- Wednesday 10 September, 9:30am - Year 6 Graduation Photo Day
PUPIL FREE DAYS (TheirCare School Holiday Program will be available on pupil-free days)
- Monday 3rd November – Report Writing Day
2025 TERM DATES
- TERM 3: 21 July - 19 September
- TERM 4: 6 October - 19 December
2025 CAMP DATES
- Year 3 Phillip Island Camp - 27 October - 29 October
- Year 5 Lady Northcote Camp - 08 October to 10 October
- Year 6 Urban Camp - 15 September to 17 September
STATE CROSS COUNTRY Riley Cadusch and Lizzie Rance competed in the State Cross Country at Yarra Valley Racetrack last week and placed 43rd and 83rd respectively in Victoria! Fantastic efforts both of you!!!
FOUNDATION – 100 DAYS AT SCHOOL Our Foundation students celebrated their 100th day of schooling yesterday and it was a lot of fun! The learning gains made so far this year have been significant and for some it will be exponential in Terms 3 and 4 but for now it was great to celebrate this first of many milestones in their learning journey. We just hope they don’t expect the same celebration for every multiple of 100 – just 2500 days left to the end of secondary school!!
GROUNDS GROUP ‘GATHERING’ The Grounds group will gather in the staffroom next Tuesday night to discuss future grounds plans and to plan our next working bee. The group comprises staff members and parents and is a low key but high energy collective aiming to make our grounds even more attractive. All welcome at 7pm next Tuesday!!
PHONICS CHECK IN Weeks 4 to 6 (August 11-August 29) will herald in a new DET assessment which will be undertaken at our school. The Year 1 Phonics Check is a one-on-one assessment conducted by a teacher with a Year 1 student, or a student at an equivalent stage of learning, in a quiet space.
The assessment involves a student reading aloud 40 words. These words are a mix of real and non-words. Non-words are an important part of the Year 1 Phonics Check as they are words that students have not seen before. Non-words require students to apply their phonics knowledge to decode, rather than relying on their sight memory or vocabulary.
The assessment usually takes 10 minutes to complete with each student.
ENROLMENTS Enrolment letters have been sent out this week confirming enrolments for 2026. If you are one of the very few who still haven’t completed this process, we encourage you to do so asap. Forms are available from the general office, via an email request or you can download the Foundation (Prep) enrolment information pack from https://www.viewbankps.vic.edu.au/how-to-enrol
Enjoy your weekend and welcome to August!!
Kind regards,
Bill Kersing
100 days of school It was such a pleasure to visit the Foundation classrooms on Wednesday and support them with their 100 days of school celebrations. The excitement level was very high as the students shared their school experiences, participated in one hundred themed activities, decorated their 100 days t-shirt and generally had fun.
I hope they each continue to engage positively throughout their learning journey.
Interpreter Services If you require an interpreter when calling the school we are able to support you using a free inbound telephone interpreting service provided by All Graduates interpreting and translating. This service enables parents and carers to contact the school with the support of a telephone interpreter, ensuring families with limited English proficiency can connect with us and receive the support needed.
If you would like to use this service, please follow the simple step-by-step guide that explains how parents and carers can call the school using a telephone interpreter.
The guide is available in English and the top 30 most commonly requested languages by families in Victorian government schools. Translated versions of the guide can be accessed through the links provided in the English version.
Have a great week.
Gill
NAPLAN Results The Australian Curriculum Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA) has this week released the 2025 NAPLAN assessment data, including state results. This coincides with Year 3 and Year 5 parents receiving individual NAPLAN results for their child on Friday 25 July (if you have not received your child’s yet, please check their bag in the first instance, and then please contact your child’s teacher if not there). NAPLAN assessments happened in March this year. As happens every year, there is wide media coverage, and this year has been no exception. As mentioned in the first Viewbank Voice of Term 3, I was going to share updated results with you, when they were made available to us. A reminder that ‘Similar Schools’ refers to some Melbourne primary schools (about 25) that have a similar family-occupation and socio-economic status as Viewbank Primary School - this may or may not include local schools to us.
We are immensely proud of the students and staff for their achievements. That said, NAPLAN is just one of many other success indicators we look at and celebrate – the breadth of the experiences we provide for students is something we can all be proud of as a school community.
The below results are the percentage of students who received a score in the ‘Strong’ or ‘Excelling’ categories, and is a measure used by the Department of Education to track progress over time. There is some rounding of scores to the closest whole number.
CLASS COVERAGE As with every other employee in Victoria, our staff are entitled to sick/personal leave. Schools do not have an allocated pool of Casual Relief Techers (CRTs) that are designated to that school only, they are free to work at any school they wish (some CRTs may choose to only work at one or two schools though). If a staff member is absent, we will attempt to find a replacement teacher. We will do our best to not ‘split’ classes (that is, allocate 3 or 4 students to a number of grades for a period of time) unless it is necessary.
Have a great weekend,
Patrick
PRINCIPALS' DAY – Friday 01 August This week we celebrate the leadership and dedication of our principals – Bill, Gill, and Patrick. Their commitment to our school values of Responsibility, Resilience, Respect, and Kindness continues to shape a positive and supportive school culture.
Thank you for your leadership, guidance, and the positive impact you have on our students, staff, and families each day.
Thank You for Your Support in 2025 Viewbank Primary School extends our heartfelt thanks to all parents and carers for your ongoing support throughout the year.
Your generous contributions make a real difference. They allow us to go beyond the standard curriculum and provide enriched learning experiences that benefit all students.
Thanks to your support, we’ve been able to:
- Provide high-quality programs and specialist materials across English, Mathematics, STEM, Art, Music, Inquiry, Language, and Physical Education
- Maintain and improve our school grounds
- Keep our computer devices up-to-date to support digital learning
- Ensure each class has access to full sets of books to support reading development
- Offer hands-on maths resources, including measuring tools and manipulatives
- Fund online digital subscriptions to support Literacy and Mathematics learning
- Purchase a wide range of sporting equipment
- Supply individual student materials and shared classroom resources
- Deliver responsive and effective first aid to all students
Thank you once again for your ongoing support and for being such an important part of our school community. If you haven’t yet had the chance to contribute and would like to, contributions are still welcome and very much appreciated.
Kind regards,
Lucy Addati
Book Week Author Visit – Coral Vass We’re thrilled to announce that award-winning children’s author Coral Vass will be visiting Viewbank Primary School as part of our whole-school Book Week celebrations!
With over 25 published titles, including Sorry Day, Grandma’s Treasured Shoes, and Jorn’s Magnificent Imagination, Coral is a celebrated storyteller whose books have received national recognition and been featured on ABC’s Play School and StoryBox Library. Her visit promises to be an engaging and inspiring experience for students, with storytelling and writing workshops that encourage creativity and foster a love of reading.
All students will attend a session with Coral on the day, and we’re excited to offer them this special opportunity to learn from a talented Australian author.
🔹 Consent Reminder: Please log in to Compass to provide consent for your child to attend.
Learn more about Coral at: Lamont Authors – Coral Vass
Book Club Reminder A friendly reminder that Book Club orders close on Sunday 4 August. Don’t miss the chance to order some wonderful books for your child to enjoy at home!
Lower Plenty Bakehouse proudly partners with our school to provide fundraising lunch orders every Thursday.
This initiative, organised by our Parents and Friends Committee, serves as one of our school’s major fundraising efforts. All proceeds will go towards our significant school upgrade project.
Term 3 Fundraising Lunch Order Dates:
- Thursday 7th August (Orders close: Monday 4th August, 3:00 PM)
- Thursday 14th August (Orders close: Monday 11th August, 3:00 PM)
- Thursday 21st August (Orders close: Monday 18th August, 3:00 PM)
- Thursday 28th August (Orders close: Monday 25th August, 3:00 PM)
- Thursday 4th September (Orders close: Monday 1st September, 3:00 PM)
- Thursday 11th September (Orders close: Monday 8th September, 3:00 PM)
- Thursday 18th September (Orders close: Monday 15th September, 3:00 PM)
Ordering Instructions: Orders must be placed in advance via Compass Canteen. Ordering will close at 3:00 PM on the Monday before each lunch date.
You can now place orders for all Term 3 lunch dates in advance if preferred.
A Parent User Guide on how to order through Compass Canteen is below for your convenience. Please note, a $0.35 transaction fee will apply at checkout.
All food is Halal.
Thank you for supporting our school community!
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ICY POLE FRIDAY Students can purchase icy poles over the counter every Friday at lunchtime for $1.00 each. We offer an assortment of different icy poles each week, but always have Zooper Doopers available.This serves as a school fundraiser.
If you're interested in volunteering as a parent helper to sell icy poles, please contact the school's general office.
Entertainment Book 20% of the membership goes directly to support our fundraising at Viewbank Primary School. https://www.entertainment.com.au/current-promotion
Lunches must be ordered online using the CLASSROOM CUISINE website.
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WEEKLY SECOND HAND UNIFORM SALE - Every Friday 3:00pm to 3:30pm, next to the music room. Jumpers with the school logo, long and short sleeve school polo tops and school dresses will be $2.00. We are currently asking for donations of any unwanted reusable school uniform items to sell at our stall.
SINGING WITH GABRIELLA - Gabriella
- Email: favrettogab@gmail.com
- Phone: 0413 676 733
STRINGS – Jack Cai
- Email: jack3bld@gmail.com
- Phone: 0426 665 044
STRINGS - MR CAI
- Email: cai66@optusnet.com.au
- Phone: 0403 490 078
PIANO/KEYBOARD/DRUMS - Daniel Tucceri
- Email: info@banyulemusicandtutoring.com
- Phone: 0405 667 908
GUITAR - Dimi Holborow
- Email: mastermusic606@outlook.com
- Phone: 0409 629 612
Our school has partnered with an independent provider called TheirCare to provide exceptional Outside School Hours Care services for our school community.
The program is available for all children at Viewbank Primary School from 6:30am until 9:00am in the morning and from 3:30pm until 6:15pm each school day.
During School Holidays & Pupil Free Days the service will operate from 6:30am until 6:15pm.
Families wishing to use this service can visit the TheirCare website: www.theircare.com.au
Families are eligible for a Government Rebate called the Child Care Subsidy which can reduce the cost per session by up to 85%.
More information can be obtained by contacting the school or ringing TheirCare Support Team on 1300 072 410.
TheirCare provides a stimulating and safe environment for all children. During sessions, children develop life-skills, friendships, confidence and creativity through play-based programs.