Resource Centre

A Great Start to 2026

What a wonderful start to 2026, with so many books already in the hands of eager readers. Nearly all of our Primary students are leaving their library lessons with books to enjoy for pleasure, as well as selecting additional titles from our ever‑growing collection to keep temporarily in their classrooms until the next lesson. It is fantastic to see such enthusiasm, and we hope this continues as the year progresses.

Our circulation numbers have also been boosted by the impressive number of books being borrowed by our Secondary students, who are making excellent use of the new reading for pleasure during their English classes.

Take a look at some new books making it onto our shelves

Volunteers needed

To begin, I would like to take this opportunity to thank our two volunteers who have supported us over the past 12 months. Their help has ensured that our new resources have been put to great use throughout the school.

We are now seeking additional volunteers in the Resource Centre to assist with a variety of tasks, including covering readers and other books, cleaning and tidying the shelves, and completing other activities that help us enhance students’ experiences in the Resource Centre.

If you are interested, we invite you to choose a time that best suits you. Please contact us via the Library email:

Library@moamagrammar.nsw.edu.au

Book Club

Book Club – Issue 1

In the last few days, Book Club issue 1 orders have arrived and been distributed to classrooms. 

Thank you for your continued support. The rewards we receive will support us in building our Primary classroom libraries.

Keep your eye out for issue two coming out soon!

Library Bags – A Helpful Reminder

We are delighted to see how enthusiastic our students are about borrowing and reading books. With the increased borrowing across all year levels, last year we unfortunately saw a growing number of books returned damaged—or in some cases, not returned at all.

To help reduce the number of lost and damaged books, we are now asking that all students  (Kindergarten to Year 6) use a library bag when borrowing from the Resource Centre.

Our library bags are specifically designed to accommodate the full range of book sizes we offer, and they are waterproof. 

Library Bags are available for purchase through the school Uniform Shop: 🔗 Moama Grammar Uniform Shop

Introducing Beanstack

By the end of February, all students in Years 5–7 will be introduced to Beanstack, a new reading‑engagement program.

What is Beanstack? Beanstack is a digital platform used by schools and libraries to encourage and track reading. Students can log their reading, earn badges, take part in class or school‑wide challenges, and monitor their progress in a simple, game‑style format. Teachers and library staff can also track participation, set goals, and celebrate achievements, helping to build strong and consistent reading habits.

Premier’s Reading Challenge 2026

New Year, New Challenge — Are You In!

Were you or your child one of the 441,462 students who took part in the NSW Premier’s Reading Challenge last year? If not, why not give it a try this year and see what you can achieve!

Registering your interest is simple. You can contact the Resource Centre team, and your child’s login details will be placed in their diary. If a parent emails to indicate their child’s intention to participate, Ms Height will send the login information via email.

This year, we would love to see more secondary students take part so we can begin working towards students achieving the PRC Medal. Only Year 9 and Year 10 students are eligible, and it can be earned in one of two ways:

• Year 9 students: Completion of the PRC every year from Year 3 to Year 9 inclusive

• Year 10 students: Completion of seven years of the Challenge between Year 3 and Year 10

   

Rule 10: outlines the awards against the years of participation:

10. The certificates you can receive for completing the Challenge are:

We hope to see many of our students working towards this achievement over the coming years.

Challenge opens: 23 February. Challenge closes: 18 September

If you cannot locate your child’s login details, or if your child is new to the Challenge, they can join by:

• Contacting the library staff at library@moamagrammar.nsw.edu.au
• Letting the library staff know during their library lesson

• Asking their teacher to note it in the diary so it can be passed on to the Library Staff

   

Once student passwords are received, we will communicate these through your child’s diary or via email.

If you want to start recording your books before you get your passwords, encourage your child to visit the library to collect a paper record sheet, which you can transfer the records over to the Premier's Reading Challenge website once it is open to us all. 

If you would like to begin selecting books for the Challenge, you can browse the booklists on the PRC website: https://online.education.nsw.gov.au/prc/booklist/home.html

Rules 1-3

PLEASE NOTE: There have been updates to Standard Challenge Rules 2 (5-6 booklists). Please pay attention to these changes. 

1. The Challenge opens on Monday, 23 February 2026 to NSW students in Years K-10. You must complete your online Student Reading Record by Friday, 18 September 2026 (11:59 pm) to complete the Challenge. 

2. You must read a certain number of books to complete the Challenge. Please refer to the Booklists page for more information. 

3. Books you read after the Challenge closes can count towards the next year's Challenge. 

In a future newsletter, we will take a closer look at the rules of the Premier’s Reading Challenge. In the meantime, please explore the website for more details: https://online.education.nsw.gov.au/prc/home.html

Kids’ Lit Quiz – 2026 Newsletter Update

"Reading is to the mind what exercise is to the body." — Joseph Addison

In 2025, a new initiative saw two teams proudly represent our school in the Kids’ Lit Quiz, with one team placing in the top five in the virtual heat. This was a fantastic achievement, and in 2026, we hope to see even more teams take part and enjoy similar success. We are looking for students who enjoy reading widely and are keen to challenge themselves.

To participate in the Kids’ Lit Quiz, students must be aged between 10 and 13 (inclusive). Regular reading and exploring a broad range of texts is strongly recommended.

I am pleased to share that we already have one team registered. If anyone would like more information, Ms Height is happy to answer any questions. Feel free to visit the Resource Centre for a chat, or email your name and the team you wish to enter. Please ensure you have expressed your interest by 28 February 2026.

WWE will participate in the Virtual Heat on 28 April, held at the school from 9.45 am.

The Kids’ Lit Quiz turns reading into a sport, giving students the chance to test their knowledge of all things literary. For more information, you can watch a short video about the challenge, recorded in 2006: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vjf4MS30qJo

You can also explore the official website: https://www.kidslitquiz.com/demo-video.php

Australian E‑Sport League (AEL) – Minecraft Building

This year marks the second time we are entering Secondary teams in the Australian E-Sports League. We have one team competing in the Year 7–9 build, Medieval Marvels, and another team in the Year 10–12 build, Structure Collapse.

Once we have held our team meeting, we will inform families of the days and times students will be meeting each week.

https://ael.org.au/minecraft/ is where you can find some information about the project they will be working on. 

Keep reading, everyone!

Ms Height and Ms O’Neill

Resource Centre Team 

Important details

Opening Hours:

Passwords

If you haven’t received your new password yet, please contact the Resource Centre at library@moamagrammar.nsw.edu.au. We’ll ensure your password is sent to you as soon as possible.

Borrowing and Returns

Students may borrow and return books before school, recess, lunchtime and after school. Primary School students also have the chance to borrow books during their fortnightly Library lessons. 

Borrowing Permissions

If students are requesting to borrow books above their age level, we request parents to write a letter regarding their permission for their child to borrow and read a specific book, which will be reviewed by library staff.

Renewals

Students are able to re-borrow books for an additional two weeks by speaking to staff at the Library Circulation Desk. If further borrowing is requested after this, students are required to bring their book/s with them to allow the staff to see the book. In addition, students can renew their book/s by emailing the Library.

Requests

If your child would like to borrow a specific book and the title is not included in our current catalogue, we will add this to our purchase wishlist.

Overdue notices

If you receive an overdue notice, there is a chance that the books may have been processed through our system after the email was sent. We encourage all parents to follow up on any issues by emailing the Resource Centre at library@moamagrammar.nsw.edu.au

Reading Permissions

Due to our shared space catering for students from Kindergarten to Year 12, our library collection is organised to help students easily find books with protagonists close to their own age. For example, in the Upper Primary section, most of the characters are between 11 and 13 years old. This approach ensures that themes and content remain age-appropriate, and also supports students in reading independently and with confidence.

When deciding where books are placed within the collection, we are guided by author and publisher recommendations.

If you have any other enquiries, issues or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact us via phone by ringing the main office or via email address at library@moamagrammar.nsw.edu.au

Keep reading everyone!

Kind regards,

Ms Height and Ms O’Neill

Resource Centre Team