Library news

Welcome to 2025. The Library has new alphabetical and subject signage for the Primary collection which arrived at the end of last year. This allows for design consistency which will make it easier for students to find books.  New furniture – a large ottoman for the Primary school students, and a new graphic novel stand has also arrived.

Library sessions are underway for the Primary School. Class 1 students have started to visit the Library with their teachers for a read aloud session, while the new Class 2s are learning more about the Library space and borrowing their own books! The focus at the beginning of the year is to consider the values of respect and responsibility and what that looks like in the Library. Classes 3 to 6 have enjoyed borrowing and DEAR (drop everything and read) and will be focusing on library and information skills as the term progresses.

A focus on developing our students’ reading habits is central to the Shearwater Library’s values.  Students in Primary School are avid readers and borrowers. Library statistics in the 2024 Library Annual Report show that this continues in Year 7 to 9; then drastically reduces in Years 10 to 12. 

It is interesting to read research into teen readers. Deakin University recently published a report based on surveys conducted into teen reading: Discovering a Good Read Survey is a nationally representative survey of 13,217 Australian adolescents (ages 11-18) conducted between March 2022 and June 2023. 

The survey reveals that, for Australian teens, reading ranks below social media and video viewing in their leisure activity preferences. Notably, 29% of secondary school students do not engage in reading during their free time.

The survey highlights how factors like parental reading habits, peer influence, gender, and age play a more significant role in influencing teens’ reading types than geographic or school sector factors.

However research suggests reading for pleasure can lead to better academic achievement, higher levels of wellbeing and better employment outcomes after finishing school. Source: Reading for pleasure: new research offers revealing look into teens’ habits (Grant Quarry, April 11, 2024). 

As Gabrielle Mace recommends in Teens and the Book Slump we need to encourage our teens (and younger children)  to move beyond the ‘book slump’ they find themselves in – where we  diagnose a situation rather than an identity. It simply refers to a period (however long) where a person feels less engaged with reading.  

Encouragement from parents has an impact! Children read, when parents place value on literacy skills, providing access to books and establishing expectations around reading. Equally important is reading aloud/shared reading/time reading or listening to an audio book together –  involving both parent and child in the social experience of reading: Shared reading builds a sense of self as a reader.  Have conversations with your child about the books they are reading and the books you are reading 🙂 

And finally, of significant note was the finding that children are keenly aware of parental hypocrisy when it comes to reading. While parents can actively attempt to foster interest in reading for children, the report observes “if they are not readers themselves, it may not yield any positive influence on children’s attitudes to reading” (Australia Reads). Let us all make 2025 the year where we challenge ourselves and our children to read books for pleasure!

Shearwater students are encouraged to participate in the 2025 NSW Premiers Reading Challenge this year. The Challenge – open to Kindergarten to Year 10 students – 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.  The Challenge opens Monday 24 February and closes Friday 22 August. 

For Shearwater students who are avid creative writers, keep an eye on the Byron Writers Festival website as they announce information about their student writing prizes.

Southern Cross University Student Writing Prize – Years 9 to 11 students
Susie Warrick Young Writers Award – Years 7 and 8 students
The Jesse Blackadder Prize – Class 4 to 6 students

Entrants of all competitions must live within the Byron Writers Festival footprint, from Taree in the south, Kyogle in the west and Tweed Heads in the north.

Finally, bookmark these recommended websites for kids book recommendations: