Literacy

Welcome to the Literacy page of the OLSC newsletter.  This week features a wrap-up of our Book Fair, the winners of last term's Book Week colouring competition and also some information about the Years 3 to 6 novel studies.

Book Week Colouring Competition Winners

Congratulations to the following students who were chosen as the winners for this year's Book Week colouring competition. As always, the number of colouring sheets submitted was massive, and the senior Arts Leaders had some very tough decisions to make when choosing the winners.

                                        1/2 Green - Kimi                                 Prep Blue - Ella Rose

                                 4 Orange - Francesca                               3 White - Angelina

                                        6 Orange - Kaadi.                               5 Orange - Mihira

2025 Book Fair

Last week, the annual Scholastic Book Fair was at OLSC and what a busy place it was to be. After arriving on Monday and being set up in the hall, students and teachers visited the fair to make their wish lists. From Tuesday morning to Friday morning, the Book Fair was a hub of excitement. Students left happily with books, diaries, posters, pens and bookmarks.

For every dollar made, OLSC receives a third in Scholastic points to purchase new books for our classrooms. This year, thanks to the generosity of our families, we have just under $2,000 in Scholastic dollars to spend. Thank you all for your support this year - the Book Fair will return in August 2026.

Middle and Senior Years' Novel Studies

This term, the Years 3 to 6 students have begun novel studies during the Literacy Block. Each year level is reading a different novel, and they are responding to the texts through written and verbal responses.

Year 3 - Matilda

Matilda is a children’s story written by Roald Dahl, first published in 1988. It’s about a girl named Matilda Wormwood, who is very smart and has magical powers, including the ability to levitate objects. She loves reading books and could read stories meant for adults by the age of four. Unfortunately, her uncaring family, who often treat her badly, do not notice how clever Matilda really is. Her parents even refuse to let her go to school despite her wishes, and she is kept from attending at first.

When she is eventually able to go to school, Matilda is placed in the lowest class at Crunchem Hall Primary School. Luckily, this is Miss Honey’s class. This kind-hearted teacher instantly recognises Matilda’s talents and is determined to help her by pushing her ahead in her education.

Year 4 - Wild Robot

The Wild Robot is a story about a robot named Roz who washes ashore on a remote island after a shipwreck and must learn to survive in the wild. Roz wakes up alone on an island with no memory of how she got there. She must learn to use her programming to survive, but also to adapt to the natural world by observing and interacting with the animals. The animals are initially scared of her, but she earns their trust after she adopts and raises an orphaned gosling, Brightbill. 

Roz builds a home, creates a community, and finds a purpose in protecting her new family and friends, making the island her home. Her new life is threatened when a ship arrives to reclaim her, leading to a conflict between her robotic origins and her life in nature. 

Year 5 - Black Cockatoo and Dirrarn

The book Black Cockatoo is about a young Aboriginal girl named Mia who rescues her injured totem animal, a black cockatoo, after her older brother hurts it. The story explores themes of family, culture, and self-discovery as Mia finds inner strength through caring for the bird and navigating tensions within her family and community. 

Dirrarn is a follow-up to the Black Cockatoo novel about Mia, a Jaru girl from the Kimberley who attends a city boarding school and deals with homesickness and bullying. The story follows Mia as she navigates a new environment and friendships, with her black cockatoo totem, the dirrarn, symbolising her connection to culture and land. It explores themes of belonging, resilience, and the challenges of straddling two worlds, and incorporates Aboriginal English, Jaru, Noongar, and Kriol languages.  

Year 6 - Once

Once by Morris Gleitzman is a children's novel about a young Jewish boy named Felix who flees an orphanage in occupied Poland during World War II to find his parents. His quest becomes a journey of survival as he rescues a girl named Zelda and tries to protect her, all while grappling with the horrors of the Holocaust from his naive perspective. The story follows Felix as he loses his innocence while encountering death, evil, and acts of kindness and hope.  

Kristina Morrissey

kmorrissey@olscwyn.catholic.edu.au

Literacy Leader