Thanks to students, staff and families for adapting so quickly to the latest lockdown and remote learning. It is sad that we have a routine for this now, but having a routine is better than doing it for the first time again. We don’t know yet how long this will continue – but all our fingers are crossed for return to school as soon as possible. Please don’t hesitate to contact your child’s teacher or myself if you need anything or have any questions.

Last week our Yr. 5/6 students travelled to Canberra, just beating the lockdown. The students visited a number of sites including Parliament House, Questacon on CSIRO. They even had morning tea with Member for Indi Helen Haines. It was great to have school camps happening again! Thanks to the staff and parent volunteers who gave their time for the camp and well done to the students who received high praise for their knowledge and respectful behaviour at all venues. Big pat on the back to Lauren for organising the camp – especially when there are still Covid restrictions to work around.

Recently some of our students entered the Write4Fun 2021 schools writing competition. Students wrote stories in their own time without assistance from their teachers. I received a letter from the Managing Editor of Write4Fun commending Yackandandah Primary School for the number of students progressing past the initial judging round. The competition is open to all secondary and primary students across Australia and over 7500 entries have been received. Fewer than 5% of schools were able to have as many students progress to the next round. I believe that this is a great achievement for our students, especially given that they did the writing in their own time and not as part of a school activity. Congratulations to all our writers!

The Division cross country event that was scheduled to take place last Friday will be rescheduled. We will let you know details when we are able.

 Michael Edwards
Principal

School Attendance Recording
With remote learning the school still needs to mark student absences. If your child is not home learning for any reason could you please send me an email so our attendance recording is correct.

For families who have students attending school due to being essential workers, if your child is arriving late or being picked up early, please still sign them in or out.

Enjoy your week
Sandra

Assembly helpers this week are:

Rose McKenzie-McHarg & Thomas Geary

John Olsen's artwork 'Sydney sun' has been the inspiration for the creation of some 'Yackandandah sun' artworks by Year 2 students, guided by our resident artist Kirsten Coates.

We are encouraging everyone to search for items to bring back to school for the nature table this week in Art. Even taking a photograph to add to your visual art diary! Have fun.   Caz & Mandy

Thank you to all the people who put up their hands last week to assist with hot lunches for the rest of the term. All the spots have been filled and the roster is below.

Hot Lunch this week is a hamburger/veggie burger.

Helpers this week are:
Jane Murphy, Bron Westbrook, Kirsty Davis & Ashley Davenport.

Families who ordered Fried rice last week will receive a $5 credit off next term’s hot lunches.

Week 7 in the Library will be quiet! School Library sessions won’t take place again until Week 9 due to lockdown. However, if your child is finished with their Library books, please send them in to school to give to their classroom teacher at any time during the school week. You don’t have to wait until your child’s Library day.

If your child is in need of some new reading material to get them through the next few weeks, please get in touch: sarah.mcalister@education.vic.gov.au

I’ll be at school supervising this Monday 31^st and Tuesday 1^st May, and can arrange for books to be collected from the foyer.

Overdue Books
Being at home is a great time to go searching for those long lost and overdue Library books! There are still some that haven’t been returned since the first lockdown in 2020! I’ve been sending home lots of overdue notices over the past few weeks. It would be appreciated if you could please check your child’s school bag (for one of these notices) and give them some assistance in finding the overdue books. Thank you!

New Books
Thank you to all the families who purchase books via Scholastic Book Club- the school earns points from purchases which we can then use to buy new books for the School Library. We now have the newest books in the series WeirDo, Ninja Kid and The Bad Guys; and some more great Graphic novels – Allergic and El Deafo. In non-fiction we now have two fishing books for our older readers- Fresh water fishing in the Murray River and Inland waterways in Victoria. And lots of great new books for Upper-Primary age, such as Jane Godwin’s new book When Rain Turns to Snow and Our Race For Reconciliation by Anita Heiss.

Have a wonderful week ahead and keep reading!

Sarah McAlister

Upper Hume Division Cross Country
Unfortunately the Cross Country event had to be postponed last Friday due to COVID.  We are still waiting to be advised on the rescheduled date and will send new permission forms home when the date has been confirmed.

Winter Sports Carnival
The Winter Sports Carnival for students in years 3 to 6 will be held on Friday, 16^th July (the first week back of Term 3).  Permission forms will be sent home next Monday.

The Year 5/6 students from our school have recently undertaken an education tour of the national capital. Students were given the opportunity to participate in a variety of educational programs with a focus on Australia’s history, culture, heritage and democracy.

The Australian Government recognises the importance of all young Australians being able to visit the national capital as part of their Civics and Citizenship education. To assist families in meeting the cost of the excursion the Australian Government has contributed funding of $30 per student under the Parliament and Civics Education Rebate program towards those costs. The rebate is paid directly to the school and this amount was included in the costing of the camp enabling us to keep the cost below $400.

Lauren, Brendan & Emily.

School Council Presidents Report - May 2021

2020 Annual Report
On the 17^th May, School Council presented the 2020 Annual Report to community members. This session is a requirement of the DET and will occur annually moving forward. Myself and Michael Walsh presented a summary of School Council activities and our financial performance as at the end of 2020. Michael Edwards presented the school’s Annual Implementation Plan (AIP) including a snapshot of the data available to schools in developing their plans. We also provided an opportunity for attendees to provide feedback on school council priorities for 2021. Although this session is once a year, community members are welcome to attend any School Council meeting throughout the year!

Fundraising
A huge thanks to all those that baked goodies or helped with the community picnic stalls. A total of $1410.55 was raised over the two picnics!

Also, a huge thanks to Foodworks Yackandandah, and those families that send their community points our way! A defibrillator has been purchased for the school with the Foodworks donations and should be installed on site soon!

Road Safety
Another huge thanks to those that completed our Road Safety survey last year! Your feedback has been consolidated and provided to Indigo Shire Council and VicRoads. School Council will continue to advocate for improved road safety around the school.

School Council Projects
School Council are thrilled to announce that funding for the Dry Creek Bed Project was approved at the May meeting. This will enable us to deliver Stage One of the works by the end of this year. This wouldn’t have been possible without the fundraising efforts of many of the past few years including (but not limited to) – the 2019 Yackandandah Folk Festival, the 2019 Barrowthon Team, the Yackandandah Community Centre support, and many other fundraising events. Stay tuned for some working bee dates so we can make this project a reality! We will also be shortly sending out information regarding sponsorship opportunities for the project.

School Council are working to priorities our list of projects to ensure we have ‘shovel ready’ projects should grant funding become available. We will be sending out a new survey soon, and welcome your ideas and feedback on potential projects that will enhance the education opportunities of our students.

Sincerely,
Jane Dowsley on behalf of Yackandandah Primary School Council
jane.dowsley@education.vic.gov.au

School Councilors – Michael Walsh, Beth Boddenberg, Orrin Pritchard, Carly Frank, Robyn Wilson, Kate Stagg, Faith Deans, Jane Shepherd, Leigh Attwood, Michael Edwards and Jane Dowsley.

30^th May – Abbie Williamson

3^rd June – Sebastian Davison