From the Principal Class

Dear Viewbank College Community, 

We have had another busy fortnight. 

Outdoor Ed camp, Duke of Ed camp, excursions, debating, and our STEAM Futures Conference. 

The Conference was a fabulous event, with experts in all aspects of Science, Technology, Arts and Mathematics presenting to teachers and students from schools around the state.  

What is abundantly clear to me is the importance of digital literacy and an understanding of Artificial Intelligence (in particular Generative AI) and its role in learning and future pathways. As we begin a journey into how we ethically enable this in practice and our classrooms, it is important to stress to your own children that using the AI of the future requires critical and creative thinking, as well as an ability to work in project teams collaboratively. These soft skills are those we are embedding in our Launch program and our general classrooms. 

I want to thank our amazing STEAM student leaders, who project managed the conference from start to finish, putting together an amazing program and running the event on the day. A true example of the sort of soft skills we are endeavouring to instil in all our students. Congratulations in particular to Sarina Shetty and Maverick Chau for their organization and leadership. 

Exams 

We have a busy exam period coming up in the last few weeks of term. 

After the Kings Birthday long weekend, we begin with Year 10 & 11 exams. 

Please lookout for information on Compass regarding the exam period and arrangements for your student.  

The General Achievement Test (GAT) is an important day for students undertaking Unit 3&4 VCE studies. 

This will be held on Tuesday 18th June. 

An information session for students will be held this week. 

Uniform 

A reminder that as the weather gets colder, students should continue to be in proper uniform. Layering is the key to keeping warm, but not with hoodies or other items that are not part of our uniform.  

One uniform item that is being incorrectly worn are tracksuit pants for physical education and sport. The correct colour of tracksuit pants is blue. Please ensure that your student has these. They can be purchased cheaply at retail stores. 

Second Hand Uniform Sale

Our student leaders are running a Second Hand Uniform Sale this afternoon (Tuesday 4th June) from 3pm - 4pm.  See Compass newsfeed for further details

Covid, Flu and RSV 

Covid and other respiratory illnesses are cycling again this winter, so another reminder to please keep students at home if they are unwell. This helps keep other students and our staff well and in classrooms continuing the learning program. 

Contact a House Leader to arrange work if your student is absent, but able to undertake some work at home. 

Sharon Grimes, Principal

Emma Ford, Assistant Principal

Rachael Smith, Assistant Principal

Anna Crosswhite, Assistant Principal

Penelope Cleghorn, Assistant Principal