Library News
On Wednesday 30 October, thanks to generous sponsorship from Bengalla Mining Company, Sami Bayly visited our school. Sami Bayly is a talented natural history illustrator/author. She shared her books and techniques/ideas for illustrating and writing, and her love of weird and wonderful creatures. Sami finds beauty and importance in all animals, regardless of their appearance, and loves to research and draw these animals in her beautifully presented books.
Opportunities like these, help to broaden the minds of our students and assist with the development of literacy and artistic skills. Sami’s presentation fostered the students’ curiosity in the wonders of the animal world. Our students were glowing in their praise for this event. For instance, Tayla W, had “a great afternoon learning about animals and how careers can unfold and change.” Whereas Xavier D said, “it was fun to learn how to draw the dodo.” Thomas E echoed those sentiments by saying that the event “was good and really interesting.”
Thanks to Bengalla Mining Company for providing this worthwhile and beneficial event, to support the education of the students within our region. It is important that rural students have access to this valuable learning experience. Everyone was captivated by Sami’s illustrations and enjoyed drawing the dodo.
A big thank you to the students who completed 2024 Premier’s Reading Challenge (PRC). They will receive an award acknowledging their efforts during this term. 431,383 students across NSW took part in the PRC this year, with a record 323,328 students completing the Challenge. Students read a combined total of 9,115,211 books - with this year's most read book being Bowerbird Blues by Aura Parker. Bowerbird Blues was also the 2024 National Simultaneous Storytime book read around the country on 22 May as part of ALIA's goal to promote the value of reading and literacy.
On Wednesday 13 November we celebrated World Kindness Day. In the library we understand that sharing a little kindness can have a positive impact on our wellbeing. Kindness can take the form of being friendly, generous, and considerate towards others.
In the past we interviewed students to find out what kindness meant to them. Kindness in the eyes of our students took the form of being respectful to others or assisting people when they needed help. In a practical sense, kindness was perceived as showing an interest in others, smiling, and saying hello, or asking someone if they are okay when they are having a challenging day. Even opening a door for someone is seen as a random act of kindness.
Moreover, students also remarked on the actions that are not considered to be kind, such as being overbearing, belittling people, or speaking your mind without showing respect towards others. In summary, our students go out of their way to be kind, and endeavour to help people who are experiencing a crisis. These student testimonies show that our school focus on wellbeing and pastoral care is reaping rewards.
Andrew Boyce
Teacher/Librarian