Yankalilla Area School eNewsletter

Principal's Note

Dear Families,

As Term 1 comes to a close we reflect on our successes and opportunities for growth. It has been a busy term filled with fun, learning, and community engagement, and I am proud to share some of the highlights with you.

Play Space Upgrades

This term the installation of our new playground began. It has been lovely to watch the junior primary children line up at the fence during break times as they supervise the work going on. We look forward to holding an official opening of the space next term. During the holidays we also have the drainage issues in the quadrangle being fixed and new turf being laid in the area. This will add more natural elements to the play space. We also haven't forgotten about our upper primary/middle school students, with the first stage of a ninja course being installed soon.

Community Excursions

Students participated in several local excursions and sporting events, enhancing their learning through real-world experiences. These outings have been beneficial in connecting classroom lessons with our community and we look forward to building on these community connection opportunities. A special highlight for me has been the classes who have visited the Edenfield Family Care facilities who have been working with the residents on portrait drawing and social connections. Some of the positive feedback our amazing students received from the residents included "Don’t forget to invite me next time they are here.” “They were so polite.” “They are good boys, I was a boy once.” “That was a fun afternoon, really good”. It is enough to bring a tear to the eye! Thank you, Mrs Williams, for organising this opportunity for our students and wider community.

Cockatoo Café

The Cockatoo Café continues to be a huge success, providing students with practical learning opportunities and fostering community interaction. It remains a valuable asset to our school. Next Term Mrs Barry (who usually heads-up the cafe) will be on long service leave for weeks 1-8 and we welcome Mrs Manfield who will be taking Mrs Barry's classes.

Sports Day

I received so much positive feedback about our 2025 sports day from families, staff and students. From the excellent organisation (due to the work of the sports day committee) to the high levels of student engagement, it was a great event and a demonstration of how beneficial an R-12 school setting is. Watching our senior students cheer on and help our primary students was absolutely heart warming.

Open & Acquaintance Night

Open & Acquaintance Night was a wonderful opportunity to welcome families and community members into our school. It was a chance to showcase the hard work and achievements of our students and staff, and to share our vision for the future. The evening was well-attended, and the positive feedback received has been truly encouraging. The scavenger hunt activity was enjoyed by a large number of children with 5 lucky winners of a canteen voucher.

Autism Awareness Day & Harmony Week

We celebrated Autism Awareness Day and Harmony Week with activities designed to promote understanding and inclusion. These events are important to build and promote diversity, tolerance and emotional intelligence within our YAS school community.

Visit from the Easter Bunny

Finally, we finished the term with a special visit from the Easter Bunny, which brought much excitement to our younger AND older students. The Easter Bunny and I also paid a special visit to the Yankalilla Children's Centre where we had an eggcellent time delivering easter eggs and bunny high-fives.

We started the year with the intention of all classrooms being "safe, productive and respectful" and ensuring we have high expectations of student behaviour and learning in our classrooms. One strategy to promote this is our teachers reaching out to parents pro-actively when there are any issues occurring in the classroom.

We realise our parent community may have noticed an increase in communication from teachers about their child/ren's progress or behaviour in class and we truly appreciate the support and partnerships we have built in this progress. I encourage parents to book a phone or face to face meeting with teachers to discuss how we can support the partnership between home and school to ensure student success.

As we look forward to Term 2, I would like to express my gratitude to our dedicated staff, supportive families, and the wider community for their ongoing commitment to our school. Together, we are creating a school environment where every student thrives.

Warm regards,

Haley Przibilla
Principal, Yankalilla Area School

Resolving Issues Respectfully at YAS

A Note from The Pastoral Care Worker

In this newsletter piece, I’m going to try to link five elements of Easter.
Why Easter is on different dates each year? The Easter bunny. Easter eggs. Hot cross buns, and the Christian message.

Easter Sunday is calculated to be on the first Sunday after the full moon between 21st of March and 25th April. This is using ancient Roman calendars from the first millennium A.D.
The Easter bunny is an adaptation of an ancient tradition where a rabbit would give children eggs as gifts in celebration of the start of the northern hemisphere spring season.
Easter eggs symbolise new life. Traditionally, Lent is the 40 days before Easter and people were not supposed to eat treats as a mark of respect in the lead up to Easter. It was around the 1800s, that the idea of celebrating Easter with chocolate eggs, rather than real ones, came about. This combined the tradition of celebrating spring and Easter. It was at this time that chocolate easter eggs were given to friends and family as they marked the end of Lent and celebrated the joy of the HOPE that symbolises Easter. The idea of making chocolate eggs started in France and Germany and some would say, perfected by Mr Cadbury. What a great marketing strategy!
Hot cross buns are believed to have originated in the 14^th Centrury in England, when a monk distributed spicy bread buns to the poor on Good Friday. The cross on the top is meant to acknowledge the cross of Jesus.

The Christian message of Easter tends to get lost amongst the bunny, chocolate eggs, hot cross buns and the long weekend.
Egg rolling (more of a Northern hemisphere tradition) and Easter egg hunts, symbolise the rolling away of the tomb of Christ and the search for new hope. It is this HOPE that billions of Christians around the world continue to celebrate at Easter.

I wish you and your loved ones a hope-filled, happy & safe Easter.

Wendy Lindsay

2025 Governing Council Committee

We are pleased to welcome a new Governing Council team in 2025.

Our members include:

Tim Miller (Chairperson)
Jodi Buckle (Deputy Chairperson)
Craig McCallum (Treasurer)
Melissa Churchward
Simon Reed
Karen Lee (Staff Rep)
Wendy Lyndsay (Staff Rep)
Tia Russell (Community Rep)

If you have any feedback or questions you would like to raise with the Governing Council, please reach out to one of team or email dl.0766.govcouncil@schools.sa.edu.au.

The 2025 Governing Council team looks forward to working with the school community to foster growth and success at YAS.

Welcome our New Reception Students

At our R-12 assembly, we were thrilled to officially welcome our new Reception students into the school community. To mark this special occasion, the Year 12 students had the honor of presenting each Reception student with a small welcome gift. This thoughtful gesture is just one of the many ways we aim to make our youngest learners feel supported, valued, and excited to be part of our school.

A big welcome to our reception students—we are so happy to have you with us and look forward to seeing all the amazing things you will do!

Ag Fest

Last Friday, students from Yankalilla Area School attended Ag Fest at the Yankalilla Showgrounds.
It was a fantastic day where students participated in three informative sessions and explored a range of exhibits, machinery, and a large drone display. They had the opportunity to sit in various machines and ask questions about career pathways in agriculture. Our school even won a box of chocolates for being one of the most engaged schools at the event!

A big thank you to the Yankalilla Council for organising such a valuable experience—we're already looking forward to attending again next year

2025 Sports Day

Sports Day Success!

A huge thank you to everyone involved in making last week’s Sports Day such a success! Despite a damp start, the rain eased off and we were treated to great weather for the day. The Sports Day Committee introduced several exciting changes this year, including holding long-distance events the day before, and adding both high jump and long jump to the program. We still enjoyed our traditional tabloid and team games in the afternoon, keeping the spirit of the day alive. It was fantastic to see so many parents attend—we truly appreciate your ongoing support. Special thanks to all the staff who helped on the day, my fellow committee members, and an extra-big thank you to Anna Symons for her incredible coordination of the event over the past six years. And of course, the biggest thanks of all goes to the amazing students of YAS for their effort, enthusiasm, and outstanding sportsmanship throughout the day.

Congratulations to Sturt!!!

2025 MATERIAL & SERVICES CHARGES

Thank you to the many parents/caregivers who have made contact, applied for school card and/or made payment. It is appreciated. The Materials & Services charges for 2025 have been approved and set by Governing Council at $330 for Reception to Year 6 students and $450 for Year 7 to Year 12 students. A $200 rebate has been applied. Statements were emailed this week. Payment can be made via QKR (preferred) , Direct Credit, EFTPOS or Cash. Any queries please contact Lisa Pinder for more information on lisa.pinder549@schools.sa.edu.au

SCHOOL CARD

The School Card Scheme is available for families needing financial assistance. Eligibility is not dependent on any member of the family receiving Centrelink benefits. Application can be completed online https://www.sa.gov.au/topics/education-andlearning/financial-help-scholarships-andgrants/schoolcard-scheme or a form can be obtained from the Finance Office. Please Complete School Card Applications ASAP. The eligibility criteria for the 2025 School Card Scheme is based on the applicant’s combined family gross income for the 2023/2024 financial year, being within the School Card limits which are listed below. If you require further information please contact Lisa in the Finance Office. Lisa Pinder - Finance Manager

*FAMILIES NEED TO APPLY EACH YEAR*

Number of Your Dependent Children	2023/2024 Annual School Card Income Limit	2023/2024 Average Weekly School Card Income Limit
1	$74189	$1426
2	$75514	$1452
3	$76839	$1478
4	$78164	$1504
5	$79489	$1530
Each additional dependent child	$1325	$26

Year 1 and 2 Excursion

On Wednesday, 9th April, our Year 1 and 2 classes took a wonderful excursion to the Yankalilla Library and Yankalilla Museum as part of their HASS learning about the local community.

The walk to these important community spaces provided a fantastic opportunity for our students to see how these places support and serve the people who live here. At the library, they discovered the wide range of services offered to the community, while the museum gave them a glimpse into the past.

A special highlight was meeting local historian Margaret, who shared fascinating stories and historical photographs, helping students imagine what Yankalilla looked like many years ago.

To top off an already exciting day, our students were among the first locals to meet the museum’s newest resident—the Diprotodon! Even more exciting, they got the chance to name it for the community. Say hello to Todo!

April is Autism Awareness Month

Autism Month is about raising awareness, acceptance and inclusion of autism.

More than 205,000 Australians are autistic and 1 in 4 Australians have a family member on the autism spectrum.

At Yankalilla Area School, our vision is for every individual on the autism spectrum to live the life they choose in an inclusive society. On April 2^nd we celebrated Autism Awareness Day by wearing rainbow colours and creating an infinity symbol on the Oval. In classes we have looked at what makes us special and our strengths and interests.

THE cre8crew GET THEIR GAME ON

This week our Wednesday Recess Club brought their 'A' game to the quad, drawing a fantastic Snakes & Ladders artwork on the pavers.

Pictured are members of the cre8crew adding vibrant colours and creative patterns to the snakes and ladders in chalk.

The cre8crew aim to eventually paint their design on the pavers, so students can enjoy it as a permanent game in our playground.

Year 12’s First Formal Fundraiser

Thanks to all students, staff and families for supporting our first Year 12 Formal Fundraiser for the year. Our sweet treat stall was a huge success and raised just short of $250. The Year 12s were thrilled with the response and the money raised.

I want to thank all the Year 12 students and their families who donated generously to the stall - we had a wide variety of tempting sweets on sale. We wanted to give a special shout out to staff and students who went to the trouble of baking home-made treats for the stall: Mrs Priz, Jo A, Maddie, Jed, Eben & Ash. Can’t beat home-made!

I also want to give an extra special shout-out to the Year 12 students at school today who went above and beyond to ensure that our stall was a success. Katie and Lauren helped with the display and set up (and clean-up) and put their creative skills to good use. Thanks to the stall helpers Katie, Lauren, Georgie, Maddie, Emilie, Keilie and Chelsea. Thanks also to our table-lifters too - the boys, Jed, Damo and Hudson! All in all, a top effort!

One of our Year 12 student leader’s, Jed, also turned 18 today and it turned out to be a good day to celebrate with cake! Happy birthday Jed!

Once again, thank you all for your support. We think you are very sweet!!

Mrs J and the Year 12s

Stage 1 and 2 PE

Our Stage 1 and 2 PE students recently took part in a high-performance testing excursion at Flinders University. Students completed a series of fitness assessments, including the vertical jump test, the 20m sprint test, and flexibility tests, gaining insights into advanced sports science technologies while enhancing their understanding of key fitness components and performance analysis.

During a touch football session, students wore GPS units and heart rate monitors to track movement, workload, and intensity. The data collected allowed them to analyse performance, linking theory to real-world application. Thank you Flinders University for such a valuable experience.

New Playground Project

An enthusiastic group of year eight, nine, and ten students assisted the grounds staff with the new playground project. With fresh soft-fall being installed under the new playground, it was decided to repurpose the existing soft-fall and place it under the trees at the far end of the oval. Once completed, this space will become a safe climbing area.
The students worked on a voluntary basis, and they all embraced the task with enthusiasm. Extra credit to the year eight/nine's who put in two shifts and got the vast percentage of the task completed. They even discovered several gold coins during the excavations that were swiftly exchanged for treats in the canteen.
The grounds staff appreciated the assistance and were very impressed with the efforts put in by all the helpers.

Career Pathway Session

A few photo’s from the careers pathways talk. Chris Slee from Flinders Uni came to talk to the Year 11 Pastoral Care class about Career Pathways. Students filled out a workbook that highlighted what is needed to make good heathy choices in preparation for a career path.

Key aspects included good sleep, hard work and time for fun.