I hope you all enjoyed the Labour Day holiday with your families and had some valuable family time. After this week, we have only 3 weeks before the end of Term 1, the weeks are flying past! Please make sure you stay in contact and keep up with COMPASS posts and newsletters.
Year 2 Wildlife Incursion
The Year 2’s had a great time learning about our native wildlife with Andrew Wagner. These ranged from reptiles to marsupials.
NAPLAN
Congratulations to all of our Year 3 and 5 students who started NAPLAN this week. All students were calm and well prepared for the upcoming 2 weeks of testing. I am very proud of the way these students have conducted themselves and certainly completed the tests to the best of their ability.
Great Opportunity
For the last 4-weeks of term Kristy Foster will be Acting Principal at Sassafras Primary School. Kristy will be replacing the principal who is on leave. If you have any concerns or queries, please don’t hesitate to contact Leah Hodgson or myself. As a community I know we wish Kristy a positive and wonderful experience.
Harvest to Table Program
Our wonderful Year 3 students have been working with their teachers and Kelly Woodman, our Harvest to Table Coordinator on developing their knowledge of planting, soil and nutrients and learning new skills in the kitchen. Students learn about their natural environment, the seasons, and how to care for gardens; they gain practical skills, including how to recycle, compost and preserve; and develop life skills, such as cooperating, sharing, critical thinking and leadership.
In Term 2 our talented Preps will begin their own kitchen garden program utilising the kitchen garden behind their building. This program enables us to promote environmental and sustainability learning and provides opportunities to grow and produce healthy food and connect students with healthy food and lifestyles. Kellie and the Prep staff will be seeking parental help with this program, so please if you can help don’t hesitat to contact your classroom teacher.
Easter Raffle
It’s time for our annual Easter Raffle. We are asking for Easter donations, Easter eggs, chocolate, and anything else related to Easter. Please leave your donations at the office or with your classroom teacher. Our wonderful Hub organises the raffle and will draw out our lucky winners at Happy Hour on the last day of Term One (Thursday 6th April) starting at approximately 11.30am. For all of our new families we celebrate the end of term with a festive music concert held at the front of the school. All grades perform a song that they have been working on in music classes. Please bring your chairs along and join us on the front netball court.
We rely on your support with Easter egg donations to make this raffle a success and to kick off our fundraising for the year. If everyone makes a small donation our prizes would indeed be amazing. Thanking you in advance for your continued support. Raffle Tickets have been sent home. More tickets can be sent home if required. Thank you to those families that are able to sell many tickets at their workplaces or sporting events etc. we appreciate your efforts.
Curriculum Day
On Monday 24th April we will be holding our 2nd Curriculum Day. This is a pupil free day; students are not required to attend school. OshClub will be open, please contact them if you require their services for the day. The following day is the ANZAC day holiday. Enjoy your extended holiday!!
3 Way Conferences- Tuesday 4th April- PUPIL FREE DAY
We will be holding 3 Way Conferences in the last week of term on Tuesday 4th April from 12.00pm-7:30pm. These will be held virtually through WebEx and are a wonderful opportunity for you, your child and your child’s teacher to meet together to celebrate the successes and achievements and look forward to new goals and learning opportunities for Term 2. Notification for parents to book into an interview time will be sent to parents in the coming week.
Specialist staff will also be available for 3 Way Conferences. If your child is in the Junior school (Prep – Year 2), you will be able to book a conference with our PE, Music and German teachers. For students in Years 3-6, the Art and STEAM teachers are available. In Term 3, the specialist interview availability will be reversed. This decision has been made so all families have the ability to check in with our wonderful specialist teachers regarding their child’s progress.
We look forward to everyone being able to access these interviews, meet your child’s teacher and have this opportunity to work together. This is a Pupil Free Day designated by the Education Department.
Continuous Reporting
The next continuous reporting task for Prep, Grade 1, Grade 2 and Grade 6 will be available on Friday 24th of March in Week 8. Due to NAPLAN and Camp the next continuous report for Grade 3, Grade 4 and Grade 5 will be available on Friday 31st of March in Week 9.
Athletics Day – 5th April
We are really looking forward to our Years 3-6 Athletics day held at the Burwood Athletics on Wednesday 5th April. Thank you so much if you have volunteered your time to support and help out on the day. This day is a highlight on our school calendar, and we welcome all families to come along and join us and watch, support their child and loudly encourage their efforts. A huge thank you to Taylah Smith our wonderful Physical Education teacher who runs a very organise, fun and inclusive Athletics Day.
Pedestrian Crossings
Our wonderful lollipop ladies have informed me that many children from the older classes are not crossing at the crossing, bouncing balls whilst they cross the street and some general unsafe behaviour. I will be speaking to all students at assembly next week, however if your child walks home by themselves it could be very timely to check in with them and make sure they are crossing safely and using the school crossings.
Child safety and wellbeing at Boronia Heights: information for families and the school community
The Victorian Government has announced new Child Safe Standards to further strengthen child safety across organisations, including schools. The new standards recognise the critical importance of families and the broader school community in maintaining and promoting child safety and wellbeing.
Boronia Heights has reviewed and updated our child safety policies and procedures to ensure they meet the requirements of the new standards. These are available to view. Our policies are readily available and published on our website.
We are committed to continuous improvement in our approach to child safety and wellbeing and welcome feedback from families and members of our school community on ways we can further strengthen our child safety policies, procedures and practices.
If you have any suggestions, comments or questions in relation to our child safe policies and practices, please contact me via email or a phone call.
School Council 2023
Last month we sent out communication to families about nominating for School Council. I want to say a huge thank you to those people who put their names forward to be a part of our school council for 2023. Below is the Boronia Heights Primary School Council for 2023 and we thank these community members for giving up their time to support the functioning of our school.
| Leanne Jennings | Kristy Foster- staff |
| Sharon Walker | Leah Hodgson -staff |
| Rachel Hussar | Lisa Baker-staff |
| Sarah Kiss | Saascha Cargill – staff |
| Jessica Petchell | Stephen Geddes |
| Alexandra Barnes | James Burrows |
| Jake Barnes | Serge Tolmachev |
| Kerrie Bibby |
Leanne Jennings
Principal