Notizie dalla Preside
Imparare Insieme
Whilst students were enjoying their last day of holidays, our teaching and education support staff spent the first day of term engaged in professional learning, collaboration and planning. Investing in our own learning is an important part of ensuring we continue to provide the best possible learning opportunities for every student. After all, imparare insieme, learning together, isn't just something we expect of our students; it's something we value as a staff as well.
This Curriculum Day centred on two key areas: enhancing student agency through Learning Intentions and Success Criteria, and exploring contemporary bilingual education research with keynote presenter, Matt Absalom, Senior Lecturer at the University of Melbourne School of Languages.
The first session, facilitated by our School Improvement Team, focused on strengthening student agency through the use of Learning Intentions and Success Criteria. While these have long been embedded in teaching and learning at BSPS, a current focus is on helping students engage with them more actively. A Learning Intention clearly explains what students are expected to learn during a lesson, while Success Criteria break that learning into manageable steps so students understand what success looks like and can monitor their own progress.
Over time, you'll notice teachers increasingly encouraging students to interact with the Learning Intention and Success Criteria throughout each lesson; not just at the beginning. Students will be encouraged to refer back to them, reflect on their progress and identify their next steps. This helps develop independence, confidence and ownership of learning.
You can support this learning at home by asking your child questions such as, "What was your learning intention today?", "What were your success criteria?" or "How did you know you were successful?" These simple conversations encourage children to reflect on their learning and reinforce the knowledge and skills they are developing each day.
Our second focus was an inspiring keynote presentation by bilingual education researcher Matt Absalom, who shared current research into effective practice in bilingual schools. Staff explored the importance of maintaining rich immersion in the target language while ensuring high-quality teaching practices are consistent across both English and Italian. We also examined the concept of productive mirroring; intentionally aligning classroom routines and learning structures across both languages so that students can confidently transfer learning behaviours, strategies and understandings between English and Italian. As a leader in bilingual education, we continue to reflect on our practice and draw on contemporary research to strengthen our program and maximise learning outcomes for every student.
Celebrating learning growth in NAPLAN
We’ve recently received this year’s NAPLAN results and there is so much to celebrate. One highlight is the exceptional progress our Year 5 students have made throughout the two years between their Year 3 and Year 5 NAPLAN assessments.
While NAPLAN provides just one snapshot of student achievement, one of the most meaningful measures is growth; the progress students make over time. Growth reflects the impact of consistent effort, high-quality teaching and a commitment to continuous improvement.
This year, our students achieved particularly strong growth in Reading, with 87% demonstrating high or medium growth - well above both similar schools (82%) and our local network (80%). We also saw outstanding growth in Numeracy, where 83% of students achieved high or medium growth, outperforming both similar schools (79%) and the network (74%). Strong results were also achieved in Spelling (75%) and Grammar and Punctuation (77%).
We congratulate our Year 5 students on these outstanding results, which reflect their Sense of Possibility and Constant Learning, the expertise of our staff and the strength of our bilingual literacy and numeracy programs.
Industrial action
On behalf of our teachers, education support staff and leadership, I'd like to sincerely thank all our BSPS families for the understanding, patience and support you have shown throughout the current industrial action.
We recognise that the stop-work days and the absence of report comments have created inconvenience, and we genuinely appreciate the way our community has responded during this period. It was really touching to see BSPS families attend the rallies to show their support. The handmade signs, home-baked treats and words of encouragement meant a lot.
The action has been frustrating for staff as well. We remain hopeful that a positive resolution can be reached soon; one that appropriately recognises the professionalism, expertise and dedication of teachers, education support staff and school leaders. In the meantime, grazie mille.
Sibling enrolments
Planning for 2027 is well underway, including staffing and class structures. If you have a younger sibling starting at BSPS next year and haven't yet submitted an enrolment application, we would appreciate receiving it as soon as possible.
Public Meeting & Bilingual Literacy lesson experience
Parents and carers are warmly invited to join us for the presentation of our 2025 Annual Report to the School Community, followed by a fun, first-hand experience of how we teach reading within our bilingual Italian program.
Following the positive feedback from last year's bilingual numeracy session, this year members of our School Improvement Team will guide you through a typical junior Lettura lesson. You'll experience how the explicit teaching of phonics and the metodo sillabico work together to support the development of strong reading skills. Please RSVP here.
Ciao for now,
Kristie