VSV English teachers and students recently celebrated Book Week during the month of August.
Early in the month, the English team held a Book Week morning tea for staff. Teachers were encouraged to come in costumes inspired by favourite books. VCE Literature and English Language teacher Shea dressed up as the Wicked Witch of the West from ‘The Wizard of Oz.’
English Instructional Leader Sara Tacey found inspiration in Margaret Atwood’s novels ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’ and ‘The Testaments’ and came dressed as Aunt Lidia. Other costumes included Little Mx Naughty and Matilda. VSV Executive Principal, Fiona Webster, came as Grandma with her granddaughter dressed as Little Red Riding Hood.
English classes also ran activities inspired by Book Week. In Year 8, students celebrated in their Year Level Assembly hosted by Student Coordinators, Luke and Kevin. Students and their Learning Advisors shared their favourite Australian stories and characters, including ‘Possum Magic’, ‘Crystal Clear’, ‘Tomorrow When The War Began’, ‘Boy Swallows Universe’, and ‘Sabriel’ being among students and teachers’ favourites.
In Year 10 English, students explored their favourite stories and characters before creating their own Symphony of Stories — remixing familiar narratives and reimagining their characters in entirely different genres, from science fiction and horror to crime noir.
VSV staff were encouraged to share the details of much-loved books as well. Here are a couple of their childhood favourites.
“‘Blackbriar’, William Salter. A ‘witchy’ gothic story read to me by my Grade Three teacher. A haunting story set in the English countryside during the Black Plague. I re-read the story so many times throughout primary school years and I have my own copy now. My first (obsessive) read! I have so many now.” Nicole (Wellbeing team).
“‘Tom’s Midnight Garden’, Phillippa Pearce. Longstanding favourite. A beautiful evocation of childhood, loneliness and the magic of friendship.” Karen M (Librarian).
Book Week Competition
During Book Week, our Years 7-10 English students were invited to tell us about their favourite book for the chance to win one of the Children’s Book Council of Australia award nominee books. Here are the winning entries. We hope you feel inspired to explore some of our students’ favourites.
One of my favourite books is called ‘Girl in Pieces’. It is written by Kathleen Glassgow who is one of my favourite authors. The main themes of this book are mental health, self-harm and personal growth. I know that sounds morbid, but as someone who went through depression these topics and books with these subjects help me come to terms with the things I went through. It is a beautifully written novel about a girl called Charlie who has been through unimaginable pain and loss. It illustrates her realistic story of hospitalization, treatment and recovery. This book became very popular within my generation and unfortunately got mocked and downplayed. I found a community based around this book and it helped me to understand myself better and find other people who felt the same. I found this book as I was recovering and felt a great deal of comfort while reading it. It also led me to read Kathleen’s other touching books. The themes of the book are moving but the writing in itself is stunning, deep and descriptive. When I first read it, I couldn’t put the book down. The whole story just engulfs you and you want to be involved in Charlie’s story. I still cherish this book and even though the story is sad and intense, it will forever be one of my favourites.
Leah B, Year 9
‘Piranesi’ by Susana Clarke is my favourite book, I am confident it will remain my favourite book for the rest of life. Piranesi is a book inspired by Jorge Luis Borges’ short story ‘The House of Asterion’ and has a highly unusual setting. It is set in an infinite marble vestibule full of statues, it is flooded by the tide and has two inhabitants, ‘Piranesi and The Other’. Susanna Clarke’s ‘Piranesi’ completely changed my life and ever since I first read it, I have been unable to write a story that doesn’t contain the themes of Piranesi inside it.
Dashen M, Year 10
One of my favourite books is ‘Possum Magic’ by Mem Fox. I started reading in primary with VSV. It is about a possum named Hush and was invisible because her grandma wanted to protect her. Though Hush was sad because she wanted to be visible again. Hush’s grandma tried to find in her bush magic book to reverse the magic and finally remembered. Hush needed to eat Australian food and travelled around Australia. Gradually Hush became visible again and was so happy! It is a beautifully illustrated book and I still love reading to this day. (Ava wrote to Mem Fox’s agent when she was 11 years old and received a special edition of the book and a lovely note from Mem).
Ava K, Year 7
Recently, I read the book ‘Don’t let the forest in’ by C.G Drews, and I thought it was amazing. It is a queer dark horror romance novel following two high school boys who have unintentionally created monsters that live in the forest next to their boarding school. Every night, the boys fight together to fend off the monsters before they make it into the school, while also trying to deal with their strong feelings for each other. There were lots of twists that kept me really interested, and the development of the romance between the boys was exciting. I would definitely recommend this to anyone interested!
Amelia W, Year 9
