OFFICIAL OPENING

We will be graced with the presence of the Honourable Minister Anthony Carbines next Tuesday at 11.15am as he attends the official opening of our Administration Building and new classrooms after the building program of 2023. At this stage, we are planning on a whole school assembly in the gymnasium for the formalities which you are more than welcome to attend if you have 30 minutes spare on a Tuesday!

Day for Daniel - Friday 25th October - Wear something red

On the 25th of October Viewbank Primary School will be participating in Day for Daniel. Day for Daniel is Australia’s largest child safety education and awareness day. Students will participate in educational lessons/activities about child safety.  We kindly ask that all students wear something red e.g. hat, t-shirt etc. Families are welcome to donate to the cause through the following website: https://danielmorcombe.com.au/get-involved/donate/.  Fundraising helps the Daniel Morcombe Foundation to continue their free educational programs, develop educational resources and support young victims of crime. 

For more information please visit: https://danielmorcombe.com.au/day-for-daniel/

Auslan

Our students have almost done a full semester of Auslan! This term has been busy with assessment. Some students are really showing how much they practice at home! VPS students have also been learning signs for emotions, sea animals, days of the week and months of the year.

 

Below you will find the reference sheets for these topics. Keep encouraging your child to show you their Auslan knowledge at home if they’re interested!

SWPBS

It has been a busy year and our students have been working very hard academically and otherwise. Accordingly, we recently reached 400 bees towards our Beehave hive (which is currently in hibernation as buildings have been relocated). 400 bees means that students have shown our school values 4000 times!

 

As you might have heard at assembly on Monday, this means we get our first whole-school small reward. This will take place next Wednesday, 12th June, and will be a rainbow dress-up day. Students are encouraged to dress up in an outfit of their favourite colour (perhaps whatever colour features most in their wardrobe). This can be head-to-toe or just a t-shirt. Hopefully we’ll get students dressed in every colour of the rainbow across the school and it will make a beautiful, technicolour sight when they play outside that day.

 

Please see the posters attached, very carefully designed by some artists from 2D!

STUDENT VOICE AND AGENCY

We continue to increase the opportunities for students to make meaningful contributions to their school, and to have a say in how we go about things. Recently our student leaders have been contributing to a number of school policies, adding student friendly language so that all can understand. These policies are the Student Engagement and Wellbeing Policy, Concerns and Complaints Policy, and Bullying Prevention Policy. You can find all our school policies on our website here: https://www.viewbankps.vic.edu.au/forms-policies. Policies are sorted by alphabetical order under the following topics: Child Safe Policies, General Policies, Medical Policies, Curriculum Policies (including Homework), Wellbeing Policies, Extracurricular Policies, and Office Policies.

Other Student Voice and Agency activities (individual, JSC or Student Leaders) have included: organising Harmony Day. A House Chant competition, Termly News Reports, writing and sharing Sport Rules, Guess the amount of Mentos in a jar, and making and selling origami. Students at Viewbank PS are a busy bunch!

VPS Walkathon 2024!

What a fantastic day we had at the VPS Walkathon 2024! I'm thrilled to report that the children absolutely loved every moment of it.
 

A huge thank you goes out to all the parents who volunteered their time and energy to make this event such a success. Your support before, during, and after the walkathon truly made a difference, and we couldn't have done it without you.

To the parents who organised every detail of the day, your dedication and hard work are deeply appreciated. Your efforts ensured that everything ran smoothly, allowing our students to enjoy a memorable experience.
 

I want to extend a special thank you to everyone who has already contributed to our fundraising efforts. Your generosity is making a significant impact on our school upgrade project, and we are incredibly grateful for your support.
 

For those who haven't yet had the chance to donate, please consider doing so at your earliest convenience. Every contribution, no matter the size, helps us provide better resources and opportunities for our students. You can submit your sponsorship money via Compass or return it to the school by Friday, May 3.
 

Once again, thank you to everyone involved in making the VPS Walkathon 2024 such a wonderful day. Your commitment to our school community is truly commendable, and we look forward to continuing to work together to support our children's education.

Bakery Lunches

Did you know that our weekly bakery lunches are a school fundraiser? From every order made, we receive a percentage as ‘cash back’ from the bakery. We are incredibly grateful to the Lower Plenty Bakery (https://www.facebook.com/lowerbakehouse/) who do not inflate their prices to you. In Term 1, they donated $2,750 to the school. If you are ever at the Lower Plenty shops, it would be great to either drop in and buy something (support those that support us) or pop in and say thank you!

Volunteers Required - 2022 Victorian State Election - Sausage Sizzle

Viewbank Primary School Parents and Friends Association will be having a fundraising Sausage Sizzle on Saturday 26th November (Victorian State Election Day), at Viewbank Primary School.

Your help is needed for Saturday 26th November, 2022 - Victorian State Election Day Sausage Sizzle.

We are asking for people to offer 1 or 2 hours of their time on the day between the hours of 7:00am to 6:00pm. Remember the money raised will go directly to our school upgrade.

All the children also thank you for your fantastic support we really can’t do it without you!!!

We thank you in advance. If you have any questions, please contact the office on 9459 1512

WORKING BEE

The term four working bee is scheduled for Saturday, November 19. In a break with tradition, the working bee will run from 10am until 4pm and as always we encourage you to drop in for as many hours as you can spare. The focus will once again be on developing and enhancing our new vegie patch which now resides in the area once home to a tennis court on our schoolgrounds. Please come along if you can – lunch will be provided.

OUT OF SCHOOL HOURS CARE PROVIDERS

You will know by now that TheirCare will be taking over the running of our Out Of School Hours Care program from January 27 next year.  OSHClub will remain in their role (including providing vacation care) until that time.  TheirCare was chosen to replace OSHClub after a rigourous tender process conducted by School Council and will continue to provide a stimulating & safe environment where children develop life skills, friendships, confidence, and creativity.

 

We look forward to welcoming TheirCare to the Viewbank PS community in Term 1 2023.

 

For further information, visit www.theircare.com.au or call their support office on 1300 072 410

BUILDING WORKS

Yesterday, we met with the building company (Stokes Rousseau), our architects (Kneeler Design) and the Victorian School Building Authority (VSBA) in an introductory meeting before we finally commence the project. I can report in a ‘good news/bad news’ fashion, that the good news is that the project will be condensed to nine months in total. The bad news is that the start date has been pushed back to January 16, 2023. In a nutshell, there will be no changes to parking or normal operations for the rest of the year, and I will outline as we get nearer to the end of the year the impacts on operations etc for 2023 as they pertain to all groups.

PUPIL FREE DAY

A reminder that next Monday, October 31, is a pupil free day and that there are no classes for students on that day. OSHClub will be open and operational for a whole day of care and bookings can be made in the usual manner. Staff will be finalising assessments, collating data and continuing to work on the preparation of reports on that day.

Day For Daniel – Australia’s largest child safety event - Friday, 28th October

On Friday, 28th October, we are participating in ‘Day For Daniel’ https://danielmorcombefoundation.com.au/day-for-daniel

As we have 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 add something RED to their uniform on Friday 28th October eg. red shirt, red ribbons, red skirt/trousers, red ha. Students may give a gold coin donation or if you would like to donate, please go to: https://danielmorcombe.com.au/donate and donate directly to the foundation.

During the day, students will engage in an age appropriate safety lessons with their class.