Welcome to 2026

A very warm welcome to all students and families as we begin the 2026 school year at EPS. We hope the holiday break provided everyone with the opportunity to rest, recharge and enjoy time together.

The year has begun in a very positive way and staff are genuinely excited to be working in partnership with our students and families throughout 2026. Even in just the first three days, students have returned settled, engaged and enthusiastic, reconnecting with friends while quickly re-establishing strong routines and positive learning habits.

School and House Captains 2026

Last Friday we had our first assembly, led our two school captains for 2026, Max and Huey. The boys did a wonderful job getting organised so quickly and speaking confidently in their first assembly together. It was great to see the collaborative efforts and supportive approach they took to getting prepared. We also were able to recognise and celebrate our 2026 House and Performing Arts Captains for 2026. Kate, Audrey and Ben will represent their respective houses for 2026 and Roma and Rhys will lead Performing Arts in 2026. As a student leadership team, they have been very proactive already in organising and developing groups for our Positive Leaders and Active Youth (PLAY) program and their leadership skills are coming to the forefront. Well doen to our 2026 student leadership team!

Courage/Codes and Crowns- Wellbeing session for students and parents

This is a wonderful opportunity for our school community so if your child is in Grades Three to Six, please sign up for the evening session. If you registered for this event previously, you do not need to re-register. We are aiming to have 100% attendance on the night so please ensure that you capitalise on this opportunity.

The school is paying to have this program run and we would love to have as much as of our community attend this as possible. The date for the parent session is Wednesday the 25^th of February from 6PM.

For females, Please ensure your seats are saved for the evening session by RSVP email to Megan on: https://courageandcrowns.com/eppalock-primary-school-crowns

For the males, Please save this date in your calendars and rsvp via this link: https://courageandcrowns.com/eppalock-primary-school-codes

School Council Positions

This year, there are three positions to be nominated on our wonderful School Council, all of which are parent positions. Once School Council approves the timeline, the dates will be posted in the newsletter. We would encourage family members who are interested to self-nominate when the forms are posted. Each member brings their own valuable life skills and knowledge to the role. However, councillors may need to develop skills and acquire knowledge in areas that are unfamiliar to them. It is important to have an interest in your child’s school and the desire to work in partnership with others to help shape the school’s future.

 If you are at all interested, please contact Andrew. Nomination forms can be found at the front office with Nikki.

Hats and Drink Bottles

Please ensure that your child’s hat is clearly named in case it does get misplaced. The warm weather is well and truly sticking around so also please make sure that your child/ren come to school with a clearly named drink bottle that is filled with water.

Lining up and Entering the building

When students arrive in the morning, the external classroom doors will be opened at 8:45 AM by classroom teachers and this is when students are encouraged to bring their bags into their classrooms. We kindly request that parents and students do not enter the building through the front door before 8:45 AM unless an appointment has been arranged.

Late Arrivals

If you are running late, please bring your child into reception via the front doors to Nikki’s office. Once your child is signed in, please bring them to their respective class via the hallway and send them into their class through the internal door. We would ask that families make this transition as quickly as possible with minimal interruption to allow the students in class to maintain concentration during this learning session.

SunSmart School

These are just a few general reminders for when students return to school. We are a SunSmart school, which means students are required to wear broad-brimmed hats. Please ensure that these are sent to school with your child's name clearly written on the inside. If students do not wear a hat outside, they must sit under the shaded structure in the eating area.

Crazy Bingo

Our first Community Night is Friday the 6^th and is our annual Crazy Bingo. It is a fun-filled evening and a great way to meet and interact with everyone so please pencil that into your diaries. Please bring along your own camping chairs, food, drinks and something simple wrapped and ready to ‘steal’ for the night.

EPS on Facebook

EPS has an official school page where we post information about what is happening, pictures and upcoming events. Please make sure you add this page to your Facebook page. There is also a parent page that is overseen by the parents of EPS, this is not the official page however it is extremely helpful if you are unsure of something coming up, this can be found by searching ‘Eppalock Primary School- Parent Info Share from 2024.’ If you cannot find the page please see Nikki @ the office. 

Preps on Wednesdays by appointment only

Starting next week on Wednesday, February 4^th, Prep students are not to attend school unless an appointment with Amy Shelton (Prep One Teacher) has been arranged. This will allow for a rest day as well as one-to-one teaching and learning with Mrs. Shelton. All Prep students are expected to be at school on Wednesday, January 28^th.

OSHC Adventures

All families should enrol your child into OSHC Adventures as a precautionary measure in case of emergency as staff duty of care finishes at 3:45PM. Students are not able to be accepted into the OSHC Adventures program without relevant paperwork being completed prior to a child attending. OSHC Adventures operates 5 days a week from 3:15 to 6PM. If families are unable to collect children by 3:30, students will be sent to the OHSC program. More information can be found on their website:

https://oshcadventures.com.au/enrol-now

uEducateUs App

Please ensure that you have downloaded the uEducateUs app. This app is vital for families at EPS as it contains many functions that we use to communicate. On the app, you can mark attendance, read communications, view and give permission to events and view student reports.

Thank You Summer Helpers

A heartfelt thank you to all the families who generously volunteered their time over the summer holidays. The Eppalock community spirit is thriving, and we are so grateful for your help with weeding, feeding the chooks, watering, and all the other tasks that keep our school running smoothly.

Hair Ties
Please ensure that if your child has hair that touches the shoulder, it is tied back with a hair tie. This will help us prevent the spread of nits.

Parent Parking

When parking at school, please do not park near the business entrance for RV Power across the road or near the CFA building in the dirt car park. The business works on campervans and large vehicles and must have a wide turning circle for these vehicles to enter so please ensure that adequate room is left either side of their driveway. When using the CFA car park, please do not leave your car parked close to the CFA building as these spots must always be available to our wonderful CFA volunteers.

Visitors and Volunteers- Working with Children Check and Red Lanyard

All visitors (except when at assembly) and volunteers MUST have a current Working With Children Check. This is in line with our Visitors and Volunteers policies. All visitors and volunteers must have the check and be signed in at the front office, once this is complete, visitors and volunteers will receive a red lanyard. We would encourage all family members to have an up to date Working With Children’s check.

Updating Student’s Medical History

We would like all families to update their child’s medical records to ensure that we have all relevant and updated information to begin 2026.  This week a form will be sent home with all students and we are asking that families complete this form if their child has any medical information and send it back as soon as possible. 

Annual privacy reminder for our school community

Our school collects and uses student and parent personal information for standard school functions or where permitted by law, as stated in the Schools’ privacy policy and the Schools’ privacy collection notice.

Our Photographing, Filming and Recording Students policy (https://www.eppalockps.vic.edu.au/page/72/Policies) describes how we collect and use photographs, video and recordings of students. The policy also explains when parent consent is required and how it can be provided and withdrawn.

We ask parents to also review the guidance we provide on how we use Google Workspace for Education safely at the school and what parents can do to further protect their child’s information. If after reviewing the guidance, you have any questions or concerns regarding your child using Google Workspace for Education, please contact the school.

For more information about privacy, refer to: Schools’ privacy policy: information for parents.

Many thanks,

Andrew

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 






 
                                                                     

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
• 5439 6366