Friday February 23 — Athletics Day, Years 3 — 6

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.

GRADE 3-6 ATHLETICS DAY A reminder that our Grade 3-6 athletics day will be happening this Friday February 23rd. Please feel free to pop in and watch your child in action. If you have some free time your offer of assistance would also be welcome, please let Blair Morton know and he will find a suitable job for you. Just a reminder to pack a hat, sunscreen, water and plenty of food to ensure your child has the necessary things to assist in contributing toward a successful day. House colours are also expected.

WORKING BEE The next working bee for this term is on Saturday 24th February beginning at 9.00am until 12.00pm. Drop in at any time to assist no matter how much time you have to spare. Your time is precious but supporting our school to ensure the grounds are kept up to standard is important and a lovely community service. Morning tea and a sausage sizzle lunch is provided, vegetarians are also catered for.

TEACHER PROFESSIONAL PRACTICE DAYS What are the Professional Practice Days? As part of the Victorian government Schools Agreement 2017, teachers will receive one day per term when they are out of the classroom to focus on the improved delivery of high quality teaching and learning.

What this means for your child. Your child’s teacher will spend four days per year further developing their skills in areas that are aligned to the school priorities. Your child will directly benefit from these improvements in their daily learning. On these days, an alternative teacher will be provided with the learning plan for the day and be well equipped to assist your child with their learning needs. We are scheduling the professional practice days ahead of time so there is minimal impact to our students and, where possible, there is consistency in teaching.

INITIATING CONVERSATIONS When your child comes home and you ask what did you do at school today and the response is nothing, try these positive tips and prompts to focus on and use to initiate conversations and writings:

• 3 positive things particularly focusing in on friendships and work habits.
• What went well today?
• Today, the best thing… I saw, I ate, I received, I did for me, I did for someone else, I found funny.
• Write two or three things you are looking forward to tomorrow.
• What good things did you do for others today and will do tomorrow?
• What nice things did people say to you today?
• Write down what you are grateful for in your life. Family, food to eat, a home etc.

Suzanne Kot

Assistant Principal

MATHLETICS Mathletics has now been updated for 2018. Classroom teachers will be sending home passwords shortly so that children can access Mathletics at home. If you child has any problems with Mathletics please see the classroom teacher. Continuing students retain the same password as last year.

SECOND HAND UNIFORM We will be holding a second hand uniform sale at the school working bee on Saturday morning 24th February from 9.00am. The stall will be set up in the middle courtyard. All uniform items are clean and will be presented for sale in sizes. Jumpers with the school logo and school dresses will be $5.00 and all other items $2.00. If you wish to assist on the sale day please leave your name at the office. All money raised will go towards our major fundraising project – the resurfacing of the asphalt. Second hand uniform items are also available for sale each week from the Uniform Shop during normal opening times. Just a reminder to please NAME ALL UNIFORM ITEMS, CONTAINERS and DRINK BOTTLES so that our Lost Property Management Team can return items promptly.

ICY POLE FRIDAY A big thank you to the parents and carers who are volunteering on a Friday to sell icy poles at lunchtime. Icy pole Friday is hugely popular with the students and we couldn't do it without our adult and Year 5 helpers. We recommend that children to only bring one dollar to spend.

Have a great week.

Gill Nicholl

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.

WORKING BEE Our first Working Bee will be held on Saturday February 24th. We'd love to see you there! Please find more information regarding our Working Bee attached below.

PARENTS AND FRIENDS, SAVE THE DATE! — Friday 16 March, for Viewbank Primary School's Movie night! If anyone has access to an industrial popcorn machine we can use for the movie night, please contact the Office.

SPECIAL LUNCH DAY — Tuesday 27th February 2018. Please complete the below order form and return it to school with correct money (no change will be given) by Friday 24th February, 2018. Parent assistance is required on this day. If you are available to assist in any way can you please email your details to viewbank.ps@edumail.vic.gov.au

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.

SCHOOL GROUNDS Please note that dogs are not permitted on our school grounds, including the oval. Thank you for your cooperation.

Foundation — Heidi (F/1D)

Year 1 — Cruz (1R)

Year 2 — Jasmine (2N), Peyton (2M)

Year 3 — Asher (3B), Maddie & Olaine (3G), Tanisha (3L), Harry (3W), Jopi (3/4F)

Year 4 — Virgini (4B), Chrissy (4C), Lucas (4N)

Year 5 — Lawrence (5C), Ivy (5/6B)

Year 6 — Derik (6G), Suri (6A), Jemima (6D)

Cybersafety for Parents - Vodcasts Life Education is proud to launch our Cybersafety for Parents vodcasts, in partnership with Intel Security. Based on research conducted by Intel Security and the Life Education Cybersafety modules, these videos identify key areas of concern that parents and children have expressed whilst being online. Divided into three topics, Risk, Usage, and Understanding – these videos act as a guide for parents, with some helpful tips about new technology, key terminology and how to react to inappropriate behaviour or offensive content online.

Our five key point summary from the Cybersafety for Parents Vodcasts:

• Children are using the internet more than ever.
• It is important for parents to learn how to engage with the latest trends in technology.
• Risks are increasing with new technologies, it is important for parents to positively manage these.
• There are a variety of resources on the topic of cybersafety.
• It is important to build a positive relationship with technology for the whole family.

Information taken from Life Education Australia. To read more information or watch the Vodcasts, visit Cybersafety for Parents Vodcasts

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.