Heights Happenings – 2026 – Term 2, Week 6

Little Learners Love Literacy – Milo Monkey’s Birthday

On Tuesday, our Prep students marked Milo Monkey’s birthday as part of the Little Learners Love Literacy celebrations, and it was a terrific morning. I even had the chance to join in by dressing up as Milo Monkey, which certainly added to the excitement.

Milo Monkey’s birthday is part of the reading program we use in Prep-Year 2 called Little Learners Love Literacy. Milo Monkey is one of the characters the children get to know through the program, so the birthday party is really just a fun way to bring that character to life.

The day began with a costume parade, with students coming dressed as Milo’s friends and proudly showing off their outfits. From there, the activities kept everyone busy, including Frog in the Pond games, making fairy bread, creating party hats and, of course, enjoying some birthday cake. It was a fun and engaging way to build a love of literacy while giving our youngest students a memorable shared experience.

Education Week

Education Week always gives us a great reason to open the doors to the school community, and I certainly felt the community spirit on Wednesday. With this year’s theme “Showcase your School”, it was great to see so many families both in the morning and evening joining with the staff and students for the range of activities.

As I walked around, there was a lot to take in. In classrooms, students were busy with puzzles and maths challenges, and what I enjoyed most was listening to the way they explained their thinking. They were keen to have a go, showcasing their work and proud to talk it through. Outside, there was plenty happening too, with sports activities running throughout the morning.

I had a number of conversations with parents and carers across both sessions, and I appreciated people taking the time to share their thoughts. It was pleasing to hear how much they valued the chance to come into the school and enjoy a fun morning with their children.

A genuine thank you to our staff for the work that went into the day. There is a lot of planning that sits behind what looks like a smooth and simple event, and it was clear to see the care that had gone into creating a range of activities for everyone to take part in.

The National Simultaneous Storytime also coincided with our Open Day. This year’s book, Luna Roo, was about a young kangaroo, a first-time captain, who gives it her all as she leads FC Outback into an exciting clash with Bush United. With a spider guarding the goals, snakes leading the attack and plenty of nerves to manage, Luna learns she needs to rely on both her own abilities and the support of her teammates to succeed.

Created by football veterans Adam Jackson and Adrian Lloyd, Luna Roo brings the energy of the game to life while sharing a thoughtful message about the importance of courage and perseverance. Our Library Leaders stepped up to take on the responsibility to reading the book to the whole school. There is something special about seeing students take on that responsibility, and they handled it with a calm confidence.

Thank you to everyone who came along and took part in the day. It felt like a true reflection of our school, and I am grateful for the way our community continues to show up and support what we do.

Enjoy your weekend,

Mat Anderton
Principal

New Canteen Pricelist

A reminder that until further notice, Monday lunch orders are cash only. Friday lunch orders are now Online as well as cash.

New Sports Polo

BREAKING NEWS! Our NEW SPORTS TOPS have arrived! You can now order them at our uniform supplier Spartan School World.

Victorian Premiers’ Reading Challenge

The Victorian Premiers’ Reading Challenge is now open and Boronia Heights Primary School is excited to be taking part!

The Challenge is open to all Victorian children from birth to Year 10 and aims to help young readers develop a lifelong love of reading.

To complete the challenge, children in grade 3 to 6 need to read 15 books, while Prep to grade 2 students, with their parents/carers, need to read 30 books. The challenge ends on 4^th of September 2026.

After each book your child reads at home or school, enter the book into the Premier’s Reading Challenge website –

https://vprc.eduweb.vic.gov.au/home

Sign in under school student – VPRC login – with the username and password provided by your classroom teacher.

Click on search books – search the full title/author – click on the title of the book read – click on add book – complete the review if you would like – click finished.

Go back to the Dashboard and click on finished for all books.

These books will then be verified at school.

Your child’s dashboard provides the number of books read and when the challenge is completed.

We encourage students to keep entering books into the website, even after completing the challenge! This year, 25 students who read the most books will win a pizza lunch prize! (not class as previous years)

All children who meet the Challenge will receive a certificate of achievement.

This year, the Challenge is celebrating its 20th anniversary with the theme ‘20 years of words and wonder’.

Since it began in 2005, more than 4.5 million young readers have taken part and together read more than 63 million books.

To read the Premier’s letter to parents, view the booklist and for more information about the Victorian Premiers’ Reading Challenge, visit www.vic.gov.au/premiers-reading-challenge

If you have any questions please contact me @ leanne.bentley@education.vic.gov.au

Good luck to all our families and happy reading!

Leanne Bentley

Librarian

Cyber Safety

Cyber Safe Parents – Online Safety Webinars for Families

 We’re thrilled to announce our school has partnered with Cyber Safety Project to offer parents access to the Cyber Safe Parents 2026 Webinar Series. These practical, easy-to-understand sessions, available live or on-demand, will provide simple strategies to help families manage online safety, screen time, AI, and digital wellbeing. Pop these important dates into your calendars now:

2026 Topics & Dates:

1. Cyber Safety at Home (Family session) – 10 March
2. AI & Critical Thinking (Parent/Guardian session)  – 20 May
3. Balancing Life & Tech (Parent/Guardian session)   – 3 August
4. Cyberbullying & Resilience (Parent/Guardian session)  – 27 October

All sessions start at 7.30pm AEDT/AEST.

Can’t attend live? Register to receive the recording and resources to watch at a time that suits you.

 👉 Register here: https://cybersafetyproject.com/parents-2026 (do not share this link on social media)

Please click above to watch the first webinar from 10^th March. We will send out communication to you before the next webinar dates if you want to attend online at the same time, otherwise they will always be available to watch when it suits you.

Divisional Cross Country

I would like to congratulate our four students who participated in the Knox Divisional Cross Country Championships on Wednesday 27^th May.

Darcy Jones 11^th, Stephanie Gibbs 12^th, Lily Edmond 15^th, and Jason Hoogkamer 23^rd all performed brilliantly and fell agonisingly close to getting in the top 10 and progressing through to the Eastern Metropolitan Regional stage.

What a great effort from you all and we hope you feel as proud as we do of you!

Thank you to their families for their support on the day and for providing the photos.

2026 Sports events:

Term 2

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

Jun 25^th: Yr 5-6 Hoop Time event at State Basketball Centre. *parent volunteers requested.

Term 3

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

Jul 21^st: AFL Girls Division event (selected Yr 5-6 girls). *New date

Jul 31^st: Yr 2 Mini Hoops event at Nunawading Basketball Stadium. *parent volunteers requested.

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.

Sep 15^th: Yr 3-4 Hoop Time event at State Basketball Centre. *parent volunteers requested.

Term 4

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

Kind Regards,

Prue Baum

Friendology – Free Parent Membership

Dear Parents,

URSTRONG’s whole-school friendship strategy has improved the social climate in schools around the world, connecting over a million kids, parents, and teachers with a common language of friendship. We are proud to be a URSTRONG School and are committed to empowering your children with friendship skills.

You are invited to take advantage of a FREE Parent Membership to access hundreds of resources – including an 8 session video series. This will allow you to learn the same language & strategies being taught in the classroom through the Friendology 101 curriculum. We hope that, as a URSTRONG Family, you will reinforce the important messages of empowerment, self-compassion, & kindness at home.

Have a great week!

Mental Health and Wellbeing Leader
Sarah Weichert

Sarah.weichert@education.vic.gov.au

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

Future events

DISCO FEVER – Friday July 31st

Leah Hodgson
Boronia Heights Hubsters