From the Principal Class

Dear Viewbank Community, 

Another busy fortnight, with NAPLAN testing underway for our Year 7 & 9 students.

The NAPLAN data we receive gives us a strong indication of our students’ learning progress over those years. This data has been very strong in recent years, demonstrating that the College is achieving growth for students at all learning levels. 

We held our House Athletics Carnival yesterday, and I was so impressed by the enthusiasm and level of participation by the students who attended. It was an enjoyable day and an opportunity to connect with staff and students in a positive way outside of normal classroom environments. Please see report and photos in the sport section of the newsletter. 

Facilities: 

We continue to work hard to improve the facilities around the College. This is enabled, in part, by the contributions made to the Building Fund as part of parent payments.

Thank you to those families who have made contributions - please know that we are doing what we can to lift the physical environment of the College. 

If you would like to donate, you can do so via Compass or speak with someone at our Front Office. 

We had 11 basketball backboards replaced with new backboards and rings yesterday. 

We would like to acknowledge the fundraising efforts of our students from their walkathon at the end of last year and our SRC. 

Their contributions have definitely helped to upgrade the backboards and rings.

Well done!  

College Council: 

We will be holding our Annual General Meeting (AGM) next Wednesday, 19th March, 2025, where we will present a report to the Community on our school performance against Department of Education measures.  

The College Annual Report will be available on our website after the AGM. 

We will also be welcoming our new Council members.  

Thank you to those who voted in the School Council elections.

I would like to congratulate the following newly elected College Council members. 

I look forward to working with these parents in ensuring that the College has proper governance and input into strategic decision making, as well as engage in discussions around our educational policies and programs.

Welcome to our new parent representatives:

• Will Weijers

Welcome back for another term:

• Alice Sun

Welcome to our new student representatives:

• Emily Nelson
• Tahlia White

Welcome to our new staff representatives:

• Emilie Lim
• Emily Pinney-Brown 

At the AGM next Wednesday, we will farewell Houwaida Ayoub who has represented the Viewbank parent community over the past two years.  On behalf of the community, thank you for your service on College Council.

Student accident insurance, ambulance cover arrangements and private property brought to the College

The Department does not provide personal accident insurance or ambulance cover for students. 

Parents/carers of students, who do not have student accident insurance/ambulance cover, are responsible for paying the cost of medical treatment for injured students, including the cost of ambulance attendance or transport as well as any other transport costs. 

It is the responsibility of parents/carers to look into their preferred options in this regard. The Department cannot provide advice to parents/carers on the purchase of individual student accident policy or ambulance cover.

Private property brought to school by students, staff or visitors is not insured and the Department does not accept any responsibility for any loss or damage.

This can include mobile phones, calculators, toys, sporting equipment and cars parked on school premises. As the Department does not hold insurance for personal property brought to schools and has no capacity to pay for any loss or damage to such property, students and staff should be discouraged from bringing any unnecessary or particularly valuable items to school.  

Please note:

• Parents or guardians of students, who do not have student accident insurance, are responsible for paying the cost of medical treatment for injured students, including the cost of ambulance attendance or transport as well as any other transport costs; and
• Parents or guardians can purchase insurance policies from commercial insurers.

Sharon Grimes, Principal

Emma Ford, Assistant Principal

Rachael Smith, Assistant Principal

Anna Crosswhite, Assistant Principal

Penelope Cleghorn, Assistant Principal