House News

Since the last newsletter, many fantastic things have been happening within the Houses at Blackburn High School. 

Dunlop held a successful fundraiser in the final week of Term 2 to raise awareness and support for our new charity, Médecins Sans Frontières. The House Captains, Sasha and Dane, along with the House Ambassadors—Fred, Zoe, Hamish, Alyssa, Anya, and Sierra—and senior student leaders Holly, Tilly, Jasmine, Anna, and Cheryl, led the way in organising a comfort-themed free dress day, a sausage sizzle, and a lolly jar guessing competition. These activities were complemented by live lunchtime music, arranged by the Dunlop Music Captains, and a 3-on-3 basketball competition led by the Dunlop Sports Captain. 

Melba hosted their fundraiser in Week 6 of Term 3, with the popular band t-shirt theme proving a big hit. The event was a tremendous success, raising over $2000 and collecting more than 200 items for the Eastern Emergency Relief Network (EERN), which provides vital support to those in need in our local community. Despite the inclement weather, the sausage sizzle quickly sold out, while a live band filled the gym with energy and students eagerly joined in activities such as the “Guess the Lollies in the Jar” competition. 

Term 3 has been very busy. The House Leadership teams have continued to support the Breakfast Club each Wednesday morning. They have also been instrumental in organising a dodgeball competition for each year level at lunchtime, alongside a bean bag toss activity held during mentor group sessions. Family Feud has been an exciting new addition to the mentor program, fostering relationships and connections across year levels. 

In Week 8 of this term, we held House assemblies to recognise the outstanding work of our Year 9 cohort, who produced excellent NAPLAN results. Certificates were presented to students for achieving high results or significant growth. We also acknowledged the students who represented Blackburn High School at the Mock United Nations. 

This year saw the inaugural mentor group competition, with students participating in activities such as Kahoot!, minute-to-win-it style games, Family Feud, bean bag toss, and other events organised by the student leaders. Dunlop was announced as the winner and all its students were treated to a free sausage sizzle to celebrate their achievement. The final standings were: 

1. Dunlop – 453 points 
2. Freeman – 400 points 
3. Hollows – 382 points 
4. Melba – 365 points 

These points contribute to the overall House standings, which are still accumulating. The winner of the House Shield will be announced on Presentation Day. 

We wish all Year 12 students the best of luck with their trial exams and look forward to celebrating their final week of timetabled classes in the first week of Term 4. 

We hope all students and members of the wider school community have a wonderful holiday break, and we look forward to seeing everyone back in Term 4.