Narrandera and Leeton Shire Councils, in collaboration with the Rotary clubs of Leeton, Leeton Central and Griffith are excited to welcome senior high school students to the 2026 Ryda program which will run at Yanco from 10 to 12 March 2026.

Year 11 students from across the region will travel to Yanco Agricultural Institute to participate in Road Safety Educations (RSE) award winning road safety program which will challenge the way they view themselves and their choices as both young drivers and passengers.

The Ryda program is a series of practical and powerful workshops that provide students a unique opportunity to learn about behavioural and technical factors associated with road safety at a critical time in their lives. It takes each student one school day to complete the program.

“The Ryda program empowers students to make good choices, whether they are the driver or passenger in a vehicle. It gives them practical tools and strategies to use while travelling on our roads to contribute to the safety of themselves, and others road users around them,” said Rebecca Cassimatis, Narrandera Shire Council’s Road Safety Officer.

Students will be travelling from schools across the region including, Narrandera, Leeton, Yanco, Barellan, Griffith, Hay, Hillston, Coleambally, Lockhart, Oaklands, Ardlethan, Ariah Park, and Balranald.

This is the 19th year Ryda has been delivered in Yanco with over 6200 local students having attended the program. Numbers are strong again this year with over 500 students registered.

The program, which has been attended by over 900,000 students throughout Australia and New Zealand since its rollout in 2001, is best practice in road safety education, overseen by an expert educational advisory board and regularly evaluated to ensure validity.

Locally, Ryda is supported by Rotary, NSW Police Force through Youth Command and Murrumbidgee Police District-Traffic and Highway Patrol, Narrandera and Leeton Shire Councils, MIA Advanced and Defensive Driver Training and Yanco Agricultural Institute.

Ryda is made possible through the ongoing support of RSE’s corporate partners, BOC, Boral, Bridgestone and Toyota, and our community partner, Rotary.

More information regarding the Ryda program can be obtained by contacting the Narrandera Shire Council Road Safety Officer on 6959 5589.