Spring 2019

What a great year we have had at the Yarra Foundation. The hard working committee have achieved a lot with record numbers of new members, finances well on track with 20 in 20, the successful running of the Take Your Seat in Yarra's History campaign, the expansion of the Yarra’s Living History project, the development of a promotional video, just to name a few.

Despite this, we are always looking out for new members to come on to our Committee. So, please contact the Development Office if you are interested on tel: 03 9262 7717 or email: development@yvg.vic.edu.au.

With the wonderful support of ALL Foundation members, the School is truly in a secure place. I thank you for your ongoing support.

The Yarra Foundation is proud to announce that the Take Your Seat in Yarra’s History campaign received extraordinary community support. Over $150,000 was raised with approximately 300 plaques installed on the back of seats in the newly refurbished George Wood Performing Arts Centre.

On 28 August we were delighted to be joined by close to 300 Yarra community members who had participated in this campaign to unveil their own special commemorative plaque and join us at the Plaque Dedication event.

Giving back to Yarra in time and financial gifts is the tradition that our School was built on and it was sensational to see this tradition continuing on. We thank everyone who got behind this campaign to help us fast track, innovate and bring plans forward so we continue to place Yarra at the forefront of education, in a rapidly changing world.

From quiet discussions and meetings in the study rooms, reading classes in the Performance Space to games of giant chess. From Makerspace activities including Lego constructions and lessons of all types in the teaching rooms, to whole year level services in the Chapel and presentations on the Hellerup stairs. Our new Research Centre is a lively hub of activity for Yarra’s secondary school.

Visitors are most admiring of the new foyer and reception area, linking to our newly refurbished administration suite and Board room, which is well utilised. The Year 9 cohort is enjoying more locker space and a reconfigured social area, in close proximity to their tutors’ new office. The new classrooms have provided much needed additional space in the Middle School.

But the icing on the cake is the soon to be named Yarra Old Grammarians Rooftop Garden; a beautiful space to enjoy musical performances, fellowship and some quiet reflective time whilst admiring the view to the Dandenong Ranges.

Yarra has embraced the new Research Centre, a very functional and most impressive building, surrounded by very attractive landscaping by our own very talented Grounds team.

On 14 October the Yarra Foundation hosted a lunch for the School’s Student Leaders. It was a fantastic opportunity to meet with our Senior and Middle School Leaders and to provide a lunch for them, thanking them for their contribution to Yarra, via their leaderships roles.

On behalf of the Yarra Foundation we spoke about the Yarra story and how so many have made such a difference over our 50 years. A school spirit that has been driven by volunteers and hardworking contributors, willing to give back via their time, ideas, knowledge as well as contributing financially.

We wished the Year 12 group well for their upcoming exams/assessments and end of year celebrations, but also for following years, as they transition from school days here, to the wider world. We reminded them to look out for one another and explained how Yarra connections are strong connections. Community, contribution and making a difference, we thanked the group for all of their individual and group roles in this chapter of School life.

Our 20 in 20 goal, to raise $20 million in 20 years is a bold vision for the Yarra Foundation. By fast tracking, innovating and bringing plans forward we will continue to place Yarra at the forefront of education, in a rapidly changing world.

Breaking this down, our short term goal to reach this, is to raise $1million in the first five years. To achieve this, our 2019 target was to raise $120,000.

So, how are we going towards our goal?

Our Take Your Seat in Yarra’s History campaign has contributed a total of $153,650 including some additional donations that were added onto seat purchases.

Aside from this main fundraising campaign, we have also received generous donations totalling $39,490 from 20in20 donors; and $43,400 has been received to date from the Voluntary Term Giving.

This means our total to date towards 20 in 20 for 2019 is $236,540 plus interest earned on our investments. This is $116,540 (or 97%) above our target.

This is a fantastic start to our 20 in 20 vision and has only been made possible through the generosity of the Yarra Foundation members. We would like to thank each and every one of you for the part you have played in bringing Yarra’s future to today, as we continue to build on this momentum into the future.

On Sunday 8 September the Yarra Valley Grammar Billy Cart team competed in the Maroondah Billy Cart Marathon. The event was organised by the Rotary Club of Maroondah to raise money for charity and to create an occasion for community groups to come together. It was an excellent opportunity for the Yarra students to problem solve using the practical application of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) subjects. Yarra worked with its sponsors Kubota tractors and Ian Branson from Ringwood Kart Centre to create their Billycart and we are very thankful for their support.

20 Middle School students were involved in the event with a group of teachers from the Art Design Technology and Science Faculties. The day started with the lightening laps to see which team could complete the fastest lap and gain 1st position in the grid for the race. Jack Goldsmith pushed the cart and Charan Sukumar drove and they indeed set a lightening pace! They were 10 seconds faster than any other team, putting Yarra in the 1st position on the grid to start the race.

Our winning streak continued throughout the day with all the students giving 100% effort. Completing a total of 138 laps and covering over 30kms, Yarra came home with the win coming 1st place. As well as utilising their STEM skills and enjoying the fun atmosphere on the day, our team raised over $900 for the Smith Family and the students’ own nominated charity, Beyond Blue.

Congratulations to the entire Billycart team including teachers and parent supporters for all their efforts.

As recent visitors to our new Reception will agree, the latest cohort of VCE Art and Design students have produced some wonderful pieces; From elegant fashion to imaginative and functional wooden furniture, a selection of which are on display in our main reception foyer. Each year, an exhibition of Senior School students’ folios shows the high standard and variety of works in many different media, resulting in an increase in popularity of Art, Design and Technology (ADT).

Inspired by the Senior School students, ADT subjects are rapidly increasing in popularity and the existing facilities are limiting both in space and equipment, leading to the idea for a new building.

Featuring a dedicated gallery space, also available for use by the local community, the new Art, Design and Technology facility will include a number of multi-purpose art classrooms, plenty of storage for finished and unfinished works and a well ventilated and more spacious wood work machine room, with access to an outside undercroft.

Work is anticipated to commence in early 2020, with a build time of approximately 14 months. The new facility will be located on Kalinda Road, next to the Science and Mathematics faculty, reflecting many of the features of that building.

In conjunction with the ADT facility, a new car park will be constructed in the South East corner of the School grounds (near the tennis courts), to provide spaces for staff and visitors previously using the Gate C car park, now the site of our new building. We look forward to many woderful artistic creations from our new Art, Design and Tachnology space.

Do you know the answers to these fun Foundation facts?

Q1: What does the School Motto Levavi Oculos mean?

Q2: What year did Yarra Valley Grammar (YVG) establish its Hearing Unit?

Q3: At the end of 1970, John Roberts Pascoe resigned as YVG’s 1st Headmaster because of illness and the Council decided that the School’s library should be named after him. It was then to be known as the Pascoe Resource Centre (PRC). What year did the PRC first open as part of the second stage of the Senior School? And when recently was it re-opened in its new incarnation?

Q4: Dr Mark Merry, YVG Principal/CEO was also the elected Chair of the Associated Heads of Independent Schools of Australia (AHISA) in Victoria from 2009 – 2011 and the National AHISA Chair from 2017-2019. Do you know which year Dr Merry joined the YVG family as our Principal/CEO?

Q5: Do you recognise the boy in this photo and what auspicious day was this photograph taken?

Q6: What year was the Yarra Foundation established?

Q7: For which building did the Yarra Foundation first fundraise? (A clue in the picture below, but do you recognise it?!)

Q8: The Visionary statue reflects the School Motto (see Question 1). This determined the scale and pose that the sculpture would take; an aspirational visionary, looking skyward, pondering and projecting its future. In what year was it created? By whom? And for what occasion?

(scroll down for the answers!)

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A1: I lift up my eyes. It was the founding Chairman’s wife, Mrs Harper, who first suggested the motto Levavi Oculous. The words are the first words of a well-known psalm, Psalm 121. The psalm’s popularity and the happy proximity of the School to the mountains made the choice seem appropriate.

A2: 1972

A3: April 1970; June 2019

A4: 2009 – He is our sixth Principal

A5: Ross Emslie (YOG 1971). He was one of the first students to arrive on the first day of School, Tuesday 8 February 1966

A6: 1988

A7: The School Hall and Performing Arts Centre as it was then known, now known as the George Wood Performing Arts Centre – named after George Wood, Principal of YVG for the eighteen years from 1976 to 1993.

A8: The Visionary was created in 2016 by Yarra Old Grammarian, Damian Vick (YOG 1998) for the School’s 50th Anniversary.

The Yarra Foundation is managed by a volunteer team of parents, past parents and past students who meet twice per term on a Tuesday evening. It is an exciting opportunity to become part of the very substance and spirit of Yarra Valley Grammar.

We are currently looking at recruiting new committee members to join our fold and would very much welcome any Yarra community members keen to contribute.

To find out more, please contact Rosie Brown, YVG’s Director of Development on E: rosie.brown@yvg.vic.edu.au or T: 03 9262 7815.

We would like to thank Perry Wandin, a Wurundjeri Elder, who performed a Welcome to Country and Smoking Ceremony recently in order to raise the Aboriginal, Australian and Torres Strait Islander flags on our newly erected flag poles.

As a School aiming to have a culture of inclusivity, diversity and acceptance, the arrival of the new flags was a moment of joy to so many. Flying the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander flags, alongside the Australian flag is a visible sign of our respect as a School and clearly demonstrates Yarra’s recognition of Australia’s First Nation peoples. These flags will fly on the hill providing a symbol of our welcoming School community and demonstrate our commitment towards reconciliation.

We are looking forward to building upon our connection with the Wurundjeri community.