Dear Students, Parents and Carers

Thank you to everyone for your continued support of the Remote and Flexible learning phase this week, it is very much appreciated.  I am extremely proud of our community, the integrity that everyone has demonstrated in relation to the direction from the Victorian State Government about education and schools is super impressive.  We appreciate that in some cases families have a number of students in one family learning from home, you are doing a wonderful job supporting your children.  Teachers have all praised families for their kindness and support during these challenging times.

The college has many platforms for delivery of curriculum programs that have been very effective in the vast majority of cases across campuses, all of this information is contained on the pages of our Remote and Flexible Learning Portal situated on our college website.  https://yarrawonga.vic.edu.au/remote-flexible-learning/

Appreciation and Positive Feedback

I have really appreciated the amount of positive feedback we have received from parents, Prep right through to Year 12. The majority of our students are thriving in the current climate of Remote and Flexible Learning.  Parents have consistently shared their appreciation of our staff and some really nice comments have been made, the staff really appreciate your acknowledgement and the feeling is mutual.

As we all cope with remote learning I am very proud of the extra effort, support and genuine care our staff has been able to give to our students and families across the entire college.  We have all changed the way we operate compared to our normal daily life in schools, an example of this outside of the classroom is the Yarrawonga College P-12 Community Workshop. Workshop is a very successful mentoring program, linking students and their families with a significant other while creating arts, crafts, meals, clothing and a range of other amazing products.

Community Workshop Outreach Program

You might think physical distancing would have seen this program sadly put on hold in Term 2 but it’s now called Workshop Outreach – with amazing craft and activity packs being put together by volunteers and ES staff and picked up by more than 50 families so far. With many households in our school community doing it tough at the moment, the options to be picked up also include eggs, vegetables and non-perishables from Foodbank and heat and eat healthy meals.

ES staff and volunteers have joined in the cooking and overall support of the program, working from home and on-site keeping all of our students and families engaged with school.    To see what our program is doing please visit their facebook page @Yarrawonga College P-12 Community Workshop

ANZAC Day

This Saturday is ANZAC Day, please take the time to reflect on those who have fallen and served our country in the past and our wonderful service men and women currently serving today.  It is really disappointing that we can’t gather as we normally would for ANZAC Day and represent our community to commemorate all that ANZAC stands for.  As a way of doing our bit though, the college is responding in the following ways;

• Videos of the Ode of Remembrance, the Flanders Fields poem and a message from College Captains on social media.
• Suggestions for families on ANZAC Day on our website; https://yarrawonga.vic.edu.au/anzac-day-involvement/
• ANZAC biscuits have been made by staff and volunteers, these are being delivered to front line medical, police, chemists, etc in recognition of their work through the Workshop program.
• College representation and wreath laying at the 11.00am service in Belmore St.
• A replica of a WW1 hat has been made through Workshop that will also be laid on the monument.
• ANZAC display in Thyme for Coffee front window in Belmore St.

Kind Regards

Damien Keel
College Principal