Heights Happenings – 2024 – Term 4, Week 4

Market Night and Art Expo

Last Friday was yet another example of the remarkable support our school community shows the school, when we had our Market Night and Art Expo. I’m sure you will all agree with me that the Art Expo was spectacular. The Ocean-themed vision Ms Henstock and the students created in the art room, along with the work on display in the gym, demonstrates that our visual art program is first-class. I am so proud of the students for their beautiful art work. I had many, many glowing comments by parents, friends and community members throughout the night. Well done to all.

The success of the Market Night can be attributed to the tireless work of “The Hubsters”, our group of parent volunteers who were expertly led by Leia Barrett. Special thanks to Sarah Kiss, Mel Snibson, Yvette Willison and Jen Lawrence for their voluntary work in setting up, packing up and coordinating the stallholders. The Market Night raised $7000 for the school which is an outstanding result. This money will help us build a new playground for the Prep kids. On behalf of the school, I want to thank everyone involved in making Market Night and Art Expo a huge success.

Student-free Days in 2025

School Council have endorsed the plan for our student-free days next year. Please put these dates in your diaries and calendars:

CURRICULUM DAY 1: Tuesday 28^th January (Term 1)

CURRICULUM DAY 2: Thursday 24^th April (Term 2)

CURRICULUM DAY 3: Tuesday 10^th June (Term 2)

TEACHER PROFESSIONAL PRACTICE DAY: Wednesday 9^th September

STUDENT-FREE DAY: Monday 3^rd November (Term 4)

CURRICULUM DAY 4: Friday 19^th December

In consultation with School Council, Monday 3^rd November has been designated as a student-free day so that we can provide time in lieu to staff for the additional hours they work at school production nights and other events that require work outside normal hours.

We also made the last day of school, Friday 19^th December, as a curriculum day next year. This means that school will finish at 3:30pm on Thursday 18^th December 2025.

Long weekend

This is just a last-minute reminder that Monday is a Curriculum Day which means there will be no students attending school. OSCHClub are open for families who require care for their children.

Please enjoy the extra-long weekend. I look forward to seeing everyone on Wednesday.

Kind regards,

Mat Anderton
Principal

Update

I hope that you have been able to check out our new bike shed, that was built with funds raised by the Community Hub. It is an amazing space where children can securely leave their bikes for the school day. The Bike Shed inspired Peter (our maintenance man) to beautify the shaded seating area beside the bike shed. I have noticed many parents taking advantage of the shade and the kids absolutely love playing in the area.

Something to look forward to is the build of the new prep playground. The Building and Grounds committee and School Council have approved our playground contractor, SafePlay. Our current prep children have been surveyed as to what equipment they would like to have incorporated into the new playground. Abbey, the designer is madly working on a design for our approval. The works are expected to begin in March next year. Thank you again to the Hub for the fundraising to enable this project to go ahead.

Wishing you a relaxing, fun and safe long weekend.

Leah Hodgson

Assistant Principal

Eastern Metropolitan Region Track

Last week, Jasmine E (5C) competed in the 9/10yo girls long jump at the Eastern Metropolitan Region track & field event at Doncaster Athletics Track. This is a wonderful achievement, and she did herself and our school proud with her effort and determination! On behalf of everyone, well done Jasmine!!!

2025 District Swimming Event

In February 2025, students in Years 3-6 will be eligible to trial for and potentially participate in the Rowville District Swimming carnival. Students may wish to start preparing and practicing their swimming over the summer. All individual stroke events (freestyle, backstroke, breaststroke, and butterfly) are swum over 50m in a 50m swimming pool. There are also team relays and individual medley races at the event. Our school swimming trial will be held at the beginning of February next year. If you would like to know more about the event or get an indication of qualifying times, please contact me.

Shae Warren
Physical Education Teacher and Sport Co-ordinator

School Saving Bonus

About the School Saving Bonus
The Victorian Government is making life that little bit easier for families by providing a one-off $400 School Saving Bonus.
This support will help cover the cost of school uniforms, textbooks, and school activities like camps, excursions and sports.
The School Saving Bonus is in addition to existing and continuing means-tested supports for Camps, Sports and Excursions Fund (CSEF) and the Affordable School Uniforms Program.
The School Saving Bonus will be provided to schools and families in Term 4, 2024.

Who receives the School Saving Bonus
The School Saving Bonus is available for parents and carers of all Victorian government school students from Prep to Year 12 in 2025, except for full-fee international students, home schooled students, TAFE students and students attending kindergarten in 2025.

Actions for parents and carers 
Parents and carers of children who meet the School Saving Bonus eligibility above are required to do the following by Friday 18 October 2024:

• Complete enrolment

If your child, or children are changing government school for Term 1 2025, or starting Prep or Year 7 in 2025, please complete enrolment. For more information, read about Enrolling in School.

• Check your contact information

Ensure your contact information is up to date with your school. You can check this information by contacting your school directly.

Accessing the $400 School Saving Bonus
You do not need to apply for the School Saving Bonus.
The Department of Education will email you in November 2024 with your $400 School Saving Bonus. You will be able to access it via an online system.
You can decide how to best use the School Saving Bonus for your family’s needs. You can choose how to allocate the $400 in the online system.
The bonus can be used towards 2025 school costs, which may include:

• camps, trips, excursions and incursions
• swimming and sporting programs
• outdoor education programs
• graduations
• school uniforms.

The bonus can be used at your school’s approved textbook or uniform suppliers either in-store or online, or through State Schools’ Relief. The list of suppliers may include a school uniform or bookshop. Any amount that you choose to allocate to textbooks and uniforms will be valid until 30 June 2025. It will then transfer to your child’s school account for future activities.
Funds will roll over for use in future years if it is not all spent in 2025.

Families with more than one eligible child 
Families who have more than one child at the same school can combine their School Saving Bonus payments to use on one child, or for a specific activity. So, for example, a family with 3 children who are all government school students would receive support to the value of $1,200 and choose how they spend those funds. The School Saving Bonus cannot be combined across different schools.

More information 
To learn more about the School Saving Bonus visit vic.gov.au/school-saving-bonus. Translated information will also be available on the School Saving Bonus website in the next few weeks.

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.

Market Night – Friday 25th October 2024

Thank you to our wonderful community for supporting our Twilight Market. It was a great success, we raised $7000! To everyone who volunteered, thank you for helping make it a successful night. Thank you also to those who took the time to come visit and enjoy some shopping and delicious delicacies for dinner. A special mention needs to be made for the tireless efforts of Leia Barrett (our Hub leader), with excellent support from Sarah Kiss, Yvette Willison, Mel Snibson and Jennifer Lawrence, these community events would not go ahead without their dedication, passion and organisation – thank you!!

Our next event is the Colour Explosion Run on the 19^th November at 2.30pm. We will be looking for volunteers to help us cover the children in a safe, non-toxic colour powder. All children are invited to enjoy the run and all will receive a colourful headband and sunnies to run in. We highly recommend finding a white shirt to truly show off the colours, but it is not a requirement. Fundraising is available (but also not a requirement), information has already gone out via Compass and a booklet. As we did last year, children who raise over $50 will go into a draw to slime a teacher, and the highest fundraiser will automatically be able to slime a teacher! It’s going to be a fun day! Thank you to Amy Goldsbrough for taking on the organisation of this event! Take note – students have received their sponsorship booklet and can now create their online profile at www.australianfundraising.com.au

Our final meeting is on Wednesday the 13 November, please respond to Leia’s email if you can attend.