Book Week Fun!
Book Week Fun!
Book Week is a wonderful opportunity to celebrate together the joy and importance of reading. Our Catherine McAuley Library is well resourced and highly valued in our school community, and an incredibly well used, much loved space and service to our students. Last week, students celebrated the opportunities they have to share stories, appreciate illustrations and learn about the world around them through the 2022 theme, ‘Dreaming with Eyes Open’.
Our Year 6 students were lucky to have local author/illustrator Andrew Joyner visit us for a picture book workshop where he shared some of his own work including The Pink Hat, Stand up! Speak up! and Love was inside, which feature his signature illustrations. Students got to make their own mini-book, had a go at creating a story using ‘up’ phrases and then illustrating in his style. Andrew drew lots of pictures for us, both on paper and on his iPad, and watching his drawings come to life from stick figures to ‘real’ characters, was just mesmerising. He was incredibly generous with advice, tips, insider knowledge and autographs! Students and staff loved his enthusiasm and are looking forward to using their new skills when they come to create their own picture books over the next few weeks.
Tristan Bancks, Australian author for children and teens, shared writing advice and practical strategies with our Year Seven students, giving insights into the journey behind completing his popular novels. Rebecca Bird from Pegi Williams Bookshop came to share some new-releases and old favourites with our Year Six students, giving them the chance to go ‘shopping’ after her recommendations. We have new stacks of books for our library that students have chosen from her suggestions.
The Reception and Year One students enjoyed a themed ‘Scavenger Hunt’ in the library based on the shortlisted picture book, Amira’s Suitcase. The hunt was multi-sensory and involved scents, sounds and textures from the story. The Year Two and Year Three students were also on the hunt – following clues from a wide range of books on the 2022 Children’s Book Council of Australia’s shortlists. They carefully collected clues from the stories and collated them to learn more about the constellation The Emu in the Sky, or Gawarrgay to the first astronomers of Kamilaroi Country. The Year Four and Year Five students enjoyed testing their general literature knowledge in a Book Week Quiz, based on popular titles and most borrowed fiction books in our library.
The Book Week Parade is always a highlight of the week, as the Undercroft bursts with colour, costumes and creativity! Our friends from Chancery Lane right through to our Year Six students were dressed up and ready to join in the fun on the final day of Book Week celebrations. A big thank you to Ms Garner and Lucy for being such vibrant hosts for our parade.
Most of all, a big thank you to SAC staff and students, whose love and appreciation for our library makes it feel like the heart of our school. Book Week was a very special time to share together.
