Dear Yarra Community,

It is bittersweet as I write my last Newsletter as Acting Principal for Term 1. We whole heartedly look forward to welcoming Saraid back to Yarra in Term 2 with a cameo appearance scheduled for the last day of Term 1!!

I would like to thank all staff for their support, tireless work ethic, professionalism and humour over the last few months. We have achieved many goals both in and out of the classroom. I look forward to consolidating these relationships and welcome the challenges for the remainder of the year.

One obvious achievement is the installation of our long awaited playground. The photos show the last part of the process where fake turf is being laid in readiness for our grand opening!! (Hopefully by the end of next week) I know all students and teachers are eagerly waiting for the temporary fencing to be removed. The school grounds have also been enhanced by the repair and cleaning of the basketball court and soccer pitch, with new lines added for volleyball.

Our students participated in District Swim trials with successful students then competing in the Divisional Meet. Ewan B from 5/6 is to be congratulated for his success and participation in Regional competition this week.

Our Lawn Bowls team were successful in progressing to the Regional level and will compete on the 24^th March against other schools in our Region.

Sports clinics have been provided for Years 3-6 in Hockey and Years Prep -2 in Soccer. Years 5 and 6 students are practising for the upcoming Summer Gala – March 26^th - where they will play interschool sport in Basketball, Softball, Tennis and Newcomb.

We wish all our representative the very best.

Preps commenced full time attendance as of Wednesday 10^th March. It was a natural and smooth transition. All Preps adapted well and enjoyed the extra time at school.

The Tutor Learning Initiative is progressing well with seventeen students in the Prep – 2 identified and actively involved in tutor sessions in Literacy.  Year 3-6 students are being identified after finalising the analysis of data and shall become part of the program for Term 2.

Kath Jones (Finbar) will be working with the school to better utilise the compost bin area and conduct several workshops for the community to be actively involved in sustainable gardening. This is to be funded by a successful grant application submitted jointly by Yarra PS and Finbar.

Our Kitchen Garden program continues to produce amazing treats for me on a Thursday! This is thanks to Justine Moore and volunteers in the Kitchen, and Reegan Corish, our newly appointed Gardener extraordinaire! In the matter of weeks the Garden area has been transformed and is once again, productive. Thank you both!

We have a number of students who are actively seeking to enrich their Mathematical practice by enrolling and participating in enrichment programs offered by the school. The Library continues to be ‘THE’ place to be on a Friday lunchtime, with Michelle our Librarian, and it is satisfying to see so many students engaged in Literacy activities.

Our Trivia Night was planned for 26th March, unfortunately with staff absences, the working party has been unable to collaborate and prepare for the evening. We have rescheduled the event to Friday May 21st (please check Compass calendar) and look forward to seeing our families online between 6-7pm for fun and frivolity. 

HARMONY DAY will be celebrated on MONDAY 22^nd MARCH with all children asked to wear orange to acknowledge the day.

LAST DAY OF TERM 1 – THURSDAY 1^ST APRIL – STUDENTS DISMISSED AT 2.30PM



Yours in partnership,
Valetta McDonald

This week in the Art room, we have been acknowledging Harmony Week. Harmony Week encourages acceptance of diversity and celebrating all the varied cultures, countries and traditions that make up Australian society. Each student engaged in the same activity of drawing lines and patterns to come up with their own unique design. Whilst everyone from Prep to Year 6 had the same materials to create their artwork, we celebrate the difference of each and every piece!

Many thanks to the Art Leaders, Isabel, Bella and Ella for helping to create the amazing tree display.

Justine Moore

Visual Arts Teacher

SWIMMING

Ewan represented Yarra PS at the Northern Region Swim Competition on Tuesday 16^th March.

He finished fourth in the Under 12/13 50 metre breaststroke.

Well done Ewan! Such a huge achievement.

GET ACTIVE KIDS VOUCHER PROGRAM

The Get Active Kids Voucher Program, a Victorian-first, has been launched and is now open. The program provides vouchers of up to $200 each for sporting equipment, uniforms and memberships.

The program helps eligible families get their kids involved in organised sport and recreation activities whilst supporting sports clubs and active recreation to broaden their membership and provide additional revenue to help them recover from a tough 2020.

The vouchers are available for children aged 4 to 18 who reside in Victoria, are named on a current Australian Government Health Care Card or Pensioner Concession Card and also named on a valid Australian Government Medicare Card.

Visit the following website for more information or to register-

https://www.getactive.vic.gov.au/

LAWN BOWLS NORTHERN REGION FINAL

We wish the Yarra lawn bowls team all the best when they play in the Northern Region Final on Tuesday 24^th March.

Big thanks to Jingles from the Richmond Union Bowls Club for allowing us to come down and train with him over the past few weeks.

I am pleased to announce the 2021 Art Leaders - Isabel, Bella and Ella! 



These Year 6 girls submitted impressive applications for the role, as well as demonstrating energy and enthusiasm for Art classes. I would like to congratulate all the applicants on such wonderful letters of applications, in some instances with artwork included. I am so pleased to hear that you all enjoy art so much.

We have an exciting year planned with an Art Exhibition scheduled for Term 3 so stay tuned for lots of art-mazing news!

Justine Moore

Visual Arts Teacher

Virtual assemblies are back at Yarra! Our assemblies will normally run for approximately 15 minutes. It is a time for us to come together and share what has been happening and what is to come, allowing teachers and students to get excited about the week ahead. We always begin our assemblies with the Acknowledgement of Country, to acknowledge the traditional owners of the past, present and future generations. 

Specialist in assembly

Specialists classes are exciting lessons that we have outside our general classroom time. In assembly, we would like to highlight and celebrate what has been happening during our Specialist classes.

Sports in assembly

We also have a section in which we inform the school of any relevant sporting news, like upcoming clinics, events, or celebrating other students recent sporting achievements. Any other announcements are usually announced by a representative of the sporting team. We know that a lot of our students love sport, so we try to keep them informed as best as we can.

Environment

Our Environment section will be looking at things like upcoming events and fundraisers, or even just as a timely reminder of which stuff goes into which bin. It's important that everyone understands the importance of the environment, and even though our wonderful enviro team is going in the right direction, we like to help whenever possible.

Wellbeing

This school is very supportive of well-being. This is important to show in assembly. We support this in assembly by doing a segment called Wellbeing with Stitch. In this segment we focus on a character strength and give examples. During this time, we also set a whole school goal to achieve. This goal encourages everyone to try harder and strive for more.

We hope this has provided you with a better understanding of what our assemblies are going to look like.

From Emma, Charlotte, Julia and Edwina.

Kitchen Garden has been going really well and the kids have been busy at work revitalising our garden! The seedlings are growing exponentially and the students have started planting winter vegetables.

We would like to say a big thank you to all the families that have donated the Woolworths Discovery Garden seedlings. The seedlings has really helped create variety within our garden.

To support our Kitchen Garden program at Yarra Primary, we are starting to sell homemade jams at the front office, made by our very own Reegan Corish!

This week we have homemade grapefruit marmalade at the front office. Get it while stocks last! Each jar is being sold for $5 and all proceeds will be going back into our Kitchen Garden program.  There will be a $0.20 discount on your next purchase when you bring back your clean jar!

Upcoming Events

 Further Ahead

Term Dates 2021
Term 1: 27th January (Teacher's start) - 1st April
Term 2: 19th April - 25th June
Term 3: 12th July - 17th September
Term 4: 4th October - 17th December

Student Free Days 2021
Friday 28th May
Wednesday 28th July
Monday 1st November