Heights Happenings – 2023 – Term 2, Week 8

I hope everyone has had a great last couple of weeks and you are staying dry and warm – winter has certainly arrived! As always, there’s been a number of highlights since our last newsletter so I wanted to fill you in on what’s been happening at school.

Senior Girls Football

A real highlight for me was going to King’s Park in Upper Ferntree Gully to watch the senior girls football team play in their round-robin tournament. When I arrived at the ground, I had trouble finding the girls, but when I finally found where they were, they looked unrecognisable. Every one of them were covered head to toe in mud and were having an absolute ball! The team spirit the girls showed was remarkable. Of the 14 teams who competed on the day, our girls finished sixth which is a terrific effort. Congratulations to all players, coaches and parents who supported them on this day.

In the last newsletter I shared an update about the playground renewal projects that are planned around the school. I am pleased to say that the designs for the Year 1/2 and 3/4 playgrounds have been finalised, with play pieces and colours chosen by the children. The company who are building the playgrounds, Safe Play Australia, have given us an anticipated construction date of the September school holidays. By the time the kids return for Term 4, there should be two new playgrounds for them to enjoy.

Here are some images of the designs:

Take part in a survey to help shape the future of education in Australia

Parents and guardians are invited to take part in a survey to help inform the Review to Inform a Better and Fairer Education System.

The online survey is an opportunity to help shape the future of education in Australia. It closes on Friday 23 June 2023.

The survey is open to anyone who cares for a school-aged child and makes decisions about their education. Students aged under 18 years can also take part, but require consent from a parent or guardian to do so.

The expert panel for the review will use the results to inform recommendations for the final report to all education ministers, by 31 October 2023. The final report will advise education ministers on what targets and reforms should be included in the next National School Reform Agreement.

The Social Research Centre is conducting the survey.

For more information on the survey, refer to parents/guardians survey on the Australian Government Department of Education website.

Semester 1 reports

Semester 1 reports will be available to parents on Compass on Thursday 22^nd June. Parents who may be new to the school’s reporting system may be unsure what all the “dots” mean when you read your child’s reports, so I thought it might be worthwhile giving you a brief explanation.

Schools are required to report to parents at least twice a year, however we also provide additional information to you as part of our continuous reporting cycles, which means you receive relevant and timely updates about you child’s progress. Within the report document, you will see sections that have black dots located on a grid. These dots represent the achievement your child is making according to the Victorian Curriculum. The levels are indicative of your child’s year level. For example, if your child is in Year 3 and the dot is in the middle of the Level 3 box, it means they are at the expected level. If the dot was at the edges of the Level 3 box, they are either 6 months ahead/below the expected level according to where the dot was placed.

You may also see a white open dot which indicates your child’s previous result according to their last school report, followed by a dashed line and a black dot indicating their current progress. If your child is also in, for example, Year 3 and you don’t see a white dot and dashes, it can indicate a few things. Either, your child is new to the school and the system doesn’t know the previous score, or your child may not have made sufficient progress to place them at the next level yet. If this is the case, it doesn’t mean your child has not made any progress. It may be that your child’s teacher has assessed their skills but cannot definitively say they are meeting the standards at the next level at this point in time.

If you have any questions about your child’s report, please speak to their teacher and I’m sure they can help answer your questions.

End of term

With Term 2 finishing on Friday 23^rd June, I hope everyone has a safe and happy school holiday period. Just a reminder that we finish at 2:30pm next Friday, with Term 3 beginning on Monday 10^th July.

Take care!

Mat Anderton
Acting Principal

Division Cross Country

On Friday the 2^nd of June we had 10 students represent BHPS at Division Cross Country. A huge congratulations to for Gaia come 8^th place and will be representing BHPS at the Regional Cross Country event on the 13^th of June at Yarra Valley Racecourse. To all our students who attended on the day we are so proud of you and your tremendous effort!

Gaia – 8^th, Qianna – 35^th, Lani – 16^th, Ruby – 24^th, Sophie – 15^th , Paddy 27^th, Callan 28^th, Levi 31^st, Owen 20^th.

School Swimming (Prep, 1 & 3)

PREP:

The Prep Teachers are thrilled to share the wonderful experience we had with our kids at Knox Leisureworks for a one-week intensive swimming program. It was a fantastic opportunity for the Preps to not only improve their swimming skills, but to also develop a greater understanding of water safety. The swimming teachers at Knox Leisureworks were exceptional, providing expert guidance and engaging lessons throughout the program.

The entire week ran smoothly, and we would like to express our gratitude to the parent helpers who generously dedicated their time and support. Without their support this program would not have been possible.

One of the highlights for our Preps was the bus journey to the pool! It was their first time on a school bus, and they were filled with excitement each trip.

Overall, it was a very rewarding experience for our Preps and we heard from many parents how well they slept that week! We are very proud and delighted to have witnessed their enthusiasm and growth throughout the swimming week.

YEAR 1:

A few weeks ago, the Year 1 students had our Swimming Program at Knox Leisureworks. We were filled with excitement on the Monday when we arrived at school with our swimming bags in tow. After a short bus ride, we got changed into our bathers and begun our first lesson.

Throughout the week we learnt all about different swimming strokes, practicing our kicking, floating, freestyle and backstroke. On the Thursday we had a fantastic fun day where we got to go on the Slide and play some great water-based games like Volleyball and Mr Wolf! We concluded the week with some lessons on water safety. It was so funny having to swim in the pool with our regular clothes on!

Well done on a great week of swimming, Grade 1’s

YEAR 3:

In Week 6, the Year Three students participated in a week full of fun at Knox Leisureworks swimming pool. Students consolidated a wide range of skills in their daily lessons including vital water safety techniques.

The students loved participating in the program. The following statements summarises their experience:

Max – I thought it was fun being able to swim with our clothes on during safety day. It was really hard to swim when you were in clothing.

Audrey – Fun day was good. We got to play some fun games.

Noah – I liked safety day when we got to swim with our eyes open underwater and we were not able to use goggles!

The teachers and support staff were so impressed by the effort, responsibility, and CARE values the students upheld whilst representing our school. Well done Year Three students!

Interschool Sports Helpers (Grade 5 & 6)

A massive thank you to all the volunteers who helped us at Interschool Sports on the 6/6 and 15/6. Paul Ireland, Kim Brimelow, Jackie Gould, Kitty Bucher, Shirani Wright, Gail Johnson, Tracy Vervoort, Sue Annells, Rebekah Annells, James Burrows, Emma Jones, Claire Hall, Michael Taylor, Sarah Kiss. From all the Year 5/6 teachers and myself, we are incredibly grateful for you giving your time to our students. We cannot attend these days without the support from volunteers so thank you very much.

Division Girls Footy Gala Day

On Thursday the 8^th of June, 18 girls, Peter Baker and myself headed to Kings Park on a wet day to play some football. The girls had an absolute blast of a day. They were covered from head to toe in mud by the last game with huge smiles on their faces. The team placed 6^th out of 14 schools, moving up in the ranks from 8^th place last year. A huge thank you to Peter Baker who coached on the day along with Emily Airs who was injured, who proved to be an amazing assistant coach.

OVERALL RESULTS

Wonder Recycling Program

Just a reminder that BHPS is taking part in the Wonder Recycling Rewards campaign this year!
Help us collect EMPTY bread bags so we can earn points to redeem on new RHS sports equipment (they don’t need to be bread bags from the Wonder brand). All you need to do is keep your empty bread bags and send them to school with your kids! Collection point is at the front office. Let’s get collecting! 

As collections close 7th July –         We would be so appreciative to have all bags by the last of term FRIDAY 23rd JUNE

Taylah Smith
Physical Education Teacher and Sport Co-ordinator

Using Tech to Help with Procedural Writing

For our Procedural Writing Unit in Year 2, students had the opportunity to come up with a skill they were confident in such as, kicking a footy, monkey bars, playing soccer, etc. They then worked with a partner and took turns to film each other using our iPads, performing that skill. Once they had their video ready to go, they used it as a prompt for writing a Procedure on their skill. The Year 2’s were so engaged and even thought about bringing in props from home to use in their videos. Not only did their skills in writing a Procedure improve, but they learnt a lot about using the camera function on the iPads. Well done Year 2’s!

CARE Ticket Winners

Student of the Week

*Student consent to publish not received.

COMPASS – How to Fill Out the Code of Conduct

Prep 2024 Enrolments

Boronia Heights Primary School is now accepting enrolments for students commencing school in 2024. Enrolment Forms are available at the office or on our website. To secure your child’s enrolment, please submit your application as soon as possible. Applications must be submitted by Friday 28th July. If you have friends and family who are wanting to enrolment their child for 2024 please let them know to get their enrolment in as soon as possible as places are filling fast.

Secondhand Uniform

We have tubs of secondhand school uniform available outside the Chaplain’s Office.

Name Your Belongings

We know you treasure your uniform and books. Please remember to label all uniform, books and belongings coming to school. Like most years, we have had an incredible amount of lost property through the year. The majority was unnamed, along with illegible tags. We would love lost items to boomerang back to your kids.

Cookie Dough a big success!