Library News

Term 4, Week 9

Welcome to week 9! Can you believe that we're nearly at the end of the year already? I feel that this year has flown and I've thoroughly enjoyed spending time with and reading great books to your children. The library is a very special place!

Final Week of Library Lessons - Return Overdue Library Books by This Friday 

This is the final week of K-6 library lessons and it’s time to return all overdue library books ASAP. Overdue notices will be sent home this week so if you could please check with your child and help them look for any books, that would be appreciated. The library closes in Week 10 for the annual stocktake.

If you have any concerns about your child’s overdue books, please contact me at invlibrary@arm.catholic.edu.au. Here’s the final book meme for the year - the look on every student’s face when they’re told for the 24th time to return an overdue book.

This Week’s Christmas Reads 

Across K-6, we’re reading some fun, new Christmas stories in our final lesson. Here are just a few that we’re enjoying this week, especially the sequel to How the Grinch Stole Christmas by Dr Seuss.

Premier’s Reading Challenge Certificates Update

The PRC participation certificates will be distributed to students next week at the K-6 assembly while students receiving ‘special’ awards, will receive them on Presentation Day. Gold Awards are given to students who have participated for four consecutive years, Platinum Awards for seven years, and a Premier's medal for those students who have participated every year from Year 3 to Year 9 (inclusive), therefore, only Year 9 students are eligible.

Some fun facts from the 2023 PRC Challenge:

• 110 HTS students completed the PRC Challenge, 12 from the Secondary and 98 from the Primary.
• 433,502 students across NSW took part in the PRC this year, with over 313,000 students completing the Challenge.
• Students read a combined total of 8,658,738 books
• This year's most-read book was ‘The Speedy Sloth’ by Rebecca Young and illustrated by Heath McKenzie (which was the 2023 National Simultaneous Reading story). Over 70,000 students added this to their 2023 reading records!

Better Reading’s 2023 Top 50 Books for Kids

Each year, Better Reading releases its list of top 50 books as voted by children. The top 10 are a real surprise, as last year’s winner ‘Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone’ by JK Rowling was bumped from first position by one of the best books I’ve read in a long time and the return of an all-time classic picture book.

The Top 10

1. Runt by Craig Silvey
2. Where is the Green Sheep? by Mem Fox
3. Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone by J.K. Rowling
4. The Gruffalo by Julia Donaldson, illustrated by Axel Scheffler
5. The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle
6. The BFG by Roald Dahl
7. Wolf Girl #1: Into the Wild by Anh Do
8. Are We There Yet? by Alison Lester
9. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis
10. The 13-Storey Treehouse by Andy Griffiths and Terry Denton

Some noteworthy observations about the list include:

• ‘Runt’ is the 2023 winner of the CBCA Younger Readers Book of the Year - this has been a hugely popular book in our library and I recommend it for adults too.
• The top 50 is filled with wonderful classics such as The Magic Faraway Tree, Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief, Hairy Maclary from Donaldson’s Dairy, Possum Magic, We’re Going on a Bear Hunt, Anne of Green Gables, Tomorrow When the War Began and more! They’re classics for a reason.
• Roald Dahl rules (always!) - BFG, Matilda, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
• 20 books are part of a series

If you’re interested in finding out who made it and who didn’t, click here.

Here are some students from 4D who got into the Christmas spirit during their lesson yesterday.

Happy reading,

Mrs. Toni Fraser