New timetable structure in 2026
Following a successful trial week and a great deal of consultation with staff, students and the community, we have decided to introduce a new timetable structure next year. The feedback overall was very positive, and with some minor changes based on suggestions, I believe the change is going to improve teaching and learning. The main reason for the change is to maximise the focus and attention of students in the morning when they are more likely to be ready to learn. It also allows teachers to prioritise Morning Circles which is a key strategy for wellbeing as part of the Berry Street Education Model.
One of the main “hot topics” from the feedback we received had to do with food breaks. We’ve solved this by ensuring that teachers plan for a short 5-10 minute “brain food” break in the morning session. Brain food includes fresh fruit and vegetables, along with cheeses and yogurts.
Each session is broken into 6×50 minutes, with three sessions in the morning, two after a recess break, a one final session to end the day. The first recess break (40 minutes) will happen at 11:40am following a 10-minute eating time which we will call “lunch”. Canteen orders will be sent to students at this first break. The second break will be at 2:10pm (30 minutes) after another “afternoon tea” eating time.
The start and end times of the day remain unchanged – still 9am to 3:30pm. Whilst the three morning sessions will be longer than the current schedule, we feel that the students and teachers will adapt to the new routine fairly quickly. Like any change, there’s going to be some teething problems at first, so we will respond to any issues and come up with solutions if needed.
Here’s a breakdown of the new times:
- 9am-11:30am – Morning block broken into 3×50 min sessions
- 11:30am-11:40am – Eating time (Lunch)
- 11:40am-12:20pm – RECESS 1
- 12:20pm-2:00pm – Early afternoon block broken into 2×50 minute sessions
- 2:00pm-2:10pm – Eating time (afternoon tea)
- 2:10pm-2:40pm – RECESS 2
- 2:40pm-3:30pm – Late afternoon block broken into 1×50 minute session
Student Leaders in 2026
Last week I was lucky to hear from thirty year 5 students who presented for school captain in 2026. The fact there were so many students willing to become School Captain shows the depth of our student leadership potential. They all did such an amazing job and I, along with the year 5 teachers, specialist teachers and APs, were extremely proud of their bravery in putting themselves forward for a leadership role. We have now finalised our process for selecting our 2026 Student Leaders and I would like to congratulate all the students who were involved. It was wonderful to see the students standing up in front of their peers, teachers and leadership delivering well-prepared and rehearsed speeches. The hard part was selecting the students for the positions as the calibre of students who applied was so high – we could easily have given school captain roles to all thirty students. These children are a credit to themselves, their families and the staff at our school.
For the first time in the school’s history (as far as I know), we will have four School Captains next year. The School and Vice Captains have done similar roles in the past, and we honestly couldn’t separate them, so I decided to have four captains instead.
It gives me great pleasure to announce that our 2026 Student Leaders are:
New Sports Top in 2026
Over the past six months, School Council has been working through the process of designing and approving a new sports top. The reason for the introduction of a new sports top was to bring a more modern design to our uniform, as well as ensuring that when our students represent the school, they all look like one team. The current sports top with the house colours on the sleeve looks a little bit outdated and generic. Spartan School World also found it difficult to stock the item because they relied on four different styles/colours in all the sizes. With one design, they can reduce the variability of the stock which means they don’t have supply issues.
The design went through many variations, with one of key ideas being to capture the “School with a View” slogan and represent the school being at the foothills of the Dandenong Ranges. This can be seen on the back of the shirt with the mountain design silhouette and slogan text. We also wanted it to uniquely represent the Boronia Heights brand with the incorporation of the school logo on the front of the shirt.
I’d like to thank the staff, students and School Council members for their input into the design. Spartan have told me the shirts will hopefully be ready in the middle of Term 1.
All current sports tops will still be considered as approved school uniform, although they will no longer be sold at Spartan once the new design is in stock.
Here is an image of the new tops:
Christmas Concert night and Raffle
Just another reminder to say that we are looking forward to welcoming our school community to our Christmas concert on the Wednesday 17th of December. The afternoon will begin at 4pm and should go through to around 5:30pm. Our very talented students will be performing on the night in grade items. You are most welcome to bring a picnic dinner on the night, however, please note that NO ALCOHOL is allowed to be brought into and consumed at the school. In the interest of keeping our school clean, we ask that all rubbish be taken home with you at the end of the night.
The Community Hub will have once again organised a Christmas Raffle, with all tickets selling for $1 each. This raffle will be drawn at our Christmas Concert night. This is our final fundraiser for the year, and we thank you in advance for your continued support of our school.
New seating near bottom oval
The Rotary Club of Boronia and the Knox & District Woodworkers Inc. have recently built and installed three wooden bench seats under the shade sail near the Gaga Ball Pit. We are so thankful for their generous donation to the school. Our partnership with the Rotary Club and other local community organisations remains stronger than ever.
Thank you to Catherine Devlin
On behalf of the school, I would like to pass on my sincere thanks to Catherine Devlin for the incredible work she has done to maintain and improve our gardens over the last couple of years. Every time I speak to Catherine she teaches me something new about native plants and horticulture. Her knowledge of the right type of plant, what soil it grows best in, and how it fits into the local environment is outstanding.
Sadly, with her son Hunter leaving us at the end of the year to go to secondary school, Catherine will also be finishing up her work at the school. Please join me in thanking Catherine for her dedication and commitment to the BHPS!
Enjoy your weekend.
Mat Anderton
Principal