• Friday 23rd October - Victorian Public Holiday
• Friday 30th October - Day For Daniel - Wear something red - Donate Here
• Tuesday 3rd November - Victorian Public Holiday
• Friday 18th December - Last day of Term 4 (1:30pm finish)

PUPIL FREE DAYS

• Monday 2nd November, 2020

TERM DATES

• 2020 TERM 4: Monday 5th October - Friday 18th December (1:30pm finish)
• 2021 TERM 1: Wednesday 27th January Teachers start (All students start Thursday 28th January) - Thursday 1st April (2:30pm finish)
• 2021 TERM 2: Monday 19th April - Friday 25th June (2:30pm finish)
• 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 4: Anglesea Recreation Camp - Monday 17th May to Wednesday 19th May
• Year 5: Lady Northcote Recreation Camp - Tuesday 5th October to Friday 8th October
• Year 6: Canberra Camp - Monday 24th May to Friday 28th May

STUDENT ACHIEVEMENTS We have had lots of good news on student successes recently, and it continues. We are very proud to announce that Alexandra Palmer, Penelope and Jess Sherlock have just won the Australian Resuscitation Council Kids Save Lives Video competition! Inspired by Greg Page (one of the Wiggles) who himself was resuscitated after a heart attack, the girls put together a resuscitation training video which caught the judge’s eye. The girls have even offered to donate the prize to the school to purchase sports equipment!! A wonderful effort all round.

Congratulations also to Ivy Stevens from 4T. She was chosen as one of the 100 winners in the Coles /Little Treehouse Writing competition across Australia. She wrote and illustrated a mini book. Her prize was a $100 gift certificate at Coles-Myer and 100 books for the Viewbank Primary School Library. Another fabulous effort. We continue to be amazed and impressed by our students’ talents, responsibility and resilience!

INTENTIONS TO LEAVE As mentioned last week, it would be extremely helpful to us that if any family intending to leave our school community in 2021 because of relocation or other reason, advises us as soon as possible. A phone call to the office, or an email to the school or my email account asap would be most appreciated.

ENROLMENTS And again as mentioned last week, whilst we think we have nearly all of our current family enrolments for 2021, if there is anyone out there who hasn’t completed the enrolment process yet, please do so asap.

CONGRATULATIONS ... to Grade 5T teacher Rhys Tegg and wife Rachel on the birth of their second daughter, Harper Fay on Monday, October 19. Everyone is well!

GRADE REQUESTS Each year at this time, we seek input from families with regards to the placement of students into classes for the following year (if that is necessary). Whilst there is a body of thought that suggests, because of the circumstances of 2020, that most grades should simply move up to the next year ‘as is’, we do recognise that that there might be some limited circumstances initiating a parental grade request. Please think carefully about this and if you really do feel a need to inform us of these circumstances then do let us know.

As I say each year at this time, at this stage, we have not assigned teachers to grade levels for next year, and in fact still need to select a few teachers to fill those roles next year. There are no guarantees that teachers currently teaching at certain grade levels will be teaching there next year, as leadership needs to take into consideration a range of factors including the development of our teaching staff and teacher preferences before this allocation is completed. Having said that, if there are special circumstances that we need to know about, you are welcome to let us know of these.Such special circumstances might include but are not limited to health, emotional or learning matters, peer or sibling relationships or changes in the home situation. Selecting a particular teacher does not fit within the realm of special circumstances, and if your request includes that information it will be denied. Information requiring our consideration needs to be addressed to ‘The Principal’ and emailed to the office by Friday, November 6. Please title the email “CONFIDENTIAL – GRADE REQUEST’. Please note that emails received after this date will NOT be accepted.

SCHOOL COUNCIL A reminder to our School Councillors that our next meeting of School Council will be held via WebEx on Tuesday, October 27 commencing at 7pm. Documentation will be emailed out by Thursday.

PUPIL FREE DAY A reminder that School Council has approved Monday, November 2 as a pupil free day for the purposes of report writing. This is the day before Cup Day and hopefully will follow some important announcements from our Premier the day before further easing restrictions across the Metropolitan area. For those requiring child care on that day, OSH Club will be running a whole day care program.

PUBLIC HOLIDAY A reminder that tomorrow, Friday October 23, is a public holiday in celebration of the following day’s Grand Final. School will be closed. I am envious of the hordes of Geelong and Richmond supporters eagerly anticipating Saturday’s game and watching their own teams playing, and I am sure it will be a great game. My tip is a draw with Richmond winning in extra time!! I hope everyone has a great long weekend.

Kind regards,

Bill Kersing

Principal

iPad Loan Devices We would like to say a massive THANK YOU to the families who borrowed a loan iPad for the duration of Remote Learning 2.0 in Term 3. These have now all been returned, and apart from a little wear and tear, all are in great condition. Because of the prompt return, these iPads have now been returned to classrooms after having the original Viewbank Primary School apps and permissions reinstalled – not that we are in too much of a rush to get the students back onto devices!

Day For Daniel - Friday 30th October On Friday, 30th October, we are participating in ‘Day For Daniel’ (see https://danielmorcombefoundation.com.au/day-for-daniel )

As done for the last few years, Viewbank Primary School will be participating in Day for Daniel. The Day for Daniel is a National Day of Action to raise awareness of child safety, protection and harm prevention. It is about educating children and adults about keeping kids safe through child safety and protection initiatives. It aims to help empower our children to Recognise, React and Report if they feel something is not right.

We are encouraging all students to wear something red on Friday 30th October. In the past we have asked for a gold coin donation, but in 2020, if you would like to donate, please go to https://danielmorcombe.com.au/donate and donate directly to the foundation.

We will be watching Australia’s Largest Child Safety Lesson, something that approximately 4000 schools and Early Childhood Centres will be doing as well. You can find more information about Day for Daniel at https://danielmorcombefoundation.com.au

Patrick

Green Team Badge Presentations The Green Team representatives for semester 2 were presented with their badges on Wednesday afternoon by Mr Kersing. Each student had their photo taken and these will be made available to the parents shortly. The Green Team will continue to promote sustainability across the school throughout term 4.

Congratulations to all our Green Team representatives.

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.

During weeks 3-6 all teaching staff will be taking their Term 4 Professional Practice Day.

The majority of staff will use this day to assess student progress and to collect and analyse data. This day will allow teachers time to assess students individually as well as assess writing samples and collate data, all in preparation for writing end of year student reports.

On a Professional Practice Day, an alternative teacher will be provided with the learning plan for the day and will be well equipped to assist your child with their learning needs.

Policy Review and Feedback The Homework Policy, Attendance Policy and Library Policy are currently under review and are now available for community consultation.

Please take the time to read the policies and if you have any feedback or comments on any of the policies please email the school (attn. Mrs Nicholls) by Friday November 6. Once finalised these policies will be added to our school website.

Most of the policies have been developed using the policy templates for Victorian government schools. Instead of starting from scratch and writing our own policies, we can modify these templates to suit our local circumstances.

The templates provided by the Department have been checked to ensure they are consistent with:

• Department policy requirements
• Minimum Standards for school registration (where applicable)
• any legal requirements

These school policies help to build an inclusive and respectful school community, communicate important issues transparently and establish a framework for good decision-making for common school-based issues.

Citizen of the Month Awards The following students were presented with their Citizen of the Month award this week for demonstrating kindness. This award was to be presented earlier in the year but due to remote learning we decided to wait until the students were back onsite.

Congratulations to –

• Foundation - Noah K.
• Year 1 - Emmanuella V.
• Year 2 - Abbie C.
• Year 3 - Nyah O.
• Year 4 - Callum M.
• Year 5 - Kiara S.
• Year 6 - Ashley G

Each student had their photo taken and these have been made available to the parents.

Enjoy the long weekend

Gill

New Term 4 School Crossing Supervision Times

• 8:30am to 9:15am
• 3:00pm to 3:45pm

Late Arrivals The gates will be locked at 9.20am, if you arrive after this time please go to the Main Gate, Gate 1 on Nevin Parade and call the office and a staff member will meet your child at the gate.

Early Leavers If you need to collect your child early please call the office and a staff member will arrange for your child to meet you at the Main Gate, Gate 1 on Nevin Parade.

Classroom Cuisine Classroom Cuisine lunch orders will not be offered at school for the remainder of this year.

Thank you

Lucy Addati

Business Manager

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ATHLETICS DAY To celebrate our athletics ribbon winners in a COVID safe way, we will be presenting them at school in the next few weeks using PA system. Thank you for your patience and understanding during these unprecedented times.

HELP! Traffic Management skills wanted!

This is your chance to make a significant difference to the School! The school is hoping to improve the car parking arrangements and we are seeking the help of people within our wider school community who have Traffic Management skills. Car Park Planning is a special area of knowledge and if you (or someone who you know) can help to steer some of the Traffic Management related decisions then we very much want to hear from you! Can you help? Please call or text Ian Sherlock from the Viewbank Primary School Council on 0408 138 901, or just let the office know.

Children’s Week 2020– time to celebrate childhood

Children’s Week celebrates the right of children to enjoy childhood and their achievements.

To celebrate Children’s Week (24 October – 1 November), Banyule Council is hosting free at home activities for families.

With a theme of ‘Children have the right to choose their own friends and safely connect with others’, in Banyule we are celebrating the talents, skills and achievements of young people with an online Children’s Recipe for a Good Life art exhibition and the Thousand Stars Project.

Thousand Stars Project

During children’s week we are encouraging the community to make a lantern and display it in a window or front garden.

Children and families who send us pictures of their lanterns will be in a draw to win a Rediscover Local Business voucher.

Children’s Recipe for a Good Life Online Art Exhibition

In August and September this year primary school children across Banyule sent us their ‘shopping lists’ and ‘ingredients ideas’ to create a recipe for a good life for children. Click here to view the exhibition.

To learn more and get involved visit Banyule Council’s Children’s Week webpage.

This Children’s Week event is presented by Banyule City Council in partnership with the Victorian Government

BOOK CLUB catalogues have sent home this week. All online orders are due by Wednesday 28th of October. Every dollar you spend earns points to buy more books for the Library. Thank you for your support.

2021 TRANSITION PROGRAM We are still accepting enrolment forms. Please email your enrolment form or drop it to us at the school.

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

Hi everyone!

My name is Emma, a fellow parent from Viewbank PS and wanted to reach out regarding a book I have written.

Although being in lockdown hasn't been great fun for anyone, this experience has allowed me to explore a passion of mine, to champion positive mental health through a picture book aimed at young children.

The purpose of this book is to build awareness around anxiety in young children, provide them with some simple coping strategies and encourage dialogue with adults.

6.9% of children and young people aged 4-17 years have suffered from anxiety in the last 12 months - prior to COVID. And we know this number has no doubt seen an increase (Source: Beyond Blue). That is why this book is so important to me.

I can't wait for it to be published and am now taking pre-orders for delivery before Christmas. If you would like a copy please email me at emma_macey@ymail.com

You can also follow the journey and find out more information on Facebook or Instagram @matildaandthebear

Price is $24.99 + $8.95 delivery.

Thank you,

Emma x