Parent & Student Matters 

From the Senior Resource Centre

Turning research into action: how we’re supporting holiday reading 

In 2022, St Pius X College participated in the National Teen Reading Survey conducted by Deakin University. This research has provided valuable insights that have helped us strengthen our reading programmes.

The study identified seven distinct types of readers:

• Fiction Fanatics (12%)

• Regular Bookworms (10%)

• Rushed Fans (9%)

• Casual Dabblers (16%)

• Holiday Browsers (10%)

• Sparse Readers (10%)

• Book Abstainers (33%)

One particularly interesting finding was that 45% of teen readers read more during holidays than during the school term.

With this evidence in mind, we have been actively promoting holiday reading through our 'If we don’t have it, we’ll buy it' initiative in recent library classes. Thus, number of students have taken advantage of this offer, requesting books to enjoy over the break.

To further encourage holiday reading:

• We have opened the Year 10 Reading Challenge to Year 9 students, giving the holiday readers an early start on the 2026 Challenge.

• We’ve also equipped students with Premier’s Reading Challenge logs so they can track their holiday reading.

As the year draws to a close, we are reminding students to return any overdue books, so these books can be ready for others to enjoy over the holidays. Beyond our print collection, our eBook and audiobook library is updated monthly with the latest titles and can be accessed from anywhere students spend their holidays.

Mrs Karen Keighery - Library and Information Services Coordinator