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 5: Lady Northcote Recreation Camp - Tuesday 5th October to Friday 8th October

PARENTS AD FRIENDS BAKERY LUNCH DAYS - All Term 3 dates are now open for ordering via Compass Canteen.

• Thursday 2nd September (Cancelled due to COVID-19 Lockdown)
• Thursday 16th September (Orders closing on 13th September, 3:00pm)

I hope everyone is well and continuing to put a positive spin on everything for the sake of family and loved ones. There are lots of positives out there with the scent of spring, blossom on trees and improving weather. If only my footy team could improve … having played in the red and blue in a local football league a long time ago, I guess I will need to throw my support behind the Demons over the next four weeks!

Tomorrow we have organised a range of activities for Book Week, with the organisation championed by Paige Deery. Thanks Paige. Love the ‘Where’s Wally in Viewbank’ idea!! I am personally looking forward to the virtual book week parades.

Can I encourage our families to fill in a couple of surveys ‘out there’ at the moment, please? One relates to a review of our Language program (Japanese) referenced in a Compass feed, and the other is the Parent Survey, an annual DET instrument.

The communication for applying for onsite supervision next week has been sent out today to families that have been approved in recent weeks. If you consider your circumstances have changed, and you need to seek onsite supervision approval, please contact the school either by email viewbank.ps@education.vic.gov.au or call 9459-1512. Please note the changed advice on facemasks which was issued last Sunday:

It is now recommended primary-school-age children wear masks while indoors and outdoors, except when in the home or when an exception applies. However, it is not mandatory.

School staff and secondary school students aged 12 or older must always wear a face mask indoors and outdoors at school, including when attending an Outside School Hours Care (OSHC) program, unless a lawful exception applies. This includes while travelling to and from school on public transport and when in taxis or ride-share vehicles.

For communication purposes, teachers and education support staff are not required to wear face masks while teaching, but it is recommended that they wear face masks while teaching wherever practicable.

That’s all from me for this week. I hope everyone has a great weekend.

Kind regards,

Bill Kersing

Principal

School Values Mascot Competition Update Last term we ran a competition to help us identify a mascot for each of our school values. Thank you to all the students who submitted entries, they were certainly creative and mascots based on animals, school stationary items, super hero characters and avatars were all popular.

The animal theme was particularly popular and made The Wellbeing Committee consider further what animals are particularly relevant to our school and how particular animals may tie in with our school culture. After discussions with staff and students, we determined that our school environment and our focus on sustainability are key features of our school and certainly worth recognising. As a school, we are committed to building a sustainable environment and educating our students on sustainable practices that reduce our global footprint. Our commitment to the Stephanie Alexander Kitchen Garden Program and the years of shared responsibility that have gone into building our vegetable garden led us to consider the importance of BEES to our school.

As well as being essential for the environment, bees also work together as a team - each member a valued individual but together uniting to make a thriving and productive community. Bees look after, and respond to the environment, their actions benefit the hive and they have a shared goal – a lot like Viewbank PS.

So, using sustainability and bees as our theme we would like to launch Part 2 of our School Values Mascot Competition. Your job is to represent each of our school values with a bee mascot. The bees can be drawings, photos of actual bees or graphic images. You cannot use a bee that is already associated with a company, the media or has copyright. For example

You could use four different bee images, the same bee in different colours, real images or cartoon drawings. You can name your bees if you wish.

Please submit your entry to your classroom teacher via Google Classroom by the end of Term 3.

We look forward to seeing your creative and unique designs!

YarraMe School - Parent Help Desk Supporting children with more complex needs during remote learning can certainly be challenging. YarraMe School is a Victorian State Government Department of Education and Training (DET) specialist school that exclusively addresses the educational needs of students' with significant social and emotional challenges.

To assist families, YarraMe has established a Help Desk for parents and carers who may wish to discuss their child’s behaviours, which may be impeding their ability to learn at home.

Please see the flyer below for more information and contact details.

Wellbeing Resources for families It can be challenging to process and manage changes to routines and the uncertainty that comes with COVID-19 and related restrictions – including moving to and from remote learning.

To support our school community during this time, resources and support are available for parents, carers and families.

These resources will help to support the mental health and wellbeing of our students and the young people in our care during this time.

I encourage everyone in our community to access these resources and take care of themselves during this time.

Parents and carers can access tips to support their child’s mental and physical health and wellbeing.

Headspace has also created a video providing tips to support parents and carers during lockdown and are running webinars for parents and carers about offering support when they are concerned about a young person’s mental health.

Wellbeing activities and conversation starters are available for parents of primary school-aged children and parents of secondary school-aged children.

Quick guide to student mental health and wellbeing resources

School staff, students, parents and carers can also access a quick Guide to Student Mental Health and Wellbeing resources for advice.

Students, parents and carers can also access support through external services including:

• Lifeline
• Beyond Blue
• Kids helpline
• headspace
• ReachOut.

Take care and have a good week,

Gill

Pre-service Teachers Viewbank Primary School has been fortunate enough to have been provided with several pre-service teachers (student teachers) to support remote learning this term. During remote learning, pre-service teachers have had an opportunity to develop their teaching practices by observing experienced teachers, conducting online lessons, collaboratively planning with teachers and receive mentoring from an experienced teacher. During a teaching placement, pre-service teachers will participate in supervised school sessions such as creating resources for learning, attending meetings and reviewing student work. I know the wonderful Viewbank community will support our pre-service teachers during their placement and give them a friendly welcome when you see them online.

Paralympic Games Have you been watching the Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic games over the last month? Our Australian athletes work so hard to be the best they can be and stay focused. Whilst watching these great sportspeople, we must remember that their year has also been interrupted by COVID-19, and that despite this, their dedication and determination has led them to the highest level in their respective sports. If you would like to view activities to complete at home related to the Paralympic Games, please view the below website. You will find colouring pages, Scavenger Hunts or even the chance to write a letter to a Paralympian. https://education.paralympic.org.au/for-students/

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 Friday 3rd September.

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

Term 3 Expenses The activities, incursions, excursions that were planned for this term and have been cancelled due to the current lockdown will either be rebooked for term 4 or the cost will be deducted from the Term 4 Expenses. Once all have been rescheduled I will advise of the outcomes via Compass and the newsletter.

Bakery Lunch Orders Due to our current COVID Lockdown our planned Bakery Lunch Orders for Thursday 2nd September has been cancelled, all orders that had been placed for this day have been cancelled. All money has been returned to your own personal Compass Wallet.

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.

Thank you for your understanding and stay safe.

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 2nd September (Cancelled due to COVID-19 Lockdown)
• 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. Due to COVID-19 Guidelines, this event has been cancelled until further notice.

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