Thursday 8th August - The Resilience Project (students)

Tuesday 20th August - Fathers' Day Stall

Friday 23rd August - Pupil Free Day

Monday 2nd September - The Resilience Project (parents)

Thursday 5th September - School Production VMTV (matinee and evening)

Friday 6th September - School Production VMTV (matinee and evening)

PUPIL FREE DAYS

• Friday August 23, 2019
• 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 3: Monday 15th July - Friday 20th September (2:30pm finish)
• 2019 TERM 4: Monday 7th October - Thursday 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 3: Arrabri Lodge Camp (Mon 05Aug to Wed 07Aug 2019)
• Year 5: Lady Northcote Recreation Camp (Tue 08Oct to Fri 11Oct 2019)
• Year 6: Canberra Camp (Mon 14May to Fri 18May 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)

TRAFFIC SAFETY The safety of all of our students at school and getting to and from school is our collective concern. It is therefore very alarming when I receive messages from concerned parents reporting quite frightening incidents. I received one this week with regards 3 or 4 girls running across Martin’s Lane to the shops after school, crossing behind cars and trucks, and basically taking their lives in their own hands. The 40km speed restrictions, and the provision of three crossings near the school are the facilities and control measures put in place by local Council and school pressure to increase safety, but our continued and collective responsibility is to reiterate to our students and children that the crossings are there for a purpose and should be used at all times when manned.

FUNDING ANNOUNCEMENT Many grateful thanks to Rebecca Deighton and Neralie Cadusch who put in many hours of work in applying for a Cricket Australia Grant to partially fund an upgrade of the school oval in partnership with the Banyule Cricket Club. They were successful to the tune of $30,000 which is just wonderful. We are planning to improve our oval in due course, as you know, for the benefit of our school and students but also looking at a partnership with Banyule to be the venue for girls cricket matches on weekends in summer. A great outcome all round.

PUPIL FREE DAY A continued reminder that Friday, August 23 is a pupil free day to enable staff to continue their excellent work on the School Wide Positive Behaviour Support.

GRADE 3 CAMP The Grade 3 camp to Arrabri Lodge is fast approaching. Held over three days and two nights from August 5, the camp offers a range of activities for our students including archery, climbing walls, flying foxes, giant swings, bush dancing and more, as well as being the conduit for further developing social and life skills. Whilst it may very well be a tad cool in Warburton East in early August, I am sure we will all have lots of fun.

TERM 3 WORKING BEE The Buildings and Grounds subcommittee met on Tuesday night and, among other things, set a date and did some planning for our Term 3 Working Bee on Saturday, August 17. Please ‘watch this space’ but if you can make it for part or all of that morning, the school would be very indebted.

Have a lovely weekend.

Kind regards,

Bill Kersing

Principal

PROFESSIONAL LEARNING IN INQUIRY Over the last two weeks, teachers from Foundation and Years 1, 2 and 5 have spent time working with our Inquiry consultant, Jeni Wilson. This professional learning opportunity has allowed teachers to work alongside Jeni to develop further Inquiry investigations for 2019. Our school has a comprehensive whole school Inquiry Framework that sequentially guides students through the extensive learning continuum that Inquiry learning addresses. Like Mathematics and English, new skills and learning in Inquiry are built on previous learning and experiences. Specific Inquiry skills such as making predictions, evaluating, reasoning, problem solving, understanding perspectives, and comparing and contrasting, to name a few, are taught and key understandings about a ‘big idea’ are developed. Students are given the opportunity to ask ‘wondering’ questions and then investigate these through multiple finding out opportunities. Finally, all students need to take action that demonstrates their learning. This action may be in the form of a presentation, booklet, play, fundraising event, assisting others, implementing a new idea, or improving an area.

POLICY CONSULTATION AND FEEDBACK As part of the ongoing review process of school policies, I am inviting members of our school community to provide input into the review and update of the following policies-

• Heat Stress Policy
• Toileting Policy
• Volunteers in Schools Policy

Please email me any feedback or print off and alter a hard copy of the policy and return to the school office by Friday, 12 August. Thank you for contributing to this valuable process.

EDUCATION SUB COMMITTEE MEETING The next meeting of the Education Sub Committee will be held on Monday 19 August from 7.00pm to 8.00pm in the staffroom. The above policies will be discussed and finalised. All welcome.

ICAS UNSW ENGLISH AND MATHEMATICS ASSESSMENTS 2019 Each year we offer students from Year 2 to Year 6 the opportunity to participate in the UNSW ICAS Assessments in English and Mathematics.

This year there have been several changes with all tests being completed online by students as well as the parent payment for the tests being completed online.

ICAS Assessments are online assessments, designed to recognise and reward academic excellence.

The assessments are based on the curricula for the relevant year. Students are asked to demonstrate a deeper, integrated, and thorough level of learning. The ICAS Assessments series is designed to assess a students' ability to apply classroom learning in new contexts, using higher-order thinking and problem-solving skills.

To ensure an engaging and beneficial experience for all students, new ICAS assessments are developed annually for each subject in every year level.

Each participant receives a printed certificate of achievement. Students with the top score in each subject in each year level are also awarded a medal and a medal winner’s certificate at a presentation ceremony.

ICAS Test Dates at Viewbank Primary School

• English - Monday 16 September
• Mathematics – Thursday 19 September

Permission and Parent Payment System The cost of each ICAS assessment is $15.95. If you wish your child to participate please complete the online payment by WEDNESDAY 31 JULY as well as giving permission via Compass.

Visit unsw.global/parentpay and enter the unique access code for Viewbank Primary School: 5449b9ce44 to make a direct payment to UNSW Global.

Using the new ICAS Parent Payment System, parents will be able to make direct online payments for ICAS until the end of July 2019.

Have a great week

Mrs Nicholls

Safety In The School Grounds As mentioned in previous Viewbank Voice newsletters, to ensure student safety, the school provides supervision in the school grounds during the following times on school days:

• 8:50 – 9am
• 11 – 11:20am
• 1 – 2pm
• 3:30 – 3:40pm

Our oval is a community resource and is frequented by many in the local area. While nothing of major concern has occurred, the familiarity of being ‘at school’ can lead to students who are on the oval on weekends, and later in the afternoons on school days, being under the false assumption that they are always safe. We strongly urge you to supervise your child on the weekends and after school when on the oval.

Parent Tips - Parenting when you don’t see instant results The below article was sourced from the Parenting Ideas Blog https://www.parentingideas.com.au/blog/parenting-when-you-dont-see-instant-results/

“I was reminded about how hard parenting can be when speaking to a parent after a recent talk. She had a son who had struggled at school all his life. She’d put so much of her emotional and physical energy into helping him learn, jollying him along and nursing him through the many of the ups and downs that kids who struggle at school can experience.

Her son, now a teenager, was about to give up trying. I could see that his mother felt like giving up too! She asked: “When do you stop being a child’s coach and cheer leader?” The answer, of course, is that you can’t! She knew that, but she, like her son, needed some encouragement to keep going! We all do from time to time. That’s why it is useful to remind yourself that parenting is a long-term activity!

The Einstein factor I think all parents need to channel the Einstein Factor. Inventor Albert Einstein maintained that he was no smarter than anyone else, he just stayed on problems longer than most people. With some children you have to stay on the job longer than with others.”

(cont. reading

https://www.parentingideas.com.au/blog/parenting-when-you-dont-see-instant-results/)

Have a great weekend everyone!

Patrick

​

​

2019 Fathers' Day Stall - Tuesday 20th August This year’s Fathers' Day Stall will be held on Tuesday 20th of August, 2019. Children are asked to bring no more than $10.00 to purchase some quality goodies for their Dads, Grandparent, Uncle or Special person. Please remember to bring your money and a carry bag with you on the day.

For this to run smoothly Parent helpers are required to assist with the setup, selling of gifts and packing up the stall which will run throughout the entire day…. so if you are available please contact Carol Seneca & Sarina Sherlock via email cazstar@optusnet.com.au (Mob: 0410 039 554)

Purchase your Entertainment Membership NOW to help Viewbank Primary School raise much needed funds!

Viewbank Primary School are again fundraising with the very popular Entertainment Book or Digital Membership. You'll receive hundreds of valuable offers for everything you love to do, and help our fundraising at the same time. Hurry, Entertainment Memberships sell out quickly.

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.

STRINGS, DRUM KIT, GUITAR, UKULELE, FLUTE, SINGING, KEYBOARD AND PIANO

Information and “Expression of Interest” forms are available at the general office. Alternatively, you may contact Gabriella on 0413 676 733 or gabriella@the.inter.net.au

Year 3 Kinder Visit In week 8 of Term 2, 3B, 3D and 3G visited their buddies at Winston Hills Kinder and Viewbank Preschool.

We all collected books to read to the kinder kids. Then we went walking down to the kinder. Everyone was so excited!! When we got there, we got to pick our buddies. Then we read them a story or two. After we asked them a few questions about the book. Then we asked them to draw a picture about the book. When we were finished, we got to play outside with our buddies. There were a lot of fun things to do with the kinder kids outside. There were building blocks, equipment and a sandpit. By Zara & Ella!!

On the way there my best friend Joe and I were just chatting and chatting all the way there. We had quite a while to talk because we had a lot of time and it took a while to get there. When we got there I was really excited 🤣. When we arrived, we got to pick our buddies. I picked a boy named Alston. Firstly I read a book 📖 to him. It was called “Brave Little bear 🐻”. He drew a picture of his favourite part. Then we went to the playground. We had so much fun together. By James

On the way there my best friend and I were talking and was really excited to see my little brother and all of the kinder kids. When we got there everyone was really excited 😆 and even the kinder kids were excited. The kinder teacher Sophia and Anna told the little kids to sit down really nicely and I picked Alex as my buddy. He is my little brothers best friend. He was mandarin. Then we went next to the couch, I read The Jungle Is Just Like A Playground. After we read the book 📖 we played outside. We played in the sandpit and I tried to fill up the truck but I fell on the truck and it tipped over. Then I filled it back up and at the end I tipped the truck on the sand. When We left, I was so sad because we left my cute buddy. Then I forgot to get my jacket, so I ran to get my jacket and said bye to my buddy and my brother. Then I ran back to the class and we left. By Ethan

On the 14th of June the Year 3 students visited Winston Hill Preschool. We were feeling a little bit nervous, but mostly excited to read a story to our kinder friends. We loved meeting our new kinder buddies, and were amazed by how well they showed us around their kinder. Some of the things we really enjoyed were; using the magnifying glass to look at bugs, climbing the spider net, playing basketball, digging holes in the sandpit to find treasure and going on the see saw. We were having so much fun with our new friends that we really did not want to leave. Thank you for letting us visit your wonderful kinder, we would love to visit again next term. By the students of 3D

Dear Parents,

In order to keep our students safe whilst on line, we will be attaching some resources for your information. We encourage you to discuss these with your children - particularly the grade 5 and 6 students who have their own iPads. We have obtained the Information sheets from The Carly Ryan Foundation. The Carly Ryan Foundation is a certified online safety program provider under the Office of the eSafety Commissioner and delivers online safety and healthy relationship seminars to students and parents. The organisation also provides a range of services and support in the areas of internet safety and crime, cyberbullying, connection to resources and counselling and contributing to law and policy reform.

The Carly Ryan Foundation have very generously allowed us to use their Information sheets on a variety of apps that our students may or may not be aware of. The information sheets point out the concerns/challenges surrounding each app and give information on how to set up each app so that our student’s information is completely private. Of course if you are concerned about any app your child is using - DELETE! We will attach a couple of information sheets each week for your information. We are organising for The Carly Ryan Foundation to present to our grade 5 and 6 students and parents in 2020 so keep watching for more information on this.

For more information please use the attached link: https://www.carlyryanfoundation.com

BANYULE CITY COUNCIL - SAFETY AROUND SCHOOLS

Foundation — Alexandra, Stasi, Zoe & Henry

Year 1 — Jessica, Awad, Sumaya, Whole 1G Class, Whole 1R Class

Year 2 — Dennis, Molly, Joshua & Violet

Year 3 & 4 — Joseph, Ruby, Isabell, Kiara, Kaitlyn & Liam

Year 5 & 6 — Abdulrahman, Josh, Amaya, Mia, Jiesen & Charlie

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

SCHOOL BANKING Don’t forget to hand your bankbooks into your class teacher every Tuesday for banking.

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!

SAKGP are currently looking for donations of trellis, pallets and foam boxes, Thank you.

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. If you are interested in volunteering, please complete the Volunteer Information form and return it to the school office. Once you have completed the form please book in to volunteer via one of the program staff.