Library News
Time is flying—it’s already Week 6! Our library classes have been busy wrapping up units on book recommendations, exploring authors, and diving into summer-themed stories. Next, we’ll get into the festive spirit with some beautiful new Christmas stories.
This Week’s Reads
Kindergarten - This week, our Kindy students dove into the wonders of the rock pool and discovered fascinating facts about anemones and clownfish. We began with Anna McGregor’s ‘Anemone is Not the Enemy’, a fun story shortlisted for Book of the Year in 2021. In the tale, an anemone longs for friendship but struggles because it stings everyone until a clownfish, immune to its sting, arrives and forms a special bond. To deepen our learning, we watched a Nat Geo Kids video about these incredible creatures and explored the concept of symbiosis. Here are KS with their Story Map that shows what happened at the story's beginning, middle, and end and some colouring.
Stage 1 - Last week, Stage 1 students began researching animals using World Book Web (WBW), the school’s digital encyclopedia. With quick access via a QR code, they enjoyed exploring the platform’s many features.
One benefit of using WBW on iPads is the microphone feature, which lets students say tricky words directly into the search bar—making research even more accessible for young learners. They also loved the ‘speaker’ feature, which reads articles aloud to them. Students were excited about using the encyclopedia and eagerly shared fascinating facts about various animals. I can’t wait to see what exciting information they uncover this week!
Stage 2 - Stage 2 students have started creating book recommendation slips for the library! They choose their favourite books, share why they love them, and encourage others to read them. Adding a fun twist, students include a ‘selfie’ in their projects, and their creativity shines through. They’ve been practising their editing skills, and some even suggested that I use a filter in my example! You can’t beat their honesty!
I look forward to sharing these wonderful recommendations in the following newsletter.
Stage 3 - Stage 3 students are wrapping up their ‘Try These’ book recommendation posters this week. They’ve combined their skills in using Oliver, our library catalogue, to locate books by genre and applied their visual literacy knowledge to design stunning posters on Canva. Below are examples of their fantastic work, which will soon be displayed in the library!
Additionally, students have been exploring Alan Gratz’s gripping historical fiction novels. This week, we began ‘Ground Zero’, a powerful story about two children affected by the events of September 11. The book has sparked deep and meaningful conversations, showcasing the impact of great storytelling. You can view the book trailer for this story here.
Year 10 - Library Books
As the year comes to a close, it’s time for Year 10 students to return any overdue library books and English texts before they leave the school. Email reminders have been sent to all students, and follow-ups will occur more regularly. To avoid a replacement invoice, please remind your children to check at home (or even their school bags!) and return their books to the library. Many students have mentioned they’ve simply “forgotten,” so a gentle nudge would be greatly appreciated. Let’s aim to have everything returned soon - thank you for your support!
Lunch Time in the Library
It’s not just the Primary students who enjoy spending time in the library during their breaks. Our Secondary students love playing games, drawing on iPads, and hanging out with their friends. I’m sure it also helps that it’s cool inside!
PRC Update
Yesterday, I received an update from the Premier’s Reading Challenge organisers about participant certificates. Special awards for students participating in the Challenge for several years will be sent over the coming weeks and presented at assemblies later in the term.
Thank You!
Today, Term 4 Book Club orders will be sent home with students. Once again, I would like to thank families for supporting this reading program and the library. Your purchases help us earn a commission, which we use to buy more books for our students to enjoy. We hope you’ve loved the stories your children have brought home this year and look forward to the next Book Club in Term 1, 2025.
Library Loans - It’s Time to Start Rounding Them Up
The library will close for borrowing at the end of week 8, so ALL library books need to be returned by then so we can begin our annual stocktake of every book in the library (which is a huge job!). Notices for overdue books will be going out next week, so if you could please let me know if any books are lost, that would be appreciated. You can notify me by email at invlibrary@arm.catholic.edu.au .I appreciate your support with this.
Meet the Reader
Meet Olivia from KD. Last week, our computer system went down, so I took photos of students with their loans to enter them later. Olivia looked so happy to borrow books that I had to include her photo.
Happy reading,
Mrs Fraser