Library News 

Thriving with life, the library is a central meeting point for so many students and staff at BHHS.  Open between 8am and 4pm, and being one of the only warm, dry spaces in the school during breaks, the library has been a sea of activity and events again this winter. This term, we were home to Knitting Club, Book Blub and Chess Club. And while each of these had a scheduled day, it was a welcomed and daily norm to see multiple chess games playing, students sitting knitting and always, students browsing the shelves reading and recommending books to each other. 

For the third year running, students across a whole range of year levels took part in the Children’s Book Council Awards CBCA – Shadow Judging Project.  The project, where students read all the top 6 books shortlisted by the CBCA in the Older Readers Category and write reviews to share with their peers, was further enhanced when the author of the winning book Tiger Daughter, Rebecca Lim, came into school to present and run a creative writing workshop with students. 

Promoting reading for pleasure is something that we value dearly at BHHS, and it’s lovely to see students browsing the shelves with friends and immersing themselves in the library experience.  The annual Book Week always presents a chance (particularly because we were back on site this year) to celebrate with our readers: the 2022 theme was Dreaming with Eyes Open. 

This year we invited over 100 staff and students to our morning tea to celebrate our top readers in each year level, readers that took part in the CBCA Shadow Judging Project and, our new Library Leaders.  Students were encouraged to dress up as their favourite book character or wear PJ’s and bring their favourite book to share.  We also celebrated the week with our Masked Reader competition (with the help of many keen staff) and the annual Write a Book in a Day competition, with seven teams.  

From hosting our annual Book Week celebrations, Chess Tournaments and weekly clubs, promoting house spirit in our daily word games, promoting reading for pleasure and of course being a great place for study sessions, the library is a welcoming and diverse space for everyone in our school community.   

Check out the photo galleries below as Students and Staff dress-up to celebrate Book Week.

WRITE A BOOK IN A DAY 

On Thursday 18th August 42 students from seven different teams and across all year levels participated in the Australia-wide project, Write a Book in a Day competition.   

Much unlike the previous two years held during lockdowns, students sat together, in person, to write and illustrate their 5000-word books that are published and made available to children in hospitals, right around Australia.  Fuelled by a smorgasbord of snacks, students from four returning teams and three brand new ones were able to sustain their interest and motivation for the full 12 hours to create seven beautiful, creative, funny, and heart-warming stories. 

Tehreem Humayun 

The best part of being involved in the Write a Book in a Day event 2022 was creating ideas with my teammates and watching all our thoughts come together. And of course the satisfaction of holding the final copy in my hands. 

Ananya Seth 

The best part about being part of this amazing day, was the friendship and teamwork shown. The smiles, the giggles and even the impatient glares all helped to establish our friendship. Sharing a common interest and working together to achieve our goal, which was to finish a well written and illustrated book was such a positive experience. The happiness of reading our final copy and the satisfaction on everyone’s faces is a feeling that I will never forget. 

Evelyn Wong   

The best part was seeing the book come together.  At the start, it was quite overwhelming and seemed like a massive challenge but over the course of the day we created a fabulous book and I was really happy seeing everyone satisfied with the final product.  

Anesha Narwal 

The best part of taking part in Write a Book in a Day was that I was able to spend a day with my friends writing and illustrating a book, bouncing ideas of each other and being able to chat and eat snacks for the whole day.  It was such a relaxing and fun day! 

Fatima Ali 

The most memorable part of being involved in the Write a Book in a Day event this year was the pleasure of writing and illustrating our very own book and watching our story forming from just a few ideas into such a wonderful book. Along with all our efforts, the delight of knowing that we had the whole library to ourselves whilst our friends went to class, adds to the memories of the day I will always remember. 

Michelle Kim 

The best part about Write a Book in a Day was that we could spend time with friends.  It was also very fun and interesting to see how we could write and illustrate an entire book in 12 hrs.  I felt very happy when we finished the book and looked at the final result.  Overall, I had a very fun day! 

Maddi Gill 

The best part of Write a Book in a Day was doing it in person.  The other two years that I have taken part in this event, it has been online.  This year, being in the library together for the entire day, it was easier to communicate with team members and express our ideas.  It was a great day of laughing with friends and other groups and sometimes cringing at our grammar skills.  

Kira Phoneyiem-Lo 

The best part about being part of Write a Book in a Day was spending 12 hours with my friends talking about the funniest plot lines, and possibly staring at the rest of the school as they walked past on their way to class.  It was also pretty satisfying looking at how our hard work paid off.   

Anika Jacob 

The best part about participating in Write a Book in a Day was working with friends for 12 hours and being a part of my amazing team.  It was great working with each other to produce ideas together and seeing them develop into a story.  I also really loved seeing our illustrators work on their designs.  We all managed to work together and collaborate our ideas so that it became one big overall storyline.  We were proud of ourselves for doing our best and the final results were amazing.  

By Dee McQueen

Librarian