Melba

Another fantastic semester at Blackburn High School comes to an end. Well done to all Melba House students, families, and staff for navigating a shorter, but very busy term.  

The Melba House mentor teachers have done a wonderful job checking in with their students and delivering an action packed mentor program consisting of Motivational Monday, Wellbeing Wednesday, and Fun Friday. Students and parents are reminded that the mentor teacher is the first point of contact at the school.  

A massive congratulations to all Melba House students for their efforts in winning the House Athletics Carnival on the final day of term 1. All Melba students who competed, encouraged others to do so, and came dressed in blue contributed to this fantastic achievement for the house. This sees Melba House winning the athletics carnival in consecutive years for the first time since the inception of the house system.    

It has been great to see so many Melba House students participating in a range of extra-curricula events including year 7, 8 and the Duke of Edinburgh camp, the mid-year music concert, inter-school sport, cross country carnival, and house fundraisers.  

With the end of the semester comes the formal assessment period for our students. Congratulations to the year 10 & 11 students who have recently completed examination periods, this is excellent preparation to succeed within the VCE pathway. I encourage all parents to read and discuss the end of semester reports with their students and if there are any questions, contact the subject teacher.  

Best wishes for the term 2 holiday period, we look forward to catching up with everyone following a well-deserved break on Monday the 10th of July.  

 Year 7 Camp    

The year 7 Melba House students attended  Camp Toolangi from May 15th- May 17th and experienced a range of outdoor activities and weather conditions.    Thank you to the Melba House staff who attended the camp and supported the students in having a memorable experience.    The Year 7 camp bought a new experience to our Blackburn high school journey. The camp reached several types of purposes, including promoting physical health and increasing social collaboration. During the camp, students participated in different activities and experienced the natural environment. The activities, such as abseiling, flying fox, and high ropes course were challenging and fun. The camp allowed students to have a short break from being taught in the classroom with devices. The camp organized activity groups, which placed students from both Houses (Melba and Dunlop), (Hollows and Freeman) in the same group. This was a great chance to meet others and we would gather and work 

Year 8 Camp

Melba House students attended the YMCA Lake Dewar Lodge camp from May 10th  to May 12th  and experienced a range of physical activities including stand-up paddle boarding, orienteering, zip lining, and the magnificent gorge walk. Thank you to the Melba staff who attended the camp and shared a fantastic time with the students.     

SSV Swimming Champion   

Congratulations to Tim Laio who won the  Under 16 boys School Sport  Victoria championship for the Whitehorse District. Best of luck at the next stage of the competition.

Melba House Student Leadership Team  

The Melba House Student Leadership team has been very busy across term 2 working towards enhancing the schooling experience of all Melba House students. To support the development of their leadership skills, the team attended the yLead leadership seminar which promoted teamwork, collaboration and creativity of ideas.  

In addition to developing Mentor Made Monday activities and leading House Assemblies, the student leaders have been working as a member of one of the following focus groups aimed at improving student experience within Melba House: 

• Mentor Group v Mentor Group Activities 
• Inter-House Basketball Competition 
• Increased promotion and visibility of paper recycling bins

Well done to all student leaders for their hard work across term 2, we look forward to planning and hosting the Melba House fundraiser in Term 3.

Year 7- Semester 1 Reflection 

Starting year 7 was exciting. The biggest impact on my first week was how different it was from primary school, with older kids, new friends, different languages, and the more independence. In the first term, we had a lot of events such as Cross County, Athletics Day, interschool sports, swimming carnival, house fundraising, and many more. Something I was really looking forward to was starting a new instrument. I decided to play the tenor saxophone! I have played many other instruments but not this one, so I was really looking forward to it. I only knew 3 people from primary school when I started at Blackburn. Since then, I have made many friends from my house and other Houses through sports, activities, and many other ways. 

I’ve really enjoyed Blackburn so far and I can’t wait for more fun activities and memories to be made!

 Kaitlyn Bishop- Melba House Year 7 Leader 

 Melba House Mentor Program  

In the mentor program, we engage in a diverse range of activities to create a sense of citizenship and belonging! In my mentor group, M5, we love and enjoy personally decorating our classroom to reflect the type of group we are!  

We've created a Polaroid wall filled with many exciting milestones, recording and celebrating the many memories and achievements students in M5 have made, individually and as a mentor group! We have celebrated participation at the athletics carnival, interschool sports, camps, and involvement in any and every Blackburn Highschool events. These achievements and highlights are all recorded and displayed on the wall with several fun polaroids we have captured this year!  

Next to our polaroid collage, we have created a gratitude tree. On each individual leaf students in our mentor have written things that they are grateful for, such as family, friends, pets, new jobs, winning sporting competitions, music performances, and many more.  Collaborating to create the paper gratitude tree together was also a great team-building exercise. This can be seen in the picture below. 

To finish off the M5 wall everyone eagerly shared their favourite picture (or pictures!) of their pet to be showcased on the wall. It allowed students to share personal aspects of their lives and therefore it has been a great way to get to know our peers even more.  

The way in which M5 has decorated our classroom creates a sense of community and belonging through our personal touches and additionally encourages collaboration between years levels which establishes a strong sense of connection and inclusivity within our mentor.  

M5 Mentor Leader – Lucy Fitzpatrick-Robertson (11)

Student Quotes 

Sienna Casey (10) “Every morning I feel like I experience a warm hug from the bright smiles of M5.”  

Joshua Hudson (10) “M5 is a glorious mentor group, I feel very included, and gives me a sense of being a part of something”    

Jakob Mazonowicz (12) – “I came late into M5 not knowing what to expect being a fairly new student at Blackburn, it was welcoming having familiar faces like Zaiyani and Calvin. Very quickly I became comfortable within the group”