Literacy

Term 3 Author Visit - Andrea Rowe

 Just before the excitement of Book Week, we have an amazing Australian author visiting us to speak with all students about the books she has written and the way she comes up with her story ideas. Andrea Rowe, author of books like Jetty Jumping and Castle Crashing, is delighted to be joining us at OLSC on Monday, 17th August.

If families would like to order one or more of Andrea's books and have them signed by her, please use the QR code on the flier below.

Book Week 2026

Book Week begins on Monday 24th August at OLSC. The Book Fair will arrive at school on that day and will open for sales on Tuesday 25th August. The main event of the week is the annual Book Week Dress-up Parade,  where students are invited to dress up as a favourite book character or to wear colourful clothes to celebrate their love of reading.

Families are welcome to join us for this celebratory event as the students parade in their costumes, which will be held on Friday 28th August at 9 am in the school hall.

What have we been learning in our Literacy lessons at OLSC?

Prep - To begin Term 3, the Prep students have been listening to the stories 'One Little Duck' by Katrina Germein and Danny Snell and 'Frogs Are Our Friends' by Toni D'Alia and Madeline White. After reading these books, students have been focusing on retelling the stories in the correct sequence and writing sentences that include a noun, a verb, a capital letter to begin and a full stop to end.

Year 1/2s - For the first two weeks of this term, the 1/2 students have been learning about the importance and significance of their names. They have been reading 'The Boy Who Tried to Shrink His Name'  by Sandhya Parappukkaran and 'Alma and How She Got Her Name' by Juana Martinez-Neal. The 1/2s have then created posters about their own names to share with their classmates. When writing sentences, the focus has been on adding more detail about the who/what, where and when.

Year 3s - This Term, the Year 3 students are making links to their Geography Inquiry unit through their Literacy lessons. They have begun reading 'Off We Go Around Australia' by Roland Harvey, a collection of four of his picture books set in a variety of Australian settings. The stories follow a family on their journey around Australia and tell of the people they meet, the sights they see and the wildlife they come across along the way. The first of the four stories is called 'At the Beach' and is a series of postcards written by the family to Grandma. The students are using their imagination by placing themselves in the pages of the book and writing postcards to their teachers.

Year 4s - In connection with their Geography Inquiry unit, the Year 4s have begun reading 'Storm Boy' by Australian author Colin Thiele. On the first day of the term, the students began by watching the movie of the story, which is a remake of the original. The story itself was written in 1964 and tells of a young boy and his friend, an orphaned pelican named Mr Percival. The story takes place in the Coorong, a wild coastal environment in South Australia. Through this story and with further research, the Year 4s will discover more about this location, its features and the wildlife that lives there.

Year 5s - To begin Term 3, the Year 5s are reading an informative text about structures and how they are designed and built. In connection to their Design Technology Inquiry, the students have been using 'How Was That Built?' by Roma Agrawal to research famous skyscrapers from around the world. They investigated and took notes about the process engineers go through when building these mega structures and the features that make each one so unique.

Year 6s - In the lead-up to their camp at Sovereign Hill, the Year 6 students have been fact-finding about life on the Australian goldfields in the mid 1800s. They have been particularly interested in learning about the Eureka Stockade, a protest held by miners for fairer mining licensing, that turned deadly on the fields in Ballarat, Victoria. The students are working towards using their research notes for writing a newspaper article about the events leading up to the stockade and the impact it had on the lives of goldminers.

Victorian Premiers' Reading Challenge

This is the final school term to participate in the 2026 Victorian Premiers' Reading Challenge, and the students at OLSC have maintained their reading efforts throughout the holidays. So far, we have read 4731 books, and 54 students have already completed the Challenge.

The Challenge finishes in September, so there is plenty of time for everyone to join in and reach their target. Keep up the wonderful effort with reading for fun! 43 days left.

Kristina Morrissey

kmorrissey@olscwyn.catholic.edu.au

Literacy Leader