Upstanders Forum 2026

We were lucky enough to adventure to our Grade 5 Upstanders Forum last week at Brighton Town Hall. Students from Brighton Beach Primary School, Beaumaris Primary School, Hampton Primary School and Sandringham Primary School came together to launch this year's community project, which focuses on the theme of Empathy. The Upstanders program has been running for over 12 years and provides students with opportunities to develop leadership skills while promoting positive social and emotional messages throughout the Bayside community.

The day began with a Welcome to Country and presentations from representatives of Bayside City Council, including Mayor Debbie Taylor-Haynes and Councillor Elli Murray. Students then participated in activities designed to unpack the meaning of empathy and explore why it is such an important quality for leaders and community members. Throughout the day, students worked alongside peers from all four schools in collaborative workshops, team building activities and discussions about their experiences as Upstanders.

A highlight of the day was a creative workshop led by artist Sarah Bowers, where students worked together learning our shared song and dance. Students also participated in mixed-school icebreaker activities, shared their learning journeys as Upstanders, and took part in sessions linked with The Resilience Project. Through videos, discussions and group activities, students explored how empathy benefits both the giver and the receiver and reflected on how their actions can positively impact others. The forum provided a wonderful opportunity for students to connect with other young leaders across Bayside, share ideas and strengthen their understanding of what it means to be an Upstander. We were incredibly proud of the way our students represented Brighton Beach Primary School and contributed thoughtfully throughout the day.

The next step in this exciting project is for our artist, Sarah, to visit each of the four participating schools to work with students on creating a unique school song inspired by this year's theme of empathy. These songs will be performed later in the year at a special community celebration, and all families will be invited to attend. We look forward to sharing more updates as the project progresses.

Student reflections

Charlotte W- We were able to mix with other students and I really liked to get to know someone from another school. The song and dance was also fun!

Amelia- We were able to sing and dance to a song that we will perform in front of others as part of our Empathy learning.

Xavier- I enjoyed meeting and greeting other Upstanders and learning a new song and learning the dance for it.

Podcasts

We are delighted to share with you two podcasts created by our school leaders.

https://bbps.transistor.fm/episodes/ep-2-term-2-2026-brighton-beach-primary-school-podcast

This podcast explores some of the learning kids have been doing across the school. Features Oli, Martina, Penelope, Pippa, Vivi, Harry, Sonny, Charlie, Esme and Mrs Stephens.

https://share.transistor.fm/s/8c96b7fa

This podcast has a focus on wellbeing at BBPS and features Quinn, Tallulah, Nikita, Martina, Lulu, Tilly and Zoe.

Action Projects

MASON & AYDIN

Hello, we are Mason and Aydin. We are the Library Captains for 2026, and we would like to share our Action Project.

If you don't know what an Action Project is, it is a project created by a group of captains to promote their role and encourage others to do or stop doing something while making learning fun and safe.

We are creating this project to promote reading and student wellbeing while also making reading rewarding. We are running a book competition to encourage students to read more. Once students have finished reading a book, they will write a review about it. They will then receive house points depending on the length of the book they have read, as we want to promote reading rather than lengthy writing tasks.

We look forward to reading everyone's book reviews!

WILL A & SAFI

Hi, we are Safi and Will, and we are the Visual Arts Captains for 2026. We would like to tell you about the Action Project we are running this term.

An Action Project is an initiative that the Year 6 leaders run to create a positive change related to their captaincy role.

For our Action Project, we are running a drawing competition for the Year 3 and 4 students. The theme of the competition is Under the Sea. We are also running a directed drawing class during the Week 8 Friday Hub Choice session.

In this competition, third place will receive 50 house points, second place will receive 100 house points, and first place will receive 300 house points.

We chose to run a drawing competition and directed drawing class to help students develop their drawing skills. We also want to encourage others to use their creativity more and perhaps discover a new hobby.

Remember, this is just a school competition, so if you don't win, that's okay. Thank you to everyone who participates, and most importantly, have fun!

Important Dates Term 2

Clancy and Lachlan