LIBRARY NEWS

Welcome to Book Week!

Welcome to one of the most exciting times of the year in the library – Book Week! This week, we join schools across Australia in celebrating the Children’s Book Council of Australia (CBCA) Book Week, a wonderful opportunity to put books, authors, illustrators and, most importantly, reading in the spotlight.

This year’s theme, ‘Symphony of Stories’, celebrates the way stories, like music, can bring together different voices, ideas and experiences. Across our school, students will explore stories, share favourite books and discover new ones as we celebrate the joy that reading brings.

It’s going to be a very busy week, with plenty of Book Week fun happening. Stay tuned for costumes, competitions, activities and, of course, lots of great books!

It's Dress Up Parade Time!

There’s plenty happening across the school this week as we celebrate Book Week, but the highlight is sure to be our biannual Book Week Dress-Up Parade! Students from Kindergarten to Year 11 are invited to join in the fun and come dressed as a favourite book character.

The parade will be held on Wednesday, 26th August at 12.15 pm in the back Secondary Quadrangle, and families are warmly invited to come along, watch the parade and enjoy the fun. I can’t wait to see which characters make an appearance this year – there are always some wonderfully creative costumes! 

If wet weather impacts the event, we will keep families updated via Compass and Facebook. 

Just a reminder that Primary students may wear their costumes to school, provided they are practical and allow them to participate safely and comfortably in their normal lessons. Any more elaborate costume pieces can be added before the parade. Secondary students should come to school in their usual school uniform and change into their costumes prior to the parade.

This year, we’ve decided to do things a little differently and not have individual costume winners – it’s simply too hard to choose! Instead, every student who participates in the parade will receive an entry into a draw for some great book prizes. So whether your costume is elaborate, homemade, last-minute or wonderfully simple, come along, join in and celebrate your favourite stories with us!

Primary Book Windows

Our Primary classes have been busy getting creative and transforming their classroom windows into amazing book-inspired displays. Following the Book Week Parade, families are invited to take a wander past the classrooms and enjoy the wonderful decorations our students and teachers have created.

Here’s just a little taste of what you’ll see – 6L’s fantastic Where Is the Green Sheep? window. We can’t wait for you to see the rest!

And That’s Not All!

There’s even more Book Week fun happening across the school! Students can test their book knowledge in the HTS Book Week Trivia Competition, or have their say in our Book Battles in the library – Book or Movie? Harry Potter or Percy Jackson? Fantasy or Humour?

Secondary students will also be challenged to ‘Name the Book from the Song’. Here’s one to get you thinking: what book could ‘Who Let the Dogs Out?’ be hinting at?

There’ll also be bookmark colouring, plus a special opportunity for our K–2 students to visit the library at Snack Break. But that’s Book Week - busy and loads of fun!

And the Winners Are…

The 2026 CBCA Book of the Year Awards celebrate some of the very best Australian books for children and young people – and we’re excited to have all of this year’s winning books available in our Library for students to borrow and enjoy.

• Older Readers: Darkest Night, Brightest Star – Barry Jonsberg
• Younger Readers: Inked – Karen Wasson, illustrated by Jake A Minton
• Early Childhood: The Emperor’s Egg – Rae Tan
• Picture Book of the Year: Once I Was a Giant – Zeno Sworder
• Eve Pownall Award: Peculiar Parents – Stephanie Owen Reeder, illustrated by Ingrid Bartkowiak
• Award for New Illustrator: A Loo of One’s Own – Eleri Harris 

Quick Bits

Premier’s Reading Challenge: Congratulations to Callum, Hamish and Ella, our latest students to complete the Premier’s Reading Challenge.

Well done on a fantastic reading achievement!

New Books: Our new books have been flying off the shelves! 

Check out Evelyn, Annabelle, Frankie and Ziarah with some of their latest library finds.

Proving that our Library is truly a busy place, yesterday, Year 9 visited to gather data for their Maths assessment. Students were investigating whether there is a relationship between a book’s spine width and its number of pages. Students measured, calculated and worked together, and I look forward to sharing their findings in the next newsletter.

Last But Not Least… Meet Korbyn!

Meet Korbyn from 1D, who is away this week and was so disappointed to miss Book Week that he wanted to create something special to still be part of our celebrations. Can you guess which book inspired his amazing creation?

Thank you, Korbyn, for sharing your fantastic work with us and finding a great way to still be part of our Book Week fun!

Happy Book Week,

Mrs Toni Fraser