Week 8
Welcome to week 8. This term is getting away from us quickly. They say time flies when you are having fun and this term has been just that. But plenty more fun to come!

Basketball
Our school basketball team headed off to the Bendigo Basketball tournament last Friday and played incredibly well, showing great teamwork and determination. Even though we didn’t come away with the win, the students never gave up and did our school proud! Thank you to Jen T and Alicia M who volunteered their time to score each game for us!

Book week

Book Week was full of colour and creativity with students dressing up as their favourite book characters. A big thank you to Sue for organising such fun activities and making the event so special for everyone! And well done to all the parents for doing such a great job organising the amazing costumes.

Father’s day
We hope everyone enjoyed Father’s Day over the weekend, we acknowledge the fathers and father figures who play such an important role in the lives of our children.

Tree Planting Day Reminder
Don’t forget, our Tree Planting Day is this Friday, 12th September! We’re looking forward to getting our hands dirty.

HDFNL clean up
We are looking for as many volunteers as possible to help clean up after the HDFNL Grand Final this Sunday, 14th October. This is a fantastic fundraiser for our school, and with more helpers, it will only take 1–2 hours. The clean-up kicks off at 8:00am, the more hands, the quicker it’s done!

RU OKAY DAY
This Thursday is R U OK? Day, a reminder to check in with the people around us and start conversations that can make a big difference. At school, we’ll be encouraging students and staff to look out for one another, ask “Are you okay?” and really listen, because a simple chat can mean so much. Students can come dressed in Yellow on this day. 

Emergency evacuation
This week, staff and students will be practising an emergency management drill to ensure everyone knows what to do and stays safe in the unlikely (hopefully) event of an emergency.

Parent opinion survey
Reminder to please complete the parent opinion survey. Currently we have 9% completion. We would love to increase that to at least 30%. If you could please spare 15-20 minutes to complete this is would amazing. Link and pin to access the survey was sent via ueducateus.

Have Your Say – Languages in 2026
As we begin planning for 2026, we’d love to hear your thoughts on our school’s Language Program. Your feedback will help us shape a program that best supports our students.

You can share your ideas by scanning the QR code below. Staff and students will also be completing a similar survey, so we can gather a wide range of perspectives.

All feedback is warmly welcomed, thank you for helping us plan ahead!

Mr Barri’s riddle of the week

P/1- Savvy.W - This week, Savvy has been working really hard while creating a detailed plan for her elephant habitat diorama. Savvy is always kind and willing to help others in our classroom.

 
2/3/4-  Scott.T - He is always showing the school values and is very insightful when sharing his thoughts. Scotty has been thriving this term with all of the information report writing and reading of non-fiction texts. 

             
4/5/6- Charle.M - Charlie has been working hard in Maths the past few weeks, applying his prior knowledge to tackle challenging maths tasks with determination and explaining the strategies he has used.

                       Watjarang  396

                                  Yuliwil    420

                                               Bunjil   416

Permission Notes
Athletics - uEducateUs - Whole school 
Cross Country - uEducateUs - 3-6 students

Both payments are to be made on My School Connect unless you plan on using SSB or CSEF. 
Please contact Nikki via email if you would like to use SSB or CSEF 



2026 Curriculum Contributions and Voluntry Contributions can be pd via MSC.  Thankyou to those that have already paid.  These contributions help to go towards the cost of implementing the programs the students use every day.   
                           

HATS 

Hats are required in TERM 1 and can be purchased via MSC anytime.  We now also have a larger size hat that can be purchased through the MSC site.  
Hats and Beanies will still be required to buy through MY SCHOOL CONNECT until we have no stock on site then we will have hats and beanies available on the new EDUTHREADS uniform store. 


NEW ONLINE UNIFORM STORE

You can now order the new uniforms through here

 https://eduthreads.com.au/collections/eppalock-primary-school 






 
                                                                     

I hope you all had a fabulous holiday and are excited to be back at school. 2026 is a year of change for me as I go part time, sharing the role with Karen Rees. We have lots of new books for the van and are looking forward to getting back to our wonderful schools.

On my off days I’m going to be spending lots of time with my granddaughter Nora. This is a photo of my first day off for 2026… can you see where we went? After many years away I’ll be back at Toddler Reading Time each week at the library and I can’t wait!

Happy Reading, Mrs G ?

Hi All,

The kids are well and truly settled in and ready for an exciting final term for 2025!

In wellbeing, the classrooms are diving back into Respectful Relationships, and are focusing on Positive Coping, where students develop language around coping, critically reflect on their coping and strategies and extend their repertoire of positive coping strategies.

While we have moved on from Friendology this term, we will revisit some components throughout the term, and when the need arises. We encourage families to do the same! A great one to know and to talk about is Friendship Fires: those little disagreements that can be normal in a healthy friendship (even as adults!). Grades 2-6 have explored this, and use this language often to talk about conflicts that happen in the yard.

You can read a great blog post about it here:

https://urstrong.com/resource/friendship-fire-or-mean-on-purpose/

There is also a fantastic visual that explains some strategies for Friendship Fires and Mean on Purpose:

Until next time!

Kellie

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• eppalock.ps@education.vic.gov.au
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