The theme for Book Week 2017 was ‘Escape to Everywhere’.

Our celebrations began even before Book Week had officially opened, with a middle years ‘Talking Books’ breakfast. Girls from Years 5-8 and their parents shared breakfast and settled in to hear Old Girl Kim Kane (’90) talk about her career as a writer and her writing process. Kim has authored a range of books, from picture books to young adult fiction, and it was a wonderful experience to have her back at St Catherine’s to inspire the next generation of writers.

At Barbreck, Book Week began with school wide story time, ably led by our Year 6 Reading Ambassadors. Students from Prep to Year 4 enjoyed a theatre performance based on ‘Gary’ – a picture book shortlisted for the CBCA Book of the Year. The highly anticipated book swap allowed students to exchange preloved books for ‘money’ that allowed them to select something new to read. What could be better? Barbreck students also had the opportunity to dress up their teddy as a character from a book, which has been a much loved activity during Book Week.

It would not be Book Week in the Senior School without our annual lunchtime trivia competition. Several teams battled it out over three rounds of literary and film related questions. This year, a team of Year 9s took out the title and will no doubt be back next year to defend their crown.

Our celebrations wrapped up with two fantastic literary experiences. At Barbreck, students in Years 5 and 6 were treated to session with author and illustrator Elise Hurst, where they learnt more about the professional writing and illustrating process. In the Senior School, the Nicholas Library was abuzz all day on Friday with five teams from Years 7-9 competing in the Write A Book In A Day competition. As the competition name suggests, the student had to indeed write an entire book in a day, complete with illustrations and a series of compulsory words, characters and plot points.

As always, Book Week is a time when the entire School comes together to celebrate books and reading. It is always hugely gratifying to see the delight with which our students engage in stories and the enjoyment they derive from interacting with those in the business of writing books. We are very fortunate to have such wonderful library spaces, filled with books for everyone and staff who are passionate about what they do. We are already looking forward to next year.

 

 

Ms Kathryn White, Head of Library and Resources