Heights Happenings – 2023 – Term 4, Week 7

Local Kinder visit

On Monday morning, we welcomed children and educators from Alchester and Colchester kindergartens for a joyous music celebration. Our junior and senior choirs, along with the school band, came together to display their incredible talents in a performance for the young visitors. The students dedicated their lunchtimes each week to group rehearsals, fostering their passion for music and honing their musical skills.

A heartfelt appreciation goes to Kate Wardlaw for providing our young students the chance to shine in the Junior School Choir, and to Simon Fox for his unwavering commitment to our senior students in both choir and band. Witnessing the delight, engagement, and inspiration on the faces of the kinder kids as they watched the performance was truly special.

These moments hold great significance for our school community, strengthening our bonds with local kindergartens and enhancing the transition between them and our school. A sincere thank you to Colchester Pre-School and Alchester Pre-School for visiting our school.

Remembrance Day

In commemoration of Remembrance Day last Saturday, we had six children from our school participate in the Knox Remembrance Day Service held at the Tim Neville Arboretum. The following children and their families should be commended for their commitment to serving the Knox community: Charlotte and Madison T, Mitchell W, Indigo R, Sarah M and River R. These students sang the Australian National Anthem in the Knox Primary School’s Choir, and by all reports did a phenomenal job. We are all very proud of them.

Student Book packs

Just a reminder that the ordering details for the student book packs went home a few weeks ago.  Orders placed before 12th December to COS will be delivered to your home by 24^th December and receive free delivery. All students require their books for the first day of school.  In addition to their books students also require a sturdy set of headphones, library bag and art smock for the first week of school. Please name your child’s belongings clearly.

Christmas Concert night and Raffle

We are looking forward to welcoming our school community to our Christmas concert on Tuesday 5^th of December. The evening will begin at 6pm and should go through to around 7:30pm.  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. There will be 3 major prizes. Raffle tickets will be sent home next week with your children.  This is our final fundraiser for the year, and we thank you in advance for your continued support of our school.

 Have a great week,

Mat Anderton
Principal

Significant others

Recently, at my other school, I was speaking to the Senior students about resilience. With reference to Maggie Dent’s short book on the topic, Building Children’s Resilience. One Building Block at a time, I touched on what they could all do to build up their resilience. Good nutrition, regular exercise, plenty of play, laughing and learning at school, to name but a few ways to build their resilience. Another way that children can build their resilience is to have a positive role model, a significant other, in their lives. Maggie Dent calls these people ‘lighthouses’. Dent states, ‘The research shows conclusively of the importance of significant safe, adult allies who aren’t parents – the people I call lighthouses. Think aunts, uncles, grandparents, coaches, a friend’s parents, neighbours, grandparents, teachers, family friends or community members. It takes only one adult who can hold the light in a young person’s life to make a significant difference to the life outcomes for that young person. The most important things that lighthouses bring are unconditional acceptance, unconditional positive regard (regardless of any perceived sense of failure on the young person’s part), no judgement, and no unheeded advice or lectures. Essentially, lighthouses lean in with compassion and act as a safe base and place to regroup, recover, replenish and grow’ (see more on this at https://www.maggiedent.com/blog/leaning-in-with-light-for-our-tweens-and-teens/)

Do your kids have lighthouses in their lives? If not, can you help them find some?

And can you be a lighthouse person in a young person’s life?

Resilience is how you can successfully manage life, adapt to change and stressful events, in healthy and constructive ways.  – Maggie Dent

Sarah McIntosh
Student Welfare

BioEYES+ Monash University Incursion

On Thursday 9th November a select group of Year 3 & 4 students participated in an incursion facilitated by Monash University as part of the Boronia Heights High Abilities Program.

Students had a fantastic time engaging with the hands-on science incursion where they conducted their own investigation into biomedical science using live zebrafish.

“Amazing, it was really interactive and we got to do fun things!” – Samuel O

“It was really really fun, I loved when we looked in the microscopes and it was very interesting.” – Madison T

Students learned about how Zebrafish are popular animal models in biomedical research and education due to their rapid development, genetic similarity to humans and their transparent embryonic development.

In the inquiry-based workshop, using live zebrafish, students practised using the scientific method by posing questions, creating hypotheses, making biological observations and drawing conclusions.

In their own experiment, students observed the physical and behavioural traits of zebrafish, saw how offspring inherit genes and used a microscope to observe the transparent embryos and larvae. Students observed first-hand the embryonic stem cells of the zebrafish, early organ development as well as the beating heart and circulation. Students also learned about how Monash University biomedical scientists use zebrafish in their cutting-edge research into various human diseases.

Thank you to Jenny and the Biomedicine team at Monash University for coming to Boronia Heights!

Emma Mason

High Ability Practice Leader

Technology in Year 5

Every year Year 5 students research, design and create a business as part of their Business and Economics Inquiry Unit. This learning is consolidated on Year 5 Market Day, where students sell their products to the rest of the school. This year students have used their tech skills to create branding for their businesses on the app Sketches as seen below. Google Classroom has also been used confidently to itemise and calculate the total cost of the materials/ingredients needed to produce their product.

Using technology to help us spell in Year 1!

Throughout the year, the students in Year 1 have been enhancing our learning through the use of our collection of IPADS. We have spent time on various apps such as Reading Eggs, Get Epic and most recently Mathletics.

This week, the students learnt about the camera function which allowed them to explore our phonics focus for the week, the ‘or’ sound and the many different ways we can spell that sound.

During Reading, students were tasked with locating words that contained this digraph somewhere in the classroom and then taking a picture of it. Students raced against each other to see how many examples they could find!

Year 1 Team

Weeding Bees

If so, we would love to see you at our Buildings & Grounds Weeding Bees!

• Once a month on a Monday at 3.00-3.30pm
• Small, doable areas targeted.
• No gardening ability required – there will be someone to ensure that you pull out weeds, not plants.
• BYO gloves, hand trowels – the school only has children’s gloves sorry.

The next date and last for the year is Monday 4th December 3.00pm – 3.30pm

We’d like to thank the following star who helped with some weeding on Monday 13th November – .

Inclusive Play Space Commences Soon!

This Monday, building works are scheduled to begin on the Inclusive Play Space which will replace the existing senior playground. This project has been planned since November 2021, so it’s great to see some action finally taking place. There will be some disruptions to the area near Phipps Ave while buildings works are underway. Earth moving equipment will gain access to the area from Phipps Ave, meaning a section of road, parking and footpath may be blocked for part of the day. The builders are aware of our drop off and pick up times and will do their best to minimise the disruption.

This is an exciting project that should be ready by the start of Term 1 next year.

2024 Parent Payment Information

2024 Parent Payment information was recently sent out. Click here to access a digital copy. The COS portal for book pack orders is now open. Login information is found in the Parent Payment information packs.

Orders placed before 11th December will be delivered to your home by 24th December. Orders placed before 8th January will be delivered to your home prior to Term 1 commencement.

2024 CSEF

The Camps, Sports and Excursions Fund (CSEF) helps eligible families to cover the costs of school trips, camps and sporting activities.

If you have a valid means-tested concession card, such as a Veterans Affairs Gold Card, Centrelink Health Care Card or Pensioner Concession Card, or are a temporary foster parent, you may be eligible. There is also a special consideration category for asylum seeker and refugee families.

Payment amounts this year are $150 for eligible primary school. Payments are made direct to the school to use towards expenses relating to camps, excursions and sporting activities for the benefit of your child.

You can download the form here.

Check with the school office if you are unsure, and please return completed forms to the school office as soon as possible.

Reports via Compass

Do you have a student leaving BHPS in 2023?

Please ensure you remember to print off any reports via Compass before the last week of the school year. You will lose access to Compass on the 20th December 2023. Please refer to the below image to learn where to find all reports.

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.

Colour Run – 22 November

This year, we’re choosing to make a difference by planting trees and coral. We believe in doing our part to protect the environment!

You can choose whether you plant trees in the Yarra Yarra Biodiversity Corridor, or coral in the Great Barrier Reef. Create a profile page through www.plantadifference.com.au/ platform to make your choice.

Entertainment Book Offer!