Forward 2016 | Page 44

PREPARATORY SCHOOL

Reading will give you Goosebumps !

BookWeek

Monsters took over the Preparatory School in Term 3 as Book Week was celebrated over four fantastic weeks . This year the theme was ‘ Reading is so much fun , it ’ ll give you goosebumps !’. The students were involved in many activities to celebrate the importance of reading and literacy and the enjoyment provided by sitting down with a good book .
Book Week celebrations kicked off in the first week of Term 3 with the Scholastic Book Fair . It was a highly successful Book Fair , selling just over $ 8,000 worth of books , with our students continuing to affirm their love of reading . The Library was packed before and after school with students wanting to purchase many fantastic books . A big thank you to all the parent volunteers who assisted during this week . Many an excited child headed home with their books ready to read the hours away !
The most anticipated part of our Book Week celebrations is always the Book Week Dress-up Assembly . This year , staff and students were encouraged to come as a reading monster . Once again Priestley Hall was a sight to be seen , full of imagination and creativity . There were amazing costumes in all year levels , from Mike and Sully ( Monsters Inc ), Cookie Monster , Elmo and many fantastic original creations .
Promoting children to read a good book , especially in a digital world , can be challenging . With this in mind , I decided to do something different and create a music video of students and staff reading all over the school . Something fun and meaningful that we could all be a part of . The video , which premiered at assembly , was a fantastic success and was so much fun to make . Thank you to everyone who took part and willingly danced and sang while promoting reading !
Meg McKinlay , children ’ s author , visited the Preparatory School for 3 days during Book Week to share her passion for books with the entire school . Kindy and Pre-Primary had a lot of fun with her book ‘ The truth about penguins ’ while older students learnt many valuable writing tips . Jackie French , Australian author extraordinaire , also popped in to share her amazing stories and wisdom with years 3 - 6 . She talked about all things ‘ Wombat ’, her love of literature and how being dyslexic never stopped her from being a writer .
Book Week 2016 was once again a fantastic success and I very much look forward to what 2017 has in store .
Brooke Vance Teacher Librarian
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