Heights Happenings – 2026 – Term 3, Week 2

Exciting term ahead

Welcome to the start of another term of learning. I hope the holidays gave you a chance to enjoy a different pace for a couple of weeks. Whether it was a getting away from Melbourne, catching up with friends and family or simply a few quieter days at home (like me), it seems like everyone has returned feeling refreshed and ready for the term ahead.

There is certainly plenty happening over the next few months. Students will represent our school in District Basketball and the AFL Girls Division Competition, while our Grade 5 students begin looking ahead to their secondary years through Taste Tester visits to local secondary schools. Hoop Time is happening again for grades 3 and 4 students and a Mini Hoop Time for grade 2s. All students will have the opportunity to learn more about staying safe online through a Cyber Safety Incursion next Monday.

Beyond the classroom, Grade 1 students will visit the museum, Grade 6 students will head into the city for their art excursion and later in the term celebrate their learning through the Grade 6 German Celebration Day. We will also come together for National Science Week and Book Week, both of which always bring plenty of curiosity, creativity and fun to our school.

Some of the most anticipated days this term are the School Disco, Father’s Day Stall and Footy Day. They help make or school feel like a community, and I really want to thank the parents who volunteer their time and energy to organising and running these events. Thank you for the support you continue to give our school. We are fortunate to be part of a community that values education and works together to provide the very best opportunities for our children.

I look forward to sharing another great term with you all.

100 Days of School for Preps

Congratulations to our Prep students, who will celebrate their 100th Day of School next Tuesday.

The 100 Days of School celebrations have become a much-loved tradition in Prep, marking an important milestone in the first year of schooling. It’s a chance to pause and recognise just how far our youngest students have come since the beginning of the year.

Our Prep students will enjoy a day of fun activities focused on the number 100, including dressing up, a parade, games and plenty of creative learning challenges. The celebrations will also include a special lunch with cake and party food.

One of the highlights of the day is always seeing students arrive dressed as 100-year-olds. The grey wigs, cardigans, walking sticks and creative costumes always bring a smile to everyone’s face.

Most of all, the day is an opportunity to celebrate a fantastic start to school life. In 100 days, our Prep students have settled into school routines, built new friendships and embraced the many opportunities that come with being part of our school community. We are very proud of the way they have approached their first year of school and look forward to sharing this special day with them.

AusAlert

The Department has asked Principals to share the following information with the community.

We’ve been advised that a national test of AusAlert will happen across Australia on Monday 27 July at 2 pm.

AusAlert is a new, national emergency warning system. It sends warning messages to compatible mobile devices during emergencies, to keep people informed so they can act quickly. The Australian Government plans to launch AusAlert in October 2026.

On Monday 27 July at 2 pm, all compatible mobile devices will receive a Critical Alert. Compatible mobile devices include phones, tablets, smart watches, safety watches and some vehicle devices. These will vibrate and make a loud, siren-like warning sound for about 10 seconds. This will happen even if they are on silent or do not disturb. The message will clearly state that it is a test. No action is required from the test.

To minimise disruption, student phones and smart devices should be switched off and stored securely at the office during the school day.

You may also wish to let your child know that if they see or hear the alert, school staff will support them. You can learn more at AusAlert: children and teens. Information is also available in other languages.

Uniform

With students returning from the holidays, I thought it would be helpful to highlight one small aspect of our Student Dress Code, which was developed with community input and can be viewed on our website here.

The policy states that permanent unnatural hair colours are not permitted at school. Temporary coloured hairsprays are fine for special events such as Footy Day, sports days and other celebration days like Colour Run and Wear it Purple Day.

From time to time, students return from holidays with a new hair colour, and I appreciate the support of families in helping us maintain a consistent approach to the expectations outlined in our dress code.

I’ve also noticed several students returning with braids and hair wraps from their holiday travels. These are absolutely fine, as they are temporary and can be removed when required.

Many thanks,

Mat Anderton
Principal

State School Spectacular

We’re proud to have 25 of our senior choir students representing us as part of the massed choir in the 2026 Victorian State Schools Spectacular – This Is Me.

Students from across the state will take to the stage at John Cain Arena on Saturday 29 August (1pm and 6:30pm), performing to an audience of around 12,000.

Talented students will feature on stage, while many other students will work behind the scenes, gaining professional experience under the mentorship of Creative Director Neill Gladwin, Musical Director Chong Lim AM and Dance Director Yvette Lee.

Get ready to be amazed by the powerful pop anthems, moving ballads, high-energy choreography, awe-inspiring aerialists and circus performers.

For a wonderful, family entertainment experience, and to cheer on our students from the audience, be quick to secure tickets when they go on sale at 11am Thursday 16 July via www.ticketek.com.au/spectacular

Ticket prices:

• Adult:                           $40
• Child (under 15):          $20
• Concession:                $30

Group Offer:

Buy 10 tickets and get one adult ticket for free.
Group Bookings can be made by calling 1300 364 001.

2026 Book Week (August 24th – 28th)

Book Week Celebrations are coming!

On Monday 24th August, we will start with our Book Character Dress up day. Students can come dressed as their favourite Book Character and we will hold a whole school parade at 9.15am. You may like to decorate a hat, decorate a t-shirt or use any items you have at home to represent your favourite book character.
On Friday 28th August we have an amazing incursion with a live performance titled Something Special. Perform Education will provide us with an educational musical adventure linked to this year’s Book Week theme, Symphony of Stories. The production will run two sessions, Prep – 3, aimed at junior students and a 4 – 6 production for senior primary students.
This incursion has been booked with an early bird fee for families of $8.50 per student. This is payable through Compass and due no later than Monday 24th August.
Our annual Book Fair will begin on Monday 24th of August and finish Friday 28th of August. The Book Fair will be open to students during their Library session where students can bring cash in a named envelope to purchase new, fantastic quality and popular books. Junior and senior fiction books, activity packs, journals, picture story books and non-fiction books will all be available for as little as $2 and up to $30. Book Fair will also be open to families between 3.30pm and 4pm each day, in the Library. Be sure to come and check it out!
To run a smooth and successful Book Fair we are asking for parent volunteers to help out after school each day for half an hour. If you are available and able to support us as a cashier or supervising, can you please email me at leanne.bentley@education.vic.gov.au
Your time and support are always greatly appreciated.

Cash sales and EFTPOS will be available at the Book Fair.

If you have any queries, please don’t hesitate to contact me.
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.

Mental Health and Wellbeing Leader
Sarah Weichert

Sarah.weichert@education.vic.gov.au

Term 3- Discovering the Science of Change!

This term in STEAM at BHPS, students across our school will explore the fascinating world of Chemical Sciences. Through hands-on investigations, experiments and creative design challenges, students are developing their scientific thinking while discovering how the STEAM areas (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Mathematics) can help us to explain the world around us.

Our Prep students are investigating the properties of different materials, exploring how they look, feel and behave through a range of engaging hands-on activities. They have already decided that Cinderella’s glass slippers are a poor choice of materials for shoes and have drawn new, more comfortable designs. They will finish the unit by designing and creating a special hat to demonstrate what they have learned about different material properties.

Grade 1 and 2 students are exploring mixtures by investigating who makes them, why we use them in everyday life, how they can be changed and whether they can be separated again.

Grade 3 and 4 students are discovering the science of heating and melting, conducting experiments to explore how heat is created, how it moves and how it affects everyday materials.

Meanwhile, our Grade 5 and 6 students are investigating the states of matter, physical and chemical changes, and chemical reactions. They will also begin developing important secondary school science skills by conducting an experiment of their choice and presenting their findings in a formal lab report.

NATIONAL SCIENCE WEEK 2026

We will also be celebrating National Science Week 2026 during Weeks 5 and 6 of term (10^th – 21^st August), with this year’s theme, “Seeds of Science: Nurturing Knowledge for All.” To celebrate, every class will take part in a special hands-on STEAM activity that combines the theme with Chemical Sciences, melting, creativity and even a little space science! There may even be a delicious scientific challenge involved… I’ll share more details with students soon!

As part of our Science Week celebrations, our Grade 5 and 6 students will participate in a free DNA extraction incursion on Friday 21^st August, 2026, generously supported by Thermo Fisher Scientific, where they will extract DNA from strawberries and experience real-world biotechnology in action.

As part of our Science Week 2026 celebrations, families will also have the opportunity to support our STEAM program through an online Science Week Pop-Up Science Stall through Science Supply Australia (SSA) in Mitcham who stock fun and educational Science related kits, toys and gift ideas.  I have had a long-standing association with SSA who will generously return 10% of all sales back to BHPS as fundraising for our STEAM program to provide additional resources and equipment for classes.

The online shop will be open from the 10^th – 23^rd August, 2026 and delivery of purchases will be made to BHPS during the school week ending the 28^th August, 2026. If you have any questions, please reach out to daniela@ssapl.com.au

Some examples of the items on offer will be included at the end of our newsletter.

Helen Clark – STEAM Specialist

Visual Arts News

Term 3 is shaping up to be a very busy and exciting time in the Art Room as we prepare for our annual Art Show next term. Our talented student artists have already been hard at work creating pieces for the exhibition, as well as contributing to our much-anticipated Glow Room. There is so much creativity and enthusiasm on display, and I can’t wait to see all of their incredible work come together.

This week, our Year 6 students explored the fascinating world of wearable art. They had the opportunity to work with resin, designing and creating their own unique jewellery pieces. After carefully curing their creations under UV lights, students learnt how to safely use tools to sand, shape and drill holes in their finished pieces, ready to be transformed into wearable artworks.

The students thoroughly enjoyed experimenting with this exciting new medium, developing both their creativity and practical making skills. It has been wonderful to see their confidence grow as they embraced new techniques and proudly showcased their individual designs.

Kind Regards,

Prue Baum

Sports news

It has been a busy end of Term 2 / Start of Term 3 with Sports events …

Over 100 Year 5 & 6 students went to the State Basketball Centre in the last week of Term 2 to participate in their Hoop Time event. As hoped, the kids displayed wonderful teamwork and sportsmanship – and it was great to see them in our new school basketball uniforms. A special thanks to the following parent helpers for the event: Kerrie Bibby, Melissa Letson, Kathryn Skidmore, Stuart Bell, Melanie Snibson, Hayley Marotta, Cristee Panagiotou, Barb Ryan, Sasha Hendrickse, Candice Komodromos, Yvette Willison, Brooke Rout, Caroline McKnight, Daniel Robb, & Emma Werry.

This Term, we have already had the District Basketball event where our Boys’ and Girls’ teams competed hard. Their persistence paid off with some close and exciting wins at the end of the event. Thank you to Candice Komodromos & Alison Inglis for assisting with coaching and scoring on the day!

On Tuesday, we also had the Knox Division AFL Girls event. With 15 schools in attendance, the competition was tough, but both our teams acquitted themselves extremely well. Our team finished 2^nd in their group and then went on to win their quarter final and semi final matches. In the Grand Final, scores were level at ½ time, but unfortunately they we were quite able to walk away with the Championship. The team was outstanding all day, and I am extremely proud of the way they played and conducted themselves! I’d also like to thank Jen McNamara who coached our B team on the day.

We have many more events coming up this Term …

*Our Girls’ Tee Ball team are competing at the Divisional finals on Wednesday 29^th July and we wish them all the best.

*The Year 2 Mini Hoops event at Nunawading Basketball Stadium is coming up on Friday 31^st July with preparational training sessions already under way.

*District Athletics is on Friday 14^th August at Knox Athletics Track. Training for all events has now begun and the schedule can be viewed on the Compass event under the ‘additional event details’ section.

*Summer Interschool Sports for our Year 5 & 6 students will be held across Wednesday 19^th and Thursday 27^th August – we’d love the assist of any parents – please email me if you can help.

*The Year 3/4 Hoop Time event is happening on Tuesday 15^th September in the last week of Term. Registrations close on Compass on Friday 14^th August. After that, a request for parent helpers will be sent.

2026 Sports events:

Term 3

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

Prep enrolments 2027

Do you have a child starting Prep at BHPS in 2027? Please ensure your enrolment is completed as soon as possible.

Enrolments are due by Friday 31st July.

You can lodge your enrolment here.

Any queries, please contact Tanya Wick at the office.

Chocolate fundraiser

Thank you to the families who have returned money and unsold chocolates to the school.

This is just a reminder that chocolate fundraiser is due back now, if you haven’t returned money and unsold chocolates please return them to the school asap.

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.

CARE Awards

Specialist awards- Term 3 Week 2

Future events

Leah Hodgson
Boronia Heights Hubsters