Principal's Report

Acting Principal - Julie Hommelhoff 

Assistant Principal -Anthea Mathers 

Dear Parents and Carers,  

What a week we've all experienced, so much can happen in the space of a few short hours. Now we are back to normal with lockdown all but a distant memory, at least for the moment anyway. 

 We would like to commend and sincerely thank our families, students and staff on such a stoic effort returning to home learning at such short notice. Now we have the systems in place and the knowledge around how these systems work, it made the transition back to home learning quick and very smooth. 

 We'd like to thank you for your patience with us when communicating the information from the Department. Despite the information often being announced by the media, we are bound by the DET policies and procedure and must wait for formal communication to be disseminated before informing our community and sometimes this can take a little while longer.  Please see below for an updated overview of the current Covid 19 restrictions.

COVID 19 Restriction Update

You are still able to accompany your child/ren during drop off and pick up times inside the school grounds. Please feel free to bring your child/ren into the classroom and collect them from the grounds at the end of the day. If you need to be in the school for longer than 15 minutes, please make your way to the office to sign in.  

 Parents and visitors attending the school must wear masks.   A fitted mask must be worn when using indoors spaces and when outside where a distance of 1.5m cannot be maintained. 

Students aged 12 or over must wear a face mask indoors unless they are attending a primary school, an outside school hours care program or an exception applies.  Children under 12 years of age and students at primary school are not required to wear face masks.  

Unfortunately assemblies remain restricted to school staff and students only at this stage. 

 Learning Chats

Learning Chats have have been rescheduled for next Week 5 (22nd -25th  of February) for every student in the school. This provides an opportunity for you and your child to meet with the classroom teacher and discuss their interests, strengths, medical or wellbeing needs and together set learning goals for your child. There will be an allocation of 15 mins per student. This can occur in person, via Webex or a phone call. This will not apply to our Prep students who have had interviews already.

A new booking form was issued on Sentral yesterday and we ask parents and carers to access this and rebook a time that is suitable.

We strongly encourage our students to attend these meetings and contribute to the development of their learning goals. We are looking forward to meeting with you. Please remember, masks will be required. 

If you require support accessing Sentral, please call the office for assistance. 

 Interschool Swimming Carnival 

Next Thursday the 25th of February is the Interschool swimming carnival. We will have approximately 30 students attending this event at the Echuca Pool. At this stage, unfortunately parents are unable to attend. 

ETRS Swimming Carnival 

On Thursday the 12th of March, we will be hosting the 2021 ETRS School Swimming Carnival at the Moama Pool. This date has been changed due to the Covid lockdown. Students in Grade 3 -6 will have the opportunity to participate. Students must be able to swim a minimum of 25m to compete. Students must complete 50m without stopping in order to qualify for the interschool level. Parents and friends are welcome to attend subject to Covid restrictions at the time. The event will begin at 9:30am and conclude at 1:30pm at the Moama Pool.

School Picnic & Stage 2 Opening 

Our school along with the Echuca Twin Rivers Specialist School will be hosting a Welcome Picnic on Tuesday the 2nd of March from 5:30 -7:30 in the new courtyard in front of the Centre. Please bring along a picnic to share with your family and enjoy the opportunity to view our wonderful new facilities across both sites. 

We will be also be announcing our school leaders for 2021 for both schools. Distinguished guests will be attending, a student performance along with a smoking ceremony will be conducted on the night. 

We warmly welcome our families. Masks will  be required and visitors will be asked to sign in via a QR code on arrival. 

Helmets

Just a friendly reminder that all children who are travelling to school via bike or scooter are required by law to wear a helmet. Your assistance with this is greatly appreciated. 

Bride to Be.. 

We'd like to wish Erin Pensini and her husband to be Travis a very happy wedding day on Saturday. Congratulations and best wishes from all of us at ETRS.

 SunSmart Policy: Hats On 

 All students are required to wear their broad brimmed hats, even when playing or participating in activities under any shelters. 

Our SunSmart Policy is based upon the Cancer Council guidelines that hats should be worn when UV levels are above 3 on the index (usually around the beginning of September in each year). We source this information from the following website:  www.bom.gov.au/products/UV/Bendigo_VIC.shtml

Please remember that only our school hats may be worn.

1st September… Hats Remember.

1st May… Hats off Day.

Any students who do not have a hat must remain in the courtyard in the shade during break times. 

 Naming Clothing 

 Please clearly name all clothing (including hats) so that it can be quickly returned to its owner. We have white material markers in the Office and we will happily record student’s names on hats and clothing if needed.  Just send your child to ask for help.

 Communication

As parents and carers you will at times need to meet with classroom teachers to clarify classrooms programs and sometimes discuss problems that may have arisen. The teachers and Leadership Team will endeavour to meet and discuss any range of school issues as soon as possible, however please be aware staff meetings occur each Tuesday and Wednesday nights straight after school. There is an assumption all teachers will attend meetings on time. No teacher will dismiss your question or concerns, so calling to organise a time to meet will ensure the question or issue can be addressed with plenty of time and with no interruptions. 

Respect, Inclusion, Resilience, Responsibility, Academic Excellence

Enjoy the weekend!

Julie & Anthea

Acting Principal & Assistant Principal