LIBRARY NEWS

Welcome to Term 4, which is always the busiest term of the school year. This year is flying!

This term, our students will be busy reading more great books, completing some research projects, working on organising Google Drive folders in readiness for Secondary and finishing the year with some wonderful Christmas stories.

This Week’s Reads

Kindergarten - This term, Kindergarten is diving into summer with stories about the beach and warmer weather. This week, they’ve been reading  ‘Granny Grommet and Me’ by Diane Wolfer, a fun story about a granny who helps her granddaughter overcome her fear of the ocean and discover the joys of snorkelling and rock pools. Students love sharing stories about their own grannies and get to decorate their very own surfboards, too! Fun fact: the author was inspired by real-life “Granny Grommets,” a group of surfing grandmothers from Albany, WA. You can watch them in action here. 

Stage 1- Year 1 and 2 students are officially rocketing ‘out of this world’ in this term’s library unit! Students are enjoying a range of fiction and non-fiction books all about the moon, distant galaxies, and the incredible lives of astronauts. We began our unit last week with the hilarious tale of persistence, 'The Cow Tripped Over the Moon' by Tony Wilson, and we're currently enjoying the beautifully calming words of Alison Lester's 'Kissed by the Moon', a sweet book of blessings inspired by the author's own grandchild. Who knows where we will read to next!

Stage 2 - his term, our Year 3 and 4 students are becoming literature experts as they dive into the concept of genres, learning that all books can be grouped into categories. We kicked off with the extremely popular genre of Humour by enjoying the start of 'Diary of a Wimpy Kid' by Jeff Kinney, which resulted in our entire collection being cleared from the shelves! This week, we're moving on to the Spooky genre just in time for Halloween, and we'll be getting creeped out by 'The Last Kids on Earth' by Max Brallier. As a fun addition to the unit, we're linking these books to their movie trailers for students to compare the visual adaptation to the text—though we all know the book is always better!

Stage 3 - will be completing their book trailers they started last term, and (hopefully!) sharing them with classes in the coming weeks. Not only have students been busy learning how to use add animation and music to their project, but they’re also having to think about what’s the best way to promote their chosen book to an appropriate audience. Here is Laci-Ann's from 6D and Tommy's from 6G to enjoy

Secondary Students Dive into Term 4 Reading!

The start of the term is always a busy time in the library, and Term 4 is no exception! Over 200 secondary students have visited the library last week,  to borrow their English class texts and select a new reading book for DEAR (Drop Everything And Read). Students are exploring a fantastic range of genres, from the hugely popular world of manga and graphic novels in Year 7—we look forward to seeing how they go with reading backwards!—to the haunting atmosphere of gothic stories being explored by Year 9. With such an exciting variety of literature flying off the shelves, we know this term will be a great one for reading!

Exciting New Reads Hitting the Library Shelves! 

The library is full of fresh reads, thanks to our Standing Orders from the CSO, the generous Scholastic credit from our recent Book Fair, and, most importantly, listening to great student requests! We're lucky to have a constant stream of exciting new books flowing onto our shelves for everyone to enjoy. From the latest releases in popular graphic novel series to brand-new fiction and fascinating non-fiction, there’s something for everyone. Keep checking the display areas and new arrivals section because this is just a quick peek—we have many more exciting new books arriving soon!

Term 4 Book Club

The final Scholastic Book Club catalogue of the year is going home today. This is students' last opportunity to purchase fantastic stories to enjoy over the holidays while directly helping the library earn credit for new books. This catalogue is the biggest of the year, featuring some wonderful Christmas specials. If you're buying a book as a surprise gift, please choose the 'gift' option when ordering online, and we'll put it aside for discreet collection from the school office. Orders must be submitted online by next Wednesday, October 29th (Week 3), and should arrive within two weeks. Please see the catalogue for all ordering instructions. Thank you, as always, for your wonderful support of this optional program!

Meet the Readers

Meet Glen and Kayd from Year 9, who not only came back to borrow more chilling gothic and horror books but were also brave enough to strike a pose for a photo! Thanks, boys!

And last, but not least, meet Fallon from KD, who is our latest reader to literally leave a piece of herself in the library—she lost a tooth! After reading 'Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About the Tooth Fairy (And Some Things You Didn't)' by Briony Stewart earlier this year, we have no doubt that Fallon is fully prepared for what’s to come!

Happy reading,

Mrs Toni Fraser