PUPIL FREE DAYS (TheirCare School Holiday Program will be available on pupil-free days)
- Monday 3rd November – Report Writing Day
2025 TERM DATES
- TERM 4: 6 October - 19 December
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
2025 CAMP DATES
- Year 3 Phillip Island Camp - 27 October - 29 October
WELCOME BACK I would like to extend a warm welcome back to school for students, staff and families as a lengthy term commenced on Monday, October 6. I trust everyone had time to relax and enjoy some down time over the recent break. Congratulations to Brisbane supporters as your team dominated to win the AFL premiership and look like they might be dominant for some time to come!! Plenty of happenings over the holidays at school, not least of which was the completion of our indigenous mural which looks wonderful. Along with the usual grounds maintenance, the installation of new carpets in all Foundation classrooms and a new path at the southern end of the staffroom it was a busy time!! As always, plenty of highlights to look forward to this term with two school camps (Grades 5 and 3), graduation for our Grade 6 students, a student disco, Christmas Carols in late November and much, much more. Add to the above the usual complexities of staff selection and contract renewals, determining budgets for 2026, transition and grade selection and you can see we won’t have much time to ‘smell the roses’! We are sure, though, that it will be a productive and engaging term and one we are all looking forward to.
CONSIDERATIONS FOR GRADE PLACEMENTS 2026 Each year at this time, we seek input from families with regards to the placement of students into classes for the following year (if that is necessary). We do recognise that that there might be some limited circumstances initiating a parental grade request, but please think carefully about this and if you really do feel a need to inform us of these circumstances then do let us know.
At this stage, we have not assigned teachers to grade levels for next year, and this will not be completed until mid November. There are no guarantees that teachers currently teaching at certain grade levels will be teaching there next year, as leadership needs to take into consideration a range of factors including the development of our teaching staff and teacher preferences before this allocation is completed. We have also not settled on a grade structure for 2026, but we have in the past formed some composite classes at different levels of the school to ensure grade sizes are not too large in each area. Having said that, if there are special circumstances that we need to know about, you are welcome to let us know of these. Such special circumstances might include but are not limited to health, emotional or learning matters, peer or sibling relationships or changes in the home situation. Selecting a particular teacher does not fit within the realm of special circumstances, and if your request includes that information it will be denied. Information requiring our consideration needs to be addressed to ‘The Principal’ and emailed to the office or myself bill.kersing@education.vic.gov.au by Monday, November 3. Please title the email “CONFIDENTIAL – GRADE REQUEST’. Please note that emails received after this date will NOT be accepted.
NORTHERN REGIONAL ATHLETICS CHAMPIONSHIPS Good luck to the following students who will compete at the Northern Metro Region Athletics at Meadowglen on Wednesday 15/10/25: Ethan Woo, Darcy Carpenter, Cindy Huang, Iona Stephenson, Joachim Lai, Melinda Tan, Daniel McDermott, Eloisa Craciun, Lizzie Rance and Riley Cadusch. We know you will all do your best and we wish you well. Good luck!
INTERSCHOOL SPORTS FINALS We have a number of teams competing tomorrow in the Interschool Sports Finals at various venues and we also wish them well – Boys soccer v Banyule, Boys and Girls cricket versus St Martin Of Tours and Hot Shot Girls and Boys versus Banyule. Good luck – a busy sporting start to the term.
GRADE 5 CAMP Our Grade 5 students commenced their school camp at the Lady Northcote camp venue in Bacchus Marsh yesterday, and I have had the pleasure of attending. Our school has been attending this venue for more than 15 years. It is set on 84 acres of camp ground and is well serviced with outdoor sports courts and activity areas, dining halls and kitchens, recreation and games rooms and more. Our students participate in a range of adventure activities including the flying fox, giant swing, archery, canoeing, yabbying and bike riding. The camp site has a storied history - Lady Northcote Recreation Camp, formerly the Northcote Children's Farm, opened in 1937. It was originally a farm school based on a model conceived by Kingsley Fairbridge, and it housed and educated underprivileged British children, who were sent out with the initial aim of training boys for farm work and girls for domestic service. At its peak, child migration from Britain to Australia had the support of both the British and Australian governments, charitable organisations and churches.
Enthusiasm for the child migration scheme waned after the war, and the property was transferred in 1978 to the Department of Sport and Recreation to be used as the Lady Northcote Recreation Camp.
The enthusiasm of our students for this venue has not waned as evidenced by some of the photos attached. Many thanks, as always, to the staff and volunteer parents who have planned and implemented the camp and given up their time to enable it. And a big pat on the back to our students who have once again had lots of fun and have behaved and participated in a manner that we are proud of.
STOMP DANCE PROGRAM Our eight-week dance program for all students commences next Wednesday and culminates with our students showing off their skills in a showcase for parents on Wednesday, December 3! Stomp have been working with our students for many years now, and whilst Covid put a halt to our dance program, we reintroduced our biennial program two years ago. Looking forward to fun times, and excellent skills over the next few months.
SCHOOL COUNCIL The October meeting of School Council is set down for next Tuesday night, October 14 at 7pm in the staffroom.
INTENTIONS TO LEAVE If any families are intending to leave our school community and won’t be returning in 2026 because of relocation or other reason, could you please advise us as soon as possible. A phone call to the office, or an email to the school or my email account asap would be most appreciated bill.kersing@education.vic.gov.au .If you have already done this … many thanks!!
STUDENT DISCO The VPS School Disco is coming up on Friday 17 October with Foundation to Year 2 rocking from 6pm-6.45pm and Years 3 to 6 from 7.15pm - 8.15pm. A busy start to the term!!
Well, that’s it from me for this week. I hope the weekend is pleasant for everyone.
Kind regards,
Bill Kersing
Welcome back to term 4. I hope everyone managed to have an enjoyable and relaxing holiday.
Indigenous Mural Completion After three terms of planning and various delays we are very happy to have our much awaited indigenous mural in place. Artist, Simone Thomson worked across the first week of the holidays to develop the mural. Simone has also provided a Dreaming Story to accompany the mural and down the track this will be displayed nearby. This term, teachers will unpack the mural and story with their grades so that students understand the messages with the mural. Feedback this week from the school community has been positive and I encourage you to drop in to have a look.
Have a great week.
Gill
Dreaming Story : The traditional language of the Wurundjeri Tribe is Woi-Wurrung. In the Woi-Wurrung language, the name Wurundjeri is in two parts.
'Wurun' meaning the Manna Gum tree, and 'djeri', the white grub that lives in the tree - the witchetty grub. Large Manna Gum leaves in the centre of the wall represent deep respects to the Traditional Custodians of the lands and waterways in which Viewbank Primary School sits - Wurundjeri Country.
Birrarung, the majestic river of mist and shadows weaves gently from its birthplace at the foothills of the southern slopes of the Great Dividing Range, through to the saltwater bay in Naarm, the place known as Melbourne. These sacred and spiritual waters were once the significant meeting place for Wurundjeri and visiting Kulin Clans to hold ceremony, conduct trade, and to discuss cultural business.
Birrarung, known as the Yarra River, and its major tributaries including the Maribyrnong River, Merri Creek, Darebin Creek and Plenty River were all significant resource rich environments and provided abundant plant life for restorative and medicinal purposes including vital food source of various river fowl, fish, eels and wildlife.
Wurundjeri-willam lived on the offshoots of these waterways including the Banyule Wetlands where women would wade in the water with string bags around the fronts of their necks hunting for shellfish. These areas provided important materials for making shelter, fish weirs, weaving and tools, and are culturally important sites Wurundjeri People. The waterway across the wall represents the school's ongoing commitment to caring for the environment just as First Peoples have done for thousands of years and symbolise Viewbank Primary's respects to Country ensuring Country may continue to provide for and care us as it has done from the beginning of time.
Mountainous ranges frame Birrarung - the black hilly lines. They are Corhanwarbul, the Dandenong Ranges to the east - the richly dense rainforests and fern gullies in which the river flows, and the site of Coranderrk, the resting place of the last Ngarrangetta (Head Lore Man) of the Wurundjeri Tribe, Barak - and Geboor to the west, the Macedon Ranges. Within these rolling hills is Wil-im-ee Mooring, Mt William - the sacred and spiritual gathering place in which Clans from all along the east coast of the country would come to trade several highly treasured possum skin cloaks and other valuable items for one small prized green stone. The stone would be used for axe heads which were often as rare as having one per Clan. These mountains represent knowledge of the land and symbolise strength in education and Viewbank Primary School.
The Sun is the Giver of Life and represents growth and a nurturing environment and symbolises the Gathering Circle of Viewbank Primary School. The Gathering Circle is a place of meeting and discussion. In the traditional way, Elders and Senior Leaders and Lore men and women would gather to discuss matters of importance and cultural business. They are our teachers. It is a place of sharing knowledge with community and takes the circular form from the bird's eye view. Repeated arcs around its perimeter detail the recurring campsite-homes of the Viewbank Primary School community who come to this place to learn.
Three pathways lead from the Gathering Circle representing the school's past, it's present - and future. Within these pathways are interlinked journey tracks symbolising the students of Viewbank Primary School and their educational journey in life. From the bird's eye view, a person is symbolised by the 'u' or "n' motif representing a person sitting on the ground with their knees crossed. These symbols line the pathways of the past, present and future and represent the shared responsibility of knowledge sharing from the families, teachers and community within the student's life - it takes a village to raise a child.
Animal track marks move towards the central meeting place, the place of learning and education. The kangaroo, wombat, emu and possum represent the various communities, families, personalities and life experiences of all who come to the school and signify the diverse and inclusive community of Viewbank Primary School.
Welcome back to what will be a very busy Term 4!
STUDENT SAFETY This is just a reminder to please be careful when travelling around the school. We know that as the weather warms up, more students will be walking or riding their bikes to and from school.
For avid readers of the Viewbank Voice, you will know that we have regularly requested parents to be respectful and kind when on the roads – particularly around drop-off and pick-up times. We continue to have reports given to us of ‘close calls’ where students have almost been hit by a vehicle, sometimes this is due to a lack of road awareness of students, but many times it is due to drivers not being careful. Of course, this is not always our families, but other members of the public who use the roads around the school.
HATS AT SCHOOL IN TERM 4 Even though we have not seen a lot of sun this week, students are still required to wear a school broad brimmed hat. This is to ensure we are meeting our obligations in our SunSmart Policy. http://www.viewbankps.vic.edu.au/s/SunSmart-Policy-9rp9.pdf. Hats will be required to be worn daily from 01 September 2025 until 30 April 2026. All students must wear a sun protective hat that shades the face, neck and ears for all outdoor activities.
SOME UPCOMING TERM 4 EVENTS
There will also be a range of end of year excursions and events that are yet to be finalised. Information about these will be coming soon!
Have a great weekend,
Patrick
Day for Daniel On the 31st 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/
REMINDER - Get Ready to Dance! 🎉 VPS School Disco – Grab Your Tickets Now for Friday 17 October!
The VPS School Disco is coming up early in Term 4 - Friday 17 October.
- Foundation to Yr 2: 6pm-6.45pm
- Yr 3 - Yr 6: 7.15pm - 8.15pm
Please purchase your tickets via Compass.
As always we need parents helpers to make this event a success. Please sign up here https://volunteersignup.org/WJ8BT
Viewbank PS Family Photo Fundraiser - Sunday 16th November We are excited to invite families to participate in the Viewbank Primary School Family Photo Fundraiser on Sunday, 16th November. This is a wonderful opportunity to capture beautiful family portraits while supporting our school community.
- Date: Sunday, 16th November
- Location: Price Park, Viewbank
Bookings are essential. Please secure your preferred time slot by registering through the Eventbrite link below:
Viewbank PS Family Photo Fundraiser Booking
Don’t miss out on this special event to create lasting memories while contributing to Viewbank PS.
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 4 Fundraising Lunch Order Dates:
- Thursday 16th October (Orders close: Monday 13th October, 3:00 PM)
- Thursday 23rd October (Orders close: Monday 20th October, 3:00 PM)
- Thursday 30th October (Orders close: Monday 27th October, 3:00 PM)
- Thursday 6th November (Orders close: Monday 3rd November, 3:00 PM)
- Thursday 13th November (Orders close: Monday 10th November, 3:00 PM)
- Thursday 6th November (Orders close: Monday 3rd November, 3:00 PM) - Year 4 Weribee Zoo
- Thursday 20th November (Orders close: Monday 17th November, 3:00 PM)
- Thursday 27th November (Orders close: Monday 24th November, 3:00 PM)
- Thursday 11th December (Orders close: Monday 8th December, 3:00 PM)
- Thursday 18th December (Orders close: Monday 15th December, 3:00 PM) - Year 6 Funfields
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!
.
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.