Library News

The students at McAuley have had a chance to celebrate all things book and literature-related during the recent Book Week celebrations. Books are traditionally the centrepiece of Book Week, and this year the students have also been able to improve their writing skills through two library-sponsored events.

Book Week

Book Week was a blast. The library was decorated under the theme ‘Book an Adventure’ and the library space became a mix of an undersea space and forest, and celebrated the many adventure activities that can happen in those spaces, like camping, rock climbing, sailing, parachuting and surfing. 

Students could engage in literature-centred activities like a Pirate-themed escape box, a school scavenger hunt, and a daily home room quiz. 

The week ended with the dress-up parade, which was a lot of fun. Well done to all the students who made a huge effort to dress up this year, and to all the teachers who had a Peter Pan adventure in Neverland. 

Have a look at the video to see the wonderful student engagement with the dress-up day.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C-IBeMsRfL8&feature=youtu.be

Write a Book in a Day

Last Wednesday 60 students had an absolute blinder working from 9am to 6pm, and one group until 7pm, writing a 3500 - word book in a day. The students showed excellent cooperation, creativity and time management skills to write, illustrate and collate the stories within the time frame.

The students’ books will be made available to kids in hospitals around Australia, potentially changing a child’s day in hospital. The students were very sensitive to the needs of the young people they were writing for and some of the groups wrote heartfelt messages to send strength, courage and positivity to the children in hospital.

Additionally, the students and their families raised $1,500 for the Kid’s Cancer Project. 

Author Visit

The final Book Week event was a visit from Australian YA author, Hayley Lawrence who was able to give students practical advice about how to write engaging settings, characters and themes for a commercial audience. 

Hayley told the students a real - life harrowing story about a teenager diagnosed with cancer which inspired her critically acclaimed novel, The Other Side of Tomorrow. She then encouraged the students to imagine a character in a similar scenario and then write a letter from the character’s perspective. The shared results showed that the students are not only creative, but also empathetic and sensitive about the world around them and the people who live within it.

Mrs Linda Gleeson