28 August 2025
Book Week provides an opportunity to celebrate our ongoing commitment to the invaluable role books play in the lives of children and families. Books open worlds of imagination, expose us to rich language and literacy and build connection with others. The research consistently shows that one of the biggest impacts we can have on a child’s development is through reading books with them:
“If a child is read just one book a day in their first five years of life, they will hear on average an extra 78,000 words more per year than children who are never read to. That’s almost 300,000 more words by the time they start school!” Words Grow Minds (www.wordsgrowminds.org.au)
Beyond this, books are at the centre of some of the most endearing and treasured childhood memories. Bears feature in many children’s classic and contemporary books: We’re Going on a Bear Hunt, Goldilocks and the Three Bears, Paddington, Winnie the Pooh, The Cranky Bear. The boys, dressed in teddy bear ears, went down to the Secret Garden for a teddy bear’s picnic.
They were greeted by teddy bear tunes performed by Harold Dai, Frank Wang, Saun Zhang (Year 6 students) and Tom Noonan. We dined on honey sandwiches and Tiny Teddy biscuits. We then went on a bear hunt and discovered teddy bear stickers hidden in the gardens. Our teddy bear’s picnic was an adventure that brought to life the magic between the pages – the connection with the person you share a book with, the flight of imagination, and the power of words to grow minds.
Holly Baulderstone
Head of Early Years
