Viewbank Voice 18.12.2025 Term 4 2025, Week 11

2026 IMPORTANT DIARY DATES

• Monday 26th January: Australia Day Public Holiday
• Tuesday 27th January: Teachers start
• Wednesday 28th January: Year 1 – 6 students start
• Thursday 29th January: Foundation students begin school
• Tuesday 3rd February: Parents and Friends Annual General Meeting
• Tuesday 10th February: District Swim Trials
• Tuesday 10th February: Foundation Welcome Picnic
• Tuesday 17th February: Get To Know You Interviews
• Thursday 19th February: Get To Know You Interviews
• Tuesday 24th February - School Photo Day
• Friday 27th February Year 3-6 Athletics Day at Willinda Park
• Monday 9th March: Labour Day
• Wednesday 11th March: NAPLAN for Year 3 and 5 students begins
• Monday 23rd March: NAPLAN last day
• Wednesday 25th March: Whole school Walk-a-thon
• 8th and 10th September - School Production

PUPIL FREE DAYS (TheirCare School Holiday Program will be available on pupil-free days)

• Dates for 2026 pupil-free days remain unconfirmed.

2026 CAMP DATES

• Year 6 Phillip Island Adventure Camp: 18 March to 20 March
• Year 5 Lady Northcote Discovery Camp: 07 October to 09 October
• Year 4 Anglesea Discovery Camp: 13 May to 15 May
• Year 3 Phillip Island Adventure Camp: 26 October to 28 October

2026 TERM DATES

• TERM 1: 28 January - 2 April
• TERM 2: 20 April - 26 June
• TERM 3: 13 July - 18 September
• TERM 4: 5 October- 18 December

GRADUATION The graduation ceremony for our 98 Grade 6 students took place on Monday night and was a wonderful celebration of their seven primary school years.  The students looked amazing, spoke extremely well and carried themselves with maturity and poise.  They seem very ready for secondary school.  Again, many thanks to everyone for making the night such a success, for families for choosing us to educate their children and for the teaching and non-teaching staff for all of their efforts over the years with these fabulous graduates.

STAFFING UPDATES It would be remiss of me not to say some well-deserved kind words about three of our staff who won’t be with us for 2026.  Renee Deeth has been successful in obtaining a position at Osborne PS, near Mt Martha and close to her home near Mornington. Renee has been a wonderful junior years teacher at Viewbank PS, always positive and with a smile on her face, and has positively impacted so many students over her four years at Viewbank PS.  We understand the ‘tyranny of distance’ with such a long daily commute and wish her all the best in her new posting.  To Bessie Grant who will be spending 2026 in Townsville, good luck and best wishes with the ‘state change’ in 2026.  Differently to Renee, Bessie will be rejoining us in 2027, but similarly Bessie’s impact has been significant at our school and she will also be missed.  And last, but not least, good luck to Jane McLeod who has been successful in obtaining the Acting Principal position at Strathewen PS for Semester 1  next year.  Speaking from personal experience as I was the Principal at Strathewen PS too many years ago to confess, the leadership of a small school is the perfect grounding for other roles within the Department of Education and I have no doubt she will serve the community well in her time there.  Jane’s replacement will be Gordon Briddock who is well known to our current students having completed significant time as a replacement teacher at our school over the last three years.  We look forward to Jane’s return in July 2026 and wish her all the best.  Along with Lily Wilkinson-Beards and Izzy Hayes who will be commencing at our school next year, we have a few new names and I am sure the Viewbank community will welcome everyone with open arms. FINAL ASSEMBLY  The final assembly of the year will take place on Friday, December 19 commencing at 1.05pm in the gymnasium. All students will be dismissed at 1.30pm from assembly.  We will have the final news video for the year from the Grade 6 leadership team, and will also take the opportunity to farewell students who are leaving to transfer to other schools, staff who will be transferring in 2026 and of course our graduates! CHRISTMAS BREAK As always we seek community support over January. We do have a few projects happening over the school break, including painting in the gymnasium and breezeways, final touches to the staff carpark, school cleaning and more but if you do observe something that doesn’t seem quite right at school (vandalism, unwelcome visitors, trespassers), please call it in to the Heidelberg Police Station.   LEADERSHIP PROFILE FOR 2026 Whilst I have enjoyed a reduced time fraction in 2025, I miss everyone too much (!), so I will be increasing my time fraction next year working Mondays-Thursdays each week.  Who knows, I may be back to full time the year after!!  I am happy to report that once again, Gill Nicholls will be the Acting Principal each Friday when I am not ‘on deck’.  KEY DATES FOR THE FIRST FEW WEEKS OF 2026  The key dates to get the 2026 school year underway are as follows:- ·         Tuesday, January 27 – The first day for STAFF members ·         Wednesday, January 28 – The first day for students in Grades 1 to 6 ·         Thursday, January 29 – The first day for Foundation students ·         Tuesday, February 17 and Thursday, February 19 – Getting To Know You Interviews   Well that’s just about a ‘wrap’ for 2025 – no pun intended!!  Thank you to everyone for your unified efforts and support over the course of the year.  To our teaching and non-teaching staff – it is always a joy to work with such a committed and professional group.   Rule #1 of Principalship – surround yourself with good people!!!  To our parents and school community – thank you for your support, and involvement in so many ways too numerous to mention.  And to the most important group – our students – congratulations on your efforts and energy in making 2025 such a successful year.  With the recent tragedy in Bondi still hard to fathom and all too painful, the upcoming break will give us pause to hope and pray for tolerance, kindness and peace.  I just want to take this opportunity in the final newsletter of the year to wish everyone a safe and happy Christmas and a wonderful 2026 and to share these times with families, friends and loved ones. Kind regards,   Bill Kersing Principal

The Victorian Government has launched a new resource for parents and carers called A new year of learning webpage The webpage contains a range of helpful advice on preparing students, of all ages, for a new year of learning in 2026.   STATE SCHOOL SPECTACULAR Earlier this semester a group of our Year 5 and 6 students participated in the annual Victorian State Schools Spectacular.   The Spectacular has become an invaluable rite of passage for Victoria’s top young talent, and a cherished, memorable education experience for all participants. Highlights from the 2025 Victorian State Schools Spectacular – ON AIR will be televised on Channel 7 on Friday 19 December at 7 pm. The full, extended version of the Spectacular will also be available for on-demand viewing nationally on www.7plus.com.au for 60 days after the broadcast date.

2025 IN REVIEW As the 2025 school year draws to a close, it is pleasing to be able to look back and celebrate so many achievements across the year. As a whole school, we have enjoyed many experiences such as school camps and excursions, the school disco, sporting events, Inquiry showcases, our STOMP dance sessions, visits by the fire brigade, SWPBS reward days, the Stephanie Alexander Kitchen Garden Program, Book Week celebrations and special event days such as Harmony Day. Many students have also celebrated personal achievements such as representing the school at elite levels in athletics, swimming, cross country and interschool sports, being a top performer in mathematics and music competitions, completing the Premiers Reading Challenge and completing all their SWPBS values cards.  This year, we continued to develop our school grounds with the addition of our two murals, further garden beds and planting as well as the almost completed reinstatement of the staff carpark.  All of these achievements require a team effort and I cannot thank the community enough for the wonderful support throughout the year. Our P&F group have worked incredibly hard to raise additional funds for the school this year and those who have attended working bees have achieved so much. However you have been able to assist, your commitment to your child’s education and to our school as a whole, is greatly appreciated. A huge thank you to all our amazing staff at Viewbank. We are incredibly privileged to have such a dedicated, caring, talented and passionate team working together to make our school the best it can be for our students. A final congratulations to our graduating class of 2025, they have been amazing role models and I am so proud of each of them. It was a pleasure to be part of their graduation celebrations on Monday afternoon and evening.  I wish them all the best as they head towards secondary school. Many families chose to celebrate this milestone with a Year 6 Legacy Paver and these were recently laid along the pathway near the school tree.   Finally, take care over the school holidays and stay safe. I hope you each have a relaxing holiday season and manage to find some time to reflect, recharge and be grateful.   I look forward to seeing you in the new year, refreshed and ready for 2026.   Have a wonderful Christmas and a safe New Year.   All the very best, Gill

SEMESTER 2 REPORTS PUBLISHED Your child’s 2025 Semester 2 Report is now published and you can access these through Compass. Our staff have spent many hours throughout November and early December completing student reports. As I have mentioned previously, this is not an easy or quick process – most reports are written after hours or on weekends with staff prioritising work over family and other commitments. I would like to thank the staff for the time and effort they have put in to giving as accurate report as they can. While we have a robust process for ensuring the accuracy of reports, we are human and an error may slip through, or a comment may not be as clear as it could be. If this is the case, please contact the teacher who has written that report (classroom or specialist) to respectfully ask for clarification or to point out the error.   PARENTS AND FRIENDS I would like to extend my heartiest thanks to the Parents and Friends Committee, and to all those who have supported them. They have brought the community together and raised much needed funds that will benefit the students – your children. For those of you who are new to our school in 2026, or have not done something like this, we encourage you to join us at our P&F meetings in 2026 – it is a great way to help influence our sense of community and to meet other parents from across the school you would not meet otherwise.   HOLIDAYS Another year has passed by unbelievably quickly. So much is in place already to provide the 2026 students of Viewbank Primary School as many opportunities as possible. Congratulations to our Year 6 Class of 2025, I hope you take the opportunities that are presented to you, and you explore them as much as possible - you never know where you may end up!   I hope everyone has a great Christmas break. If you are travelling, please stay safe!   Merry Christmas everyone!   Patrick  

Dear Parents and Carers, Viewbank Primary School is looking forward to another wonderful year of teaching and learning and would like to provide you with information about the Parent Payment Arrangements for 2026. Information regarding Curriculum and Other Contributions will be available on Compass from January. You will receive an email notification once these have been published. Financial contributions from our families play a vital role in maintaining the high standard of education and resources that make Viewbank Primary School such a vibrant learning community. These contributions directly support classroom programs, specialist subjects, technology upgrades, and the upkeep of our learning spaces ensuring every student has access to engaging, high-quality learning experiences. The excellent facilities, resources, and opportunities we enjoy today are the result of the ongoing generosity and commitment of our families over many years. Your support whether through financial contributions, participation in fundraising, or volunteering makes a genuine difference in maintaining and improving the programs and facilities our students enjoy. We greatly value your continued support and dedication to enriching our students’ education and school experience. For convenience, all classroom supplies will be purchased in bulk and distributed directly to classrooms. Teachers will provide students with the necessary stationery and materials throughout the year. Please refer to the attached 2026 Parent Payment Arrangements document for more detailed information. Kind regards, Lucy Addati Business Manager

Acknowledgement of Country  

VIEWBANK PRIMARY SCHOOL  SUSTAINABILITY UPDATE Resource Smart Schools Program - Sustainability Victoria & CERES  This was announced at assembly recently, but we have now been certified as a 3-Star School through the Resource Smart Schools program! This means that we have completed three out of the five modules attached to the program, and as a result we have established systems for managing and monitoring our waste and biodiversity at our school. The remaining modules are for Water and Energy, which will provide new challenges for our Green Team students and Sustainability Captains in 2026.   This week our Sustainability Captains - Henry Whiting and Daniel McDermott - met with Mr Kersing at our RSS sign on Nevin Parade to celebrate our new stars being added  

Rubbish Free School Viewbank Primary School is a Rubbish Free School. This has made a positive impact on the amount of landfill that that the school collects, as well as the amount of litter out in the schoolyard. As a result, we have halved our waste collection each week! Thank you to all families who have made the switch to reusable containers and are making the choice to keep single use plastic out of our schoolground. Also, extra thanks are in order to all students who remember to take their single use packaging back home with them at the end of the day. It all makes a difference!

Container Deposit Scheme  VPS is a donation partner with the Container Deposit Scheme! Students can pop their drink containers (including juice boxes and tetra pak milk cartons) into our donation bin and the school will drop it off at a collection point. Donations from home are also welcome, and all money raised from these cans will go towards Sustainability and student led yard improvement projects.

Viewbank Primary School is always looking for new and innovative ways to continue to help sustain the local environment. We look forward to working with our Viewbank families again in 2026 to continually find new ways to improve our lovely school with regards to sustainability. The VPS Sustainability Committee

Parents & Friends – End of Year Update What a wonderful year it has been for our Parents & Friends community! Throughout 2025, we’ve enjoyed a wide range of events including our Mother’s, Father’s and Special Persons’ stalls, the Colour Run, Trivia Night, weekly lunch orders and icy pole sales, once-a-term Sushi Days, the school disco, mango fundraiser, Vision Portraits and many more. We are thrilled to share that this year we raised approximately $50,000! This incredible amount will go directly towards supporting improvements within the school and playground areas. A huge thank you to our hardworking committee, our event working groups, and our school community for their generous contributions of time, effort, and support. None of this would have been possible without you. Interested in Joining Parents & Friends? We welcome new members! Parents & Friends usually meets twice a month, and all events have their own dedicated working groups. You are free to choose which events you would like to help with—there is no pressure to be involved in everything. Help where and when it suits you. 2026 AGM – Positions Available Our first meeting for 2026 will be our Annual General Meeting. We will be filling the roles of President and Secretary. If you are interested, please come along. There’s no need to feel unsure—anyone who steps into these roles will be fully supported by the current committee. Thank you once again for a fantastic year. We look forward to another successful year ahead! Narelle Matton

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.

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.

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.

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.