On behalf of the Yeronga State School P&C team, we wish all new and returning families a big welcome, a smooth start to the school year, and a terrific 2021! On behalf of P&C members and our community we are delighted to welcome Eunice Webb as our new Yeronga State School Principal, and look forward to working with Eunice, school staff, families and our community to support our children to thrive in their education.

We also invite you to get involved in our school community in whatever way appeals to you. To help you do this we have created the Yeronga SS P&C website and Facebook page. These help you to stay on top of all P&C and key school activities throughout the year. Please 'like' us on Facebook so we can keep you as up to date as possible with key activities for your children and you.

A great way to see the myriad of ways you can get involved throughout the year is our 'Just One Thing' survey. This offers an easy way for you to nominate the activity/ies you would like to support - simply tick the option/s that appeal to you, enter your details and submit. You can also read more about 'Just One Thing' below.

Prep Welcome Picnic

The Prep Welcome Picnic is on this Saturday, 30 January, from 9:00-11:00am in the Prep playground area. This is a great morning and wonderful way to meet other 2021 Prep families in the Yeronga community. There will be mini hot dogs, snow cones and other treats for all so please pop in with your Preppie! Remember to BYO chairs, rugs and drinks.

We'd also love some help with setting up the marquees, and making and serving food items, please. If you have a couple of hours to spare this Saturday, please sign up via our 'Just One Thing' survey (question 5, second option) - you're more than welcome to tick other volunteering opportunities that take your fancy too!

Call for Parent Reps

Teachers are now looking for 2 Parent Reps for each class. Parent Reps welcome new families to the school and pass on weekly emails to the class about what is going on in the school. If you are interested in being a Parent Rep, please make contact with your child’s teacher, or tick 'Pick me!' under the Class Parent Representatives question in our Just One Thing survey, enter your details at the end of the survey and submit.

Welcome to new YOSHC Manager

The P&C warmly welcomes our new YOSHC Manager, Elizabeth Fainga'a, who started work with us on Monday, 18 January.

Elizabeth brings to her role more than 10 years’ experience in the early years education sector, most recently with the PCYC-managed OSHC at Waterford West State School where she led the service as Nominated Supervisor from February 2018. Prior to her time at Waterford West, Elizabeth registered and operated her own family daycare business, and has also previously worked as the OSHC Manager for Groves Christian College.

Elizabeth thanks the Yeronga school community for the warm welcome she has received. She is enjoying meeting and getting to know YOSHC children, families and staff and looks forward to meeting more children and families throughout term 1.

A massive THANK YOU to Cate and Alec (pictured below with Elizabeth) for leading the YOSHC team since the beginning of term 4, 2020. We can't thank them enough for their steady guiding hand which has been enjoyed by children, families, staff and the P&C team.

2021 Tuckshop update

YSS Tuckshop Convenors, Stacey Resetti and Yvonne Starr, extend a warm 'welcome to 2021' for our YSS community and are looking forward to re-opening the Tuckshop on Tuesday, 2 February, 2021 - week 2 of term 1. Prep students will be able to order from week 3, term 1 (and from term 2 will be able to order frozen items).

The P&C will continue to trial opening the Tuckshop on Tuesdays to assess whether there is enough demand from our school community to make it viable to open 4 days a week on an ongoing basis.

Stacey and Yvonne would love to hear from you if you have a couple of hours you would like to volunteer for the Tuckshop during term 1 - from 9.00-11.00am on a Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday or Friday, or if you are able to bake some ever-popular choc chip muffins. It is easy to let us know how you'd like to support the Tuckshop via our 2021 Just One Thing survey - volunteering in the Tuckshop is a great way to meet other parents and carers and it's lots of fun!

From Stacey: "Let's make some sandwiches, cook some sausage rolls and muffins, and have some fun along the way. I'm sure 2021 will be a great year - definitely an improvement on 2020!"

Flexischools is the preferred Tuckshop ordering method - for current Tuckshop please visit the P&C website: www.yerongasspandc.org.au/index.php/tuckshop/. To contact the Tuckshop team please email yerongasstuckshop@gmail.com.

Uniform Shop update

A big thank you to our team of P&C staff (Yvonne Starr and Sarah Cordingley) and the wonderful parent volunteers who opened the Uniform Shop each day last week to enable families to procure their back to school uniform needs.

The Uniform Shop is also open extra times during this first week of school as follows:

• Wednesday, 27 January – 8:30 to 9:30am, and 2:30 to 3:30pm
• Thursday, 28 January – 8:30 to 9:30am, and 2:30 to 3:30pm
• Friday, 29 January – 8:30 to 9:30am, and 2:30 to 3:30pm.

After week 1 of the school year, normal Uniform Shop opening hours during school terms will be:

• Monday 8.30am – 9.30am
• Thursday 2.30pm – 3.30pm.

You are also welcome to order via Flexischools for delivery to your child's classroom throughout the year.

If you have any second hand uniform items you no longer need - now or anytime throughout the year - we will be most thankful if you could please drop them to the Uniform Shop to help families in our community. Smaller sizes are especially needed. Thank you so much to everyone who has already generously donated second hand items to assist families to buy uniform items for just $5 each. Your support is sincerely appreciated.

School holiday thanks to YOSHC team

A big thank you to the YOSHC team who entertained our YSS kids throughout the summer school holidays. The holiday program ended on a high on 25 January with an epic colour run hosted by YOSHC's very own Ella and Lola (photos below - for more photos visit this YOSHC Facebook post). The colour run was a huge hit (and a huge mess!), and afterwards the kids enjoyed zooper doopers, a sausage sizzle and a disco.

With a theme for each day of holiday care and activities arranged to cater for all ages, children were treated to imaginative fun for everyone - below is a snapshot of the creative and varied YOSHC summer holiday program:

• The Lorax - a day of Dr Suess
• Construction Craze – children became builders and engineers
• Little Scientists - Street Science incursion
• Flying Fun - a day of flying craft creation and activities from around the world
• Tropical Treat Day – all things tropical including mocktails and pool fun
• Fantasy Frenzy with princesses, dragons, and fantasy games
• Midsummer Madness waterpark excursion
• Kindness Day focused on mindfulness, meditation and helping others
• To the North Pole Rock Climbing Incursion... and many more!

For more information about YOSHC's before and after school, and holiday care programs please visit the YOSHC website and contact the team directly.

2021 extracurricular activities

The P&C and school are pleased to offer a range of extracurricular activities before and after school, making it easy for kids to participate straight from school, including:

• Active Kids Program - 3:15-5:45pm - Monday, Tuesday and Thursday (all children welcome and a great alternative to YOSHC for families with children on the waitlist) 
• Art and craft - 3:15-4:15pm - Monday and Wednesday
• Chess - 7:45-8:30am - Tuesday to Friday, and 3:15-4:00pm on Tuesday
• Guitar - private and two-child lessons available before and after school, Monday to Friday 
• Netball - before and after school Thursday  
• Piano - private lessons available before and after school, Monday to Friday
• Tennis - before and after school Tuesday and Thursday.

Please visit the Extracurricular page on the P&C website for all details and contact providers directly to enrol. The attached extracurricular activities flyer also provides an overview of all 2021 extracurricular activities with days, times, and provider details. 

If there is an extracurricular activity you think we should consider please feel free to contact the P&C at yerongasspc@gmail.com. We hope your children enjoy the range of activities on offer!

P&C AGM: Tuesday, 16 February, 2021

The P&C Executive team cordially invites parents and members of our school community to the 2021 P&C AGM on Tuesday, 16 February, at 6:00pm, in the school Resource Centre (library).

The P&C Executive team (current team pictured below) overseas P&C businesses (Tuckshop, Uniform Shop and YOSHC) and activities throughout the school year. Executive positions include President, Vice President (usually 2 or 3 people hold this position), Treasurer and Minutes Secretary. There is also potential for a number of non executive positions including correspondence secretary and events coordinators. See the 'P&C Committee roles' page on the P&C website for more information, and contact us at yerongasspandc@gmail.com if you would like more information around roles and responsibilities.

Current P&C Co-Presidents, Hamish and Kym, will be happy to continue in their roles for 2021, should this be the wish of P&C members. This will be our third year of service as Co-Presidents and we will step down at the 2022 AGM (in just over a year). Therefore, we are especially seeking one or two members to nominate for the 2021 P&C Executive team who will be willing to step up to the President (or Co-President) role in 2022. Please contact Hamish and Kym at ysspandcpresident@gmail.com if you would like to find out more about the P&C President role.

Please let us know if you are interested in any of the P&C Executive committee roles - we'd love to hear from you. In accordance with the P&Cs QLD Constitution, all nominations for executive positions should be received in writing prior to the AGM, via the P&C Executive Officer Nomination Form - please email your completed form to yerongasspandc@gmail.com.

The 2021 AGM will be followed by our first general meeting of the year. P&C meetings are held the third Tuesday of the month (except December and January) at 7:00pm in the school Resource Centre (library).

Learn more about your current P&C Exec team here: www.yerongasspandc.org.au/index.php/meet-your-pc-committee/

2020 P&C Membership

All 2020 memberships will lapse at the AGM. We've made it easy for you to join the P&C or renew your membership via our online 2020 Membership form (ideally before 16 February).

It only takes a minute (or less) to complete - just completing the form to become a member helps and there is no obligation to attend meetings (although we'd love to see you if you're able). Your membership will help us with grant applications and enables you to keep updated with members-only communication like meeting minutes and documentation - a wealth of information and source of school news.

What's your 'Just One Thing' for the school this year?
The P&C is committed to ensuring every family has the opportunity to get involved and experience our active and friendly community, which is one of the things that makes Yeronga State School such a great place. Our school is as strong as everyone’s contribution.

We invite every Yeronga SS family to nominate ‘Just One Thing’ during the school year to assist the P&C to make a big contribution to our kids and school, via our Just One Thing survey. There are many different ways you can help to make our school great, big and small. It only takes a couple of minutes to click on your 'One Thing' add your contact details and press 'Done' - easy!

Kym Mansfield and Hamish Townsend

Yeronga State School P&C Co-Presidents
ysspandcpresident@gmail.com