Welcome back to all our carers and parents - and an especially warm welcome to those who are new to the school community. First days at school always pose some challenges but our experience has been that the Yarra teachers and office staff are incredibly understanding and supportive, and the bigger kids make the Preps feel very much part of the school from day one.

School Council helps to set the direction of the school and represents the school community in decisions about school policies and strategy. It also drives fundraising, care for buildings and grounds, financial governance and more. It’s chaired by a parent President and members serve two year terms - you may have seen a call for new members in Compass recently, and if you have any questions about this please don’t hesitate to contact us.

Right now we are in the early stages of a major project to upgrade our heritage-listed school building, which is showing its age in parts. We want to ensure that we renew our current spaces and create new versatile and modern spaces to support the amazing education that happens inside, for the benefit of both current and future students. The first steps in such a project include getting access to government funding for the work, which will cost significantly more that we can raise ourselves.

Last year, School Council (with wonderful support from many parents) was able to build and strengthen relationships at both Local and State government levels. Several Yarra City Councillors visited the school and we have been in regular contact with our local MP, Richard Wynne, who is very supportive of our goals. School Council has also corresponded with the Minister of Education, James Merlino, to make him aware of the community support for the school.

(We have also worked very hard to get funds from Yarra City Council to help with the cost of our replacement playground - so far unsuccessful, but we’re still hopeful!)

We will continue to update the school community regularly on School Council activities and remind you that, even if you are not a part of School Council, carers and parents are always welcome to attend our meetings as observers.

Peter Brace
School Council President

Hi all, welcome back to school and a special welcome to new families to YPS.

The Events and Fundraising Committee has already started work on some events in planning - obviously all subject to restrictions and with a need to be flexible. Keep Friday 26th March free for a family event - we will let you know more as we can. We are hoping to get one or two parents per year level as Social Leads - to help us make sure we are planning for everyone and finding volunteers from across the school community.

For more informal social connections, check out the Yarra Primary School Community Support Hub on Facebook, plus most year levels have a more specific Facebook group. I encourage you to step up, plan something and invite other families to join you - from a Sunday arvo get-together in the school grounds, to barefoot bowls, trips to the museum...

Looking forward to a big 'community building' year after a quiet 2020. Get in touch if you would like to join the Committee, become a Social Lead or need help finding the Facebook groups.

Emily Hughes, Events and Fundraising Committee
emily.birrellhughes@gmail.com

A little bit of TLC goes a long way, and our school garden is well under way to make a comeback in 2021.

We kindly ask any families who shop at Woolworths and have no need for the Discovery Garden seedlings to graciously donate them to help our garden reach its full potential.

If you would like to contribute, please drop them off to Leanne at the front office.

Happy Gardening!

These are the proposed times for Kitchen Garden Term 1, however are subject to change.

Upcoming Events

 Further Ahead

Term Dates 2023
Term 1: 27th January (Teacher's start) - 6th April
Term 2: 24th April - 23rd June
Term 3: 10th July - 15th September
Term 4: 2nd October - 20th December

Student Free Days 2023
Friday 10th March
Friday 9th June
Friday 3rd November
Monday 6th November