A week in review- 

A reflection by Ains 

A week in review – A reflection by Ains Peszynski – Acting Principal  

The final week of Term 2 2024

This is the final day of Term 2, and we, the staff of Box Hill North, want to wish you all a safe and enjoyable mid-year school break. We thank the students for a terrific term of learning, our teachers for engaging and empowering our students daily to be their personal best in our school setting, and the school community for their continued support of students, staff, and all things Box Hill North.

On a personal note, I want to thank our community for Term 2 and the support I was provided with while in the role of Acting Principal. Our school is a beautiful place to be a part of each day! Our students never cease to amaze with their Compassion, Creativity, Ambition and Courage. As a leader and educator, it's an honour to see our students' absolute love of learning and watch them share this with one another daily. To our educators, a remarkable team of people whom I respect and admire daily for the holistic education they provide to our students, the outstanding teaching they offer that is inclusive of all and the outreach and building of connections to our community is second to none. To our community, including School Council, sub-committee members, and all the parents and carers, I say, "Thank you". Thank you for your continued and ongoing support in partnership to build this beautiful place, Box Hill North.

A swift but important message for all within our community - NO SCHOOL TOMORROW – Friday, 28th June – It's Curriculum Day! School holidays start today at 2:30pm. The Kindergarten, Education Support, Administrators and Teachering staff will all be in professional development tomorrow. One key focus for our Professional Learning is further developing our collective capacity in - Mathematics. As such, Yasmin, our Maths Learning Specialist, has organised Michael Minas from 'Love Maths' to come out and facilitate the day. The focus will be on Maths Fluency Games, Differentiation and Lesson Structure. We can't wait to see how this learning will impact Term 3 Mathematics sessions.

This is a must when viewing this newsletter.  Please have a look at the Year-level highlights from Term 2. Enjoy seeing the joy that students and teachers alike had working together this term.

Community Connections

This term, we saw many community connections across Box Hill North.

Some of the events we had this term included:

• Movie Night, accompanied by Koonung Secondary students providing a score of movie tunes
• Mother's Day afternoon tea and stall
• Open Morning from Kinder through to Year 6
• Parent/Teacher Interviews
• Kindergarten Connections with child care services and kindergarten across Box Hill
• Green Link visits to learn about Indigenous plants and sustainability
• Sports Galas with neighbouring Whitehorse schools
• Koonung Drama sessions
• State School Spectacular Practices and Whole School Dance Trial
• Canteen weekly
• School Council and Committees (Education, Finance, PFA - Parent and Friends Association, Chinese Connections, BAGs – Building and Grounds and Branding) 

Celebrating Students

Our students constantly shine within and outside of our community.

Our Marvelous Musicians

A flashback to last week: We had our students who love music perform their instrument of choice on Thursday and Friday at school. Whether they performed at the rock concert, the piano recital, or at assembly, each student truly shone.

Here are some photos to remind us how truly talented our students are. Thank you for sharing, being brave and showcasing your talent.

Our Box Hill North Ambassadors 

During the school holidays, Dariah and Emmett will head off to Japan. Emmet and Dariah went through a rigours interview process. They were selected from students across Victoria to represent Australia as Junior Ambassadors at the Asia Pacific Children's Convention. Dariah and Emmett will start their adventure and ambassadorship by attending a camp with other 11-year-old children from more than 40 countries and regions worldwide. The camp aims to have fun and build friendships to help create global citizens with the long-term goal of bringing peace to the world. Emmet and Dariah will then go to stay with a host family and attend a Japanese elementary school with their host siblings. We wish them all the best and look forward to hearing about their adventure and how they went, representing our school and Victoria and Australia as Junior Ambassadors at the Asia Pacific Children's Convention.

Staff News

This week on the staff front, we have many exciting pieces of news to share.

Cara, our amazing 5/6 Team Leader, is pregnant with her first child. Cara is a brilliant educator and an inspiring leader in our wider community through her coaching and building of kids, teenagers and adults' talents on the basketball court. Congratulations, Cara, we are so happy for you! We will be advertising Cara's position in Term 3 in preparation for Cara's departure from maternity leave in the early weeks of Term 4. 

Anna Johnstone, our new Acting Principal, will join us at the start of Term 3. Anna met our staff on Wednesday and was thrilled to meet staff and students. We look forward to welcoming Anna as a community in Week 1 next term.

Here is a message from our Head of the school council, Kathryn Zwalf, regarding Anna's position at Box Hill North. 

Dear Box Hill North community,

I am writing to let you know that the process for appointing an Acting Principal for Term 3 for Box Hill North Primary School has been finalised. After a rigorous recruitment process, I am happy to announce that Anna Johnstone has been appointed as Acting Principal.

Anna is an outstanding educator with extensive leadership experience across a number of primary schools. She has experience at the principal level and brings a high level of expertise in leading teaching and learning, wellbeing and inclusive education. Anna is very excited to begin working with our community and getting to know you and your children.

I would also like to express my gratitude to Ainslie Peszynski for her outstanding efforts filling in as Acting Principal since David’s departure. Ainslie’s dedication and commitment to our school is evident to all and greatly appreciated and valued. I’m sure you’ll agree that she has ensured that our school hasn’t missed a beat during this second half of Term 2.

Anna will be commencing with us from the first day of next term and will be in the Acting Principal role for the duration of Term 3 while a process to appoint the next substantive principal takes place. I know you will join me in warmly welcoming her to our wonderful school community.

Yours sincerely,

Kathryn Zwalf

School Council President

On a final note, please stay safe these school holidays, have fun, and enjoy the time you have to share with one another.

All the best!

Ains