Duke of Edinburgh Bronze Award

Within the Duke of Edinburgh elective year 9 students are given the opportunity to work towards achieving the Bronze Duke of Edinburgh’s International Award. This award is internationally recognised, where students develop a specific goal towards a chosen skill, physical recreation activity, and service within their community. They are required to complete an hour a week of practice towards each goal.

Taking part in the Duke of Edinburgh Bronze Award is an opportunity for positive student development, as it encourages students to step outside of their comfort zone. The program helps students grow by fostering responsibility and leadership in all areas in and outside of the classroom.

The award promotes student leadership and strengthens their commitment to the community. By giving back to their communities, students learn the value of citizenship and awareness of the world around them.

Some of the Service opportunities students have taken part in this year range from volunteering at salvos, supporting the functioning of local football clubs, coaching junior sporting teams, befriending the elderly at a local age care home, local church groups and many more. All of these activities are taken part outside of school hours in their own volunteer time. It is a credit to the students for the hard work and dedication that they have put towards these activities throughout the year. Below are some student updates of their progress for their Skill and Physical Recreational activities, along with some student logs of their activities throughout the journey.

Senior Girls Hockey

What a fantastic day of hockey, with the team finishing as EMR Runners-Up!

The girls started the day strongly against John Monash, dominating the attacking half. Siya opened the scoring from a well-worked short corner set up by Chloe, before another excellent team goal saw Chloe and Siya combine to set up Rach for a brilliant finish.

Against Vermont, the attacking pressure continued. Saachi found the back of the net before Chloe added another goal, while Zita and Ava were outstanding with their defensive pressure high up the field.

The match against Balwyn was a much more even contest, with excellent ball movement across the entire field and every player contributing.

In the final game against Norwood, the team responded brilliantly after conceding early. Chloe scored following a determined attacking passage, while Evie made several spectacular saves in goal. Alyssa, Jen and Zita were exceptional in defence. Although Norwood proved too strong on the day, the girls should be proud of scoring against such a talented side featuring a number of outstanding players.

A huge congratulations to all the girls on an outstanding tournament and a well-deserved 2nd place finish in the EMR competition.

A special mention goes to our Year 12 students, Tabitha and Josie, who represented the school with pride in their final school sports competition. Thank you both for your commitment, leadership and the wonderful contribution you have made to BHS sport over the years.

Congratulations to the team on a fantastic achievement!

Term 3 - Sport Update

It has been an outstanding term for sport across the school, with students representing us at division, EMR regional, and state level across a huge range of sports.

The teams below earned their place at the regional competitions by winning their division comp earlier in the term. Congratulations to the following teams who competed for at EMR:

AFL - Senior Boys, Intermediate Girls, Intermediate Boys, Year 8 Boys, Junior Girls
Netball – Senior Boys, Intermediate Girls, Year 8 Boys, Year 7 Boys & Girls
Hockey – Senior Girls
Soccer – 7 Boys & Intermediate Girls
Senior Boys Basketball

A special mention to our Senior Girls Hockey who came runner up at the regional competition and our Year 8 Boys Netball team, who backed up their EMR success to progress all the way through to the State competition, a fantastic effort.

Alongside our EMR representative teams, our year level round robins kept students busy across a variety of sports:

Intermediate, Year 8 & Year 7 Hockey, Basketball & Table Tennis
Year 8 Volleyball finally getting to reschedule their competition from Term 1.

Well done to the Year 7 Boys, Year 8 Girls and Boys, and Intermediate Girls and Boys Basketball teams for winning their Division competition and progressing to EMR next term.

Students also represented the school at the Whitehorse Athletics carnival, competing against schools from across the district.

Thank you to all students who took part this term, and to the staff and coaches who gave up their time to prepare and support our teams. It has been a term full of school spirit and great sportsmanship, well done to everyone involved.

Year 11 & 12 Food Studies Excursion – Deakin University

On Tuesday 23 June, our Year 11 and 12 Food Studies students visited Deakin University’s School of Nutrition Sciences for an engaging, hands-on workshop. The sessions provided students with the opportunity to use industry-standard food preparation, analysis and sensory evaluation laboratories, bringing key VCE Food Studies curriculum concepts to life in a university setting. Activities included;

Sensory Evaluation: Students participated in practical descriptive and preference testing in specialised sensory facilities. This included the use of red-light testing rooms, which are designed to minimise visual bias and allow participants to focus specifically on taste and aroma.
Paddock to Plate & Sustainability: Students explored the environmental impact of food production and consumption, including food waste, carbon footprints and food miles, packaging and food labelling. They also gained experience using professional laboratory equipment and statistical techniques to analyse food-related data.

The workshop provided an excellent opportunity for students to connect their classroom learning with real-world applications and gain valuable insight into the study and career pathways available within food science and nutrition.

Nadine Roche – Year 11 Food Studies

Year 7 Boys Netball – EMR Finals

On 20 July, our Year 7 Boys Netball team travelled to Waverley to compete in the Eastern Metropolitan Regional (EMR) Netball Finals.

The boys had a fantastic day, winning two of their three pool matches against Heathmont College and Wantirna College. Their strong performances saw them progress through to the semi-final, where they faced the top team from the other pool, Ringwood Secondary College.

Unfortunately, the boys went down to a very strong Ringwood team, but they can be incredibly proud of their efforts throughout the day.

The EMR Finals provided a fantastic learning experience for the team, with the boys continually developing their skills, understanding of the game and netball knowledge as the day progressed.

Well done to all the boys on a fantastic effort and a great day of netball!

Year 8 Boys Netball - EMR Champions – Onto State Finals

On 20 July, the Year 8 Boys Netball team headed to the Eastern Metropolitan Region (EMR) Netball Finals, ready to put their skills to the test.

In the pool rounds, the boys faced Balwyn High, Auburn High and Wantirna College, comfortably winning all three games:

Blackburn 11 – Balwyn 4
Blackburn 23 – Auburn 14
Blackburn 25 – Wantirna 10

Their strong performances saw them progress through to the semi-final, where they faced Norwood, the second-placed team from Pool 2. The boys continued their impressive form, securing a convincing 16–6 victory.

In the EMR Final, Blackburn came up against Vermont. Vermont started strongly, but our boys quickly demonstrated their strength, skill and teamwork, pulling away to record a very comfortable 21–5 victory and claim the EMR Championship!

This fantastic result means the boys will now progress to the State Finals on 14 September.

A special mention goes to each and every one of the boys, who all played a fantastic role in their positions. Charlie, Max and Carter were outstanding in goals, while Mason, Dash, Liam and Eddie worked tirelessly through the mid-court. Zach and Eddie absolutely dominated in defence, making it extremely difficult for the opposition to score.

Congratulations to the entire team on an outstanding achievement!

Good luck at State, boys! We’re all behind you!

Ms. Roche

Senior Boys EMR AFL

On Thursday, 16th July BHS Senior Boys took to the field at Elgar Park in the EMR AFL Championship. Unfortunately, BHS were up against it even before the first bounce as we had to manage with only 16 players as the team was hit by late unavailability’s due to injury, illness and absence. With less manpower on the ground, fatigue set in and the last 5 minutes of each half saw the opposition kick away. Despite being against the odds all day, BHS players should be congratulated on their fighting efforts, behaviour and the way they represented the school.

Results:

Round 1: BHS 2 goals, 2 behinds, 14 points were defeated by Camberwell HS 6 goals, 3 behinds, 39 points

Goal kickers: Jake 1, Taylan 1

Round 2: BHS 6 goals, 1 behind, 37 points were defeated by Heathmont 7 goals, 7 behinds, 49 points

Goal kickers: Hayden 2, Vic 2, Taylan 1, Hunter 1

Round 3: BHS 2 goals, 2 behinds, 14 points were defeated by Wantirna 5 goals, 5 behinds, 35 points

Goal kickers: Zac 2

Overall best players: Hayden, Tom, Aiden, Eli, Zac, Hunter, Coby, Jake

Year 9 Sport Education

Blackburn High School Newsletter

Respect, Pursuit of Excellence, Citizenship

Term 3 -2026 · 16 Sep 2026

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