Kitchen Garden Stall

It was great to see the Enviro Team running the stall last week. A special shout out to Bridget for her ‘Gleadell St Market’ technique! We hope to run more of these next year so we can all keep our food miles down to minimise the carbon footprint of food.

Upgrades to Buildings and Grounds

We continue our improvements to the grounds at YPS with Justine updating the mural on Davison St and the installation of new signage. This expenditure is based on feedback from families that identifies improvements to the facilities as a priority. Next year School Council will lead a campaign for the State government to prioritise funding for works to the Yarra Primary School buildings. We know our children benefit from learning in improved environmental conditions and the benefits go far beyond the initial capital costs.

Masks

There is still the requirement for students in Years 3 to 6 and teachers to wear masks at school when indoors. We are providing disposable masks for students when they forget to bring their own. As a school with environmental sustainability as a priority, we are concerned by the number of disposable masks we are going through (a hundred or more a day) and the impact this has on the environment. Most disposable masks are plastic products, that cannot be readily biodegraded. So, to address this issue, we ask that students bring reusable masks to school and carry extras in their school bags.

Reminder- Step Up Session

On Friday December 10^th at 2.30pm we will have our ‘Meet the 2022 teacher and team’ session for students in Years 1 to 6. This will run for one hour. In preparation for these sessions, I can announce the teams for 2022. As we have a collective approach to teaching and planning at YPS please know while your child will have a designated homegroup teacher they will be supported by the whole team for their academic development.

Whole School End of Year BBQ – Wednesday 15^th December at 3.30pm

We are hosting a whole school BBQ and picnic for families to celebrate the end of (a very challenging) school year. Sausages, drinks, and icy poles will be for sale (to raise funds for our kitchen garden and 2022 performing arts production). We encourage you to bring your own picnic and rug and catch up with friends and families across the school.

Last Day and Assembly

The final day of the school year is Thursday 16^th December. The assembly will be held at 9.30am on the basketball courts and parents are welcome to attend. We will farewell our Year 6 students and announce some very deserving recipients of the Respect the Badge initiative and Belle Property Award for representing the School Values throughout the year.

Staff Farewells

Next year, Literacy Support Coordinator and Education Support Aide Ben Vaux will be leaving YPS to go on an adventure in his campervan up the east coast of Australia. We are sorry that he is leaving as his support of our students with their literacy skills development and support in the classroom as been outstanding. However, the trip sounds amazing and endless coastline sounds like a good antidote to two years of restricted movement.

Baby News!

Emma Bell (Hopkins), former YPS Prep teacher, and her partner, Daniel, welcomed Sadie Jude Bell on the 19^th of November. Emma describes the last week as a ‘whirlwind’. The baby and Emma are doing well, and she looks forward to bringing Sadie in next year (Emily J. you can have the first cuddle!).

Looking forward,

Saraid

The Year 3/4 students have had a great time creating Mad Masks out of milk bottles. Students looked at many different tribal and cultural masks to explore the different ways that we can represent a face. Students used clay to create features on their milk bottles, then painted and decorated their masks. I was thrilled with the creativity, ideas and detail the students engaged to create their Mad Masks. They now have many eyes on them as they walk through the corridors!

Justine Moore

Visual Arts Teacher

It has been a busy couple of weeks in the Science room.

Our Prep students have been exploring what makes ‘ideal’ plant growing conditions, eagerly inspecting the growth of sunflowers from seed, germination and different growing conditions, whilst our 1/2’s have been investigating insects and animals found in our school gardens.

Year 5/6 students have taken up where they left off pre Lockdown 6.0 with the exploration of battery operated circuits - what makes bulbs light up and how to make series and parallel circuits.

And finally – our Year 3/4’s attended their Scienceworks excursion, cementing their Term 2 learning into the science behind seasons. A special shout out to our parent volunteers; - Alison, Ken and Donelle – without your support, our excursions cannot take place!

Thank you to all the families who have gotten behind Yarra’s nude food initiative. It is a great way for children to recognise the waste they use and come up with solutions to minimise it.

The increase in waste free lunches on Tuesdays has been noticeable.

Our class winners so far: