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Principal’s Report

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Welcome back to school for the final term of 2024!

2025 Enrolments

With planning and preparation well underway for next year, it is vital that we are aware of enrolment changes for next year. If you know that your child/children will not be attending Boronia Heights Primary School in 2025, it would be appreciated if you would inform teachers and the office staff as soon as possible. Your attention to this will assist us greatly with forward planning.

Class Placements for 2025

Over the coming weeks our teaching staff start to meet to place students in classes for 2025. A great deal of consideration and thought goes into this process. Teachers analyse academic data to ensure an even spread of students, discuss social relationships and individual student needs to ensure that we provide the best learning opportunities for all our students.

If you have any information about your child’s academic, behavioural, physical or social factors which you would like us to consider when deciding class placements please put any requests in writing to me by emailing mathew.anderton@education.vic.gov.au.  All requests must be received by Friday 1st November.

Please note that it is not appropriate to include requests relating to particular teachers. Your requests will be shared with the teachers to assist them to develop the class lists. If you have particular concerns that you do not wish to be shared with the teachers, please make contact with me.

Thank you in anticipation of working with us and for your understanding as we set our school up for more high-quality teaching and learning next year.

Market Night and Art Show – 25th October

We are looking forward to our Market night and Art Show next Friday. The ‘Hubsters’ have been incredibly busy to make this community night a success.  We are looking forward to having our school community, friends and family join in what will be a lovely night. Hopefully the weather is going to be very kind to us too. Hot food will be available for snacks and dinner, with indoor and outdoor stalls ready to sell up big. Please get around to each stall to check out what they have to offer. The Market stalls will be open from 4:00pm and closing at 7:00pm.  Come along and enjoy a coffee, a bite to eat and let the kids be involved in activities on the ovals.

This year we are also running our Art Show. Ms Henstock and the kids have been preparing for this all year, so it’s bound to be an impressive show! Please check it out by visiting the Gym and the Art Room on the night.

A massive thank you to the parents that have already put their hands up to support their child’s classroom stall or indeed if they have a stall themselves, however we are still in need of support for classroom stalls, please… please…. please contact your classroom teacher to volunteer, even if it is for 30 minutes.

Looking forward to seeing everyone out and about on Friday enjoying our school grounds and starting your Christmas shopping early.

Colour Run – 30th October

You all should have received information regarding our upcoming Colour Run (also available on Compass NewsFeed).  Thank you to those families who have already obtained sponsors.  Please remember that you do need to let your classroom teacher know if your child will not be participating.  If your child has asthma, please make sure that all medication is at school and up to date. Also, we have been informed that the colour may be difficult to wash from blonde hair. I don’t think I have much to worry about though! We are encouraging children to wear a white t-shirt to show the brilliant colours up. Sunglasses and a wrist band will be supplied.

We will be asking for parent volunteers to help cover our children in colour next week. More information to come.

Cyber Safety advice

There has been a fair amount of discussion in the media over the last few weeks and months about the appropriate use of social media for children. Our Prime Minister said that the government is looking to introduce legislation to parliament by the end of the year to impose a minimum age requirement for the use of digital platforms like Facebook, X, Instagram and Tik Tok.

While we wait to see how this legislation will work once it’s introduced, I thought it would be good to highlight some advice and “food for thought” questions provided by the Office of the eSafety Commissioner about the use of social media and online tools for children.

Currently, almost all social media platforms have a minimum age requirement of 13. The government are looking at increasing this to 16. The reason for this is that these platforms often have content that children are not emotionally ready for if exposed to it. It’s incredibly risky to let a young child loose on these platforms before they are mature enough to manage it. Whilst there are age recommendations in place, children can easily bypass the age verification process and access these platforms. Knowing this, here are some questions worth asking your child to determine if they’re ready for social media:

  • Does your child understand the importance of protecting personal information? Emphasise that they should not share information that can identify their name, mobile number, email address, photos, the name of the school, and even sporting clubs they belong to.
  • Does your child understand how privacy settings for social media work? You can find advice on privacy settings in The eSafety Guide
  • Does your child understand what is safe to share online? Turn off location settings, don’t take photos in school uniform and post it online, don’t share inappropriate pictures, don’t make comments that may be offensive or socially inappropriate.
  • Does your child know how to recognise and report cyberbullying and other kinds of abuse? Your child should report this behaviour and block the accounts of people who are doing this.
  • Is your child willing to let you establish clear rules and to supervise their activity? Set some boundaries about when and where they can use devices, and when they should be switched off. Having a routine where their device is placed in an area outside of their bedroom overnight is a good suggestion.

At the end of the day, we want our children to responsibly use social media and digital devices. We teach the children how to stay safe online at school, so reinforcing these messages in the home is another protective factor to keep them happy, healthy and resilient.

Kind regards,

Mat Anderton
Principal

Dates to Remember

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Term Dates 2024

Term 1 29 January – 28 March
Term 2 15 April – 28 June
Term 3 15 July – 20 September
Term 4 7 October – 20 December

 

2024

18 October Prep Transition No2 of 4
25 October Night Market 4pm – 7.30pm
30 October Colour Run
November
1 November Assembly
4 November Curriculum Day
5 November Melbourne Cup Public Holiday
6 November Year 1 Toys Incursion
7 November Prep Firefighter Visit #1
8 November Prep Transition No3 of 4
8 November No Assembly
12 November Hubster meeting 6pm
13 November Year 2 Mont De Lancey Excursion
13 November Year 5/6 Money Talk Incursion
15 November Assembly
15 November Prep Firefighter Visit #2
18 November Instrumental Showcase Concert 6pm
19 November Colour Run (revised date)
20 November Year 5 Surfing Excursion
21 November Year 6 Surfing Excursion
22 November Year 5/6 Money Talk Incursion
22 November 2025 Prep Information Session 2.30pm
29 November Assembly
December
3 December Christmas Concert
4 December Year 6 Big Day Out
5 December Year 5 Market Day
6 December Lady day of Library books to be returned
9 December Year 6 Graduation
10 December Prep Transition No4 of 4
10 December State-wide Transition Day Year 1-6
20 December Last day of School. Dismissal at 1.30pm

 

From the Office

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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.

Sports News

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Interschool Sports

Our Year 5 & 6 students recently completed their summer sport district competition. Teams competed admirably across the sports of cricket, handball, softball, tennis hot shots, and volleyball. Although we didn’t win any of the titles overall, we were really pleased with the improved performance and competition from our students, as well as the excellent sportsmanship and teamwork shown. That concludes our interschool sports involvement for this year, and preparation for next year’s Year 5 & 6 students has already begun. A huge thank you to the family members who assisted at the various sports across the two days of competition!

Mini Olympics

We were finally able to hold our mini Olympics multi-age event for the entire school at the end of last term. Students were able to experience most of the 18 Paris Olympics based events that were set up, including: basketball, volleyball, table tennis, hockey, discus, trampoline, badminton, long jump, hurdles, sprinting, tennis, rugby sevens, soccer, speed climbing, rowing, and golf. It was a wonderful way to conclude this term’s multi-age focus on the Olympics. Thank you to Ms McHugh for planning the term’s Olympic theme.

Division Athletics

Last term we had two students compete at the Knox Division Athletics carnival. I would like to congratulate Laura W (4B) and Jasmine E (5C) for not only qualifying for the event, but for both finishing third in their respective events – Laura in high jump, and Jasmine in long jump. They were both just one position shy of qualifying for the regional event which is only one level below State level. It’s a terrific achievement and we are very proud of them!

Teacher Games GOLD

Over the recent school holidays, many of our staff attended the 2024 Victorian Teacher Games which were held around Latrobe City. Some of the events that our staff competed in included Golf, Lawn Bowls, Ten-pin Bowling, Laser Skirmish, and Pickleball. Fortunately, two of our teams walked away with gold medals – congratulations to Ms T, Mrs O’Neill, Mrs Reiner, and former staff member Mirella for winning gold in Lawn Bowls. While I was luckily enough to partner with Mrs Kett and win gold in Pickleball. Well done to everyone who attended for demonstrating the traits and values that we try to teach – teamwork, sportsmanship, respect, challenge, and trying your best!

Shae Warren
Physical Education Teacher and Sport Co-ordinator

Achievements and Awards

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CARE Ticket Winners

Term 3 Week 10

Junior

Neil 1C Nevaeh 2A
Max 2A Emily B 2A

Senior

Finn 4B Max 4B
Lili 4C Claire 4C

 

Care Award Winners – Term 3 – Respect

Week  Year Level Name
Week 2 Prep All of the Preps
Year 1 Evie
Year 2 Tianah
Year 3 Alyssa
Year 4 Lana
Year 5 Blake
Year 6 Aiden
Week 4 Prep Phoebe
Year 1 Mackenzie
Year 2 Eden
Year 3 Evelyn
Year 4 Noah C
Year 5 Zavier
Year 6 Sam N
Week 6 Prep Sansa
Year 1 Zara
Year 2 April
Year 3 Madelyn
Year 4 Eshan
Year 5 Samuel
Year 6 Isla
Week 7 Prep Lucy
Year 1 Axel
Year 2 Ellie
Year 3 Indi
Year 4 Zara
Year 5 Aster
Year 6 Alex

 

The Hubsters

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Market Night – Friday 25th October 2024

We are in need for volunteers for each year level stalls. If you can spare an hour please click on the link below to add your name to the list.

Prep – Chocolate Drop Stall

Year 1 – Lucky Dip Stall

Year 2 – Bake Sale

Year 3 – Secondhand Book Stall

Year 4 – Face Painting

Year 5 – Hot Dogs, Drinks & Zooper Doopers

Year 6 – Coloured Hair

Hubsters – Scavenger Hunt & Raffle

The Market night is a fabulous night for our community but we do need support to make it successful.

Colour Run – Wednesday 30th October 2024

2024-Colour-Run

 

Leah Hodgson
Boronia Heights Hubsters

 

 

 

 

 

OSHClub

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Community News

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