PUPIL FREE DAYS 2025
- Tuesday 28 January
- Friday 07 March
2024 TERM DATES
- TERM 4: 7 October - 20 December
2025 TERM DATES
- TERM 1: 28 January - 4 April (Students start: Year 1 to 6 - 29 January, Foundation - 30 January)
- TERM 2: 22 April - 4 July
- 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 4 Anglesea Camp - 14 May to 16 May
- Year 5 Lady Northcote Camp - 08 October to 10 October
- Year 6 Urban Camp - 15 September to 17 September
GRADUATION Monday night was a wonderful opportunity to celebrate seven years of education at Viewbank PS when our graduates met together with their families and teachers in the school gymnasium for their graduation ceremony. I speak on behalf of all teachers and support staff in saying that this was a wonderful cohort of students – respectful, intelligent and friendly , and we will truly miss them. We wish them well as they commence their secondary education and remind them that they are always welcome to pop in and visit in the future. To our families who leave us after their association with the school, some for many years, thank you for your contributions and support of the school and we also hope to see you in the future in whatever form that might take.
FINAL ASSEMBLY School concludes for 2024 at 1.30pm tomorrow Friday, December 20 AFTER a whole school assembly that will commence at 1.05pm in the school gymnasium. This will afford us the opportunity to farewell our wonderful graduates and other students leaving Viewbank PS for the final time. I hope you can make it.
HOLIDAY VIGILANCE We don’t have too many happenings at school over the break so, as always, if you do note anything suspicious or untoward at the school as you might be randomly walking or driving past please ring it in to the Heidelberg Police Station.
FAREWELLS Whilst you are more than likely to see each of these staff members back at Viewbank PS in Term 1 in a casual relief teacher role, I do wish to take this opportunity to thank Lisa Briglia (ART), Nicole Baillargeon (ART), Melissa Layton (PE) and Alyce Elmore (Additional Support) for their contributions to Viewbank PS this year. I also wish to thank Karina Russell for two wonderful years to date as one of our Grade 3 teachers. Whilst Karina will be seen in a different role in Term 1 with some relief teaching work, she will also be counting down the weeks before her second child will be born in April.
ACTING PRINCIPAL As most of you will have read in last week’s newsletter, I am reducing my time fraction in 2025 to be ‘on deck’ each week on Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays. I am now in a position to announce and congratulate Gillian Nicholls who will be Acting Principal in 2025, working collaboratively in the role with me on Wednesdays and then flying solo, as it were, as Principal on Thursdays and Fridays. Gill will remain as Assistant Principal on Mondays and Tuesdays along with Patrick Walsh throughout the week so, in terms of the leadership profile, the personnel remain the same in 2025 albeit with slightly altered responsibilities.
KEY DATES FOR THE FIRST FEW WEEKS OF 2025 To avoid confusion, I would like to dot point the key dates to start the 2025 school year as follows:-
- Tuesday, January 28 – The first day for STAFF members
- Wednesday, January 29 – The first day for students in Grades 1 to 6
- Thursday, January 30 – The first day for Foundation students
- Tuesday, February 11 – A Foundation and whole school Welcome Picnic
- Tuesday, February 18 and Thursday, February 20 – Getting To Know You Interviews
THANK YOUS To all staff members at Viewbank PS, thank you for your contributions during 2024. We are blessed to have such a hardworking, professional group who always put the students first. It is truly a pleasure to come to work each day.
To the School Council membership, we could not have a more supportive and mutually respectful group of decision makers.
To all of our parent volunteers, we could not do it without you.
To our students – well done on another great year!! You are growing so quickly!
THAT WAS THE YEAR THAT WAS It has certainly been a big year at Viewbank PS and a most successful one, I believe. Highlights have been many with the school production “Where In The World Is Eddie The Teddy?’ right up there as a key highlight. We had a very successful school review, validated by some excellent NAPLAN data, we continue to sustain and grow our school numbers peaking at 669 in Term 4, the grounds continue to be enhanced after the capital works program with the completion of our new Tiger Turf and improvements to the schoolgrounds in general and we continue to have stable leadership and staffing. We had a number of other student successes, measured by successful school camps for Grades 3 to 6 and individual and team successes in the various sporting activities we participated in including at state level. Our SWPBS program continues to define the tone and ‘vibe’ of the school as our students live the school values of respect, responsibility, resilience and kindness on a daily basis.
I’m sure we are all looking forward to some rest and opportunity to enjoy the company of family and friends over the Christmas and New Year break before we truly contemplate the promise of 2025.
On behalf of the staff and school community I wish everyone a safe and restful Christmas and New Year and look forward to seeing everyone renewed, refreshed and reinvigorated in 2025!!
Kind regards,
Bill Kersing
2024 in Review As the 2024 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 our amazing School Production, the school disco, excursions, sporting events, visits by the fire brigade, camps, SWPBS reward days, Book Week celebrations and special event days such as Harmony Day and Olympics 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.
We’ve finally achieved our new Tiger Turf play area and the school grounds are looking great as the garden areas become more established, new trees are planted and many new raised garden beds added across the school grounds.
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, including the laying of our Year 6, 2024, Legacy Pavers.
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 2024, they have certainly had a fabulous year 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.
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 2025.
Have a wonderful Christmas and a safe New Year.
All the very best,
Gill
STUDENT REPORTS Your child’s 2024 Semester 2 Report is now published, 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. 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.
HOLIDAYS Another year has passed by unbelievably quickly. So much is in place already to provide the 2025 students of Viewbank Primary School as many opportunities as possible.
Congratulations to our Year 6 Class of 2024, 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
School Saving Bonus We encourage all families to log in as soon as possible to allocate how you wish to use your $400 School Saving Bonus in 2025. Please take a moment to review the attached guide for more details.
At Viewbank Primary School, you have the flexibility to allocate your bonus in one of two ways:
- In-store/online purchases of uniforms at A Plus Schoolwear (AGS Prints Pty Ltd)
- School activities, such as camps, excursions, incursions, and activities.
Please note once you make your selection, it cannot be changed, so ensure you are confident in your decision.
Any unspent funds or funds allocated to in-store or online purchases that remain unused will automatically transfer to your child’s school account as an activities credit on 1 July 2025.
We will not automatically allocate your funds to school activities unless you action the choice through the portal.
Please note that the School Saving Bonus cannot be allocated towards the Curriculum and Other Contributions (Parent Payments Arrangements)
Dear Parents & Carers,
Viewbank Primary School is excited to embark on another year of excellent teaching and learning and would like to share information about the Parent Payment Arrangements for 2025.
The arrangements for Curriculum and Other Contributions will be accessible on Compass from January. You will receive an email notification as soon as they are published.
Financial contributions from our families are essential in helping us provide the highest quality education and resources for our students. The learning environment and facilities we enjoy today are the result of the generosity and commitment of our parent community over many years. We value all forms of support, including financial contributions, participation in fundraising, and volunteering your time. Thank you in advance for your commitment to our school community.
For your convenience, all classroom supplies will be provided in bulk directly to classrooms, where teachers will distribute stationery and other items as needed.
Please refer to the attached 2025 Parent Payment Arrangements document for more detailed information.
Lucy Addati
The Junior School Council has had a very busy Term 4!
We were thrilled by the community response to our Christmas Food Appeal for The Rosanna Fire Station Community House. Our two large deliveries to the Community House were gratefully received and we know that these donations will help people struggling in our own community to celebrate Christmas.
Last week, we ran a second hand toy sale to fundraise for the Cancer Council. A huge thanks again to our school community who donated toys for the cause. Thank you to all the people who came along and bought toys or bought a raffle ticket to win the giant Pikachu. Congratulations to Billy S from 2D for winning that prize! This fundraiser raised $229.35. With that amount together with the ‘Guess How Many Mentos in the Jar’ fundraiser from earlier in the year, we are proud to have raised a total of $371.45 for the Cancer Council! What an amazing effort! Thank you to everyone who participated, in any shape or form.
I’d also like to thank the students who formed the Junior School Council, for their participation, enthusiasm, initiative and hard work throughout the year.
Ashleigh Walker
JSC Mentor.
Lower Plenty Bakehouse provide the school with fundraising Lunch Orders every Thursday. These lunches have been implemented via our Parents and Friends Committee. All money raised will be used towards our major school upgrade.
Orders need to be placed in advance via Compass Canteen. Ordering will close the Monday before the lunch date at 3pm.
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. All food is Halal.
Thank you for your support.
ICY POLE FRIDAY Students are able to purchase icy poles over the counter at lunchtime every Friday. All icy poles cost $1.00 each.
Entertainment Book 20% of the membership goes directly to support our fundraising at Viewbank Primary School. https://www.entertainment.com.au/current-promotion
Help Reduce Waste and Support Our School! - Purchase Your Name Labels Now Are you tired of losing lunch boxes and clothing? Please remember to always label your items so they can be returned to you, helping to reduce landfill. You can easily order labels via this link: https://www.mynamelabel.com.au/discount/VPS0515
This is a fundraising activity, and all funds raised will contribute to making our school more sustainable. You can order labels at any time throughout the year!
Our fundraising code is VPS0515.
Thank you for supporting sustainability at Viewbank Primary School!
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
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.
A PLUS SCHOOLWEAR
Shop Details:
- Unit 3/30 Heaths Court, Mill Park
- T: 9436 4005
- E: info@northernregionaluniforms.com.au
Opening Hours:
- Monday to Thursday 9am to 5pm
- Friday 9am to 3pm
Online Ordering Please Visit: www.aplusschoolwear.com.au
Credits:
Created with an image by Ruth Black - "Collection of Christmas objects"