldwork period on desktop computers, laptops, tablets or smartphones. Please look out for the link that will be published on Compass and via email. The online survey will be available in a range of languages other than English. These include: Arabic, Vietnamese, Mandarin, Chin (Hakha), Hindi, Japanese, Somali, Turkish, Punjabi and Greek.

Please speak to the Acting Assistant Principal Karen Butler if you would like more information.

Have a great week!

Karen Butler

Bakery Lunch Orders Due to our current COVID Lockdown, our planned Bakery Lunch Order day on Thursday 19th August has been cancelled, all orders that had been placed for this day have been cancelled. All money will be returned to your own personal Compass Wallet.

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 or drop off anything at the school please call the office and a staff member will meet you at the main gate (Gate 1) on Nevin Parade.

Term Expenses Term 3 Expenses are now overdue. Please ensure you have also provided consent for all upcoming events on Compass. If you have difficulty making payment please contact me on 9459 1512.

Kind regards,

Lucy Addati

Business Manager

Bakery Lunch Orders - Every 2nd Thursday During Term

Lower Plenty Bakehouse will be to providing the school with fundraising Lunch Orders every second Thursday during Term. These lunches will be implemented via our Parents and Friends Committee and all money raised will be used towards our major school oval upgrade.

Our Term 3 Fundraising Lunch Order Dates are:

• Thursday 19th August (Cancelled due to COVID-19 Lockdown)
• Thursday 2nd September (Orders closing on 30th August, 3:00pm)
• Thursday 16th September (Orders closing on 13th September, 3:00pm)

Orders need to be placed in advance via Compass Canteen. Ordering will close the Monday before the lunch date at 3pm. All of Term 3 Lunch dates are now open and ordering is able to be placed in advance for the whole term if you choose to do so.

Please see attached a Parent User Guide on how to order via Compass Canteen. Please note a 35 cents order fee will be charged at check out.

​​ICY POLE FRIDAY Students are able to purchase icy poles over the counter at lunchtime every Friday. All icy poles cost $1.00 each. Due to COVID-19 Guidelines, this event has been cancelled until further notice.

UNHCR. - Wear Something Blue fundraiser thank you

STORY LAND: Unfortunately, our first Transition event for students starting Foundation in 2022 has been cancelled. Instead of our traditional ‘face to face’ Story Land session we have moved this process online as we couldn’t wait for Transition Events to begin. Story Land is our first of three Transition ‘Lands'. It is always a favourite with the students. Mrs. Kelsey Mentiplay (Team leader) and Mrs. Amanda Elliott (Transition Co-ordinator) are reading one of our favourite stories 'Oi Frog' by Kes Gray + Jim Field.

CLASSROOM CUISINE provides lunch orders to our school on a MONDAY, WEDNESDAY and FRIDAYS.

Lunches must be ordered online using the CLASSROOM CUISINE website.

Extra Curricula Clubs We have a range of weekly extra curricula activities that students are invited to participate in. Some are free and others require parent payment. If your child wishes to join please encourage them to go along on the scheduled day or you may like to contact the school office or the classroom teacher to discuss participation.

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SECOND HAND UNIFORM SALE - Every Friday 8:45am to 9:15am, 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.

Instrumental Music Enrolments Can all students who would like to join our school instrumental music programs please inform the relevant teacher below of your expression of interest.

SINGING WITH GABRIELLA - Gabriella

• Email: favrettogab@gmail.com
• Phone: 0413 676 733

STRINGS WITH MR CAI - Gabriella

• Email: favrettogab@gmail.com
• Phone: 0413 676 733

GUITAR/BASS GUITAR - Alec

• Email: alec.stalder@gmail.com
• Phone: 0422 690 842

PIANO/KEYBOARD - Ella

• Email: ellac.blackburn@gmail.com
• Phone: 0410 938 840

DRUMS - James

• Email: orangejimmy@gmail.com
• Phone: 0405 845 628

PHONE NUMBER: 0448 075 422

EMAIL: viewbank@oshclub.com.au

A PLUS SCHOOLWEAR Our uniform supplier is A Plus Schoolwear which is located at 41-43 Northern Road Heidelberg West. Open hours are Monday, Wednesday and Friday’s from 9am to 4.30pm (closed on weekend and public holidays).

You can also purchase your uniform online at www.aplusschoolwear.com.au