Welcome back to school for 2024 and welcome aboard to children and families who are new to Yackandandah Primary School. I encourage everyone to help families new to our school community feel welcome. Over the next few weeks, the children will settle into the routines of the school and their class. The school values of We are Learners, We are Fair, and We show Respect guide all of us – students, staff and families.

Class teachers will send weekly or fortnightly emails sharing what learning will be happening in the class, any events to be aware of and any other information of note. Newsletters are posted on the website and emailed on Monday each school week. If there are any whole school notices that cannot wait for a newsletter Sandra, or I may occasionally send out an email to all families.

During Term One teachers and parents usually catch up for a chat about your child, with the aim that both the teacher and the parent can share any information necessary to help with schooling. This catch up can be an informal chat at pickup time, a phone call, video conference or face to face meeting. For many, the catch up may not be much more than a quick hello as the parent – teacher – student may already have a close relationship. Remember that you can always email your child’s teacher if you have any questions.

Privacy
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 Department of Education’s Privacy Policy. The policy can be read here: https://www.education.vic.gov.au/Pages/schoolsprivacypolicy.aspx.

Bushfire Ratings
As we are in a high-risk bushfire area the school, OSHC and Kindergarten will not operate on Catastrophic bushfire rating days. We will notify families as soon as we get notification of an upcoming school closure due to a Catastrophic bushfire rating day.

School Council
I would like to introduce our School Councillors. School Council serves a very important role in the governance of the school.

• Matt Flower, President, Parent Representative
• Janine Lerch, Parent Representative
• Sophie Dewar, Treasurer, Parent Representative
• Orrin Pritchard, Vice-President, Parent Representative
• Sophie Dewar, Parent Representative
• Sarah Crispin, Parent Representative
• Shireen Porteous, DET Representative
• Brendan Hogan, DET Representative
• Michael Edwards, DET Representative, Principal
• Chris Summons, Vice-President, Parent Representative

School Council elections take place in Term One each year. There are four parent representative positions that will become vacant. Current councillors may renominate, and other parents are also welcome to nominate. More information regarding school council elections will be in future newsletters. If you would like to discuss what is involved in being on School Council or what School Council is responsible for, please feel free to chat with any of the current school councillors (including Michael, Brendan and Shireen at school).

Swimming Sports & Pool Social event
The House swimming trials are scheduled to take place this Friday, 2^nd Feb. See the additional information from Robyn about the sports.

Each year, weather & pandemics permitting, we hold a pool social gathering for families to come, catch up and make new connections. This year we are inviting families to come to Yackandandah Pool on Friday 2^nd Feb at 5:30pm (evening of the swimming sports). It is an informal gathering; parents are responsible for their own children and entry to the pool. There will be a free sausage sizzle for students and their families. Please note that the pool is open to the public at this time.

Waste Wise
We are encouraging students to bring ‘nude food’ to school. This means bringing food in reusable containers rather than in disposable wrapping. If wrapping does come to school with lunches, we will ask students to place it back in their lunchbox after they have finished eating and take it home again. Students will not be ‘in trouble’ if there is wrapping – we are simply trying to work toward the Plastic Free Yackandandah goals. Please ensure all containers and lids have your child’s name clearly marked on them.

Counselling at School
This year we are fortunate to have a counsellor available for a day a week at Yackandandah Primary School. You may have already met Jules Millward as a teacher and parent of a child at our school. Jules is also a fully qualified counsellor and will be available for one day a week at our school in that capacity. Information explaining Jules’ role will be included in with other information being sent home this week. You can contact us school if you have questions, or contact Jules directly via the contact details in the information being sent home.

Michael Edwards
Principal

Welcome to a new school year.  I hope you all had an enjoyable Christmas & New Year.

The eldest child in each family has today taken home an envelope with the following forms for each child in the family:

• Local Excursion Permission Form – Permission form to cover any local excursions (not adventure activities) that students walk to in Yackandandah. This form needs to this week.  Please complete a form for each child.
• Year 3 – 6 School Swimming Carnival Permission form – Permission form needs to be returned to school by this Wednesday.
• Photography/Filming consent Form – Please read this form and only return it to school by this Friday, 2^nd February if you do not consent to any or part of it. If you have read the notice and are comfortable with the school using photos, video or recordings of your child as described in the notice you do not need to take any further action and you do not need to return the form.
• Student Details - At the start of each year a copy of the student information that we have on file is sent home for parents to check and update.  Please check this form and make any updates to it and return it to school. It is very important that all the detail we have are correct including contact details, occupation codes and student medical information.  If you are unsure on the occupation code please come and see me.
• Family Statement – If your account is in credit your family statement will be in the envelope. If you would like to use the credit for voluntary contributions  or for the swimming please let me know.  Any CSEF credit is only for use by that child and can only be used for camps, excursions or other activities.  It cannot be put towards voluntary contributions.

 Also included in the envelope are:

• Parent Payment Letter – letter outlining voluntary parent contributions for 2024
• Counselling in Schools information

Student Medical Details
If your child has any medical conditions that are not on the student detail form that has been sent home, please add it to the form with details when you return it to school.  This could include allergies, being prone to blood noses or any other type of minor medical problems.  It is very important that the school is aware of all medical conditions no matter how minor.

Absences
If your child is absent from school the office as well as the classroom teacher needs to be informed. Absences can be reported by emailing the school on yackandandah.ps@education.vic.gov.au, phoning the school on 60271 729 or on the school website at https://www.yackaps.vic.edu.au/ and click register an absence. The register an absence icon is also at the bottom of the newsletter each week. It is Department regulations that all absences and a reason are recorded.

Late Arrivals/Early Departures
If your child arrives at school after 9am or is being picked up prior to 3.30 they must be signed in or out by a parent or guardian.  If they are leaving school for an appointment during the day and returning, they will need to be signed out and back in.

Parent Payments
The Department of Education and Training has reviewed parent contribution practices and have made changes to how schools seek contributions. This means that we can no longer send statements out to families for Curriculum and Other Contributions.  Parents will still receive statements for Extra-Curricular Items and activities such as camps and excursions.

Our school relies on the ongoing support of our families to ensure that we can offer the best possible education and support for our students.  Your financial contributions assist us in doing this.  Within our school this support has allowed us to provide an enriched learning and teaching program for every student and is highly valued by our school community.  The commitment from parents to contribute benefits students and results in improved achievement outcomes, wellbeing and engagement in learning.  At Yackandandah Primary School, we design and develop learning and teaching programs drawing on the best educational knowledge and practices and strive to offer broad and enriched opportunities to students that are above and beyond what is required in the standard curriculum and what is provided for by Government Funding.

A summary of the voluntary contributions is below:

Camps, Sports and Excursions Fund (CSEF)
The Camps, Sports and Excursions Fund helps eligible families to cover the costs of school trips, camps and sporting activities.

If you have a valid means-tested concession card, such as a Veterans Affairs Gold Card, Centrelink Health Care Card or Pensioner Concession Card, or are a temporary foster parent, you may be eligible. There is also a special consideration category for asylum seeker and refugee families.

Payment amounts this year are $150 for eligible primary school students Payments are made direct to the school to use towards expenses relating to camps, excursions and sporting activities for the benefit of your child.

If you applied for CSEF through our school last year, you do not need to complete an application form this year, unless there has been a change in your family circumstances or you have a new enrolment at the school.

If you would like to apply for the first time, please call into the school office and ask for an application form.

Angus Glanville & Ebony Roberts

A 'Hot Lunch' option is offered to students on Fridays from week 2 onwards during the school term. 

The lunch is served at 11 am, and includes an individually served hot meal and fruit platter to share.

Each Hot Lunch meal costs $5.

Parents, carers and senior students volunteer their time (Friday's 9am-11:30am) to collect ingredients, prepare, cook and serve the hot meal. The meals are delivered to the classroom, where the class teacher will hand them out to the students that have ordered them.  

We have some delicious Hot Lunches on the menu for this term!

If you would like to place an order, please use the link below to complete a separate Google form for each of your children by 6pm MON 5th Feb 2024.

**We do our best to cater for students with alternative dietary needs (e.g. allergies/intolerances, vegetarian/vegan, etc.). Please indicate these on the order form**

We also need and welcome kitchen helpers, so please indicate on the form if you are able to assist. No experience needed, we love to have new faces in the kitchen! 

T1 Hot Lunch Order Form - https://forms.gle/zJaaKzBdkUceekWVA

Hannah Glanville-Jones
YPS Hot Lunch Coordinator
ypshotlunch@gmail.com

Hello everybody and welcome to a new year of school sport!

For those of you who are new to the school, my name is Robyn Wilson, and I am the new Sports Co-ordinator for the school. It’s my job to organise a number of sporting events throughout the year. Some events, such as cross-country and athletics, are for the whole school, while others, such as the swimming carnival, winter sports, and cricket, are just for students in years 3-6. All students in the school also belong to one of four ‘houses’: Hammond (blue), Kars (green), Wellsford (red), and Windham (yellow). If you’re not sure what ‘house’ your child belongs to, don’t stress, they will become familiar with it in the first few weeks of Term 1. I’ll also put out occasional calls for assistance in the running of events (athletics is a biggie), so please put your hand up if you are able to help out. The success of these events often hinges on the generosity of volunteers.

For now, we look towards the swimming carnival (see below) and the whole school cross-country which will take place at the end of Term 1.

2024 House Swimming Carnival
The House Swimming Carnival is taking place this Friday, February 2^nd, at the Yackandandah Swimming Pool. We will begin at 9.30am, with all events finished by approximately 11.30am.

Students will swim in the age group relating to the age they will be by December 31, 2024. The event is open to students turning (or have already turned) 9 years or older by December 31, 2024. The age groups are:

9/10-year-old girls
9/10-year-old boys
11-year-old girls
11-year-old-boys
12/13-year-old girls
12/13-year-old boys

Students have the option of trying out for freestyle, backstroke, breaststroke and butterfly, with students representing and earning points for their ‘House’. All events are 50m (up and back of the Yack pool). We will be walking down to the pool and students are encouraged to come dressed in their house colours. Students still need to dress in line with our SunSmart policy, including a school hat and a shirt that covers their shoulders. They do not have to wear a ‘rashie’ when racing, but will need one if there is a free swim after the events. Students should also bring plenty to drink and eat, including their lunch. Students won’t be able to purchase things from the kiosk at the pool, so please don’t send along any extra money. Even if some students are not swimming, they are encouraged to come along and cheer on others and take part in the free swim.

Permission forms have been sent home tonight and need to be returned to school by Thursday at the latest.  The cost is $2.65 per student for pool entry – pool membership does not cover the entry as it is outside normal pool hours.

District and Division Events
Qualifying for the next level of competition is based on time. The table below gives an idea of the approximate qualifying times needed for students to advance to the next level.

District is the next level, and this event will be held at the Beechworth Pool on Friday 9^th February. The Upper Hume Division event will be held at Waves Wodonga on Friday, February 16^th. Regional swimming is scheduled to take place in Shepparton on Wednesday, March 6^th.

Please note: As a general rule, the school organises transport for students to District and Division level sporting events (depending on numbers). If a child qualifies for Regional events and beyond, it becomes the family’s responsibility to organise transport etc.

Scoring

5 = 1st
4 = 2^nd
3 = 3^rd
2 – 4^th
1 to everyone else

Swimming Schedule
There is no timetable for swimming, however there is an order of events and age groups like previous years. The event will start at 9:30am and finish around 11:30am, starting with the 12/13 age group through to the 9/10 age group.

3^rd January             Henry Wyatt

4^th January             Theo Davis

4^th January             Eliza Westbrook

4^th January             Halle Smith-Deans

6^th January             Oscar Bulman

8^th January             Angus Glanville

12^th January          Lucia-Mary Gosling

12^th January          Pippa Graham

12^th January          Lenny Graham     

15^th January          Patrick McIntyre 

15^th January          Kaitlyn McGlead

15^th January          Peter Kellaway     

19^th January          Penelope McNicol

19^th January          Jed Walker

24^th January          Raff Gargiulo

24^th January          Audrey Costenaro

27^th January          Olive MacCalman

29^th January          Zack Dickeson

29^th January          Hugo Dickeson

Junior Football Preseason Details

Under 12s

Our first training session will kick off
- Thursday 8th February
 - @ 4.30pm
 - Butson Park

Training will be open to those who are turning 10 (11 and 12) during 2024, unfortunately due to the prediction of large numbers we cannot open training to those younger than 10 (in 2024) and encourage these players to continue with Yackandandah Auckick.

Due to the prediction of large numbers in U12 for the 2024 season we ask that all parents/careers be back at training at 5.45pm to discuss the upcoming season.

We look forward to seeing you on Thursdays 8th February.