From the Principals
Information from Mrs Mann, Mrs Cook and Mrs Strachan
Welcome to this fortnight's newsletter. The last two weeks have been jam-packed with exciting events and activities, including our Year 4 camp, Footy Clinics and Incursions. The members of the VPS Community Network organised an amazing outlay of special gifts for the children to purchase at the Mother's Day Stall. We also had a wonderful turn out to our annual Mother's Day Lunch, with so many special people coming along to share lunch time with their children. We hope that all the Mum's and other special people had a great Mother's Day, and felt all the love and appreciation from your children!
School Camp success!
A huge thank you to all the teachers who have been involved in the organisation and planning of the school camps we have had so far this year. Last week we had Year 4 camp, and Year 3 camp in week one of this term. School camps are such a core part of primary school, and in a time where many schools are cancelling school camps for various reasons, we are so proud to continue to offer these special experiences to our students. School camps are a mammoth organisational job, and require teachers to be away from their own families and sometimes their own children.
We sometimes offer for parents to come along as volunteers on school camps, and this is always a fantastic experience and a great support to the teachers and students. If you would like to be considered to be a parent volunteer on camps, it is essential that you have a current Working With Children Check card, and are familiar with the Child Safe Code of Conduct and Visitors and Volunteers policies. These are all available on the school website.
Education Support Staff Day!
We are so fortunate to have a dedicated and expert group of Education Support Staff here at VPS, and today is Education Support Day! We like to refer to our ES staff as LIST - Learning Inclusion and Support Team because we know that these amazing people play a pivotal role in the supporting not only the academic needs of students, but their social, emotional and wellbeing needs, too. Our LIST work alongside teachers and leaders to plan, guide and support students and their families, often through challenging situations. A HUGE thank you to these incredible people!!
Signing in students
Just a reminder to please accompany your children into the office and sign them in if they are arriving late to school. We have noticed a number of children coming in on their own, but we kindly request that an adult come in with them to ensure they arrive at school safely, and that we know they have in fact arrived.
Extra-Curricular Activities at VPS
We are so lucky to have teachers that are passionate about providing the best opportunities for our students at VPS. In addition to the amazing programs at school to support the Victorian Curriculum, we also have a range of activities that the children can enjoy at lunchtimes and after school. Some of these include: Photography Club, Movie Club, Craft Club, Library Lunchtimes, Colouring Club, Chess Club just to name a few. In the next newsletter, we will have some students describe what these groups are and explain what they have been enjoying about them.
In addition we have links to some terrific 'after school' clubs that our students have been a part of for many years. Some of these include the Vermont Junior Cricket Club, Vermont Vultures Basketball Club, Whitehorse United Soccer Club, Vermont Junior Football Club and Hi-Lites Netball club. If you are interested in any of these clubs, contact the school and we will connect you with a representative that can assist. Always check the Community Noticeboard for details too.
Today we are going to show case the Hi-Lites Netball Club. They have been a club that has trained at VPS for over 40 years. Next Thursday, the 22nd May, there is an OPEN TRAINING SESSION on the netball courts at school where you can see if you would like your child to join a team, to increase their physical activity, learn new skills and have fun playing with their friends.
So come and join us next Thursday 22nd May. If you are interested in joining a netball team or finding more about it, please email:
as we are creating teams NOW.
DON'T MISS OUT!
A reminder to check next week's newsletter for information about the lunchtime clubs.