Upcoming Wellbeing events in Term 1:

Buddies- (Week 7)
International day of happiness (March 20th)
Harmony Day Celebration (Week 8)
National Ride2School day (Week 8)
LifeChanger- Year 6 (Week 10)
Smile Squad Dental Van visit- Throughout Term 1

Wellbeing Structure-

Tegan is our Mental Health and Wellbeing Leading Teacher. She is full time in this role.

Nicole is our Primary Wellbeing Officer. She works Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday each week.

Kimmie is our Disability Inclusion and Wellbeing Education Support Staff member. She works Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday each week.

Harmony Week 2026

We celebrated Harmony Week at ETRPS in Week 8, March 16th- March 23rd. We had Multi-Age activities and a parade to celebrate our diversity. For our Multi-Age games we played Weet-Weet, Octopus, Fruit Salad, Cat & Mouse, Duck, Duck, Goose, What's the time Mr Wolf, Brambahl & Knock Down the Can.

Do it for Dolly Day- Friday May 8th

Do It For Dolly Day, held on May 8, 2026, is a national day of action calling on Australians to Go Blue to End Bullying.

On Friday May 8, our school can join thousands of others in remembering Dolly Everett and helping to create a kinder, safer world for every student. By fundraising and going blue to end bullying, your school will:

Raise awareness about the devastating impact of bullying
Support students to feel safe, seen, and not alone
Fund vital programs like anti-bullying workshops in schools, the Bullying Support Line, 13 DOLLY, and Mental Health First Aid training for teachers

Every activity, from a simple dress-in-blue day to a whole-school fundraiser, makes a real difference. Together, we can help end bullying and spread kindness in Dolly Everett's memory.

We invite our school community to add a touch of blue to their uniforms on this date to celebrate.

Buddies

In Week 7 (Wednesday the 11th of March), our students will participate in a Buddies Launch session. This session will be structured to support our students to identify what a Buddy is, what a Buddy does and to get to know one another through games and activities. Buddies will be invited to draw and create a portrait of one another.

The Resilience Project (2026)

In 2026, ETRPS will partner with The Resilience Project to deliver their Wellbeing program. Each of our students will be provided with a Journal to support the lessons in the classroom. More information regarding this to come in 2026.

See the video link attached should you wish to see the launch: https://vimeo.com/1124702592/bf8fa700fd?ts=15000&share=copy

This week, we encourage you to have a GEM (Gratitude, Empathy, Mindfulness) chat with your child. See below for suggestions on what you may chat about:

Accessing NDIS Support information for Parents/Carers:

eSafety Parent & Carer Webinars:

The following extract has been taken from the following link: https://www.esafety.gov.au/about-us/industry-regulation/social-media-age-restrictions

"Social media age restrictions

The Australian Government is protecting young Australians at a critical stage of their development, through world-first social media age restrictions.

From 10 December 2025, age-restricted social media platforms will have to take reasonable steps to prevent Australians under the age of 16 from creating or keeping an account.

The restrictions aim to protect young Australians from pressures and risks that users can be exposed to while logged in to social media accounts. These come from design features that encourage them to spend more time on screens, while also serving up content that can harm their health and wellbeing.

While no formal assessments have been made, the age restrictions are likely to apply to Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok, X (formerly Twitter) and YouTube, among other platforms.

More generally, age restrictions will apply to social media platforms that meet three specific conditions, unless they are excluded based on criteria set in out in legislative rules made by the Minister for Communications in July 2025.

The conditions for age restriction are:

the sole purpose, or a significant purpose, of the service is to enable online social interaction between two or more end-users
the service allows end-users to link to, or interact with, some or all of the other end-users
the service allows end-users to post material on the service.

Online gaming and standalone messaging apps are among a number of types of services that have been excluded under the legislative rules. However, messaging services that have social-media style features which allow users to interact in other ways apart from messaging may be included in the age restrictions, as well as messaging features accessed through age-restricted social media accounts.

Find out the facts about the social media 'ban' or delay

It’s not a ban, it’s a delay to having accounts.

This means there will be no penalties for under-16s who access an age-restricted social media platform, or for their parents or carers. However, age-restricted social media platforms may face penalties if they don’t take reasonable steps to prevent under-16s from having accounts.

Details about how the age restrictions will operate and other relevant information will be developed throughout 2025. We will provide answers to frequently asked questions on our FAQ page and throughout the eSafety website. The information will help Australians – including under-16s, parents, carers and educators – understand and prepare for the change. "

The Phone Pledge:

Wellbeing Support at ETRPS-

Meet our KESO Paul!

Koorie Engagement Support Officers (KESOs) are part of an area-based team of professionals who understand Aboriginal culture and history of the community.

KESOs support schools with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander learners to participate fully in education by providing advice and building capability within schools.

Together with their student support colleagues, KESOs may:

guide schools about culturally-inclusive learning environments
identify services to support student engagement and improved outcomes
support schools to build relationships with Koorie students and families.

KESOs are not qualified mental health practitioners or allied health professionals, however, as part of a multi-disciplinary team, are able to guide schools towards the most appropriate resources to support Koorie students.

Paul is a valued member of our school community. He visits our school each week on Thursdays. Feel free to pop in and say hello, or contact him if you have any questions on 0437 557 360.

Thanks for all you do for us Paul!

Online Doctor

BRAVE Program-

The BRAVE program is an online self-help program that contains both resources and information for children, teenagers and their parents. BRAVE Program is free of charge to all young people, parents/carers, and professionals who live within Australia. It is designed specifically to help young people with anxiety overcome their worries and improve the quality of their lives.

BRAVE is a cognitive behaviour therapy tool based on established clinical practice guidelines for the treatment of child and adolescent anxiety, as described by the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists.

No matter how old or young you are, everyone experiences anxiety at times. We here at the BRAVE program know that worrying about things all the time is tough. The BRAVE program was developed to help young people and their parents develop skills and coping strategies so that your worries and anxiety don’t stop young people from doing the things you want or need to do.

The BRAVE Team also know how hard it can be to make the time to fit everything in! The BRAVE program is an online program that you can work through at your own speed in the privacy of your own home.

Wombats Wish- Grief Support

ROAR- Intereach Family Mental Health Support Service-

ROAR is a service supported by Intereach in which families residing in NSW can access Early Intervention, short term assistance for free. Please see below for the flyer and further information.

Be You

Throughout 2026, ETRPS will continue working alongside Be You to support the Mental Health and Wellbeing of our community.

Be You builds on the success and learnings from five existing programs aimed at promoting social and emotional health and wellbeing for children and young people in the education space: KidsMatter Early Childhood, KidsMatter Primary, MindMatters, Response Ability and headspace School Support. Be You is building on the evidence base and ten years of experience of these programs. These programs are now integrated into Be You – one single, national initiative delivered through early learning services, primary and secondary schools.

Through the partnership with Be You, staff will further develop knowledge about Mentally Healthy Communities and build our Mental Health Literacy understanding.

Community Supports for our Parents

Taking a moment to offload, let go and be heard

Just having a chance to offload and let go of what is currently overwhelming us. Parentline is one of those supports. Connecting you with trained counsellors for a completely confidential conversation. Available 8am-Midnight 7 days a week.

Definitely a number worth keeping on the fridge!

Breakfast Club

Our Breakfast Club continues to run every morning at the Centre from 8.35am to 8.50am. We are so grateful to Foodbank Vic and Moama Bakery who generously provide food items for our students to enjoy.

Anglicare Early Help Services at ETRS

Fly2Health is now operating weekly in Echuca!

Agency Visits at ETRPS

Happy Birthday