Principal’s Message – Newsletter 3 2026

Farewell to Sarah McIntosh

For the past 11 years, our school has been fortunate to have Sarah McIntosh working with families, students and staff as our School Chaplain and Student Welfare Officer.

Sadly, she will be finishing up at Boronia Heights Primary School on Wednesday 11^th March to take on a similar role at James Cook Primary School in Endeavour Hills.

Sarah has been an important part of our wellbeing team and has supported so many students and families during her time with us. Her care, warmth and consistent presence have made a real difference and we are deeply grateful for the contribution she has made to our school.

While we are sad to see Sarah go, we are also very proud of her and pleased that she is taking on a role that will allow her to continue supporting young people in the Endeavour Hills community.

Moving forward, programs such as Kids Hope and free fruit in classrooms will continue as normal. The social skills will be changing to a new model with members of our Education Support team running a program called Social Stencil. This program will be similar to our reading and maths intervention programs whereby ES staff will work with small groups of children for a limited number of weeks based on the skills they need.

Kristy Foster remains the key contact person for families who may be seeking additional welfare support.

A card will be in the office for families to may wish to write a word of thanks to Sarah. If you can’t make it to the school to write in the card, please email to Tracey Holden tracey.holden@education.vic.gov.au and she can add your message.

Parent helpers

A very special “Thank You” to all the parents who came along to the parent helper course over the past two weeks. It was great to see so many parents learn about the ways you can support learning in the classroom.

We really appreciate the time you’re willing to give and the interest you’ve shown in getting involved. Your support makes things run more smoothly and it’s always good to have extra hands and friendly faces around the school. We look forward to seeing you in classrooms soon.

Rotary Youth Skills Shed on Sunrise

For the past two years, the Rotary Club of Boronia have partnered with the school to run a Youth Skills Shed program. You may have read my posts in previous newsletters about the work they do to teach children trade-based skills that lead into hands-on learning. Ray Seigersma, incumbent President of the Rotary Club, was instrumental in setting up this program, and last year was awarded $20,000 as a winner of the Westfield Local Heroes. To recognise his remarkable achievement, along with other winners of the award, the Sunrise program on Channel 7 are doing a special live cross during the weather report at 7:30am. Families are invited to attend the live event on Tuesday 3^rd at Zerbes Reserve, Blackburn Rd, Doncaster East. If your child has been part of the Youth Skills Shed program, or you’re keen to support Ray and the school’s partnership with Rotary, please arrive at the venue between 6:30am and 7:00am. I’ll see you there!

Free resources for families of adolescents aged 10 to 14 years

The Department of Education has launched an Easing into adolescence webpage for families of students aged 10 to 14 (Grade 5 to Year 8).

The webpage has information and strategies you can use to help ease your child into adolescence and secondary school. These include:

• a guide to emotion coaching. Staff from The University of Melbourne’s Tuning in to Teens Kids program developed the guidance.
• how to support your adolescent with their studies and more generally. Parenting expert and clinical psychologist Andrew Fuller helped develop this resource.

Subtitles for videos by The University of Melbourne on the webpage are available in 10 languages. You can select your preferred language on the translations page.

For questions about these resources, contact the Strategic Partnerships, Transitions and Student Voice team. You can email them at Secondary.School.Transition@education.vic.gov.au.

Grade 4 Camp

The grade 4 camp to The Island in Cowes is happening next week from Monday 2^nd March to Wednesday 4^th March. There’s a lot of buzz and excitement from the students about going on their first school camp. This is an amazing experience for them and I’m sure they’ll love it. I’m also attending the camp on Tuesday night and Wednesday and I can honestly say it’s one of the best camps in Victoria. The facilities, activities, location and food are terrific. Camps are a great way for kids to develop independence, and it’s always a highlight of the year

Have a great week.

Mat Anderton
Principal

New Staff!

STAFF PROFILE

Name: Shaun Daniels

 Grade: 5C

 Previous School: Yarraman Oaks Primary School

 Birthday : 15/8

 Family: mum, brother, and a lovely fiancé

 Pets: two cats, Eddie and Bonnie

 Hobbies: Cooking, watching and playing sport, listening to music, catching up with friends and family and gardening

 AFL Footy team: Western Bulldogs

 Favourite Food: Sushi and chicken biryani

 Favourite Book or Movie: Rush Hour and Remember the Titans

 Favourite Colour: Blue

STAFF PROFILE

Name: Kate Maxwell

 Grade: Prep D

 Birthday : 12^th of March

 Family: Mum, Dad, one brother and two sisters!

 Pets: My little dachshund, Willow and two cats, Bon and Bao.

 Hobbies: Crafting, running, baking and reading.

 AFL Footy team: Richmond Tigers

 Favourite Food: Laksa

 Favourite Book or Movie: I love Zootopia!

 Favourite Colour: Blue

STAFF PROFILE

Name: Blair Blackburn

 Grade: Prep C and 6C

 Previous School: Bimbadeen Heights PS

 Birthday : 23^rd August

 Family: Hubby Dave, x3 daughters Summer, Stella & Sammi.

 Pets: Our golden retriever dog, Swanny.

 Hobbies: Love having coffee dates, spending time with my family watching footy & tennis and

 AFL Footy team: I go for Hawthorn but the rest of the family go for the Pies!

 Favourite Food: Pizza and cheese!

 Favourite Book or Movie: The Sound of Music and Possum Magic

 Favourite Colour: Pink & Peach

STAFF PROFILE

Name: Perri Wilkinson

 Grade: 2

 Previous School: Cranbourne East Primary School

 Birthday: 5th of September 

 Family: Husband named Grant, two daughters named Adelyn and Riley and a son named Cameron

 Pets: a chook called Shine

 Hobbies: spending time with my family and friends, sewing and a little bit of panting

 AFL Footy team: Collingwood

 Favourite Food: popcorn, cheese and pasta

 Favourite Book or Movie: Shrek (movie) Harry Potter (book) 

 Favourite Colour: Green

Welcome to the 2026 School year!

Some of our major sporting events are locked in with their dates – please see the list below. While other events like Hoop Time are yet to be available for bookings, I’ll update families via Compass and the Newsletter once we have some confirmed dates and details. As always, there are some events that we would really appreciate the help of parent volunteers to ensure we run a quality event and have adequate supervision. If you are interested in assisting with any of those events (WWCC and school registration required – available at a later date), please speak to or email me.

This term, Active Club will be held on Monday and Wednesday mornings (when the weather allows). For those unfamiliar with Active Club, it’s a free before school program that I run with the assistance of our House Captains to encourage students and their families to get moving and to start their day on a positive note via running/jogging/walking laps of our school ovals. Students have their laps recorded throughout the program, with recognition at assembly given once major milestones are reached. Family members are most welcome to join in although we don’t record your laps. Active Club can also assist with student preparation for the whole school Cross Country event that is held towards the end of Term 1. There’s no requirement to register to participate, simply come to school and enter via the Phipps Ave gate (next to OHSC club), once there see myself or the House Captains who will have the lap recording cards and then join in for as little or as much as you like. Active Club runs from 8:20-8:45 on Monday and Wednesday mornings and will be held in Terms 1 and 4 only. I hope to see you all there.

2026 Sports events

Mar 20^th: Whole school Cross Country event *parent volunteers requested.

Mar 27^th: Yr 3-6 Athletics Day @ Ringwood Athletics track *parent volunteers requested.

Mar 31^st: Prep-2 Mini Athletics event at school.

May 4^th-8^th: Prep-2 Swimming week, lessons @Knox Leisureworks.

May 8^th: District Cross Country (selected Yr 3-6 students).

May 18^th-22^nd: Yr 3-4 Swimming week, lessons @Knox Leisureworks.

May 21^st: AFL Girls Division event (selected Yr 5-6 girls).

May 22^nd: District Winter interschool sports – day 1 (all Yr 5-6 students). *parent volunteers requested.

May 29^th: District Winter interschool sports – day 2 (all Yr 5-6 students). *parent volunteers requested.

Jul 17^th: District Basketball competition (selected Yr 5-6 students).

Aug 14^th: District Athletics (selected Yr 3-6 students).

Aug 19^th: District Summer interschool sports – day 1 (all Yr 5-6 students). *parent volunteers requested.

Aug 27^th: District Summer interschool sports – day 1 (all Yr 5-6 students). *parent volunteers requested.

Nov 19^th: Surfing excursion – group 1 (some Yr 5-6 students).

Nov 25^th: Surfing excursion – group 2 (some Yr 5-6 students).

Dec 1^st: Surfing excursion – group 3 (some Yr 5-6 students).

Shae Warren
Physical Education Teacher and Sport Co-ordinator

Prep – Abstract Painting

Year 1 – Shape Castles

Year 2 – Water Lilies

Year 3 – Harvest to Table Aprons

Year 4 – Desert Landscapes

Year 5 – Abstract Self-Portraits

Tara Henstock
Visual Arts Co-ordinator

Parent information sessions available through Knox Council

These events are hosted by Knox City Council (in partnership with Maroondah City Council, City of Boroondara and Yarra Ranges Council) run online and are FREE. They will cover a variety of topics related to ADHD and how to support your child.

See below for the different topics and click Image to register.

Mental Health and Wellbeing Leader
Sarah Weichert

Sarah.weichert@education.vic.gov.au

Specialist awards

Smile Squad

Smile Squad is coming to Boronia Heights P.S.!

They will be coming to our school from Monday 20th March. Please refer to below form for further information on how to access this service.

Department of Education- Reminder

Students and parents/carers are responsible for a student’s personal item/property, including if it is lost, stolen or damaged at school or during school excursions.

Parents/carers are responsible for all medical expenses, including ambulance costs if they are incurred by a student at school or while the student is participating in a school activity (including offsite).

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.

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.

Welcome back, everyone! We hope you had a wonderful school break and were able to relax and recharge.

At this stage, we do not have any major projects planned for this year, as 2026 will be a maintenance-focused year. However, if you have any ideas or suggestions for the school, please feel free to email me at leah.hodgson@education.vic.gov.au . The B & G Committee will be happy to review and assess the logistics of all proposals.

We’re looking forward to a positive and successful year ahead.

Leah Hodgson
Assistant Principal

Leah Hodgson
Boronia Heights Hubsters