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 3: Arrabri Lodge Camp - Wednesday 4th August to Friday 6th August
• Year 5: Lady Northcote Recreation Camp - Tuesday 5th October to Friday 8th October

TERM 2 PARENT AND FRIENDS BAKERY LUNCH DAYS - All Term 3 dates are now open for ordering via Compass Canteen.

• Thursday 5th August (Orders closing on 2nd August, 3:00pm) - Please note Year 3 students will be on camp
• Thursday 19th August (Orders closing on 16th August, 3:00pm)
• Thursday 2nd September (Orders closing on 30th August, 3:00pm)

WELCOME BACK I trust everyone feels a little brighter about the easing of restrictions and the resumption of onsite learning! It was lovely to see the smiling faces on our students as they walked through the gates yesterday morning, an image shared on the faces of parents as they walked away. I can only imagine how difficult it has been to manage working from home, whilst trying to supervise and guide children engaged in remote learning so hats off to everyone for a job brilliantly well done. I am going to take the optimistic view, (perhaps not realistic), that this will be the last lockdown and am looking forward to us moving towards ‘normal’ school life as quickly as possible.

OPERATIONAL GUIDELINES KEY POINTS

The Department Of Education’s Operational Guidelines came out last evening and there were few surprises. The key points were:-

School camps and overnight stays can take place across Victoria with no travel restrictions. Bookings must be limited to single schools. Exciting news for our Grade 3 students.

Non-essential visitors should be excluded from school sites for this period. Essential visitors include for example: Preservice teacher placement, Health and wellbeing staff. If you need to speak to a teacher/Leadership staff, or to present to the office, please just ring first or make an appointment. If you have been contacted to collect a sick or injured child this, of course, would be deemed essential.

School tours should not be conducted on-site for prospective students and their families at this time.

Incursions are not permitted at this time.

Excursions are permitted with students from a single school only.

Non-essential meetings, and all school events, gatherings and assemblies should be deferred or held remotely. So, no assemblies until further notice.

Kinder to prep and Year 6 to Year 7 transition programs are not permitted at this time.

Staggered start and finish times - Schools should introduce staggered start and finish times to reduce congestion at the school gate during drop-off and pick-up times. This is the approach we are taking with specific exit gates at home time and Grades Foundation and 1 departing at 3.20pm.

Density limits of 1 person per 4 square metres apply to staff areas such as staff lunchrooms and areas accessed by the public, such as reception areas.

School staff and secondary school students aged 12 or older must always wear a face mask at school, including when attending an Outside School Hours Care (OSHC) program, unless a lawful exception applies.

Singing and playing wind and brass instruments can occur if Department of Health recommendations to reduce transmission risk are followed. Our instrumental music program/lessons will recommence next week.

Staff working across multiple schools should be minimised wherever possible.

It is important that any student (or staff member) who becomes unwell with COVID-19 symptoms while at school gets tested and returns home. The symptoms to watch out for are: Fever, chills or sweats, cough, sore throat, shortness of breath, runny nose, loss or change in sense of smell or taste. We will be carefully assessing any staff member or student displaying any of these symptoms, and sending them home if necessary.

Schools are requested to exercise flexibility to enable staff to access vaccination appointments.

Much like a long distance run, rather than seeing the whole journey, we are looking for the next distance marker. Hopefully, in a week or two, restrictions will ease further and some of these conditions will be relaxed. Please continue to monitor Compass, the newsletter, our website and our Facebook page for further updates! Thank you again for everyone’s unwavering support and flexibility.

Over the next seven weeks we still have plenty of highlights, not least of which is next Wednesday’s Grade 3 camp to Arrabri Lodge. I hope the staff and students have a great time, and I fully intend visiting, even if for just a day.

I hope everyone has a great weekend, enjoys the Olympics and a few new ‘freedoms’.

Kind regards,

Bill Kersing

Principal

What a pleasure it was to welcome our students back onsite on Wednesday. I greeted many excited students at the Winston Rd gate and just about all of them had a smile on their face, although a few seemed to be struggling with the early morning routine. Most were eagerly heading in to meet up with friends and see their teacher.

Moving forward, our focus will be on re-establishing daily routines and building on the learning program as well as promoting the wellbeing of our students. If you are concerned about your child’s wellbeing or engagement with school please contact the class teacher or myself to have a discussion.

For some students remote learning is challenging but for others it is a blessing, giving them uninterrupted time to focus on their learning and develop their passions. During remote learning, our teachers often share and comment on the amazing work that is being submitted. Last week, I was privileged to read a highly descriptive piece of writing which left me in awe of the ability of our students. Thank you Bethany in 6W for allowing me to share your writing.

The Singing Bones’

The moon shone into a dimly lit room casting a shadow of a wolf bearing its teeth. The smooth ticking of the clock became jagged and got faster with every second. As the clock spun around and around uncontrollably a girl lifted her head up at the moon and howled. The clock stopped spinning and struck twelve, a gust of wind fluttered the curtains and lamp posts flickered outside leaving the night empty and surrounded by nothingness. A figure scrambled out of the open window leaving the room silent. A pink nighty lay on the floor covered in dirt.

A creature hurried along the forest path whilst checking behind it every few minutes. At every sound it’s ears pricked up and it stood as still as a statue before making its way on again. The night was dead silent, all you could hear was the pitter pattering of paws on a gravel track. This creature's fur was scruffed and its body was hunched over. Suddenly, a ray of moonlight escaped from under a cloud. The animal began to pant, its body twitched, it lifted their head and howled. Other creatures joined in, it was an ear splitting sound and sent shivers down all spines for those who heard it. A shadow of a wolf illuminated on the path ahead. It stretched its legs then ran, it didn’t stop running until it disappeared into the depths of the forest.

“My fellow werewolves, listen up!”

A muscly wolf sat on top of a large stone staring down at his pack. Three scars were slashed across his left cheek and two large fangs hung low out of his mouth.

“We will not surrender! We cannot allow those filthy, ordinary, wolves to destroy our only home. Werewolves are much better than basic wolves who can only be one thing. We have the ability to be humans and wolves meaning we are WEREWOLVES! We start training tonight!”

A ripple of talk made its way through the crowd.

GET ACTIVE Whether it be indoors, in the backyard or the local park, students should spend 15 minutes, four times a day getting active.

There are many benefits to being active, including improved wellbeing and concentration.

Get Active Victoria has a range of activities families can do at home to stay active, including:

• COVIDSafe activities, such as pilates and chair exercises
• physical challenges, such as juggling and hula hooping
• dance classes.

When children participate in regular physical activity, it boosts their physical and mental health and improves academic performance.

Physical activity throughout the day also improves concentration, and the ability to retain information and solve problems.

15 minutes 4 times a day is all it takes.

To help support your children to stay active, families can access a range of free COVIDSafe ideas to stay active and play games through Get Active Victoria.

Families should remember that whatever gets children moving, gets them active.

Have a great week,

Gill

Returning to On-site Learning It has been delightful to welcome all of the students back to Viewbank Primary School for on-site learning this week. The teachers arrived at school with enthusiasm and anticipation to be able to see their students. There was an air of excitement as students, once again, were allowed to resume on-site learning. As I visited the grades, I could see that teachers had planned exciting activities for the return of school and all grades were engaging intently with their tasks. Many of the grades were participating in opportunities to engage in maths strategies they had learnt remotely. I watched as students demonstrated and collaborated in their learning, showing their peers the skills they had developed during Remote Learning. Congratulations to all of our students and teachers for your amazing transition back. A special thank you to all of the parents and carers that have supported the learning from home!

Returning Borrowed Devices Thank you to the families that have returned any iPads that were borrowed during Remote Learning. If your family still has a borrowed device, we kindly ask that they be returned to school ASAP, so that we can ensure they are ready for classroom learning. Students can return the devices to the office (in the original bag if possible).

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

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 5th August (Orders closing on 2nd August, 3:00pm) - Please note Year 3 students will be on camp
• Thursday 19th August (Orders closing on 16th August, 3:00pm)
• 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.

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