- Saturday 14th November - School Fair
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 3: Arrabri Lodge Camp (Mon 27July to Wed 29July 2020)
- Year 5: Lady Northcote Recreation Camp (Tue 06Oct to Fri 09Oct 2020)
We are nearly at the end of Week 4 and I guess everyone is anticipating the Prime Minister’s announcements on Friday and the State Premier’s on Monday and wondering on the ramifications moving forward. For now we continue to provide the online programs that we do, with the inevitable ‘tweaking’ that comes about as rookies in this online world start to get more proficient! Earlier this week we trialled a WebEx catch up with one of our classes which was a great success, so this will become a regular routine as of next week – please reference Patrick Walsh’s newsletter item with the finer details of that! We are also looking at re-calibrating (after Friday and Monday’s announcements), with Grade level and specialist teams having planning days next week in order to plot our paths moving forwards. This could be for a further four weeks of on-line learning or for the staged return to schools or …. We will provide final details by the end of the week on how this planning day might work, with our best advice that each grade level will have a wellbeing day next week where work provided will be much less than normal and won’t need to be submitted on that day. Please see Gill Nicholls’ newsletter item for more on this!
Meanwhile, in other news, the demolition is now complete, and the site is being readied for connections to services. We have a new garden shed now in place, and we are currently returning a few items from the old one to a new home.
School Council is meeting next Tuesday night via video conferencing and it will be interesting to see how that goes.
I trust everyone is well, and continuing to cope okay with everything as it is just now. Thank you for your ongoing support.
Kind regards,
Bill Kersing
Principal
.
Class Check-Ins via Video Conference As this period of Remote Learning continues, the connections that students have with their school, their teachers and, most importantly, with each other is becoming increasingly important. To help aid in this we have started to experiment with a video conference meet up. On Wednesday morning, Ms McLeod and the students from 6M ‘met’ via the video conferencing platform – Webex. For those of you who have never participated in a large group meeting via an online video-platform, it can be a challenge. Mics need to be muted, everyone needs to wait their turn and not interrupt others, and the inevitable technology challenge when internet drops out, apps do not connect and some of the more ‘adventurous’ participants attempt to experiment with the settings. We are pleased to say that the behaviour and online etiquette displayed by the students in 6M was outstanding and they have set a high standard for the remainder of the school. Well done, 6M!
We have clearly not rushed into this, preferring a ‘hasten slowly’ approach. Some nearby primary schools have had mixed responses to this type of catch up – the access to good quality internet is high on the list of issues, as well as ensuring that catch up sessions are for students only and their teacher (more parent support will obviously be required for younger students), and students participating without parental supervision or in their pyjamas in a bedroom. While some parents have expressed their frustration that we did not jump into this immediately, we have been attempting to balance the wants and needs of the students and community without overloading our staff who have gone above and beyond this term. Yes, our staff are at work (like you, at home), many of our staff also have their own children at home and, like you, are attempting to support their child’s school’s version of remote learning. There is a huge variation in the way schools are attempting to manage this – some schools are not doing any technology preferring to provide printed work packs, others are doing everything by video lessons. It is important that any comparisons you may make between schools is between primary schools, not primary and secondary schools.
We are expecting that over the next 2 weeks, every class will have one of these Webex meeting catch ups offered (depending of course on any announcement made by the Victorian Government). Under the current guidelines from the Department of Education and Training (DET), you do not need to sign a permission form for this to occur. However, you will be informed of when the meeting will occur and be provided with meeting protocols and guidelines. In most cases, the link to this meeting will be posted in Google Classroom. If you will be accessing this on an iPad, you must download the Webex Meeting app beforehand.
As with all new initiatives, there will be some teething issues and we will adapt our approach as we go, learning from each meeting. Mr Kersing, Mrs Nicholls or myself will be in each meeting to help manage the meetings with the classroom teacher.
Attendance and Department of Education Requirements
The Department of Education and Training (DET) is requiring us to upload information daily regarding student attendance while your child is learning from home. Unfortunately, we have had a number of parents upset when our staff are marking students ‘Absent’. The following comes from the DET document ‘Attendance Recording Advice For Remote And Flexible Learning‘ and is clear in what is required of our staff in regards to ‘Attendance’ during this Remote Learning period:
“ATTENDANCE RECORDING ADVICE FOR REMOTE AND FLEXIBLE LEARNING
This advice outlines how schools should track, record and report on student attendance and absence in Term 2, 2020 in the context of remote and flexible learning.
Student attendance is critical for learning and remains critical during the period of remote and flexible learning due to coronavirus (COVID-19). Daily attendance is still required and expected.
However, monitoring of attendance will understandably need to be done differently to account for most students being at home and only some being on school sites.”
And:
“FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
How do I determine if a student is attending? Schools may use a range of mechanisms to determine if students are attending in a remote learning context. This includes:
- Learning contact: the school verifies that the student has engaged with learning tasks through participation in teaching schedule. This may include through the student’s engagement with the school’s learning platform, through teachers’ direct interactions with the student and through student’s submission of work.
- Student, parent or carer contact: the school makes contact with the student, parent or carer to verify the student’s participation that day.”
The classroom teacher MUST have evidence (by the time designated by the teacher - generally in the early afternoon each day) of the student engaging with learning tasks, participating on Google Classroom (our learning platform), or some other form designated by the teacher, OR, there has been a communication between the staff member and the student and/or carer (phone call, email etc).
We ask that you follow the teacher’s instructions in regards to attendance ‘evidence’ – including cut-off times. They are just following the requirements set by our employer - DET.
Maintaining Kids’ Mental Health During The Coronavirus Pandemic - By Michael Grose, from Parenting Ideas
“While there are concerns about the negative impact of physical isolation is having on children’s learning, we should also be concerned about their mental health. Teachers and health professionals report that the strain of physical isolation is starting to show for many children and young people. Any anxiety and fear they experience is heightened by isolation from friends, lack of access to their usual sports and leisure activities and a lack of certainty about the future.”
Continue reading at the link above (3 minute read). Topics include:
- Build the foundations for good health
- Eat a healthy diet
- Get plenty of exercise
- Maintain good sleep patterns
- Add the pillars of good mental health
- Maintain social connection
- Stay in the present
- Enjoy yourself at play
- Spend time in nature
- Practise protective behaviours
- Keep foundation behaviours
- Practise deep breathing
- Check in on feelings
Have a great weekend everyone!
Patrick
Professional Practice Days Each term, full time teachers receive one day out of the classroom allowing them to focus on the improved delivery of high quality teaching and learning.
Next week all teaching staff will be taking their Term 2 Professional Practice Day.
The teachers at each year level will meet onsite on the same day to continue their planning for the remainder of term 2.
Teachers at each year level will take their Professional Practice Day as follows:
- Tuesday 12 May – Year 4 and Year 6
- Wednesday 13 May – Year 1 and Year 3
- Thursday 14 May – Year 2 and Year 5
- Friday 15 May – Foundation
Specialist teachers will also take their Professional Practice time across the week.
On the day that each team is planning, an alternative remote learning program will be provided on Google Classroom. This program will have a wellbeing focus and contain a variety of activities that students will be invited to complete. The classroom teachers will not be online during the day answering questions or providing feedback. We hope this day will allow families a chance to recharge their batteries, catch up or just chill out.
Have a great week
Gill Nicholls
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 anything from the school please call the office and a staff member will meet you at the gate at the top of the ramp on Lascelles Avenue.
Remote Learning Office Hours The new Remote Learning Office hours are from 9am to 3.30pm. To contact the school outside of these hours you may send an email to viewbank.ps@edumail.vic.gov.au or leave a message on the answering machine.
Attendance On Compass Can all parents continue to mark any school absences on Compass as normal. This will allow the school to be aware of missed lessons.
Thank you and take care
Lucy Addati
Business Manager
Hi everyone,
This week, we are going to be adding in some riddles for you to try to crack. If you attempted some of last week's puzzles, we will have the answers for you to check off.
Have fun!!
Luke, Phoebe, Joel and Annebella
3 Riddles That The Whole Family Can Check Out
- Twelve in Six Letters - A word I know, six letters it contains, remove one letter and 12 remains, what is it?
- Say what? - I speak without a mouth and hear without ears. I have no body, but I come alive with wind. What am I?
- What month of the year has 28 days?
Answers will be attached to next week's newsletter - Joel
Last week's answers.
Viewbank Art News Wow! So much creating is going on at home and it’s so exciting to see all your artwork submitted!
The last couple of weeks in Years 3-6 we have been learning about Cubism and being inspired by the famous artist Pablo Picasso. We have learnt that Pablo saw people and objects in different ways and created art works that were quite abstract with a lot of shapes and colours. I am sharing a small number of this fantastic work today so enjoy! I think I’ve also found a Picasso inspired car – hmm not sure how it would drive!!! Happy creating and keep looking for rainbows! Best wishes from Mrs Cleeve!
Australia's Biggest Morning Tea - Thursday 28 May 2020
Want to make a BIG difference to those impacted by cancer?
We know it's not the time to be gathering together in large groups, but there are ways you can keep your social distance, and still make a really big difference to people impacted by cancer.
Whether it's a virtual morning tea with your colleagues online, or a catch up and cuppa with your household, every dollar you raise will help fund Cancer Council’s life-saving research, prevention, support programs and information.
Donations can be made online by clicking here.
People impacted by cancer need your support now, more than ever.
https://www.biggestmorningtea.com.au/fundraisers/ViewbankPrimarySchool
ALIA National Simultaneous Storytime 2020 - virtual event This year ALIA National Simultaneous Storytime (NSS) takes place on Wednesday 27 May 2020 at 11:00am and we would love it if you could join us by sharing Whitney and Britney Chicken Divas written and illustrated by Lucinda Gifford. Everyone can join NSS, it doesn't matter whether you are at home, a school, a public library or even a university library! Register to participate - (it's free)
https://membership.alia.org.au/events/event/national-simultaneous-storytime-2020-2
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