A Symphony of Stories

What a wonderful Book Week we’re having at BSPS! Our annual Book Week Costume Parade was a fantastic celebration of creativity, imagination and colour, as all our favourite book characters came to life. Each year level paraded proudly and with loads of energy and enthusiasm; it was wonderful to see just how much we love reading at BSPS!

There were some very difficult decisions to make when it came to our costume awards, because everyone looked so fabulous! A certificate was awarded for the most creative costume at each year level, and one lucky recipient from each Learning Area received a Little Bookroom voucher.

I particularly loved seeing the team-themed costumes; a wonderful example of Creare Insieme in action. From Diary of a Wimpy Kid to 101 Dalmatians, there was so much imagination, collaboration and creativity on display. Staff got in on the act too! My favourite staff theme-team was the Wizard of Oz, featuring the Tin Man, Cowardly Lion, Dorothy and Scarecrow - otherwise known as Jarrod, Giselle, Ellie and Jack.

We’re very excited to be welcoming the one and only Andy Griffiths to our school tomorrow! Andy is an Australian children’s author, who has written more than 40 books including the hilarious Treehouse and Just series. He attended Pascoe Vale Primary School as a child - so he’s almost a local! Andy will run a character development workshop with Year 3-6 students, with the intention of including them in his next book! Andy is the Australian Children’s Laureate for 2026/27, and part of his role is to travel around the country sharing a love of reading!

Reading is one of the greatest gifts we can give our children. Books take us into other worlds and allow our imaginations to run wild. They help us develop empathy and compassion by allowing us to see the world through other people's eyes, while building vocabulary and strengthening communication and writing skills. And, of course, we should never forget that the dinosaurs didn't read - and look what happened to them!

A huge thank you to Cate for organising another wonderful Book Week and keeping this much-loved BSPS tradition strong. And thank you to all our parents and carers who came along to the parade to celebrate Book Week with us, and who helped bring the children's wonderful costumes to life. Your support makes these occasions so special.

Learning from a 5 Star ResourceSmart School

This week I had the opportunity to visit Aitken College in Greenvale with Maddison, our Sustainability Coordinator, and BSPS parent Kelley, Chairperson of our Environment Sub-committee. Aitken is a very impressive 5 Star ResourceSmart School in Greenvale, and it was fantastic to see sustainability so deeply embedded.

We are currently a 2 Star ResourceSmart School and working towards our 3rd Star, so it was inspiring to visit a school further along the journey. We have made significant progress in a relatively short space of time, and the visit gave us plenty of ideas about where we might head next. We may not be rushing out to acquire our own alpacas and sheep, but we certainly came away with some clever and achievable ideas!

We were particularly inspired by some of Aitken's creative recycling initiatives, the way First Nations perspectives are incorporated into their grounds and sustainability work, and some really smart signage identifying native species around the school grounds. These are the sorts of ideas that can help us continue to build students' knowledge, connection and responsibility for the natural environment here at BSPS.

Interestingly, even at such a well-resourced and established ResourceSmart school, litter remains a significant challenge. It was a good reminder that sustainability isn't simply about having impressive gardens, infrastructure or projects; it comes down to the everyday choices we all make.

This is where our school value of Mutual Responsibility comes into play. You can help by providing your child with a litter-free lunch wherever possible and by modelling the simple habit of not walking past litter. If you see it, pick it up and put it in the bin. These small actions, repeated by many people, make a very big difference.

A big thank you to Maddison and Kelley for joining me on the visit and for their ongoing commitment to our sustainability journey. It was a wonderful example of Imparare Insieme – learning together, sharing ideas and bringing new possibilities back to our own school community.

And perhaps there is a lovely connection between the two themes of this week's notizie: books help us imagine the world we want to live in, and sustainability gives us the opportunity to help create it!

Ciao for now,

Kristie

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