Term 4 - a time to celebrate a year of achievement!

I hope all our families are enjoying the warmer weather and the longer daylight hours – it is a lovely time to get out and walk the dog!

There are still quite a few school events to look forward to this term – the Year 9 City Experience Inquiry camp was a success last week and the presentation of their investigation projects will be held on Wednesday 27 November;  we also have the Year 7 Night at the Museum display night for families, the Year 12 Valedictory Dinner on Friday 22 November, the 2025 Year 7 Transition Night for families on Tuesday 26 November,  the Year 10 and Year 11 exams and Jumpstart Program, the Year 10 Peer Support training, and then Orientation Day for over 250 incoming Year 7s, the Year 8 Camp, and the End of Year Program for Year 7-9 students!

This year, we are excited to kick-start our German Exchange Program again – and we wish the ten lucky Year 9 and Year 10 students a safe and inspiring experience, and all the best to our two supervising teachers Mr. Smith and Ms. Bruns. We can’t wait to hear how it all went!

Currently there are also six Year 9 students attending the School for Student Leadership this term until December which is a wonderful opportunity to develop many skills, and past students have said that this was one of the best experiences they have had.

I hope that our Year 11 and Year 12 students feel that wonderful sense of relief and joy as they finish the VCE exams over these last days – well done on your hard work and perseverance!

Remembrance Day Ceremony

Those who died or suffered in wars and conflicts were honoured in a minute of silence in the school on Monday 11 November and all Year 9 students participated in a formal ceremony in the school quad where the Ode of Remembrance was recited. The ceremony was led by Year 9 students: trumpet player - Sarah L, speakers - Sharanya G, Jimi K, and Fatima A, and support from our tech crew helpers Elana H, Alyssa K, and Amelie L. Thank you also to Ms Sarah Weyenberg for her organisation of the event, and Berni Sweeney for tech support.

Good news for Box Hill High School and Victoria in school performance reports

We are very proud of the School Performance Report for Box Hill High School that was released by the Department of Education this week – we have achieved a ‘High’ rating across both learning and wellbeing measures as compared to the rest of the state and similar schools!  

This is the highest rating level and schools are equally rated on learning and wellbeing measures. The rating is based on a range of student data sets including NAPLAN results, attendance rates, student/staff/parent survey data and VCE results. School performance data also showed that we have reduced the numbers of students requiring additional support in literacy and numeracy, and a big % jump in Year 9 students who were in the exceeding category in NAPLAN Writing this year.

Recent school performance measures across Australia also show that Victorian students have achieved the first or second highest mean scores in 7 out of 8 measures in reading and writing in NAPLAN this year.  Victoria also had the highest school attendance rates in Australia.

The Education State

The State Government and Education Department has set out five key priorities for Victorian schools in coming years to ensure excellence in every classroom:

• Excellence in teaching and learning: Informed by the latest evidence, ensuring our dedicated teachers have the most effective teaching tools and support.
• Every student matters: We will ensure safe and welcoming environments – so teachers can do their best work, students can do their best learning, and every school offers a safe and respectful environment.
• Lifting secondary school student engagement and achievement: Strengthen engagement in secondary school, and continue to support every student to embark on a positive post-school pathway.
• Expand, support and recognise our school workforce: Continue to attract, retain and support a highly-skilled, diverse school workforce, including by reducing the administrative burden, delivering professional learning and supporting teaching wellbeing.
• Schools at the centre of communities: Build welcoming, world-class and modern schools, which meet the needs of local communities so every child can have access to a great local school.

We hope that these goals are also reflected in our work here at Box Hill High School.

Finally, I just wanted to thank all those parents who sent kind letters of appreciation about specific teachers who teach their children across a range of subjects – we posted them up in the staffroom and they have been such a positive encouragement! 

Thank you also to those Year 7-9 parents who attended the recent parent morning tea focused on student wellbeing and engagement – it was lovely to talk face-to-face and discuss with you what we do to support teenagers, and answer your questions.