From the Principal Class

Dear Viewbank Community,

As we head into a well-deserved break, I want to thank the whole community for your ongoing support and commitment to the education of students at the College.

The challenges have been substantial, and I know that members of our community continue to feel economic pain, ongoing health and wellbeing fallout of Covid and other illness. 

We are a community, and it is important that in all our dealings we continue to act with empathy and a humanistic approach.

At the school level, parents and students will have noticed the impact of staffing shortages, which are ongoing.  There has been a significant decline in voluntary contributions from families which will have an impact on the quality of program we can provide at the College.  We are doing the best we can to mitigate the effects of these and appreciate your understanding and support.

We are moving ahead with the implementation of the new Senior Secondary Certificate and preparing for subject selection for students entering Years 9-12. 

This is an important pathways step for students, and we encourage parent involvement in those discussions.

Next term, we look forward to several major College events, including the College Production (tickets on sale now), Presentation Ball, and the Jazz Night. 

Keep an eye out for information about bookings for these events.

Congratulations Veena Nair

Many of you will know Veena, our Head of Technology, Systems Engineering teacher and the inspiration behind our many STEAM opportunities in the College (STEAM Club, Plan for the Planet, Space Challenge, STEAM conference plus much more!).

Veena was recently nominated for the Prime Minister’s Prize for Science teaching (results pending).  She was also nominated and made the final for the 2022 Commonwealth Teaching Awards and though did not win the prize, this is a wonderful acknowledgement of the commitment and passion Veena has for STEAM and particularly engaging girls in STEAM education.

We are very blessed as a College to have Veena leading the STEAM program and she is absolutely a winner in our eyes!

Congratulations Bowen Ren

Bowen Ren is a Year 12 International student from China.

He was recently recognised at the Victorian Global Learning Awards for his resilience in completing Year 11 studies as on offshore student, working from his home in Guangxi, China.

Bowen attended all classes remotely despite the time difference and was on camera throughout, contributing to class discussion.  He demonstrated incredible commitment to his studies and supported his fellow International students.

Congratulations Bowen!

Year 8 & 9 Public Speaking

Public speaking is an important feature on the calendar at Viewbank College. 

The experience, skills and confidence built through participation cannot be underestimated.  It is a constant reminder of our very capable and articulate students, able to reflect on issues of importance and engage their audience.

Year 9 Public Speaking

Year 9 Public Speaking was held on Tuesday 21st June. 

The topic was "The most important thing in life is..."

Congratulations to all finalists.

The winners were:

Year 8 Public Speaking

Year 8 Public Speaking was also held on Tuesday 21st June. 

The topic was "The world would  be a better place if we acted like...."

Congratulations to all finalists.

The winners were:

Welcome and farewell

Towards the end of term, we welcomed the following new staff to the College:

• Joshua Nelson - Welfare
• Khoa Tran - Science Lab Assistant

Today we farewelled the following:

• Mahalia Rank - Sabbatical Leave - Semester 2
• Clare Fleming - Long Service Leave - Semester 2
• Megan Becke
• Francis Chen
• Emily Furlong
• John Christoppoulos
• Rowan Anderson

Wishing the whole Viewbank Community a safe and happy holiday.

Diversity Day

Please see below report on Diversity Day from our Diversity Captain, Emerald:

On Friday, the 17th of June, Viewbank College held a Diversity Day where students were encouraged to come out of uniform, and in clothing that represents their culture, or wear orange to support the cause.  

It was lovely to see students dressing up in beautiful, cultural clothing and having an opportunity to display it to the rest of the school community.  

A fashion show was then held in the PAC during the break where students had the opportunity to represent their country on stage, with students interested being asked to submit a country and song to represent their country of choice.  

I was delighted to see an overwhelming amount of participation from students. 

The atmosphere was incredible, with the music, cheering from the crowd whilst students waved flags, danced and proudly represented their nationalities. 

Towards the end, students were even requesting countries to be represented!

It was amazing to see everyone getting involved and displaying the wonderful culture our school has, and I hope that it was used an opportunity to celebrate multiculturalism in our community, recognising how our lives are only strengthened and enriched through valuing cultural diversity!

Gold coin donations collected from students will be going towards a biodiverse butterfly garden at Viewbank College, where homes for butterflies and Indigenous plants will be planted, to represent the beauty of diversity within our school.

Emerald Young

Diversity Captain

Viewbank College Butterfly Garden

Hamish has been doing some amazing work at the College to increase the sustainability and biodiversity of our garden spaces.

He is currently working on a butterfly garden project with the asisstance of students.  This project will involve planting and maintaining the garden, building butterfly boxes, baths, signs and information posters and learning about the importance of conservation.

Important Message from the Wellbeing Team

Viewbank College Building Fund

The College would like to take this opportunity to sincerely thank those families who have already contributed to the Building Fund this year.

How will your donation assist the College?

In the past Building Fund donations have supported various improvements throughout the school such as the installation of heating/cooling and upgrades to learning spaces.

The College hopes to target these donations to further develop our Centre of Innovation and Excellence at Viewbank College where project-based learning opportunities can be developed by experimentation and creativity. The Centre of Innovation and Excellence would be an extension or refurbishment to the J Block to increase the 21st Century learning space where STEM subjects such as robotics, aeromodelling, coding, 3D printing, and app development could be investigated by students in a hands-on environment.

Another exciting opportunity is to develop a VCE study centre, to provide the year 12 students with a purpose-built space to study, gather and collaborate in their final year at the College.

Click the Donate Now button above to make a difference to the learning opportunities available for the students at Viewbank College by donating to the College Building Fund. All donations big or small are tax-deductible! 

Friends of the Performing & Visual Arts - Raffle Prize Donations

FOPAVA are looking for donations for their major fundraising raffle which is held during production week (27th July - 30th July). 

Do you OR someone you know have a business or a holiday rental?? 

Could you donate… 

A product? 

A service? 

Accommodation? 

General donations of prizes would also be greatly appreciated (eg. Wine, candles, chocolates, gifts etc) 

Please forward any donations the Admin Office by Wednesday 20th July.  

If you have any questions please contact Karen Howell on 0425 846 626. 

Wishing the whole Viewbank Community a safe and happy holiday.

Sharon Grimes, Principal

Emma Ford, Assistant Principal

Rachael Smith, Assistant Principal

Anna Crosswhite, Acting Assistant Principal