Heights Happenings – 2026 – Term 3, Week 8

Friday 4th September 2026

The last two weeks have been incredibly busy at Boronia Heights and there has been plenty happening both inside and outside the classroom. Book Week was undoubtedly one of the highlights as it is every year. It was great to see so many students excited about books and reading throughout the week. The Book Fair was once again well supported by families and gave students plenty of opportunities to discover a new favourite book. We also welcomed Perform Education to the school for a whole-school performance based on this year’s shortlisted CBCA books. Students enjoyed seeing stories such as Dawn, A Loo of One’s Own, Run, The Colours of Home and Dear Broccoli brought to life in an entertaining and engaging way. The conversations about these books continued long after the performance had finished.

While all of this was happening, classes were also taking part in activities connected to Bullying No Way Week and Wear It Purple Day. These provided a chance for students to have some important conversations about how we treat one another and what it means to be part of an inclusive school community. Teachers and students in all year levels discussed topics such as friendship, respect and belonging. These discussions reminded us that acts of kindness and standing up for others can make a real difference to someone’s day.

There’s also been many excursions and incursions happening recently. Year 1 students enjoyed their visit to Melbourne Museum on Wednesday, while Year 4 students learned all about the significance of European settlement in an Australian History incursion. Year 6 students took part in the Money Talks program where they explored some of the practical realities of managing money and making financial decisions.

This week, our Year 5 students headed off to Camp Adanac in Dean, about 20 minutes north of Ballarat. They spent a glorious first day of Spring at Sovereign Hill, panning for gold and learning about Victorian history during the Gold Rush days. When they came back on Wednesday afternoon, they were all buzzing about the fantastic time they had. If you’re a parent of one of our Year 5 students, you’ve undoubtedly heard plenty of stories about their experience.

We were also incredibly proud to see a group of Boronia Heights students perform in the Victorian State Schools Spectacular as part of the mass choir. Their involvement is the result of many months of commitment and rehearsals. Singing to an audience of 8,000 people at John Cain Arena over two performances on Saturday is a memory that these students will remember fondly. I’d like to thank Mr Fox and Mrs McNamara for their commitment to supporting these children throughout their rehearsals in the city on Thursday and Friday, then again on their performance day on Saturday.

When I look back on the fortnight, what strikes me is just how varied school life can be. In the space of two weeks, students have been reading books, singing in a major performance, attending camp, visiting museums, exploring history, learning about money and discussing what it means to be a respectful and inclusive community. Not every lesson takes place at a desk, and the past fortnight has certainly been a good reminder of that.

Professional Practice Day and Three-way conferences

As we head towards the end of term, I’d like to remind families of two upcoming student-free days.

On Wednesday 9th September, staff will be participating in a Professional Practice Day. This is a student-free day. PPDs provided teachers with dedicated time to work together, analyse student learning data, plan for future teaching and continue developing their professional knowledge.

The following week, Thursday 17th September will be our Three-Way Conference Day. Please refer to the Compass post regarding conference bookings and arrangements for student supervision on the day. To support the smooth operation of the conferences, a supervision program will be available for families who have no alternative care arrangements available. As has been the case in previous years, we ask families to use this service only where it is genuinely required. This allows our specialist teachers to focus on supporting those students who need supervision while classroom teachers meet with families throughout the day.

Information about booking for the Three-way conferences will be communicated via Compass on Monday. Three-way conferences are one of the most valuable opportunities we have to strengthen the partnership between home and school and ensure every child is well supported in their learning.

End of Term and Footy Day

Just a reminder that students will be dismissed at 2:30pm on Friday 18^th September, with our special Footy Day assembly including Principal’s Award presentations at 9:15am in the gymnasium. Students can dress in their favourite sports team colours and cheer on their team. There will also be a special lunch offered by the canteen, so please be aware that the normal canteen menu will be unavailable that day.

Enjoy your weekend,

Mat Anderton
Principal

VICTORIAN STATE SCHOOLS SPECTACULAR

This past weekend, 25 of our Year 5 and 6 students from senior choir, sung as part of the massed choir in the Victorian State Schools Spectacular. This event is held each year at John Cain Arena, involving around 3000 students from government schools across Victoria, including a massed choir, massed dancers, an orchestra, principal vocalists and dancers and more specialised acts such as circus skills.

Our wonderful performers were:

5A          Matilda Baker, Matilda Dartnell, Brooklyn Sawyer, Indiana Greaves, Chloe Skidmore, Madelyn Bibby

5B          Alyssa Scott, Mackenzie Shearer, Isabelle Letson, Katie McKnight

5C          Evie Cook, Emily Jepson, Evelyn Robb

6A          Alex Andrew, Alice Bloomfield, Harveen Brar, Georgia Schumann

6B          Piper Murrihy, Parya Norouzi, Angela Grudzien, Charlotte Dartnell, Sienna Ryan

6C          Kaylee Barrett, Hannah Knowles

Our students rehearsed at school and at a number of city based rehearsals, learning their parts for around 15 songs. The massed choir alone was made up of around 1200 students, so it is quite an experience when all those students are singing together. We performed in two shows on Saturday, a 1pm and a 6.30pm performance. Singing to an audience of nearly 14,000 people over two shows, in a major arena, is an experience that will stay with our students for a long time and they should be very proud of the hard work they put in, to be prepared for the big day.

Thanks so much to Jen McNamara, one of our teacher aides, who was my second-in-command, throughout the whole process. All the teachers perform alongside their students, as part of the choir, and Jen and I loved it as much as the kids did! Our school applies to be part of the massed choir every second year (in our school production ‘off’ year), so we are looking forward to being a part of it again in 2028!

The show was filmed for TV. A special broadcast of the State Schools Spectacular with behind-the-scenes highlights will air on Friday, 18^th December 2026 on Channel 7 across Victoria and will be available for streaming on 7plus for 60 days post the broadcast date. Four of our performers, Mackenzie Shearer, Kaylee Barrett, Katie McKnight and Lucy Petchell had a feature within one of the promo videos for the show, on social media, which was also played in the arena as part of the show. So, look out for that, when the TV broadcast goes to air!

Year 6 Excursion to Government House

Our Year 6 students had a tour of Government House, they received free books and a backpack with some goodies. They had a fantastic day.

Thank you to the Lyons Club for providing a BBQ lunch.

Footy Day at the Canteen

Friday 18th September is Footy Day at the Canteen. Orders and cash payment must be in by Friday 11th September. Order forms will be sent home Monday.

Gluten free options are available, Gluten free order form available from the office.

Free Dress Day Friday 16th October

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.

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

CARE Ticket Winners- Term 3 Week 2

A special mention to Kip 4B and Zoe 1C for getting 2 tickets pulled out! also to 1C for a clean sweep for the Junior school.

Specialist awards- Term 3 Week 4

Junior School council interviews

Lucy here, one of the four school captains. This week I interviewed the prep junior school council members, Rory and Eleanor. At lunch time this week we sat down, and I asked them an important question. Which was: Why did you want to be a junior school council member?

Eleanor said, because she likes to help the school, and Rory said, because he likes to help people. Which is amazing, as this is what Junior School Council members are here for, to give their year level a voice. 

Eleanor and Rory have helped to make the school a better place, with fundraisers such as the Big Freeze day, which was helping the school by raising money for a new, junior gaga pit. 

Thank you Rory and Eleanor, for your help in this segment. 

Until next time, Lucy, out. 

Year 1 : What’s your favourite part about being in the JSC?

Annabelle: I like being in the Junior School Council because I like to ask if somebody’s okay and also like to be a good role model for everyone.

Dylan: I like being in the Junior School Council because I get to help decide which fundraiser the school gets to do.

Year 4: What’s your favourite fundraiser you’ve organised, and why?

Sam: My favourite Fundraiser that me and the Junior School Council have organised is Donut Day which is going to be happening soon because it provides a yum treat of your choice for everyone that can make them happy and also because I love donuts.

Isabella: My favourite fundraiser me and the Junior school council have organised is the Big Freeze day because you get to wear whatever warm and comfy clothes you want.

By Noah

Year 5 – What fundraiser would you like to do in the future?

Evelyn – A free dress day for the Real Children’s Hospital because there are a lot of kids in need of help.

Blake was unfortunately absent,

 Year 3 – What is your favourite type of fundraisers?

Penny – Crazy hair days because they’re very fun and show off people’s personalities.

Michela – Pajama days because you don’t have to change at all when you get out of bed.

By Jasmine

Year 6’s  Question: What is your favourite part of being in Junior School Council?

David- My favourite part of being in Junior  School Council is helping the school develop and change for the better.

Lola- My favourite part of being in a Junior School council is being able to listen to the student voice and what the students want to change to the school.

Year 2’s Question: What is your favourite fundraiser?

Arden- My favourite fundraiser is the colour run because they throw colour chalk at me and I get it all over my face. 

Grace- my favourite fundraiser is the colour run because it is really fun.

By Zara

BHPS School Captains

SPORTS NEWS

We recently had the Rowville District Athletics event where 71 of our Year 3-6 competed at the Knox Athletics event. It was particularly pleased with how many of our students attended the optional before school training sessions leading up to the event! The general improvement across the school is definitely there and was evident if our District Athletics results with our total points scored at the event increasing from 256 points in 2026 to 326 points in 2027. A special congratulations is extended to the following students who have been invited to participate the Knox Divisional Athletics event of the 16^th September:

Emily B. & Harper L. – Shot put.

Lucy P. & Ethan H. – Discus

Hannah K. – High jump.

Kaidence R. – 100m & Triple jump.

Samara B. – Triple jump.

Day 1 of competition of the Rowville District ‘Summer’ interschool sports:

Our first day of competition was completed on Thursday 27^th August. We had students competing in the sports of Cricket, Handball, Softball, Tennis, & Volleyball. Both the Girls’ and Boys’ Softball teams had wonderful days – remaining undefeated in day 1 of competition; as to did our Girls’ Handball team. While the Boys’ Handball and Boys’ cricket teams also had strong days, winning the majority of their matches.

A big thank you to our known parent helpers on the day in Anne Oliver, Nicole Bateman, Sasha Hendrickse, & Melanie Snibson (and anyone else who assisted on the day)! The final day of competition is scheduled for Monday 14^th September – if there is anyone interested and available to assist with a team, can you please email Mr Warren.

2026 Sports events:

Term 3

Sep 14^th: District Summer interschool sports – reserve day.

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: 5B & 6B

Nov 25^th: Surfing excursion – group 2: 5C & 6A

Dec 1^st: Surfing excursion – group 3: 5A & 6C

Shae Warren
Physical Education Teacher and Sport Co-ordinator

Staff Get Creative in the Art Room!

The students aren’t the only ones having all the fun in the art room! Our talented staff have been busy rolling up their sleeves, picking up their paintbrushes and getting creative as they work on some very special masterpieces of their own.

This is just a small sneak peek of what has been happening behind the scenes, with plenty more exciting creations still to come. It has been wonderful to see our staff stepping outside their comfort zones, having some fun and showing off their creative talents.

The finished pieces will be proudly displayed at our upcoming Art Show and Market Night, where they will be available as part of a silent auction. This will be a fantastic opportunity to take home a unique, one-of-a-kind artwork created by one of our very own BHPS staff, while also supporting our school.

There are already some incredible masterpieces in the making, and we can’t wait to reveal the finished collection! Keep an eye out for more sneak peeks in the coming weeks, you definitely won’t want to miss seeing what our creative teachers have been up to!

Who knows… we may have a few hidden Picasso’s amongst our staff!

Kind Regards,

Prue Baum

MARKET NIGHT & ART SHOW – Friday October 30th

Leah Hodgson
Boronia Heights Hubsters