Virginia Primary School Newsletter

Dear Parents and Caregivers,

It continues to be a busy time here at VPS with a great deal of teaching and learning happening across the school. 

National Reconciliation week is an annual celebration and is a time for all Australians to reflect on our shared histories, and on the contributions and achievements of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples. At its heart, reconciliation is about strengthening relationships between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and non-Indigenous peoples, for the benefit of all Australians.

“… A reconciled Australia is one where our rights as First Australians are not just respected but championed in all the places that matter …”Kirstie Parker – Board Member, Reconciliation Australia.

Reconciliation is an ongoing journey that reminds us that while generations of Australians have fought hard for meaningful change, future gains are likely to take just as much, if not more, effort.

 Last week our school celebrated in a range of ways;

                                                                                                        -          Through daily messages in student news

                                                                                                        -          Classroom activities

                                                                                                        -          Lunchtime activities in the library

Not being able to host our school assemblies due to COVID-19 restrictions, we have had to think creatively and thanks to Elli Valente in room 12, we had our 'First Ever VPS Virtual Assembly'. We are hoping to share this with our families on our facebook page and through skoolbag very soon. Students were presented with their school values awards and we also had a few special announcements to share with all the students.

We congratulated Lilly Rowe who auditioned for the Festival of Music Dance Troop and was successful. Due to Covid-19, unfortunately there won't be a stage performance, however Lilly will be featured on the film version. Well Done Lilly! 

On behalf of all the teachers and students here at Virginia, I would also like to thank David Viant (Ruby and Fury's dad) for his amazing Art Work. David has volunteered hours and hours of his own time and donated the materials to paint a landscape mural on our shipping container in our Kitchen Garden. Even though David volunteered to do this for us, we wanted to show our appreciation by raising some funds through our Pj Casual Clothes Day to contribute towards some of the cost of the materials. 

"David - you are an extremely talented artist and we can't thank you enough for your time and hard work! Hopefully we can share more of your artistic flare and art work around the school."

We have, and continue to receive a great deal of support from our school  community which we are forever grateful. Please let us know if you have any hidden talents that you are happy to share with us and the remainder of the community.

Lastly, as mentioned in our last newsletter, students are busy assessing and updating their reading goals. Below are some examples found in classes.

Wishing everyone a happy and safe upcoming long weekend.

Learning Together, Learning For Our Future.

Warmest Regards,

Voula Pounendis

We often make references to the importance of arriving at school on time in our newsletters. Did you know being late for just 10 minutes each day across a child’s years at school equates to a whole term of lost learning. That’s right, 50 days of lost learning. This doesn’t take into account days sick or any other family related reasons that children can at times be away for. Not only does it mean lost learning time, it also makes it hard for your child to settle into the morning learning routine.

Arriving at school late and signing in at the office should be an exception rather than the rule. Last week there were 105 instances of children arriving late to school (that is 21 children late every day). Unfortunately this has been a trend over a consistently long period of time. One of the things as a staff, and as a leader I certainly acknowledge is that as a school we have a very supportive parent group. We are asking for your support in doing your best to make sure this doesn’t happen if you are one of the consistent 105. We will once again make contact with many of whom this has become a trend for on an individual basis and also acknowledge that from time to time arriving late to school can’t be avoided for a variety of reasons. As a school I would like to see the figure drop to at least half of that number. We have a teacher on duty from 8:30am every morning and have breakfast available out the front of OSHC.

Be Smart, Play Your Part!

Did you know normal YOUTUBE is recommended for 13+ year olds?

They now have a YouTube Kids, YouTube Kids offers free-to-watch content, suitable for up to 12 year olds. Content ranges from cartoons to nursery rhymes and  music videos. There is the ability for parents to choose 'Collections', these will be groups of videos on a variety of topics that parents can choose.

We have also created an album on our school Facebook page with more fact sheets for you to utilise.  from National Online Safety. This fact sheet gives parents some top tips and also has some basic information for those that are new to this.

Take a moment to have a look at the attached YOUTUBE fact sheet. You might also be interested in the following Facebook page

https://www.facebook.com/NationalOnlineSafety/

Pupil Free Dates & School Closures (approved by Governing Council)

• Term 2: Week 10 Wednesday 1st July - OSHC available
• Term 3: Week 7 Friday 4th September - School closure Show Day - NO OSHC available
• Term 4: Week 2 Wednesday 21st October - OSHC available
• Term 4: Week 7 Friday 27th Novemeber - OSHC available