EPS Newsletter

TERM 1, Week 7, 2026


FROM THE PRINCIPAL-TERM 1,WEEK 7, 2026

School Council Positions

We have received a few nominations for School Council this year however we still have openings for parents to join school council. If this is something that you may be interested in, please contact Andrew as soon as possible.

 

Hobbies and Clubs- Wrap Up

Last Friday was our last Hobbies and Clubs for Term One. On behalf of all the students, we would like to pass on sincere thanks to all the families who gave up their time to come in and work with the students through a vareity of actvities. It certainly exposed all students to new skills, interests, problem solving skills and collaboration. At assembly, it was announced that it was the last one for the term, a collective groan from the students demonstrated how much fun they have had this round of Hobbies and Clubs! Thanks again to our wonderful community for supporting this!

Mental Health Role

We have been very spoiled have Kellie return to EPS in a part-time capacity and look forward to meeting baby number two later this year. As Kellie is heading off on maternity leave next term, we are excited to announce that Lydia is stepping into Mental Health role for the remainder of 2026. Lydia will be on site Monday to Thursday to begin next term!

Athletics with Axedale- Friday May 8th

Next term we have our annual Athletics Day with Axedale Primary School at the Flora Hill Athletics track. On the day, we are asking for families to help and walk around with a group of students or help support an event on the day. If you can come and volunteer for the day, please contact Andrew as soon as possible as we need volunteers to ensure the events success.

 

Changes in Student Pick Up After School

If there is a late change to how your child is to be collected, please call the school to ensure that this communication is received. This will ensure that we have received the message. The phone line does get busy in the afternoon so please call the school with any changes as early as possible.

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

 



IMPORTANT DATES - TERM 1, WEEK 7, 2026

MARCH

Thursday 26th - School Council Meeting (AGM) @6pm 

APRIL

Thursday 2nd - On the deck @ 12.30pm

Friday 3rd -
Last day of TERM 1 - 1.30pm finish 

Monday 20th -
First day of Term 2

Thursday 23rd - School Photos


AWARDS - TERM 1, WEEK 7, 2026

P/1- Gunner.H - Gunner has been going out of his way to to help others in our classroom, particularly our new Prep students.


2/3/4- Pearl.J -  Pearl has been consistently showing responsibility by being ready to learn at the start of every lesson and taking care to complete her classroom jobs after lunch. 


 4/5/6- Spohie.O -  Sophie has demonstarted persistence when working with fractions in class this past week. She confidently uses visual models to represent improper fractions and mixed numbers, and is also begining to accurately add and subtract fractions. 




                       Watjarang  74


                                  Yuliwil  79  


                                               Bunjil   80


Parents Social Event - SATURDAY 21st MARCH



TERM 1, WEEK 7, 2026 Parent Community News





CEPA Farm Supplies Rewards Program 2026

Join the CEPA Community Rewards Program 

EPS is excited to be part of the CEPA Community Rewards Program, a simple way for families to support our school while they shop.

CEPA Farm Supplies is a local Bendigo cooperative that supports community organisations like ours.

How It Works

  1. Register for the CEPA Community Rewards Program
  2. Nominate Eppalock Primary School as the organisation you support
  3. Shop at CEPA Farm Supplies
  4. CEPA donates a percentage of your purchases back to our school

It’s an easy way to help raise funds for our school at no extra cost to families.

Funds Raised Help Support 

  • Student learning resources
    • School programs and activities
    • Improvements to school facilities
    • Community events

Why It Matters

 The more families that participate, the more funds our school receives. By supporting a local business, you are also helping strengthen our local community.

Get Started

Visit: https://cepa.com.au/membership/

Register for the Community Rewards Program and select
Eppalock Primary School as your chosen organisation.

Together we can turn everyday shopping into support for our school.



OSHC ADVENTURES - After School Care Provider

OSHC ADVENTURES is at Eppalock PS 

Contacts
O493 870 743 - Eppalock Phone Service 
Admin@oshcadventures.com.au
www.oshcadventures.com.au

At OSHC Adventures we pride ourselves on

providing children with fun, play-based learning
experiences that meet all your child's
interests and needs.

You can be confident that your child is in
safe hands with our experienced and
passionate educators.

Our operating hours
After School Care- 3:15 - 6:00


Monthly Newsletter



OSHC Adventures - How to enrol your child into after school care 
https://www.eppalockps.vic.edu.au/uploaded_files/media/2parent_week__parent_pack.pdf


OSHC Adventures - Flyer
https://www.eppalockps.vic.edu.au/uploaded_files/media/3eppalock_ps_oshc_adventures.pdf


OSHC Adventures - Family Handbook
https://www.eppalockps.vic.edu.au/uploaded_files/media/family_handbook_oshc_adventures__eppalock.docx



OSHC Adventures - Eppalock Brochure
https://www.eppalockps.vic.edu.au/uploaded_files/media/oshc_eppalock_brochure_2024.pdf




Working With Children Check


The Working with Children Check is a screening process for assessing or re-assessing people who work with or care for children in Victoria. 

At Eppalock PS we require any volunteers to have a current WWCC.

These checks are free for Volunteers.  PLEASE CHECK TO SEE IF YOUR WWCC IS CURRENT AND THAT WE HAVE A COPY OF IT HERE AT THE SCHOOL.  I HAVE JUST UPDATED OUR FILES AND WE HAVE A LOT THAT ARE NO LONGER CURRENT GOING BY OUR RECORDS.

Please remember that you cannot help out with any school activities unless you have a current WWCC

Please follow this link to apply for a WWCC

https://www.workingwithchildren.vic.gov.au/

Axe Creek Playgroup

Playgroup will be held on Friday mornings at 9.30-11am in the Old School Building.  


Scholastic BOOK CLUB

Support our local businesses

Locally owned businesses are owned by your friends and neighbours who live in this community. Local businesses generally
  • make more local purchases
  • are more invested in our community’s future
  • create jobs in your town
  • donate more per sales dollar to local nonprofits, events, and teams
       


If you would like to have your business displayed here or would like to update your business details, please call or email the school


REMINDERS

Permission Notes



All 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 


PIE WARMER WEDNESDAY's is back this Term


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 






 
                                                                     









Drew Thorpe Music

Drew attends Eppalock PS on Wednesday mornings to conduct private music lessons with students that have enrolled with him.  Please contact Drew if you would like your child to learn a musical instrument.  Payments for these sessions are made directly to him.

Wellbeing

LODDON CHILD HEALTH AND WELLBEING LOCAL

INFORMATION SESSIONS BLURB

ADHD What is it and how do I help?

The ADHD brain is different to other brains.  Using video material this session will show you what ADHD is like for your child and provide lots of strategies to help you support their development.  We can also answer questions you have about your child and their behaviour.

Managing Big Feelings

Big feelings include anger, sadness, worry, and distress of any kind are hard to navigate. This session introduces you to the feelings thermometer and will help you understand your own feelings better so that you can help your child with their big feelings.

ASD, What is it and how do I help?

Autism Spectrum Disorder is a condition that affect the social skills, communication and behaviour of a person.  Each person on the spectrum has a different range of issues.  This session will help you to understand the complexity of Autism and how you can pivot your parenting to support your child.

All about anger

Anger is common in children.  This session provides information on what happens in the body and brain when your child is angry.  We also cover triggers for anger and ideas on how to firstly ride out angry feelings, but also how to reduce angry outbursts by using settling strategies through-out the day.

Sleep issues

Sleep is so important for you and your child.  This session gives lots of information about the biology of sleep and ways to support your body as you go into sleep at nighttime.  This includes a sleep routine, exposure to light and technology and setting up a supportive space for sleep.  Ways to help your child settle and get to sleep including strategies for a child who is resisting bedtime is discussed.  It is aimed at children who are in the 2-10 age group rather than babies.

Sensory Processing

Our senses are part of how we engage with the world.  Some people are very sensitive and easily triggered by the world around them.  We can also use our senses to help ourselves calm and settle.  This session introduces you to understanding sensory triggers and using the senses to settle your feelings.

Anxiety and worry in Kids

Anxiety is very common in children.  Understanding what anxiety is and what happens in the body when your child is anxious will help you to support your child to soothe and calm when they are anxious.  This session provides strategies and involved practicing some of these strategies so you can try them at home.

 

Stop the tech

What happens when your child is on technology a lot of the time?  What affect is this having on their brain?  Technology use is changing our brains as devices are addictive.  This is causing problems for lots of families and children.  There are no simple answers but lots of ideas about what you can try in your household to reduce tech use and offer other ways to engage in life.

Family Rules and consequences

Setting up rules and having consequences can be very hard.  There are lots of reasons why we don’t do this.  Children need to know the rules and have consequences to help them learn to cope with life.  This session will help you to get started or add to your kit bag of rules and consequences.  Having these helps households to enjoy life more.

Parent Mental Health

Parenting is a challenging job.  It is often hard to take care of yourself and your family.  This session explores the challenges of parenting and day to day ways to support yourself in this role.  Having good mental health is really important meeting the demands of parenting.

Supporting Self Esteem

Liking yourself isn’t easy in the world today.  Children and parents are flooded with messages about what they need to be.  This session will help you to understand how you can support your own and your child’s positive feeling about themselves. 

Building Social Skills

The social world and the rules about how it works are hard for some children to understand.  This session will support you to have conversations with your child about healthy relationships, social contact and how to engage with other children.  You will get a chance to try some of the ideas for building up social skills with your child.

Being There

This is a simple session focussing on connecting and relationship with your child as well as helping with their mental health.

 

 

PARENT SUPPORT AND EDUCATION SESSIONS
TERM 2, 2026

                                                                                                                                                 

The Loddon Children’s Health & Wellbeing Local offers free weekly education sessions that address mental health and wellbeing. The sessions are run by a mental health or allied health clinician at the Local.

Sessions are open to any parents or carers of children aged 0-11.   

Why join in?   

  • Talk to Local staff about your child.    
  • Ask any practical questions you have about parenting now.   
  • Gain support for yourself as a parent.   

Where: The Loddon Child and Health Wellbeing Local, 19 Helm St KANGAROO FLAT 3555. Enter via the green porch at the back of the site.

Dates and topics:  Wednesdays (Face to face) 

WHEN

TIME

TOPIC

Apr 22

9.30am

ADHD What is it and How Can I Help?

Apr 29

9.30am

What Is Autism and How Can I Help?

May 6th

9.30am

Parent Wellbeing

May 13

9.30am

All about anger

May 20

9.30am

Managing Big Feelings

May 27

9.30am

Tech Troubles

Jun 3

9.30am

Anxiety in kids

Jun 10

9.30am

Family rules and consequences

Jun 17

9.30am

Sleep

 

If you have any Questions, please contact Annette Clemments on 1800 433 977 Book in via email icfhwlocals@bchs.com.au. Please state your name, your child’s name and the session you wish to attend.