Term 1

Monday 9^th March-  Labour Day Public Holiday

Wednesday 18^th  March – Regional Swimming Sports Wangaratta

Thursday 19^th March- BMX Bike Show

Friday 20^th March- Folk Festival Parade 6pm

Saturday 21^st March – Community Dinner (Memorial Gardens)

Sunday 22^nd March – Folk Festival Market

Monday 23^rd March- Catholic College Open Day 3:30pm-6:00pm

Wednesday 1^st April – House Cross Country

Thursday 2^nd April -  Cross Country – Back Up Day

Thursday 2^nd April – Last Day of Term 1

Friday 3^rd April- Good Friday Public Holiday

Term 2

Monday 20^th April – First Day of Term 2

Wednesday 29^th April- Smile Squad

Thursday 30^th April – Smile Squad

Wednesday 6^th May – School Photos

Thursday 14^th May- Incursion (Science of Snot)

Wednesday 10^th June to Friday 12^th June – 5/6 Camp

Friday 12^th June-  Regional Cross Country

Next week will be a shorter one, with Monday being the Labour Day public holiday. When students return to school on Tuesday, they may notice that one of our upper garden beds looks a little different.

Work is being carried out on the school’s kitchen grease trap on Monday whilst there is no one onsite. To allow access for the work to be completed, some of the small bushes in that side garden will need to be removed. We’re hopeful that the works will be completed with minimal disruption to the school.

Folk Festival
We are now just two weeks out from the Folk Festival and things are really starting to ramp up. Our school participates in the parade on Friday night, runs the Community Dinner on Saturday night, and hosts the markets on Sunday. It’s such an exciting time of the year for Yackandandah Primary School.

There will be lots of information coming out over the next couple of weeks from the office, as well as from our Art and Music teachers, so please check all sections of the newsletter for announcements and updates.

If you have any time available to volunteer, the school would greatly appreciate your help. There’s a link to the help roster in the Folk Festival section of this newsletter.

Opportunity to Meet with Classroom Teachers
Over the coming weeks, you will receive information from your child’s teacher offering some allocated times to meet and discuss how your child has settled into learning for 2026. These optional check-ins are a great chance to meet with teachers, and we know some families may have already connected with teachers and discussed how their child is going, so there may not be a need to book a meeting at this time.

However, as always, classroom teachers can be contacted throughout the term via email or briefly at the classroom door if parents have questions or concerns, or if you would like to arrange a suitable time to meet. 

Compass and Signing In/Signing Out
We’d like to thank our families for using Compass for absence notes and communicating reasons for these. Families are also coming in and visiting Sandra and Kerryn at the office to sign in/out students. We really appreciate this. As part of our Emergency Management Plan, the office still needs to time stamp the students’ entry/exit time in Compass and this can only be done by staff. We know it’s tricky if you’re running short of time or need to get away quickly, but it really helps ensure we’re maintaining child safety standards and know where students are in case of an emergency. Thank you.  

Have a wonderful weekend.

Stace Hogan
Acting Principal

Hot Lunch & Uniform Shop Moving to Compass
Over the coming weeks we will be working through the process of transitioning our Hot Lunch ordering and Uniform Shop payments to Compass. This change will provide families with another convenient way to place orders and make payments.

Once the transition is complete, families will be able to order hot lunches and purchase uniform items directly through Compass using their online account. We hope this option will make things a little easier for families.

Please note that families will still be able to purchase uniforms through the school office as usual. The online option will simply provide an additional, more flexible way to order and pay.

We will keep you updated as we progress through the setup and will let you know when the Compass ordering system is ready to use.

Have a lovely long weekend,

Sandra and Kerryn

This week:  Grace Pritchard and Felix Anderson

Next Week: Maeve Van Duinen and Zack Dickeson

Congratulations to all our award recipients.

WE ARE FAIR

Otto Dean - for displaying both a fair and respectful attitude at school. You help others, you’re ready to learn and you give your best effort. 

Cobie Flower - by showing kindness and support to classmates to help maintain a positive learning environment

Joni Mayhew - by showing amazing listening, respectful turn-taking, and using a strong voice to bring characters to life during drama sessions.

Sloane McInerney - by showing amazing listening, respectful turn-taking, and using a strong voice to bring characters to life during drama sessions.

Frieda Haslett - for being kind to all her fellow students as well as being kind and fair towards herself.

WE ARE LEARNERS

Stella Ciantar - writing a detailed story on Harry’s adventures. You wrote a lovely story with order and detail. Well done. 

Billie May - by listening carefully to instructions and ensuring that she always applies a positive effort to her learning

Sara Davison - for always taking a calm and considered approach to her learning. You take the time to do your best every time. 

Nellie Dowling - for putting an extraordinary effort into your beautiful drawing and writing.

Molly Maslen- for beginning Foundation with a dedicated approach to all learning as well as excellent listening during instruction time.

Amelia McNicol - for being a motivated learner and always striving to improve, especially with her reading and spelling.

Max Kelly – for always listening, learning, and giving your best in every sport lesson. Keep up the great work, Max! 

Layla O’Keefe – for excellent participation in the indoor exercise stations on Monday, completing each activity with confidence and great effort.

WE SHOW RESPECT

Bonnie Brauer - for always listening carefully and following all classroom instructions. You are a great role model!

Oliver Witherow-displaying respect toward teachers, classmates and equipment at all times and always helping us keep things tidy and organised 

This week's Hot Lunch was Chicken/Tofu Wraps.     

Please note that the Hot Lunch in week 8 has been moved from Friday March 20th to Thursday March 19th to free up the kitchen for Paul and Trish and their crew of fabulous volunteers to prepare the Folk Festival dinner. Please contact the below email or the office if the date change is going to prevent your child from getting their ordered lunch and you will receive a credit for next term. 

Yackandandah Folk Festival 2026: Friday 20^th March until Sunday 22^nd March.

Hoping you are all getting excited about the Festival and YPS Sunday Market!

Road closure information:

3pm Friday: High Street will be closed between Wellsford and William Street.

4.30pm Friday until 6pm Sunday: High Street from Bells Flat Road to Williams Street.

6am Sunday until 6pm Sunday: Wellsford Street: Hammond Street to Windham Street. (YPS Market)

Please assist our wonderful Festival and School volunteers who are setting up these streets by not leaving your vehicles in High Street on Friday or Wellsford Street on Saturday night.

Our much-loved Community Dinner is back and live!

Families can scan the QR codes to place their orders online, or if you prefer, orders can be made through the school office from Tuesday 10th March 2026.

This special dinner is a fundraiser for our school, and it’s always a wonderful way for our community to come together during the Folk Festival weekend.

We can’t wait to share another wonderful evening with everyone and thank you for supporting this fantastic school fundraiser!

Hi Yack, 

We are still looking for any children's dress-ups that you are happy to donate. There is a collection basket inside near the office at school. 

Also, we are very excited to announce our program of wonderful free children's events this year. You don't need a festival ticket for these events and everyone is welcome to join. 

Our Folk Festival weekend is fast approaching, with the Festival Dinner at the Memorial Gardens on Saturday night  the 21^st March and the Sunday Market on the 22^nd March to follow. These events are a major fundraiser for our school and we’re seeking volunteers. Some spaces have been filled but we are still in search for more volunteers.

If you’re available to lend a hand, please complete the Google Form via the link provided below to let us know when you can help. If you cannot offer your time there is a section for dessert donations also via the link.

https://forms.gle/djMKzLr5SwimD3Kw7

Congratulations to the students who represented Yackandandah Primary School at the Australian MTB Inter-schools Championships.

The event was held at Thredbo from Sunday to Wednesday this week. 

Georgia Dowsley, Hughie Vorbach, Frey Holden, Ewan McInerney, Hugo and Zack Dickeson competed in Division 4 and 5. Unfortunately Cobie was unable to join the team due to an injury. 

This is a really big step up in competition, terrain and technical skills. The courage and determination of these young students to ride Thredbo’s mountain bike trails was impressive. Rain, strong winds and super muddy conditions added  another level of difficulty that the students embraced with a spirit to be proud of.

A special mention to Georgia and Hughie who both recorded top 10 finishes in their first outing at inter-schools!

Ewan, Frey, Hugo and Zack all stepped up to individual challenges and pushed their skills to a new level. Division 4 had 150 riders, and our boys can be very proud of their achievements. As a team the boys recorded 7th in All Mountain and Flow, and 11th in Pump and Downhill in the School results. 

A special thank you to the parents and families who supported the students and each other at Thredbo. This year we enjoyed an extended support network with Beechworth, with eight former YPS students competing.

Please reach out if your child is interested in riding - from beginners to experienced, all ages. We can provide information for both social and competitive mountain bike riding.

House Cross-Country
The House Cross-Country event is taking place on Wednesday 1^st April, at the Yackandandah Sports Park. The event will begin at 9am and we ask that students be dropped off at the sports park directly, after 8.40am, rather than going to school. The school bus will drop kids off at the sports park, and a teacher will walk with students from Before School Care, at 8.40am.

A draft timetable is below.

Students will be competing in their houses and are encouraged to wear their house colours for the day. Students should also wear appropriate footwear and bring their bag with snacks, water and their broad brimmed hat. Ribbons will be handed out for students who come 1^st, 2^nd or 3^rd in their age group and gender.

In the senior age groups (9/10, 11, 12/13) up to 10 runners from each classification can qualify for the District event, however, students will need to demonstrate that they can run the course in a competitive time to qualify. The District event will be held in Beechworth at a date yet to be decided. I will publish the date in the newsletter once known.

Regional Swimming Carnival

For those who make it through to the Regional Swimming Carnival, the event will take place on Wednesday 18^th March in Wangaratta. Your child has already received this information last Friday at Division. If you don’t have this information, please let me know (robyn.wilson3@education.vic.gov.au) and I can email you the details.

Hats, drink bottles and sunscreen

Just a reminder for all students to please bring a broad brimmed hat and drink bottle to school, particularly on days they have sport. With regards to sunscreen, students who require ‘alternative’ sunscreen to what we have at school (various 50+ SPF brands) need to have this sunscreen available in their school bags ready to apply for our PE sessions. Some students apply their preferred sunscreen at home before school commences, however it only lasts around 4 hours and needs to be re-applied at school.

All the best in your sporting pursuits,
Robyn

11^th March            Phoebe