Ms Lynsey Porter, Deputy Principal - Teaching & Learning
Reading: Resources to Continue to Support Your Son’s Reading Growth
All holidays, a great range of eBooks, audio books and reading features are available for your sons.
Find the links on the library CANVAS page. Click on eBooks & Audio Books.
The Big Issue Fiction special edition
We have included some reading for you as well, via our special purchase of new Australian short stories via the annual The Big Issue Fiction special edition.
See the Library CANVAS page and click on Library News.
Even better, read these stories together with your sons.
Penguin Books
Find something for your son to read via Penguin Books.
Click the button below to try out this fun quiz to get recommendations on what to read for Young Adults!
Library Literacy Reading Program to Expand
In 2024 we will continue and expand our literacy library reading program.
This program is for all Years 7 and 8 classes who have one reading class every two weeks, predominantly offline in the library. Ask your sons about it!
Here is some of the feedback from a sample of students in Years 7 and 8 (2023), reflecting on their experience of the program.
Guest Readers
We thank our guest readers throughout the year.
Ms Tanner assisting with a Waverley Local Heroes reading lesson
Throughout the year we have had a range of guests and staff devote their time to inspire reading via participating in our reading sessions. We thank all our dedicated staff who participated.
The new English Syllabus has dedicated reading outcomes. Of note, as we reflect on the role of reading, is that from 2024 there are new dedicated reading outcomes for Years 7 to 10:
- Stage 4 (Years 7 and 8) – ‘Uses a range of personal, creative and critical strategies to read texts that are complex in their ideas and construction’
- Stage 5 (Years 9 and 10) – ‘Use a range of personal, creative and critical strategies to interpret complex texts’
As well there is the stipulation of:
Across each stage, the selection of texts must give students experiences of: ‘texts chosen by students for personal interest and enjoyment.’
Happy Reading!
Mr Bill Roberts
Head of Library Services
Stage 5 Applied Philosophy Teacher
wroberts@waverley.nsw.edu.au
Parents and Students: Enjoy Reading over the Summer Holidays
Mr Roberts and I have thoroughly enjoyed working with all Year 7 and Year 8 students in 2023 to build their reading stamina and introduce them to some thought-provoking texts.
Our deep-learning focus has been on building empathy and integrity as well as instilling compassion for diverse values and world views.
We have reinforced the idea that 10 minutes each day has a significant impact on our wider learning capacity and confidence, not to mention the benefits to our reading ability and mental health.
Deep reading of novels is a slow process, where the reader engages with the book and seeks to understand it within its own context, and within the context of the outside world.
Emotional connection is where the reader empathises with the characters, and that promotes social perception and emotional intelligence.
There are no real downsides to reading, other than making the time for it.
There have been some wonderful book releases in 2023 and here is just a quick sample to suit all readers. All recommendations are suitable for parents/carers too.
Years 7 and 8
10 stories. 10 mysterious situations. 10 brave kids. 30 minutes of clues. Read 10 dangerous stories, in 30 minutes* reading time!
*Based on average reading speed.
This touching graphic novel explores the story of how a young change-maker learned to find himself and never compromise. How the right decision is very rarely the easy one, but taking the road less travelled can make all the difference in the world.
The #1 New York Times USA Today, and Wall Street Journal bestselling Wings of Fire series soars to even greater heights with an all-new collection of stories and art from readers’ favourite dragon world!
Years 9 and 10
Get comfortable with being uncomfortable – the story of a 23-year-old tradie who put his body ‘through hell and back 10 times’ to prove that anything is possible when you break past your own barriers.
It is an ordinary Thursday, and things should finally be returning to normal. Except trouble is never far away where the Thursday Murder Club are concerned. A decade-old cold case leads them to a local news legend and a murder with no body and no answers.
With its totally immersive first-person voice, Yellowface takes on questions of diversity, racism, and cultural appropriation not only in the publishing industry but the persistent erasure of Asian-American voices and history by Western white society. R. F. Kuang’s novel is timely, razor-sharp, and eminently readable.
The explosive literary sensation: a mother faces a terrible choice as Ireland slides into totalitarianism. Winner of the Booker Prize 2023.
A team of astronauts in the International Space Station collect meteorological data, conduct scientific experiments and test the limits of the human body. But mostly they observe. Endless shows of spectacular beauty witnessed in a single day.
Julia: A Retelling of George Orwell’s 1984. An imaginative, feminist, and brilliantly relevant-to-today retelling of Orwell’s 1984, from the point of view of Winston Smith’s lover, Julia, by critically acclaimed novelist Sandra Newman.
Ms Mary Ryan
Literacy Coordinator and English Teacher
mryan01@waverley.nsw.edu.au
Middle School Ethics Olympiad Teams Delve into Ethical Quandaries
“Are verbal promises as binding as written contracts?”
“Would your life be diminished in any way if you were surrounded by a completely artificial world?”
Does the overuse of external rewards diminish our capacity to value intrinsic rewards?
In a thought-provoking display of critical thinking and collaboration, our Middle School Ethics Olympiad teams delved into ethical quandaries last Friday, that nurture the decision-making processes and collaborative interdependence of our students.
Both of our school’s teams demonstrated exceptional collaboration and communication skills throughout the Olympiad, showcasing a commendable understanding of team frameworks. Their ability to navigate complex ethical quandaries and articulate well-reasoned arguments did not go unnoticed. The judges acknowledged their outstanding efforts with an honourable mention, a testament to the dedication and intellectual prowess of James Barber, Dante Fearn, Xavier Kopsiaftis, Ryan Murphy, Ethan Ooi, Hudson Langan- Stark, Liam Chalmers, Jack Ballinger, Liam Murray and Oliver Rahmat.
The retired U.S. Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart, articulates the importance of exposing our students to ethical problem solving, “ethics is knowing the difference between what you have a right to do and what is right to do” and we thank Matthew Wills for his tireless work around the world organising Ethics Olympiads for school students.
Ms Helen Barrie
Head of Academic Enrichment
hbarrie@waverley.nsw.edu.au
