EPS Newsletter

TERM 3, WEEK 2, 2026


FROM THE PRINCIPAL - TERM 3, WEEK 2, 2026

Room A Teacher- Damian Cairns

At the end of last term, we were able to announce that Damian Cairns will be taking on the teaching role in Room A once Amy Shelton commences her maternity leave. Damian is a very experienced teacher who has been teaching at St Peters and has taught across all year levels, bringing a depth of knowledge of teaching, learning and wellbeing practices to our school.

 

Damian (Mr Cairns) will attend our school assembly this Friday the 24th to introduce himself to the school and the community. After the assembly, Damian will remain on site for a meet and greet with families and will spend some time in the classroom afterwards.

 

 

Parent Teacher Interviews

This term, we will have parent teacher interviews on Friday the 7th of August from 8:30AM-4:45PM here at school. Interview bookings can be made via uEducateUs. If your child is having a Student Support Group Meeting on Friday, July 31st, please do not book a parent teacher interview.

 

Grade 3 to 6 Camp

Reminder that Grade 3-6 Camp is coming up in the final week of Term Three (September 14th-16th).  We will be confirming camp numbers this week along with room allocation for students. If there have been any changes with your child’s attendance to camp, please let the office know as soon as possible. The final two payments are coming up:

20/7- $100

17/8- $50

 

2027 Prep Enrolments
A reminder that prep enrolments for 2027 are due no later than July 31st. Don’t stress if you have not handed yours into the office yet, although as soon as possible would be great. If you know of any families wanted to enrol, please reach out.

20 Positive Acknowledgement (PA) Cards

From the beginning of Term 3, we're making a small change to how we communicate with families when students reach 20 Positive Acknowledgement (PA) Cards. When your child reaches this milestone, you'll receive a notification through uEducateUs inviting your family to attend our Friday assembly, where your child will be recognised for their achievement. This will replace the direct email previously sent by me and will help streamline our communication while ensuring you continue to receive all the important information needed to celebrate your child's success.

Division Football

This Wednesday, Mr King and a group of 5/6 students are heading to CMC for our division footy. We will be teaming up with Axedale PS and we have both a girls and boys team taking part in the day, we wish both the boys team and the girls team the best of luck!

150 Year Celebrations

As everyone is aware, we are looking forward to celebrating our 150 years on Sunday October 18th and would love to have everyone in attendance. There is a permission note on ueducateUs for students attending as we would ask that all students and families are there on the day. The students will be signing the National Anthem and the school song. We are having a whole community working bee on the Friday, October 18th prior to the 150 years, so we need as much as our community here on the day, please put this into your calendar.

Whilst the committee is working hard behind the scenes to get this event organised, there are some jobs that we are asking people to volunteer and help with. We have already begun putting some names to jobs and if you are able to help, please contact the school. This list will be updated regularly and jobs added and removed once complete.

The following jobs have been taken on by the following community members.

  • Retaining wall near old school building tank, and garden - Chris, Kevin & Tim
  • Remove the blinds in the eating area - Alicia
  • Check other plaques - Nikki
  • Bent pipe on the front fence - Kevin
  • Finish the front gate fort demolition, reinstall fort in base - Kevin
  • School photos hung in the school building reception- Andrew

 

We are seeking some helpers to take on the following jobs:

  • Pavers around the firepit- lay bricks around the existing firepit- we would like this done as soon as possible.
  • Chook shed tidy inside and out, on top- this needs to be done asap and again over the Term Three holidays
  • Vege patch tidy up- attach chicken wire around the vege patch- the school has the wire ready to go- this can be done between now and term Three holidays.
  • Front (poo) paddock tidy up.
  • The treated pine that came from the sensory garden needs to be repurposed; we would love ideas for this wood and reo- please contact the school if you have ideas about how to re-purpose this.
  • Stain ‘N’ Sip the wooden deck- this needs to be done over the Term Three School Holidays, the stain is provided (sips are not).
  • Paint ‘n’ Sip the wooden playground. We have the paints and paint brushes ready to go for whoever takes on this one, like the Stain N Sip, drinks unfortunately are not provided.
  • Old School Building Deep Clean- September School Holidays and again on the whole school working bee.
  • Weeding- anywhere and everywhere needs some attention however if you are available during the school holidays to help with some weeding, we need all our garden spaces looking tip top.
  • Installation of a new ‘buddy bench’ to replace the Laurie Whelan wooden seat in the Serenity Garden. The school will purchase the bench however this will need some concrete footings poured and the new bench to be installed to the footings.

Photographer Needed

Are you an aspiring photographer or know someone who is? We are in search of someone to be the designated photographer for our upcoming 150-year celebrations. If you are interested or know of someone who is, please contact the school.

Items for Sale

We have the following items for sale to our EPS community. We would like to offer these items to our EPS families before we advertise them elsewhere so if you would like to purchase these, please contact the school as soon as possible. After two weeks, we are going to put these up for sale in other places.

  1. Shade Sails- ask yourself, aren’t you sick sitting on plastic chairs that feel like lava and BBQing in conditions better suited to the surface of the sun? If the answer to that is yes, then you should buy a shade sail or two! Our ‘like new’ shade sails are tough, stylish and scientifically proven to reduce the phrase, ‘Crikey, its hot!’ We purchased these in 2024 and are from the Serenity Garden area, the poles that they used are approximately 8.75m X 9.75m apart. They are $2,000 each.

 

  1. 5000-gallon water tank- buyer to remove- $1,000. The amazing features of the tank include:
  • Has successfully held water
  • Rain-compatible
  • Sun-tested and weather-certified
  • Does not include water- BYO rain

  1. Jellybean table ($20, approximately 150cmX110cm). Looking for a table with a story to tell? This genuine pre-used school table has survived years of maths tests and glue incidents. It has amazing features like:
  • Rock-solid construction (strong enough to survive a classroom of multiple age levels)
  • Authentic "well-loved" finish
  • May contain traces of PVA glue, pencil marks and the hopes and dreams of future scientists
  • Perfect for a shed, workshop, craft room, homework station, or anyone chasing that nostalgic "school" vibe

Disclaimer: Sitting at this table may trigger an uncontrollable urge to ask, "Can I go to the toilet?"

 







Mr Cairns



IMPORTANT DATES - TERM 3, WEEK 2, 2026

JULY 


AUGUST 

Monday 3rd - 100 Days of Prep Celebration 

Friday 7th - Soup Lunch Day 
                 - Parent/Teacher Interviews

Friday 21st - Tree Planting Day 


SEPTEMBER 

Thursday 10th - School Production 

Mon-Wed 14th-16th - 3-6 Camp

Friday 18th - Last Day Term 3, Casual Clothes, 1.30pm finish 


AWARDS - TERM 3, WEEK 2, 2026

P/1- Arliah.C -  Arliah is always a kind friend to others and tries her best in everthing that she does. 


2/3/4- Levi.A -  Levi for showing resilience and determination in Maths. 

 4/5/6- Rhys.B -  Rhys has had a positive start to the term, using vivid language when writing colour poems and working hard to focus during independant learning time. 





                       Watjarang  241


                                  Yuliwil  247 


                                               Bunjil   230


REMINDERS

Permission Notes

Camp payment #4 is due 17/08/26 $50 
 


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 






 
                                                                     









TERM 3, WEEK 1, 2026 Parent Community News



150 Years Celebration - 10am Sunday 18th October 2026

Eppalock Primary School will be celebrating its 150 year anniversary in 2026! The date has been set… Sunday 18th October 2026!!  Put it in your diaries and spread the word!

We have formed a committee to plan a celebration. Please let us know if you would like to help! 

 
 

To register your interest in joining the organising committee please email 150yearsEPS@gmail.com.  We are seeking both current and former EPS community members for the committee.

If you have any great photos, stories, or memorabilia from Eppalock Primary School over the last 150 years we would love to hear from you.  Please email them through to 150yearsEPS@gmail.com.

We look forward to celebrating this significant milestone in 2026.



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.

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/

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


Scholastic BOOK CLUB

Axe Creek Playgroup

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