Specialists

LOTE

Selamat datang! My name is Rachel Grogan, but the students know me as Bu Grogan. I am thrilled to be teaching Indonesian to all students from Prep to Year 6 this year, alongside my furry assistant, Bongo the orangutan! If you have any questions about the program or your child’s learning, please don’t hesitate to reach out. Also, if your family is travelling to Bali or other parts of Indonesia, we’d love to hear about it!

Over the past two weeks, students in Years 1-6 have been getting back into the swing of speaking Indonesian. They have been practicing how to talk about themselves and introduce others, with plenty of fun along the way! One highlight was playing ‘Siapa Monyet?’ (Who’s the Monkey?), a game that had everyone engaged and laughing. Year 1 and 2 students have also started creating their own books to share information about themselves, including their name, age, and things they like.

Our Prep students had their very first Indonesian lesson and turned into little detectives! They used their problem-solving skills to uncover new words and had lots of fun playing a game with Bongo – even though he can be a bit silly at times!

It’s been a fantastic start to the year in Indonesian, and I can’t wait for all the exciting learning ahead!

Performing Arts

Hello Yarra Road PS Community!

I'm thrilled to continue as your child's Performing Arts teacher this year! Music and performance are essential to student growth, and I look forward to discovering and nurturing the incredible talent within our students.

Throughout 2025, I’ll be working with students to bring engaging musical experiences to our school. Some of the exciting plans for this year include:

🎤 Choir Performances – Showcasing our talented singers during assemblies and special events.

🎭 Harmony Day Celebrations – A special performance to celebrate inclusivity and diversity.

🎶 Musical Showcases – Highlighting student talent with musical performances.

🎉 Yarra Road PS 100-Year Celebration – Our students will help develop and create entertainment for this milestone event in September!

I look forward to working with students, parents, and staff to create a vibrant Performing Arts program. If you have any questions or ideas, feel free to reach out – I’d love to hear from you!

Physical Education

Welcome back to another fantastic year. It is great to be back at Yarra Road and see all the familiar faces. This year I, Mrs Smith, will be taking Preps and Year 3/4 students for PE on a Friday, and we have already had an amazing start. 

Prep

This week, the Preps learned about the steps to catching. We played games with balloons to help develop their hand-eye coordination, and they worked as a team during parachute activities. 

Year 3/4

The 3/4s also learned about the steps of catching and applied them to catching activities, challenging themselves to how many claps and spins they could do. They also applied their skills in minor games. 

All the students were very enthusiastic and it was great to see the high level of sportsmanship throughout their lessons - another focus this term.  

Year 1/2

Our Grade 1 and 2 students also started 2025 on a terrific note! We welcomed in the new year with a variety of parachute activities. The gym was a kaleidoscope of colour, popping balls, and laughter, as we worked together to make waves with the parachute. We then explored all the different tricks we could do with balloons. We could throw, catch, kick, and use a variety of different body parts to keep the balloons up. We could also work cooperatively with a partner and keep our equipment still when the whistle went!

During Week 2, we continued to work on our hand-eye coordination and object control, but this time with hoops. We started by jumping, hopping and leaping in and around our hoops, then explored and shared all different tricks we could do, like twisting around our waist, hands, and other body parts, and found out we could even skip with it. We then used the hoops to work cooperatively in pairs and finished off with the minor games "Swap" and "Galaxy Tag".

Year 5/6

We certainly had a hot one to start our sessions! We escaped the heat by coming inside to discuss the rules and expectations of P.E. and then worked on our cooperative skills through a variety of activities and games. Next week we will work on our hand eye coordination in readiness for a cricket unit.

Sporting News

School Sport Victoria 12 Years and Under State Team Trials

An opportunity exists for talented students to trial for School Sport Victoria (SSV) 12 Years and Under State Teams. These trials are aimed at students who are elite within their sport and provides an opportunity for them to compete at a National level later in the year. 

There are a wide variety of sports on offer and these can be viewed on the SSV website. If interested, please click the button below ("SSV Website") for a list of sports and more information on the online registration process. If you require further information regarding your child’s eligibility please contact Narelle Hurley.

Should your child wish to trial for basketball, football, soccer, netball or cricket, for both boys and girls, we ask that you first register your interest with Narelle Hurley by the 13th of February, as there is a different registration process and protocols to follow.

District Swimming - Thursday 27th of February at Tintern 

A number of students have registered interest to participate in the District Swimming Carnival  on the 27th of February, with events starting at 12:15pm. This is also a SSV pathway, with the top two students in each event eligible to progress through to Divisional level, which will be held at Aquanation on the 3rd of March.

For further information regarding the District Swimming competition, please contact Rhiana Macrae.

District Tennis

Students who have a special talent in tennis are eligible to trial for the SSV Tennis 12 Years and under team. Trials are to be held at Yarra Valley Grammar on Friday the 8th of March. If interested, please contact Narelle Hurley ASAP.

House Cross Country

The House Cross Country  for all students is coming up later in the term. Start training!

STEAM

Hello Yarra Road families,

My name is Rachel Baum, and I’m thrilled to welcome all new families to our school community! I have been a proud member of the Yarra Road family for the past 12 years, teaching across Prep, Year One, and Year 1/2, as well as working as a tutor. For the past two years, I’ve had the privilege of teaching Visual Arts, which has been a truly rewarding experience.

This year, I’m excited to step into a new role as the coordinator of our brand-new STEAM program — an initiative that brings together Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics, to foster creativity, innovation, and critical thinking. Through hands-on, inquiry-based learning, students will have the opportunity to explore exciting projects, develop problem-solving skills, and discover how these disciplines connect in real-world applications.

Our STEAM program is designed to spark curiosity and empower students to think like inventors, designers, and creators. From building structures and coding robots, to creating artistic designs and exploring scientific phenomena, there will be something for everyone to enjoy and learn from.

I’m looking forward to working with your children in this dynamic and engaging program and can’t wait to share updates with you throughout the year. If you have any questions or would like to learn more about STEAM at Yarra Road, feel free to reach out—I’d love to connect!

Here’s to an exciting year of discovery, creativity, and collaboration.

This fortnight, Prep students have started their journey into the world of reptiles! We’ve been learning all about blue tongue lizards, black rock skinks, and water dragons — what they look like and where they live. The students are excitedly working on a giant habitat mural, which is already looking fantastic!

Year 1/2 kicked off our Term 1 STEAM unit exploring fossils! Students in Year 1 and 2 learned about how fossils form and created their own fossil imprints using clay and natural objects. The creativity and imagination they showed in creating fossil stories was fantastic — what a great start to the term.

The Year 3/4 students started exploring the fascinating world of landforms and landscapes! From towering mountains to deep valleys, students researched different landforms and located iconic landscapes on a map. They loved sharing their favourite spots and learning why these places are so special.

Our budding geologists in Year 5/6 started their volcano unit! They explored different types of volcanoes, learnt about tectonic plates, and kicked off building 3D volcano models in teams. The creativity and teamwork were fantastic to see!