Thursday March 29 - End of Term 1, 2.30pm dismissal
Monday April 16 - Start of Term 2
Friday May 25 - Fundraising Children's Disco (evening event at Viewbank Primary School)
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 May 12 (Term 2), Saturday August 11 (Term 3), Saturday November 3 (Term 4)
PUPIL FREE DAYS — 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.
FAREWELL AND THANK YOU As I mentioned in a recent Compass post, Suzanne Kot, one of our Assistant Principals, has applied for and been successful in gaining a position as Assistant Principal of Warranwood Primary School. Suzanne found out last Thursday evening, and her final date working with us will be this Thursday – March 29. I would like to take this opportunity to acknowledge all of Suzanne’s hard work and contributions to our school over more than 13 years. When Suzanne arrived at Viewbank PS in 2005, our enrolments were just over 350, and she has seen the school grow and thrive since then. As a teacher, student welfare coordinator, Assistant Principal, Education subcommittee leader, member of School Council, and mentor and leader to staff she has much to be proud of, and I know she has had mixed emotions this week as she ‘packs up’ at one school and heads back to the school she left as a Leading teacher in 2004. I hope you can find the time to wish her well as she embarks on the next phase of her career. I congratulate her on her fine contributions to, and leadership of, Viewbank PS.
NATIONAL YOUNG LEADERS DAY Rebecca Andrew and myself had the pleasure of accompanying twelve Grade 6 student leaders to the Melbourne Convention Centre on Monday to attend the Halogen Foundation’s National Young Leaders day. This is an important occasion in their leadership roles and who better to talk about the day’s highlights than our young leaders themselves.
FINAL ASSEMBLY The end of term 1 is upon us, with the students being dismissed at 2.30pm tomorrow after an Assembly commencing at 2.05pm. We also bid farewell to Suzanne Kot after more than 13 years as Assistant Principal at Viewbank PS, so we hope you can come along and join in the three cheers for her at assembly.
HAPPY EASTER Can I take this opportunity to wish everyone a very peaceful and safe Easter break? I look forward to seeing everyone back on deck on Monday, April 16, with our new artificial turf project close to completion and with lots of highlights and events to look forward to during term 2.
Kind regards,
Bill Kersing
PRINCIPAL
As I think you know by now, soon I am leaving to move back to my previous school, Warranwood Primary School, located in the Eastern suburbs between Warrandyte and Ringwood. In reality, it is not an easy decision for me, for it was made through long months of planning and thinking about all the pros and cons. You should understand that leaving the school including the students, my colleagues and families, whom I worked with for 13 years, is really difficult for me. But, I must make this step to move forward. I guess you are all wondering why I am leaving. It is not because of the career, as I am not ambitious. I am leaving because I feel I must broaden my knowledge and share my expertise in another school setting. You know that sometimes everyone feels the need to change their way and style of life at some point. I am looking forward to changing my life too. Accordingly, my family and all of my friends support me in this decision. Sometimes, we need to change something in our lives to move forward. I feel the time to make a change has come for me. I feel like there is a wind of changes on every side of my life, so I must follow this wind. During my position at Viewbank PS, I really gained many very important personal characteristics and professional skills. First, I learned how to manage difficult tasks and solve problems effectively, so that they never repeat. Second, I learned to communicate positively with people with different points of view, when it is required to do the best to encourage agreement. Third, I learned to stand strong for my point of view, no matter how difficult it can be. All of these characteristics I learned to apply practically with you, and from you, I learned a great deal. I thank you all for your kindness, support, and friendship. With you, I experienced many positive moments I will always remember. Now, when I must leave my position, I want you to know that I will always remember everything positive you have done for me. Furthermore, I wish the school community and every one of you even more happy moments in your lives. Do your work and get much pleasure from it! I wish you success in what you do. I am a better person for having worked at Viewbank PS and will take with me these many happy memories.
Thank you for everything.
Suzanne Kot
UNIFORM My Uniform has now taken over the supply and distribution of all student uniform items. Online ordering is now available via the My Uniform website. Order forms can also be left at the school office. These will be collected weekly and uniform purchases sent home the following week. You can also visit the store to try on and purchase uniforms. All the necessary information is available via the UNIFORM tab.
FAMILY MATHS NIGHT We will once again be holding our very popular Family Maths Night on Wednesday 2nd May, 2018. You are invited to a come along to the school gym from 6.00-7.30pm for a fun filled evening of maths activities, games, puzzles and challenges that the whole family can enjoy. This evening is suitable for all year levels, as well as preschool students. If you would like to attend, please book using the trybooking link below or email the school office. A gold coin donation per family also gives each child entry into the guessing competition on the night. Enjoy the fun of mathematics as the whole family learns together! See you there.
CURRICULUM LEARNING EXPERIENCES At Viewbank, we encourage all our students to be curious, open to new learning and to approach new challenges with a growth mindset. The learning experiences we plan across the curriculum support this. Whether it is an Inquiry tuning in or finding out activity, a new maths game or developing a new skill in PE or Art; students learn through their experiences. Often these experiences happen more than once giving students the opportunity to reinforce their learning or further develop their understandings. The learning experiences we provide are valuable and we like to see all students participating. At times your child may seem reluctant to participate in a planned activity or try something new but this is when your support is needed as these learning experiences are essential. Learning is about stepping out of our comfort zone, working cooperatively with others, posing and answering questions, sharing our ideas and drawing on what we know to help understand new ideas. With your positive encouragement and within a safe and supportive learning environment our students can learn with confidence.
Have a wonderful holiday break and stay safe.
Gill Nicholls
Expenses for Term 1 excursions and incursions are now overdue. Please note that Term 2 Expenses will be posted on Compass tomorrow afternoon and will be due on Friday 20 April. The preferred method of payment is via the Compass Parent Portal. Please refer to "Course Confirmation/Payment" under "My News" on your homepage and follow the prompts. You may also pay in person at the school office. Excursions require consent via "Events" also on your homepage highlighted in green, these will be posted at the start of term 2. If you are experiencing any difficulty paying term expenses, please contact me.
Happy Easter
Lucy Addati
BUSINESS MANAGER
DISTRICT ATHLETICS Today, 80 Viewbank Primary School students set off to Meadowglen Athletics Stadium, eagerly awaiting the fierce competition that lay ahead at the District Athletic meet. Competitors were blessed with perfect weather and spectators treated to thrilling events. All students gave their absolute best and regardless of their result can be proud of the way they represented our school.
Blair Morton
NATIONAL YOUNG LEADERS DAY Every Friday The Student Leadership Team work with Mrs Andrew in the library for leadership training. So far we have practised public speaking, discussed the qualities of a good leader, given ideas to improve our school and more. As a celebration of the end of our official training sessions on Monday 26 March, 12 of Viewbank Primary School’s Year 6 leaders took a bus to the city for Halogen’s National Young Leaders Day. We got off the bus at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre and got to out seats; we were all very excited about the day and amazed by how many other students from different schools were there. National Young Leaders day started in 1997 (21 years ago) and has become better and better each year. This year the guest speakers were Cosentino, John Coutis, Harrison Craig and Gemma Triscari. Each speaker talked about their life experiences and shared with us some powerful messages. Our first guest speaker was Cosentino, he is an Australian magician, illusionist and an escapologist who travels around the world to show people his illusions and magic. We discovered that Cosentino had learning difficulties as a child and only learnt to read when he was 12 years old. One day in a library he saw books about magicians like Harry Houdini and his fascination with the magician’s stories in the book inspired him to learn to read. He showed persistence and taught himself the card tricks that were written in the back of the book, thus discovering his passion for magic. He taught us to think outside the box and that we should use our passion and creativity to help us learn. He explained that mistakes happen but you have to keep persisting and we should also do what we want to do without letting anyone stand in our way. But the most important lesson he taught us was to always be ourselves. He left us with the following inspirational quote “The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams” -Cosentino The most amazing speaker of the day was John Coutis. He has spoken at National Young Leader’s Day a number of times and is a successful Australian inspirational speaker who was born with a deformed lower half of his body, his parents were told that he would not survive past one day however he is now 48 years old! When he was a child he went to an institution for disabled children, where he met his best mate Kenny who had severe case of Cerebral Palsy. This showed John that no matter how bad your life may seem there is always someone who has things tougher than you. John started to go to school when he was 10 years old and he got severely bullied, both in primary school and high school. After multiple physical bullying incidents, John decided to get his legs amputated and do something to make a difference to the way people treat each other. Today John gets around on a skateboard teaching millions of students to ‘Treat people the way you wish to be treated’. John shared with us lots of powerful messages such as “ Inside fear you find courage and strength” , “ Get out of your comfort zone” and “ Know what is right, know what wrong, it’s your choice.” To find out more information go to www.johncoutis.com Harrison Craig was our third speaker and shared with us his experiences when winning ‘The Voice’ television show. Unlike the other 11 competitors on the voice Harrison suffered with a severe stutter. He faced bullying when he was in school because of the way that he talked, however when he opened his voice to sing his stutter disappeared. Harrison taught us to follow our dreams no matter what they are and how many hurdles you face. He showed us that if you have a plan and persevere you will achieve. Our final speaker for the day was Gemma Triscari who is a female cricketer for the Melbourne Stars Big Bash Team. Gemma got into cricket accidentally, she wanted to play Netball but the sport was already full. Her only other options were art, drama or music, which she had no experience in so she chose to play cricket. During the talk Gemma gave us important advice and information such as: errors are options for corrections, talking louder doesn’t make people listen, find out your strengths and imperfections and make the most of them, give yourself permission to be proud, forgive yourself each night and recommit each morning and most importantly you don’t need a badge to be a leader. When Gemma was in Year Six she was in the position of house captain. She explained that as a captain you can still have friends and just because your a leader doesn’t mean you have to change who you are. Overall it was a very inspirational day. The Student Leadership Team are feeling motivatedand looking forward to making a difference at Viewbank Primary School in 2018.
Written By: Bianca Stella, Remy Giuliani, Thomas Vander Pal, Jeremy Green, Maggie Fu, Dempsey Imlach Lima, Preston Jovanovski, Lexus Jovanovski, Brooke Karvelis, Tyler McCrae and Matilda Crawford
LIVE FOR LILY FOUNDATION Thank you to everyone who supported the Viewbank Primary School JSC Live for Lily Foundation fundraiser last week. The Live for Lily foundation is a not for profit organisation aiming to raise awareness and funds going directly towards research that is dedicated to finding a cure for childhood cancers. Viewbank Primary School ended up raising $1,300.00 on the day. If you would like to further support this charity you can donate to Janelle at http://liveforlily.org.au/product/janelle-spinks/ Take a look at the website and follow the ride along over the Easter school holidays, there will be regular updates on their progress.
Thanks everyone for your generous support
Viewbank Primary School JSC
Thank you - Ride for Lily 2018
THE VICTORIAN PREMIER'S READING CHALLENGE The Victorian Premier's Reading Challenge (VPRC) has commenced for this year. Registration forms are available on Compass and from the Office. Students in Foundation to Year 2 are required to read 30 books (20 from the Challenge list) and students in Year 3 - 6 are required to read 15 books (10 or more from the Challenge list). The Challenge finishes on the 7th September so there is plenty of time to meet the Challenge. Successful students will have their names published in Honour Roll on the Challenge website and will be issued with a certificate in early December. Are you up to the Challenge?
BOOK CLUB Issue 3 catalogues will be sent home at the beginning of term 2. Every dollar you spend earns points to buy more books for the Library. Thank you for your support.
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 anytime before the 1st of May.
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.
Each fortnight, recipes cooked during the Year 3 and 4 kitchen sessions will be available for download from the STEPHANIE ALEXANDER page on our school website. Happy cooking!
Feel free to email Seb with the above details for more information about local soccer