2024 Premier's Reading Challenge - Update

A massive congratulations to the 111 students who completed the 2024 Premier’s Reading Challenge this year! I am so thrilled to see the growth in the number of students completing the PRC; it has been particularly rewarding to witness the Stage 3 students who have undertaken to complete the Challenge this year. This amazing achievement highlights how highly reading for pleasure is indeed valued here at St Joseph’s.

The 2024 PRC Roll of Renown

Congratulations to the following Recipients of a PARTICIPATION CERTIFICATE:

KINDERGARTEN:

Ariella Bray, Sonny Bullen, Alaska Collyer, Hana Dean, Alisha Donaldson, Charlotte Faint, Cooper Ferris, Lachlan Gross, Lincoln Gross, Mavy Hernandez, Johny Ho, Isabel Hochstadt, Mason Lee, Archie Marshall, Ella Meehan, Arlo Murphy, Tony Pham, Anna Phan, Sebastian Pineda, Myah Power, Eleanor Pryor, Luna Ramirez, Kolt Skene, Levi Steadman, Evelyn Tadman

YEAR 1:

Bridie Balderston, Oliver Bowen, Rubi Cameron, Isla Campbell, Flynn Cashen, Olivia Cortez, Ely Enriquez, Roman Falkenmire, Nicholas Gordon, William Grima, Hudson Howell, Ruby Johnson, Miller Kennedy, Jack Lin, Ivy McDonald, Jackson Morgan, Finlay Newberry, Maeve Parker, Nina Power, Archer Roberts, Isabella Ryan, Kye Sallustio, Olly Sheehan, Evelyn Strange, Mason Taggart McKay

YEAR 2:

Alora Attenborough, Janahli Bray, Mabel Cashen, Cleo Cox, Sanvee Dahal, Hamish Faint, Kohen Fensbo, Elaina Gross, Henri Hochstadt, Ryan Lee, Charli Lye, James Pacificar, Layla Pollard, Chloe Refalo, Maggie Richards, Austin Searle, Jaibaz Singh, Mia Skene, Sophia Stevens, Bethany Taylor, Mason Thomas, Jorge Verad, Andy Vo, Ellie Walsh

YEAR 3:

Georgie Robinson, Oshel Sirisinghe, Zuri Tran

YEAR 4:

Nate Brims, Sarah Crittenden, Grace Hall, Ari Pollard

YEAR 5:

Mahalia Attenborough, Noah Bird, Noah Craig, Ava Howell, Imogen Langford, Montana Richardson, Philip Vo

YEAR 6:

Hamish Crittenden, Jarrod Freeman, Vickie Pham, Ruby Sippel

Congratulations to the following Recipients of a GOLD AWARD (A Gold Award is issued to a student who has completed the PRC for four consecutive years)

YEAR 2:

Brax Gaffney, Mason Walsh

YEAR 3:

Aliyah Bathla, Sophie Beveridge, Annabelle Eldridge, Azelle Hayes, Jessica Ho, Vivian Ho, John Lennox, Henrick Roper, Neebhan Sherpa, Angus Steadman

YEAR 4:

Averie Briggs, Jake Duggan, Darcy Kennedy, Rahini Rikhi, Nikita Verad

YEAR 5:

Isabel Stevens

Congratulations to the following Recipient of a PLATINUM AWARD (A Platinum Award is issued to a student who has completed the Premier’s Reading Challenge for 7 consecutive years - every year since Kindergarten)

YEAR 6:

Grace Beveridge

An extra special congratulations to Grace for this absolutely, amazing achievement!

Please don’t forget that any books you read over the summer holiday period can be added to your reading log for 2025!

Overdue Books

Last week students with overdue library books were issued with an overdue notice. Many long overdue books have been returned, but, sadly, many are still outstanding! If your child/children receives an overdue notice, I ask that you please assist your child/children in locating overdue books and returning them to school ASAP. If you believe there is an error on the overdue notice, please send me a quick email to let me know: mholley@arm.catholic.edu.au

A sincere “thank you” to all the families who have returned overdue books already!

Christmas Gift Ideas

Maybe the 'something they need' could be a library bag!

One that is large enough to hold and protect all the books in our library collection.

Summer Holiday Reading

I strongly encourage you to continue reading over the forthcoming holidays; the importance of continued reading over the summer holiday break cannot be overemphasised. Sadly, one of the things that many children tend to do over the holiday break is to stop reading. We are all well aware that within our guided reading sessions each day the students are given ample opportunity to learn how to read and to increase their confidence in their ability to read. It is when they read for pleasure that they are then free to choose what they would like to read armed with this knowledge and confidence. Holiday reading for pleasure will help in maintaining and reinforcing this knowledge and confidence. Statistics tell us that children may lose months of academic progress over the long Christmas break if they do not continue to read.

So, in the words of Roald Dahl;

"So please, oh please, we beg, we pray, go throw your TV set away,

and in its place you can install a lovely bookshelf on the wall."

Reading at Home

Don't forget that your child has 24/7 access to reading material through SORA and World Book Online. Please note that your child will need their school login details to access SORA, if they are unsure of their login details please contact the school so we are able to provide them for you.

SORA

The students at St Joseph’s are able to access an extensive collection of ebooks, audiobooks and magazines through SORA, the Armidale Diocese digital library. Sora, the school’s digital library, is available to the students over the complete summer holiday period. This weeks' recommendations from SORA are:

Instructions for logging onto SORA are as follows:

Step 1: Install Sora app from Apple App Store or Google Play Store, or soraapp.com.

Step 2: When in Sora, click on I have a setup code - “setup” code is cenetau - then sign in.

Sign into your School – Select your school - ACEN

Step 3: Browse the tab and borrow a book. Your book will open so you can start reading right away.

Step 4: Close the book and go to see all your books (including assignments). From there, you can:

Select Open book or Open audiobook to read or listen to the book.
Select Options to renew or return the book, see your notes and highlights, and more.

© 2020 OverDrive, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

NB You will need to use your school username and password to access this.

WORLD BOOK ONLINE

Our school has a subscription to World Book Online! This means you have FREE access to this wonderful resource from home or on the go with any internet-connected device. World Book Online may be accessed via the Oliver home page or by visiting the World Book website www.worldbookonline.com

What is World Book Online?

Homework help
Read stories, articles, and current events
Complete activities and Webquests
Play educational games
Learn how to do research
Explore pictures and videos
Find reliable information for assignments and projects

World Book Online is a safe, trusted, 21st-century learning environment for students.

The World Book products our school has access to include:

Kids:

simple navigation
easy to read articles
translations
text to speech (with 10 voices)
educational games and activities
science experiments
a dictionary
an atlas
interactive maps
map outlines
a tool for comparing places or animals.

Student:

expansive reference database
multimedia library
games
behind the headlines
citation builder
research tools

Timelines:

over 650 timelines including Gold Rushes in Australia, Australian Prime Ministers, Cricket World Cup, Star Wars and Harry Potter. Edit or create your own timelines.

User ID: joseph2340

Password: joseph2340

Encourage Learning Anytime, Anywhere!

Enjoy this very special time of the year with your loved ones, and have a wonderful reading Christmas!!

Message Stick

Miss Kim Taggart

Final Opportunity Hub Photos

Recap of the year we have shared together

Wishing you all a safe and Merry Christmas!!!