Book Week 2023

As part of Book Week celebrations this year, we ran a competition asking students to to tell us, in words and/or pictures, "How has reading inspired you or helped you grow?" 

As a result, we are delighted to announce the three winners of this competion: Yarra Al-Mashalawi of 9A, Batul Ibrahim of 12C and Jean Barden of 9D. Congratulations to all three students; your efforts were exemplary! 

Please read on to see what these students submitted:

“When you look at me, you see a young girl, in a loose hijab, wrapped in an attempt at modesty. When you look at my papers, you see an Australian-born citizen. But when you look into my eyes, and enter my soul, you see more than what you see at a glance. “Eyes are the portal to the soul,” my father used to teach me. I never understood what he meant… until I started reading.

I began reading books of the war, but not the stories of your wars. I read books on my war, the war of my people. The stories of my people inspired me to learn about where I came from, what brought me here, who my people were. These stories brought me back to my ancestral country. The soil I’ve never stepped foot on, but runs deep through my blood.

The stories I read made me understand my father’s eyes. It made me understand the wrinkles around them, the dark pupils met with Death himself, the waterline that’s filled with tears and pain. These stories I opened up to me a gateway though which I saw my father’s soul, revealing to me his innocence and courage.

These books allowed me to learn of my father’s voyages. It showed me the world through my father’s eyes. It showed me the world through my people’s eyes. These stories opened me up to my sense of identity. It showed me the strength of my people, and the strength of my father. It inspired me to learn more and take pride in my blood, my hijab, and of who I am, and where I came from.”

Yarra Al-Mashalawi, 9A

“I’d be lying if I said I always loved to read. Reading wasn’t always my forte. Truth is, I used to struggle during primary school; I wasn’t a confident reader, nor person. I needed someone to read with me. It wasn’t until my Grade 4 teachers Mrs Diongello noticed I was becoming a good reader that she told my mum I was a strong enough reader to read on my own. That really boosted my confidence.

Fast forward to Grade 6, when I fell in love with reading for the first time. I remember being in my brother’s room, searching for a book he asked me to bring him, when I noticed a paperback book titled ‘The Famous Five’ by Enid Blyton. I remember being intrigued, so I read the blurb. I then read it and loved it, so much so that I decided to read the rest of the series. As if the world was reading my thoughts, a couple of weeks later there was a sale in a bookstore on the exact series I wanted. I read every day. I reread the series so many times, and to this day it remains my favourite.

I wish that I could read as much as I used to in Grade 6, but I know at the moment with the stress of Year 12 exams looming, it’s very difficult. Reading has been an outlet for stress, because I’m able to immerse myself in the characters’ lives and temporarily reprieve myself from my reality. I think reading will always be a constant for me as it was a big part of my childhood. I hope I get my kids into reading as it an art form that is rapidly dying. I often wonder what it takes for authors to collate information, sometimes over years, to create a story and form a book that can read in a couple of hours.

Reading has definitely inspired me to do many things and allowed me to grow as a person.”

Batul Ibrahim, 12C