Principal’s Report
I’ve always loved the first day of school better than the last day of school. Firsts are best because they are beginnings.
– Jenny Han
Welcome Back to 2023
Welcome to the start of the 2023 school year. New beginnings, new hopes, new dreams, new goals…
An extremely warm welcome to all of our families, we hope you and your children are settled and have embraced and enjoyed the first week of school. I hope that everyone managed to find some quality time to relax with friends and family during the summer break and that the start of this year has been a positive one for you all.
This year, we again welcome new families to Boronia Heights PS across all year levels, including our new Prep families. I know that the whole community joins us in welcoming you all to our school and trust that your time with us is positive and enjoyable. We look forward to working with you to help your child grow into amazing young people.
Each year when we return, it is a pleasure to see such happy and enthusiastic faces, eager to renew old friendships, make some new ones and get back into some interesting and enjoyable learning. We would like to thank you, the parents, for your efforts in preparing your children so well for the start of the school year. Throughout the year, we will share through the newsletter the many opportunities that our students have to shine.
I’d also like to formally welcome Mel Casey (Prep), James Dean (Year 2), Jake Blennerhassett (Year 6) Kelly Woodman (Harvest to Table Year 3 and Prep) and Peter Baker (Gardens and Maintenance). Welcome back to Samantha Dunkinson (Year 5), Sarah Weichert (Year 3), Diana Sutterby (Prep German), Ilusia Koronczewski (Prep), Gemma Weir (Year 1) as they return from leave. We say farewell to Elli Gibson at the end of February and wish her all the best on the birth of her second child.
A big thank you to the staff for all the preparations they have made for the 2023 school year. Teachers have already spent countless hours over the past weeks setting up the learning environments and planning to ensure a smooth start and exciting curriculum for the students this year. As you can imagine, a lot goes on behind the scenes to get ready for the first day and our consistent programs and high expectations helps students with readjusting to a new school year.
The Office and Education Support staff also worked on various administrative tasks to ensure that everything was ready for students.
At Boronia Heights we are looking forward to a productive partnership with you to ensure all children can achieve their highest potential. We recognise that in order to be successful in school, our children need support from both the home and school, knowing that a strong partnership with you will make a great difference in your child’s education. As partners, we share the responsibility for our children’s success and want you to know that we will do our very best to carry out our responsibilities, asking that you guide and support your child’s learning by ensuring:
- Attendance at school daily and arrival on time, ready for the day’s learning experience
- Daily reading to develop a love for literature and to improve critical language skills
- Sharing your child’s school experiences so that you are aware of your child’s school life.
- You keep up to date with Compass (news, events, etc) and year level and whole school newsletters.
Working and “learning together” we can achieve great results. Parental support of the teachers and the school’s programs is also vital and includes displaying a positive attitude towards your child’s learning, so I encourage you all to be fully involved in your child’s education. Education is a Partnership! Let’s all work together to ensure the best future for the children that we have in our care.
Communication/Assemblies
Communication between school and home is an important part of the learning partnership. At BHPS, we have several methods of communicating with parents and the community. First and foremost, for parents is to ensure you are on COMPASS. This is our direct communication method to parents. Through this you can communicate with teachers, report student absences, access school reports, receive important information, book interviews, update personal details and access newsletters. Our fortnightly whole school newsletter is a key tool for providing you with information on upcoming events, school improvement information, student wellbeing information, school council and Hubsters news, Out of School Hours Care (OSCHClub) news and community news. Please make time to read it each fortnight. Teaching teams also send home fortnightly Year Level Newsletters to provide parents with an insight into what is happening in classrooms and in specific year levels. This is a great tool for parents to enable you to have discussions with your child about what they are learning and doing at school. Throughout the year, we provide updates on your child’s progress, through written reports or conferences. Of course, you can make an appointment with your class teacher to discuss any issues at any other time, and they will also contact you if required. This can be done through COMPASS or telephone the office, outside of class time. Note that teachers are on duty from 8:45am—3:45pm, so they may not be able to respond to COMPASS messages during these times. If you have an URGENT issue or message, it is best to call the office directly.
Assemblies
Our first whole school assembly for 2023 will be held on Friday February 10th. It will be commencing at 2:40pm sharp, with the expectation that everyone will be seated at 2:30pm. At this assembly Jackson Taylor will be presenting our Captains and our student leaders with their badges. This is a very important assembly, and all parents and visitors are invited. On the weeks we don’t have a face-to-face assembly, we will continue to conduct weekly assemblies via video that will be sent home at the end of each week. Please ensure you have completed the Consent Form sent out via Compass.
School Photos
Just a reminder that school photos are to be taken next Friday February 17th. To look our best and show pride in our school, as in all other days, students must wear their full school uniform for school photos. Orders for photos can be completed online using the code that was recently sent home.
Parent Information Nights
This year we will be continuing to run our forum for Information Nights via video. Staff will be videoing the Information Nights and sending home the link so you can watch the information night as a family and discuss this with your children. The link will be sent home via COMPASS on Friday 17th February.
We strongly encourage all parents to take advantage of this opportunity and hear about the procedures, expectations and programs for the year. There will be a specialist video included that will give information relevant to your child’s year level. Working in partnership and having consistent expectations between home and school leads to better outcomes for our students.
Knowledge is a powerful tool; to be in a position to have an excellent understanding of expectations is a crucial part of supporting your children. Staff are looking forward to this opportunity to convey valuable information and have parents and students involved in this information.
The Classroom Helpers Course
If you wish to help in the classroom, you must complete ‘The Classroom Helpers Course’ that we run at school. Leah Hodgson Assistant Principal, will be running the course for 3 days, Monday the 20th of February, Monday 27th February and Monday 6th March from 2:15pm to 3:15pm. It is a great privilege and a wonderful experience to be able to work in your child’s classroom. If you are interested in attending, keep an eye out for the COMPASS notification on Monday with an expression of interest to be completed.
Hubsters
Our wonderful Hubsters are our fundraising body that fundraise for our school. These parents do an amazing job supporting the school to have all the extras that that make our school wonderfully resourced. If you are a new family or are a parent who is now able to join the Hubsters we would love to hear from you. Our community will be notified on COMPASS when our first meeting of the year will be. Everyone is welcome.
Hats-SunSmart Policy
Don’t forget that Boronia Heights is a SunSmart School and wide brimmed hats are compulsory in Terms 1 & 4, (including Phys Ed sessions). Hats are available at the school office and must be worn by all children when outside at playtime and lunchtime. Children who do not have a hat will have a restricted play area under the shaded areas of the school. Please ensure that your child’s hat is clearly named and that they have it at school every day. Our school uniform policy requires that the hat be a school hat, as it is the approved style with a wide brim that provides full sun protection to face, ears and neck.
Mobile Phones
If your child is bringing their mobile phone to school, they need to sign their phone into the office and collect them at the end of the day. Please make sure that your child’s phone is wiped down daily. Smart watches that can be used as a phone are not allowed to be worn to school, unless the phone part of the watch is disabled.
Collection of students from school during school hours
The Victorian Department of Education has policies and guidelines for the collection of children during school hours from government schools. Students must only be collected by their parents (subject to any specific court orders) or by a person who has been authorised by the parents to pick up their child. An authorised person is anyone who has been identified by the parents on the enrolment form such as Adult A or Adult B or anyone listed as an Emergency Contact. If the authorised person signing the child out early is not known to the office staff, they can expect to be asked for photo identification. If you have any questions about these procedures, please do not hesitate to speak to myself or any of the office staff.
On a related topic, if there are or have been any family court orders in place that are relevant to your children can you please ensure that we have the latest copy on our file, so we are aware of any custody or access restrictions that are in place.
Student Insurance – REMINDER – From DET
Parents are reminded that the Department of Education does not offer any form of ‘student accident insurance’. If families are concerned about this, they are advised to make their own arrangements. Ambulance cover should be one consideration as the school will not hesitate to call an ambulance if we are concerned for a child’s wellbeing. The Department of Education states that reasonable low-cost accident insurance policies are available from the commercial insurance sector.
Personal Goods brought to School at the ‘owners’ risk
The Department of Education does not hold insurance for personal property brought to schools. All schools are requested to remind students and parents/guardians of this at the beginning of each academic year and to discourage parents/students from bringing any unnecessary or particularly valuable items to school. Please avoid bringing these items as it can be most upsetting for all concerned if items go missing or are damaged.
Working with Children’s Checks (WWCC)
We encourage and value parental and community support at Boronia Heights Primary School. There are many ways that parents, grandparents and friends can assist at our school. We encourage all parents to obtain a Working with Children’s Check that will allow you to be very involved in your child’s education. These checks are free for volunteers and will allow you to be involved as many school events as you require. Once you have your WWCC, please come to the office so we can photocopy this, and we will add your name to our list of parents who have a current WWCC check.
Update contact details
As we are in the middle of the fire season it is a good time to remind our families to ensure that all your details are up to date at the school. If you have changed address, got a new phone number or have a new alternative contact please contact the office to give us the details so that we are able to contact you if required.
Rubbish Free Lunch
Rubbish free lunches benefit the environment by reducing packaging waste, which in turn reduces energy and resource use. Participating in a rubbish free school promotes sustainability awareness among students, parents and school staff. Rubbish free lunches tend to result in reduced litter, and they encourage healthy eating. Often, highly processed foods are packaged while unprocessed snacks, such as fruit and vegetables, are not. Combining healthier eating with waste free lunches is a great way to meet health and environmental goals.
At BHPS we are promoting a rubbish free school. We ask that your child’s lunch contain as few items as possible that must be thrown away. Ideally, your child’s lunch will only contain items that will be eaten, composted or recycled. Reusable containers are a handy way to pack a waste-free lunch. They also make it easy to buy food and drink in bulk (instead of in single servings) which can save money over time. Thank you for your support with this initiative.
Canteen Days
Our wonderful canteen supervisor Kathy opened the canteen this week. The canteen opens every Monday and Friday. Click here to download the most up to date canteen list.
Student Supervision at school prior to and after school
Teachers commence yard duty supervision of the playground at 8:45am each day. Please be aware that children who arrive prior to 8:45am may be unsupervised in the playground. Our gates open in the morning at 8:30am and close at 9:30 am. The front gate will be open all day. The gates reopen at 2:30pm and close at 4:20pm. After school there are teachers on yard duty until 3:45pm. After 3:45pm children who have not been collected will be brought to the area outside the office, where every effort will be made to contact parents or guardians. We understand that from time-to-time emergencies do happen, please let the office know if they can support you.
Icy Pole Sales
A huge thankyou to Lisa Baker and Mirella Irving our wonderful Year 5 teachers who will be supporting our Promotional Leaders in the school to sell icy poles on a Tuesday and Thursday recess during Term 1 and Term 4. All icy poles are 50 cents. Icy pole sales will begin next week.
Curriculum Days 2023
| Tuesday 4th April | 3 Way Conferences |
| Monday 24th April | Writing |
| Friday 9th June | Numeracy |
| Monday 6th November | Report Writing |
If you require care for your child on curriculum days, OSCHClub will be open on all curriculum days. Please make sure that you book in in advance so OSCHClub have a good understanding of the numbers. They will not be able to run the day if there are very small numbers i.e., less than 5 children.
Looking forward to a fantastic 2023…Take care.
Leanne Jennings
Principal
SCHOOL COUNCIL ELECTIONS
FORM 2: NOTICE OF ELECTION AND CALL FOR NOMINATIONS
An election is to be conducted for members of the school council of
BORONIA HEIGHTS PRIMARY SCHOOL
Nomination forms may be obtained from the school now and must be lodged by 4.00 pm on:
Friday 17th February 2023.
Following the closing of nominations, a list of the nominations received will be posted in the newsletter.
The terms of office, membership categories and number of positions in each membership category open for election are as follows:
| MEMBER CATEGORY | TERM OF OFFICE | NUMBER OF POSITIONS |
| Parent member | From the day after the date of the declaration of the poll in 2022 to and inclusive of the date of the declaration of poll in 2024 | 4 |
| School Employee member | From the day after the date of the declaration of the poll in 2022 to and inclusive of the date of the declaration of poll in 2024 | 2 |
If the number of nominations is less than the number of vacancies, a notice to that effect and calling for further nominations will be posted in a prominent position at the school.
