Principal's Report

WELCOME BACK to 2022

An extremely warm welcome to all our families, we hope you and your children are settled and have embraced and enjoyed the first week of school.  I wish I knew what to expect of 2022 but whatever happens during the year, we are ready to work with you to make it a successful year.  It has been fabulous to hear about everyone’s news and talking to our students about their holidays and the happiness that they share about seeing their friends, working with their teachers and getting into a strong routine and rigour with their learning.  I trust that you have had a wonderful and relaxing summer break with family and friends. The holidays certainly flew past, and school has generally started really smoothly for new and continuing students. 

COVID 19 is with us, and I would like to thank every parent for working in partnership with us to support their children during this uncertain time. If you need clarification about the rules or expectations surrounding COVID do not hesitate in getting in touch with us. 

Just reiterating that if students receive a positive test result, they must report this through the Department of Health online system. Parents must report a positive result to the school and on the Student COVID-19 Test Portal; this is so the school can support you, record that they will be absent while in 7-day isolation, and let the rest of the school community know there has been a positive case onsite and that you should monitor for symptoms.

I commend our teachers for the work they have done over the holidays to ensure that the start of the year has been a positive experience. As you can imagine, a lot goes on behind the scenes to get ready for the first day and our consistent programs and high expectations helps students with readjusting to a new school year.

I extend a special welcome to families new to our school community. We look forward to working with you to help your child grow into amazing young people. 

COMMUNICATION / ASSEMBLY 

Communication between school and home is an important part of the learning partnership. At BHPS, we have several methods of communicating with parents and the community. First and foremost, for parents is to ensure you are on COMPASS. This is our direct communication method to parents. Through this you can communicate with teachers, report student absences, access school reports, receive important information, book interviews, update personal details and access newsletters. Our fortnightly whole school newsletter is a key tool for providing you with information on upcoming events, school improvement information, student wellbeing information, school council, Hubsters news, Out Of School Hours Care (OSCHClub) news and wider community news. Please make time to read it each fortnight. Teaching teams also put out fortnightly BLOGS to provide parents with an insight into what is happening in classrooms and in specific year levels. This is a great tool for parents to enable you to have discussions with your child about what they are learning and doing at school. Throughout the year, we provide updates on your child’s progress, through written reports and/or conferences. Of course, you can make an appointment with your class teacher to discuss any issues at any other time, as they will also contact you if required. This can be done through COMPASS or telephone the office, outside of class time. Note that teachers are on duty from 8:40—3:45pm, so they may not be able to respond to COMPASS messages during these times. If you have an URGENT issue or message, it is best to call the office directly. Looking forward to a fantastic 2022 and a full year of onsite learning!

SCHOOL WEBSITE and FACEBOOK

Watch this space!!! 

In the coming month we will be launching our new website and informing you of our school Facebook page. These two communication tools will certainly allow families more information and support families in obtaining relevant and timely information around our school. More information to come.

School Focus 2022

In 2022, we will be focussing on 3 key priorities related to our recovery from Remote Learning. The three key areas this year are:

1. Learning, Catch Up and Extension
2. Student Empowerment: Voice and Agency
3. Connected Community: Kids, Parents and Teachers

Our key actions will include the tutoring program, of which we have a tutor in Years Prep-Year 5 (which started this week), improving teacher practice through coaching, collaboration and reflection, increasing student voice and involving parents, students and teachers as partners in student learning. 

New Staff

Welcome to our new staff Bianca Swaine, Eliza Hansen, Emma Mason, Justin North, Mirella Irving, Georgia Albertella, Elly Turcinovic, Emily Scarbro, Ellie Stait, Daina Nielsen, Holly Cowper-Hill. Jennifer McNamara, Melissa Page and Sarah Ferris.

Our Tutor Program commenced on Monday 31st January and will go through to the end of the year. Tutors are:

Year 1: Kate Wardlaw

Year 2: Samantha Dunkinson

Year 3: Ilusia Koronczewski

Year 4: Holly Cowper-Hill

Year 5: Daina Nielsen

2022 School Captains 

As sent home in the last newsletter of 2021, our 2022 School Captains and Year 6 student curriculum leaders have been announced.  I would like to congratulate all of the students who were involved. It was wonderful to see the students standing up in front of their peers delivering well-prepared and rehearsed speeches. The hard part was selecting the students for the positions as the calibre of students who applied was so high. All students are a credit to themselves, their families and the staff at our school.

It gives me great pleasure to announce that our 2022 School Captains and Vice Captains are:

Our Year 6 Curriculum Leaders are:

Congratulations to all students who have been successful in gaining a leadership role for 2022. We will be holding a badge ceremony for our school leaders very soon.

BERRY STREET- WELL BEING PROGRAM

Last week staff participated in our Professional Development on further understanding and expanding on our Berry Street Model. The Berry Street curriculum is purposefully designed to support the sequential development of student’s physical, psychological, social and emotional capacities. Stamina for students is an evolving cluster of four specific focus areas:

• Growth mindset
• Emotional Intelligence
• Resilience
• Stamina for independent learning

When given opportunities to learn, practise and reinforce stamina in daily ways, we know that students can succeed once they gain their own confidence to face life’s big and small adversities with strategies that have the potential to last a lifetime. 

YEAR 3-6 ATHLETICS DAY- 4th March

Our Years 3-6 Athletic Day will be held on the 4th of March at the same venue as last year, Bill Stewart Athletic Track in Burwood (the old Burwood Athletics track) on Burwood Highway. Our wonderful Ms Russell is looking for volunteer parents to support the day.  If you can help on this day please contact Taylah by email: taylah.mitchell-russell@education.vic.gov.au 

Looking forward to seeing everyone there. 

UPGRADE OF FACILITIES

We had a great deal of work completed over the school during the holiday period. The BER Building was painted inside and has made a big difference in keeping that building fresh and clean. The portables and STEAM Lab were also completed by being painted on the outside.  New signage at the front of the school was erected as well.  In the coming months we will be having a new shade sail erected on the edge of the oval providing another outside learning space for our teachers to take classes.

RUBBISH FREE LUNCH

Rubbish free lunches benefit the environment by reducing packaging waste, which in turn reduces energy and resource use. Participating in a rubbish free school promotes sustainability awareness among students, parents and school staff. Rubbish free lunches tend to result in reduced litter, and they encourage healthy eating. Often, highly processed foods are packaged while unprocessed snacks, such as fruit and vegetables, are not. Combining healthier eating with waste free lunches is a great way to meet health and environmental goals.

At BHPS we are promoting a rubbish free school. We ask that your child’s lunch contain as few items as possible that must be thrown away. Ideally, your child’s lunch will only contain items that will be eaten, composted or recycled. Reusable containers are a handy way to pack a waste-free lunch. They also make it easy to buy food and drink in bulk (instead of in single servings) which can save money over time. Thank you for your support with this initiative. 

CANTEEN DAYS

Our wonderful canteen supervisor Cathy opened the canteen this week. The canteen opens every Monday and Friday.  Click here for the most up to date canteen list.

MEET AND GREET THE TEACHER

The staff of Boronia Heights PS would like to invite parents of Year 1- 6 students to the 2022 Meet the Teacher Sessions. These sessions will run online, and parents will need to book a time slot. Meet the Teacher sessions were originally going to be held face to face, but we will now revert to online. The Meet the Teacher sessions will provide you with an opportunity to meet your child’s 2022 teacher and pass on vital information pertaining to your child. The meeting will also provide the teacher with an opportunity to introduce themselves to you and to learn more about your child through discussion. The 10-minute sessions are considered to be a vital part of the home-school partnership and as such, we encourage all parents to take advantage of this opportunity. PLEASE NOTE: these are not interviews or conferences where the teacher is reporting on your child’s progress but is an information sharing session so we may better understand and have better knowledge of your child. Children are not required to attend these meetings. Bookings will open at 9am on Wednesday 2nd February and close at 1pm on Monday 7th February and can be accessed through COMPASS. 

PLEASE NOTE: This is not a Curriculum Day students will be taught by staff not involved in the Meet and Greet.

PARENT INFORMATION NIGHTS

This year we will be continuing to run our forum for Information Nights via video. Staff will be videoing the Information Nights and sending home the link so you can watch the information night as a family and discuss this with your children. The link will be sent home via COMPASS on Friday 18th February.

We strongly encourage all parents to take advantage of this opportunity to meet your child’s new teacher and teachers at their year level, and hear about the procedures, expectations and program for the year. There will be a specialist video included that will give information relevant to your child’s year level.    

Knowledge is a powerful tool; to be in a position to have an excellent understanding of expectations is a crucial part of supporting your children. Staff are looking forward to this opportunity to convey valuable information and have parents and students involved in this information. 

HATS – SUNSMART POLICY 

Don’t forget that Boronia Heights is a Sun Smart School and wide brimmed hats are compulsory in Terms 1 & 4. Hats are available at the school office and must be worn by all children when outside at playtime and lunchtime. Children who do not have a hat will have a restricted play area under the shaded areas of the school. Please ensure that your child’s hat is clearly named and that they have it at school every day. Our school uniform policy requires that the hat be a school hat, as it is the approved style with a wide brim that provides full sun protection to face, ears and neck.

MOBILE PHONES

If your child is bringing to school their mobile phone, they need to sign their phone into the office and collect them at the end of the day. Please make sure that your child’s phone is wiped down daily. Smart watches that can be used as a phone are not allowed to be worn to school, unless the phone part of the watch is disabled. 

COLLECTION OF STUDENTS FROM SCHOOL DURING SCHOOL HOURS 

The Victorian Department of Education and Training (DET) has policies and guidelines for the collection of children during school hours from government schools. Students must only be collected by their parents (subject to any specific court orders) or by a person who has been authorised by the parents to pick up their child. 

An authorised person is anyone who has been identified by the parents on the enrolment form such as Adult A or Adult B or anyone listed as an Emergency Contact. If the authorised person signing the child out early is not known to the office staff, they can expect to be asked for photo identification. If you have any questions about these procedures, please do not hesitate to speak to myself or any of the office staff. 

On a related topic, if there are or have been any family court orders in place that are relevant to your children can you please ensure that we have the latest copy on our file, so we are aware of any custody or access restrictions that are in place. 

STUDENT SUPERVISION AT SCHOOL PRIOR TO AND AFTER SCHOOL 

Teachers commence yard duty supervision of the playground at 8:45AM each day. Please be aware that children who arrive prior to 8:45am may be unsupervised in the playground. Our gates open in the morning at 8:30am and close at 9:30 am.  The front gate will be open all day. The gates reopen at 2:30pm and close at 4:20pm. After school there are teachers on yard duty until 3:45PM. After 3:45pm children who have not been collected will be brought to the area outside the office, where every effort will be made to contact parents or guardians. We understand that from time-to-time emergencies do happen, please let the office know if they can support you.  

Our staff will send you their Year level BLOG notices which will keep you abreast of all activities and information that is important for that year level.  We are using a different format in 2022, families will be informed over the coming weeks of the new platform we will be using. If you are not receiving your child’s year level blog after receiving the new information, please speak to your child’s classroom teacher to enable you to receive this information, as this is information is very specific for your year level.

ICY POLE SALES 

A huge thankyou to our wonderful Year 5 teachers,  Lisa Baker and Miranda Irving who will be supporting our Promotional Leaders in the school to sell icy poles on a Tuesday and Thursday recess during Term 1 and Term 4. All icy poles are 50 cents. 

Looking forward to a fantastic 2022 and a full year of onsite learning!!

Leanne Jennings

SCHOOL COUNCIL ELECTIONS

FORM 2: NOTICE OF ELECTION AND CALL FOR NOMINATIONS

An election is to be conducted for members of the school council of 

BORONIA HEIGHTS PRIMARY SCHOOL

Nomination forms may be obtained from the school now and must be lodged by 4.00 pm on: 

Thursday 10th February 2022.

Following the closing of nominations, a list of the nominations received will be posted in the newsletter. 

The terms of office, membership categories and number of positions in each membership category open for election are as follows:

If the number of nominations is less than the number of vacancies, a notice to that effect and calling for further nominations will be posted in a prominent position at the school.

Have a great weekend.

Leanne Jennings