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
Transition Day Tuesday saw all students transitioning to their 2025 classrooms and grades for a ‘transition’ morning. This afforded the opportunity for each child to become familiar with their classroom, classmates and teacher and take part in a few ‘start-up’ activities. This transition day has been most successful in recent years, allaying some of the ‘fears’ that students might have about the upcoming year and setting them up for success. By now you will have received written information about your child’s grade placement for 2025 with a reminder that 2024 reports will be available for download from Compass next Wednesday.
Grade 6 Graduation The graduation ceremony for our 114 Grade 6 students takes place next Monday afternoon and evening from 4.30pm in our school gymnasium. Fingers crossed for comfortable weather. This is a highlight for all and a fitting way to congratulate and celebrate our students on their achievements over these last seven years. We are, collectively, so very proud of this cohort and know that they are as well prepared as possible to enter secondary education.
Final Day Arrangements As is somewhat traditional at our school, the final school day of 2024 concludes with an assembly to be held in the school gymnasium from 1.05pm. Dismissal will be from the gym at 1.30pm with the opportunity, in particular, to focus on and farewell our graduates.
End Of Year Events There are many of these still to happen as we manage to yet again have a super busy end to the year, but largely in a celebratory fashion! Next week we not only have our aforementioned Graduation Ceremony for our Grade 6 students, but we have a water safety swimming session for Grades 3 to 6 on Wednesday, a Foundation Fun Day at Price Park (the same day), Grade 3 and 4 Fitness Workx incursions and BBQ on Tuesday and an especially busy Thursday with Grade 5s at the movies to celebrate the year and the Grade 6 students at Funfields. Phew!!
Flexible Work for Principals initiative In 2024, the Department of Education introduced the “flexible work for school leaders” initiative offering a pilot program of 200 funded positions for principals to enable them to reduce their time fraction and backfill the remaining days with an acting principal to share the leadership role. The initiative was aimed at reducing the administrative burden on school leaders by providing additional leadership support and promoting work-life balance. It has been so successful, that it has been extended for a further year in 2025.
After speaking to a number of colleagues who took part in the trial in 2024 (and who have extended their participation for a further 12 months), and after contemplating how well positioned Viewbank PS is in terms of staffing and financial stability, excellent academic results and completed capital works upgrades, I decided a few weeks back to also apply for the program.
I write today to inform our school community that I have been successful in my application and will be trialling in 2025 a part time leadership role, job-sharing with a yet to be determined acting principal. One of the benefits of the program is that I will be on ‘deck’ for three days each week, primarily Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays. The acting principal will be ‘in charge’ on Thursdays and Fridays but we have a funded cross-over day on Wednesdays where both of us will be on-site enabling co-planning, sharing of information and indeed the workload. Further, I have sufficient flexibility in the role to ensure I can continue to attend school camps, curriculum days, whole school events and the like if they fall on Thursdays and Fridays ensuring my continued presence in a range of important events.
After 18 years as Principal of Viewbank PS, I look forward to continuing in my role in 2025 and beyond as well as the opportunity to work with and mentor an aspiring Principal. I feel I may have the odd nugget or two of wisdom to share! The ultimate responsibility and accountability for the school will continue to reside with me.
I really wished I could share this with the community with the name of the acting principal at the same time, but the selection process will only be finalised in the middle of next week. Naturally, I am involved in the selection process and will announce the name of the acting principal, the moment I am able to. This is a great opportunity to expand the leadership profile at Viewbank PS, and I am quite excited to trial this in 2025 and predict that we will continue to grow from strength to strength. Whilst I am not necessarily a fan of the ‘rankings’ that both of our major newspapers constructed last week, it was satisfying to see that Viewbank PS ranked quite highly both across the state and especially within the Northern Metropolitan area. I look forward to, in 2025 and beyond, continuing to build and maintain our well-deserved reputation for educational excellence and wellbeing support with the unity of the leadership team and staff, and the welcomed support of our school community.
Have a productive Christmas shopping weekend!
Kind regards,
Bill Kersing
Transitions It was wonderful to see the confidence and excitement our students demonstrated as they trialled their 2025 grades on Tuesday morning. I’m sure there were a few nerves but there were also many smiles and lots of excited chatter as everyone got to know each other.
Writing Award Congratulations to Chau Pham in 3R for having her poem, Welcome to the Garden, published recently in the Oz Kids in Print publication. Chau was awarded a Certificate of Achievement for Writing Excellence, an amazing effort.
School Uniforms During the holidays you are likely, at some stage, to begin thinking about school uniform requirements for 2025. If you are planning to purchase new uniform items please do not leave this until immediately before the return to school. Our supplier has informed us that it is incredibly busy at this time, in the shop, and you may not be able to access a full range of sizes if you leave purchasing until the last minute.
A reminder, at Viewbank, we have a compulsory Student Dress Code.
Our Uniform Supplier, A Plus Schoolwear provides our community with high quality, durable uniform items that contain our school logo.
Our Student Dress Code Policy outlines our uniform options and states that jumpers, polo tops and hats are to contain the school logo.
We are proud of our school, and ask that students wear the correct uniform each day.
The Student Dress Code aims to:
- foster a sense of community and belonging and encourages students to develop pride in their appearance
- support Viewbank Primary School’s commitment to ensuring that our students feel equal and are dressed safely and appropriately for school activities
- reduce student competition on the basis of clothing
- enhance the profile and identity of the school and its students within the wider community
- provide instant recognition of students thus contributing to individual student safety and group security.
Viewbank Primary School’s school uniform items are as follows:
Please purchase uniform items, with the school logo, through A Plus Schoolwear or at the school second hand uniform shop, which will be open once a week. The exact opening times will be communicated via Compass in late January.
Have a great week,
Gill
STUDENT SAFETY We have had a timely reminder as we move towards the holidays, about the need to educate children about being safe in their community. You may have seen in the media last week, reports of alleged abduction attempts (https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/white-vans-linked-to-spate-of-attempted-child-kidnappings-20241205-p5kw2e.html).
Many of us were taught of ‘stranger danger’ however, a stranger may be the person who comes to our aid. A more useful approach may be to help our children recognise what troubling behaviour looks like, and what to do if we see troubling behaviour. Context is very important and it would be unwise to provide broad statements about strangers that must be adhered to strictly.
One effective strategy for parents is to establish a family safe word or phrase. This is a pre-agreed code that only family members know, used in situations where a child might feel unsafe or uncertain. You can find more information about this here (2 min read): https://revvedupkids.org/safety-code-words/
SAVE THE DATES As mentioned in last week’s Viewbank Voice, a number of events have been planned for Term 1. Some Term 1 events planned are (subject to change – please check Compass / Viewbank Voice closer to the date):
There will also be a Sushi Lunch and Fun Run organised by the P&F towards the end of term with dates to be confirmed at our first P&F Meeting on 04 February!
Have a great weekend – stay cool!
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.
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
SWPBS As announced at assembly on Monday, our school has reached our third and final small reward for the year. Students have earned 1800 bees this year which equates to 18,000 demonstrations of our school values. This is an outstanding achievement!
Our final reward will be a free dress day this Friday, December 13th where all students can come to school dressed in appropriate free dress for the day to celebrate their excellent behaviour.
Thank you parents for your support of our programs, including our School-Wide Positive Behaviour approach. We are so proud of our students and we hope you will celebrate this achievement with them.
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.
Our Term 4 Fundraising Lunch Order Dates are:
- Thursday 19th December (Orders closing on Monday 16th December, 3:00pm)
Orders need to be placed in advance via Compass Canteen. Ordering will close the Monday before the lunch date at 3pm. All of Term 4 lunch dates are now open for orders and can be placed in advance for the whole term if you choose to do so.
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