Heights Happenings – 2025 – Term 4, Week 4

World Teachers’ Day: Honouring Our Wonderful Teaching Staff at BHPS

Today, on World Teachers’ Day, we pause to celebrate the incredible educators who make our school a place of learning, growth, and inspiration.

Our teachers at BHPS are more than teachers—they are mentors, nurses, counsellors, and champions for every student. They bring knowledge to life, nurture curiosity, and foster resilience. Their dedication, creativity, and care shape not only academic success but the character and confidence of our young people.

On this special day, we extend our heartfelt thanks to every teacher in our community. Your work is powerful, your impact is lasting, and your commitment does not go unnoticed.

Let’s take a moment to show our appreciation—whether through a kind word, a note of thanks, or simply recognising the difference our teachers make every single day.

Happy World Teachers’ Day!

Timetable Trial

Thank You for Supporting Our Timetable Trial

We would like to extend a heartfelt thank you to our students, families, and staff for your support and flexibility during our recent trial of a possible new school timetable.

Your feedback, patience, and willingness to adapt have been invaluable as we explore ways to enhance learning, wellbeing, and the overall flow of the school day. Trials like this help us better understand what works best for our community, and your involvement plays a key role in shaping future decisions.

We will review the outcomes and feedback from this trial and keep you informed about next steps. Thank you again for being part of this journey toward continuous improvement.

Get Ready to Splash into Fun – Our Colour Run is Coming!

It’s time to lace up your runners, grab your white shirts, and get ready for one of the most colourful days of the year—our School Colour Run!

This isn’t just a run—it’s a celebration of energy, joy, and community. Whether you’re sprinting, jogging, or dancing your way through the course, every step is a chance to laugh, cheer, and get showered in colour. Join our staff, students, and family members for one of our biggest fundraisers on the calendar. The highest fundraisers get the opportunity to slime Mr Anderton and staff at BHPS.

The Colour Run is a reminder that movement is joyful, teamwork is powerful, and school spirit is something we can all wear proudly—especially when it’s covered in colour!

Let’s make this event unforgettable. Bring your enthusiasm, your brightest smiles, and let’s paint the day with positivity!

Trivia Night Success

A big shout out to our wonderful community for the outstanding turn-out for the BHPS Trivia Night!! Everyone came in their 80/90s best, with a special mention to the Simpsons table, the Kiss table and the Top Gun table, everyone looked great, but you guys were outstanding.

Thank you to everyone for emptying your pockets, the night raised $13,500 which will go towards the resurfacing of the basketball court. Thank you also to everyone who donated items for the school, there were amazing prizes and wonderful items in the raffles, silent auction and games. Special mention to our main sponsor Barry Plant, not only did they donate heavily, but they also bought a table to join in the fun!

A special mention must go to Mel Jones, Sarah Kiss, Mel Snibson and to the many helpers for the various jobs. Mel, Sarah and Mel worked tirelessly for many months to ensure that we had a fun and successful event, THANK YOU!!

More Baby News

We would like to wish Elise Rule all the very best as she resumes maternity leave. Elise will be leaving BHPS in a couple of weeks to have her third baby. Her warmth, dedication, and enthusiasm have made such a positive impact on the Year 5 students each Thursday. We look forward to her return and can’t wait to meet the newest addition to her family! Elise will be replaced by Sarah Weichert who will be joining 5B every Thursday starting on 27^th November.

Long Weekend festivities

This weekend begins with Halloween a tradition that is growing in Australia. At its heart, Halloween reminds us of the power of tradition, the joy of play, and the importance of community. Whether you’re trick-or-treating, carving pumpkins, or enjoying a spooky story, it’s a celebration of light-hearted fun and connection.

As the excitement of the Melbourne Cup approaches, we wish all our families a safe and enjoyable long weekend. Whether you’re watching the race, spending time with loved ones, or simply enjoying a well-earned break, we hope it’s filled with fun and relaxation.

Please note that the school will be closed on Monday 3^rd and Tuesday 4th November for the Melbourne Cup long weekend. We encourage everyone to take this time to recharge and return refreshed for the final stretch of the term.

Enjoy the festivities, and good luck if you’re picking a horse!

Kristy Foster
Assistant Principal

2026 Parent Payment Information

The 2026 Parent Payment information was sent out last week. Click here to access a digital copy. The Melbourne Office Supplies portal for student stationary orders is now open. Login information is found in the Parent Payment information packs.

The Parent Payments are a voluntary contribution that enables the school to offer:

• High quality programs & specialist classes to all students
• Maintain high quality ovals and grounds
• Upkeep our new playgrounds
• Delivery a range of current sporting equipment
• Offer effective first aid and first aid supplies for all students

The above cannot happen without the support of our families and their contributions.

2026 CSEF

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

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 $154 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.

2026 Extra-Curricular Activities

The 2026 Extra-Curricular Activities payment is for activities that enhance or broaden the schooling experience of students and are above and beyond what the school provides for free to deliver the Curriculum. These activities are provided on a user-pays basis.

The amount per student is $100.00 which covers all your child/rens excursions and incursions for the whole year.
It does NOT cover sporting activities, swimming, camps or Year 6 Big Day Out and Graduation.

Parents can choose to pay per event or via this event as a lump sum. If you have a valid Health Care Card, you may be eligible for the Government support through the Camps, Sports & Excursion Funding (CSEF). This can be used to pay for the Extra-Curricular Activities payment.

Hats in term 4

Just a reminder hats are to worn in term 4. They are available to purchase at the office if required.

Attendance

Please remember if your child will be absent ALL day, you need to enter an absence note on COMPASS. The office will be following up all unexplained absences.

Compass will automatically generate an SMS at 10.00am if your child is not at school. Please note that if you are bringing your child in late, ignore this SMS as late arrivals get signed in on the COMPASS Kiosk at the office on your arrival.  However, if your child is going to be absent for a complete day, you must approve this absence with a ‘note’ on Compass. This will avoid you receiving additional correspondence from the office to follow up this unexplained absence.

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.

Year 5 – Animal Portraits
Last term, local artist Andrea McLaughlin visited the Year 5 students to share some of her incredible artworks and teach a range of painting techniques. Inspired by her work, students selected an animal and used a photo and grid to guide their sketching. They then applied their painting skills to add texture and detail. The finished portraits look amazing and are wonderfully realistic!

Mascot Design Competition Winner

We had so many amazing entries for our BHPS Mascot Design Competition – a big thank you to everyone who took part! All the designs are proudly on display in the gym, and it’s been wonderful seeing the creativity, effort and school spirit that went into every idea.

A special congratulations to our shortlisted finalists:

• Koko the CARE Koala by Matilda D from 4A
• Murrup the Cockatoo by Matilda B from 4A
• And our Boronia Bees, inspired by Harper S from 6A, Izzy L from 4B and Paige S from 4B

Each design reflected what makes our school special – teamwork, creativity and care.

After all classes voted, I’m very excited to announce that our new BHPS Mascot is…
🎉 KOKO the CARE Koala! 🎉

A big congratulations to Matilda D from 4A. We can’t wait to see Koko representing Boronia Heights Primary School!

Tara Henstock
Visual Arts Co-ordinator

It has been another big couple of weeks in Sport at our school …

Lucy P 5A competed at the Eastern Metropolitan Regional Athletics 11yo girls Discus event. She did incredibly well to finish 10^th, and more importantly her improvement this year due to her dedication to training both at school and with her family, is a testament to her commitment and work ethic. What a great achievement Lucy!

Last week our Boys and Girls Softball teams competed at the Knox Division playoffs. Both teams were extremely competitive, with the Boys team finishing fourth overall. While the Girls team played off in the grand final, and finished runners up. Our Girls team has been invited to compete in the Eastern Metropolitan Regional Softball finals in a couple of weeks, we can’t wait to see how they go. A big thanks to Catherine Devlin who coached our Boys team on the day.

After being washed out in term 3, our Year 5 & 6 students finally got to compete in the District Summer Interschool sports that included Cricket, Handball, Softball, Tennis, and Volleyball. Nearly all of our teams were extremely competitive and it was great to see our school be the 2^nd best performed school overall. Our highest finishing teams included the Boys Cricket team (3^rd), Girls Tennis team (3^rd), Boys Softball team (3^rd), Girls Softball team (2^nd) and the Girls Handball team who won their event. Congratulations to the students involved and a huge thank you to the following family members who assisted at the various sports – Kerrie & Aiden Bibby, Krystall Hammond, Catherine Devlin, and Sue Annells. I must also thank our wonderful staff who ran all of the training sessions and helped umpire and score on the day.

Lastly, our A1 Lawn Bowls team that won the District event back in Term 2, were invited to compete at the State Primary Lawn Bowls Championships in Sunbury this week. The team that included Lili, Milla, Georgia, and Cherish (all 5C) and Ben, Josh, and Ryan (all 6C) did a great job to challenge their opponents despite the limited preparation. They lost their first two matches, but then finished the day with a win which was well deserved and signified the improvement they showed throughout the day. Thank you to Ben Carter, Michelle Gibson, and Jicinta Austin for driving the students on the day.

Upcoming sports events:

Nov. 10: Eastern Metropolitan Softball Finals

Nov. 19: 5C & 6C Surfing excursion

Nov 25: 5B & 6A Surfing excursion

Nov 27: 5A & 6B Surfing excursion

Shae Warren
Physical Education Teacher and Sport Co-ordinator

This Poster is on the Community board near the office.

If you want to order mangoes you can scan the code there.