Rochester Primary School exists to provide a high quality education that builds well rounded students in a school that is a part of the local community. It is located on a shared site with the Rochester Secondary College and serves a rural community 186 kilometres north of Melbourne and 27 kilometres south of Echuca. The school enrolment is currently 156 students.

The major focus of the school is to provide children with strategies for ‘learning how to learn’ and caring for each other and enabling them to apply these skills to the ever changing world around them. The school has three core values; Respect, Resilience and Responsibility.

The school is student and curriculum focused and strives for, and encourages maximum achievement in all areas of teaching and learning and student wellbeing. Specialist programs include Science/Technology, Indonesian [LOTE], Physical Education and The Arts. The school offers a variety of extracurricular activities. These include: camps program from grade 2 –grade 6, intra and inter school sporting activities, and Inter school public speaking. The school encourages community involvement and has a number of resident “grandparents” who volunteer their time on a regular basis to work with our children. We have a strong emphasis on student voice with a student action team and class captains providing ideas and feedback for improvement. 

The school aims for its students to be members of the towns community and to develop as positive citizens. This year has seen the introduction of our weekly Community Clubs sessions to form and strengthen links with community members and encourage the use of community facilities. Carefully planned and targeted programs are designed and implemented to meet the needs of the students, and these are reviewed on an annual basis.

In 2024, the school will continue to foster a safe and nurturing learning environment to develop students that are confident and emotionally resilient. After the recent floods Staff are being trained to implement strategies that continue to support the mental health and wellbeing of our students and wider community. The school has a wellbeing strategy in place which includes a wellbeing room and extra support staff in this area. This year we are part of the new 'Mental Health in Primary Schools' pilot. Which will provided extra training and knowledge for staff around mental health and wellbeing.

A breakfast club operates on Monday and Thursdays and all students are welcome to join in. We operate a small canteen service at lunchtimes and provide lunch orders daily through the neighboring secondary college.

Rochester Primary School - a part of the community for over 150 years!

Kate Whitford

Principal.