St Aloysius book parade causes a buzz

ST ALOYSIUS Catholic Primary School pupils dressed up as their favourite literary characters for the school’s Book Week Parade in Queenscliff.
Almost 100 pupils and teachers walked class by class down Hesse Street, showing off their book inspired costumes to parents, siblings and grandparents while maintaining social distancing.
St Aloysius Teacher Librarian Angela Ritchie said the book parade was the ideal opportunity for students to connect with the local community.
“Our regular Book Week celebrations would include a parade of our costumes first thing in the morning with parents and grandparents attending a special assembly,” Ms Ritchie said.
“Seeing they couldn’t come to us, we thought we would go to them and at the same time, support our local shopping strip.”
“It was a true buzz.”
Students walked two laps between The Bookshop at Queenscliff and the View Grand on both sides of the road, crossing to cheers and car horns from passers-by.
“The cafes had many customers, one store owner approached a staff member thanking them for the wonderful connection and commented that it was their best morning that they had experienced in some time,” Ms Ritchie said.

“It really felt like a totally inclusive community event.”
Many schools across Australia celebrate Book Week every year in recognition of Australian authors and illustrators.
Parade costumes are often inspired by conversations about books at home, which often spark a connection between children and a much loved book or literary character.
“The parade is all about showcasing children’s connection to books, to bring their imagination to life and becoming the character of their favourite book,” Ms Ritchie said.
“Many students create costumes themselves and while doing this, they are using their text-to-self connection with character descriptions from reading.”
The Bookshop at Queenscliff provided each class with a voucher that was given to the most creative character costume.
“This will be one of their favourite school memories of 2020 and that is something to treasure.”