Friday March 16 — Parents and Friends Movie Night
Thursday March 29 — End of Term 1, 2.30pm dismissal
UPCOMING TRANSITION DATES* — May Information Night: Thursday 3 May 7-8pm, Education Week Open Day: Tuesday 22 May 9.30-3pm, Education Week Open Morning: Saturday 26 May 9am-12pm *Full Transition timeline available below
Annual Working Bees — Saturday February 24 (Term 1), Saturday May 12 (Term 2), Saturday August 11 (Term 3), Saturday November 3 (Term 4)
PUPIL FREE DAYS — Monday 29 January, Tuesday 30 January, Tuesday June 12, Monday December 17
TERM DATES — TERM 1: Monday 29 January - Thursday 29 March, TERM 2: Monday 16 April - Friday 29 June, TERM 3: Monday 16 July - Friday 21 September, TERM 4: Monday 8 October - Friday 21 December
CAMP DATES — Year 6 Canberra Camp 14 - 18 May, Year 4 Anglesea Camp 30 May - 1 June, Year 5 Lady Northcote Camp 9 - 12 October, Year 3 Urban Camp 10 - 12 December.
HOUSE SPORT ATHLETICS Thank you to Blair Morton, the staff and willing parents for your assistance with last Friday’s athletics day. It was a well organised event and all went to plan despite the odd shower or two which enabled everyone to have a bite to eat under shelter. This year the event took place much earlier in the year due to Willinda Park undergoing major upgrades later on in the year. Unfinished events will be completed at school at lunch times and ribbons will be distributed in due time. Children who finished first in the heat may not necessarily receive a ribbon - it is the child who finishes first to fourth overall, once all the heats have been completed, that receive ribbons. Despite Blair teaching the students the skills of athletics in his Physical Education classes some of the students were still novices with many of the events. Hopefully your child’s experience was a positive one.
WORKING BEE Many thanks to the willing workers who attended our Working Bee under the guidance of Nicholas and James Deane. Many of the tasks identified were attended to ensuring our school maintains an attractive environment, safe to play in. The Japanese Garden was given attention with weeding and a tidy up, the soft fall was raked over under the playgrounds to ensure safety for our students when playing on this equipment and fallen branches and trees were removed. Thank goodness for the support of Simone and Remy Giuliani who assisted me with the cooking of the much appreciated sausages for all of the hard workers to enjoy. Thank you to the following families for your work on the morning: Max, Gwendolyn and Michael Parrent, Mark Prowse, Robert and Sophie Cahill, Luke Ryan, Liam, Brody and Blake Cameron, Nick Pavlovski, Rebecca Deighton and Joshua Corden, Susanne Rowland, Ved Nimbalkar, Marco Ma, Cadusch family. Your support for our school is always appreciated.
NEW SCHOOL COUNCIL Our new School Council members have been decided upon after a call for nominations. Our new representatives are Sandra Vander Pal, Jodie Burns, Carol Seneca, Anu Chikarsal (parent representatives) and Lucy Addati (DE&T representative). These parents join the existing members Bill Kersing, Gillian Nicholls, Suzanne Kot, Rachel Kraft, Rebecca Deighton, Nancy Wagner and Kate Ryan. We thank them for their voluntary contributions toward our school community with their voice, ideas and opinions. As they are your representative please ensure you speak to them about any of the ideas you may have in order to benefit our school community.
Suzanne Kot
Assistant Principal
GETTING INVOLVED WITH YOUR CHILD’S MATHEMATICAL LEARNING Family participation in learning is one of the most accurate predictors of a child's success in school and beyond. The Victorian Maths Challenge recognises the important role families have in their childrens' learning. Parents often feel that the maths their child is doing at school is different from how they were taught, but parents can make a difference by supporting what their child learns at school and helping them to learn at home. The Challenge is aimed at students from Year 5 to 8 but younger students can also participate with support. It provides families with opportunities to explore maths together. It encourages families to ask questions of one another, to collaborate and to have fun exploring different approaches to open-ended problems. All Challenges are linked to the Victorian Curriculum.
Why explore maths with young children? Children are born ready to learn maths. Talking about maths every day with young children boosts their learning. It’s fun and can include noticing shapes, numbers, patterns, size, time and measurement. Maths is everywhere. It’s in the playground, at the shops and at home. Research indicates that early maths knowledge is important for later learning. Families can help develop the maths skills of children through noticing, exploring, talking about numbers, counting, measurement and patterns in their daily lives. Ideas for engaging younger children in everyday maths can also be accessed through the website below using the Early Childhood, Families and FAQs menu options on the left-hand side of the page.
The Victorian Maths Challenge and Ideas for Engaging Younger Children in Maths can be accessed through the following link.
SPECIAL LUNCH DAY Thank you to our wonderful Parent Club helpers who purchased, cooked, assembled and delivered the yummy BBQ lunch on Tuesday. It was a hive of activity from mid morning, to make sure all the students received their special lunch order on time. Thank you helpers, you are amazing! We can’t wait for the next ‘special’ lunch day. All money raised will go towards the resurfacing of the asphalt.
Have a great week.
Gill Nicholls
Assistant Principal
UNIFORM SHOP The uniform shop is open every Tuesday from 9am to 10am until Tuesday 20 March. You can also leave orders anytime at the school office and uniform will be sent home with your child.
VIEWBANK PRIMARY SCHOOL MOVIE NIGHT You can now secure your tickets to Viewbank Primary School's Movie Night by visiting the TryBooking link below. This fun filled event will be running on Friday 16th March. Thanks to our wonderful PFA for their organisation.
Camps, Sports and Excursions Fund (CSEF) The Government assisted ‘Camps, Sports and Excursions Fund’ provides payments for eligible students to attend camps, sports and excursions. Applications for the Governments ‘Camps, Sports and Excursions Fund’ can be accessed by filling out the form available on Compass, at the office or via the link below. To be eligible for this funding, you need to hold a current Pension or Health Care Card. Please note: as this funding is means tested, the Parent/Guardian MUST be the card holder, no Medical Health Care Cards in the student’s name will be accepted as it will be rejected by the CSEF system. Funds will be automatically allocated to the Term Expenses unless otherwise stated by the parent at the start of the year.
TRANSITION DATES Please download the below timeline for your future reference.
HATS ON From 1st September until 30th April school hats must be worn outside during all outside activities.
COLES SPORTS FOR SCHOOLS VOUCHERS Viewbank PS is taking part again in 2018! Vouchers can be dropped into the collection bin at our school office or at Coles Warringal Mall.
BOOK CLUB All items from Book Club Issue 1 have now been delivered. If you have not yet received your order, please contact Louise Buissink at the Library by Friday 9th March. I will not be able to follow up missing items after this date. Issue 2 catalogues will be sent home next week. Every dollar you spend earns points to buy more books for the Library. Thank you for your support.
HOT CROSS BUN ORDERS A Bakers Delight envelope has now been sent home with each student. $2 from every 6-pack of Hot Cross Buns will be donated back to our school! Orders are due back by Wednesday 14th March. Hot Cross Buns will be distributed to students on Friday 23rd March.
Foundation — Nicholas (F/1D), Lachlan (FM), Morgan & Harrison (FE), Mia & Rory (FR), Edward (FD)
Year 1 — Darcy (1R), Lily (1K)
Year 2 — Annie (2N), James (2M), Evie (2C), Lewis (2B)
Year 3 — Campbell (3B), Ella (3G), Taj (3L), Ethan (3W)
Year 4 — Althea (4R), Tahlia (4C), Daniel (3/4F)
Year 5 — Chloe & Kade (5C), Macy & Daniel (5K), Annie (5/6B)
Year 6 — Awo (6G), James (6A), Tyler (6D)
This week, we have included a video from the Kids Helpline you may like to watch with your children.
This fortnight in SAKGP, the following recipes were cooked in the Kitchen.
Year 3: Greek Salad, Hummus, Chargrilled Eggplant with Basil Pesto, Wheat Tortillas
Year 4: Tagine with Dates & Honey, Pumpkin & Honey Bread, Spicy Couscous, Pumpkin Stir-Fry with Honey Soy Dressing
FREE WALK/RUN PROGRAM Running Monday mornings, Tuesday & Thursday afternoons & Saturday Mornings. Anyone interested please contact: Donna Wright on 0400 543 327 for more details.
Parent Information Evening We would love to hear your feedback on the way the Information Evening was run this year. You can access our survey via the link below.