Principal's Report

 Principal - Julie Hommelhoff

Assistant Principal - Jacob Johnson

Welcome to the 2026 school year. 

Thank you to teachers, students, and parents for being so organised and eager to start the school year having everything prepared and ready to go. 

We welcome new staff: Ms Courtney O’Mara and Mr Jed Brereton to our 5 / 6 Team. We wish Tea all the very best in her future teaching pursuits. 

I am happy to be back at the helm as Principal and extend my warmest welcome back to staff, students and families. To our extended community, I welcome you back and am looking forward to working right alongside you in 2026. 

To our new families beginning their time at ETRPS, we welcome you and truly hope your time here is enjoyable and full of learning opportunities. 

You will have seen some changes have been made to the location of classes, the wellbeing room or Sensory Den as it will be known, AUSLAN, BOOST, Performing Arts and Visual Arts remain the same. We are in the process of designing a new map to indicate the changes for our community. This will be provided to everyone on ClassDojo, placed on the school's website and will be displayed on windows or doors throughout the school.

Our Deepest Sympathy's to the Hore Family...

We are very saddened to hear of the passing of Donna Hore; a staff member of many years here at ETRPS. Donna worked closely with our students to develop independence and to provide a tailored program where required. Donna led our ESS team imparting her knowledge and experience / skills to new staff and to those working alongside her. Donna was very strong in her conviction to life, her passion to help others and devotion to her family. We will hold fond memories of you, Donna and send our thoughts as you now 'Rest in Peace'.

School Council

School Council is seeking one very enthusiastic parent representative to join our team.  School Council is our governing body of whom make important decisions to do with funding, budgets, communicating with our community and developing the best possible programs for our students. We meet every forth Monday of the month at 6 pm in the Conference Room at ETRPS. 

Should you wish to join this team, please contact Julie, Dee and / or the office to collect a nomination form.  

Please note: Student Accident Insurance 

The Department of Education does not provide personal accident insurance for students. 

Parents are responsible for paying the cost of medical treatment for injured students, including any ambulance attendance/transport costs. Reasonable low-cost accident insurance policies are available from the commercial insurance sector. Complete a google search on ‘Student Insurance’ if you are interested.

It is recommended that personal property stays home as there is no insurance cover for personal belongings.

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. These can be purchased from the office for $12.

1st September… Hats Remember.

1st May… Hats off Day.

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/ren to ask for help.

Easter Raffle - Egg donations

Its that time again...

We will be running an Easter Egg Raffle this term. That means we will be in need of Easter Egg donations to the office as soon as possible. Our community is so generous in this space and we thank you in advance for contributing to the prize pool. 

Communication

As parents and carers, you will at times need to meet with classroom teachers to clarify classroom 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 no interruptions. Don’t forget you can always message on ClassDojo, email or call the school on 54 107 700. 

Important Information: Sentral App at Echuca Twin Rivers PS 🎉📱 Part 1: Please ensure you have downloaded Sentral and set up your profile- All camps, excursions and school events will now be managed through the Sentral app — nice and easy, all in one place!- This means we’ll be saying goodbye to paper permission slips and will no longer be sending hard copies home.- To get started, please check out the attached letter which shows you how to download and set up the Sentral app. Need a hand? No worries at all! 😊Sue in the school office is more than happy to help with installing or setting up Sentral — just pop in or give us a call.✍️ Part 2: Signing Permission Slips- Once you’re set up, permission slips can be viewed and signed directly in the Sentral app.- The attached screenshots will walk you through how to sign a permission slip step by step.- If you get stuck, please don’t hesitate to call or come into the office — we’re here to help!💳 Coming Soon – Payments via Sentral! We’re excited to let families know that payments will soon be able to be made directly through the Sentral app, making things even more convenient. We will communicate with you all once this is set up.📌 Please Note:- Families who do not wish to use the Sentral app will need to visit the school office to sign permission slips at the front desk. Thanks so much for your understanding and support as we make this positive change at Echuca Twin Rivers Primary School.

Change of date - CURRICULUM DAY is now Monday 2 March - no school for students on this day.  Schools Out will be running. 

Absence

For some of you this won't come as a surprise, for others its new information. Unfortunately, for me, I am going back into hospital for cancer treatment. I have been treated for thyriod / bone cancer for three years now and doing very well, however, I need to have a maintenance dose of RAI. I will be absent from Friday 13 February to Tuesday 10 March inclusive. Mr Ben Ridge (A.P of ETRSS) will step-in as Acting Principal in  my absence. Ben will start Monday 16 February and finish on Friday 6 March. I know you will make him feel very welcome and that he already knows many of or families. Continue to look after one another and be the best community we can be. I will see you in a few weeks. 

Inclusion, Respect, Responsibility, Resilience, (Academic Excellence)  

Julie Hommelhoff      

Principal