Friday 15th March - Second Hand Uniform Sale, 8:30am -9am (Next to the music room)
Monday 18th March - Communications sub-committee meeting, 7.30pm
Thursday 21st March - School Council meeting
Tuesday 26th March - Hot Cross Bun Orders Due - ORDER NOW
Saturday 30th March - Working Bee, 9am until 12 noon
Saturday 4th May - Parent Fundraising Event - Disco Bingo (Save the date).
Friday 5th April - End of Term 1 - 2:30pm dismissal
Tuesday 23rd April - Term 2 commences
Saturday 25th May - Dolly's Disco Bingo, 7pm. Tickets will be on sale soon via Compass.
TERM DATES
- 2019 TERM 1: Tuesday 29th January (All students start on Thursday 31st January) - Friday 5th April (2:30pm finish)
- 2019 TERM 2: Tuesday 23rd April - Friday 28th June (2:30pm finish)
- 2019 Term 3: Monday 15th July - Friday 20th September (2:30pm finish)
- 2019 Term 4: Monday 7th October - Thursday 20th December (1:30pm finish)
CAMP DATES
- Year 3: Arrabri Lodge Camp (Mon 05Aug to Wed 07Aug)
- Year 4: Anglesea Recreation Camp (Mon 03Jun to Wed 05Jun)
- Year 5: Lady Northcote Recreation Camp (Tue 08Oct to Fri 11Oct)
- Year 6: Canberra Camp (Mon 27May to Fri 31May)
SCHOOL ATHLETICS Congratulation to all participants and to those who assisted in running yesterday’s athletics carnival at Willinda Park. The day was a great success and the spirit of competition, sportsmanship and doing your best resonated throughout the day. It has been a busy term for Blair Morton and the PE Department, but once again capably handled.
SCHOOL COUNCIL As you will have seen in last week’s newsletter, the composition of the 2019 School Council is almost finalised with office bearers to be elected at next Thursday’s Council Meeting (March 21), and a final member to be coopted to fill a one year casual position. Members of the Council so far are:-
- Parent Members - Dale Armstrong, Jodie Burns, Anu Chikarsal, Owen Dransfield, Cosimo Graps, Kate Ryan, Carol Seneca and Ian Sherlock.
- DET Members - Lucy Addati, Bill Kersing, Gill Nicholls and Patrick Walsh.
Our meeting schedule next Thursday, March 21, sees us commencing with a Finance Committee meeting at 6pm, Annual Reporting Meeting at 6.30pm, Election Of Office Bearers and Cooption meeting at 6.45pm and then the General Meeting at 7pm. Meetings run for a maximum of 2 hours with one 15 minute extension possible, and we need to have at least 8 meetings over the course of any school year.
STUDENT LEADERSHIP The final badge presentations for 2019 take place on Monday, March 25, with the presentation of our Environment/Sustainability Captain Badges and our Music Captain badges. Jim Mead, Environmental Officer from Banyule Council, will be presenting the Environment/Sustainability Captain’s Badges, and Jade Ingvarson, ex-student and now prominent musician and performer (Jade Alice) will be presenting the Music Captain Badges. Jade will also be performing for us at Assembly.
All 24 captains will head to the Melbourne Exhibition and Convention centre on Monday, March 18, for National Young Leaders Day, accompanied by Narelle Taylor and Gillian Nicholls. Please follow the link for details of the day, including guest speakers.
https://www.halogen.org.au/shop-event.php?intid=694n This is always a highlight of the student leadership training and year and we will ask for their reflections of the day in next week’s newsletter.
REGIONAL SWIMMING Congratulations to Jesse McLeod who has earned the right to participate in the Regional Swimming competition at Watermarc pool on Tuesday, March 19. Jesse’s successes included the 50 metres backstroke and breastroke events at Divisional level last week. You have the best wishes of the whole school community, Jesse, and we are all very proud of you.
NAPLAN ONLINE The transition to NAPLAN online commenced in 2018, after Federal, state and territory education ministers agreed that NAPLAN would move online over a two-three year period. This means moving NAPLAN from the current paper-based tests to computer-based assessments. Staff at Viewbank are attending relevant Professional Development, in order to implement this change this year, as we have been nominated for the transition to NAPLAN online in 2019. The online testing period extends from May 14-24. Further information will be provided as the testing period looms nearer in term 2.
I hope you have a nice weekend.
Kind regards,
Bill Kersing
Principal
Policy Consultation and Feedback Our school policies are developed in line with Department guidelines and the community’s educational aspirations for its children. Consultation is sought from various members of the school community according to the purposes of the policy. As part of the ongoing review process of school policies, I am this week inviting members of our school community to provide input into the review and update of the following policies-
Please email me any feedback or print off and alter a hard copy of the policy and return to the school office by the end of March.
Thank you for contributing to this valuable process.
Have a good week
Gill Nicholls
Children and Anxiety Throughout this term, I have shared a number of things that Viewbank Primary School is trying to do to help the ever increasing number of students we have who deal with various levels of anxiety. We have purchased nearly $5000 worth of sensory items, sought assistance to create some ‘body socks’ (unfortunately we did not get any volunteers), some local organisations that may be able to help, and therapy animal assistance (we had two offers and I am following this up currently).
To add this growing list of resources, I would like to share something that you may be able to do at home. The BRAVE Program (https://brave4you.psy.uq.edu.au/) is an interactive, online program for the prevention and treatment of childhood and adolescent anxiety. The programs are free, and provide ways for children and teenagers to better cope with their worries. There are also programs for parents.
You can register for a 20 minute trial before signing up (the program is free)
- Parents of 3 to 7 year olds https://brave4you.psy.uq.edu.au/preschool-program
- Parents and 8-12 year olds https://brave4you.psy.uq.edu.au/child-program
Child Safety Standards This week we are going to look at Child Safety Standard 5: Organisations must have processes for responding to and reporting suspected child abuse.
What is the intent of this standard? The organisations policies and procedures for reporting and responding to suspected child abuse must enable individuals to take the appropriate course of action to protect the safety of students.
For schools: Ministerial Order No. 870 requirements Minimum child safety standard: Procedures for responding to and reporting suspected child abuse in accordance with clause 11.
You can view Viewbank Primary School’s Mandatory Reporting Policy here: https://vps.page.link/MandatoryReporting and the Department of Education and Training’s Child Protection Reporting Obligations Policy here:
https://www.education.vic.gov.au/school/principals/spag/safety/Pages/childprotectobligation.aspx
Parent Tips
Part 2 - Preventing childhood bullying
Restore relationships Relationship restoration is a key strategy used by many Australian schools that’s proving successful in changing bullying behaviour. Increasingly, kids who bully are expected to face up to their victims in safe, teacher-lead meetings. They are required to recall their actions and account for their behaviour. They also hear first-hand the impact that their behaviour has had on the person they bullied, which is usually very confronting. This restorative justice method promotes real accountability as kids are expected to make amends in some way for the hurt that they have brought to the other person.
Research shows that many children who bully generally don’t identify with the impact of bullying, so hearing first-hand how their behaviour impacts on others is more likely to create some empathy, and hopefully, a decrease in bullying.
Like any behaviour change method, restorative justice doesn’t work all the time. It needs to be applied in a calm, respectful way and it requires the support of the families of all children involved. This restorative justice method is less about seeking vengeance (‘you’ll get your come uppance’) and more about seeking justice for the person who is bullied (“do you feel safe and also that you’ve been heard?”) and achieving behavioural change from the child who bullies.
Use the restorative approach at home Parents can practise this restorative approach in their families by encouraging a child to make amends if they’ve upset or been nasty to a brother or sister. ‘You mess up relationships, you make up relationships’ is a fabulous way for kids to take ownership of their anti-social behaviours. Again, to be effective this method needs to be carried out in a safe, calm manner at a time when children and teenagers are likely to listen.
Childhood bullying requires a zero tolerance approach from parents, teachers and coaches if it is to be stamped out. The approach taken needs to be respectful to everyone involved; aimed at achieving justice and maintaining personal safety rather than seeking vengeance and gaining pay back; and stay firmly in the private rather public domain.
Have a great weekend everyone!
CSEF (Camps, Sports and Excursions Fund) is a government assisted fund which provides payments for eligible students to attend camps, sports and excursions ($125 per child). Applications for the Governments ‘CSEF Fund’ can be accessed by filling in the attached form and return to the office with a current Health Care card. To be eligible for this funding, you need to hold a current Centrelink Health Care Card or Pension Concession Card or Veteran Affairs 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 are paid to the school and will be automatically allocated to the Term Expenses unless otherwise stated by the parent at the start of the year.
TERM 1 EXPENSES AND 2019 SCHOOL CHARGES Payments can be made via Compass. Please be advised there are alternative payment options for families who may be experiencing financial hardship or who would prefer a regular payment plan. Please contact me if you wish to discuss these arrangements.
Kind regards,
Lucy Addati
SECOND HAND UNIFORM SALE Friday 15th March - Second Hand Uniform Sale, 8:30am -9am (Next to the music room). Jumpers with the school logo 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.
HOT CROSS BUN ORDERS
ICY POLE FRIDAY Students are able to buy icy poles over the counter at lunchtime. All icy poles cost $1.00 each. We are asking for parent helpers to assist with the sale of these icy poles on Fridays from 1pm to 1:30pm.
BRIGHT STAR KIDS PERSONALISED NAME PRODUCTS We've teamed up with Bright Star Kids to help us raise funds and to decrease the amount of lost property. When you buy anything from their range of personalised name labels and school supplies (or anything else in their store) 20% of it will come back to our group.
Please remember to link up our group "VIEWBANK PRIMARY SCHOOL" in the Nominate a Fundraiser checkout section. Thanks for your support!
Visit their website: https://www.brightstarkids.com.au where you can buy directly from them and get it sent directly to your home.
STRINGS, DRUM KIT, GUITAR, UKULELE, FLUTE, SINGING, KEYBOARD AND PIANO
Information and “Expression of Interest” forms are available at the general office. Alternatively, you may contact Gabriella on 0413 676 733 or gabriella@the.inter.net.au
BOOK CLUB Online ordering for Issue 2 Book Club will close on Friday 15th March. Home delivery for $4.99 will be available after this date. Any students who did not receive a catalogue may obtain one from the Front Office or the Library.
Nepal School Build During the April school holidays 2019, I (Miss Boness) will be travelling to Nepal with 15 others and volunteering with the charity This World Exists. Whilst there, we will be hiking and rebuilding an earthquake damaged school. In order to fundraise to pay for building materials a Go Fund Me Page has been set up. Please note the trip is self-funded and all money raised will go towards the community in Nepal. If you would like to donate please see the link below. Your support is very much appreciated.
HATS ON From 1st September until 30th April school hats must be worn outside during all outside activities.
SCHOOL BANKING Don’t forget to hand your bankbooks into your class teacher every Tuesday for banking.
Facility Hire Viewbank Primary School provides a venue for hire with kitchen facilities. Please submit a written application to the office, outlining the details of intended use via email at viewbank.ps@edumail.vic.gov.au Please note that conditions do apply. At the discretion of the school, venue costs may also be waived in some instances. All applications will be considered on a case by case basis
ANZAC Appeal items are currently available for purchase from the General Office at Viewbank Primary School
PRIVATE TUTORING FOR MATHS AND ENGLISH!
Dear parents and students, my name is Ash and I am a past IEPS student. I graduated from Fintona Girls’ School on an academic scholarship of 8 years, completing VCE last year and will be studying a Masters in Optometry at Deakin University through an accelerated program. I am already tutoring students for scholarships as they transition into year 7, focusing on English and Maths. I live very close to IEPS and if you are interested in me tutoring your kids please contact me via email at asmithaprabaharan@gmail.com