Library

This week I would like to start by celebrating Mrs Ann Nicola.  

Ann has been running the St James Library for the past 8 years, and has 

worked tirelessly to provide the students of St James with rich text that 

Inspire the imagination. 

Thank you Ann, for your incredible contributions to our library and school community. 

We will certainly miss you, and we hope you enjoy your future adventures with your family during your long service leave.

At  St James we are Wild about Reading

We have had a great start to our Premier’s Reading Challenge! Well done to everyone that has been busy reading and logged on and added their books to the challenge. So far our Leader board has been dominated by the Year 6s. Hopefully next week we will see some of the Middle School or Juniors take the leader.

Special mention to Annie S, Nieve R and Noah S who are hot on the tails of our leaders!

Of all the books that have been read so far across the St James these are the most popular books.

Remember if you are still struggling to login please see details further down this page

or email Mrs Joplin ajoplin@stjamesbrighton.catholic.edu.au

National Simultaneous Storytime (NSS) is held annually by the Australian Library and Information Association (ALIA). Every year a picture book, written and illustrated by an Australian author and illustrator, is read simultaneously in libraries, schools, pre-schools, childcare centres, family homes, bookshops and many other places around the country. This Year the book was The Speedy Sloth by Rebecca Young.

Author’s Spotlight

Each month in the Library we spotlight a famous Author. This month our author is Emily Rodda!! A huge favourite with our Year 4 students, Emily is known for taking her reader on a fascinating quest filled with drama, mystery and adventure. Author of some of our favourite series in the MIddle school at St James library such as  Rowan of Rin, The Glimme, Deltora’s Quest and The shop at Hoopers end to name a few. Emily’s novels are always on fast rotation in our library. Emily is passionate about children's reading, believing that books stimulate the imagination and teach logic and empathy in a way that games and movies can't. She believes strongly that in order to develop reading stamina, and thus gain the tools to move on to more complex books, children need a good supply of fast-moving, entertaining stories that will grip their attention and make them want to read on.  

Look out for what author we spotlight next month!!

Premier’s Reading Challenge

The Victorian Government has carefully curated a long list of rich texts for young readers.   If you need some inspiration, checkout the attached booklist.

Logging in with a Challenge passcode

Your teacher will give you a Challenge username and passcode. You should find this in your child’s diary or magic words book where other passwords are located. 

If you lose or forget your Challenge passcode,please  ask or email  Mrs joplin  at ajoplin@stjamesbrighton.catholic.edu.au to generate a new one for you.

1. Go to the Challenge application.
2. Select the School/Student button.
3. Select the VPRC login option.
4. Enter your username and password.
5. Select Login.

Viewing your dashboard

The dashboard is your main workspace as you progress through the Challenge.

At the top of the dashboard are gemstone badges. These are grey when you start your Challenge. They change to green as you progress through the Challenge.

Below the badges is a green bar. This shows you how many days are left until the end of the Challenge.

There are also two progress wheels that show:

• what your Challenge target is
• how many Challenge or Choice books you have finished or had verified.

Your reading list shows the books you have added and finished reading.

As you add more books to your reading list, the application will learn the kinds of books you like to read. It will recommend other books by:

• genre
• author
• series
• subject.

Books other students at your school and across Victoria are reading appear on the Trending books list.

The side menu lets you:

• see your Profile Details and add an avatar
• see all the book reviews you have written
• search for books you would like to add to your reading list.

Challenge Rules

The challenge runs all the way to September and is very attainable for all children. 

Children need to read:

Prep to Year 2

• Number of books: 30
• Number of books from the Challenge book list: 20 or more

Year 3 to Year 6

• Number of books: 15
• Number of books from the Challenge book list: 10 or more

What you can read

Most of the books you read should be from the Challenge book lists. The rest can be any book you choose.

You can read books on the book list for your year level or a level above and they'll count towards your Challenge total. You should check with your teachers or parents if you're not in years 9 or 10 and want to read a book from that list. This list includes titles for mature readers.

You can read a book from a level below your year level if your teacher agrees. You still need to read the number of books for your year level to meet the Challenge.

Let’s get reading!!

Mrs Mandi Joplin

Teacher Librarian