Welcome back to school in Term Four. I hope you all found quality family time over the holiday fortnight.

Hopefully you have now seen the return to school arrangements for all students. Here is a summary:

TERM FOUR 2021

Week 1 (beginning Mon 4^th Oct): 

• Continued arrangements that were in place at the end of Term 3 (F-2 onsite every day). 

Week 2 & 3 (Mon 11^th Oct – Mon 25^th Oct):

• F-2 continue to attend every day
• Yr. 3/4s attend Tuesday and Wednesday
• Yr. 5/6s attend Thursday and Friday

Week 4 (from Tuesday 26^th Oct):

• All students, all year levels return to 5 days per week onsite learning.

As we have seen in the news COVID cases are increasing and there is still risk. With that in mind it is important that we maintain covid safe practices such as hand hygiene, physical distancing, and using the QR code check in.

Children in primary schools are encouraged to wear masks but it is not mandated. Staff may discuss mask wearing but will not be pressuring students to do so – that is a decision for the student and their parents.

Once again there are some activities/events that may need to be postponed or cancelled. For example, the planned athletics day this week has been postponed. We aim to keep you informed as soon as we have firm details.

While the next weeks will no doubt be bumpy, I am optimistic about the end of the year. I believe that students, parents and staff have done a splendid job in difficult circumstances over this year (and last). My hope and expectation is that we get to finish the year being able to celebrate the learning and shared experience we have had. I look forward to being able to focus on our core business – learning and community – despite the bumps in the road.

Finally, a huge thanks again to our School Council for the hard work on our dry creek bed project. The persistent rain has slowed down work, but a number of people gave their time, muscle and expertise over the holidays to make the progress so far. I’d love to name them, but I’m worried I would miss someone. Suffice to say we are very grateful for their dedication.

Michael Edwards
Principal

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Absences
It is Department policy and a legal requirement that the school is notified of all absences and the reason of the absence.  The school can be notified by an email to the school office at yackandandah.ps@education.com.au, a phone call to the office or via the school website (click on 'register an absence' at the end of the newsletter to take you there).

Late Arrivals/Early Departures
A reminder that if your child arrives at school after 9am or is being picked up before 3.30pm they must be signed in or out at the office.  If there is an emergency at school we need to know which students are onsite.

Scholastic Book Club
If you ordered items through Issue 6 last term they are available to be collected from the school office.

Enjoy your week
Sandra

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Last week of Term 3

Nate Maybury for accurate reading of MIOOW and reading books at home and at school.
Kayden Street for writing his name with mostly correct letter formations.
Molly Schultz for using mental strategies when solving addition and subtraction problems.
Jack McAlister for demonstrating excellent handwriting this week.
Tom Murphy for improved confidence in sharing ideas.
Claudia Grech for increased focus during class.
Hugo Dickeson for settling in well to school again and being a sensational leader in class.
Chase Nelder for showcasing heaps of the writing skills we have learned so far this year in his recent Cold Write.
Charli O’Dwyer for really applying herself and working diligently throughout remote learning.
Lola Mahoney for applying herself during remote learning and mastering the percussion rhythm we learned in music.

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Artwork of the Week

The colourful foam plates by both F/1 classes.  How many different Yackandandah Creek creatures can you spot?

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Hot lunch will not be happening this week due to COVID restrictions.

We will start next week, 15^th October which is a Quiche Lorraine or a Vegetable Quiche.

Year 5/6 students will be onsite on Friday 15^th and 22^nd October so they will be able to order for those weeks as well as any students from Year 3/4 who are onsite due to parents being essential workers.

If you have already ordered please deduct the weeks that your child won’t be receiving the hot lunch from your payment.

Please find below a link to a Google Form for Term 4 orders. A separate order form needs to be filled out for each student. If you would still like to order for the remainder of this term, please do so by Friday.  Orders will not be accepted after this week.

https://forms.gle/n4i3KdvXXt8t5inJA

 

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I hope you’ve all had a fantastic break and made some time for reading. I read two great junior fiction books, and a stack of picture books, over the holidays that I look forward to sharing with students during Term 4!

Book Week 2021: Old Worlds, New Worlds, Other Worlds.

Our planned Book Week activities Dress-up Day is no longer taking place in Week 2, Friday 15 October. We will work on rescheduling a new date in Term 4 when all students return to onsite learning. Keep thinking about and working on those costumes! I will hopefully announce a new date in the newsletter next week.

Sarah McAlister

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Athletics
Unfortunately, the House Athletics Carnival planned for this Wednesday has been cancelled due to the current restrictions which require students in Years 3-6 to continue with remote learning. For this same reason, the back-up day the following week has also been abandoned. Thank you to all of the parents and carers who again offered to help out on the day. I remain hopeful that we will be able to hold this event later in Term 4.

For those students aged 9-12, the status of the District and Division athletics days remains unclear, with representatives from both associations meeting over the coming days to try and navigate a way forward. State championships have already been abandoned for 2021. Watch this space for further news as it comes to hand.

Kanga Cricket Carnival
The Year 3-6 inter-school Kanga Cricket Carnival that normally takes place at Willow Park in November has been cancelled for 2021. I hope to organise our own intra-school event down at the sports park later in Term 4.

Brendan

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Term 4 Bookings
Just a reminder to double check your child’s bookings for term 4. If you need to make any changes to your bookings you can do so via the portal or you can email Siobhan. We are doing our best to correct bookings to fall in line with the current return to school plan for term 4 set out by the government.

QR Check in and Face masks
A reminder that all parents entering the OSHC space must be wearing a face mask and must sign in with the QR code located in our sign in area. This is a directive from the Victorian Government.

Kidsoft QR code sign in
We now have a new feature on our iPad allowing parents to sign their children in and out of our service using their own device. We encourage all families to please use this QR code when able.

Vacation Care
Another vacation care over, and we had a blast!

We enjoyed many activities during our time at school, and we noticed that these holidays were particularly creative! We did lots of painting, drawing, creating, building and more! We saw the creation of some magical wands, wonderful tote bags and amazing puppets!

Among us was a hoot! The children had a great time bringing to life the popular video game! We saw some great teamwork and fun was had by all!

The second week of our holidays was rained out, but that didn’t stop us enjoying ourselves! We played many indoor group games, musical statutes, as always was a hit! Uno made an appearance many times, and as always brought out the competitive side in all! Our café has been busy serving us with the most fantastical food creations, my personal favourite was the fish and chocolate breakfast burger! Yum!

And to top it off we spent Friday in our PJ’s! Who doesn’t love a rainy day all warm and snug in their favourite pair of slippers and dressing gown?!

Thank you to all our wonderful children who have again spent a wonderful vacation care program with us, despite being limited to our activities! They are truly fun to be with!

Thanks, OSHC Team

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You may have noticed we've made some progress on the Dry Creek Bed Project over the past few weeks! Initial earthworks were completed, the river rocks for the creek bed were installed and the large boulders and additional top soil are on site.  Thanks to everyone who has helped out so far, especially those that helped to move the river rocks!

The Men's Shed are working on building the bridge, Tamara Murray has completed our indigenous feature (inspired by the students feedback on Yackandandah) and Xavier Pinard has commenced work on the interactive gold mining play element!

As soon as the work site dries out, we will complete the earthworks, move the large boulders and be ready for some working bees to complete the project!  Stay tuned for dates as soon as we're finished with the heavy equipment!

Without the help of school families and the wider Yack community this project would not be going ahead.  So a huge thankyou to everyone involved so far, those that are planning to help with the next working bees, and of course our project sponsors.

Platinum Sponsors:
- Yack Constructions
- YCDCo

Gold Sponsors:
- Yackandandah Jams & Preserving
- Mawsons Concrete & Quarries
- Yackandandah Community Centre

In adidtion to our sponsors, those that have made significant donations so far (whether that be time, money and/or materials):
- Yackandandah Engineering
- Park Lane Nursery
- Bunnings Wodonga
- Yack Men's Shed
- Yack Folk Festival Committee
- and.. last but not least, everyone involved in school fundraising inititiaves!

This week we showcase our Platinum Sponsors Yack Constructions and YCDCo in the school newsletter!

About Us:

Yack Constructions is a family and locally owned business based in Yackandandah, North East Victoria. Being a local owned, family business gives our customers the ultimate advantage, being a small man team, we are quick to respond and act to any concerns or queries during the build.

Justin Maybury has over 10 years of residential, commercial and industrial experience around the North East Victoria region. He is a member of the Master Builder Association, holds a Victorian commercial and domestic license and a New South Wales domestic license. With his team of qualified carpenters and industry professionals, the team at Yack Constructions are young enthusiastic with an eye for quality and detail.

Our Team and Sub Contractors:

We currently have a number of qualified carpenters and an apprentices working with the team. We actively support our community by using local labourers, trades and suppliers within the North East region using quality materials from local suppliers.

We are also proud to support local clubs such as the Yackandandah Football & Netball Club, Yackandandah Golf Club, Yackandandah Bowls Club and the Yackandandah Cricket Club.

We use a select and reliable team of local qualified sub contractors that take pride in their work and provide the best quality material and finishes for your project. With our team of local professionals, you can be assured that your next project will be run smoothly by a company that understands the area. Our relationships with our sub contractors ensures your home gets the star treatment it deserves. Our focus is on quick site starts and build times where, your land won’t sit idle when building with Yack Constructions.

Where We Build:

Our building projects are mostly throughout the North East Victorian region and Southern New South Wales. We will happy to travel throughout the region within a rough 100km radius of Yackandandah. If your ideal home site is not within that perimeter, please feel free to contact us to see what opportunities we can provide.

Our professionalism is reflected in the quality of the home we create for you and your family.

https://www.yackandandahbuilders.com.au/

About YCDCo:

The Yackandandah Community Development Company Ltd (YCDCo) was established in March, 2002 by seven concerned locals with the initial goal of securing the future supply of fuel in Yackandandah (a basic service function for the town that it is crucial to retain).

Having secured fuel supplies for Yackandandah now, and in to the future, YCDCo has extended its product range to include rural supplies and hardware, and concentrates on its returns to the community by way of wages and sponsorship.

YCDCo’s goals:

• to undertake projects and initiatives which will economically and socially and culturally benefit the community of Yackandandah and its surrounding areas;
• to operate YCDCo on a commercially sustainable basis and generate profits to shareholders in the long term;
• to retain the broad-based community ownership of YCDCo;
• to return 50% of any future profits the company generates (e.g. after operating expenses) back to community causes and projects (to be defined); and,
• to return the remaining 50% of any profits to YCDCo shareholders.

YCDCo Constitution:

The constitution of YCDCo can be downloaded on their website.

Community Commitment:

As part of the YCDCo’s commitment to the development of Yackandandah, we offer sponsorship to local groups and organisations to assist with local initiatives that are consistent with the company’s ideals of community development.

Under its Constitution, YCDCo. Ltd. is required to contribute 50% of all distributed profits towards community projects or causes (the other 50% is distributed to shareholders as dividends).  Assistance may be provided to community groups, organisations or individuals for initiatives or projects that are:

“…intended to benefit the economic, social or cultural condition of the Yackandandah community or its surrounding areas. (YCDCo. Ltd. Constitution clause 27).”

https://ycdco.com.au/

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22^nd September – Will Boddenberg

23^rd September – Willow Anderson

23^rd September – Cameron McIntosh

24^th September – Owen Overall

25^th September – Zoe Blair

26^th September – Tom Murphy

29^th September – Imogen Rolfe

30^th September – Jake Blair

2^nd October – Zac Davis

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