From the Principal Class

Dear Viewbank Community,

Our students slotted back into remote learning fairly seamlessly this week.  I want to thank all of the students, teachers and support staff for their efforts to really ensure continuous learning over those three days.  Whilst we hope we do not lockdown again, we feel prepared and able to quickly adjust to any eventuality.  Thanks to parents and guardians for their support during this time.

Events

The first weeks of term have seen so many of our wonderful curricula and extra-curricular programs get up and running.  

Our swimming carnival was held on a cool, overcast day, but attendance was great and we saw evidence of the House spirit and competition that we are building through our new House System (see the Sports News page for House Results and pictures of the day).

Production auditions have been held and rehearsals started this week for Chicago.

There was great energy and excitement in the theatre when I dropped in. 

Instrumental Music classes are also up and running and we look forward to hosting many musical events once again. 

Small Group Tutor Program and Catch-up

The College has employed nine tutors to support learning catch-up for semester 1.

Students that have been identified as benefiting from some additional support have now had letters sent to parents. For a variety of reasons, during Covid lockdown, some students did not progress in their learning as well as we would have liked. 

We strongly encourage students to participate in these programs.

Students in years 10-12 will have tutor support allocated during specified times. 

We started this week with a session on Friday, period 1.

All senior students in years 10-12 have access to mentors during period 1 on Fridays. These mentors cover a range of subjects and they can provide additional support and tutoring to any students. 

A list of teachers, classrooms and subject support have been listed on the Teams page for senior students.

Students in Years 7-9 will undertake small group support in class.

We hope to have this running within the next week.

If you have any questions, please call the school and ask to speak with Shandelle Feduniw or Sue Calder.

Covid Safe plan

A reminder that all students and staff are required to wear masks indoors at the College. Most students are now wearing masks.

A reminder that students are to bring a mask (and pack a spare) with them to wear at the College.

We are continuing our approach to hygiene through handwashing, sanitiser and cleaning of surfaces.

Disposal of masks around the College grounds has been an issue. 

Please remind your student about the safe disposal of masks. 

Littering in general has been an issue and we will work with students to address this.

Australian Open Ball kids

This last fortnight, we had two students take up the amazing opportunity to be ball kids at the Australian Open. 

Liiban Cabdi and Freddy Kafka were both selected to be part of the event.

Unfortunately Liiban had to withdraw due to an injury.

See more about Freddy's experience below.

It sounds like you had a great time!

The last three weeks I have been a Ball Boy for the AO 2021. 

I was so excited but also quiet nervous when I heard I got the job. 

During the holidays I had training twice and I also picked up my Macron uniform and my Ralph Lauren uniform.

When I first got on court I was so nervous because there was a pro tennis player right in front of me. My legs were shaking a lot because I kept thinking that I was going to mess up. I was a Ballboy for Coco Gauff and also Jamie Murray (Andy Murray's brother).

 I made some new friends. It was so fun there at the AO. I was so excited when I came to school for 1 or 2 periods. I missed school a lot. I am so happy to be back! 

Freddy (Year 7)

School Dental Initiative

Your child will receive a consent form this week in class to enrol in the Australian Dental Health Victoria program. 

You can find out more about this program here. https://www.adhv.com.au/

The AADHV Van is due to visit Viewbank College in the week of March 22nd. 

Consent forms are due back to the General Office at school on Monday 1st March.

What is Australian Dental Health VIC?

Australian Dental Health VIC is an Independent Initiative providing all school students dental treatment beyond the Medicare eligibility criteria, meaning all students are able to participate. ADHV is an independent, stand-alone company that can see both non-eligible children alongside those who are eligible. The organisation runs on its own accord to ensure all children across the board are receiving vital treatment.

The Dental Van Travels to Schools

Children will be seen in their school environment, allowing them to feel safe and comfortable.

Reminder to Parents/Carers on School's Privacy Policy 

Our school collects, uses, discloses and stores student and parent personal information for standard school functions or where permitted by law, as stated in the Schools’ Privacy Policy.

Please take time to remind yourself of the school’s collection statement, found on our website and also in the below attachment.

For more information about privacy, refer to: Schools’ Privacy Policy — information for parents. This information is also available in nine community languages:

• Amharic
• Arabic
• Dari
• Mandarin
• Somali
• Sudanese
• Turkish
• Urdu
• Vietnamese

A reminder about parking restriction times around the school

We have received the following notification from Banyule City Council:

"Standardisation of parking restriction times around schools

Following schools adopting staggered starting and finishing times, Council has conducted a review of parking restrictions around schools in the municipality.  

As part of this review we have identified some changes that need to be made to the existing school related parking restrictions.

To incorporate the staggered school starting and finishing times, Council will be standardising school related parking restrictions to occur between8:00am – 9:30am and 2:30pm – 4pm.

Please see attached plan indicating the proposed changes.

Please be advised that this change is not expected to have any adverse effects on parking for residents in the area, as only the time is being adjusted to assist the school community." 

If you have any queries or concerns, please contact Banyule City Council on 9490 4222. We ask our parents/guardians/students to be aware of these changes as Council parking officers do monitor and will issue fines as community members/residents report parking infringements and incidents (near misses of students almost hit by vehicles).

Principal Class Team          

Sharon Grimes, Principal

John Munro, Assistant Principal

Emma Ford, Assistant Principal

Rachael Smith, Assistant Principal

Darren Murray, Acting Assistant Principal