Reading   

In Reading, students will engage in ‘Storm Boy’ by Colin Thiele. Storm Boy is a novel written in 1964 and was first adapted into film in 1976 and more recently in 2019. Set in the Coorong region of South Australia in the 1950’s, Storm Boy is the story of a boy and his pelican. Storm Boy likes to wander alone along the fierce deserted coast among the dunes that face out into the Southern Ocean. After a pelican mother is shot, Storm Boy rescues the three baby pelicans and nurses them back to health. He names them Mr Proud, Mr Ponder and Mr Percival. 

After he releases them, his favourite, Mr Percival, returns. The story then concentrates on the conflict between his lifestyle, the externally imposed requirement for him to attend a school, the fate of the pelican, and the relationship of the boy, and later his father. 

Students will also engage in ‘The Wild Robot’ by Peter Brown. The Wild Robot was published in 2016, it tells the story of Roz, a robot who is stranded on a wild island after a shipwreck. Although the animals fear her at first, Roz learns to survive, earns their trust, and becomes the adoptive mother of a gosling named Brightbill. 

When her creators return to take her away, Roz must choose between her human-made origins and the family she has found. The story explores themes of friendship, belonging, compassion, and the relationship between technology and nature.