• Tuesday 23rd February, 2021 - School Photo Day (MSP Photography)

PUPIL FREE DAYS

• Friday 5th March, 2021

TERM DATES

• 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 - Wednesday 19th May to Friday 21st 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

What a big week! Gladly, I can report that everyone was back on deck today and we have returned to something akin to Covid-Normal. When the news broke last Friday afternoon that we were to head back into lockdown, I am happy to report that the staff very quickly responded to the challenge of putting something together for students to take home in the 90 minutes left on that day. As disruptive as this recent ‘circuit breaker’ was, if it were to happen again we will be ready to go immediately with Google Classrooms ‘rolled’ over and set up (different classrooms to last year, of course), student access organised and WebEx and video conferencing ready to go. Our contingency plans are solidly in place, as well as forward planning for the rest of term at school.

In the midst of last Friday’s announcements, we were in the middle of interviews to select Patrick’s replacement! Patrick has fronted at Research PS today in his new role and we know he will acquit himself admirably. I am pleased to announce that as of Monday, March 1, Karen Butler will be filling Patrick’s shoes as an Assistant Principal at Viewbank PS. Karen comes to us from Springvale Rise Primary School, where she has been an Assistant Principal and, for a time, campus Principal. I am sure you will make her feel very welcome, give her a little time to find her feet, and come to know her over these next 7 months.

SCHOOL COUNCIL At the close of nominations for School Council on Monday, there were four nominations for the five vacancies in the PARENT MEMBER category, and two nominations for the two vacancies in the SCHOOL EMPLOYEE category of the School Council.

Accordingly, I am pleased to declare the following to be duly elected to our School Council:-

PARENT MEMBER

• Nicholas DEANE
• Michael PARRENT
• Jason HEMINGWAY
• David FILCOFF

SCHOOL EMPLOYEE

• Gillian NICHOLLS
• Lucy ADDATI

As the number of nominations for the PARENT MEMBER category is LESS than the number of vacancies, I now call for further nominations for the ONE vacancy on the School Council. Given the current Covid situation, please contact the General Office seeking the nomination form or ask to speak to Bill Kersing for further information. Nominations for this position will close by 4pm on Friday, February 19. I can report that we already have ONE further nomination.

Congratulations to our newly elected or returning school councillors.

SCHOOL PHOTOS A reminder that School Photo day is next Tuesday, February 23. We are assuming that this will proceed relatively normally, but we are awaiting advice on some of the larger group photos and protocols. Rather than ‘watch this space’ please check Compass regularly for any updates.

SCHOOL REVIEW We have Wednesday, February 24 and Friday, February 26 set aside as School review days next week. Potentially, some parents may be contacted to be asked to participate in focus groups on Friday. These will be conducted by our external reviewers seeking your input on what we do well, what we could do better and then just a general conversation as part of the improvement agenda that comes with a school review. Again, it could be a phone call or a video chat – whichever way it happens, if you could assist in these regards, we would be very grateful.

That’s it for this week. Enjoy a freer weekend than last.

Kind regards,

Bill Kersing

Principal

The week that was As Bill mentioned, it has certainly been a ‘different’ week but one in which everyone rose to the challenge. Our staff certainly rallied to get a home learning program out to our students and their families at very short notice last Friday and we appreciate the positivity and support from our school community. It would seem that we are all well versed in following guidelines, being flexible and making the best of challenging situations.

Sadly, because of the lockdown, we were unable to farewell Patrick as a whole staff and school community as we had planned but thanks to technology and a quick change of plans we were able to wish Patrick the very best as he begins at Research PS.

Supporting Numeracy at Home for 5-8 year olds – Mathscots Mathscots is an animation series that has been developed by the Department to support numeracy at home. Following the introductory episode, there are 9 episodes (each between one and two minutes long), which you can watch with your children in any order at any time. For each episode, there are ideas and activities that you may like to explore with your child/ren. Whether you choose to explore a few activities or many, the important thing is to learn alongside your child/ren and encourage curiosity and discussion. Your early years child/ren will love learning numeracy with Prime, Poly and their friends.

Policy Review and Feedback The Fundraising Policy is now available for community consultation. Please take the time to read this policy and if you have any feedback or comments please email the school (attn. Mrs Nicholls) by Friday February 26. Once finalised and ratified by School Council, this policy will be added to our school website. All policy documents as well as the Child Safe Standards on the school website have now been updated.

Have a great week,

Gill

Parents and visitors on the school grounds We continue to ask that congestion within the school and at entry points should be avoided where feasible by asking parents to ensure that you stay for as little time as possible after school and leave the school grounds promptly. You will be courteously reminded of this each day at 3.40pm.

Visitors to school grounds must comply with physical distancing and face mask recommendations, and practise good hand hygiene.

To support contact tracing, the school will keep a record of all staff, students and visitors who attend on-site for more than 15 minutes. This will be enforced by the use of the Victorian Government’s QR Code Service which will record visitors’ and contractors’ names, contact details, the date and time of attendance at school, as well as the areas of the school attended. Once completed in full initially, the QR Code Service will operate as a quick and efficient ‘log in’ for future occurrences.

Parents wishing to visit the school office, or seek an interview or conversation will need to call ahead or email and book an appointment time. We ask that parents do not enter the school buildings, unless approval has been given.

School Tours We will not be running any school tours in term 1 due to the current Covid guidelines. Detailed information about our school and enrolment process can be found on our website

Enrolments We are currently accepting enrolments for 2022 and are happy to assist with any queries.

Camps, Sports and Excursions Fund (CSEF) The Government assisted Fund provides payments for eligible students to attend camps, sports, incursions and excursions ($125 per child). Applications for the Governments ‘CSEF Fund’ can be accessed by filling in the application form and returning it to the office with a copy of your current Health Care Card. Families holding a valid means-tested concession card or temporary foster parents are eligible to apply) i.e. a Centrelink Health Care Card or Pension Concession Card or Veteran Affairs Gold Card.

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.

Thank you

Lucy Addati

Business Manager

​​ICY POLE FRIDAY Students are able to purchase icy poles over the counter at lunchtime every Friday. All icy poles cost $1.00 each.

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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 2021 Can all students who would like to join or continue to participate in our school instrumental music programs in 2021 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