Library News
Harmony Week
Australia is one of the most successful multicultural nations in the world. Our cultural diversity is one of our nation’s greatest strengths and is at the heart of who we are. It makes this country a great place to live for all Australians.
McAuley Catholic College is celebrating our cultural diversity in Harmony Week during the week of March 31 - April 4. Harmony Week gives students the chance to reflect on aspects of inclusiveness, respect and belonging for everyone and a chance to celebrate all our cultural and linguistic backgrounds.
The Harmony Week celebrations are being organised by the senior student committee, Grace Stackman, Jasmine Chellew and Logan Cone. They have a variety of events planned including a Homeroom activity, Photo Booth, quiz and other events in the pipeline. Additionally, students are welcome to come in their national dress to have their photo taken in the photo booth.
The Mercy Library will also be hosting some events in conjunction with Harmony Week. Have a look at all the new decorations that have been appearing to celebrate the orange theme of Harmony Day.
While Harmony Week is traditionally held between 17 - 23rd March, McAuley Catholic College has opted to celebrate it later due to the floods.
Did you know:
- More than half (51.5 per cent) of Australian residents were born overseas or have at least one parent who was.
- Since 1945, more than 7.6 million people have migrated to Australia.
- Nearly every single country from around the world was represented in Australia's population in 2020.
- More than 150 Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander languages are spoken in Australia
- Apart from English, the most common languages spoken in Australia are Mandarin, Arabic, Vietnamese, Cantonese and Punjabi.
- We identify with over 300 ancestries.
Reading Rocks
Reading has always been fun, but it is now a social event in the new ‘Reading Rocks’ Book Club in the Mercy Library.
The new book club has about 20 student participants and it is a chance for students to share their love of reading with each other while also playing a couple of different book-styled games. As an extra bonus, they get to have the first chance to borrow any new releases the library has in stock.
As always, Manga remains a favourite with the students. The students are setting their own agenda for the club and they will be focusing on a Manga book for the next fortnightly meeting.
At the same time, the new puzzle corner has continued to be an attraction for the students. The corner has a mix of brain teasers and puzzles, which they can enjoy in the bustle of the many other, much louder activities within the library.
Reading Challenges
Reading for pleasure is the single biggest indicator of a child’s future success – more than their family circumstances, their parents’ educational background or their income.
Given the importance of reading, the Mercy Library promotes reading through a variety of campaigns.
The first program is Renaissance Reading.
The Renaissance Reading Program combines an incentive program and testing program, which should help students in Year 7 and 8 realise a significant growth in reading by the end of the year.
Students can read a book and complete an online test and the program will add up the amount of words read. So far Year 7 students have read 7 million words in total including two students who have read more than 1 million words already, and three students in year 8 have read nearly 1 million words.
At the end of the year, students who have read more than 1 million words can invite their parents to a special morning tea at the school.
The second program is Premier’s Reading Challenge:
The Challenge aims to encourage a love of reading for leisure and pleasure in students, and to enable them to experience quality literature. It is not a competition but a challenge to each student to read, to read more and to read more widely.
Students from Year 7 - 10 are encouraged to read 20 books by September 5. Reading records are kept in the library and students are welcome to come and write down any book or audio book they have read at home or have borrowed through the library.
Any student who completes the Premier’s Reading Challenge will be invited to a pizza party and they may also be eligible to receive a Premier’s certificate or medal.
Please use these incentive challenges to encourage your child to read 15 minutes a day. You can further help them by being interested in their reading choices and experiencing all the amazing new worlds that they can enter.
Note: If you would like to know more about the importance of reading you can visit this site: The benefits of reading - Book Trust
